Chapter 47: Sacrifice - Arrival.
The two men stood opposite each-other on each side of the cavern, each one locked on to the other with a death glare, although this cavern was quite deep into the mountainous hill a strong gust was brewing inside its tight walls, kicking dust and rubble about.
Shu Li looked over to Shu He, his son, who had just screamed over at him.
He looked at his figure cradling his wife's lifeless body and the calm in his eyes was disrupted for a second, the boundless sea split into deep sorrow and rage before he pulled himself back.
"Shu He… run." Was all he spoke, although silent his voice was powerful enough to echo throughout the entire cavern.
"NO!" Shu He yelled back, not letting his logic control him for a single second.
Shu He knew that something was wrong, his father's state wasn't normal, and he knew very clearly that overloading one's body with Qi can cause devastating effects; But that was just for a cultivator, his father was a normal human yet the Qi he could see cascading through his body was something that already far surpassed what he was capable of.
Putting one's body through such strain without caring about the consequences.
The only result would only be…
Shu He eye's were turning a deep red, his gums were starting to bleed from the strength he was using to grit his teeth in fear and frustration.
'WHY?' Was the only word that continued to echo in his head.
He gripped his mother's body as he stared at his father.
Yet Shu Li didn't give in, he looked between Shu An and Shu Li, a expression of pleading coloured with sorrow arose on his face.
"Please… I need to protect you, at least…" One could almost visibly see the sheer weight that was resting on Shu Li's shoulders at that moment.
Shu He couldn't form a reply as every word got stuck in his throat as he stared at his father's face.
'But…'
'I…'
'Dad…'
His mind flashed with all the memories he'd made in this life so far; they joy he had of a happy family.
And…
He set his mother's body gently to the floor, burning her image into his mind for the last time.
And then he ran with everything he had, towards the cavern exit.
In the end he fully understood, he was no match for Tai Min, in a single exchange he was easily knocked flat; If Tai Min wanted to kill him before, he'd be long dead.
And it was likely that his father couldn't beat him either, he was still a mortal in the end, he just wanted to distract him so he could escape.
If they fought together… there wouldn't be a difference.
Tears streamed down his eyes as the approached the exit, refusing to look back in fear he'd give in to his desire to stay.
"Did you think it'd be that easy?!" Tai Min's voice boomed from the other side of the cavern, and Shu He watched as a massive wave of shadows passed underneath his feet, he dodged out the way, yet they went past him, straight to the exit.
"Wha-!" Shu He felt a chill climb his spine.
The shadows rose and formed a thick black net like a spider's web, covering the exit entirely.
Shu He skidded to a stop just before the black web, staring in disbelief.
'I'm trapped now!' There was no other exit.
He grabbed the shadow and tried to tug it out of the way, but it felt like he was grabbing a thick rope that was interwoven with hundreds of other's that deeply anchored into the stone walls.
It was far stronger than the shadows that had held him before!
He turned back, gazing at the two men.
The battle had already recommenced.
Shu Li felt like he'd lost all energy.
'I'm useless'.
He had watched his mother die without being able to do anything, now his father was putting his life on the line and he couldn't even escape alone.
A saber flashed and claws grated and slashed in response, sparks and blood flew like a mad maelstrom and the two's bodies danced a dance of death.
'I can't join that' Shu He could clearly tell; he'd just get in the way and be a target.
"…" He watched them fight for what seemed like minutes, yet all of a sudden his eyes flashed with realisation.
'That man, Tai Min, he isn't using his shadows at all, why?' He thought, before he looked at the black web near him.
'Does he have a limit? If so then… I have to keep trying!' His eyes lit up once more, if he could do anything to help, he had to do it.
…
*SCHWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING*
A saber howled as its blade cut through the air, forcibly cutting it creating a wave a pressure.
Shu Li and Tai Min had been locked in intense close combat for minutes, each swing or stab carried enough force to take a life, yet neither of them had dropped dead.
Shu Li had many light cuts and some deeper gashes covering his body but nothing lethal, his body still burst with vitality and power.
Tai Min was seemingly in a worse state, with larger gashes and wounds over his already emancipated body, yet he still kept going like nothing was wrong.
Tai Min's claw performed a upper cut, aiming straight for Shu Li's jugular, but he was kicked away and then-
*SCHIIIIING* Another howl dominated the air, for a moment it's almost as if the saber had manifested itself, imposing its will of dominance on the world.
"Gah!" Tai Min stepped back at the last second, avoiding the brunt of the large horizontal cut, yet the tip still dug deep into his intestinal area.
He breathed heavily while he clutched the wound as black blood dripped to the floor, its viscous form almost like a squirming sea of bugs.
"…eheheh…. Hahaha… HAHAHAHHA SHU LI! You're great! I'm surprised!"
