The Iron-Web Gorge was finally silent. The incessant humming of the webs had ceased. Li Yu had smashed the anchor points of the largest webs during his rampage earlier. The dark clouds still swirled overhead and trapped the smell of copper and ozone in the valley. The screams of dying cultivators had been replaced by the rhythmic sounds of industry.

  Near the entrance the remnants of the Silver Sword Sect sat in a tight miserable circle. Medics from the Alliance of the Jagged Peaks moved among them. They were using techniques, applying salves and distributing pills. Sect Master Yin sat apart from his disciples. He was staring blankly at his broken sword. He looked like a man trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing.

  Further in, Li Yu’s coalition was hard at work.

  "Keep the line moving!" Commander Lei shouted. He was hefting a massive beetle leg onto a floating sled. "The Commander wants the area swept before nightfall. Don't leave any cores or valuable parts behind!"

  Li Yu was busy doing what he did best: hunting down the remaining beasts.

  He moved through the twisted labyrinth of the gorge. Every time he found a pocket of resistance—a nest of spiders hiding in a crevice, or a burrow of beetles trying to wait out the apocalypse—Li Yu ended it.

  Thump.

  His staff came down and cracked the carapace of a straggler Web-Weaver.

  "That's the last one in this area from what I can tell," Li Yu muttered to himself as he was wiping his brow. He looked around the canyon floor, his brow furrowing slightly.

  He did some mental math because there was something that had been bothering him since coming here.

  ‘Thirteen hundred Silver Sword elites died here. The beast density and strength required to overwhelm a force like that... it should be higher. Not the mention the forces they had killed before this as well…’

  He looked at the corpses littering the ground. There were thousands, yes. But for a trap designed to eat an army, the numbers felt... light. It was as if the "siege" had been maintained by a skeleton crew, while the main bulk of the beast force had vanished into thin air.

  "Strange," Li Yu said to no one.

  Li Yu shrugged to himself. He turned and headed back to the main staging area.

  By the time he returned to the entrance plateau, the army had consolidated their position. Tekton was curled up around the loot pile and was looking very full. His eyes were barely opened and it looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.

  Sect Master Zhou and Patriarch Han were waiting for him.

  "Commander," Zhou greeted him. "The extraction is eighty percent complete. We have recovered the bodies of the Silver Sword disciples as well. Sect Master Yin has requested to take them back for burial."

  "Let him," Li Yu said simply. "Just make sure he doesn't take any of the loot we secured. The bodies of his people are his; Everything else is ours."

  "Understood," Han nodded. "Commander... the men are tired. Should we set up camp here for the night or push back to the Jagged Peaks?"

  "We camp," Li Yu decided. "I don't want exhausted troops. We leave at first light."

  Just as the orders were being relayed a sudden hush fell over the perimeter guards.

  "Halt!" A Thunderclap mercenary shouted while raising his spear. "Identify yourselves!"

  Li Yu looked up. He hadn't sensed anyone approaching. That in itself was alarming. His spiritual sense covered the area and he should have been able to detect people coming.Emerging from the shadows of a side canyon—a path that was supposed to be a dead end—walked a group of five people.

  They didn't have the dusty, travel-worn look of mercenaries, nor the arrogant, uniform-clad look of sect disciples. They looked like a family taking a stroll through a park, completely unbothered by the fact that the "park" was a slaughterhouse filled with giant scary beast corpses.

  At the front walked a young man, who looked perhaps in his mid-twenties. He wore full, gleaming battle armor that wasn't bulky and fit him like a second skin. It glowed with a faint crimson light. His battle armor reminded Li Yu of Jian Xuan’s armor. He had a handsome but arrogant face and walked with a swagger that suggested he owned the ground he stepped on.

  Behind him was another male, older, looking like someone in his thirties. He wore scholar’s robes and held a fan. His eyes constantly darted around with keen analytical interest.

  Then came the remaining three in the group.

  There was a woman who looked to be in her forties. She was stout, dressed in practical heavy silk. She had her hair done up in a severe bun. She radiated a sense of formidable, matronly power.

