historical

"Bao?"

His voice only echoed within the confines of this hollow room, a stark reminder that the creature did not even want to be involved in this situation at all. Li Yang turned away from the pond and the trees and stared at the cave entrance behind him.

He was sealed shut, so the only way out was another entrance. North, West and East.

Li Yang entered through this area through the south, and the only way he could find which way to go out was through—

The thread floating in front of him looked mangled, as if it was torn and bitten by dogs as it slayed into three different directions and courteously decided that it would give the man a hard time.

Did it mean that the paths all led to the same exit?

He wished that was the case, and yet Li Yang's mind was still grasping at straws and at the details around him. Somehow, despite his own [ Mental Fortitude ], his thoughts and attention strayed to everything within this room.

Regardless of any spells, glamor or enchantment—this place was already eye-catchy and somehow pertained to his senses..

Why was there a need for a room of this size?

If this was the wrong place for him, why did it continue to befuddle him.

The longer Li Yang lingered here in this place, the more it showed the secrets within it. Those rocks and ceilings that governed the entire place were inlaid with rocks, stones and precious gems that only glittered now.

Opals, jade, onyx and other gemstones that should have made their formations elsewhere suddenly filled his vision. Now in addition to the glittering and crystal waters that promised a soothing rest and recovery, the stones and gems twinkled above him and promised him countless riches beyond of his own.

The fruits hanging in the low bough of the trees never looked sumptuous and pleasing to the eye. Li Yang's own body, his stomach grumbled as the exhaustion of speedrunning his way through this cave's territory finally beset him.

A visage of a woman's silhouette, no... a figure of a woman was now resting in the tree branches. While he couldn't quite see her face, enshrouded somehow by the deep and dark foliage of the tree, everything else around her was present and filled the entire room with a deep saturation.

Her skin was the softest touch of pink and it was as if the entire cave around him suddenly rained in flower petals. The moist and delicate fragrance of an intangible fruit was at the tip of his tongue and filled his nose.

When the woman grabbed one of the fruits in the tree, her grip was intentionally too much, she squeezed it too hard as she tried to break it into and the sticky dark pink liquids came sliding down her smooth hands and arms.

Until it finally crested around her bosom.

It never occurred to him until now that she was naked.

For a brief moment, he was given the sight of her luscious pink lips parting open and mouthing his name. The woman's voice was breathy and husky all the same, and it was as if she whispered it right into his ears.

Already, he was hallucinating.

In the back of his mind, he was quite aware of everything that was happening. Why was this woman, spirit or enchantress trying to do so by being so messy when opening a singular fruit?

Was she some kind of child that couldn't even properly unpeel a fruit? Damn, she was unbelievably so messy. Those thoughts were prevalent and pushed at the boundaries of logic and reason.

And yet it was as if his body and mind were split into two.

The former succumbing to the glorious treasures and promises around his surrounding, the enticing scent of her sweet and glorious nectar—

Li Yang tightened his hold on his sword and swiped it across his arm.

Red cut across him.

The woman in the tree suddenly dropped her fruit in surprise.

The two halves both fell into the pond below them—sinking deeper and deeper, far deeper than what one may have originally assumed it to be.

A sudden jolt of pain coursed through Li Yang's veins and helped him clear his thoughts—or regain his own body's senses falling prey to his surroundings.

Li Yang grunted and immediately started walking forward, going around the small pond until he found it becoming even bigger. He found and stepped over the small wooden bridges in order to head north.

If there had been any riddles between straight paths and twisting paths, of the left and right, which one to choose—He only kept marching forward, maintaining and pretending a semblance of calmness as if there was never was a woman in the tree—the back of his neck was prickling behind him.

Was she staring at him like she was throwing daggers?

It didn't matter, already, in the north—another entrance was opening up as a boulder lifted itself from the ground. The thread in front of him was already coming back together, reforming back into one shape.

He'd escape this without any troubles.

"Li Yang!" A voice shouted and echoed within the caves.

It came from the west hall of the cave, and Li Yang instinctively spun around to see who it was. The Grim Reaper Thana was unfortunately loud, thoughtful enough to chase after him, and yet, that was all the trigger it needed.

He hadn't heard the voice of the pink lady earlier—but now her screams made the entire cave tremble beneath her. The woman screamed in a language he couldn't understand and yet it changed the sanctuary's atmosphere to a deadly and dangerous one.

The center of the tree split right in the middle, opening like a monster's mouth. Within it were engorged and twisted branches that sprouted and flew everywhere across the cave.

Akin to pointed, thin and pricked needles—they latched and dug into both water, stone and without a doubt one's flesh.

Li Yang threw back the first wave of wooden projectiles with a swing of his sword enhanced with a wave of his sword qi. He threw a look at the Grim Reaper. "This way!" he said.

That was all the encouragement that Thana needed. The Grim Reaper threw one look at the pink lady, cowered and then ran like hell towards Li Yang—catching several of the wooden thorns right on her cloak, but she still chased down towards him.

Water suddenly rose from the pond and burst towards the Grim Reaper. It snagged her by the ankle of her foot and started dragging her back to the middle of the cave. She tried to stop herself from slipping into the waters by digging her scythe into the ground, but the waters were too strong.

Thana was gone in a blink of an eye.

Li Yang was already close to the exit and the woman at the tree was still in hysterics, but he stepped forward and launched back towards the pond. The trees were still throwing their sharp and thin projectiles, and somehow, even with the layer of qi on his skin, it pierced him.

However, he didn't stop at all.

Li Yang dropped his sword into the ground and then dove into the waters.