Shu Li followed up, cutting towards Tai Min's neck while he attempted to talk, Tai Min jumped on to one of the larger stalagmites, digging in with his claws to hang on, avoiding it.
"Such talent with the Saber, why did you choose a bow? Back then you could have joined me!" Tai Min continued to talk.
Shu Li didn't respond, he was stuck in an awkward position, he couldn't exactly jump up nimbly like Tai Min, unless he came down he couldn't attack.
Sweat began to drip down Shu Li's neck and his breathing slowly became heavier.
"Feeling the side effects?" Tai Min questioned, causing Shu Li's pupils to slightly dilate before returning to normal.
"Muscles ripping, organs rupturing, mental issues, sight impairment; Just to name a few? Heh, I don't know where you got one of those, but there's a reason they go unused even by cultivators… and for a mortal to take one! Hah, idiot you're doing my job for me." Tai Min continued to heckle down at Shu Li, preventing him from doing anything.
Yet his brow rose as he watched on.
"Oi, you aren't-"
The saber swung from overhead, and a burst of Qi went with it, the Stalagmite that Tai Min was on was split diagonally, causing Tai Min to fall towards him.
Another slash was delivered to the mid-air white haired man, delivering another deep gash to his side.
"Are you mad?! What if you destroy a support!"
Shu Li was breathing heavily, staring at Tai Min with some disbelief.
"How are you still alive?!" He managed to mutter.
He fell to his knees, dropping his Saber to the ground.
Tai Min stood up, as if nothing was wrong with him and stared down at Shu Li.
"You're done, huh." Any form of joy was wiped from Tai Min's face.
As he spoke, his body's wounds began to close, the black blood flowing back into the wounds.
*Cough* *Cough*
Shu Li spat up blood and chunks of flesh, his waning vision filled him with disbelief.
"Are you… even human…?"
*Bang*
He fell to the floor, steadily twitching, his vision slowly becoming blurry.
"It was fun, Shu Li".
A moment of silence arose between the two, it would be a few more minutes before Shu Li died fully, so Tai Min felt like he should wait.
Yet his eyebrow twitched again, as he stared to the exit.
'This brat is too much of a variable'.
Shu He had gone all out, utilising his golden flame's merge with his blue flame, and managed to begin to tear apart the black web.
'Every time he's exceeded my expectations, I need to kill him now'.
This time, he didn't make any noise, he didn't give any signal, instead he snuck up behind the young child, and he didn't even use his claws.
A sharp shadow stretched out towards the boy's back, silent as the void.
…
Shu He was pushing himself past his limits, he could feel his body creaking and aching all over as he surged his muscles with the golden-blue flame.
At first it was a pain to grab hold of parts of the shadow, but then he began to use everything he had, nails and tooth, literally, to tear it strand from strand, he didn't care that some of his teeth cracked, that his nails got ripped out, he just tore and tore.
And he succeeded, it started to come apart, he could see freedom finally!
Yet just in that moment, he felt a sense of deadly crisis.
As he had been using Keen Sight he instinctively picked up on it, a shift in Qi approaching him through the shadows, immediately it seemed to gather and spike.
'Something's coming!'
He moved out of the way using the flow to predict it, only to witness a black spike pierce his previous position causing his heart to skip a beat.
'I'd be dead without Keen Sight'
He turned to face the source of Qi, of course he knew who it was.
His heart sank.
'Father…' He held back his sorrow, he had to, he would die otherwise.
"How did you dodge that?" An inquisitive voice came from the shadows and Tai Min's figure rose from it, trying to see through him.
"You killed my father?"
"The fool killed himself, now tell me how did you see my shadows? They're perfectly silent, I've killed many other cultivators with them easily, yet a brat like you could see them coming? Impossible"
Shu He became increasingly nervous.
"I'll only tell you if you take me to Chao Shi first" Shu He knew it was a pathetic try, but he was the only person who he felt could guarantee his safety against this man.
"Brat, you don't have a choice here." Tai Min took a few steps, before he suddenly shot in to the shadows.
'What?' Shu He was confused, he could see that he was moving away from him in the shadows and not trying to attack him.
*SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING*
A bright light came from besides him, from the entrance, he covered his ears and closed his eyes because he felt pain from merely the sight and sound.
After it settled he opened, only to see the shadows on the entrance entirely gone and a large gash on the rocks near.
*Step Step Step*
A man slowly walked into the cavern, he held a long silver sword that glistened with power and his black hair flowed in the wind, his piercing silver eyes became fixated on the shadow in the centre of the cavern.
"Found you" A low voice, almost a growl left his mouth.
Chao Shi had finally arrived.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ShiroN3K0
ShiroN3K0 Sorry this one took a while, haven't felt great the past few days.
Anyway, as always, comments and collectiosn are hugely appreciated! Thanks for reading!
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