Villains Aren't Stepping Stones!

Chapter 195: Chapter 195: Escape

The walk towards the hideout was quick, with Medusa simply grabbing Huo Lin and having him tell the direction before they bolted towards it.

To a 5th Stage Nirvana Rebirth expert like Medusa, the concept of distance in a place like the Eastern Region was almost trivial.

Even with the weight of an injured man in her arms, she moved like a streak of iridescent light, her feet barely touching the scorched earth.

Huo Lin felt as though his soul was trying to leave his body from the sheer velocity, the ruined landscape of Tan Wu City becoming a blurred smudge of grey and charcoal.

One of the entrances was located near the cliff where Huo Yue first met her master, Liu Ruyan.

This was a place of profound significance to Huo Yue—the very spot where her fate had shifted from that of a crippled genius to a rising phoenix.

The air here was thinner, and the scorched smell of the city was replaced by the faint, ancient scent of pine and damp stone.

”So, where’s the entrance?” Asked Huo Yue.

”It’s here” said Huo Ling as he activated a hidden formation under a rock—a deceptive, moss-covered slab that appeared entirely ordinary to the naked eye.

With a hum of spiritual energy and a flash of light, the four of them disappeared, appearing in a dark cave that smelled of stagnant water and cold earth.

Huo Yue frowned. A spatial transportation array? How was this possible? Only those at the Saint Realm can master the laws of space!

Even a Formation Master would need to be at the top rank to be able to create formations that can alter space!

Does her clan actually have some mysterious, powerful saint-level figure in the ancient past?

”It’s further in,” said Huo Lin, his voice echoing off the damp walls as he led the three women deeper into the cave.

The tunnel was narrow at first, forcing them to walk in single file, but the further they traveled, the more the air began to circulate, carrying the unmistakable scent of woodsmoke and many living beings.

Slowly, traces of grasses appeared, growing in the cracks of the stone floor where light-stones had been embedded into the ceiling.

Until finally, they arrived in a massive open space with high cave ceilings that seemed to stretch into infinity.

It was a subterranean marvel, an ancient refuge carved out by the ancestors of the Huo Clan for an apocalypse exactly like this one.

On that open space, hundreds of tents were built in orderly rows, and thousands of people were doing their own designated jobs.

Some were sharpening weapons, others were mending clothes, and children were running between the tents, their laughter providing a haunting contrast to the grim reality above.

”I’ve returned! And I brought someone with me!” said Huo Lin, his voice cracking with exhaustion but filled with a sudden, unbridled joy.

Seeing him, almost everyone suddenly brightened up and stopped what they were doing and ran towards him.

For those trapped in the dark, a returning scavenger was a sign that the world outside hadn’t completely ended yet.

”Brother Lin! You’ve finally returned!”

”Did you bring some fruits!?”

”How about meat!? Do you have meat!?”

”Yes, yes, but before that, look!” He turned to the side and motioned at Huo Yue and the others. ”It’s Sister Huo Yue! She finally returned! Quick! Call the Patriarch!”

The name ripple through the crowd like a shockwave.

”Huo Yue!? It’s her!?”

”She finally returned!?”

Instantly, the atmosphere changed from desperation to a feverish excitement.

But at that moment, a clustering sound echoed and everyone turned to the side, where a beautiful woman with long black hair and orange eyes stared at Huo Yue.

”Child...is it really you?” The woman whispered.

Huo Yue smiled, her expression, which seems to always be in perpetual solemnity, softened seeing her.

”Yeah. I’m back, mother.”

*

*

*

Inside a tent, where the highest ranking members of this group gathered, everyone was planning on how to escape.

The air inside was thick with tension and the smell of stale ink from the maps spread across the central table.

Huo Zhang, the Patriarch of the Huo Clan, sat on his chair, his face aged by a decade in just a single year as he looked at the map, his finger tracing a precarious line. ”Let us head south west. That place has the least amount of Barbarians and will be much safer for us. We can move the children and the elderly through the mountain passes.”

At that moment, an elder shook his head, his face pale with fear. ”That place will lead us to the Great Tao Desert, the territory of the Lamia. We’ll surely die if we go there! The snake-women are more territorial than the barbarians! I suggest we head north west. That place is where the Spirit Hall is, we’ll be much safer under their protection.”

”But that place is also the main battlefield!” Huo Zhang argued, slamming his fist on the table. ”The Fire Giant Tribe is focusing their main force there! We would be walking into a meat grinder!”

