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  Ancient Fragment #18

  Death. Everyone dropped like flies.

  No screams lasted long, only the sound of bodies striking stone.

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  The three of them stood in silence. Dust drifted through the dim light spilling from the cave entrance.

  “Wait,” Long Tianyu said, placing a firm hand on Hua Qingqing's arm as she stepped forward. “We don’t know what’s in there. Let me.” His grip tightened for a moment before he let go.

  Bai Qing rolled her eyes, as if she needs your protection!

  Long Tianyu squeezed through the narrow opening, stone scraping against his robes. The passage forced him sideways. Hua Qingqing followed.

  As the two disappeared into the darkness Bai Qing hesitated. It would soon be dark.. eventually she decided to enter, with the two of them she felt safe.

  The two looked back as Bai Qing came in last, her sword was drawn, the blade catching the last of the cave light.

  The darkness swallowed them immediately. Only a few feet beyond the opening, the dim glow from the main cave vanished. Their own breaths and the soft scuff of boots against the uneven floor were the only sounds.

  Bai Qing took out two small crystals from her pouch and handed it to Long Tianyu and Hua Qingqing.

  "Here, try putting your qi into it."

  They followed her instruction, their qi coiling into the crystal. Warm yellow light spread from within, steady as a lantern flame.

  “A Light Crystal.” Long Tianyu's voice broke the silence.

  “Thank you.” Hua Qingqing took the crystal. Even with her soul sense, light could reveal what her perception missed. She stepped ahead. Long Tianyu and Bai Qing followed.

  The cave sloped downward. The deeper they went, the hotter the air became, clinging to their skin and turning sweat into streaks down their faces. The yellow glow felt small against the dark.

  A crimson light pulsed ahead. Hua Qingqing stopped as her eyes widened in horror, fear flickered across her features. Her soul sense brushed something near the crimson light and recoiled.

  A formation? Down here?

  “Slowly,” she whispered. “No soul sense. Dim the crystal.”

  They approached the massive opening. The cavern opened beneath them. Shadows twisted unnaturally, stretching like fingers from the jagged walls.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Their eyes took in the scene and froze in terror. The reason the area above had been blood red became horrifyingly clear.

  The cavern floor was a nightmare of blood and bone. Human skeletons lay all over the ground, adults and children alike, no one was spared by the carnage. Crimson vines hung from the ceiling, their black flowers glowing faintly, dripping light onto skulls and scattered bones. In the center was a pool of dark, viscous blood that rippled as if it were alive.

  In the blood pool sat a man cross-legged. The surface shifted slowly around him. Threads of blood drifted toward him, sinking into his skin as he cultivated.

  He were a pair of black trousers and his upper body was bare, marked by old scars that crossed his chest and shoulders. The muscles beneath them were tight and heavy with contained power, rising and falling with each slow breath. Long crimson hair rested against his back and shoulder blades, darkened by the damp air. His eyes were closed, his expression calm, completely focused and ignoring the outside.

  The moment anything stepped into his range, he would know. And it would not survive. This place belonged to him. The blood, the bones, the oppressive heat, all of it fed into his cultivation.

  Hua Qingqing's instincts screamed in warning as she sensed the blood itself moving toward that man, vanishing into his body like it was being devoured. She grabbed Long Tianyu and Bai Qing's arms at once, her voice low, tight with urgency.

  "We're leaving. Now!"

  The three of them backed away silently, fear and adrenaline pumping through their veins as they held their breaths.

  Just as they reached the bend leading back to the upper cave, the man stood. Blood dripped from his body, rippling the surface of the pool.

  The man turned his head. His crimson pupils locked onto their direction. His feet lifted from the ground as a red aura of killing intent flooded the cavern.

  ''DONT MOVE!!'' Hua Qingqing's voice rang inside their minds.

  BOOOOOOM

  The bloody pool exploded into mist as the man flew towards their direction, his hand stretching out with a crimson claw right that stopped right before Hua Qingqing's eye. He stood hovering in the air, just before the cave opening.

  Hua Qingqing tightened her grip on their arms. The man was extremely handsome with pale skin, long crimson hair, a jaw that looked to be chiseled out of marble, sword like eyebrows and crimson pupils. His body was extremely muscular and qi flowed effortlessly around him.

  ''Tianyu, don't do anything. He can't see us'' Hua Qingqing's calming voice sounded. In her hand, the rhythmic beats of Long Tianyu's blood pulsed loudly.

  Long Tianyu's eyes spit fire as he watched the man, just a little bit further and Hua Qingqing would have exploded into bloody mist.

  Long Tianyu grit his teeth, I swear I will kill this man, maybe not today, but one day!

  Despite the rage growing inside, cold sweat soaked his entire back as the man stood in front of them and frowned.

  A dark and deep voice sounded as the man talked to himself.

  ''Was it my imagination?'' he muttered.

  A second voice answered him, quiet and filled with sorrow.

  “You’re losing yourself to the Heavenly Slaughter Scripture.”

  The man laughed to himself and took away the crimson claw.

  “As if. Soon the whole kingdom will drown in blood.”

  ''Think how wonderful it will be!''

  The man turned around as he inspected the ground. Tears slipped down his face.

  He roared with laughter ''You're crying, how pathetic!''

  ''Shut up! Shut up!'' The man roared back to himself, no one else answering as his face grimaced in pain.

  The man flew up, leaving the cavern.

  ''Don't move yet, he hasn't left'' Hua Qingqing's voice came into their minds once again, and after a little while he man in crimson came back, looking carefully around once again.

  He returned to the blood pool and retrieved his robes.

  Golden robes covered him as a golden-azure dragon stitched across his back. The beast seemed to move in the flickering light from above, as if waking from a long sleep. Soon it would awaken to devour everything.

  A boom shook the cavern. The blood pool rippled as he shot upward, leaving the three in silence.

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  End of chapter 18 - One Step From Death