?"Quite interesting," I said as I looked around.
"There is a whole world in here," said Old Fu as he admired the view, the very eerie, dark, and not-so-natural view.
The pillars of light were pillars of stone wrapped up in algae, luminescent ones. And in the far end high above, there seemed to be a light source that didn't dim. I could already guess what that light was. It was a deposit of crystals, refracting and reflecting light from high above into this ginormous cavern. It was feeding the life underground with the light it needed to survive.
There were plants; there was humidity, so there must be water nearby. And that means there got to be life here, which was confirmed by the sound of growling from around us.
"Could it be the Sheng Huo?" asked one of the soldiers.
"No, captain," said another soldier as he backed away, "It can't be the Sheng Huo," he said, almost backing into me.
"What makes you sure of that?" I asked.
"Because the Sheng Huo is in its mouth," he said, pointing.
Looking in the direction where the soldier was pointing, there were two sets of glistening red eyes staring at us.
A fearsome beast of nightmares stood on all fours. Its body sleek, obsidian scales s.h.i.+mmered under the glistening light of the algae around us. Its sinewy frame was st.u.r.dy with a predatory grace. You could see each muscle defined beneath its ebony hide adorned with thorns for protrusions. Its eyes glowed with an intense crimson that mimicked the color of blood, mirroring a savage instinct that burned within it.
A crest of sharp, black thorns adorned its back, further emphasizing its aggressive evolutionary and predatory prowess. The creature's claws s.h.i.+mmered in an electric red light that surged every now and then. They clicked against the ground as the creature approached us, a chilling sensation of impending danger began creeping up everyone's back.
Only then did we see the end of this beast's tail, a flexible and whip-like club of muscle and bone, las.h.i.+ng behind it with a grave menace that promised an untimely, cruel, and brutal end to anyone who is met with it.
But the most unsettling thing wasn't the creature or how it towered over all of us, but it was the thing between its jaws. A twisted grin etched on this creature's face as it revealed double rows of nothing but serrated fangs stained with dark blood. In between these menacing jaws was the clutched lifeless and unmovable Sheng Huo, a limp figure from what it looked like before.
The Sheng Huo had so many scars on its body; it was actually amazing that we were able to recognize it. That meant that the Sheng Huo didn't die from the fall damage but was unlucky enough to meet with this beast.
It hung with its limbs lifelessly in between the creature's jaws.
The beast satisfied with its prey threw us a disregarding gaze as it waltzed between us, unworried, unperturbed, and not even caring about our presence.
"An apex predator…" Old Fu muttered between his teeth.
No one dared utter a sound as the beast moved past us, leaving in its wake nothing but the slimy black blood of the Sheng Huo.
"Kyuu!"
A sound that I was too familiar with emerged from the hood of my coat. The white furball, a descendant of the Dark Beasts of the Vast Expanse, perked up its head from behind my shoulder to gaze upon the retreating figure of this beast.
And that sound was all it took for this creature of terror to stop, drop its dead prey, and turn its head.
It sniveled in contempt at us and turned, each step rumbling as it approached us.
Panic began settling into the hearts of the frozen soldiers. Kyuu caused the beast that was retreating to come back.
Soon, the beast stood right in front of me. Its eyes had murderous looks, but no murderous intentions. It was the other way; it was interest and curiosity.
Kyuu, on the other hand, was barely the size of my palm, yet it bravely stared at the snout of the ma.s.sive ebony creature, a staring contest.
The creature's face got closer to me, and it simply sniffed at Kyuu.
It then tilted its head, licked its front jaws but then simply retreated.
Kyuu, on the other hand, huddled back inside my hood and disappeared from sight.
The beast retreated back to its prey, grabbed it, and left the region completely.
"My heart almost stopped…" the captain said.
"I need a change of clothes," another one added.
"What is that?" Old Fu asked the most relevant question.
"I wouldn't know," I replied.
