The world spun. A chill ran down his spine. He took a step back, gasping. The vision disappeared as quickly as it had come. The body before him was once again that of the hare. And he was himself.
Tristan closed his eyes for a second, trying to pull himself together.
That vision... what was that?
His concern for his sanity was growing more serious.
He took a deep breath and knelt beside the corpse. He needed to focus. He pushed aside the momentary disturbance and concentrated on his diagnostic ability.
"Here it is," he murmured, cutting through the flesh and anything else in his way. He pulled out a small metallic cylinder from inside the creature, lodged within its intestine. It was similar to the one he had found inside the giant centipede earlier, though obviously smaller. A star was engraved on its surface, surrounded by tiny runes.
Lifting his hand, Tristan cut into the hare's solar plexus, and there it was.
Another core, and just like before, it was red.
'A great reward for so little effort this time.'
Tristan turned his face to stare at the artifact in his hand. "What's happening here?" he said in a low voice.
By now, he had discarded the idea that these creatures were connected to the Titans. It would be too much of a coincidence to find so many extraordinary beings in such a short period of time. There had to be another explanation—and a far more unsettling one.
He recalled the old tales he had heard in childhood. Stories of wizards corrupted by ambition, capable of creating living creatures through forbidden magic, molding beings to serve their will.
"Artificial creatures..." he whispered. That would explain a lot: the weak core, the metallic cylinders, the lack of magical powers, the runes, and that strange reaction upon death.
But one question echoed in his mind: 'If someone created this, could the creator still be nearby?'
Could there be a dark wizard's laboratory in this region?
Tristan knew that great creations could only be made using valuable resources.
What kind of treasures could be hidden in such a place? Moreover, would its owner still be there?
'Maybe he's been dead for a long time, and his aberrations are just wandering this area... maybe his possessions are left unguarded somewhere...'
He looked again at the hare's body; its scars looked old.
'But not old enough...' Tristan's first conclusion was that the supposed wizard must have been around for at least a few years.
Another question crossed Tristan's mind: Would the wizard know about the magical herbs in the region?
If that were the case, he might have to give up on his mission.
After all, how powerful could someone be who had spent so much free time conducting strange experiments?
Tristan ran a hand through his hair, feeling a headache coming on.
'No, the ritual from previous years went smoothly.' He had read the reports and knew which disciples had managed to return with the herbs.
'Unless the wizard recently discovered the location, everything should be fine.'
Unless, of course, he had just been unlucky and something had changed. In that case, he might be walking straight toward a terrible fate.
'Ugh, problems and more problems.'
Tristan stood up. He would never get anywhere if he acted out of fear. He would never achieve anything without facing challenges.
Turning back toward his objective, he began to walk.
Some time passed.
Tristan frowned, staring at deep marks on the ground. Five toes—the feet of whatever beings had left those footprints looked similar to his, but the toes were much longer and thicker.
One, two, three.
'Three beings passed through here, not long ago.'
***
The disciples of the Zaguhan sects were scattered across the ground, unconscious. Slowly, one of them began to awaken — it was Yan Rui, from the Serene Lake.
He felt his body exhausted and could not see anything. Staggering, he clumsily stood up. He took a few hesitant steps and stopped, startled, when he stepped on something soft. He crouched down and felt what he had stepped on. It was a person; their body was large and strong, so he concluded it was not one of his companions.
Someone from the Living Rock Sect, he thought.
The body had shown no sign of reaction; he only knew the person was alive. He wondered whether he should wake him or look for his friends. His essence was depleted; his means of defense were now almost nonexistent. Thinking about that, he remembered something and checked his own body.
His belongings had been taken!
Yan Rui clenched his fists, furious, and cursed whoever had done that. But he was so exhausted that his anger quickly faded. Against his will, he decided to wake the fallen cultivator.
"Get up, wake up already!" he said, kicking the fallen body.
"What? Where am I? Why is it so dark here?" a familiar voice replied.
From the voice, Yan Rui immediately recognized him: it was Shan Luong.
"I don't know where we are, just get up already!"
Luong stood up grumpily, his legs trembling. The two of them moved a few steps forward in the dark until they stumbled over another body.
It was Chen Bo.
After waking the disciple of the Flying Sword Sect, they continued searching and soon discovered that everyone was there.
Except for Mei Liam, who was dead, and Laoyin Piao, who had likely met the same fate.
Chen Bo and Liang Wei tried to wake the Xiao twins, but they remained unconscious; all they could confirm was that they were still alive.
The youths moved through the darkness until they bumped into a wall that seemed to be made of very hard polished stone. They walked along the wall, and it didn't take long to realize they were walking in circles.
"We're trapped," said Yan Rui.
"Who the hell put us here?" Tu Zhen growled through gritted teeth.
"It doesn't matter now; we need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Whoever kidnapped us might still be nearby," said Chen Bo.
He picked up some stones and threw them toward the wall, tossing them a little higher each time.
Then he heard one of them fall far away.
"That's a hole! But it's a bit high... I'll need help to get out."
The members of the other two sects hesitated; they were much heavier and didn't have as much jumping ability as a Wind cultivator. If the hole was too large, they could end up depending on the goodwill of the Flying Sword Sect members to escape, and that made them uncomfortable.
"How can we be sure you'll help us out too, instead of abandoning us here?" Shan Luong grumbled, approaching the wall. He tried jumping with all his strength, but it was in vain.
"Give it up. If it's already difficult for us, for you it's an impossible task," said Yan Rui. "Besides, Luong, it's a bit rude to assume that someone from one of Zaguhan's noble sects would abandon us to die like this. Also, there could be unknown dangers out there; they know it's safer if we all stick together. They wouldn't be so foolish as to try proceeding alone."
That last sentence was a veiled warning to the Flying Sword disciples to stay loyal to the group.
"Alright, alright. You have our word that we'll help you. We would never be so ungrateful."
With the agreement made, Shan Luong, who was the strongest there, agreed to cooperate with Chen Bo.
They approached the wall. Luong interlocked his hands, creating a base. Using all his strength, he launched Chen Bo upward as Bo used the momentum to jump as high as possible.
It looked like he was going to make it. But then...
Impact!
Something hit his head. It was fast and small, but had great force. A little blood trickled from the wound as his body fell through the air, completely unresponsive.
The sound of his body hitting the ground startled the others.
"What... what happened?" Jiang Wei moved toward where he had heard Bo's body fall.
Fearfully, he checked his companion's body; his heart was beating, but he wouldn't wake up. Jiang didn't know what was wrong.
"Stay quiet, humans!"
An aged voice came from above. It was unnaturally high-pitched.
"Keep trying to escape and we'll crush you," they heard another voice say; it was very similar to the first but they could tell it was someone different.
"Who are you?!" Yan Rui demanded an answer.
Everything around them shook.