Chương 140: The Hideout - Bad Timing.
Shu He stepped down into the open maw, he had swept his sense inside so he was already sure there wasn't anyone inside the first area, he could have used the charm to report back to the sect, but it would take a while to arrive, so he wanted to check it out to have something useful to report.
The steps down were made of solid dirt, the passageway seemed to have been forged by the formation rather than being an existing passage, most likely so it isn't as easy to discover, like he had measured earlier with the <<Earth's Pulse>> it went downwards in a spiral for more than 30 meters before the stairwell shifted to stone, eventually he reached a hollow cavern.
Water dripped from the roof and gently pooled at his feet as he looked ahead, there was a thick metal door ahead, one he couldn't penetrate with his senses so it must have been made of dense metal, he cautiously snuck towards it watching his surroundings, checking the door itself for traps.
No matter how he looked it was just a simple metal door, there wasn't any formations engraved or wires attached, so he slowly turned the round knob as he heard the latch on the inside release, the metallic sound filling the cavern.
'So much for being silent' He thought, his heart skipping a beat.
He then pushed the door open a crack so he could swamp the insides with his 'sense', the inside wasn't too big, a about six smaller rooms and a bigger room, about the size of an average middle-class household overall.
And there wasn't anyone inside, to his relief, it would have been a problem if he opened it up and it turned out to be an active secret base.
He had thought it through of course, the rumours that spoke about the figures didn't appear often, they were usually months apart, so it was likely this base here was used as a temporary base, as such he didn't expect to find much of significance here.
However, when his senses swept the area his face expression darkened, he felt an intense collection of energy wafting throughout the rooms, and this very energy dredged up his past trauma.
'Baleful Qi…' His grip on the doorknob tightened, the metal creaking beneath his grip.
He steadily opened the door, walked in, and then closed the door behind him, as he did he felt some rumbling which he assumed was the entrance closing up.
The black smoke like Qi engulfed him as he stepped forward, the unpleasant sensation of insects crawling on his skin made him shiver as he felt the need to cover his mouth, he wasn't sure why, but he felt like he could smell an unpleasant scent akin to desperation.
To his left was a room that had flat stone beds with simple straw strewn on them, there was a variety of stains, many black or dark brown in colour, a faint scent of iron and rot wafted in the stagnating air.
Ahead of that was a room with a pool of running water, likely linked to one of the underground rivers, there was a pile of old clothes that were tattered, stained, and torn chucked in the corner.
To the right, a couple of storage rooms, they were filled with crates of some sort of dried meat and grains, plus dusty clothes of different types, plus black robes, and masks.
Shu He walked in to one such room and looked through the clothes, he picked up the robe and examined it, it was normal cloth made of a pitch-black material that seemed quite durable much like his sect uniform, the masks on the other hand made him want to break them.
'This mask… it's the same one I saw on Tai Min and that other man from back then…'
It confirmed to him that this hideout belonged to the same group.
The thing is, the five sects and Iris refer to 'evil' organisations as 'Black Sects' collectively, but there's not just one; However there is one that remains the most dominant one, and that one organisation exists as the face of 'Black Sects'.
He put the mask back how it was, being careful not to disturb their positions.
Then, he made his way to the large room in the centre, and there he saw a large urn like item sitting dead in the centre of the room, it was almost as tall as him and was pitch black and made of a shiny metal like materials.
And it was from this object that the Baleful Qi was leaking from in droves, it reminded Shu He of the Qi Reactor he saw at the Alchemy Tower but on a smaller level.
… And far more sinister.
The room itself was essentially empty, it was round in shape with only a couple of unlit torches on the walls; It would be completely empty if it wasn't for the addition guest that remained.
Shu He walked over to it, a figure sitting not far from the black urn.
When he had saw it with his 'sense', he had panicked thinking that someone was inside, but at a closer inspection he quickly realised the truth.
It was merely a corpse.
It was a man, formerly, the skin had long since rotted away exposing the bones beneath, the bleached white colour jutting out from the hole filled black robe, a black stain beneath his body that was the remains of his blood and fallen flesh.
He had little on him, a rusted dagger that was chipped and broken stowed away and the ring on his finger which he clasped with both hands, a clear sign of yearning and treasuring.
'Seems he bled out; did he not have any recovery pills?...' Shu He observed.
With his 'Sense' he could see through the thin robes, in fact he didn't even need to since there was a hole puncture on the left side of his chest, his ribs were broken front and back, so he was likely impaled before escaping and then succumbing to his injuries.
It was chilling.
It reminded once again Shu He that in the end, even cultivators couldn't escape death.
He then turned his head away; he had no interest in desecrating the corpse no matter what he did in life.
The black urn was his centre of attention, he felt a deep, instinctual fear and disgust for the item, not just because it exhaled Baleful QI, no it was something deeper.
So he had to investigate.
He walked up to it, enduring the urge to get as far away from it as possible.
It wasn't a single piece, like any other urn there was a lid that could be removed, the body was pure and smooth with no adornment, merely slots that the Qi leaked out of like an incense burner.
He reached out and grasped the handle on the lid, he felt goosebumps grow on his skin as he started to shiver, his body was telling him to let go.
But he lifted it.
A large, pure, puff of intense Baleful Qi shot out and smoked the entire room, engulfing Shu He as he stumbled and resisted the urge to hurl, his senses screaming as he felt like he could hear the screams and cries of tens of people.
But he managed to hold strong, resisting the urge to slam the lid back on he peered in to the inside of the opened maw, and what he saw caused his pupils to shrink to the size of pinheads.
Remains of people, the bones and flesh mushed together, their organs drained of blood.
And beneath all that…
Squirming, fleshy appendages, mouths, bloodshot unfocused eyes that gnawed on the macabre mix mindlessly, the sound of grating and squirming filled Shu He's ears as he felt his mind struggle to pull itself back together.
He stumbled back, shaking.
And then he raised his hand as a flame was birthed in it, its orange light filling the room as it began to grow in intensity.
But then it disappeared, extinguished.
Shu He walked up and put the lid back on before he backed away until his back hit the wall, he slid down as he tried to catch his breath and calm himself.
'I can't destroy it, I need to let the sect deal with it, I need to leave it as is'.
He tried to convince himself, but it was hard.
'Disgusting! how can anyone be capable of something like that?!' he wanted to scream.
He didn't understand what it was, but what rested of the bottom of that urn was 'alive', it was the source of the baleful Qi, a slow producing but long-lasting source, most likely.
And if it produced Baleful Qi, that means it is capable of pain, capable of suffering…
He felt sick, he didn't want to think of it anymore.
There were two other rooms, but he didn't think they held much of importance, a room full of tools and a desk, and one with a large furnace.
He had seen enough, he wanted to get out of here.
The higher ups of the sect can deal with it, they will know what to do.
He stood up, preparing to leave as he felt a weak rumbling beneath his feed.
"?!" He was confused for a moment, but then his eyes shot towards the entrance.
'Someone is here?!' Chills went up his spine, it was the worst possible timing.
'I have to hide!'
But where?
His eyes passed over the Urn, but he'd rather die than hop in there; So he ran towards one of the back rooms, the one with a furnace, and dived inside.
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