There was no path to speak of, just a stretch of floor with barely enough gaps between the large rocks to form a walkable way. The cave was abundant with stalactites above and stalagmites below. Much like the line of cultivators, the rocks and speleothems cast eerie shadows on the walls.
Other than that, it was pitch black. At least to Yung’s mortal eyes. The faint glow from the various threads he saw with Link Sight at low power wasn’t enough to gleam anything useful.
Yung took steps cautiously. The ground was unstable, with the bedrock feeling oddly fragile. Sharp stone edges jutted out at odd angles and were hidden by shards, sand, and gravel, causing him to lose his footing occasionally. If it weren’t for Nyanya, his foot would have been salad by now.
Water trickled down the cave walls, forming gentle streams that moistened the air and backdropped the cave with rippling sounds. They also provided a habitat for moss. Aside from the moss, which exuded a sweet mead-like aroma, the fungi on the walls were unfamiliar. The fruiting bodies bore a raw flesh scent, with grey caps, spiral gills, and unsightly warts. The tallest among them had a stalk barely half a fingernail in length.
What was more impressive was the net of hyphae emerging from the fruiting bodies. They connected the various mushroom colonies with each other and formed one giant organism, seemingly stretching from the start of the cave to unknown depths.
Tangled, sticky, and everpresent. Did they grow atop a deceased layer of moss? Because the rocky wall of the cave was only visible where moss was absent. Or were they a peculiar type of lichen? As far as Yung remembered, lichen contained algae, not moss. Or was it the reverse?
Suddenly, Yung heard a noise from behind – a sound resembling a breaking stalactite or pebbles falling from a height.
“Come to think of it,” Yung said, “Shouldn’t we be positioned in the centre?” He was starting to feel mighty unsafe.
“Isn’t our dear Floofy guarding the rear?” Su Nanya responded.
“Arf,” the grey fox barked, circling Yung before retreating, kicking up the cracked-stony ground.
“...so reassuring,” Yung said, trusting that Nyanya had safety measures in place.
“These caverns are peculiar. Our sense of smell is hindered. Tread carefully,” his girlfriend cautioned, her tension palpable.
The others heard Nyanya too. Their speed visibly slowed with people tightening the formation.
Absolute safety is an illusion. You have to get used to this, Jung.
Yung continued cautiously. The ground became more uneven. And as they went, the hyphae-web extended downwards. Already moss-covered and now layered with thin fungi, it made any foothold treacherously slippery.
The group ventured deeper into the system, navigating through various caverns of differing sizes. Most were small, barely even caverns. And according to Su Nanya, the path had yet to fork.
“Are they like the farming caverns?” Yung inquired.
“Not quite,” Youjin Linbi answered, tapping the wall with her sword hilt. The dead fungi layers prevented direct rock contact. “We cultivate the farming caverns for crops. There are numerous underground streams there. Here, despite the dampness, I’ve seen no streams suitable for irrigation. And the ever-present moisture would probably kill most of the harvest anyway.”
“Halt,” Ziyou Maque commanded from the front, accompanied by the sound of fluttering wings and odd screeches.
“Foxmoths?” Yung asked, excited. Silky peeked out from Nanya’s fur. “Kyu!”
“Can’t tell, even with Origin qi in me eyes,” came the reply. “But something's watching us. I can feel it.”
“Oh, great. Nyanya—”
“This might not be a planar fragment,” the vixen interjected. “Continue forward.”
The group's disposition shifted noticeably as the princess spoke.
“Not a planar fragment?”
“A lost plane, then? Can’t be.”
“That shadowy barrier didn’t look like any portal I’ve seen.”
“Nothing’s changed. We keep walking. When we see a cultist, we kill!”
Yung observed some threads connecting Su Nanya to others, including him, turn green again.
This had happened once back at the entrance. Never before had Yung seen threads connecting third parties act as such.
Were these threads of intention rather than emotion? Are they the same thing? They look like they are Nyanya’s Empathic Links.
She had done something. Since their intimate encounter, Yung's Empathic Powers seemed to resonate with the emotions Nanya felt towards others.
Perhaps it was limited. The threads connecting Nanya to third parties weren't as vibrant as the Empathic Links directly tied to Yung.
He could only see the red threads that had appeared when Nyanya wanted to ‘punish’ the others. And like now, with green threads from her crown. Yung noticed a single thread of red remaining too.
He traced it. Was Nanya still harbouring murderous intent towards someone?
Jeez, girl. You can’t be so vindictive–
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Yung stopped.
No.
The thread extended deep into the dark tunnels ahead, bypassing Ziyou Maque and leading into the unknown.
This wasn’t a thread going from Nanya, but directed at her.
“Someone wants to hurt you.” Yung stammered.
“Nothing new, for there are too many jealous sows and offended insects to count.”
“I mean right now. Someone is watching you, and they harbour malicious intent.”
“Hence, they shall be punished. Worry more about keeping yourself–”
Nanya halted her steps too. It was amazing how the giant vixen could so gracefully walk the treacherous path as if she were stepping on a velvet carpet.
“Strange.” She said, her eyes squinting.
“What?” Yung asked, scanning the surroundings. The enveloping darkness, punctuated by the silhouettes of rocks and figures on the walls and the dripping sound of water, was all that met him.
He didn’t see anything. But Nanya certainly did.
She closely inspected the wall next to her. Floofy, too, took a curious sniff, then sneezed and barked at Silky with an affronted look.
Yung inspected it too. It appeared to be the same white hyphae layer as before, fungal threads enveloping the living moss beneath, leeching its nutrients. They eerily resembled null threads.
