Ezio, Xian Zhou, Yang Yu, Lai Shi, and Xun Bai walked deep into the cave. Xian Zhou's Signium powers allowed them to avoid dead ends, and they quickly found the main path in the cave. Xian Zhou had the ability to scout as long as they were on the ground.
The cave was deep and seemed endless. Although they have been walking for an hour, Xian Zhou couldn't 'see' the end of the cave.
Not long after, they arrived at a fork with 5 different paths.
"Which way should we take?" Yang Yu asked as she looked at Xian Zhou. She was also tired because she was using her powers to illuminate the cave ever since they entered the cave.
"Let me see." Xian Zhou said and kicked the ground to create an echo in the cave. The voice traveled between walls in all directions. Xian Zhou closed his eyes and listened. After half a minute he opened his eyes and wore a frown. "I can't see the end of either path."
"Let's take a break first," Ezio suggested and others accepted. They sit in the darkness to drink and eat.
"What are we gonna do now?" Xun Bai asked.
"We can't split up, because we are dependent on Brother Xian's ability to find our way, and Sister Yu's ability to see. All we can do now is try each way together or turn back." Ezio offered his opinion. Even though he was the youngest in the group, he was smart, and others knew it.
"Little Ezio is right. After we take a break, we can continue to try one of the paths." Xian Zhou said and shook his head. "The walls are too thick for me to see other paths, even if I were to walk further."
They ate dry food and drank water in the darkness, while Yang Yu tried to replenish her energy. But when the silence took over, Ezio got restless all of a sudden. He felt something was watching him from the darkness, but when he sent his spiritual energy, he felt it was all empty.
"What is it, Little Ezio?" Xian Zhou was the keenest among the group and noticed Ezio's anxiety.
"I feel like something watching me in the darkness," Ezio said after thinking about how he should put it in words.
"It is just fear." Xian Zhou said calmly. "Darkness does that to people."
"This is something different. I can't feel them with my spiritual perception but I know there are things in the darkness." Ezio was sure of it. He wasn't a small boy afraid of darkness.
Xian Zhou was about to argue back, but Yang Yu supported Ezio; "I also feel something in the darkness. Because I have the Light Element, I am more sensitive to Light and Darkness."
"Hmm." Xian Zhou finally believed and also started to feel around, but found nothing.
"They were afraid of Sister Yu's Light element earlier, now the lights are out, they are creeping in the dark," Ezio said. He was getting more and more restless. "Sister Yu, Light it now," Ezio shouted.
Yang Yu activated her Signium as soon as she heard Ezio's shout, and countless shrieks filled the cave. The others were unprepared for the sudden light, and thus were blinded when it was activated, but Ezio closed his eyes and opened them a few seconds later. Yang Yu was a Light Element practitioner, thus she wasn't blinded either.
Two of them saw the creatures that were screaming not too far from them. Ezio took out his dagger and started to cut on their bodies. But as if the dagger was passing through water, it wasn't able to damage them at all. Creatures cried not for long and ran into the darkness to hide.
"What the hell was that?" Lai Shi said with obvious fear on her face.
"Wuchuge!" Ezio hissed between his teeth. These creatures were hard to deal with.
"What is Wuchuge?" Xun Bai asked. She was pale and shaking. Yang Yu went to her side and hugged her.
Even Xian Zhou never heard of these creatures and looked at Ezio.
"The creatures of darkness. They feed on humans' fear." Ezio said slowly. "They creep in darkness to make their prey uneasy and afraid. The longer you feel that way, the stronger they get. And when they fill their stomachs, they literally suck you dry."
"Abominations." Xun Bai was so scared. Her eyes were dilated, and her palms were sweaty. Her eyes were searching for the source of her fear.
"You don't have to be scared, Sister Bai." Ezio tried to comfort her. "There is only one thing that can hurt Wuchuge, and that is light," Ezio said with a smile.
"Even fire, lightning, or other yang elements can't hurt them. They are nonphysical creatures, and cannot be hurt in normal ways, except through light element-based attacks.
Unfortunately for us, Sister Yu doesn't have a Light element attack, and we cannot kill them. But as long as Sister Yu is with us, they cannot hurt us either." Ezio summarized what he knew.
"How do you know all these?" Lai Shi asked with a surprised face. Even they didn't know such a creature.
"I read a lot of books," Ezio said with a helpless smile. He really read the book by chance, otherwise, he would be as lost as the others.
"Sister Yu, lower the output of your Qi, and reduce the brightness," Ezio said to Yang Yu, the latter nodded and closed her eyes to do that.
"Will it be okay?" Xian Zhou asked as he approached Yang Yu. "Maybe it is better if we leave the cave."
"As long as there is light, these creatures will stay away from us. By lowering the output, the strain on Sister Yu will be lesser, and she will be able to activate it for a long time." Ezio said and smiled, "I also read in the same book that Wuchuge only appear near the surface if there is something they treasure."
"What treasure?" Yang Yu asked.
"Millenium Yin Cherry!" Ezio finished with a wide grin.
***
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