The Portal of Wonderland

Hou Sai Lei rebuked his subordinates over and over again. The group soon passed by Shi Mu’s hiding place whilst moving in the front direction.

“Come, let’s keep pace with them,” Shi Mu told Zhong Xiu when he saw that those people had moved a little distance away from them. Therefore, the two of them started to follow the group.

Hou Sai Lei and his group arrived in front of a courtyard after a little time… A small three-storey building stood in that courtyard; it seemed to be someone’s dwelling place.

“Well, you people go back now. Try to show a bit more capability the next time. Don’t make me handle everything by myself. I’m a very busy person. So, how can I spare time to help you in handling these affairs all day long?” Hou Sai Lei said as he beckoned to those people with his hand.

“Yes, Respected Senior!”

“Senior, you take rest. We’ll come again to pay respects to you tomorrow.”

Those people made a respectful gesture towards Hou Sai Lei, and said a few words to extend their greetings. After that, they parted ways, and moved to their respective places.

Hou Sai Lei’s face creased with the hint of a complacent smile. He then swaggered into the courtyard, and arrived in front of the small building. Then, he pushed open the door, and walked into the tall residence.

Hou Sai Lei then arrived in the inner room… He stretched his body for a moment, and sat down in a wide and comfortable lounge chair… He wanted to make a pot of good tea for himself. After all, he wanted to reward himself for a day of hard work with some good food and drinks.

But then, a light flashed before his eyes, and two silhouettes appeared in front of him — one tall and one short.

The sudden appearance of two people left Hou Sai Lei startled for a moment. And, a layer of grey radiance burst forth on his body in response. He was about to jump to his feet. But, his body suddenly froze instead.

That short person was a gorgeous woman whom he clearly didn’t know. However, that tall and sturdy man was his old acquaintance.

“Senior Mu, I finally got to see you again! I was aware of your exceptional strength and abilities. So, I knew that you would be safe-and-sound when you left us that day. And, the truth is I’m no longer worried about you these days…” Hou Sai Lei remained glued to the spot for a moment. Then, he threw himself at Shi Mu’s feet, and started to whine and cry whilst shedding sorrowful tears.

Zhong Xiu took a look at Hou Sai Lei. Then, she shifted her gaze to Shi Mu, and a hint of amazement flashed through her beautiful eyes.

“This man is my subordinate. He had started to follow me when I was in the Eastern Continent. Both of us had boarded the Dark Moon Cult’s ships, and embarked on the journey to the Western Continent. However, some unexpected circumstances had drifted us apart in the midst of our journey,” Shi Mu gave a brief recount to Zhong Xiu.

Zhong Xiu grasped the situation. But, she couldn’t refrain from twitching her mouth when she saw Hou Sai Lei’s strange behavior.

Hou Sai Lei was at Shi Mu’s feet at the moment, but he was also battling with his fear deep in his heart. There had been all kinds of objective situations at the sea that day. But, the truth was that he had indeed abandoned Shi Mu that day no matter how hard he would try to explain it now.

Therefore, there was a possibility that Shi Mu might still harbor some resentment in this regard. And, even the mention of this matter was enough to leave Hou Sai Lei terror-stricken…

Hou Sai Lei was quite familiar with Shi Mu’s disposition. He knew that this kind of possibility was very low… However, he couldn’t rule it out either.

“Senior Mu, I felt that you were capable of keeping yourself safe that day. So, I didn’t come after you. But, I still beg for your forgiveness,” Hou Sai Lei saw that Shi Mu still hadn’t spoken anything. So, he quickly modified his sentence, and said.

“You don’t have to worry about anything. You wouldn’t have been a help in that situation even if you had showed up. So, I don’t blame you for that. Now, get up.” Shi Mu sat down on a chair as he spoke.

Hou Sai Lei was greatly relieved to hear Shi Mu’s reply. He then crawled to his feet, and stood beside Shi Mu in a firm manner.

“Senior Mu, where have you been these days? Many people have the impression that you had an accident that day. However, Vice-President Liu has been constantly sending people everywhere to find you since the beginning. But, nobody had been able to fetch any information related to you,” Hou Sai Lei said with a smile.

“You just mentioned Vice-President Liu… Were you referring to Liu An?” Shi Mu asked.

“That’s right.” Hou Sai Lei nodded.