”It’s much better than heading straight to our deaths in the desert!” the elder countered. ”The desert is incredibly harsh, not to mention we are very weak, with barely even being able to maintain our physical health! We have no water, no supplies, and half our cultivators are injured!”

Huo Zhang gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t refute it. ”But still...”

At that moment...

”Urgent report! Urgent report!” Someone burst inside the tent, breathing so hard they nearly collapsed. ”Patriarch! Urgent report!”

Huo Zhang stood up, his hand reflexively going to his sword. ”What is it?! Did the barbarians find us!?”

”We need to hurry and evacuate!” another elder cried, already grabbing his scrolls.

”No! No!” said the messenger, waving his hands frantically. ”Patriarch, it’s good news! It’s young miss Huo Yue! She’s back!”

Silence.

The elders froze, the maps on the table fluttering in the sudden stillness.

Then...

”What!? That girl has returned!?” Huo Zhang’s eyes widened, a mixture of disbelief and hope flaring in his chest. ”Let’s go see her now!”

*

*

*

At this moment, outside the main pavilion of the tent city, Huo Yue had her face buried on the bountiful chest of her stepmother, Fei Ling’an, as she cried.

The stoic, powerful warrior who had just pulverized a barbarian giant disappeared, replaced by a daughter who had finally found her way home.

”Oh, you child, it has been so many years!” Fei Ling’an sighed, stroking Huo Yue’s crimson hair with trembling hands as tears pricked at her own eyes as she looked at the ruins of their lives. ”And you came back with our clan and the city already destroyed. You shouldn’t have seen us like this.”

Huo Yue didn’t resist; she simply looked up to her, her eyes red but determined. ”Mother, I specifically returned this time because I heard the news of the barbarian invasion. I couldn’t stay away while my family suffered.”

Fei Ling’an sighed, her heart aching. ”Child, you should’ve stayed where you are. This place has already gotten dangerous.”

”Yue’er!” At that moment, Huo Zhang finally arrived, followed by two other men—Huo Yue’s older brothers.

They looked haggard, their armor dented and rusted, but their eyes lit up with recognition.

”Ah, you’ve gotten thinner!” said Huo Zhang, reaching out to grab his daughter’s shoulders, checking her for injuries as if she were still a child. ”Have you been eating well in your journey? Did you find what you were looking for?”

”Yeah,” Huo Yue smiled faintly, the warmth of her family acting as a balm to her melancholic soul. ”Ah, before that, I want to introduce you to my friends. They have been a big help for me. This is Medusa, and this is Zhu Ziyan.”

”Medusa!?”

”Medusa!?”

”Medusa!?”

The reaction was instantaneous.

The elders who had followed Huo Zhang out of the tent froze in their tracks, their faces draining of all color.

Several of the clan guards even drew their weapons, their hands shaking.

Ah, it was only then that Huo Yue remembered.

The culture of the Eastern Region was isolated, and its legends were steeped in ancient terrors.

In this region, Lamias were not just another race; they were considered demons incarnate, harbingers of plague and death.

And their queen, Medusa, was infamous in the ancient scrolls, her name compared to the devil king himself.

To the people of Tan Wu City, the name ”Medusa” was a curse used to frighten children into obedience.

Medusa stood there, her arms crossed, looking bored.

She didn’t bother to hide her aura, which felt like an infinite, suffocating ocean of power compared to the meager cultivation of the Huo Clan elders.

”Yue’er...” Huo Zhang whispered, his voice trembling. ”Did you say... Medusa? As in... the Queen of the Desert?”

Huo Yue realized the misunderstanding was deep-seated as she stepped forward, placing a hand on Medusa’s arm to show her family that the ”devil king” was an ally.

”She is my friend, Father. Without her, I wouldn’t be standing here. And believe me, the barbarians are a much bigger threat than she could ever be.”

The silence that followed was thick with a new kind of tension, as the survivors of Tan Wu City looked upon the savior they had spent their entire lives fearing.

”Alright, that’s enough.” Fei Ling’an stepped forward, ”She’s our daughter’s friend, isn’t that enough?”

Everyone stared at her, and slowly, they tried to calm down.

Huo Yue nodded thankfully at her before turning towards her father, ”Father, I have come here this time to bring you out of here.”

She doesn’t care enough about the Eastern Region, for now, her priority are her parents.

The others...can rely on themselves.