Chapter 54 The maze-like cave

Chapter 54

The darkness of the surroundings can make one's perception and senses dull. It seems like time flows very slowly and everything seems like a dream. The boundless waves of distorted lines are making his head feel light as if he is floating in the clouds.

Shin Jiao was not aware of what is happening in his surroundings as it seems that his consciousness is turbid and not clear. This feeling seems familiar to him but the sensation is a little bit stronger.

"Am I drugged?" Shin Jiao slurred like a drunken man barely able to maintain his balance.

"This can't be… happening…" those were Shin Jiao's last words before losing his consciousness.

Although he fell down and is unconscious, his physique in the nascent realm made Shin Jiao's consciousness linger a little bit more. He had a vague feeling of being dragged by something. Then suddenly his body was lifted and feel that he is being wrapped by a cold thing which is also slowly crushing him, and then after some time, everything turns silent.

The area of the forest that the group entered actually has another name which cultivators would sometimes call 'The Swamp of the Lost'. This is due to people getting lost in this place and never coming back out, it is also rumored that there was once a nascent realm elder from a known sect looking for a rare fruit which is rumored to only exist in the swamp. Then that elder decided to enter the swamp with some of the juniors of the sect, and from then on the group was never seen again.

"Ugh…"

Shin Jiao felt that his head was like hit by a large hammer as he tried to painfully open his eyes. He found himself in a dark cave, but a sudden foul stench enters his nose which made him almost throw up. The smell of dead bodies of various animals filled the air making it unbearable and nauseating.

"My body… what happened to me? I have some broken bones?" Shin Jiao felt that his body is heavy and can feel that some of his bones ached a bit.

It seems that his rapid healing was able to mend his body back to normal albeit he can still feel some pain. Then he closed his eyes to feel his dantian area and heave a sigh of relief as he can see that his dantian is okay. But he now felt a little worried as he didn't know how long has he been unconscious and what happened to his companions.

Then he suddenly noticed that all his clothes are gone and his body is covered with a gooey acid-like substance. Which may be the reason why he is not wearing anything, as the acid substance may have melted them. The only thing he has now is Gubu's ring on his left index finger. Because of the sturdiness of his physique the acid was not able to dissolve even a single hair in his body.

He quickly wipes the gooey grime on his face while forcing himself to stand up. Shin Jiao is now able to see the whole cave which is not that big. Then he saw that he is in a mountain pile of beasts' carcass. He then noticed that he actually came out of a long and large snake beast which seems to have been cut in half, as he can only see the tail where he slid out, while the upper body is already gone.

Seeing this, Shin Jiao shuddered in fear. He could not imagine what would have happened if his physique is too weak. Nothing would be left in him by now but his bones, which may even be dissolved by the strong acid in the snake's stomach. But then since he is already out of there, he decided to explore the area to find a way out.

"I need to go out and see what's going on." Shin Jiao thought.

Shin Jiao decided to just go on his birthday suit as the acid in his body would surely dissolve any clothes he wears. So he thought to quickly find a water source first to wash the acid covering his body.

"This is really uncomfortable." Shin Jiao murmured as he looks down while walking.

When he saw his little brother he can't help but smile, as it seems that it has improved a lot.

When he got out of the cave Shin Jiao immediately saw a small stream of water and immediately washed the grime and goo off his body while keeping his vigilance. Then he put on his hunting clothes as he is not sure what kind of enemy is inside this mysterious cave. Unluckily he lost his trusty goggles which may still be in the swamp borders.

After a couple of minutes of walking cautiously in a tunnel inside the cave, his spiritual sense which can now reach up to 10 meters after learning the cultivation method, saw a large room. Then he moved like a shadow stealthily creeping toward that room. Looking up he saw a small rock ledge enough to use as a vantage point to see the whole room. With some quick movements, he was able to go up without someone noticing him.

Now with a clear view, he can see that inside that room are many people both mortals and cultivators trapped inside some large cages. They are separated by sexes and it seems that some of them are still unconscious.

What made Shin Jiao feel a little shock are the guards standing outside those cages. They are like members of the beast clan that Gubu have mentioned which should be on the other side of the cultivation land. Both guards have a body of a man with green scaled-skin and the head of a crocodile with a short snout.

"Why are there beast folk here? This is way too far from their land." Shin Jiao thought to himself.

Then all of a sudden he saw one of them sniffing the air. Making Shin Jiao become alert as he knows how sharp animal senses are.

"I smell something..." One of the guards said with a deep human's voice as he lifted his short snout.

"Hehe… I think you smell yourself." The other guard replied with a wide grin showing his crooked fangs.

"Idiot…" the guard who lifted his nose replied as he slowly closed his eyes.

Upon seeing this Shin Jiao heart almost jumps out of his throat. He is not sure if the beast clan can use spiritual sense, but if they do then he is screwed, so without a choice, he needs to make a pre-emptive strike.

Shin Jiao didn't think twice and just quickly use the wall behind him to push his body off launching himself towards the two guards. Then while in the air he takes out his dark short swords and did a quick slicing motion. From his position, Shin Jiao has a direct line of attack towards the two unassuming guards.

Before they could react both were immediately cut in half, the first one lost his head while the other one was separated by his waist. With his eyes in disbelief, the guard who was cut in half by his waist wants to still struggle. But Shin Jiao immediately planted the tip of his sword in the guard's forehead, taking the guard's life.

Shin Jiao was able to cut down the two but with a price. His body suddenly started to hurt once more as he had exerted too much effort on his bones and muscle. But to his astonishment, the energy inside his dantian quickly mended his aching bones.

