Before Hong Zhao had much time to struggle, a sticky sensation seemed to move up his feet. Coils seemed to unwrap themselves slowly as sticky muscles contracted, seeming to pull him.
The coils pinned his hands closely to his side. He couldn't move! "I-I'm being eaten?" Hong Zhao realized in horror what kind of situation he was in. Whatever had him was pulling him into its mouth. He could feel his legs halfway in the sticky tough entrance. He knew he didn't have much time. As the coils unfolded, his hands were drawn into the beast. It then raised itself skyward and used gravity to force Hong Zhao down its throat faster. Hong Zhao could feel his stomach tighten as it went into the maw of the beast and then his chest. He cursed his small body, He saw the stars in the sky as the sticky muscle sensation reached his face. He could just see a small bit of moonlight glisten off of a little slimy muscle of the beasts mouth before the world around him turned black. He was now completely inside the beast. He could feel it fall back to the ground. The impact jarred him slightly. The small movements the beast made on the ground made Hong Zhao realize it was moving even more into the forest. If he didn't escape soon, he would be digested in this beast's stomach as it slept somewhere in the darkness.
Hong Zhao released a small strand of qi into the Li family ring and withdrew the sword that Lan had gifted him. The small cavern of the stomach didn't give him much space to work with as he used his sticky fingers to slowly remove the sword from its scabbard. He had the blade facing the wall of the stomach, so as not to cut himself, but the true challenge was getting the blade free. It was close to the same size as him! Hong Zhao mentally slapped himself for not having the sword on his person since he had left the Li family estate. If he had it ready, it would have taken the moment the first coil hit his feet to draw the sword. Instead, he ended up as dinner.
The movement of the beast stopped and he could tell from heavy breathing that it had found a place of refuge. Knowing that the beast was now asleep, he knew he didn't have long. The digestive system kicked in fast after falling asleep. Even now he could feel the warm digestive fluids coat him. He frantically worked at freeing the sword with even more vigor. His breathing had become labored. He only had minutes left before he slept eternally within the beast.
"NO!" He screamed as he finally got the point of the sword out of the scabbard. He jabbed the pointed end down with all the effort he could muster! He pierced the hard muscle of the stomach. He could feel gravel from the point of the sword!
Suddenly, his world seemed to gain color once more. The stomach acid began to drain from the small cavern, earning him few short gasps. He then took the blade by the hilt and raised it up towards himself, opening the beast like he were a tent.
Hong Zhao gasped and took off his mask. Each breath felt like a drug. He looked around himself and noticed something glowing in the distance. He thought it might be the way out, so he went towards it. The light it was giving off was that of the moon, yet it wasn't.
Hong Zhao reached out and picked up the piece of moonlight. It was the size of his fist and glowed an intense white. He decided to probe it with a strand of qi, maybe it would respond?
The moment his qi touched the stone, its glow intensified, showing Hong Zhao where he had been transported, and by what.
A giant snake laid motionless before him. Its stomach had been torn open, letting him escape. Hong Zhao then looked down at himself and noticed that his robe was gone! Had this beast truly thought to digest him so quickly? Had he not put the suit on before leaving, he might not have been able to deny such intentions. He cursed the shadow panthers. The only one that would survive was his Shadow.
Hong Zhao took in his surroundings in the intense glow of the stone. He still didn't know what it was, yet was thankful for the light. His eyes lit even more when he saw what he was surrounded by.
Chests, weapons and armor surrounded him from every angle. The snake had brought him to a treasure trove of some expert! As he looked around, the light was intense enough for him to see a large coat of dust on everything except what the snake brushed up against on its many trips in and out of the cave.
Hong Zhao opened one of the chests experimentally. He knew that one might spring a trap if he weren't careful. He opened it slightly and used the stone to look inside, yet he didn't see a wire or something that could trip an explosion or some sort of trap, so he opened it the rest of the way. What greeted him was unexpected. Inside the chest was just a pile of smooth small stones. He was slightly underwhelmed. He sifted through the stones to see if there was something underneath them that might be of value, yet nothing seemed to be there.
"I was eaten alive just so I can have a box of rocks?" Hong Zhao said incredulously. Then his mind went back to what Huang Ji had mentioned about the tournament. "Did he not say that I could get silver, gold or qi stones?" He raised one of the stones and sent a thread of qi inside. The stone took the qi thread greedily, as if it were hungry.
