Chapter 31: Spirit Spores

Chapter 31: Spirit Spores

“Labby can sense a lot of Qi!” Labby exclaimed happily, as we arrived near the location of the Qi vein.

We’d made our way to the forest near Taizhou village, heading straight towards our objective. There really wasn’t any point in waiting, and the faster we moved, the better chances we had of saving those people.

I stepped through the forest, noticing the various natural flows of Qi. Each moment spent in this world brought me more questions about the myriad of things that no one had answered before, sitting right in front of our eyes.

I let the thoughts go. I’d have time to ponder over the mysteries of the chittering in my room peacefully, but for now, I needed to focus.

“Zhi Zhu thinks the vein is just beyond this thicket,” Liuxiang’s spirit spoke, chiterring.

“L-Labby could sense that too! She sensed the Qi first!” Labby exclaimed back at the spider, crackling with lightning. My little fluff ball of a rat shrank back the moment Zhi Zhu turned around to have her eyes be towards Labby, and I almost laughed out loud.

“This one sees the entrance,” Liuxiang spoke as I turned towards the pointed direction.

A large cavernous entrance in a small hillside within the forest sat in front of our eyes. The entrance leaked torrents of Qi out into the air, forming currents of flowing Qi that spread out into the woods. I could sense many spirit plants growing outside the cavern, yet curiously enough, none on the inside of the cave.

“This one will have a look first,” Yi Liuxiang spoke up, and I nodded. The pale-skinned boy walked towards the entrance, standing near it. I sensed his Qi rustling as a green haze started to form around him. A plume of Qi infused cloud swirled around Liuxiang, as Qi thrummed in his core.

Within a few moments, the cloud rushed inside the cavern like a tidal wave of surging Qi. I stood behind, waiting silently as I kept my hand near my exploding pills.

I’d made a simple unlocking mechanism on the holders of the pills that I could detonate at will. It still wasn’t nearly safe enough from other cultivators interference, and them blowing my own explosives in my face. As a preventive measure, I’d carved a simplistic channel on the container that didn’t allow Qi to enter as easily until the lid was open.

I heard screeches and thumps as the sound of the flaps of many wings came out. Yi Liuxiang smoothly stepped back, and I stared in surprise as a black tide of bats swarmed out from the cavern, flying in a mad rush to escape.

I pulsed my Qi, worried about the bats swarming us, but the creatures flew out and away from our direction, scattering across the forest. When the last of the bats had flown away, I turned back towards Li Yiuxiang in surprise.

“What were those?” I asked the boy. I’d sensed a tiny amount of Qi present in each one, that had spread across the group uniformly as if their cores were linked together.

“Shade bats. Regular animals, but they form a collective that can use Qi as a whole. Not a threat, but with the situations unknown within, this one thought best to remove them from the way. Both for their sakes and ours,” Liuxiang replied.

“Zhi Zhu likes their taste,” the spider added as an after note.Explore the labyrinthine roots of this substance at Nøv€lß¡n

The first thought I had was surprise that a spider could eat the bat, the second was the mental image of a giant maw spitting open as that happened and the third was a shudder as I saw said spider looking straight in my direction.

I suddenly understood very well why Labby didn’t like her.

“What was the cloud?” I asked, turning towards Liuxiang.

“Poison arts. Mildly toxic and enough to get the bats out. It wouldn’t kill any of them with the amount this one used,” Liuxiang replied. “Let us head in, Senior.”

I nodded, following behind him as my curiosity grew. Poison arts huh? It fit him for sure, although I wondered how poison would work with Qi. Could some specific chemical compounds be manufactured? If so, when properly utilised, it could change medicine completely. Or perhaps it worked in simpler ways, like with some kind of Poison affinity that had its own laws related to Qi.

I looked away, feeling oddly grim at watching a creature die like that. Taking a moment to settle myself I walked closer.

“What's growing on it?” I asked, crouching near the bear.

“This one doesn’t know,” Liuxiang replied, and I felt a tone of surprise and worry in his voice. “A parasitic plant of some kind. Clearly a spirit herb, yet, possibly more than just that. The plant is growing along the creature’s spines, and this one can sense the roots digging into the spine itself. Right till the base of the brain. The plant was moving the bear in its final moments, keeping it alive in suffering, while also draining it of it’s Qi.”

I turned back towards the thing in horror, as I stared at the green little growth covering it’s back. Zombie making parasitic plants were just what I needed, fuck me. Then those people...

“Do you think the Village head’s son is?” I asked with a worried tone.

“This one cannot say, but the growth seems to be fairly slow. If they are, then they should still be alive,” Liuxiang spoke, breathing out.

“Zhi Zhu can sense the roots. The damage was done over weeks. Humans should be alive,” the spider spoke, and for once, I found its voice more assuring than creepy.

“It’s best to burn this body,” Liuxiang said.

“Wouldn’t that cause problems with this being a cavern?” I asked in surprise.

“Not with this much Qi, the air would be cleansed by the spirit crystals soon” he said, and I nodded, taking a mental note to add that to my list of things to look into. I flared my Qi as I crushed one of my exploding pills, spreading its contents on the bear’s body as the fire essence escaped the pill, before I lit it all on fire.

The body burned as I stood there for a moment, watching it take to flames.

“Let us move further in,” Liuxiang spoke and I followed behind him.

The pathways ahead continued in a twisting and turning maze of routes. We continued to follow the way deeper in, both me and Liuxiang sensing the minimal air currents flowing through the cavern to find the way that led deeper into the vein. The source had to be close by.

A collapsed section in a side pathway within the cavern made me pause. “Hold up, I think I hear something,” I said. Focusing my attention I walked closer. A faint breathing sound reached my ears, barely audible at all even to my sharper senses.

“Is somebody in there?” I shouted, hearing a light groan come from the other side. Whoever it was, wasn’t in a speaking condition, and possibly unconscious.

“I found one of them, just beyond this collapsed section, possibly more,” I spoke, as Liuxiang nodded.

“This one can look for an entry point to try and break in. If not, then a different path should lead this way as well,” Liuxiang said and I nodded, about to take a step back, when I heard Labby perk up.

“Labby smells... Labby smells a herb. Labby smells a delicious herb! Labby can go help humans as well!” Labby shouted, jumping towards the pile of rocks blocking our way.

“No! Labby wait!” I shouted, but the little lightning ball was already buzzing away at full speeds as she squeezed through the gaps.

“Zhi Zhu, follow her,” Liuxiang spoke, as the spider leapt from his back, squirming her way behind Labby, and I let out a frustrated sigh.

Godamnit Labby, don’t you dare get hurt.