Darkness engulfed the vision of Tsung Yue, not giving her a moment to acknowledge what was happening at a moment's notice. After a while of being stuck in a tight, warm space, she then understood what was happening.
She was swallowed by this huge creature.
Of course, anyone in their right mind would be panicking in this situation, and so did Tsung Yue. No matter how she struggled to stay put or claw her way up, it was no use. She was slowly descending to the pit of this thing's stomach. In such a tight and small space, Tsung Yue thought she should be struggling to breathe. But this was the golden time that she realized air didn't matter much to her at all. As mentioned before, she is a spiritual beast, who doesn't need to breathe to survive. That calmed her down a little bit and also helped her to stay calm to think of an escape.
She thought that since the creature's exterior scales are tough, judging by her perspective of the interiors, it's also as sturdy as the outside. So the plan of one shotting it's throat to get out was off the chart. It's not like Tsung Yue can do that anyway. But there's a saying; "If you're alive, there are chances." It's the similar saying that goes "If there's a will, there's a way." And boy, Tsung Yue was alive and had a will! The sheer determination to find the truth about herself, to achieve that pearl and rub the fact in that stinky dinky old man's face, and to make Hairong proud, all of them were burning like wildfire in fall seasons that couldn't stay still at her heart. Even if she's slowly going down to the acidic depths of this creature's stomach, she'll find a way to survive. She has to.
Filled with a new bravery and a desire to see the sun once more, Tsung Yue started to think more calmly and rationally. It was near impossible to climb back up to meet its upper throat, or hope on luck to go down smoothly through the opposite hole without being digested. Even if there's a chance that Tsung Yue's body can withstand the acid and slide down its intestines safely, it would at least take hours at the fastest. Plus, this dragon is too proud to shamefully get out of the creature like that. Not in front of that old raisin. The only way was to either pierce her way out from its skin or sabotage its organs.
After thinking for a while, she decided to choose the second option. Even though the stomach is fully muscular, it is still an organ. It means it's much easier to penetrate than the thick scales, and then the *skeletal muscles* of this thing. In other words, if Tsung Yue wanted to puncture straight through its throat, she'd need to first claw the oesophagus, then the trachea, which is a cartilaginous tube, almost as sturdy as a bone, and the neck muscles, then finally, the rough scales which is impassable from both sides. Compared to these multiple layers of defenses, the *smooth muscle* is much closer to a possible attack range.
After concluding to end this beast by its own venom, Tsung Yue was sharpening her claws with her teeth while going down its throat. That sly little bastard.
It wasn't long until Tsung Yue had met the end of this tight space and was almost dropped right down the acid. Even if she couldn't see anything in there, she could still hear her surroundings which made her confirm she was in fact, in the stomach, due to the weird bubbly noises the atmosphere was causing.
Furthermore, if you've noticed, your intestines and stomach always make a sound anytime whether you're full or not. Go on, take a listen. And I hope you didn't expect the creature's stomach acid would be glowing like a radioactive liquid, because let's be real here, most acids are transparent. #chemistry
Also, another note is that the stomach acid is not full to the edge of the organ. Most of the time, it takes no more than 5% of the amount of the stomach's extent, ensuring Tsung Yue holds on around the upper parts of the organ. Thanks to the sharpened claws, Tsung Yue could easily climb around the safe areas. But, even if she does fall to the acid, it wouldn't dissolve her in a mere second. The stomach acid is indeed capable of dissolving metal, but you need to understand it would take hours on end.
Realizing this, Tsung Yue calmed a bit more, so she decided to go a little further down, to end the business. Reaching a satisfying point, she first started to probe her claws to estimate the thickness. After a while, she quickly sunk her teeth into the muscle, biting off a small chunk of it.
After a while of chomping down on the muscular flesh, a dent was made. Even though the dragon inside the creature was content with her achievement, the beast who was experiencing that 'achievement' did not like it at all. The excruciating pain in its stomach made it roar in anguish, jerking its body back and forth, trying desperately to make the feeling stop. But it only got worse, as the dent got bigger.
