The disciples quickly waddled through the swampy waters of a small isle nearest to the Forbidden lands. There have been sightings of a woman dressed in a white tattered dress, her back length black and wild and tangled around her as she wailed as she walked into the swampy lands. No one ever saw her face, except the few that got close to her. But they either come back with their eyes missing from their sockets or a ghostly pale colour with black gains running from their eyes and the color of their lens glazed over, making them partly blind.
Now there are about twenty disciples in training including Kai and Qing yuan, along with Li Jie, Cheng Liang and two other senior Prospectors, Yang Mei-hui and Qin Lizen, who are both from the Tiger kingdom. It is pitch black out, and no stars or the moon in the sky to guide their way because of the thick fog that surrounded the swamp lands. Kai swallowed a thick lump, as he looked around him. So far, being here is the scariest of all investigations he has ever gone on since he started his training. The clammy cold water soaked through all of his clothes, leaving the clean white garments a greenish brown colour. Kai grimince at the soft mushy mud and other unknown matters that he keeps stepping on as he walks through the murky water. And what made him even scared was the fact that he couldn't see anything that clearly whether up above or down below.
Qing yuan sensed his fear, and casually but nervously slipped his hand under Kai's, then he relaxed a bit before intertwining them together. Kai felt the motion and tightly but gently squeezed Qing yuan's hand, a smile made its way to his face when the prince squeezed back.
'How is that?' Kai suddenly heard Shui's voice in his head. He looked over beside him, at Qing yuan astonished. Did he just- 'Yes I did.' Qing yuan smirks inside Kai's head again. (A/N. Is that even possible?) 'It is a talent for any Prospector, I thought you had read about it when you were studying the scrolls.'
Kai chuckled shyly. "I might have skipped over a few….or more than a few scrolls-ahh ow ow ow." Kai whispered and yelled when Qing yuan started to grip his hand tightly. "Reading hundreds of scrolls a day can be tiring and not to mention boring." Kai whined softly, pulling his hand out of Qing yuan's death grip.
"Stupid shameless boy." Qing yuan muttered, annoyed, walking ahead of Kai.
Kai sighs, shaking his head as he walks to catch back up to him. 'I can't ever please him. Tsk, so grumpy and he is still in his prime."
The wind started howling, the air got a ghostly chill to it and the fog got even thicker. And not even the chirping of crickets nor the croaking of frogs could be heard.
Li Jie snapped his fingers, and a ball of flames appeared in the palm of his hand, illuminating the way. Cheng Liang also took out his sword and swiped it forward, creating a ball of light that floated in front of them. Guiding the way with its light.
"Ok, everyone. Follow the lights and if you hear something out of the ordinary, don't go off alone." Cheng Liang instructed the group. "And Qing yuan?"
"Senior brother Liang?" Qing yuan answered in his polite voice, which made Kai mock him with a bleh sound.
"So noble." He muttered under his breath, which made Taio cover his mouth to stifle a laugh.
"I want you to keep an eye on Wang Kai, like always. We don't want him getting his eyes gouged out, now do we?" Cheng Liang turned and looked at Kai who was not at all amused.
Qing yuan stopped walking, and waited for Kai to catch up with him before following the group again.
They have now reached the middle of the swamp, and by then. Everyone's lower half was soaked and their bodies chilled to the bone. The wind had stopped hawling, and everything was still and quiet. Kai gripped Qing yuan's shoulder, when the same dark feeling he got whenever he was around Delun and from past investigations, overtook his body.
"Do you feel that?" He asks Qing Yuan nervously, at the same time the wind suddenly picks back up again blowing out the flame from Li Jie's palm, and the ball of light disintegrates as a blood curling wail echoes throughout the swampy lands.
Kai hid behind Shui, as everyone pulled their swords out and got into a defending stance. Ready to defend each other against anything that charges at them.
The wail was heard again, but this time even louder and closer to the group.
"Everyone, eyes sharp and don't get your guards down." Cheng Liang instructed, his eyes scanning the northern and Western side of the area.
The wailing came one after the other, before it became a full blown bawling fest. The murky water splish and splash as something, or better yet, someone walks through it. The wailing is closer now, and the disciples look into the direction of it and see a young woman walking towards them. The white dress she was wearing looked like she had gotten into a fight with a wild animal, because of all the tears and scratches on it. Her black hair was straight and in a tangled mess around her shoulders and down her back. And her skin was pale and clammy with dark gains running from all over her body. Her face was shield because of her hair falling down over it, due to her head being hung low.
