Chapter 40: The Passageways

Inside the passageway, it was completely pitch dark once they turned the corner so Kun Shang created three golf-sized fireballs that floated in front of them to lead the way. Luckily, the walls were made of ice which illuminated the light even more. A'Li was wrapped in a blanket on Xiu'er's back, he had been asleep in pain but gave a small kick.

"Brother, A'Li isn't feeling too well without fire." Xiu'er was walking next to him. "How long do you think it's gonna take us to get out of this mountain?"

"What's wrong with A'Li?" Kun Shang stopped and turned around.

Xiu'er had to bend her neck back in order to look up into his face. "A'Li cannot take the cold. His body is still fragile and his core is weak against it. Right now his body is in pain all over. The only thing he could do is sleep it off."

"You're saying because it's cold his body is aching, so if there's something warm like a fire it would help his condition?" Kun Shang relayed it back to her.

Xiu'er nodded her head. Without saying anything, Kun Shang came behind Xiu'er and put a hand on A'Li's back. His palm glowed reddish orange for three full seconds. Xiu'er turned her head back to see what he was doing to A'Li. After he took his palm away, she noticed that A'Li had stopped shaking and moving.

"What did you do to him?" Xiu'er asked when Kun Shang came up front.

"I transferred some fire qi into his body that's going to keep him warm for the time being."

"Fire qi?" Yu Yue and Xiaogua said at the same time. Their eyes met for a quick second in which she smiled and that made him blush.

Kun Shang looked at them. "That's correct. I have the fire element in my body."

"So, Kun Shang. These elemental people that you are searching for. Do they mean something?" Yu Yue spoke softly but mostly with confusion.

"The order of the world is going to fall. Chaos will soon erupt and the only thing to prevent that is this sword," Kun Shang explained. He held up his sword for a second. "We are all hosts to the powers of this sword. All three of us. You, me, and Xiaogua. Each of our powers are an element and with all the elements united, we can restore the sword and prevent chaos from happening."

There was no further comment after this. Kun Shang couldn't believe he had just said that out loud. He was a logical man. And what he had just uttered was complete nonsense. Hopefully, Yu Yue and Chun Yi don't think he's a crazy person.

Silang went to Yu Yue for the first time and addressed Xiaogua's speech impairment for the first time.

"Don't worry, he talks to everyone but you. But that doesn't mean he dislikes you. In fact, it's quite the opposite. He actually really likes--"

Xiaogua's eyes grew twice its size and he sucked in a shocking breath.

Xiu'er slammed her toes into her chatty brother's ankle. He yelped. She pulled him to the side and gave him a series of pinches.

They continued down the passageway for a few more minutes. Silang's mood was killed and revived again. Now that they were excluded from the rest of the world, he took the chance to be the person from the group and ask about Chun Yi. Who was she? Where did she come from and why was her body like that?

Chun Yi didn't stop walking but looked around at the five pairs of eyes that were aiming at her. She knew that none of these people were her friends. Perhaps the nicest one was Kun Shang and she had tried to kill him. She was pretty sure most of them had heard of who she was by now but she took the chance to finally formally introduce herself.

She was the eldest disciple of Hidden Butterfly Valley. Ever since she was a baby, she was raised by her Master and knew nothing about her biological parents. Her Master said that her body had always been like this since she found her abandoned near the valley. Her entire body was made of an incurable poison that meant absolute death upon skin contact. Many lives had been lost experimenting on her body, determined to find a cure but ended up touching her skin and dying themselves. For 18 long years no one had found a cure, allowing the young girl to live her life like a weapon about to explode. She'd stayed in Hidden Butterfly Valley her entire life, training martial arts and rarely got involved.

Chun Yi was careful not to mention anything about Xiu'er finding the cure to save Kun Shang. She wasn't sure how Xiu'er convinced Xiaogua and Yu Yue to follow her request, but she had to hold her part of the bargain. Instead, Chun Yi diverted their attention to her current mission of retrieving the precious vial stolen from their Sect by the Four Evil Gates Heroes. The vial contained a sample of her poison, extracted by a previous physician before his death and kept in the container. The Four Evil Gates Heroes stole it for their own selfish needs. If the poison was to be replicated and leaked, there would be no cure for humankind.

After her explanation the group was silent again. There were small chats here and there but they were more focused on getting down the mountain. Xiu'er told her brother that she was hungry. Xiaogua double checked if he had filled the canteens with water for their trip. Yu Yue told Xiu'er she probably hadn't eaten enough because White Mountain is scarce in food. Kun Shang tried to make side conversations with Chun Yi so she would feel comfortable. Xui'er had never let her guard down against Chun Yi and was ready to defend at any time if the girl decided to change her mind again.

They walked for a while before reaching a thick ice door at the end of the tunnel. On the wall by the door handle was an ice lion head sculpture that protruded out. Xiu'er approached it first after she tried opening it but realized that it was bolted shut. Since it was the only thing here it must be the way to open the door. She searched the lion head thoroughly for a mechanism that could open the door but found nothing. Her fingers turned cold and dry. The air was still freezing cold even though they were in the passageway, probably even colder because they were underground.

She became frustrated.

Even Yu Yue looked helpless seeing Xiu'er tried her best. This was the first time Yu Yue had been in the secret passageway after all. Kun Shang finally came up to give help. The rest stayed a couple of feet back in case the door opened their way.

Kun Shang put his hands on the lion's ears, inside the mouth, behind the lion's head and at the base of the neck.

"I've tried that. I've tried that already!" Xiu'er crossed her arms in a sarcastic tone.

"I know, but what if we--"

"I've done that! Are you stupid?"

"What's wrong with you?" He stated. "Why are you so--"

"Nothing. I'm fine. I'm just stuck with an idiot person and a walking poison. Don't know who's gonna die next, the idiot, or the walking poison."

"Stop it. Drop your attitude." He said.

"Drop dead." Xiu'er didn't blink.

"Kill me then!"Kun Shang was heated.

"Maybe I will, because you tend to forgive your killers, do you not?" She barked at him, her nostrils flaring and her shoulders pushed back to expose her angry chin. "I bet if I did, you wouldn't mind it one bit! Kill you, I mean."

His eyes flared up so much he had to turn his back to her, shoulders rising, fire fuming in his chest.

Now he's getting mad at her?

Xiu'er grabbed the ears of the lion in frustration and put force on it. Her fingernails scraped the sculpture but it wasn't enough to anguish her fury. She was starving, Kun Shang was being ignorantly stupid, she had to look at Chun Yi's face while she starved, and there was an unnecessary door blocking their way from getting out of this mountain.

Xiu'er lifted her fists up and bashed them onto the lion's head with a grunt, which unexpectedly broke the head off the wall.

Clash! Who knew ice could break so easily.

Silang watched from the back with large eyes, along with Xiaogua, Yu Yue, and Chun Yi, as a trap door opened up below Xiu'er and Kun Shang's feet. The arguing couple both fell into the hole that opened up underneath them. One surprised scream was heard from each of them before the trap door quickly closed as soon as it opened.