Chapter 100 - Creepy Tunnels

A cold breeze swept past them swaying the flowers left to right. Ji Yao looked up and saw a dark cloud appear in the sky as the breeze upgraded to a powerful wind. The sword in Ji Yao's hands half unsheathed itself as though preparing for battle but there was nothing.

Apart from the wind and the creepy wind chimes, there was nothing that could warrant such a response by the sword. The emperor turned back and pointed to the door saying, "In the second door to the left you will find a shrine and...," but he was cut off by Zhang Li.

"How can we enter someone else's house without being escorted by the owner? Please your majesty lead the way lest you accuse us of stealing something," he said cupping his hands in a sarcastic tone.

Emperor Yu turned to look at Ji Yao but the handsome boy didn't say anything meaning he agreed with Zhang Li's statement. The emperor gulped as drops of cold sweat formed on his forehead. He took a step forward but because his legs were shaky he missed a step and tripped.

The head eunuch was also terrified but he managed to help him up. He had heard about this but he didn't know the details. All he knew was the empress dowager's pavilion was a scary place with a chilling aura surrounding it. The late emperor would have never placed this beast here if it wasn't for the Taoist priest saying this place had an abundance of Yin energy enough to calm the captive.

The two led the group into the inner courtyard. The rooms looked like a perfect depiction of the rapture. The people in this pavilion had simply vanished leaving behind everything as is. There were even dessert cakes and a teapot filled with tea that had long gone cold on the garden table at the centre of the courtyard.

That's most likely because of their sudden appearance in the imperial palace causing the maidservants and eunuchs to flee with their lives. Even the infamous empress dowager was nowhere to be seen. Based on the shield set up by Xunshi Zhe she was probably still in the imperial palace.

The group of people entered the deserted room with a shrine inside. Ji Yao wasn't familiar with this goddess but something about her statue gave him the creeps. He reached out with his fingers to touch the base of the statue. Under the ashes at the feet of the goddess was dried blood.

He had no idea what these people meant by this but it was nothing good. Lady Ching Sei furrowed her brows when she saw this so she asked, "Where is the entrance?"

The emperor pointed at the goddess with a shaky finger unable to speak clearly. All he knew was that it was here that he accidentally saw the beast when he was a kid and his father ended up having to explain to him earlier than expected.

"How do you open it," asked Lan Wu carelessly pulling the board fixed to the wall. The goddess that had been standing tall with a gracious smile suddenly came crashing to the ground startling the eunuchs and Emperor Yu.

They knew how important this goddess statue was to empress mother and dared not touch it yet these people just destroyed it without a second thought. She had told him it was to ward off the ominous aura seeping from behind that place.

It seemed there was some truth to her words because the clouds gathering in the sky brought in violent chills as an explosive sinister aura filled the room. The emperor was so terrified that he just up and ran just like that taking the rest of the group by surprise.

The eunuch followed behind calling out, "Your majesty... your, your majesty!" but Ji Yao didn't bother following after that coward. They wouldn't get far anyway because Big Hei was outside.

"Well, there goes our tour guide," said Zhang Li as he examined the wall with Lan Wu.

Lady Ching Sei glanced in the direction of the door before she turned to face Ji Yao asking, "Don't you want to wait outside and leave us to deal with this?" Ji Yao had a feeling that the four of them might not even be enough to deal with whatever monstrosity that was locked in there so why would he back down.

"It's fine... we will need all hands on deck," he said before moving forward. He had noticed something at the bottom of the floor but he wasn't certain if it was part of the fallen shrine or the prison underneath. He crouched down and placed his hand on the bulge at the bottom.

With a little seraphic energy, the spherical object turned clockwise marking the beginning of a chain reaction. Ji Yao began to seriously doubt whether that Taoist priest was truly a Taoist priest or a Nocru man playing dress-up. That's because this mechanism was too sophisticated to be something a mere Taoist priest would come up with unless he was Albert Einstein's crazy smart cousin.

Random protrusions ejected from the wall making clicking sounds before a small crack opened with dust spreading everywhere. As soon as that door opened a crack Ji Yao's sword unsheathed and made a high pitched sound eager to fight. Ji Yao could understand why. There was massive killing intent coming from that crack making one shiver in fright.

Lan Wu opened the door wide with a crackling sound coming from its hinges. The four people were met with a narrow staircase and inky darkness beyond the stairs. Ji Yao felt goosebumps spread all over his body but he wasn't as afraid as when he faced Rui Fei's seraphic energy.

This meant he wasn't afraid to take the first step. Lady Ching Sei reached out to stop him but when she remembered his issues she retracted her hand. She would have prefered being in the forefront otherwise if anything happens to Ji Yao, Ji Wen would sink all three of them at the bottom of the sea. They would be 'sleeping with the fishes' in no time.

Ji Yao didn't notice her actions directly descending the stairs with his sword by his side. The others followed behind with great vigilance. Something vile was definitely hiding in this place. As to what it was none of them had an idea.

***

Beyond the complex maze-like dark tunnels with no ounce of sunlight, a pair of grey eyes opened accompanied by a Cheshire cat grin visible in the dark. "Hehe.... I am looking forward to playing with you," said a croaky voice before the eyes and that creepy smile vanished. This was about to be an interesting game of cat and mouse.