  Next to her was an old woman. She was hunched over and leaning on a cane made of twisted root wood. Her face was a map of wrinkles and she looked frail enough that a stiff breeze might knock her over.

  And in the center, protected by the others, was a young lady.

  She looked to be in her early thirties but her eyes held a depth that suggested she was much, much older. She wore simple white robes that remained immaculately clean despite the mud and gore of the gorge. She was beautiful, but in a distant, ethereal way. Like a statue carved from ice with little emotions.

  They walked toward the defensive line but stopped a long way out. They wore no Alliance tokens. No sect emblems. It was impossible to tell where they had come from but they were much too calm to be here.

  "Stop right there!" Commander Lei shouted. His voice was booming across the distance. "This is a restricted military zone under the jurisdiction of the Alliance of the Jagged Peaks!"

  The young man in the crimson armor stopped. He looked at Lei across the gap and then smirked at him.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Alliance of the Jagged Peaks?" the young man called back. "Never heard of it."

  "Watch your tongue," Patriarch Han warned.

  The young man reached into his armor and pulled out a storage ring. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it. The ring flew through the air and landed precisely at Commander Lei's feet.

  "Check it," the young man shouted. "That’s where the rest of the beasts that were here went. We intercepted the main force trying to flank through the western tunnels. You guys handled the front door but missed most of them."

  Lei picked up the ring, sending his spiritual sense inside. His eyes widened by what he found.

  "Commander..." Lei whispered and was turning to Li Yu. "It’s full of cores. He is probably telling the truth. That they found the main force we predicted was missing from here."

  A murmur went through the army. This group of five people had wiped out a force that had been destroying every single task force sent here? Not only was it impressive, it made everyone more cautious of the group of five that just approached them and handed it over.

  "My Mistress," the young man announced, "wishes to speak with your leader. Alone."

  Li Yu stood up after he heard the words. He was curious about this group. He smoothed his robes. He extended his spiritual sense and was trying to probe them.

  Nothing.

  It was like trying to read the depth of an ocean by looking at the surface. Their cultivation was veiled by something incredibly powerful. Likely a high-grade artifact or a secret technique he hadn't encountered before. However, he sensed no killing intent from them. No hostility. Just an overwhelming sense of... curiosity. Just like himself.

  "Stay here," Li Yu told his commanders.

  "Commander, it could be a trap," Sect Master Zhou warned.

  "If they wanted to kill us, they wouldn't have thrown a ring over as a greeting," Li Yu said. Li Yu walked out past the perimeter. He stopped halfway between his army and the strangers.

  The Lady in white stepped forward to meet him. She was flanked by the Grandma and the Aunty. The two men stayed back.

  Li Yu looked at the Lady. She met his gaze. Her expression was serene but there was a weight to it that made the air feel heavy. Her expression was unreadable yet it seemed to carry many different emotions at once.

  "Who are you?" Li Yu asked.

  "Travelers," the Lady said. Her voice was soft, like wind chimes in an empty hall. "We saw your work today. It was... interesting. The way you move. How you act and talk. I was curious about you and had to meet you."

  "Was that the only reason?" Li Yu asked. "Thank you for the assist with the flank. Feel free to keep the loot that you earned yourself."

  "We do not need the cores," the Aunty said. Her voice was sharp and piercing.

  The Grandma smiled, a toothless, kindly grin that sent a sudden shiver down Li Yu’s spine.

  "Such a sturdy foundation. Practically perfect. Qi, body and soul. Completely outrageous anywhere you go but for it to be found here… not nurtured is a sin." the Grandma crooned. "And that necklace... simple string, yet it holds two such interesting souls."

  Li Yu’s hand instinctively went to the simple string around his neck, where Si Luo and Bai Ruo were currently hanging in their miniaturized forms and masquerading as charms. His eyes narrowed. It was impressive to be able to sense them there with his aura defecting probing attempts.

  "I think you have the wrong person," Li Yu said as his muscles tensed. "And I think the conversation is over. Go back where you came."

  "He’s feisty," the Grandma cackled.

  "We don't have time for this," the Aunty muttered. She reached into her sleeve.

  "Gentle," the Lady commanded. "Do not hurt him."

