Chapter 10

“. . . .”

A dark  structure with a mysterious woman. Who was wearing a long black cloak with a wide hood which was hiding her identity. This mysterious woman began to walk around in the streets of the capital in the middle of the night.

The woman entered the nearest pub, slight orange lights attracting outsiders, welcoming them into this specific pub, that was popular around this area.

As the woman entered the pub, she caught too much attention, because of her strange appearance, people found it suspicious, except for a single someone.

“May I help you. .?”

The pub servant stood before the strange looking female, after she has chosen a suitable seat.

“Yuju wine, please” The female spoke with a feminine voice. Which was calm yet sharp at the same time, ringing as it sounded low but can be clearly heard.

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Yuju wine: A sweet flavored wine that is usually served warm. The wine has a beautiful odor similar to that of mixed flowers. Which is a lot similar to osmanthus wine.

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As she rose her hand towards the pub servant, before speaking. The servant noticed something on her white clear skin, on her arm when a piece of the cloak fell off it. A strange looking tattoo, which had a drawing of a red thorny flower, the rest of the tattoo was covered by an armed guard that she wore.

The servant's face completely became pale, blanched and dead so suddenly. With this shock on his face after looking at this her arm. As if fear grip his heart with an iron fist. He bowed his head before hurrying back to prepare what she had ordered.

The servant ran towards the pub manager, he then started whispering in his ear with the same terrified expression on his countenance.

“Sir! do you see the hooded person over there?”

The servant said hesitantly while pointing from afar, straight at the mysterious hooded woman on the other side.

“Yes. You seem brooding, what about it?”

“She!. . . .She has the Thorny venom tattoo!”

The manager stood in his spot frozen. Unable to speak or respond.

Anxious, when his face also wore the same expression the servant wore.

The manager retained his sense of awareness after a few moments, before speaking to the servant.

“Did she order something?”

The manager spoke hesitantly.

“Yes— Oh come on, of course she did, what kind of question is that, sir?!” The servant responded, as he felt annoyance towards his boss's abrupt question, which was a complete nonsense in this situation.

“Don't just stand right here! Act normal. Do not do anything stupid, or else we will be doomed!” The manager yelled at his worker, before he had hurried back to his work. The servant returned back to the female after a short while. He placed a jar filled with wine, and a small round plate to pour the wine into it.

“Sorry for the wait, it has been a busy day”

The servant said with a shaken, breathy voice. Before heading back to his work. Suddenly a sharp feminine voice which echoed through his ears, interrupting him from moving any further.

“Good to know that you have noticed, who i am. Better keep this low, if you treasure your life that is”

A strike of fear stroke the servant's heart. Which made him stop moving in an instant. Not daring to look behind him. He quickly ran back to his work, he quickly realized that her presence was to be concealed, for the sake of his own. The infamous assassin, Xingfu.

She started pouring the wine into the small plate. As her mind gathered the fragments of a certain memory, the entire conversation she had with Shaō Ming began to replay, like a lost scene.

[A Glimpse from earlier]

Shaō ming, the woman in the fancy red clothing, entered a forest.

Shaō ming stood before the tree. While shaking slightly before calling out for a certain someone, when the sun was nearly set to switch places with the moon.

Shaō ming gulped before speaking.

“My lady Xingfu! My lord has sent me with a message.”

Shaō ming bowed her head before the tree while raising her hands upwards. No response, yet there was something strange about this tree, a certain sound seems to repeat frequently over time. A silhouette of a certain someone seems to be laying on one of the tree's large branches covered with dry moss. Which was above shaō ming's head.

Shaō ming didn't just stop here, she moved her hand towards her a pouch which was attached to her hip. She took out a paper, and in this paper, there was a drawing of someone, the drawing of a male, who is supposed to be Zuojia, yet it seemed completely different.

She held the paper up, towards the tree.

“Lady Xingfu, my lord has asked me to recruit you for the assassination of this man. He said that nobody else is fit to do this task, but you...”