Since there is damage in the organ, blood would be lost. As internal bleeding started to occur in the stomach, Tsung Yue began to attack more, now using her claws and teeth to pierce a hole in that area. After relentlessly trying to claw through the stomach, it was finally perforated. The hole was small, but it was much enough for the stomach acid to flow out of the stomach to damage the other organs. But it didn't stop Tsung Yue, as she kept on expanding the hole, gushing out more acids.
During this, the beast was almost manic, and it didn't take long for it to lose many amounts of blood, some of them flowing out of its mouth. Seeing this, the old man and Hairong were in awe. It was surprising for them to see such a huge creature roaring in pain and despair, almost on the brink of death. And after a good while, the creature stopped moving, as it slowly ascended to the surface of the sea. That's when Hairong made her move. To check if Tsung Yue is okay, even if it takes her to gut the whole creature out.
She immediately swam up to the beast, shouting for Tsung Yue, hoping that she'd answer. Worry etched on her face, while she was clawing at the creature's abdomen from the outside.
From Tsung Yue's perspective, even though she succeeded in killing the beast, she didn't think about what to do afterward. More so, how she would get out of this thing. Her earlier fear comes back as she panics again. Thoughts like"How would I get out!? I can't cut through this whole thing…what if this thing blows up like whales do? What then?" swirls in her mind, and desperate tears start to fill her eyes. She was scared, so scared in that lightless pit hole, but what was she afraid of? The darkness? The tight space? The deafening silence? Or the fact that she's alone…Maybe all of them.
***
Hairong kept on calling out to Tsung Yue, her claws digging into the scales and flesh easily, not caring about the mess she'd made, her mind only to find the dragon she was fond of. Hairong saw that the creature was coughing up blood too often, so that's one of the reasons she's aiming towards the stomach. After digging for a while, Hairong heard something. Sounds like…sniffling? Guessing it was Tsung Yue, Hairong immediately cut through the remaining flesh out.
Inside, There's a bundle of white fur covered in blood, shaking like a leaf. Tsung Yue looks up to see the blinding light, but more, at Hairong. Tsung Yue quickly jumped on Hairong, wrapping her scaled body with hers, her forearms and legs caging the beast in. In a shaky tone between sobs, Tsung Yue cried:
-"What took you so long!? I was so scared, I thought I was going to die!"
Surprised by the sudden grip, Hairong tensed up, but gently hugged Tsung Yue back with her wings.
-"You know I couldn't just go with you, this was a test."
Hearing this, Tsung Yue grumbled while sniffing loudly just to spite Hairong.
-"But still…I had to beat this thing all by myself and you came so late…"
Hairong let out a small sigh at the bashfulness of Tsung Yue, but she didn't say anything back.
When the two were celebrating their reunion, the old man floated up to the ocean's surface to greet them.
-"It appears you really are worthy of withholding the pearl. I was wrong to assume you to be thieves."
Tsung Yue and Hairong's head both darted toward him, their expression both pissed. Before Tsung Yue could yell out every single curse word she knew, Hairong spoke up first.
-"No damn s***, you old coot! Despite your old age, there's nothing in that *bulge* of yours, is there?"
Hairong was right to be angry since the old man just put Tsung Yue in danger without them knowing what would happen. It would be morally correct to at least let them understand what they were going to face, but the old man had the balls to keep his mouth shut just to get rid of Tsung Yue first. So that's why he didn't say anything about Hairong's scold.
Then, Hairong lifted Tsung Yue's tear-dried face towards the old man.
-"This, is the face of a true warrior! Unlike you, you dried up prune…"
The old man even had to bite his tongue inside to not let a single word out. Now that his 'protector" is dead, he has no power over them.
-"I'll take you to the pearl then…follow me."
-"As you should've in the first place."
Hairong spat out quickly, still carrying Tsung Yue as they all descended to the depths of the ocean again.
***
Word explanation
Skeletal muscles: one of the three types of muscle in the body, covering the entire skeleton. The rest are cardiac and smooth muscles.
Bulge: a very disrespectful way of saying "head".