?The surge of energy bore through the dirt in a single motion, pus.h.i.+ng instead of destroying a ma.s.sive hole into the wall.
For a second the other side was visible, and after that, water fell from within the walls and began surging outward.
The water once came in contact with air however, instantly transformed to vapor that began spreading through the tunnel.
"Y retreat!" I called out.
But he didn't reply, he was probably shut down.
G.o.d d.a.m.n it…
"Old Fu," I said as I turned my head. The old man's eyes seemed disillusioned and distant for a second.
"WAKE UP!" I called. The old man gasped and said, "This water is too strong!" he said as he turned his head. "None of them is able to move."
"Just go past the hole! I'll carry them!" I said.
Old Fu didn't argue. He clearly noticed my ability to resist the fog, so he dragged himself forward and into the hole that was constantly releasing the fog of the Sea of Demons.
I moved up ahead and began piling the unconscious cultivators one after another like a pile of dirty laundry over my shoulders.
Y's kneeling stance with his s.h.i.+eld mask up front protecting us was ingrained into my memory.
Y had been there for me since the day I met him, since I was a core cultivator. And now that I far surpa.s.sed Y's power… I thought I wouldn't need him, but even here, he's proving capable and sacrificing himself for us.
He may be a puppet… But he is mine!
I said as I turned, "I'll come back for you, Y."
I know the feeling of helplessness, of being useless and being unable to go against the odds. To be in the hand of a higher power, or just outright to be unable to move or act stuck in the same place forever. I know it far too well, and I promise Y, I'll make sure that the same that I swore to myself will also apply to you.
Never to be the plaything of another force, never stagnate and be dull. And to never be a slave to a higher power.
I hurried out, angry at my self mostly. Because I shouldn't have gotten trapped in here.
Old Fu had already arrived to the other side of the tunnel, but he was barely moving forward. His entire body must feel like it's under a mountain of pressure.
I had eight soldiers carried above me and was about to ask old Fu to jump up.
"Don't… even… think about it!" he said through grit teeth. "My pride won't allow me!" he said.
I smiled at the old man, indeed, someone who cultivated to his level and his ability wouldn't ever want to be carried like a bag of rags.
"The fog will soon reduce in intensity, just keep up," I said to the old man who pulled a foot after the other forward.
Soon the fog began lessening until it was almost nonexistent, however its effect was still prominent.
"The mountain's rumbling had lessened, but can you hear that," said old Fu.
"Yes, I do."
He was talking about the sound of crawling and walking. The walkers were still here, and they seem to be tracking and following us.
"Since you can still use your cultivation; why not tear apart this place?" asked old Fu.
"As much as I want to, the moment I do that, the entire mountain will collapse on us. I might be able to survive that. But the boulders will crush the rest of you to bits. Not to mention, I'll still have to deal with the hundreds of thousands of walkers," I said.
"I'm sure you can find a way out of that," he said.
"Perhaps, but I don't want to risk it. After all, the walkers here aren't only at the king level. Some are at the Emperor level, and there might even be some at the Void stage and above. For now, let's keep heading down, I have a feeling that this pa.s.sage is leading us somewhere interesting," I said.
The two of us continued heading down. Thankfully, like old Fu said, the mountain didn't tremor or shake anymore, but the creeping sound of the walkers all around us and from behind the walls was getting on my nerves.
Soon, one of the soldiers woke up, he clearly was surprised due to him being carried by me. But once he made not of his consciousness, he jumped down and asked to carry some of the weight.
"Just keep following," I said to the man, "You're too weak to even pull your feet together, follow behind us and keep a lookout," I said as the three of us continued moving.
Soon, more and more of the soldiers woke up, embarra.s.sment clear on their faces as they were let down on their feet.
After a couple of hours of going down this endlessly extending tunnel, we finally found the first branching.
I and my companions pressed forward through the dark, twisting tunnels beneath the collapsing mountain.
The constant echoes of the stone's collapse still rang in my ears as we moved forward and emerged into a vast cavern.
An eerie glow emanated from a colossal tree at the cavern's center, it's roots reaching deep into the earth.
Cautiously, we approached. I snapped my fingers releasing a small glow of Qi that acted as our light. Since everyone in my party was practically blind by now due to the inability to access their cultivation, I had to give them a source of light.
The light from my finger was suddenly reflected far away, hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of times. It wasn't bright by any means, it was more like minuscule specks of glistening light that followed my Qi.
"What in heaven's name is that?" asked one of the soldiers.
As we approached, we began to notice the shape of this reflective light. It was a ma.s.sive tree, not just one. But dozens of them within this cavern. They were a.s.sorted orderly, and planted in rows.
It didn't seem natural whatsoever, especially since I noticed that these trees had no leaves and only fruit. And this fruit was the thing that was reflecting my light.
The whole cavern felt like an echo chamber. As with every step we took, it echoed all over the place. Not to mention the sound of the walkers above us as they skirted their way through the maze-like paths.
Closer and closer we got, and only then did I see what these fruits were. And my heart almost sank with realization.
They were pulsating, glowing, and luminescent, they were round and had the color of jade. These were the eyes of the Walkers.
An uneasy tension hung in the air as everyone exchanged glances together. We didn't speak, there was no reason to. Someone had been planning this and for a reason. And these trees and these eyes aren't just here for decoration, they've been made and created and they must have a purpose and goal to them.
Behind us, when no one was expecting, we heard a low growl. It echoed through the chamber, signaling that we were not alone.
The soldiers immediately took defensive positions, a formation to protect everyone and still have the ability to go on the offensive in a second.
But that will not serve any purpose besides presenting themselves as a good meal, after all, their cultivation was still heavily affected by the Sea of Demons' water.
I pointed my light at the source of the growls and there it was. A beast of sorts that seemed like it was grafted form the nightmares of fear itself. It had several faces all over its body, and whatever s.p.a.ce between these frozen in agony faces was, there was scales, dark obsidian scales that barely reflected any light.
The creature slithered and s.h.i.+fted across the ground, releasing different wails and sounds from all over the faces of its body. The faces themselves looked at us without eyes, you can feel their gaze even though they're all blind.
"Sheng Huo ghost!" one of the soldiers said.
I frowned, how does he know what this is? Even I have never seen something like this. And from the energy it was releasing this thing was on par of old Fu in his prime.
Old Fu cursed. "We need to leave this place, now!"
"Do you know anything about this?"
"I've never seen it before but it awfully looks like it is described. The Sheng Huo ghost was something we told little kids about to scare them into sleeping early. That if it comes to them when they're awake at night, it will pluck out their eyes, so they better close them tight and sleep…"
"Sounds pretty fitting," I said as I pulled out the two jade eyes I got from the traitor who died earlier.
The moment the jade eyes were in my hand, I felt the instant gaze of the Sheng Huo into my very being.
Not missing a beat, I threw the jade eyes away, and the creature slithered with grace toward them, grabbing them with one of its many arms. It rapidly climbed one of the trees and began planting its eyes on it.
"Seems like it's collecting the eyes for a purpose. What's the reason for making these though? Those eyes had no Qi in them, no power, and seemed utterly useless… why is it collecting them…"
"Well, whatever it was the reason for it to collect them, we might want to try and figure that later, it's coming back and I believe it wants more eyes…"