The atmosphere filled with fear became tense and scary, as the disciples stood still with their swords out as the failing woman stopped in front of them. Her crying is loud and holds a horrid tune to it. Kai's knees trembled, not from the cold of the water and night's air, but from the presence of the woman.
'Kai." He heard Qing yuan's voice in his head. "Be calm and don't make any sudden moves.' Kai swallowed down some of his fears, and tried to concentrate on Qing yuan's voice, to see if he could try to communicate with him through his mind as well. 'Just think about me, and only me. And what you want to say.' Qing yuan explained to him, and that is what Kai did. He focused on Qing yuan, and just thought about what he wanted to say. And felt a nudge in the center of his head, like he was prying something open, but barely. And before he knew it, he felt a connection between him and Shui.
'Why should I be calm and not make a sound?' He asked.
'Because she is what we referred to as a Fearmado(A/N. A made up creature created by the author.) and she-' But before Qing yuan could finish what he was saying, the woman screeched out an ear piercing sound that sounded like a mixture of a bird and a human cry.
The woman staggered from side to side, causing the disciples to step backwards. The fog slowly started to clear a bit, and a peak of moonlight fight its way through. Illuminating the female more as she lift her head and reviled her face. Kai heart almost leaped out of his throat when he saw the woman's face. If he wasn't standing right there, he wouldn't have believed it. The top part of her face was of human quality, but she has no nose or mouth. Only a beak resembling a hawk, and where her eyes should have been. Only two deep dark holes with black goo coming out of them.
"What is that?" Kai ducked down with the rest of disciples as the woman screeched and leaped over them.
"Like what I said, she is called a Fearmado. And she is a creature from the dark moon orb. She lure people, mostly men with her sad wails. And use her suckle like tongue to gorgue her victims eyes out so she can attain temporary sight."
"S-suckle like tongue?" Kai muttered in fear, and Qing yuan nodded. "You mean like that!" Kai yelled, pointing behind Qing yuan, when he saw a long slimy green tongue with a suckle at the tip came darting at the side of the princess face. Kai push Qing yuan down, as grab the Fearmado's tongue and twist it making the creature wailed out in pain.
The Fearmado flew up in the air, her giant sharp talon extend, and coming straight at Kai with full force.
Kai dodge to the side to avoid her claws, yanking her tongue along with him.
Qing yuan got up off the ground, and drew his sword and charged at the wailing creature.
"Kai, over here!" Cheng Liang shouted, as he ran up to the side a little closer to where Kai is.
Kai gripped onto the Fearmado's tongue tightly, and pull her in a little closer to him. Before he swang her to his right, where Cheng Liang was waiting for her. His sword aim and ready, stabbing her straight through her back. The creature cried out in pain, her body arching of the sword as Cheng Liang pulled it from the wound. She slashed at Kai's hand, breaking his skin causing him to let go of her tongue. The Fearmado turn and came at Cheng Liang with full force, knocking him to the ground. She raised her sharp claws was about bring them down into his chest. But Taio beat her to it, by laviating her of the ground. But out of nowhere, a blast of transparent energy hit him in the back causing him to loose control of his powers and making the Fearmado fall into the murky waters.
"What was that?!" Taio ask out, as he look around high on alert.
"I am not sure, but where did the creature go?" Li Jie stare as his eyes could see in the messy water.
The cultivators huddled together, everyone looking in every direction for the Fearmado that didn't raise from the water and suddenly became quiet.
"Did you think that it had frown?" A young disciple ask, as he look over at a girl that resembled him.
"No you dumb idiot. The Fearmado raises from the swamp, so how could it had drowned. Stupid boy, I sometimes wonder why we are related." The girl scuffed at her brother, earning a sharp glare from Cheng Liang.
A few minutes passed with no sign from the Fearmado, but as the cultivators let their guards down a bit. She leap out of the water, and jumped on Shufen's back. Bringing him down into the water with her.
"Senior brother Shufen!" A young disciple shouted, running towards the creature as she fights a struggling Shufen.
Shufen took deep sharp breath everytime the creature pushed him under water and brought him back to the surface. He grab at her face roughly, trying to get a aim grip to sink his fingers into her eyeless sockets. But his attempts failed everytime. Qing yuan silently flew over behind the Fearmado and slam his fore fingers into her back, slowing down her motion. Then he skidd around her and pulled Shufen from underneath her, dodging her hits as they came at them in slow motion.
