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132 - Below a Starless Sky
🕑 Added 2025-01-18 18:16:58 +0000 UTCThe two men stood at ground level before a large entrance that led deep into the rock formation. The sky was now fully dark, and the world was black as far as the eye could see, except for the massive river running through the two regions.
From what Qin Yun could understand, the light was created when the sparse qi remaining within the water was extracted into the atmosphere before being destroyed into miniature flashes of light by this barren world.
It wouldn't typically result in enough light to be perceived by the human eye. Still, in this environment devoid of any other source, they seemed like fireflies bursting into the air, washing the world in dull colours with their dying breaths.
Unlike this mysterious interaction, the tunnel leading further into the rock mountain felt darker than the sky itself. It was a profound blackness that even Qin Yun—with his enhanced sight far removed from normality—couldn't see much of anything.
“This darkness is annoying,” he sighed. “How do your people deal with this?”
"What do you mean? It isn't much different than during the day," the young man said as he turned to face him. If Qin Yun could see, he would recognize the deep puzzlement on the man's face. Qin Yun was stunned momentarily but then thought deeply about it.
It makes sense. If these starless nights are all they have ever known, they have probably adapted to them over generations. With all the heat radiating from below our feet, the most logical explanation is that they can see the infrared spectrum.
Qin Yun had to stop his curiosity from inquiring further, yet he promised himself that, if given the chance, he would dissect one of these people. There was still much he could learn from them.
“What now?” Qin Yun asked, staring deep into the void threatening to swallow him. Despite many lifetimes of experience, even he felt reluctant to step foot into such a place.
"Quite a few tracks are leading out of the cave and deep into the desert," the man said.
Qin Yun instinctively looked down, trying to observe what the man had found, yet he obviously couldn't. Everything looked the same, and the sparse light from the river, even reaching this far, made the world just a blurry mess.
“Do you think they already left? How fresh are these tracks?” Qin Yun asked, slightly exasperated that he had to rely on someone else for this.
Without missing a beat, he reached for the hovering black box, extracting a wooden rod from its depths and a red stone that glowed slightly. A symbol carved onto its surface read "Heat" in a language that none in this world had probably ever heard of.
Wrapped around one side of the rod was a bundle of cloth filled with congealed fat. It emitted a putrid stench, prompting the young man to frown, yet he didn't recoil in disgust. While slightly different, it reminded him of the odour of sandworms' corpses left to dry under the sun, as their multiple layers of fat cooked under its heat. It was revolting but familiar.
With a simple strike of the red rock against the bundle of cloth, the imbibed fat burst into flames, creating a torch to drive away the darkness. As the flame burst into existence, the rock dimmed almost by half, and the power within slowly disappeared.
Without missing another moment, Qin Yun returned the stone to his storage and looked around him. Finally, Qin Yun could see the tracks lying at his feet, and as expected, the young man was right. There were many, all headed in the same direction.
“How many exiled should there be?” Qin Yun asked. “This can’t be all of them.”
"Those were my thoughts, too," the young man replied as he tried to block the flame with his arms. To his eyes, the burning flame was as if the sun shone straight into his retina. All he could do was turn and face away from it. Only then could he add, "They usually don't leave all at once. There's always a scouting party leading the way to ensure they won't run into any troubles at their destination."
"Does that mean they are preparing to leave?"
"They may have already left," the young man said, yet there seemed to be doubts in his voice. Qin Yun wasn't sure, as he still wasn't used to the Outsider language they were now speaking in, but then the man added, "These tracks are way too obvious. My guess is they are already long gone, and those were left behind by the last group."
“Last group?”
"The migration is always done into three parts," the man explained. "The second is usually the main party, consisting of women, children and the elderly, while the third is akin to a rear guard. Their job is to neutralize parties trying to follow them and erase their traces."
"So... Are these traces real or not?" Qin Yun asked, feeling frustrated that they had yet to make contact. This side-quest of his was beginning to take its toll, and his goal was growing farther away.
“Only one way to know,” the man said, looking into the blackness leading further away from the mountain.
“Alright,” Qin Yun finally said, his tone decisive. “Let’s separate. You go follow those tracks, and I’ll search in there.”
Qin Yun pointed into the giant void standing before him. He didn't want to do so but had no choice. This was the most effective strategy. As if reading his thoughts, the man nodded before stepping into the darkness, away from Qin Yun's only light source, before saying, "I'll follow them for a bit, then come back. If you find them, try not to provoke them. They aren't used to seeing strangers down these parts."
I’ll try... Qin Yun thought as he entered the darkness of this tunnel.