Shaō ming finished laying the message. Which her lord had ordered her to lay on. Yet no response came from the person above. A long moment of silence while shaō ming was waiting for this certain someone to answer her. Finally, shaō ming decided to talk but when she opened her mouth, attempting to speak. Something had tapped her shoulder. A hand was laid on her shoulder which had completely paralyzed from the fear she had at this moment. She didn't dare to speak that time. Yet she started breathing heavily as she moved her sight trying to look behind her, from the corner of her eyes. A calm yet sharp voice spoke into her ear. Which spread chills across Shaō Ming's body in an instant.

The voice said

“I refuse, you may leave now…”

Shaō ming dropped the paper with the drawing on the ground. Before attempting to talk once more. Especially when she remembered what her lord had said about convincing Xingfu.

“My lord said....that he will reward you for this task to be done, please Lady Xingfu”

Suddenly Xingfu who's wearing the long cloak stood before Shaō Ming. Then she crouched to pick up the paper that shaō ming dropped.

Looking deeply into the drawing of this man, as her nose sneered, cringing a bit, while gazing into the paper. “Tsk tsk…”

“My Lady I-”

Shaō ming's speech was interrupted by Xingfu's voice which echoed through the area.

“You may leave.”

Shaō ming refrained from talking back to Xingfu. She realized that Xingfu was already annoyed by her presence, she stood up slowly before heading outside of the deep forest. To report the situation back to her master.

[Meanwhile in the pub]

Xingfu stopped sipping the wine. When she stood up after remembering something which has been repeating inside of her mind, over and over. A certain saying crossed her mind and interrupted her moment of peace.

“He defeated all the guards in Yan Zhu’s palace, singlehandedly by a mysterious technique”

This was the last thing that crossed Xingfu's mind when. Before she placed a few silver coins on the table. She walked outside the pub. Then the servant noticed that she already left. When he went outside to make sure of it, he saw no one there that time.

“Where did she. . .?”

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［Meanwhile deep into the mountain］

“Ngh. . .”

Zuojia slowly woke up, to find himself somewhere completely different from where he was before he went to sleep. Fire torches were hanged around many parts in the place they were in. A room with rocky walls and nothing around them but an extremely awful smell, bad aroma which made him cough several times.

“Agh dammit, this smells more disgusting than a geezer’s undies”

When he tried moving his hand to cover his nose. He found out that he was unable to move any part of his body as if he was paralyzed. Yet he couldn’t feel both of his hands nor any part of his body. He noticed that his hands, were tied in strong chains, as he noticed that he was pinned against the wall by those chains.

“Nice dream, but i will have wake up now—”

“You're already awake damn it! ”

A familiar voice spoke beside Zuojia and apparently, it was Zongse. Who was also pinned against the wall beside Zuojia. Apparently, he was also unable to move as well since they were both looking at each other by the corners of their eyes.

“Zongse! What are you doing in my dream?”

Zuojia asked with a surprised look on his face.

“Zuojia, Zuojia...YOU ARE NOT ASLEEP!”

Zongse cried angrily, the situation was very serious, yet Zuojia couldn't see anything sketchy about it.

“Pinch me then, prove it!” Zuojia spoke in a child-like manner.

“I can't you airhead! I'm paralyzed just like you are, currently!” Zongse sighed. Trying not to lose his temper so easily because of Zuojia's aplomb personality.

“You were asleep like a damn rock, I'm surprised that you didn't even sense their presence when they got us here. . .the demon maidens.” Zongse said.

“Demon. . .maidens? What are you babbling about now?”

“Rumors said; that they live deep within the mountain as a punishment from the heavens, they cannot come in contact with humans, they can alter the appearance of beautiful women and kidnap humans to devour them, especially men you see... Why are you looking at me like that?”

Zongse paused, noticing that Zuojia started giving him an irritated look, his face seemed hopeless, with lack of optimism.