"Not the ebony beast, even I don't know what that is, but the small fur ball in your hood. It awfully looks like an adolescent Dark Beast, but I've never seen one with white fur," he said.
The moment Old Fu mentioned the words Dark Beast, everyone around us gasped and backed away from us.
"The Black Devil! Why do you have that!" asked one of them.
"I guess Dark Beasts aren't that rare here," I said.
"Well, remember, the Beyond has a long cycle of day and night, and once the night comes. The Dark Beasts are the best weapons to use; they're called the Black Devils on purpose since they're mighty when it's dark. However, they're extremely violent and are almost impossible to tame. Yours is a bit different," he said.
"I would a.s.sume so; it's the last one from where I come from," I said.
"Perhaps the ebony creature found kins.h.i.+p with your pet; that's why it didn't attack it. I wouldn't rely on that, however, beasts will not consider others threats unless they're real threats. Once your Dark Beast grows, that ebony creature might come looking for it."
"Let's keep exploring…" I replied. "There is much more to see here."
"That was a sight to behold," the Lord of lords laughed.
The Red Sun had a dissatisfied look on his face.
"Why are you mad?" asked the Wisest Sun, "There hasn't been a day past yet. Are you worried about losing the bet or something?"
"No, did you not see the creature Shen Bao has?!"
"You mean his Dark Beast?" asked the Lord of Lords.
"That's not a normal one, how did he find something that good?!" he said.
"He found it in a lair of Dark Beasts back in the Vast Expanse, the remnants of the exiled Imperial Clan had kept them as pets in a spatial fold they called the Under void. They used them to guard some of their final wishes and wills, but they all perished when the remnants of the exiled imperial clan died. What was left was a small dark beast egg that was heavily affected by the laws of time. It was frozen in time and was unable to hatch, thus it didn't perish. Shen Bao found it and bounded with it. Now it's his, a mutated Dark Beast that can survive in light and is powerful in the dark," he said.
"Did you look at it? It looks so feeble and malnourished; I feel pity for that mighty beast, d.a.m.n it. It's like hanging a necklace on a swine…" said the Red Sun.
"You're overthinking stuff. Also, he is in a very good region for his Dark Beast to grow. After all, what better place for a vicious beast to evolve than in danger and death,"
"I'm pretty surprised that the Shadowbane Stalker didn't outright kill them all," said the Wisest Sun.
"It's probably because of that mutated Sheng Huo. The Shadowbane Stalker was probably satisfied with that prey, due to how much nutrition it has inside it. Inside the Underworld Garden, there aren't a lot of creatures that host Qi inside their bodies. The Shadowbane Stalker is a smart creature. It had already decided that due to how heavy and how filling his prey is, the moment he was to eat it, he'd be able to evolve, and thus didn't want to waste this opportunity with fighting against unknown two-legged creatures." Said the Lord of Lords.
"Then why did it give that up and go back to check on the Dark Beast?" asked the Red Sun.
The Lord of Lords shook his head. "Its interest was piqued due to the potential of the Dark Beast. A beast's mind is simple, as long as it's able to procure food and live without worrying as it sleeps and mates in its territory, it will never go out of its way to fight or find danger. It sought out the smell of the Dark Beast to see if it would pose a threat to it, finding it not worth killing right now, the Shadowbane Stalker was satisfied with retreating with its prey. Once it feeds, it will slumber, and once it wakes, it will come hunting for the Dark Beast to eliminate all and any dangers," said the Lord of Lords.
"So they're on a timer…"
"The slumber of the Shadowbane Stalker will take a long while; in that time Shen Bao and his companions should already be gone from the Underworld Garden. For now, let's watch; they're about to enter the edges of the garden; it's here when things will get ugly," said the Lord of Lords.
"It will be interesting to see them react to what's coming next; although the Shadowbane Stalker is one of the apex predators of the Underground Garden, it is only one of many. They were both fortunate and unfortunate to meet it there. There is more to come and much more to antic.i.p.ate…"