11 The Copper Bell in the Darkness (2/2)

Even when the waters rippled and she took a big gasp of air upon resurfacing, no noise was emitted.

The waters were ice cold and instantly dispelled all the fatigue Shin Sumi's body felt.

But is still was definitely not a nice feeling to be plunged into cold water.

Panting and reaching for the rocky ground she had left involuntarily, Shin Sumi cursed in her heart ”Little nut ! Why did you not warn me ?! The next time you pull off something like this I will kill you !”

Her anger was talking, of course she wasn't in real danger. It helped her redefine what the word 'danger' meant for the sentient nut though.

She meant to grab it inside of her robes with her arm numbed from the cold but her fingers simply closed themselves around air and soaky fabric.

Her first instinct was to look at the water surface, but all movement had already stopped and she couldn't differentiate it from the ground.

It took a few seconds for Shin Sumi to remember the fact that she had a magic compass engraved under her skin.

Taking her wrist to her face to see the leaf pattern, Shin Sumi followed it to retrieve the nut.

The whole point of coming here in the first place was to have the nut help her in cultivation, not to lose it !

Laughing bitterly, Shin Sumi thought of how much she would have loved for a situation like this to arise a few weeks before when the nut was nothing but a biting nuisance.

Shin Sumi followed the red leaf pattern around the edges of the pool. This time she tested with her feet for solid ground first. Her robes were soaked and she was already shivering from the cold.

She stopped a few minutes later when she arrived next to the waterfall.

Now that she had traveled this far inside the chasm, she could barely see her feet.

The waterfall flowed from a crevice in the rocky walls a few meters above her head but she couldn't see it's source. The waters seemed clear but there was no way to tell because of the profound darkness.

It was the strangest thing she had ever seen ! The water was flowing right in front of her and she could touch it with her hand but she couldn't hear even the slightest sound.

It was as if the waterfall was somewhat illusory even though she could feel it.

Not wanting to stay for longer in a place that seemed more and more mysterious by the second, Shin Sumi quickly followed the leaf behind the waterfall. There was a stone passage carved naturally into the wall opening access to a cave.

Shin Sumi didn't know how wide or deep the cave was and there was no reverberation of sound to help her.

”I'll retrieve the nut and then I will leave this place ! Screw the White Cloud Lotus !”

She had spoken out loud but even her own voice felt muffled in her ears.

She walked for what seemed like an eternity. She was starting to become really scared and considered abandoning the sentient nut a few times. Although, every time the thought surfaced in her mind she would grit her teeth and push forward.

”If you weren't my only hope of cultivating, I would definitely leave you here. When we're back, we're going to have a talk !!”

Shin Sumi's wrist had been showing an unmoving dark red leaf up to this point but suddenly it started turning to her right.

A few minutes later, at least Shin Sumi knew she was on the right path when the cave passage turned.

She had been in complete darkness for hours now, the only light being the dim blood red from her wrist. She was surprised to suddenly see a brilliant white dot appear in the distance.

Hastening her steps, Shin Sumi accepted the light as a deliverance. Or more like a moth approaching a flame.

Unknowingly she had almost started running.

The light shining more and more brightly came from a small object on the floor. It illuminated its surroundings enough to allow Shin Sumi to see the end of the cave behind it.

It was a tiny white bell.

The nut was right next to it and rolled back to Shin Sumi when she got close enough.

Intrigued by the bell, Shin Sumi observed it carefully. It was covered in six rows of scriptures in a language she couldn't understand. Had she been able to sense them, she would have found powerful Yin Shinsoo energy fluctuations rippling from the inside of the bell.

Shin Sumi picked it up. The bell was weightless in her hands and felt warm to the touch. Shaking it a few times, she was almost disappointed to hear nothing.

Such a strange artifact, here in this dark cold and silent place, for some reason she thought that since it was giving off light and heat, maybe it would make a sound too.

She was going to put the bell into her bag of holding and leave the place when the nut which had returned to her bit her finger.

It seemed like its only way of communicating and Shin Sumi would have let out a long exasperated sigh, had the pain not been so intense.

A drop of blood fell from her index onto the bell.

At the same time, a melodious sound rang to Shin Sumi's ears. It was so soft and gentle, and truly was like a manifestation from the Heavens.

The drop flowed from the top of the bell, passing the first row of characters. It didn't stop there and quickly flowed past the second and third rows too.

In the exact same instant, light slowly spread out from the bell, scattering the darkness as if it was suddenly daytime. The cold that Shin Sumi could feel right down to her bones was slowly dissipating as well.

The strange thing was that the light emitted no shadows, and Shin Sumi could see the water vapor coming out of her mouth, indicating that it was still cold all around her.

The droplet of blood continued down the side of the bell as Shin Sumi observed her surroundings become clearer and clearer.

Past the fourth row, the smell of the wet earth as well as a very distant disturbing stench assailed her nostrils.

She hadn't even realized that her sense of smell had become altered too since she had been too preoccupied by the darkness and the silence. But now that her sense of smell had returned, she realized she had been missing that too.

The fifth and sixth rows of characters were unlike the others and Shin Sumi didn't feel anything change when the blood touched them.

”Since the other lines were respectively about sound, sight, feeling and smell, maybe this one has to do with taste ? And the sixth one... ” Shin Sumi had no idea but her instinct was telling her that she was probably onto something.

It only took a few seconds for the blood to reach the opening of the bell after it first made contact with the white surface. It left a dark trail perpendicular to the scriptures which quickly expanded to cover the whole bell.

The dried blood had completely changed the appearance of the bell and made it seem like copper.

Shin Sumi was unsure of what to do now and put the bell in her bag of holding.

Since she could now see perfectly clearly it took a much shorter time to reach the entrance of the cave than before.

This time Shin Sumi could hear the waterfall before even seeing it.

The waters were exceptionally clear and the curtain formed over the opening was translucent, almost transparent.

Shin Sumi followed the stone path and froze in place when she opened her eyes to the bottom of the chasm.

After the copper bell had shone onto her, Shin Sumi could now see everything perfectly. The abyss of the ravine was suddenly a lot less scary. In fact, to Shin Sumi it was a wonderful location !

Many small caves were engraved in the light brown rocky walls. Some of them were covered by the many trees present.

Although different kinds of trees were visible, they all had their color in common, which was a translucent blue that made them seem like spectral apparitions.

The gentle sound of the water filling up the natural pool was like celestial music to the ears and the small patches of flowers lightly swayed, tempted by an invisible breeze.

”This place is not so terrible after all ! I kind of like it actually” thought Shin Sumi. She was looking at the flowers and plants.

All of them were light colored and many were translucent just like the trees. None of them had shadows.

Shin Sumi pondered about the strange properties of the copper bell. Somehow she had the feeling that the light she was seeing around her was just an illusion.