As I trailed the enigmatic woman through the ancient, labyrinthine corridors, the ominous warning etched upon the murals weighed heavily upon my mind. What purpose did these powerful beings have in store for me?
The woman, Biyu, was a captivating presence. She moved with the grace of a predatory cat, her lithe figure barely making a sound as her delicate footsteps echoed softly through the dimly lit hallways. Her attire was both exotic and otherworldly, with billowing silk sleeves and a flowing gown that hugged her curves just enough to hint at the dangerous curves beneath. A gleaming jade pendant hung from her slender neck, its emerald glow casting a soft light upon her hauntingly beautiful face.
The distant howls and whispers of the wind outside seemed to seep into the very stones of the ancient structure, creating an eerie symphony that played a tense accompaniment to our clandestine meeting. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the lingering traces of long-extinguished fires, a testament to the countless centuries that had passed since these halls last knew life.
Biyu's voice broke the silence, her tone sly and insidious to my ears, as if she were privy to a dark secret that only she and the shadows knew. "It's quite surprising, mortal, that you survived living with a demon beast such as the Fire Blood Millipede. Did you get bitten by its venom?"
I nodded at Biyu's assessment, my heart pounding within my chest as I recalled the harrowing experience.
"That would explain your inhuman strength," she remarked, her dark eyes narrowing as she studied me with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. "But I wonder, what other gifts – or curses – might you have acquired from such an encounter?"
I swallowed hard, acutely aware of the burning sensation that still lingered in my veins, a constant reminder of the deadly venom that coursed through my body. "I'm not entirely sure," I admitted, my voice barely more than a whisper. "But I have a feeling that my journey has only just begun."
Biyu smiled enigmatically, her ruby-red lips curling up at the corners in a way that both fascinated and terrified me. "Indeed," she purred, her voice like velvet as she gestured for me to follow her deeper into the shadows.
A sudden, chilling command echoed in my head, insistent and cold: [Kill her!]
I whirled around, searching for the origin of the voice that had invaded my thoughts. My eyes darted around the shadowy corridor, straining to discern any sign of movement or presence. Yet, there was nothing but the cold, unforgiving emptiness that seemed to close in around me, mocking my futile attempts to grasp the elusive source.
Biyu paused, casting a wary glance in my direction as she sensed my sudden unease. Her eyes narrowed, a hint of suspicion flickering behind her dark gaze. "What's wrong?" she asked, her voice low and cautious. "Is something amiss?"
I hesitated, unsure whether to share the chilling command that still resonated within my mind. But, as I looked into her enigmatic eyes.
"It's nothing, I just thought that there was something there," I replied, trying to shake off the lingering unease brought on by the intrusive voice. Inwardly, I couldn't help but wonder if my sanity had been compromised during my imprisonment. 'Great, looks like I really did go insane in that prison.'
As I took a step forward, attempting to dispel my apprehension, the tile beneath my feet suddenly glowed with an ominous, pulsating light. The sound of ancient wheels and gears turning echoed through the hallway, and in an instant, I realized that I had triggered some sort of trap.
A whistling sound cut through the air, and before I could react, an arrow hurtled towards my head from the side. Driven by instincts I had trained in my time in prison, my hand shot up with inhuman speed and snatched the rusted projectile mere inches away from my skull.
I stared at the arrow clutched in my palm, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. Biyu's eyes were wide with shock, quickly replaced by relief as she sighed and stepped closer to me.
"Oh, thank the great heavens that you caught that," she murmured, her voice tinged with awe. "Be careful, this place is riddled with traps."
As we delved further into the dark, winding corridors of the labyrinth, I maintained my silence despite Biyu's attempts to engage me in idle chatter. "You're not much of a conversationalist, are you?" she prodded, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Biyu sighed in exasperation, her frustration apparent as she muttered under her breath. "This is what happens when I try to socialize with recruits from this place," she said, her voice barely audible, though I caught every word.
Her offhand remark confirmed the growing suspicion that had been gnawing at me ever since we'd first crossed paths. These were the very same people that Alexander had warned me about, and now, I found myself entwined in their web of intrigue and deception.
....
The claustrophobic halls loomed before me, a labyrinth of concrete and steel that seemed to stretch on forever. Within these walls, time was an illusion, and every moment felt like an eternity of monotony and misery.
As I shuffled along behind the woman, I couldn't help but notice the identical nature of our surroundings. The sterile, featureless walls and the harsh, unforgiving light that bathed everything in an unnatural glow were the same inside and out.
