Later that night, back in the boys' room.
The disciples had gathered in a rough circle. Chen Wu spread the map flat in the lamp's light and smoothed it with both palms so everyone could see.
It was well detailed, marking how many steps after each trap and what type it was.
Hou Zi crouched closer. "Should we also take the left one?"
"The sealed door is the objective, but what's on the right side? Shouldn't we explore it too?"
said a disciple from the other side of the circle.
Other disciples also joined.
"No it can be risky."
"How, do you know that? We should explore it, maybe there is another pathway."
"No, maybe it's another trap."
"Humph, are you scared already, Hou zi?"
"What did you say?"
"SHUT UP." Su ling shouted as she looked at everyone then turned to Chen Wu who was sitting silent from the beginning.
All quietened down as they turned towards him who sat like in a daze, staring at nothing and distracted by thoughts; however, it wasn't the noise that woke him up but the silence.
His eyes moved across the silent group, his face offering no expression. "We will go through the left door for now and return to the sect immediately."
Hou Zi asked, calmly. "And if opening the door triggers something?"
Chen Wu took a deep breath. "We deal with it."
Nobody argued.
The lamp burned lower as the discussion continued.
The next morning they left before dawn. The village head was at the main gate despite the hour, standing with two guards and Bai Feng beside him, watching the group file out with an unreadable expression.
Reaching back at the campsite, they didn't waste any more time and walked straight through it toward the crack. The cold air rising from below reached them while the crack itself was still hidden by the trees.
Chen Wu stopped at its edge and looked down at the stairs disappearing into the darkness, the group assembling behind him. A rope had already been secured. One by one, they used it to descend.
Stepping onto the stairs, the spiritual lamps they carried pushed back the darkness, revealing the walls on either side while everything beyond them remained black. The cold deepened and the sounds of the forest above slowly faded.
"Let's move slowly," Chen Wu said, moving forward, the disciples followed him.
With the map, the descent became easier. Chen Wu checked the markings again and again as they moved. When a trap was marked, he stopped them, counted the steps, and guided them around it.
Hidden blades, loose stones appeared exactly where the map had warned and luckily none of them were triggered.
After several hours, the stairs finally ended, and the corridor opened ahead. At the far end stood the same door the man had described.
The group approached it.
The door was larger than they expected, its surface covered in old inscriptions worn by time.
Chen Wu stepped forward and stopped a few steps away as if already knowing something about it.
Su Ling also moved forward and stood beside him, making it clear he wasn't alone. And others did the same.
A small smile appeared on Chen Wu's face, and they all placed their hands on the door at the same time.
CREEEK
A low sound came from the door, and it opened before—
"HAH, SO MANY YOUNG CULTIVATORS, YET NONE OF YOU HAVE WHAT MY INHERITOR SHOULD, STILL… I CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER." A heavy, mysterious voice rang in everyone's ears.The disciples looked at one another but did not retreat and stepped inside.
...…..
Bai Village appeared through the morning haze. I joined the line of merchants waiting to enter, the horse moving forward at its own pace.
Yue Lian sat in front of me with her chin resting on her hands, her eyes moving across everything with bright but tired attention.
After entering without any problem, the village opened up around us which was different from what I expected. Still, after the long road behind us, the first thing I noticed was how tired we both felt.
Our clothes looked worn—faces thin from traveling for so long on the horse which also was exhausted.
So I guided the horse toward the center of the village where a large tavern sat at the junction of two main streets, its doors open and the smell of food coming through them into the street.
Yue Lian was already leaning forward before I had fully stopped….
The tavern we entered was busy, most tables full, the noise of conversation and the clatter of dishes filling the low-ceilinged room.
We found a table near the back wall and sat down. Yue Lian pulled off her thick outer robe and folded it beside her.
Then a server came and she pointed at everything on the nearest table that looked interesting without waiting to be asked what she wanted, and I simply nodded to the server.
The food arrived quickly. Steamed buns, braised meat, a bowl of thick soup, pickled vegetables, and a plate of something fried that Yue Lian immediately claimed entirely for herself.
She looked at it for a moment, then fell on it like someone who had been living on travel rations for three days.
"Mmm." She chewed rapidly. "It's so good." and reached for another piece without pausing. "Much better than those burnt meat pieces you made on the road."
I said nothing and continued eating under the cloth still wrapped around my face.
That's when I heard them.
"Mmmm, It was really good," a man said in a thin voice as he stepped out from a separate room, moving through the space as if it belonged to him. Behind him, three more men followed who looked like his subordinates.
The fat man at the front of the group stopped right next to our table. He looked at it, at the food, and then picked up a piece of braised meat from the plate between us and put it in his mouth.
I sighed. "Not again."
The table went quiet. Yue Lian looked up at him, chewing slowly as he looked at her too, then licked his fingers one by one while the men behind him laughed, all of them reeking of alcohol.
Yue Lian's chopsticks stopped moving.
"That was mine, you fat pig," she said.
The laughter stopped and the fat man looked at her with the expression of someone encountering something unexpected.
"What did you say, brat?"
Then his eyes moved to me sitting across from her, eating without looking up. "Didn't you teach this brat her manners?"
The others spread around the table, filling the space on both sides. One of them leaned toward me. "Can't you talk? Answer when the Master speaks to you."
Another one spoke."Why are you wearing that scarf anyway?"
Someone laughed. "Probably his face is ugly. Too ugly to show."
But I continued eating, ignoring their trash talk.
However, Yue Lian stood up from her seat, her chin raised, voice coming out with confidence.
"Ugly?" She looked straight at the fat man.
"My brother is the most beautiful man here. You're the ugly one. You fat pig."
The tavern went very still!
The fat man's face changed completely. The lazy amusement that had been sitting on it collapsed, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, his hand raising.
"YOU CALLED ME THAT AGAIN—"
"Stop it." Suddenly, a female voice came from behind, causing his arm to stop mid-motion.
Yue Lian's confidence left her face the moment the hand grabbed her wrist. She pulled free as the fat man's attention shifted, then ran around the table and pressed herself against my side, tucking her face into my robe.
The female walked forward through the group, which parted around her without being asked.
She was young, dressed better than anyone else in the tavern, her beauty carrying the ease of authority.
The fat man turned toward her with his arm coming down, a smile replacing the anger with practiced speed. "Sister Xia, I was only—"
"I know what you were doing," she said while looking at both of us. "Just don't make a huge scene." Then she turned back.
The fat man's smile held. He waved his hand behind him, and the men around the table moved. One grabbed my arm from behind, another reached for Yue Lian.
Yue Lian made a small sound and pressed closer against me.
"Hehe, you can get out of this if you only—" he said, his eyes sliding toward Yue Lian in a way that made her grip on my robe tighten.
"Mm?" I looked into the fat man's eyes.
Where his eyes should have been visible. But for me there was nothing but empty sockets.
"Your eyes… where are they?"
Confusion moved through the group.
And in the same motion, my right hand moved swiftly to his face which was too fast for them to notice. Then I placed my hand flat on the table, palms up, and opened them.
Two eyeballs sat in my palms, their pupils moving slowly.
"Ah," I said pleasantly. "Here they are."