Dirty steps in the sand

"What's with the air here? Is it only me or is the air really difficult to breathe?" noble Lee was almost red in the face, his breath picking up rather quickly. The more he tried to take in the oxygen, the less he was able to actually inhale it.

"What did you expect when you stepped into the demonic territory?" why had the noble followed Fu Hua inside, he had no idea. Fu Hua mostly blamed it on the parents of noble Lee who must have definitely dropped him on his head as a child.

After all, who would be foolish enough to follow Fu Hua inside such a territory?

"Shut your mouth you demonic spawn. It is people like you who cause such dangerous places to appear" the noble spat out, his words containing the biting edge to them.

Fu Hua took the brunt of these words with a calm face. The other was right in a way - it was Fu Hua who was indirectly responsible for this situation. While demonic practices had always existed, it had been Fu Hua who had popularised them in recent times.

When he had done so, he had not thought it would end up like this. At most, his teachings consisted of small tricks one could perform to make their life comfortable.

But while he had given people an inch, they had taken a mile and developed these practices further. Since demonic practices did not require the presence of any actual energy, even common people could use it.

"Hurry up and move '' Fu Hua felt the shove, his body following the motion and losing balance. It was a good thing his body was able to maintain his balance at the last second.

He gave the other a glare for his efforts only to receive a smug smile in return. The servant who had shoved him looked rather apologetic but between Fu Hua and noble Lee, it was obviously noble Lee who won in his eyes.

So when noble Lee had signalled the servant to shove the new slave, he had done so. He had not known what noble Lee's problem was with the new slave but it seemed almost personal.

"I was about to warn you that this might be a result of a demonic ritual. Even when there is a dense miasma here, there are not any creatures that we can see. This can only happen when a place is prepared for a sacrificial offering" Fu Hua had caught this point very early on.

He had wanted to bring up this point ever since he had suspected this place of being a sacrificial ground but things had distracted him. First, to make noble Lee leave and then that kid.

"So what about it? We are here to investigate and run this demonic energy out" the noble clearly was underestimating the danger they were in. At the rate he was going, noble Lee was bound to die and take his guards along with him.

Maybe that was why the emperor had assigned him this task. It would be really beneficial for the emperor should this noble die here but not for Fu Hua.

"So nothing really. Let's go to the centre of this miasma and hopefully we'll run into the one who did it" if that person was still alive. Fu Hua was 70% sure the one who started it all was already dead because miasma was spreading fast.

The person must not be that educated or plainly ignorant. Maybe he was like noble Lee, a coward but loudmouth. But still, noble Lee was a good choice to stick with for now.

The thing about noble Lee was that he was stupid and horrible noble Lee was, he was also a simpleton. With some egging, complaining and probing, Fu Hua could get the other to utter almost any information he wanted to know. Also, noble Lee was really easy to trigger.

As such, Fu Hua could easily look into various thighs that interested him without raising suspicion.

But most importantly, noble Lee was afraid of him and the emperor. As such, Fu Hua's secret was not likely to come out anytime soon and he would get to live just a little longer.

A smarter master would not only cause a lot of problems but can also allow Fu Hua's identity to leak out without implicating himself.

Then Fu Hua would die since Xiao Lan would know about his existence. The other had already killed him once, what was another time? And he would be well within his rights to do so because Fu Hua had done him wrong.

Fu Hua was not sure he would be able to get a word in should Xiao Lan demand his life. He had already given it to him after all.

"I'll give you a herb to breathe easier" the noble looked disgusted to get anything from him but his eyes showed relief. Fu Hua took out a common mint stem and passed it onto the noble who gulped the whole thing.

Instantly the other looked better, colour returning to his face. The guards looked fine but the worry was visible in their faces too. Would they get sick as a result of the demon miasma as well?

Fu Hua wanted to reassure them that nothing like this was going to happen. Noble Lee had fallen ill because he had believed this miasma would harm him. It had nothing to do with the actual facts at all.

However, saying this would not help. At the most, it would just aggregate the situation. The noble was too head-headed to accept any fault of his and he would just ignore Fu Hua's words. Fu Hua wanted to complain but he had to hold his words for now.

Once he would be back in his room (cell), he would complain to his heart's desire.

"Here" he quietly passed on the rest of his mint leaves to the guards who visibly relaxed at his offering. It was a good thing the noble was ignoring them because otherwise, it would become a problem for these soldiers.

"Oi, what are you doing at the back? The dog should lead the way. After all, you need to sniff out the location of the centre don't you?" Before Fu Hua could register it, the noble took hold of the chain his cuffs were connected to and yanked him forward.

It hurt badly, the sides of the chains coming to cut into Fu Hua's arms. The wounds were not deep but the blood had started to seep through the shallow cuts. Some of it even managed to fit in the gaps between the chains and his arm which was bad for the chains.

Thankfully, the magic inside them would not allow them to be corroded but still. It was not sanitary at all and Fu Hua wanted to get the blood out. The wet and sticky feeling was creeping him out a little and he had never enjoyed blood.

"Noble Lee, your h-hands" a guard called out, his voice a little worried. The addressed noble looked down at his hands. Fu Hua's blood had somehow made it to his hands which freaked the noble out.

"Y-You, you are bleeding" the noble stuttered, noticing that the wound on the other's arm was really bleeding, "isn't this bad? Won't it cause a reaction"

The noble's words caused the guards to tense once again. After all, it was a well-known fact that demonic practices required a blood sacrifice and Fu Hua had been a well known demonic magic-user.

Even with those cuffs and his energy bound, it was likely he could make sure of his blood to cause a lot of bad things. If the other could then what would it mean for the people who had gathered here?

Would they all die?

Fu Hua could guess their thoughts from their body language alone which caused him no small amount of amusement. Poor gullible people really believed all those rumours he had spread such a long time ago.

"I'm human so it is likely I will bleed when I receive a cut. It will stop bleeding before you know it. But this miasma is getting thicker by the second. I'm afraid the central array must have been disturbed for this to happen '' it must have been disturbed recently, maybe even in the last few seconds.

Fu Hua had felt the ripple the second it had happened. It had been more than a mere pick at the array. Someone had tried to temper with it but without any real direction.

To Fu Hua's senses, this shift felt more like an experimental poke rather than an accident or intentional. Was someone trying to take this array down? They were not doing a great job of it.

They had just made this alright situation dangerous for everyone involved and there was only one other party Fu Hua could think of who would have done this.

'Damn nobles and their high pride' Fu Hua could not help but complain. Did the kid have to try his hand at this without any prior knowledge? Was he really that keen to die?

"I'll go ahead and check things out. You stay here or call for help. This area is no longer safe" noble Lee said something but Fu Hua was too far ahead to listen to it properly.