Surprisingly, his flame on a stick could barely drive back the blackness. It felt like the rock absorbed most of the light, leading to Qin Yun not seeing further than a meter or two before him. He had to sharpen most of his other senses so as not to face-plant face first into a rock wall, as the tunnel wound and bent but also split into countless other paths.
While the darkness didn't help, this world seemed like a maze, waving back and forth and looping in on itself. More than once, Qin Yun was forced to backtrack as he hit a dead-end or was forced back out of the countless other openings carved into the vertical wall of this mountain of stone—some were even a few levels higher.
Despite all his expertise, Qin Yun had a hard time mapping the entirety of this maze in his mind—something he usually wouldn't have any problems with. He was no fool. Something was obviously messing with his sense of direction, yet he could do nothing about it short of tunnelling through the walls in a single direction.
He was now entirely out of qi and had no more spirit stones to use as batteries. Even then, they wouldn't be helpful as his tribulation qi conflicted with ordinary qi. To use the simplest of techniques, Qin Yun would have to siphon an exorbitant wealth.
After wandering down these tunnels for a whole hour, Qin Yun was beginning to have enough. At periodical intervals, he had placed marks onto the stone, if only to eliminate ways he had trekked before. However, he still inevitably returned to the entrance even though he chose ways unmarred by this mark. It felt as if someone was playing a trick on him.
In frustration, Qin Yun struck a side wall with all his strength. He expected nothing from it, knowing this mountain could take the blow. However, he was surprised to find that a hollow chamber just happened to be on the other side.
The rock shattered, propelling shards through the chamber to the opposing wall; they ricocheted all around before finally stopping, leaving deep indents just about anywhere. Qin Yun was stunned. It took him a moment to realize what he had just chanced upon.
Looking closer, as remnants of this explosion slowly detached from the shattered wall, Qin Yun noticed that this section of the tunnel was slightly different. He even noticed a change in the rock's composition, leading him to believe this change was intentional, intended to hide this opening altogether.
So this was never an entrance after all...
Slowly, Qin Yun peeked through this newly made opening, using his torch to illuminate this void, but it was much larger than he expected. It could fit at least a hundred people. There were even pillars scattered around the room, supporting the massive weight of the mountain hanging over them.
Qin Yun stepped through, but as soon as he did, he felt the movement of the wind coming from his blind spot on his left. Without any thoughts on his part, Qin Yun’s legs folded, letting him slip under a sharp edge that passed right over his head before bouncing off the stone and scattering sparks.
Qin Yun felt as if he had just brushed against death. His brain even imagined the pain of his severed neck as he knew this was where the edge was aiming for. However, that feeling lingered for a moment as Qin Yun jumped to the side, just out of range, yet he felt the same wind coming from behind him this time.
He spun, catching the edge between his thumb and index finger. However, the blow was much stronger than he expected. Even using all his strength, he couldn’t stop the edge from inching closer. He almost lost his fingers as he nudged the edge slightly to the side, allowing it to pass harmlessly off-target.
He jumped backwards again, feeling the hard surface of the stone walls against his back. He narrowed his eyes, trying to peer through the darkness, only to see his torch lying on the ground a few meters off his location. He had had no choice but to let it fall to parry the blow, as he had removed his prosthetic arm to make his story more believable.
Now, all that remained of his right arm was the stump wrapped in layers of bandages, cut off slightly below the shoulder. He even sliced the healed wound a few times, some time ago, so the timing would be right. The abrupt movements he had made just now had reopened the wound. He could feel his blood slowly seeping into the thick bandages.
“Are you part of the Exiled Tribe?” Qin Yun shouted at the darkness, only for his voice to echo back to him off the stone walls. “If so, I mean you no harm!”
However, just as Qin Yun's words left his mouth, he felt another movement coming from his right, aimed at his missing arm. He twisted his body, barely avoiding the blow aimed at his core, threatening to split him in two. Still, as he was near the wall, the edged weapon struck it cleanly and, from the sound, was deeply embedded within, even remaining stuck.
A sword... No. An Axe!
Qin Yun's eyes narrowed. Having a better grasp of his opponent's capabilities, he could now formulate a plan. He could roughly feel where the man stood from the slight air fluctuation around him. However, before he could do so, Qin Yun noticed a shadow emerging from the darkness, standing over the small flame on the ground.
Great... There’s more than one...
While Qin Yun couldn't make out the man's features, judging from the size alone, there was no doubt he was one of the Outsiders. Before Qin Yun could react, he saw the man raise his leg and let it fall onto the torch.
The impact was such that not even the flame filled with fuel could resist the wind pressure it created, and it was extinguished on the spot. Now, all that remained between him and his two opponents was a sea of darkness.
“Guys... Can we just talk about this?”