“Your woman-magnet face is the main reason after all. . .” Said Zuojia.

Zongse sighed, before inhaling a decent amount if air, a nerve seemed to grow visible, on the right side of his head, a moment of tranquility before the mad eruption.

“YOU LUMBERING OAF, BE MORE SERIOUS!”

Zongse closed his eyes, his voice became a little breathy as he continued his explanation to Zuojia.

"Apparently, the rumors and the legends were true. . .we have broken into their territory. I saw them enter the chamber, several times when you were still asleep.”

Zuojia was completely silenced by what Zongse had said. Until something came across Zuojia's mind, which made him question Zongse about it.

“Is Kaijin beside you?!”

“No. .i haven't seen him since we got here. Allowing this boy to tag along wasn't the best idea Zuojia.”

Zongse said so, which made Zuojia slowly close his eyes in deep concentration, focusing on something deep within himself. A moment of silence before Zuojia decided to ask Zongse something out of the blue.

“Your pressure points. . .can you feel any pain within them?”

“No, if we were to be paralyzed by our pressure points then we could have been able to break through. We must have been drugged. The poison must have stopped our limbs from functioning temporarily”

Zongse said. Which made Zuojia spit on the ground, before speaking.

“That explains the sour taste in my mouth, the food in your bag was too sour as well”

“Yes— What?!”

They both remained silent. Yet Zuojia wore a serious yet focused look on his face. His thoughts were in deep concern about Kaijin's whereabouts. The moment of silence was vexed by the sound of the door at the end of the room, being opened slowly, the door seemed to be old which was releasing an annoying creak noise, resulted from the friction between the door and the ground.

“. . .?!”

 A blurry figure entered the room. The closer it came, the taller it seemed. Until this tall humanoid structure walked towards the end of the room and it dropped something on the ground. When both, Zuojia and Zongse looked at this side of the room. They found many remains of dead animals laying there which gave them a conclusion, that this source of the awful smell that was filling the entire atmosphere. Then this humanoid structure turned it's head towards them, both of them wore a shocked expression on their faces when they saw this terrifying being standing across the room while looking at them. A tall humanoid creature with large teeth, a long pitch black hair with completely dark-black eyes. Suddenly this creature's appearance started changing, slowly until it took the shape of a shorter person. A beautiful female with blood around her mouth, closed her eyes as she smiled at both of them slowly.

“Heh. .heh~ I really hope you enjoy your residence!”

She giggled as she spoke. Innocently yet sarcastically.

Before she slowly went outside of the

Room, pulling the door behind her.

“You believe me now, don't you?” Said Zongse.

“Well that was an ugly one!”

Zuojia said abruptly. Closing his eyes before going back to his meditative state of thinking and concentrating. Then back to the silent atmosphere once again, when Zongse started thinking about a way to escape this place, yet he was still unable to move. Which made his move to a meditative state as well. Each of them remained silent, trying to recover faster from the paralyzing drug.

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［Meanwhile Back in the cave］

Kaijin started walking around anxiously, troubled and out of options while hitting both of his fists against each other worrisomely.

“Where are they?! They dispersed to suddenly”

The rain had already stopped, he popped his head outside of the cave to look outside yet. He found nothing in there. Nobody, not even a single footprint on the muddy surface outside. Kaijin moved back into the cave, he held Zongse's bag then he started searching for something. Until he pulled out an old lantern which Zongse had. He found that it was the right time, to use such a thing since the moonlight could barely reach deep inside the cave. Kaijin managed to light the lantern. By Screwing down the wick and turning the key, on the side of the lantern upwards. A small flame began to glow until it finally started releasing enough light which nearly lit up the whole cave.

“Now, we move on”

When he managed to see clearly. He noticed odd carvings on the ground. He saw a trail, as if something was being dragged on the ground which left some traces behind it. Kaijin slowly followed this trail deep inside the cave until he found something on the ground that hit his feet while walking. He crouched to pick it up. He found the map that Zongse was holding when he already went far into the cave.

