Xin Lan’s eyes narrowed and he struck out before the disciple had managed to take even five steps. The other disciple jumped in shock but before he could further react he had also been struck unconscious.

Hong Bao’s eyes widened and she stared at the two disciples on the ground, not understanding what had just happened.

Qiu Ling turned to look at Xin Lan. "You didn’t kill them, did you?"

"Of course not. With that woman involved, we can’t do anything too drastic. Well, as long as we don’t kill her too that is."

Qiu Ling considered it for a moment but shook his head in the end. He didn’t like her but his beloved seemed to consider her a friend. He couldn’t let Xin Lan kill her. "So let’s continue then? We still haven’t seen any prisoners. Where are all the demons?"

Xin Lan stepped forward and motioned at the door. "Miss Hong, don’t worry about those two. They were probably just worn out from working too long. How about we go and see our friend first? When we come back those two will probably be awake again already."

"Oh." Hong Bao actually believed him, nodded and opened the door for them. "It’s this way."

Qiu Ling frowned when she stepped through the door. Argh, why was that door so small? "Uh, Hong Bao …" He followed her to the doorstep but halted when he saw what lay behind.

He closed his eyes for a moment before taking another look. It was indeed true. Those demon hunters had actually made an even more vicious move and built the room behind the door completely from that Blood Gem. Heavens! Was he really supposed to step in there?

Xin Lan smiled cruelly. "Didn’t you just say you’d do everything for him?"

"Of course. But can’t I be unhappy that someone is making it so difficult for me?" Qiu Ling took a deep breath and stepped through the door only to wince the next moment.

Ah, this really wasn’t a good idea. Maybe he should have gone to the Leyuan region instead and sent somebody else to help free that Bai Mu. Ugh, it was too late now.

He gritted his teeth and followed Hong Bao to the end of the room where another door was waiting for them. This one wasn’t made out of Blood Gem, fortunately. Maybe behind it were the cells holding the demons already and since the demon hunters didn’t want to kill them because of some strange reason they hadn’t used the Blood Gem in their direct vicinity?

It would actually make sense. A true demon would be impeded by the Blood Gem from behind the door already but not so much that it would kill him even in the long run. These demon hunters were surprisingly smart. Not at all how he would have imagined them after he had heard how one of them had attacked Qiang Wei in the capital back then.

Hong Bao opened the second door too and the three of them stepped into the room or, well, the true prison. Qiu Ling’s guess had actually been right. This had been the door to the innermost part of the prison and there indeed wasn’t any Blood Gem used in building it. There was some Soul Clearing Grass growing in the corners though but Qiu Ling could live with that. Having some herb whisper to him might be strange but it was still easier to handle than some stone that could suck his energy from afar.

He took a relieved breath and turned to Hong Bao, taking another step away from the door in the process. "So, where’s Bai Mu?"

Hong Bao pointed to the far side of the prison. "Back there if I remember correctly."

Qiu Ling nodded and hurried over without saying another word. Looking at the five cells in front of him he couldn’t help but pause. None of the men inside looked like his uncle-in-law. So …

"Which one of you is Bai Mu?"

Three pairs of eyes were raised to his face and three voices immediately sounded out.

"I’m Bai Mu!"

"It’s me!"

"You’re finally here!"

Qiu Ling blinked. Right. He had forgotten that these guys were all demons. He couldn’t trust what they said. Thankfully, he wasn’t completely oblivious to Bai Mu’s situation. "So, what’s the name of your mothers’ then?"

The three demons blanked. They certainly hadn’t expected this question. They wouldn’t suddenly give up though. After all, it wasn’t often that somebody who wasn’t from the Chun Feng Sect would come by. Especially someone who had obviously come for a specific person that would probably be taken away.

"Er … It’s been so long. How could I still remember my mother’s name?" The one on the left tried to lie his way through the question but naturally, Qiu Ling didn’t react.

"It’s … Fang He!" the one on the right tried his luck.

Seeing that Qiu Ling still didn’t react the third demon slightly furrowed his brow. Was this some kind of test? He looked at Qiu Ling’s face that was still a bit pale and lifted his chin. This person was obviously from their own race since he was also affected by the Blood Gem and Soul Clearing Grass. "What mother? I only had two fathers!"

Qiu Ling blinked. Look at this! Two fathers! Hadn’t Fu Heng pretended that such a thing would be impossible a few days back? And now even this demon confirmed that he didn’t have a mother at all and only two fathers. So it was obvious that Fu Heng had lied. Tch, he’d show him when he got back! Just because that guy was single there was no reason to sabotage the relationship of his king!

Qiu Ling shook his head. This wasn’t the moment to dwell on that. He looked at the other two demons instead. "So, what about you?"

One of them didn’t even react while the other one only looked back at him without a word. Qiu Ling sighed. Ah, why were demons so troublesome? He had even come here to save him but that Bai Mu guy actually didn’t cooperate at all!