Chapter 91: Death Keep [6] (1/2)

Ju Feng sat down with his back to the wall of the tunnel, smiling bitterly. His mind was still ruminating on the incident which took place back at the water channels. He was certain of seeing a premonition of a death, and he was sure the death was his. Yet, there he was, still breathing. How could he explain that? Maybe, the heavens didn't want a soul to enter reincarnation on this day. Or perhaps, death was simply too busy to bother with him.

Either way, he knew he had by-passed a disastrous outcome.

He stared at his raw and dirty hands. Oh, how fast and hard he had dug in order to escape the many deadly claws. It was good that his body was strong from birth and that he grew up stronger. The energy from the magical pills and beasts that his mother had took when she was pregnant was showing on his body. Moreso, he had fortified his body with chi energy. How else could he have managed to do this?

He looked at the hole he had dug through the base of the tunnel but there was no hole there. It had disappeared.

”Uh?”

No way was that an illusion. The hole he had dug had to be right there. Actually, it was meters long hole. Alright, it was a collapsed hole and that he had the sharpness runic sword. Still, he had spent long time digging the collapsed hole and his hands would testify to this.

He placed his hand on the spot where the hole should be and his hand actually passed through the space. It was as if an illusion was protecting the entrance to the hole. As long as the hole was there, he would have a chance of leaving the mountain. Although it was only big enough for him to crawl through, it would do just fine. He wondered why the original hole was there in the first place. It would have allowed only one averagely grown man to squeeze through. Who made the hole? Seeing no way of finding the answers, he put his mind off the questions.

After cleaning his hand, as much as he could, he decided to check his body for further sustained injuries. He was doing that, when he felt a lump through his robe. He opened his robe and dug out the lump casually. When he saw what the lump was, he sprang up in utter shock and joy.

”The Star-Tide!”

He shouted in disbelief. As he held the bead up in his hand, the broad smile on his face could dampen the brightness of the sun. Still, he found it difficult to come to terms with him holding the immortal bead. Before he was attacked by the conchi guardian, he thought he had lost it the moment he jumped up from his lotus position. And after that, he had totally forgotten about the bead. All he was thinking about was his survival. Fate was definitely on his side there.

A heavenly treasure! Belonging to him, Ju Feng! What about that!? Even if he had no use for it at the moment or in the nearest future, it was still an extremely precious treasure. He wrapped the bead in a small parchment before keeping it in his spatial sac.

As he was putting away the bead, suddenly, he remembered the Dragon-hide talisman he was given by the old merchant at their village's market. He had prepared it beforehand, with the intention of using it at the beginning of the adventure, but had forgotten about it. So silly of him. Maybe, he would've suffered less than he did, had he used the talisman. Although he didn't even know if the talisman would work, he still put it on himself. Any little form of a potential defence was important in this place of death.

To regain expended strength, he took out some turtle meat and a jar of preserved goat milk as he revelled in the moment. Oh, how he wished he had the bloodroot medicinal pills. He would've used one and had his body restored. As he waited while relaxing, Ju Feng could hear the banging sound of battle, still ensuing on the other side of the tunnel.

After waiting for several minutes for the battles to recede to no avail, he decided to check the tunnel he was in. He kept in mind not to venture deep, but to only check his immediate vicinity. Heavens knew what other dangers could be lurking inside the tunnels. This tunnel was not the direction he had to take to where he was going. It was the first tunnel. But with the c onchi guardian and the death-eater laying in wait, he knew he had to leave the mountain altogether. While he was still thinking, he noticed that new area was totally different from the area he was in before.

He cautiously walked forward slowly. Then, all of a sudden, a thick stone wall sprang up in the passage behind him, cutting him off from the hole he had dug.

Heavens' tears! It was a tunnel trap! He must have triggered an unseen hatch or ...