Standing there like a shadow of death, Shin Jiao's figure almost scared the people inside the cages. Everyone is staring at the dark figure standing beside the two corpses of the beast clan guards. Shin Jiao didn't want to bother with them and just decided to cut the locks and let them fend for themselves.

With a single swing of his short dark sword, the cages burst open and Shin Jiao immediately turns around and started walking.

"Senior wait!" a young man suddenly called out.

Since Shin Jiao can now use spiritual Qi, he suddenly noticed the aura in the body of each person even without using his goggles. He noticed that the young man who called him have the cultivation of a primary stage gold core realm. But it seems that his acupoints and meridians are blocked. Seeing this Shin Jiao now understood that these cultivators are unable to fight back because their meridians are blocked.

"Come here! I'll unseal your acupoints and you take care of the rest. I can't waste any more time I'm in a hurry." Shin Jiao said in a cold voice.

Then he immediately unseals the acupoints of the young man. As he started learning the basic cultivation method and arts Shin Jiao became aware of these things. After unsealing the young man he noticed that the mortals on the other side are looking at him with their hopeful eyes. But Shin Jiao has his problems and worries because right now he is really worried about his three companions. So he hardens his heart and with a dark sigh, he turns around and left.

Seeing that Shin Jiao has already left the cultivators and mortals became a little worried. But the young man was still looking at Shin Jiao's figure that is slowly blending with the shadows.

"It can't be… he has no aura?" he muttered.

"What do you mean?" the person near the young man immediately asked.

"I don't know… but I think he is a mortal. But his moves don't fit that category." The young man replied still in deep thought.

"Hey stop thinking too much. Just hurry up and unseal our cultivation junior brother Sian. We need to go out of this cave." Another cultivator suddenly said.

Shin Jiao is carefully exploring the cave and after some time, he noticed that it is like a huge maze or a labyrinth. This made him feel irritated and decided to find a place and craft a basic version of his goggles. But when he turns a corner he saw a group of beast clan guards walking towards him.

"Oh crap!" Shin Jiao almost cursed himself.

Shin Jiao actually was surprised as he didn't hear any footsteps coming from that direction. And when he looks at the guards he seems to understand why. As a beast which originated from the swamp, their feet are adapted for sneak attacking any prey without a sound.

"What! That's a human! We have an intruder! Go! Get him!" a deep voice immediately shouted coming from a beast clan guard which seems to be the leader.

With that command, 5 beast clan guards with a head of a crocodile immediately rushed towards Shin Jiao.

He noticed that the auras in their bodies are different than that of cultivators as there are two colors. Looking at them carefully Shin Jiao was able to see that the energy is not coming from their dantian but from a core in their body. So basically they are still beast but with a human form and slightly lower intelligence.

Shin Jiao immediately tried to congeal a fireball in his palm. He feels excited upon using this skill for the first time in a fight as he plans to just use cultivation arts in fighting the beast clan's guards. As the nearest beast clan guard drew closer he wields a crude-looking sword and was about to strike Shin Jiao.

Shin Jiao is still not moving as his mind is focused on trying to make a fireball. As the sword drew closer towards him, he still didn't budge. Then suddenly a spark appears on Shin Jiao's palm which made Shin Jiao smile. Before the sword could touch him, he suddenly moves back missing his neck by a hair's breathe. Then he pushes the fireball floating on his palm towards the chest of the beast clan guard.

Boom!

The explosion threw the guard backward like a cannonball while his blood sprayed all over. Then a bloody hole can be seen on his chest as he lays flat on the ground. Upon seeing this, the rest of the guards stopped in their tracks. They look at each other as if they seem to not understand what's going on.

They clearly noticed that their enemy is not a cultivator as the young man didn't emit any auras, then why is it that all of a sudden they saw a fireball in his hand. This made them a little confused but at the same time, fear slowly crept in their cold-blooded hearts.

"You bunch of imbeciles! Catch him!" the leader is now seething in anger as he shouted towards the other guards.

Because of anger, the guard leader stretches forth his hand towards the handle of the huge ax on his back.

But before they could do anything four fist-sized fireballs suddenly hits the remaining guards, except the leader.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions blasted the rest of the guards, each with a caving hole in their chest. Upon seeing this, the guard leader became really angry as he growled at Shin Jiao and seize the huge ax on his back.

"I will kill you and chew on your bones human!" shouted the guard leader.

Suddenly the guard leader feels something is amiss, and then he heard a loud bang. He noticed that his hands became light as if he is not carrying anything. This made the guard's leader stop on his track. Suddenly he noticed a cold dark blade is pressed against his neck. The guard leader now knows what happened as he can see his huge ax on the ground with his hands still clutching it. Although feeling the pain on both arms, he didn't scream for fear that Shin Jiao would suddenly take his life.

"I'm getting bored. I need to find the way out of here now." Shin Jiao said in a cold voice behind the guard leader's back.

Upon hearing this, the guard leader's body shivered in fear and just nodded.

Shin Jiao followed the guard leader towards a tunnel which seems going upwards. Then after a while, they reach a large circular room with a flat form in the middle. Then Shin Jiao saw the guard leader suddenly burst forward with all his strength as he ran like crazy towards the middle of the room.

"Haha! Do you think you can threaten me? Now this will be your death." He suddenly shouted as all the doors in the rooms suddenly closes.

In the middle of the room, a huge red flower bud suddenly emerge as the platform opens. Then Shin Jiao suddenly smell the familiar scent and immediately covered his nose. Shin Jiao realized that this is the scent of the fog outside.

"So… this is… the intruder." A raspy voice which seems to belong to a woman suddenly came out from inside the flower bud.

One of the petals slowly opens and reveals a very beautiful mature woman with a phoenix-like eye. But then as the woman stood, Shin Jiao noticed that half of her body is that of a snake.