  Li Yu reacted instantly. Danger. He didn't wait. He triggered his Void Step, intending to blink back and away from them.

  Whoosh.

  He blurred and even slipped into the First Void Layer. But he didn't move.

  "Oh no you don't, sonny," the Grandma said. She tapped her cane on the empty air.

  A ripple of green light spread out, solidifying the space around Li Yu. It wasn't just a barrier; it was a spatial lock so dense it forced him out of the Void and back into reality. He stumbled out and appeared right where he started.

  "Space sealed?" Li Yu’s eyes widened in surprise.

  The Aunty pulled out a small, ornate wooden box. She flipped the lid open.

  "Get in," she grunted.

  A suction force—not of wind but of concept—erupted from the box. It seemed to ignore everything. It grabbed Li Yu’s very existence and pulled.

  Li Yu slammed his staff into the ground. "Gravity Domain!"

  The two forces clashed. The ground cracked. But the box was overwhelming. It was an artifact far beyond anything Li Yu had seen in this realm. Li Yu was sucked into the darkness of the box. The Aunty slammed the lid shut.

  "Got him," she said.

  The Grandma waved her cane and a shimmering distortion field enveloped the group of five.

  "We are leaving!" the Lady announced. Her voice projected to the distant and stunned army. "We are borrowing him. Do not follow."

  And just like that, they vanished. No flying away. No running. They simply stepped out of reality and were gone. Disappearing as quickly as they had come.

  In the empty space where Li Yu had stood a second ago, two small charms fell toward the ground. Before they hit the dirt, they exploded into light.

  Flash.

  Two figures materialized in the air, radiating powerful Mid-Stage Soul Formation auras.

  Si Luo, clad in her violet armor, and Bai Ruo, in her grey robes, hovered over the spot where their Li Yu had been abducted.

  "Commander!" Sect Master Zhou screamed from the lines, leading a charge that was far too late.

  "Halt!" Si Luo commanded. Her voice booming with regal authority. She held up a hand to stop the frantic army in its tracks.

  She looked at Bai Ruo. They exchanged a terrified glance. They had checked the Void layers as soon as they had appeared. They had sensed nothing. These people... they were monsters.

  But Si Luo saw the panic in the eyes of the soldiers. She saw the Silver Sword Sect watching. If the army knew Li Yu was kidnapped they would panic. She composed her face into a mask of arrogant calm.

  "Do not panic!" Si Luo shouted. "This was planned!"

  "Planned?" Patriarch Han skidded to a halt with his glaive raised. "They put him in a box! They took him!"

  "It is a... high-level negotiation," Si Luo lied through her teeth. "The Commander signaled us just before he left. These are independent agents from an organization that do not want to be known. He has gone to verify their claims."

  "In a box?" Commander Lei asked and was extremely skeptical.

  "It is a spatial transport artifact," Bai Ruo added quickly with her voice trembling only slightly. "Very rare. Very fast. The Commander... he likes to travel efficiently."

  "He told us to hold the position," Si Luo continued projecting absolute confidence. "He said, 'Wait for me here. I will return once the deal is made.'"

  The logic was thin but the soldiers wanted to believe it. They remembered Li Yu’s impossible strength and power. They remembered him laughing at death. Of course he wasn't kidnapped. He was Li Yu. He is the one that stares at people and they explode.

  "He'll be back," a soldier whispered. "He's just... negotiating."

  "Exactly," Si Luo said. "Now, return to your posts! Tekton, guard the perimeter! If anyone tries to take advantage of the Commander's absence... kill them."

  The army hesitated but then slowly lowered their weapons. The panic receded and was replaced by a nervous vigil. Si Luo floated down and grabbed Bai Ruo’s hand. Her grip was iron-tight.

  "We have to wait," she whispered, so low only the worm could hear.

  "But Si Luo..." Bai Ruo whimpered. "I can't sense him. He's gone."

  "He's Li Yu," Si Luo said but her own heart was hammering against her ribs. "He'll figure it out. He’ll be back before you know it."

  Night fell over the Iron-Web Gorge. The hero was gone and his two second in command were left holding the line. The entire army was praying that Li Yu would return soon.