Bai Zhu stood in the dark passageway, the red dot on the system map hovering in front of his chest.
Distance: 0.1 meters.
He raised a hand and swept it through the air before him. The wind from his palm passed through the darkness, and nothing changed on the stone floor.
Bai Zhu took another step forward, slowly raising the tip of his blade. Reiatsu spread along his arm, but all he sensed was an extremely empty space.
The red dot was still there.
Right in front of him.
"Transparent?"
Bai Zhu reached forward again. His five fingers passed through that patch of darkness and grabbed nothing.
Just as he was about to retreat, his chest suddenly tightened.
A force clamped onto his chest through his skin, and fine stinging pain spread across the skin there.
Bai Zhu's Reiatsu erupted on its own.
That tearing force was forcibly blocked outside his body. Shreds of fabric drifted down from his chest, while the red dot on the system map suddenly retreated at the same moment, pulling straight into the depths of the ruins.
"Hit and run?"
Then a tremendous boom came from the end of the darkness.
Boom!
Before Bai Zhu could determine where the sound had come from, the red dot closed in again.
Bai Zhu only felt a heavy blow slam into his chest.
The protective Reiatsu around him caved in deeply. Bai Zhu was sent flying backward, his back crashing into the Black Gate. The inscriptions on the Stone Gate lit up at the same time, and the rebound force surged down his spine into his chest.
Pfft!
Blood burst from his throat.
Bai Zhu slammed face-first onto the ground. Hozukimaru slipped from his hand and skidded away, its hilt striking the stone slab with a soft clink.