Hong Zhao sat cross legged and began cultivating with the stone in his hand. The qi from within the stone poured into him in waves. His eyes opened wide as he realized what he had in his hand. He put the stone back and shut the chest, then put the large chest within his ring. Looking around, there were ten more chests in the cavern along with armor and weapons. He even saw a bookshelf nearby.
Without any further inspection, Hong Zhao began putting everything into his ring with reckless abandon. He didn't care what he put in, as long as it would leave the ground, it would find its way into the ring. He would sort through everything later. All he knew was he just stumbled upon a treasure that may have been there since Li Xiao's first invasion into Yuan.
Having completely cleared out the cavern, Hong Zhao bowed his thanks to the snake, then took a spare robe out from the Li family ring. It wouldn't be right to let Li Wuhan and Li Wei see his suit just yet.
Buttoning the robe shut, he once more wore a fine black and gold fabric around his shoulders, giving him a familiar comfort after having the other one digested. he then put the baldric over his head and rested the sword at his back. He would never be caught unaware again. His hands were stuck in the coils of the snake before being drawn in. He couldn't use his devouring qi claws. If he didn't have the sword in the Li family ring to begin with, he would be dead for sure by now. Sleeping his final slumber within the stomach of a snake surrounded by treasure. Wouldn't that be a joke?
Having secured his weapon, Hong Zhao raised the stone and began his walk from the cavern. Along the way he found five more chests along the wall. Whoever they belonged to, he doubted they would miss them all that much, and he knew that Yuan City would be expensive.
Hong Zhao slowly made his way out of the cavern and back into the forest. After he reached the familiar lighting of the stars, he put the stone into the Li family ring and used his vortex thrust. He gave his vision a moment to adjust to the minuscule light before bursting upward. He jumped up a tree and into the air in order to orient himself. He could see smoke in the distance from a cooking fire and realized that Li Wen and Li Wuhan had most likely stopped their training for the evening.
Using the trees, he launched himself from branch to branch. Each leap brought him closer to the fire. He silently thanked whatever gods made storage rings, because without them, there was no way he could have gone from a six year old freeloader to a six year old millionaire in one stomach!
As he came closer to the fire, he noticed trees bending and swaying near it. Dropping to the ground, he could better make out the fight that was ensuing.
Hong Zhao saw one figure holding a sword made of a white-gray light. He slashed at the large shadow panther with reckless abandon, yet only made shallow cuts with the sword. He caused more annoyance than damage to the large beast.
He then saw another figure within a tree. It must have been Li Wei! She swooped down, more gliding than falling with two fans in her hand. When she glided to the right spot, she allowed her fans to dip downward, the sharp ends pointed towards the panther. Without ceremony, the large beasts head detached itself from its body. A fine spray of blood misted Li Wei as she dropped near her brother. They both drew in long ragged breaths. Hong Zhao could tell by the numerous scars on both the siblings and the beast, as well as how dim the fire had become, that the battle was one that had been going on for quite some time.
Hong Zhao clapped his hands with an innocent smile as he approached the siblings. "That was well done!" He was astonished by their mastery over their abilities after such a short time having them.
"Where were you?!" Li Wei shrieked. She really was a scary sight while covered in blood. Hong Zhao couldn't help but imagine what she would be like when she was older. He pitied the man who tried to woo her.
"I was a little tied up a further way out. It seemed my old friends wished to show me something shiny." He smiled as he thought of his treasure. Of course he would share his discovery, just not where someone might overhear them. It was never a good idea to flaunt ones wealth needlessly.
Bringing out his new sword, Hong Zhao began to skin and gut the large shadow panther. The long practiced motion only took minutes before he stacked neat piles of meat in front of the fire and added some logs to increase the burning. "Is anyone hungry?"
"But-" Li Wei began to interject. She wanted to know what he was up to, but didn't get a chance to interrogate him. Li Wuhan's arm came up quickly and held her back.
"There's a time and place for everything." He said as he looked the young man up and down. He could tell something had rattled the small child. Something that might be game changing. He decided to trust Hong Zhao's gut feeling and hold off any questions. "Right now we are training and honing our skills. We will have plenty of time to beat answers out of him later." He smiled playfully at the small boy.
Hong Zhao skewered three pieces of shadow panther meat and sat in front of the fire, whistling a merry tune that neither of the siblings had ever heard before. While on the outside he seemed perfectly content, on the inside he was calculating how to continue his journey for the next two weeks and what else he might find. Hopefully not within the stomach of another beast.