4

Tianmu continent

Qian mountains.

A flaming meteor illuminated the night sky. It lit the sky thousand of miles away.

By morning, the whole province was moving towards the qian mountains. Rumour had it that a meteor crashed somewhere in the mountain range during the night. This was news, the mountain range was known for its meteor crashes. If one was lucky, one could harvest some void stone. This meant one thing. Riches for the lucky person who found it first and managed to hold on to it. Already, the governor's soldiers were stationed at all the roads leading to and from the mountain range checking every traveller for the rumoured void stones.

Aargh!

Bai li yue opened her eyes with difficulty.

Too hot…

She felt like her body was on fire.

What the hell happened? I remember being in the void and the cold. How did i end up burning?

She crawled out of the debris and stumbled on weak knees out of the scorching midday sun toward the line of trees a few metres.

Water. I need water.

She felt thirsty- like she hadn't drank water in ages.

She fell to her knees once she reached the cool shade of the trees; no longer feeling the burning on her skin.

I need a moment to catch my breath before i find water. I can't believe i am still alive. I was sure that i was going to die in the void. I wonder where i am and how i ended up here? Am i back in the forest where that fake monk opened the portal? Looks like it.

She took deep breaths and took the time to look around while she regained her strength. In her city girl mind, one tree resembled the other.

'i'm in a forest, that means finding a stream. Then i can think about getting out of here. One thing's for sure though. I'm moving out of my house the minute i get back. I don't want him to find me again.

Despite her weakened state, she got back to her feet. Using the trees as support, she walked deeper into the forest and following the slope down. Hopefully she would find a water source soon before she dried up. The sound of flowing water was music to her ears. She sped up and burst out of the canopy of trees.

She cupped the water between her palms and  drank greedily until she was fully hydrated.

Ahh...

I finally feel alive.

She washed her face and her arms and feet to freshen up. A curious deer was frightened away by the loud splashing noises.

After washing up and playing in the river for a while to cool down, she followed the river downstream. A few times, she entered the forest when the banks of the river became too steep to follow.

When night came, she found a cave and dragged her exhausted body in. She lay on the bare ground and closed her eyes to hoping to sleep despite her rumbling tummy. It was so loud in the darkness that she was scared it would attract the creatures that were outside hunting. She'd heard the rustling of leaves from beyond the hanging vines that obscured and hid the cave from detection. She had been extremely lucky in finding it.

Bai li yue slept fitfully through the night. She kept jumping awake every time she heard a rustling outside the cave. She was rather thankful when she saw the sun peek out over the horizon. It meant she didn't have to worry about the nocturnal hunters. She fell back asleep for a few hours and woke up ready for the day. The plan was the same: follow the river until she made it out of the forest. In addition, she would try gathering fruits or berries. She had seen some birds eating some of them the day before. City girl or not, she knew if birds could eat it, it was edible food. She was more or less sure that those berries were indeed blackberries. Left with tasting them. At this point in time she was approaching the level of not caring what she ate as long as her rumbling tummy was pacified.

Bai li yue was almost out of the cave when she saw a glint of metal in the sand beside. She reached down to find a coin. It was old and worn. Upon close inspection it looked more ancient than old. The writing was one she couldn't identify.

She pocketed it and finally took the chance to look around the cave. It had been dark when she entered into the cave last night. It was bigger than she imagined. She came across an archway in the wall of the cave that looked like a door.

Wait. Why would anyone build a door in the wall of a cave? Or is this one of those ruins from ancient times.

'I have watched documentaries of people finding such remnants of the past. I didn't think i would find one too. Cool!'

Did she go in and have a look? Or leave and come back later with researchers?

She debated her next move, curiosity warring against caution.

It will just save me time, she rationalised.

What if it was only an empty ruin and i wasted time coming back with others? I would have wasted their time and mine as well.

She pushed the door inward and heard it slowly slide open. She coughed when she was hit with a thick blanket of stale air.

She finally stepped inside when enough air had circulated into the room.

The room wasn't as dark as she had expected. It looked bare until her eyes fell on a skeleton in a corner of the room. It was intact for the most part with its back leaning on the wall in a seated position.

Someone died here. It happened a long time ago but she was still shaken to the core. She had seen a lot of death on tv but never in real life, with her own two eyes. She hadn't even seen her family's bodies.

One thing that drew and held her interest was the clothing on the skeleton. Part of it was ravaged by the passage of time and decomposition, but the parts that remained intrigued her.

This style of clothing is similar to the kind worn in period dramas. However the fabric still remaining on this skeleton looked hundred times finer than the ones she'd seen on tv. How is it possible?'

She bowed to the skeleton and prayed that the spirit had found peace before drawing closer to study the material. From her crouched position, she unfortunately couldn't see the small light flicker in the empty eye sockets of the skeleton.

She was intent on studying the fabric when she felt a touch of a bony hand.

Aieee!

She scurried backwards on her knees towards the door, but it slid shut before she could make it through.

She looked back; the skeleton was standing. A green light flickered in its eye sockets as it watched her.

'At long last, someone has come. I can leave this cursed place.'

The voice came from inside her head.

'No. No, not again. I just left one dangerous situation and i'm facing another danger! Am i a magnet for danger?'

'quiet, child! Don't fight your fate. It will be over soon.'

The green light from the skeleton's eyes sliced through her mind trying to force its way into her soul.