111 Reading a Disturbing Journal (1/2)

The caves were dim. The only light came from the torches and bonfires that speckled sparsely throughout the hallway. The pattern of lighting did not appear to follow the slightest rhyme or reason. Some torches were merely charred pieces of wood with no spark of light. While there were some bonfires that were without kindling. The atmosphere was thick with smoke and heavy black clouds that irritated the eyes. This place was desolate, she wondered how the fires continued to burn without anyone tending to them.

The floor was dry earth that could easily kick up into a dust cloud. It was strange how this place had not yet become uninhabitable to all creatures being so closed off from the outside. Perhaps it was because this place was carved into the mountain, and thus air would be able to permeate through the rocks and earthy soil, this also provided a natural place where animals would naturally thrive on their own.

This was a place where humans and creatures would live side by side, and Xue'er was very much open to such an idea.

There were many rooms carved into the stone wall of the mountain, each fortified with a stone door that was too heavy for a grown man to open. Such that this place was no different from a death maze, where if one were unfortunate enough to be trapped here they would end up wandering until they died of exhaustion.

As she walked the winding path, she could not help but find it odd that this place that seemed well-taken care of from the doors that were free from dust to the torches that lined the walls that had yet to run out of fuel. All these pointed to this mountainous cavern being inhabited by living beings.

Yet, why was this place so quiet and devoid of life?

Pushing back a few strands of hair behind her ear, she looked to the side at a stone door that seemed more elaborate than the rest of the doors she had encountered. In addition, the hall seemed to be wider here than the rest of the hallway.

Seems like this room belongs to someone important. She thought as she carefully gilded her hands over the stone piece. It was definitely a type of strong rock that could not even be penetrated by the strongest of weapons. Very much like the walls were made to endure a siege from a thousand man army. As though this place was not secretive enough.

With a sigh, she first tried to lean on the stone door, in an attempt to see if it would budge. When that didn't work she circulated the inner energy within her body and the doors glided along the stone floor, making the scratching sound when stone grinds on stone. It was especially horrible on the ears that Xue'er vowed to find a better way to open this door.

The room was rather large, with a stone floor replacing the dirt ones in the hall. It seemed to double as a library and a medicine room. With shelves of books lining the wall, a desk at the far corner that was surrounded with melted candles, as though there would be a person normally sitting there, scribbling away furiously on the papers, with candles lighting up the dark space. There were also tables filled with all types of herbs and strange concoctions.

The room was rather put together, but there was much dust that accumulated from no one being able to enter due to the very physical barrier that was the stone door.

Xue'er came upon the desk, where there was a single old book opened to a worn-out page. The pages were handwritten, with some of the ink having spotted over the yellowed paper. Yet it seemed to be held in high regard.