“He became the Vice-President of the Western Dark Moon Cult? Oh, by the way… tell me this first… What is the present condition of the Dark Moon Cult? And, why did you come to this place?” Shi Mu asked.

“It would take too long to tell you the complete story,” Hou Sai Lei said.

“No problem, you can explain slowly. Tell me everything you came across after you and the others set foot in the Western Continent,” Shi Mu said.

“Okay. That day when we set foot in the Western continent…” Hou Sai Lei systematized his train of thoughts first. Then, he narrated his experiences of the past few years.

Shi Mu listened to him quietly whilst gently tapping his finger on the chair’s handle.

Zhong Xiu sat down next to Shi Mu, and listened to the story in a calm manner.

The Western Dark Moon Cult had received the news not long after the Eastern Dark Moon Cult’s arrival in the Western continent. Then, the Head of the Western Cult had personally welcomed Liu An and the others.

It was said that a long conversation had taken place between these two men at that time. But, the content of their meeting was naturally not known to the ordinary disciples like Hou Sai Lei.

Liu An had made an announcement later. He had said that all disciples of the Eastern Cult would merge into the Western Cult… And, the Eastern Cult’s people were allocated to the various Sub-Altars across the Western Continent in the subsequent year. Even some of the Palace Lords were sent away like this…

However, Liu An had been retained in the Main altar of the Western Cult. In addition, the title of Vice-President had been bestowed upon him.

The Eastern Dark Moon Cult had only been the remnants soldiers of a defeated troop. However, all of them were the elite disciples of the Cult, and they were still very large in number at that time.

The overall power of the Dark Moon Cult had made a substantial ascension after the absorption of so many elite people in the various Sub-Altars of the Western Cult. In fact, the Dark Moon Cult had gradually occupied the position of the third major force in the Western Continent. It was now second only to the alliances of the various tribes of the Barbarian race.

“I hadn’t expected that Liu An would go so far as to take this step, and become the Vice-President of the Western Cult.” Shi Mu muttered to himself.

“Yes, but the leader of the Western Cult hasn’t given him any real power,” Hou Sai Lei added.

Shi Mu nodded.

“What is the present situation of the Dark Moon Cult?” he asked again.

“How do I put this… the two Cults have merged into one now, and all the people of the Eastern Cult have been dispersed. However, the situation is still very delicate. A gap still exists between the people of the Eastern and the Western Cult inwardly… so much so that they always stay vigilant of each other.” Hou Sai Lei said.

“Could it be that you’ve also been sent here by the Western Cult?” Shi Mu asked.

“People like me are just the ordinary disciples of the Eastern Cult. They can never be considered as the trusted subordinates of Liu An or the other Palace Lords. That’s because we don’t receive their trust and confidence. So, people like me always find ourselves in a relatively awkward position since we aren’t favored by either side. Nobody cares about such people. I must say that I might not have had the qualification to board the ship if it hadn’t been for Senior Mu’s precious help,” Hou Sai Lei forced a wry smile as he said.

“So, you’ve become a **** now. But, I think it’s good that you’ve adapted to the situation here,” Shi Mu said with a smile.

“That’s because I’m still pretty good at handling things. I won the favor of this Sub-Altar’s Altar Lord. Then, I passed for the position of the Minister later on,” Hou Sai Lei replied.

Shi Mu flashed a smile, and didn’t ask anything further. He then got lost in some thought.

The present condition of the Dark Moon Cult was more or less the same as the information Shi Mu had gathered from his intermittent inquires. So, he had already anticipated this scenario.

“Well, I should’ve mentioned this matter earlier. But, I will ask you now. Have some strangers come to the Hidden Wind Valley today? The leader of that group is a woman, and they’ve brought a large amount of supplies.” Shi Mu asked. He also gave him a little description of that girl surnamed Zhen.

“Yes, the Sub-Altar had sent me with two other Ministers to bring those goods to the valley just some time ago. It is said that those are plundered goods. As for the woman Senior Mu just mentioned… I had seen her walking into the hall together with the Altar Lord sometime before. But, I haven’t seen her anywhere afterwards. She might have departed by now,” Hou Sai Lei said.

Zhong Xiu’s facial expression loosened a bit when she heard these words. However, Shi Mu’s brows wrinkled in response.

“Are you sure that this woman has left? Where are the goods now?” Shi Mu asked.

“I shouldn’t be wrong. The Altar Lord had summoned us for the official discussion today. He had blurted out about this matter at that time. As for the goods… they should be in the warehouse of the secondary palace,” Hou Sai Lei said.