Yung carefully isolated a strand, inspecting it closely.
It was a null thread.
But how?
“That’s Dim Gold Silk.” Youjin Linbi said.
Yung looked at her; the Youjin cultivator was shocked. He nodded. Indeed, most null threads looked identical to normal Dim Gold Silk when he had his Link Sight intensity set at low.
He usually hesitated to activate Link Sight fully. Because the myriad of glowing threads that connected everything to everything could be so overwhelming.
Now was not one such time.
Yung braced himself, channelling a surge of heart qi into his eyes.
The world transformed.
Threads materialised: Empathic Links, Celestial Links, Null Threads, and the other unknown myriads.
Most seemed to materialise from thin air, connecting to them, but a significant number emerged from the enveloping darkness.
And from the walls.
Not phasing through them, as if they were the Empathic Links of a distant entity.
But as if the wall itself was sentient.
Or the Dim Gold Silk that covered it.
Su Nanya grinned. She touched the strand Yung had separated.
Still, that was a worrying revelation. First cultists, now a fear qi cultivator?
Yung suppressed his anxiety and nodded.
First, he took a closer look at the thread with more qi augmenting his Link Sight.
He couldn’t see the fear qi.
But the Empathic Links emerging from the walls indeed originated from the silk, branching off like another strand, invisible and malevolent.
Yung did as Nanya asked. He infused a small amount of faith qi into the strand, moving closer to his girlfriend as a precaution.
Sizzle!
“What are you doing!?” Youjin Linbi exclaimed.
By this time, other Youjin Clan members had also confirmed that hidden among the threads of fungi hyphae on the wall were indeed many disguised lines of dim gold silk. The crafting elder and magical formation elder were already discussing potential uses, injecting it with qi in their analytical pursuits.
Their spirit qi and origin qi seemed to have no effect on the silk.
But when Yung did the same, he felt a jolt, as if struck by a sledgehammer. His sea of consciousness quaked, the golden liquid churning as the true qi shielded his fragile mind.
The strand of silk ignited, half burning a sickly purple, the other half a bright gold.
Yung shouted, not replying to Youjin Linbi as he dropped the burning strand to protect his hand. His other hand had already hugged one of Nyanya’s giant legs.
“There’s fear qi in that!” Yung pointed at the burning silk and screamed, taking the chance to let some of his anxiety out.
Upon hearing his warning, everyone else threw away the strands they were holding too.
“I knew it. Devils are involved. How dare they target our clan!” A cultivator from the Youjin declared.
“It changes nothing. Devils and Cultists have collaborated before,” remarked someone from the Free Sparrow gang.
The fire spread on the walls from the strand Yung had dropped. But it wasn’t consuming the physical silks themselves; instead, it targeted the now obviously malevolent Empathic Links emanating from them. Even though the Empathic Link connected to Yung himself showed no obvious signs of such.
The moment Nanya said that, the atmosphere shifted. The threads of intention, which had been burning a sickly purple, began to tremble as if angered. From their base, a virulent green flame emerged, quickly overpowering the golden hue of Yung’s faith qi.
Yung took a step back, grateful he had discarded the silk; otherwise, the malevolent green and purple flames might have ascended it to assault him directly.
“What was that?” Yung asked.
“Why of course, one more unpleasant surprise.” Su Nanya declared, her posture regal. The golden aura surrounding her momentarily quivered, and parts of the green flames were extinguished.
The others looked on in confusion. They could not see the fire raging on whatever parallel layer of the mortal plane the Empathic Links resided in.
“It would appear that this rude devil wields void qi too, in addition to fear qi.” Nanya said.
Her tone remained assured, but for the first time, the group detected a hint of annoyance there, not directed at them but at the unseen adversary.
The sinister green and purple flames soon extinguished the last remaining golden fire of faith qi, and the enemy’s Empathic Links, now more robust, reconnected to each group member.
This time, the one connected with Yung was blood red, just like the one directed at Nyanya. He was officially a target.
Yung knew he had to act.
“Can you help me, Nanya?”
“Release your qi. Gently. It would not do if it excites our essence qi in such a place, without soft blankets.”
Yung grinned. There was a time and place for dual cultivation, and he wasn’t an exhibitionist.
“Everyone, stop for a second.” Yung said, “I will try to remove the fear qi around us. Don’t resist.”
Ziyou Maque nodded, along with the Youjin clan elders.
Yung focused intently on the pink heart ring. This mystical artefact was continuously absorbing the surplus faith qi he received from the Fortune Fox Totem. Redirecting a portion of this excess qi, the ring momentarily protested. But the crown atop vixen Nanya’s head resonated, calming the ring's grievances.
Drawing a deep breath, Yung employed the teachings from the Foxfire Creek Heart Sutra. His true qi channelled the surplus faith qi, forming a shimmering mist of golden particles. Su Nanya delicately blew on it as if to scatter the mist away. In the process, her own golden aura joined with Yung’s, and as these particles made contact with the malevolent Empathic Links, they ignited, effortlessly reducing them to intangible cinders.
Yung’s faith qi killed the fear qi, and Nanya’s essence qi erased the void qi.
A cacophony of wings flapping echoed from all directions, now filled with panic and fury. From the depths, a chilling scream resonated, reminiscent of a beast whose tail had been cruelly trodden upon.
But in that scream, there was something else. Something fathomable.
“You are courting death!”
It was a renyao voice filled with rage and desperation, leaving no room for doubt about the existence of a foe waiting ahead.