Then he skidd around her and pulled Shufen from underneath her, dodging her hits as they came at them in slow motion. After Shufen was safely out of the way, he went behind the Fearmado and tapped her in the back. Returning her back to normal speed, before doing an open handed strike, pushing her towards Li Jie who barely used his sword to glaze her side. The Fearmado screeched a high pitched sound, as she shoved Li Jie to the side, causing him to stagger backwards into the swampy water. She extends her arms and bat-like wings replace her human arms. She flew up into the air, before swooping down with her hawk-like feet and sharp claws, ready to rip Li Jie's chest to shreds. But Kai ran up, using the wind to create a little force field to block her off Li Jie. Before using his sword to create a whip with white energy, which he uses as a lasso and wrapped around the Fearmado's waist and pulls her down out of the air.
"Kai, watch out!" Qing yuan called out to him when he saw that the creature had broken through the force field and now her attention and attack was directed at Kai.
Kai pulled hard on the whip, wrapping his hands tightly around it. As the Fearmado pulled at the part around her waist, trying to pull Kai to her. It was like a tug of war between the two. But the Fearmado had an upper head, her strength max with a blot of black lightning that suddenly engulfed the Fearmado and she gained in body size and became even stronger.
'What just happened? Where did that force come from?' Kai said to himself, looking around. Which made him lose focus and the Fearmado used that as an advantage and pulled him almost off the ground.
Qing yuan and Taio run up to him and grab a hold of his feet, keeping him grounded.
"I-i can't hold her any longer!" He yelled at them. He gritted his teeth as he pulled, trying to not let the whip slip from his hand.
"You have to keep trying!" Qing yuan said back to him, looking around for anybody to help assist Kai.
"No, Shui. I can't!" Kai's eyes widened as the Fearmado pulled him from out of Qing Yuan and Taio's grip, and flung him in the air.
"Kai!" Qing Yuan yelled in horror, as Taio looked on in terror.
Kai closed his eyes as he came face to face with the creature, her rancid breath hitting his face like a ton of dead decaying corpses being dumped over him. Her tongue dart out towards him, and her sockets dark worsen than the night sky without the moon and stars.
'This is it for me.' Kai thought, his heart hammering in his chest as he felt the slimy muscle touch his face. 'Qing Yuan, I haven't told you this. But I lo-' His thoughts were cut short, when he felt a cold liquid come crashing down on him. It smells like any rotten flesh, and he falls from mid air and into soft but strong arms.
His eyes flew wide open, as he looked up at a relieved looking Qing Yuan. And back in front of him when he heard two big splashes, and saw the Fearmado split in half. Someone had sliced it in two, and it wasn't any of the disciples. Everyone's head moved in the direction in front of Kai when they heard splashing in the water, and saw a man dressed in a blue shenyi. With his dark brown hair loose and a silverish blue hair pin stuck in the top of his head. He looked to be right years older than Kai, but Kai felt a sense of connection to him. He had a bright amused smirk on his face as he walked towards Kai and the others.
"Sorry about that." He spoke, pointing to the black goo that covered all of Kai's clothes and face.
Kai looked down at himself and grimaced. His body was covered in the black goo from the Fearmado's body, and the putrid smell made him wrinkled his nose with disgust.
"You deserve a well needed bath when you get back to Prospectors school." The stranger said as he caught a fan as it came to him. The same black goo around the sharp edges of it.
"Who are you?!" Cheng Liang pulled his sword and pointed it at the stranger, who looked unfazed by the sharp weapon.
"Now, now, that's not how you treat a fellow Prospector." The man said, amusement spark in his voice.
There was sudden mumbling among the disciples, as they whispered their opinions about what the man had just said.
"What did you say? And what game are you playing?" Li Jie shouted, his hands glowing with blue flames.
The man laughs as he walks up to Li Jie and takes both of his hands, distinguishing the flames. "Like as I just said, I am a Prospector."
"How could that be, and which kingdom are you from?" Cheng Liang asked suspiciously.
"I am from the Phenix kingdom, and Kai…or should I say Wang Lei." He looked over at Kai with a sense of familiarity in his eyes, but a huge knowing smile took over his face when he noticed how Qing yuan pulled Kai closer to him in a protective manner. "Ah, young prince, you have found your soulmate." He smiles at Qing Yuan, making everyone look over at the pair. Taio looking on sadly. "But you have a bit of competition." He pointed to Taio.
"Cut the nonsense, and tell me who you are!" Cheng Liang shouted in irritation.
"Just like Kai, I didn't come from a family with any Cultivation abilities. But I grew up and became the grand master of all the Prospectors-"
How dare you, there was only one grand Master and that was-"
"Wang Feng-Huang, the father of Wang Lei." He looked over at Kai, who had a look of astonishment on his face. "Hello son, I finally got to meet you."