Shi Mu’s brows wrinkled upward.

This action of this girl surnamed Zhen had somewhat gone against his anticipation.

“That batch of goods had been sent under the supervision of the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce. But, it was plundered by that woman. So, we’ve infiltrated this Hidden Wind Valley in order to seize hold of the goods.” Shi Mu said.

Hou Sai Lei’s complexion changed, and he nodded a few times. Then, he changed the thread of discussion, and started to abuse that woman surnamed Zhen for being very despicable and shameless.

“Senior Mu, you need to move into action as soon as possible if you have any plans. Another Lord of the Hidden Wind Valley’s Sub-Altar had departed from here yesterday because of certain work. He’s an Earth-ranked warrior. So, there’s only one Earth-ranked Altar Lord in the valley right now. So, I don’t think it should be difficult to seize those goods back if we rely on Senior Mu and this person… my Senior’s strength.” Hou Sai Lei moved close to Shi Mu, and said in a whispering voice.

“Well, you’ll have to think of a way to take us to the warehouse. We’ll need to take a look at the situation first… We’ll talk about the plan afterwards.” Shi Mu heard Hou Sai Lei’s words, and nodded in a thoughtful manner.

“This… I’m unable to do anything about this matter. The opening token of the secondary palace’s warehouse has always been under the Altar Lord’s custody. And, no one can enter the secondary palace without that token,” Hou Sai Lei looked somewhat embarrassed when he explained.

“It seems that we’re left with no choice if that’s the case… You’ll have to lead us to the Altar Lord of this place.” Shi Mu’s facial expression looked determined as he said.

“Big Brother Mu,” Zhong Xiu gripped Shi Mu’s hand, and said in a soft voice. Simultaneously, a hint of anxiousness peeped through her face.

“Senior, there’s no need to worry about anything. The Altar Lord of this place is a magician who has just entered the Moon-rank. Considering Senior Mu’s strength… I can say that you can easily defeat him as long as you get close to him.” Hou Sai Lei said.

“Listen to me… Have some confidence in me. Also, don’t forget that I also have you by my side.” Shi Mu pinched Zhong Xiu’s beautiful jade-like nose, and said with a smile.

Zhong Xiu’s complexion turned slightly red since there was an outsider before them at the moment. Besides, the skin of her face was extremely thin. Shi Mu’s affectionate action had made her heart feel bashful and happy at the same time.

Hou Sai Lei stood to one side at the moment. He looked at her nose, and acted as if he hadn’t seen anything.

“Take us to him.” Shi Mu turned his head towards Hou Sai Lei, and said.

Hou Sai Lei complied, and walked outside the hall whilst leading these two people.

The three people arrived in front of a big palace after a quarter-of-an-hour.

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu had changed into the uniform of the Dark Moon Cult in the meantime. They had been walking behind Hou Sai Lei this entire time. In addition, they had restrained most of their aura, and were releasing only the strength of the Xian Tian primary stage.

The door of the palace was closed at the moment. And, two grey-armored guards stood on the left and right side of it.

“Welcome Respected Minister,” Both guards made a reverent gesture to greet Hou Sai Lei.

“Hmm, is Altar Lord still in there?” Hou Sai Lei asked.

“Yes, Altar Lord is still practicing in there,” the young guard who stood on the left side replied.

“Well, go and inform him for me. I’ve come here to pay him a visit. I wish to discuss an important matter,” Hou Sai Lei said.

“Yes.” The young guard noticed the seriousness in Hou Sai Lei’s voice. So, he immediately agreed. He then pushed open the door, and went in.

“Respected Minister, who are these two people?” The other guard looked at Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu behind Hou Sai Lei. His gaze had made it obvious that he hadn’t recognized them. So, he asked in a lowered voice.

“They belong to the Sub-Altar of the Rising Sun City. They’ve received an order from their Altar Lord to come and report a crucial matter. This isn’t a matter that a small guard like you should get involved with. Otherwise, you’ll bear the consequences of holding up such an important matter. Stand aside.” Hou Sai Lei put on a stern expression on his face, and said in an impatient manner.

That young guard was a timid man. So, he immediately retreated to one side. He didn’t dare to inquire anything afterwards.

The other young guard walked out of the Palace a moment later, and greeted Hou Sai Lei. He then said, “Respected Minister, Altar Lord has invited you in.”