Wandao 014
Three miles south of Niupu Village lies a broken cliff. Beneath the cliff is a dense forest, rarely trodden by man. Legend has it that at the base of the cliff lies a series of hidden caverns connected to the earth's meridians, where remnants of ancient demonic insects are buried. None who enter ever return whole. Over time, the villagers came to call it the "Abyssal Insect Cave."
At this moment, wind surged and clouds roiled, with thunderous mist yet to disperse. Wan Xiaochuan and his group followed Xiang Chengdao into the secluded area beneath the cliff.
Fog curled through the forest; the damp earth covered in moss. Here and there, half-buried bones protruded, silently bearing witness to past carnage. Wan Xiaochuan remained vigilant, one hand holding his sword, the other raising the Wind and Thunder Talisman. The faint glow of its runes continuously signaled any fluctuation in spiritual energy.
Lin Qixian followed closely behind. The insect pouch at his waist trembled slightly. His brows furrowed as he murmured, "Qing Li is restless. The earth's aura here… feels like lingering souls of its kind."
"Proceed with caution," Xiang Chengdao said coldly, his figure vanishing into a grassy cave entrance.
The cave was pitch-dark and bone-chilling. The group entered with talismans in hand, granting them only half feet of visibility. The walls were lined with traces of insect burrows, crisscrossing like ancient runes. Occasional breezes passed, carrying a sound akin to insect cries yet not entirely so.
Wan Xiaochuan advanced slowly, when suddenly the ground beneath his foot gave way into slick mud. As he tried to lift his foot, something stirred beneath—
"Puff!"
A withered insect carcass sprang up, its claw like an iron hook lunging straight for his face!
"Careful!" Lin Qixian shouted. From his sleeve shot a streak of green light—it was a "Spirit-Fixing Talisman." In a flash, the insect carcass froze in place. Wan Xiaochuan struck back with a reverse slash, his wind-thunder sword aura flashing like lightning—
"Wind Severing Thunder Strike!"
Thunder roared as sword light blazed, cleaving the carcass in two. The acrid stench of charred flesh filled the air, steam billowing as several more hidden carcasses were startled into motion within the cave walls.
"The noise is too loud—be wary of deeper demon insects awakening!"
Xiang Chengdao's tone turned sharp as he unsheathed his sword. With a move called "Star Wheel Slash," he swept in a broad arc—sword energy shaped like a full moon slicing through the stone wall by several chi, forcing back lurking threats in the dark.
The tunnel suddenly curved, revealing a wider chamber. At its center lay the massive corpse of an insect, coiled and unmoving—over five feet long, clad in black-brown scales. Though its head was shattered, a strong demonic aura still lingered.
"This is... the remains of a Hellbone Devourer!" Lin Qixian gasped. "A beast from ten thousand years ago, said to devour the souls and marrow of cultivators!"
Wan Xiaochuan stepped closer and suddenly felt his sea of consciousness tremble. A spiritual fluctuation emanated from the corpse—as if a soul fragment still remained.
"Don't touch it!" Xiang Chengdao shouted, but it was too late—
Wan Xiaochuan's fingertip had already touched a scale.
Buzz—!
The chamber quaked as black runes rippled out from the insect's remains. Wan Xiaochuan stood frozen, his eyes turning white—as if his soul had been drawn into the void.
"He's been pulled into a soul fragment!" came Renee's alarmed voice from within the Wind and Thunder Sword.
Lin Qixian's voice trembled. "We must guide his spirit back—quick, make him grip the sword hilt!"
Renee half-manifested in light, drifting behind Wan Xiaochuan. Her slender fingers pressed against his back.
"Wind and Thunder Guide the Spirit, Reverse Flow to the Source—"
A deafening sword cry rang out. Wind-thunder energy burst upward from the cave roof. A bolt of lightning pierced the heart of the corpse as a shadow screamed and shot forth!
Wan Xiaochuan staggered back three steps, gasping for breath, drenched in cold sweat.
"That was a remnant soul...," he murmured. "It tried to... claim my sea of consciousness as its nest…"
Lin Qixian handed over a Qi-restoring pill and asked urgently, "Any sign of corruption?"
Wan Xiaochuan closed his eyes and examined inwardly. After a long pause, he shook his head. "No... but I saw a memory—a glimpse of its past, before it was forged into a demon puppet. It had to do with a long-lost insect art…"
Xiang Chengdao's expression was strange. After a moment, he said, "We may have stumbled into a place of great peril. But if you can master that insect art… it could become a blessing in disguise."
The cold wind still howled in the depths of the cave. Before fading back into the sword, Renee whispered gently:
"Xiaochuan, you've begun to hear… the voices of the past."
That voice echoed in his sea of consciousness… for a long, long time.