To my left, a series of open cells beckoned like the gaping maws of some monstrous beast. And yet, despite the endless procession of cells, there was no end to the hallway in sight.
My own cell was scarcely larger than a closet, barely three square meters in size. The walls were thick enough to muffle any sound, so that even the presence of other prisoners was almost imperceptible.
The pungent odor of decay permeated the room as I peered through the doorway, a haunting presence that made my skin crawl. The oppressive atmosphere was suffocating, weighing heavy on my soul as I surveyed the macabre scene before me.
The space was shrouded in darkness, the only light emanating from the feeble glow of my torch. The bodies of several individuals lay strewn about the room, their flesh slowly rotting away as the stench of death hung thick in the air.
My heart ached as I gazed upon the remains of a young boy, his form so familiar to my own. His face was hidden, collapsed in on itself as if he had succumbed to the weight of the world. Biyu, spoke with a mournful tone, her words laden with a sadness that could not be trusted as I saw through it as just mere acting.
My mind raced with questions as we traversed through the foreboding hallway.
"Why have we been brought here?" I inquired, my desperation for answers overcoming my previous reticence.
Biyu stopped in her tracks, turning to me with an enigmatic glint in her eye. "Because you are special," she uttered cryptically, her words only serving to stoke the flames of my frustration.
As we continued down the seemingly endless corridor, we encountered a gauntlet of deadly traps designed to ensnare and kill the unwary. My senses were bombarded by the same gruesome sight in each room: the cold, lifeless remains of those who had fallen victim to the ancient mechanisms that guarded this place.
With each near miss, I could feel the weight of the darkness bearing down on me, pressing in from all sides as I struggled to make sense of our situation. There were hidden blades that sprang from the walls, narrowly missing our throats; pressure plates that unleashed torrents of noxious gas, that didn't affect me or Biyu and pits lined with razor-sharp spikes that threatened to impale us if we didn't take care with each step.
As we approached the end of the hall, my intuition warned me that a great truth was about to be revealed. Twenty rooms had come and gone, and with each passing one, a lifeless body was discovered, a chilling testament to the lethal nature of the path we had chosen.
The final door loomed before us, a colossal iron gate, thick and foreboding. Its imposing presence seemed to emanate a malevolent energy that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
With a nod from Biyu, we steeled ourselves and prepared for whatever lay beyond the threshold. She approached the barrier, pushing it gently as the door creaked open with an ominous groan.
Beyond the iron gate, the hallway stretched on and on, lined with twenty more iron barriers. In this new section, two survivors stood watch, a boy and a girl of similar age. Their eyes, unaccustomed to the dark, fixated on Biyu and me as we appeared before them.
Beside the pair loomed a man clad in wolfish attire, his face obscured by a mask. My intuition spoke loudly of the danger he posed.
The man turned to Biyu and remarked, "It seems you've discovered a lone survivor."
"I could say the same, Xiao Fei," Biyu replied with a cunning smile, provoking a huff from the wolfish figure.
As we gathered in the center, the survivors stared back at me with silent trepidation. Though thin and gaunt from their ordeal, they appeared in better condition than I.
Peering through the door of the next chamber, I glimpsed a body sprawled lifeless on the ground, a food bowl beside it. There was no question that sustenance had been plentiful. Either the occupant had succumbed to madness from prolonged isolation, or they had fallen victim to some illness lurking in the depths.
One of the survivors spoke up tentatively. "Sir Fei, where are we headed?"
"What did I tell you about speaking?" snapped Xiao Fei, his tone harsh.
My gaze fell upon the girl who had asked the question. Despite her long confinement, she retained an ethereal beauty.
Suddenly, the girl bowed and begged forgiveness from Xiao Fei.
Biyu's words were like a whip cracking in the air, slicing through the silence that had settled between them. "Come on, don't be so harsh on these mortals," she said with a disdainful flick of her wrist, slapping the arms of Xiao Fei.
Her words gnawed at me like a ravenous beast, tearing away at my thoughts until they were raw and exposed. Why did she always refer to us as mortals, as if we were beneath her?
But before I could ponder this further, Biyu flashed me a smile and motioned for us to follow her and Xiao Fei. The boy beside her gave me a wary look, as if he knew something I didn't.
Before I also started following them, I couldn't help but feel it in my gut.
Something was wrong.
Ignoring the gut feeling I started following behind these people which was the worst decision the boy had taken in his entire life. Maybe if he had died in that prison it would have been better than facing the horrors that awaited him next.