Xie Lian

As Windmaster checked the walls, I moved through the trees, and a gush of cold air rushed upon me. I spotted an entrance into somewhere deep and dark -- in some way, it reminded me of a tomb underground.

"I found something!" I called.

Once he walked over, he took a long look.

I smiled at him. "Maybe we'll find something to help us, it's worth a shot."

"I suppose," There was a gush of wind before Shi Qingxuan turned into the women I recognized -- giving me a warm smile as she held her fan stretched in front of her. "Better safe than sorry. Go ahead."

I took a deep breath before taking steps forward.

"You can do it!"

"Go ahead."

"Right behind youuu-"

I chuckled and shook my head -- she wasn't following, was she?

The stairs crumbled a bit as I stepped -- the echo bouncing off the walls. I held the side and continued down until I reached the last step. In front of me was a door, old and rusted. I wasn't sure how old this could have been. It seemed to be thousands of years old.

I slowly wrapped my hand around the doorknob, before pushing it open. Once it was out all the way, the candles flickered on.

My eyes widened, I couldn't find the words for such a display.

There seemed to be hundreds of stone statues encased and sculpted by hand. What shocked me was that they were statues of me -- carved into perfection. Of each timeline..

I was at a loss of words -- I walked around each statue, some of me as Dionxia, others of me kneeling as if I was stroking something on the ground.

I was face to face with one -- I slid my fingers across the stone encased skin, down to the crease of clothing. I moved to another that seemed to be staring in a direction, Ruoye was even carved perfectly.

There was one statue surrounded by different colored flowers -- it was brighter than all the others. I touched the hands, cupped and outstretched with a red flower in its hands -- head hung low. It was very recent.

My eyes softened, before my fingers stopped at a necklace carved on the stone. It was the same butterfly necklace around my neck.

I felt as though I couldn't breathe -- who would be watching me in this way? I wrapped a hand around my necklace, eyes wide and face flushed in a red hue. This didn't seem right -- I took a few steps back.

"Xianle! Is everything okay?!" She called back before making her way down.

I was moved out of my thoughts when she tapped my shoulder -- I flinched and looked over. "I- don't know what to say.."

"Oh? This got interesting-" She says back, taken in shock. "Better not let this person see you now, yikes-"

"This..This isn't me." I answered back, swallowing the nervousness in my voice. "Let's continue."

"Hold on, maybe we will get a clue here." She states back to me before catching the gaze of the newest statue. "Turns out I'm liking you a lot more than I originally planned-"

"Windmast-"

"If only he knew how gorgeous I was, then he'd find his sights all over me. Such a shame."

"I-

"This must be him, right? Such a man, getting your good side-" She mused, her hands on her hips.

I slowly walked over and stared -- it was me as Dionxia, holding a little boy in my arms, frozen in time, hugging and keeping the boy close to me. The boy was just a normal human, he wouldn't be alive to get these statues up to the present..

"I saved him, long ago." I said under my breath -- before heading back up quickly. "Not me, not me-"

"Xianle?! Hey, wait up! I don't like the dark! Slow down!-" She complained, doing her best to keep from getting dirty.

"Who goes there?!" A voice yelled from above before slamming his sword on the ground. It caused the tomb to shake a bit, dust and debris tossed into the air.

Me and Shi Qingxuan looked up, meeting the eyes of Lang Qianqiu, one of my closer friends.

"Oh my, it's the idiot-" She grumbled before dusting herself off. "Watch where you're putting that sword!"

"What are you doing here?!" He spat back before glaring at me. "Last I heard, you died. Again."

"If you listened, you would be much caught up by now." She states back, heading to the surface. She pushed passed Lang Qianqiu, sighing. "This stress is going to give me wrinkles, so unattractive."

"Nevermind that!" He fumed, glaring at her. "Why are you two here?! What alternate motives do you have!? Answer!"

"We have none!" I shook my hands around. "We're stuck here, just as you are!"

"Lies!"

"Don't worry. Xianle is someone who doesn't even know how to lie." Windmaster states matter-of-factly.

"Ah..I'm not sure if that's a compliment." I say, a bit confused about what this conversation had to do with me.

Lang Qianqiu stared at me for a few moments before putting his sword away. "This must be a maze. I've been in this place for 30 minutes now, nothing but rooms in this place."

"Oh really, I didn't notice," She comments back, he was about to spit venom at her before she added,"But, on a serious note, there must be something we're missing.."

"Maybe we should check that tomb again," He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I said. Come on now," She led the way, more confidence in her step now that she had competition.

"Can you shut up once in a while?!" He spat back.

"Oh? Somebody's cranky."

Once we reached the bottom of the tomb, Lang Qianqiu was shocked -- much worse than both of us were. I was a bit uncomfortable having my face plastered on stone without me knowing.

"And this makes me trust him more?!" He suddenly yelled out before finding the statue with me holding the little kid. "You were friends with him, huh?! No wonder we're stuck here! It's your fault!"

"No- No I never.." I held my hands up before sighing. "You're right, it's all my fault. Maybe if I had done something differently, we all wouldn't be stuck here."

Windmaster only watched, studying each curve and edge -- amused but shocked by the craftsmanship. She then moved to the most recent statue, pressing her finger against the gap shaped piece of the stone necklace. "Xianle. Can I see your necklace, please?"

I looked over, before carefully taking the necklace off. A part of me felt empty for doing that, but I knew San Lang would be here for me -- it wasn't time to untie the string. I couldn't worry him yet.

"Here," I dangled it to Shi Qingxuan, and she held it, observing the piece. "Who did you say gave it to you?"

"Uh.." I paused and chuckled nervously. "An old friend.."

"Well, this old friend is going to give us a chance," She mused playfully, before wrapping it around stone Lian's neck.

The tomb began to make a sharp hiss, and the ceiling began to crumble -- unstable of us all of a sudden.

"Way to go! You doomed us all!" Lang Qianqiu commented snarkily.

"Hold on!-" She spat back -- suddenly, the outline around Windmaster's shoes started to glow, followed by a low rumble. She gasped and laughed, lifting her feet up. "Oh, they're glowing!"

"Ugh-"

"Something isn't right-!" I said under my breath before all three of us sunk into the ground with a heavy thud.