Chapter – 20 - An Escape To Remember!

The night was dark and deep. Through her mind-reading and hearing perception practice in the arena earlier, she had discovered that this was the Night of the Demonic Moon. A lunar eclipse night, which came once in a few decades, where both the white and gray moon were devoured by the all-encompassing darkness.

Only the red moon remained in the sky, glowing with an ominous light. The whole city was submerged in this weird reddish light, looking like a horror film setting. The red moon on this night gave off a highly volatile energy, which could harm normal cultivators, so most people stayed in the safety of their rooms. The city itself was completely enclosed in an orange-ish array which filtered the volatile energy, thus lessening the damage to a bare minimum.

However, this night was especially beneficial for all demonic beasts. The volatile energy helped in enhancing their energy cores, and if lucky, they could even upgrade. So the City's Mayor had allotted a separate space outside the city – an open area guarded by an array, where the cultivators would leave their demonic beast partners before the second sun went down. Once the array was activated, no one could enter this area. It was also set-up with a Qi-gathering array, which absorbed all the spiritual energy in the surrounding, providing ample volatile energy to the beasts within.

Rihanna had asked Fluffy if he wanted to go to the Qi-gathering area. To which he shook his head hard, till she was scared his head would fly off his neck. And thus ended their little discussion.

The three surveillance cameras, aka – Wen Haoli and his pals had also tucked their tail between their legs and fled the night look-out. So there was no one currently keeping an eye on Rihanna. Which was utterly perfect for her plan!

Rihanna first took the fruit for changing her aura, followed by the herb which could change her appearance. Yeesh!....They were definitely not meant to be taken together! The pungent aroma of the fruit mixed with the bitter flavor of the herb, making her want to puke. She gritted her teeth, trying to swallow back the rising bile, disgusted by all the things these people were forcing her to do just so she could survive!

Once the nausea and dizziness passed, she jumped down from the bed and went to check her new look before the old copper mirror placed in her room. Hmmm....this time she had turned into an old man....he looked really malnourished, his bones sticking out of his flesh at sharp angles. Coppery white unkempt hair hung down the back of her head, while the front part was balding. A rough stubble grew on her face haphazardly, and the skin on the body was pretty much wrapped around the bones. This was a great improvement on the previous time she had tried this herb! Not bad at all!

Only thing she needed to remember was to take the next dose of the medicines before the effects of this dose wore off. Feature changes were random. She could maintain it by taking the next herb-bit before the effects wore off. If she was late, then the next dose would change her into someone entirely different!

Sending out her sensory perception once more to check if the lookouts were really gone, Rihanna silently stepped out of her room. Merging into the shadows of the surrounding houses and trees and walls, she disappeared into the eerie darkness of the night, swiftly running towards the end of the ghetto.

This City was very systematically built. The Mayors house cum working office was in the center, in a circular piece of land. A very wide, stone-paved road circled around this area, with two roads branching off from it towards the North Gate and the South Gate. Innumerable smaller roads also branched out of this circular road, leading to the residential areas, Commoner's Ghetto, the two markets, various departments of law, trading and internal departments of the City's Governance, Branches of the Guilds, Offices of the Alliance of Sects, Office of the City's Guardian Sect, and many other important places. The entire city was planned like a web spreading out from the center.

This central area was very well guarded, and Rihanna was feeling very tired by the time she managed to evade all the circling patrols and finally reached the south-western market. It looked very similar to the north-eastern market. Everything in this city was well synchronized to the point of being predictable and.....well, boring!

'Turn left into the alley ahead and keep going straight. Once you exit the market, you'll see a circular building made of metal. We have to go below the building.'

Ah...yes! She was escaping in the most spectacular manner.....by wading through all the garbage of the city! The city was laid with underground sewage channels, and all the channels joined in a large open tank underneath the metal building.

She reeeaaalllly did not want to do this!...But she did not have any identification on her. While coming to the city she had been lucky that a large commoner family had entered just ahead of her, and the guards had mistaken her to be a part of it. But she couldn't possibly be lucky a second time!

Staying in the shadows, Rihanna moved ahead till she caught sight of the building.

'Why are there guards here?'

'There are plenty of people who try to enter the city through the sewage channels – the city is safer than the outside. Hmmm....use Fluffy. Let him distract one of the guards. You will be able to handle the remaining guard. Their cultivation is not very high. There is an array inside. I'll tear a small opening in it's boundary for you to enter. But be fast or the opening won't last!

Rihanna glanced at Fluffy, who wagged his hairless tail in delight, then shot off like a bullet. He dodged around the shadows and climbed onto a roof opposite the building. Squinting his eyes, he shot out poison icicles at one of the guards.

Both the guards were taken aback by this sudden attack, and before they could cry out for the patrol, they noticed an ugly hog limping out of the shadows.

"You stay, I'll scare it off. It might be looking for a way to the outside to absorb the Demonic Moon essence."

One of the guards chased after the black ugly beast, not realizing that the beast had already disappeared after a few turns. Rihanna took a deep breath, then used her highest speed to attack the remaining guard. Before he could realize what had come before his face, he was already bashed unconscious. Simple and brutal!

Fluffy was already back on Rihanna's shoulder as she cautiously pushed the door open. A red light was flickering inside. Closing the door behind her, she waited for the Voice to create the opening in the array, then quickly slipped in. The rest of the walk to the underground tank was pretty smooth.

'What are you waiting for? Hurry up before the first guard returns. The way you bashed up the other guard, you'll be lucky they don't post a reward on your head!'

Rihanna could feel everything she had eaten in like ever, churning violently inside. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to close her senses. Though not fully successful, the pungent rotting stench became more bearable. Trying not to focus on what she was stepping into, she took another deep breath, and entered into the grimy, stinking sludge, wading through chest deep grossness, towards the large, round sewage pipe which would take her out of the city.

She climbed into the pipe on all fours. Anyway she would need a bath...many baths....to get this 'thing' off her body and her memories! She finally stood up when the pipe was large enough for her to stand, and the amount of sewage only reached up to her waist now.

Still it took quite an effort to wade through this thick sludge, and she kept moving forward. She had to get out tonight.....she had to get out before the night was over....she had to get out and not get caught....

Rihanna tried to recall the aura of the man she had seen in the images....the dangerous man who coveted her.....the man she had to run away from at all cost.....she was trying to boost her desire to escape through psychological attacks. And thus gaining another round of chicken blood, she pushed on ahead through the stench and muck.

'Stop. There is a smaller pipe ahead going to the right. Get into that, and keep going along that pipe.'

Rihanna had lost count of how long it had been since she had entered this nightmare. Initially she could think and feel. Now her entire body felt like heavy lead, and even her head felt heavy on her neck. She was moving through on auto-pilot mode, and turned towards the smaller pipe without a second thought.

'Stop. Look above. There should be a metal cover. Use the stones on the pipe wall to climb up. Remove the cover and we can leave this sewage channel.'

Rihanna blinked looking at the stones on the wall, then looked down at her hands and blinked again. How the hell was she supposed to climb up with her hands full of slippery muck?!