About an hour later,
Chen Zhiyu's pace continuously increased as he was walking around without the slightest care for the flow of time and before long, he began approaching the deeper darkness in the busy path ahead.
Chen Zhiyu soon saw a faint light from a distance ahead — it wasn't very far from him. Hence, hinged with a sense of curiosity, he made rapid steps to approach the dim source of light with the little fiber of strength his body could summon.
As he approached even further, the light revealed a kind of strange setting and something seemed cracking around there. In general, it was exactly similar to a kind of fire place, though it was set up in the open.
The building, or rather the cave, had an opening but no one stood guard in it. The presence of cackling flames ensured that there would be no wild animal(s) lurking around, so he had less worry about being sneaked on by a tiger or wolf out of the blues.
The cave gave him an eerie feeling from the outside. It was nighttime when people like him were usually safe in their abodes resting after the day's stress. In the daytime, the entire city was a place of bustling activities, but at night, everywhere was usually serene and people in sight were fewer.
Well, except for the guardians and ghosts that helped to haunt houses at night, the rest of nighttime could be said to be pretty cool.
However, the cave appeared a bit too ordinary as well but the cackling fire seemed to get colder as Chen Zhiyu approached and it was clear that it really was weird.
"No body is sitting next to the fireplace and it's also cold. What a strange enigma" Chen Zhiyu whispered with caution.
Out of curiosity, Chen Zhiyu went into the cave, stubbornly resisting the warning in his heart concerning the hidden dangers that the place possibly held. But his eyes was greeted by a menacing sight right when he entered.
About ten corpses and a few accompanying carcasses of wolves were littered all around the cave.
"AHHHH!!!!!!"
Chen Zhiyu screamed loudly as an impulsive reaction to what his eyes beheld. He immediately staggered a few steps back as it was a little destabilizing for him to maintain a solid footing after he witnessed the terrific sight.
The expressions of the corpses and carcasses alike was that of utter horror which passively influenced his mind to be terrified too. Strangely, not a single rot was on them but they instead had swirling black smoke coming out of them which kept on pervading the whole surroundings.
Chen Zhiyu could note an important fact after observing the dead bodies carefully. Their terror could be explained as the look one had by meeting a terrible and utterly dreadful existence right before taking their last breath.
The swirling black smoke also seemed to give him a weird feeling of subtle mind influence. He however gritted his teeth with a stubborn resolve. He didn't want to turn away now that he discovered more mysteries on his quest to satisfy his curiosity. So he wanted to explore it all, even if it was blank pointless and risky.
Another observation he made was that, compared to the warming heat outside, this cave was very cold. It was so chilling that it could even threaten to freeze his bones from merely brushing past his skin. Unfortunately, he didn't have a sheen of spiritual qi to shield him from the biting cold so it was unbearable for him to even make normal movements and gestures.
WHOOSH!
All of a sudden, the entire cave plunged into utter darkness. The flames outside the cave mysteriously went off causing the main source of lighting to go out.
Chen Zhiyu simply swallowed hard and resisted the feeling of fear in his heart and a wilful stubborn spirit arose in him like never before.
THUMP!
Chen Zhiyu's heartbeat increased with an astronomic speed. It suddenly occured to him that he could not find a way in or out as he didn't come in with a lamp or torch in the first place. Out of instinct and by following the guidance of his mind, he began walking further till he reached a point where he stumbled.
"Huhn!" Chen Zhiyu crashed into what he presumed was a resting platform which was on the other hand, a mechanism in the cave.
"AHHHHHH!!!!"
Chen Zhiyu felt himself scream as he crashed to the space below, but it was all for naught as not even a whimper travelled back into his ears when he eventually reached the underground space.
To his surprise, the underground was fairly lit up and seemed like a sort of uninhabited pavilion. There were certain rooms with widely open doors amongst the rest that were tightly shut.
From his point of view, the opened rooms had a splendid appearance. Not only did they have good lighting system, but the rooms were also well furnished compared to the backwater structures in the Chen clan.
"What's that?" Midway through, Chen Zhiyu's attention was attracted to a spot on the ground below.
He discovered a strange character embroidered with the ground. The strange character resembled the text for 'Dragon' – LONG. Without thinking, he rashly stooped below and instinctively rubbed his hand across the surface.
However, his actions brought about an immediate reaction.
He plunged down to the ground in the passing of seconds. To his surprise, the beautiful rooms from before were gone. He only found himself in a confined though enigmatic space when he looked again.
He could see the sky outwards even though he was indoors. The constellations, the moon, everything was beautiful from this view and he seemed to have entered an entranced stage by himself.
However, around him was still a desolate place that could undisputably trigger an uncomfortable feeling overtime. A weird stench and vibe was around the whole place that quickly resigned Chen Zhiyu after entering his perception.
The weird stench slowly crept in and distorted Chen Zhiyu's perceptions leaving him in awe and vulnerability for a while. His vision grew a bit hazy as well as the weird stench continuously lingered.
Before he eventually gave in to the urge to lose consciousness, he could make out three items hanging beside him.
But what items were there singularly? He couldn't tell because he had passed out.