“How did it get here?”

He moved the lantern before him, to find out that the cave was still way too deep inside. He placed the map inside of his pocket before continuing to walk carefully deep inside the cave. After a minute from walking, Kaijin was approached by a huge rocky wall. A deadend mind filled with thoughts, and an active body searching for his fellows. He stood before the wall while looking around until he found an underground trail. Stairs which lead to somewhere deep down into the mountain. Kaijin slowly gulped in fear before walking down the stairs. He started feeling something moving around beneath, at the end of the stairs he could feel some rustles and scratching sounds. When he got closer to the area down there he was able to see a slight light which was also coming from a fire source nearby. The light was leaking to him so he slowly turned off the lantern. Until he finally reached downstairs. He found a very long path and along that path, there were doors on each side. Yet he could hear voices of people talking on each side. And other sounds mixed together, he was unable to understand nor distinguish what was being said, yet he slowly started moving forwardly, until he saw one of the doors open up. He quickly ran towards a rock he found nearby him. He crouched his body as he hid behind that rock while looking at the door waiting to see who would come out. “Such a gloomy place..” A demonic creature slowly walked outside of the room, was no different from the one that Zuojia and Zongse saw back then in the locked room. Yet it was the first time for Kaijin to witness such creature with both of his bleak eyes, something that can only be heard as a myth, appears to completely different when witnessed.

He gazed upon the creature with his eyes widened. As it moved slowly the creature stood before the door then it started sniffing something around it heavily.

“Ahhh~ meat! Fresh meat! Juicy and sweet!!” The creature spoke with an ere tone, creepy yet disturbing and croaky.

Kaijin lowered his head slowly behind the rock trying to silence himself by placing his hand over his mouth. Hoping that the creature wouldn't find him. The demonic creature instantly went down on its hands and legs like a four legged animal. Then it started running towards the other end of the tunnel until it had disappeared.

Kaijin looked at the demon from behind the rock, it got engulfed by the darkness, as it went far away. Before releasing a sigh of relief.

He thought to himself silently.

“Zuojia and Zongse are inside there, i have to find them before an atrocious outcome!”

He regained his courage once more before moving toward the door that the creature opened. He could still hear some noise coming from inside. He hid behind the wall nearby the door. Only allowing his face to take a small glimpse of what's inside.

At some point, he was able to hear some noises similar to the tearing of something slithery that contains a bit amount of liquid into it.

Yet what he saw inside stroke fear into his heart even more. He saw more of these creatures. They were tearing the flesh of something before them, the sound of the tearing flesh was very obvious, when they were tearing it and eating it in an inhuman way. He slowly backed away. But something caused him to stop moving at this moment, a croaky voice echoed from behind Kaijin.

“I found you~”

It was the sound of the same creature who had exited the room. This time the creature was hanged on the wall above Kaijin. It was sticking to the wall with both of its hands and legs which made it attached to the wall like lizards.

This made Kaijin freeze in his spot unable to move an inch from the fear which had hit his heart when he saw this creature above him all of a sudden and out of nowhere.

“. . . . !?”

A very unsettling smile on its face when it looked down at Kaijin. The two other creatures inside the room quickly looked at Kaijin, when they saw him standing outside there. They released a very loud and disturbing screech which had echoed through the whole tunnel.

The screech had reached up to Zuojia and Zongse. Zongse broke out of the meditation state.

“What's this. . ?!” Zongse asked.

Yet Zuojia seemed to be completely silent. In deep concentration but a serious grin was formed over his face while his eyes were closed.

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The creature above Kaijin saw that the two others were approaching towards Kaijin, yet she wanted to have him all for herself as her own meal. So it quickly jumped on Kaijin when he was frozen in his spot.

“This is it. . ? Is it over for me. . .?”

Being terrified prevented his body from moving. Frozen from the shock. Yet danger was approaching.  On the verge of losing his own life.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .