Mist Rises

The passage continued to descend.

The slope gradually steepened, and water began to pool underfoot. It reached the soles of their shoes in shallow areas and their ankles in deeper sections.

The water was bone-chillingly cold and carried a metallic, rusty, and fishy odor.

The light from the torches was mostly swallowed by the darkness, illuminating only about ten feet ahead. The seven of them walked closely together, able to hear each other's breathing.

Li Xuan walked five paces behind Ying, his gaze fixed on the cave walls on either side.

As they went deeper, the chisel marks became increasingly fresh.

They didn't look like old marks from thirty years ago. Some chisel marks had sharp, distinct edges, neither rounded by water flow nor covered in dust.

They looked more like someone had been there in recent years.

He slowed down by half a step and turned his head towards a side passage on the right.

That passage was half as narrow as the main one, and the entrance was piled with rubble, as if it hadn't been cleared after a cave-in.

But the positions of a few stones on the rubble pile were odd. The surfaces of the stones were free of dust, as if they had been moved and then replaced.

However, there was still too little information for now.

He withdrew his gaze and remained silent.

"Stop."

Ying suddenly spoke.

Everyone halted simultaneously.

The passage ahead suddenly narrowed, becoming a crevice only one person wide. The rock walls on either side of the crevice were smooth, as if polished by something rather than naturally formed.

Ying crouched down and reached out to the edge of the crevice.

"There's wind."

Everyone's expression tensed.

Wind meant the crevice connected to a larger space beyond, not a dead end.

"I'll go first," Shi Yong said.

He turned sideways and squeezed into the crevice, holding his heavy saber horizontally in front of him.

His broad shoulders and wide back made it difficult to move in the narrow space. He gritted his teeth and forced his way through, his leather armor scraping against the rock walls with a harsh sound.

After three breaths, he finally managed to squeeze through.

"It's passable," his voice came from the other side of the crevice. "Come over, be careful of your footing."

Ying was second.

His slender frame moved through the crevice like a fish in water, silently.

Li Xuan was third.

He squeezed through sideways, one hand gripping his saber hilt. The narrowest part of the crevice was less than two feet wide; he had to tuck in his stomach and hold his breath to pass. The rock wall on his left was cold and smooth, but the wall on his right felt different—

Rough, with small protrusions.

He glanced over.

Those weren't rock protrusions.

They were carvings.

Dense, overlapping carvings, old and new intertwined, as if countless people had used their fingers, their knife tips, their teeth...

He withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace.

Three breaths later, he emerged from the crevice.

The sight before him opened up suddenly.

It was a massive natural cave, over thirty feet high and about a hundred paces in circumference. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like the fangs of a giant beast. There was a pool of water on the cave floor, reflecting the faint light of the torches.

But everyone's eyes were on the center of the cave.

A stone platform stood there.

It was about ten feet high and thirty feet in area, with a flat surface and carved edges. A stone pillar stood at each corner of the platform, its body covered in runes—the same origin as the symbol at the cave entrance, but a hundred times more complex.

In the center of the stone platform, there was an object.

It was impossible to tell what it was. The distance was too great, and the torchlight couldn't reach it.

"What is that?" Su Ying asked softly.

No one answered.

Ying walked to the edge of the pool, crouched down, and reached into the water. After a moment, he stood up.

"The water isn't deep. We can cross."

Shi Yong looked at everyone.

"Let's go take a look. Zhou Wen, Zhou Wu, stay here and guard the crevice. The rest of you, follow me."

Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu nodded, stepping to the sides of the rift. They leaned against the rock wall, drawing their Long Swords.

Li Xuan was the second to step into the pool.

The water was deeper than he'd expected, reaching his thighs. The bottom was covered in fine mining slag and crushed stone, making each step feel like walking on unstable ground. He lowered his center of gravity and moved forward slowly.

Behind him was Su Ying, her hammerhead submerged in the water, leaving a long ripple in its wake.

Xu He followed her, his expression grim, clearly disliking the cold, stagnant water.

Ying walked last, its footsteps silent, as if gliding across the water's surface.

Ten zhang.

Five zhang.

Three zhang.

The stone platform grew closer.

The runes also became clearer.

They weren't carved in, but inlaid.

Carved grooves were filled with some kind of black stone, polished smooth, blending seamlessly with the rock face. The black stone emitted a faint glow under the torchlight, like the pupils of living eyes.

Shi Yong stepped onto the stairs at the edge of the stone platform. One step, two steps, three steps—

He stood in the center of the platform.

Then he froze.

"What's wrong?" Su Ying asked.

Shi Yong didn't answer.

He stared at the object in the center of the platform, unmoving.

Li Xuan quickened his pace and stepped onto the platform.

He saw it too.

It was a corpse.

But not an ordinary corpse.

The body sat cross-legged, its posture upright, hands forming a mudra in front of its abdomen. The skin and flesh had long since shriveled, clinging to the bones, a dark brown color, like dried preserved meat. It wore tattered robes, their color indistinguishable, but the style—

Li Xuan's pupils constricted slightly.

Those were the robes of a Barbarian Shaman.

A wolf head totem was embroidered on the chest. Though faded and torn, the outline remained.

A Shaman.

A Barbarian Shaman, dead in an abandoned mine within Crimson Firmament Sect territory.

Died thirty years ago?

Shi Yong squatted down to examine the body.

"How long has it been dead?"

Xu He leaned in, picked up a piece of shriveled skin and flesh, and examined it for a few moments.

"Hard to say. The mine is cold and dry, so the corpse would decay very slowly." He paused. "At least ten years."

"A Barbarian Shaman, dead within our sect's territory?" Shi Yong frowned. "Is this related to the incident with the miners back then?"

No one could answer.

Li Xuan shifted his gaze from the corpse, scanning the area around the stone platform.

The edge of the platform was covered in runes, similar to those on the cave walls. But there was one difference—

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Directly behind the corpse, there was a thin, long rift extending from the platform's edge to the cave wall. The rift wasn't wide, about two fingers across, and its depth was unfathomable.

He walked forward, squatted down, and leaned in to look.

Something was moving inside the rift.

A faint mist slowly emerged from the depths of the rift, like the breath of a living creature.

"Shi Yong," Li Xuan said, his voice extremely low.

"What?"

"Look here."

Shi Yong walked over, squatted down, and followed Li Xuan's gaze to the rift.

He saw the mist too.

"What is this—"

The words weren't finished.

A muffled thud came from behind.

Both of them turned their heads at the same time.

Su Ying stood at the edge of the stone platform, her long-handled hammer planted on the ground, her face blank.

"I... I didn't move."

But everyone saw the pool of water three feet behind her, its surface rippling.

One circle.

Two circles.

Three circles.

The ripples grew larger and larger, as if something was slowly rising from the bottom of the water.

"Retreat!" Shi Yong roared.

The seven of them retreated simultaneously, gathering towards the center of the stone platform.

The water surface broke.

A dark figure rose from the water.

It was humanoid.

Covered entirely in black mud, its face was indistinguishable, only two balls of eerie green light in its eye sockets.

It stood on the water's surface as if walking on solid ground.

Then, it began to walk towards the stone platform.

"What is that?!" Xu He's voice trembled slightly.

Ying drew its blade and stood on guard.

Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu saw the commotion at the rift and simultaneously rushed into the pool.

But the dark figure was faster.

It stepped onto the platform's edge, less than thirty feet from everyone.

Li Xuan gripped the hilt of his saber.

Just then--

The dried-up shaman corpse beside him suddenly opened its eyes.

There were no eyeballs in its sockets.

Only two balls of green light.

Exactly the same as the dark figure.

Shi Yong cursed and swung his heavy saber horizontally!

The blade struck the shaman corpse, hitting it like rotten leather, leaving only a shallow mark.

The corpse didn't move.

But the stone platform beneath it began to vibrate.

The black runes embedded in the edge of the stone platform lit up one by one.

Green light surged from the corpse's eye sockets, spreading along the runes, radiating in all directions.

Li Xuan looked down.

The rune beneath his feet lit up.

The mist surging from the rift at his feet suddenly accelerated.

The mist flowed over the edge of the rift, over the surface of the stone platform, over the top of his shoes.

Cold.

Sticky.

Wriggling as if alive.

"Withdraw!" Shi Yong roared, "Everyone, withdraw!"

Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu had already reached the edge of the stone platform and reached out to pull Su Ying. Su Ying's face was deathly pale, her legs rooted to the ground, unable to move.

Xu He was the first to turn and charge towards the rift.

Ying drew its blade and covered their retreat, its gaze fixed on the dark figure.

Li Xuan also moved.

He turned and charged towards the rift.

Water splashed with every step as he ran across the pool. He lowered his center of gravity, saber in hand, his eyes locked on the narrow rift ahead—the only exit.

Behind him, the mist grew thicker and thicker.

The black shadow stepped onto the center of the stone platform, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Shaman's corpse. Two balls of green light simultaneously turned towards the direction the crowd was fleeing. There was no sound, but a chill pierced their spines as if it were tangible.

Li Xuan did not look back.

He ran very fast. The foundation of Shadow Step was still there, barely usable even in the water.

Ahead, Shi Yong had already reached the mouth of the rift, shouting hoarsely, "Quick! Quick!"

Li Xuan was about to accelerate--

In his peripheral vision, a figure was frozen in place.

It was Su Ying.

She stood in the center of the pool, still seven or eight steps from the rift. She gripped the long hammer in her hands but didn't swing it. She was like a statue, staring at the black shadow behind her, her face deathly pale.

She couldn't move.

Li Xuan's footsteps didn't falter.

He brushed past her, grabbing her by the back of her collar with his left hand and yanking her forward forcefully.

Su Ying stumbled forward, the hammerhead dragging a wake through the water.

"Run!" Li Xuan growled, releasing her and continuing to charge forward.

Su Ying staggered into the rift, Li Xuan right behind her.

Behind them, a cold hand reached for the edge of the rift--

Then stopped.

As if blocked by something, unable to enter.

Li Xuan didn't look.

He passed through the rift, his feet landing on solid rock, and continued to run forward.

He stopped only after running twenty zhang, turning back.

On the other side of the rift, the green light had disappeared.

Only thick fog churned slowly at the rift's entrance, as if an invisible wall blocked their path.

"Everyone... everyone got out?" Shi Yong's voice came from not far away, his breathing ragged.

Li Xuan counted heads.

Seven.

Everyone was there.

Su Ying collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, the hammer having slipped from her grasp at some point. She looked up at Li Xuan, her lips moving as if she wanted to say thank you but couldn't make a sound.

"That thing didn't chase us?" Xu He's voice trembled.

"It can't get through." Ying stood at the edge of the rift, staring at the invisible barrier. "The rift has a restriction. It was set up thirty years ago."