It has been four days," Elder Han Yue said, his voice like grinding stones. He paced before the rift, his hands knotted behind his back, first to the right, then a sharp turn to the left. "Four days, and not a single message has made it out."
"Patience, Han Yue," Lin Yufei said, though she watched the mountain nervously. "Panicking helps no one."
"How can I not?" he snapped. "My sect disciples are in there!"
Yan Beiming, the Crimson Sun Elder, stared at the mountain's peak. "Huh,"According to the ancient records, any being beyond the early Foundation Establishment stage is physically barred from entering. Isn't that right?"
Lin Yufei nodded slowly. "That is what the scrolls say."
"Then there is nothing inside more powerful than a Foundation practitioner," Yan Beiming concluded, his confidence returning. "They are likely just lost in the tunnels. There is no need for this gloom."
Ten Kilometers Away.
Hidden behind a tree,Old Lady Shen watched the three Elders with eyes full of pity. Beside her, Doctor Lu Cheng held his breath, his aura suppressed to a sliver.
"Fools," she hissed. "They trust the ink on a page more than the scent of death in the air. That record book is their disciples' death warrant."
She looked at the mountain, her heart heavy. How do I reach him? She gripped the hilt of her hidden blade. The three idiots at the gate aren't the problem. I could sweep them aside with my ultimate technique... but the thing inside...
A cold shiver, something she hadn't felt in centuries, raced down her spine.She thought, Five hundred years ago, I barely escaped that abyss. And back then, I was a goddess compared to what I am now. Only a Nascent Soul monster could hope to kill that creature.
Xinyi's pale face flashed in her mind. She only has three days left.But now the promised I made too her...
"NO!" Shen shouted, the frustration boiling over.
The three Elders ten kilometers away froze. "Did you hear that?" Lin Yufei whispered. Their spiritual senses swept the forest like a physical wave, searching twenty kilometers in every direction.
Doctor Lu Cheng instantly clamped his hand over Old Lady Shen's mouth, his eyes wide. "Are you insane?!" he hissed. "Do you want them to find us?"
Old Lady Shen pulled away, her eyes wide with a different kind of fear. "I just remembered," she whispered. "The boy. His cultivation is frozen in there. No one can use Qi."
Lu Cheng's face went white. "That's... that's a death sentence."
He thought,then how did you escape 500 year ago?he asked.
Old lady shen turned around,it won't be easy,she said.
She looked toward the dark peaks. "Let's pray he meets the one," she whispered. "And not the others."
Inside the Abyss
The tunnel didn't just shake; the walls began to slide inward, clapping together like giant stone hands. "RUN!" Wang Fang roared.
Su Qingmei, Xuan, and the others were the first to bolt. In the chaos, a disciple shoved Xuan aside. Xuan snarled and kicked the boy back into the narrowing gap. "You sacrifice yourself for us!" he screamed.
Wang Fang reached back to pull the boy up, but the terrified disciple, blinded by panic, shoved Wang Fang away instead.
Wang Fang's eyes darkened as he stumbled back. I tried to save you...
Ahead, Su Qingmei glanced back. He saw the walls closing. He saw Wang Fang trapped. I planned to use him, he thought coldly, but he's dead anyway.
BOOM.
The walls slammed shut. Wang Fang's scream was cut short as the mountain swallowed him.
Meanwhile Ye Heimin's eyes fluttered open. He felt the cold drag of stone against his back. He kicked his legs free and scrambled up, clutching his mangled chest. "Who's there? Who are you?"
A laugh echoed, distorted and broken.
Ye Heimin backed away, but then the figure in the shadows turned. Its head twisted a full 180 degrees without the body moving.
Ye Heimin's heart stopped. The creature had three eyes, two where they belonged, and one vertical slit. It had two mouths along its jawline and ears like the gills of a fish. Ye Heimin felt his soul being torn. His blood boiled, his vision turned to static, and he fainted.
Wang Fang opened his eyes. I'm... alive? I thought I was crushed.
He stood up, shaking the dust from his robes. He wasn't in a tunnel anymore. He was in a place surrounded by grey, lifeless leaves. Ahead of him stood a tall figure.
At first, it looked like a man with no face. But then, it shifted.
Wang Fang's breath hitched. Fish-like ears. Two mouths. And as the head tilted, three eyes snapped open, glowing with a light that didn't belong to this world.
In that moment Wang Fang felt a violent tugging at his chest. It wasn't his Qi being attacked; it was his very soul being pulled toward the stranger.