As night blanketed the surroundings, Yip Chor sought solace on the side of the road, indulging in his newly discovered habit of practising speech. In the darkness, he caused his voice to reverberate through his skull, its tonality ranging from ethereal whispers to deep, rumbling echoes akin to an otherworldly creature.
On this particular night, as Yip Chor delved into his vocal exercises, an unsettling sound reached his ears—a rattling carriage approaching from afar. While nocturnal travel was not uncommon, there was an unmistakable strangeness that emanated from this particular vehicle. Intrigued, he extended his third eye, a faculty limited in range but capable of perceiving intricate details within its limited scope.
Curiosity brimming, Yip Chor grasped his cane and satchel, venturing toward the road. Eager to unravel the mystery, he relied on his acute sense of hearing, searching for any auditory anomalies. To his surprise, nothing extraordinary manifested itself, yet an uncanny sensation persisted as the carriage drew nearer. Then, the realization struck him—the absence of horses. This was no ordinary mode of transportation; it was a horseless treasure vehicle of peculiar design.
As the carriage approached, propelled by an unseen force, Yip Chor's fascination intensified. The box-shaped contraption, perched on a pair of wheels that allowed it to pivot effortlessly, traversed the road with an air of enchantment. A peculiar blend of apprehension and intrigue overcame him, urging him to act on his intuition. He extended his hand, thumb outstretched, in a gesture of hail, not to hitch a ride, but rather to signal his presence and curiosity.
The carriage continued its steady course, seemingly unaffected by Yip Chor's beckoning gesture. Yet, as it drew closer, a subtle shift in the atmosphere indicated that its occupants had taken notice. Suddenly, the carriage came to an abrupt halt, and the back portion lowered, releasing a puff of smoke that billowed into the night air. A large hand extended from within, beckoning Yip Chor to enter.
Torn between intrigue and hesitation, Yip Chor experienced a peculiar mix of emotions. Although he harboured no genuine desire to step into the carriage, the allure of the unconventional experience enticed him. With cautious steps, he ascended the ramp at the rear of the carriage, navigating through the haze of smoke and incense. As the door closed behind him, a peculiar sight greeted his eyes—a corpulent man reclining amidst a sea of pillows, his voluminous frame partially concealed by a loose robe, his rolls of fat filling much of the space within the vehicle. The man's fingers glittered with elaborate golden rings, while his hand cradled a hookah, from which tendrils of smoke spiralled into the air.
"Welcome, my peculiar friend. Have a seat," the corpulent man greeted Yip Chor with an accent that eluded identification. Yielding to the invitation, Yip Chor settled into a seat as the carriage resumed its mysterious journey. His gaze wandered, searching for a driver or any mechanism responsible for the carriage's propulsion.
"You are an intriguing character, aren't you?" mused the corpulent man, taking another puff from his hookah.
Yip Chor did not respond, his third eye keenly observing the surroundings, hoping to glean a concept worth assimilating.
"Care for some?" The corpulent man extended the hookah to Yip Chor, who politely declined with a gentle wave of his hand.
"You positively vibrate, don't you? Please don't stop, the sound is quite relaxing" so saying, the corpulent man closed his eyes and soon succumbed to sleep with a sonorous snore
Yip Chor, sat still, wishing he too, could still sleep.
---
It was a long time after, perhaps days when finally, the stillness of the carriage seemed to jolt his host awake.
"Oh! you are still here." Yip Chor's host stated. Yip Chor nodded his head in assent.
With an uncanny synchronicity, the rear portal of the carriage swung open, revealing an expanse of impenetrable darkness where the gnarled fingers of trees crafted a looming, spectral silhouette. This was a different night from the one that had cloaked the world when Yip Chor had initially embarked on his journey within the enigmatic carriage.
His host, a man of considerable corpulence, shifted, the groaning carriage betraying his movements as he lumbered past Yip Chor. The carriage now perched at the precipice of an ominous, swamplike lake. Plumes of fog rose in the moonlight, a spectral mirage that lent the surroundings the guise of an ethereal, steaming cauldron. With a deep, preparatory inhalation, the man strode into the lake's murky depths, his large frame cutting through the verdant sea of water weeds at the fringes.
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Impelled by a fascination that danced precariously on the edge of fear, Yip Chor chose to follow, plunging into the alien body of water. His third eye, a mystical organ that granted him a perception beyond the confines of ordinary sight, seemed to adjust its faculties to this new environment. However, the radius of its sight had somewhat contracted. He realized early on that the opacity of the object it tried to penetrate dictated its efficacy. It had been incapable of seeing through the carriage, its density proving a formidable barrier.
Progressing deeper into the inky lake, Yip Chor found the increased pressure and density affecting his mobility, compelling him to recalibrate the frequency of resonance of the bones by an entire order of magnitude. It was a deft manipulation he had come to master over time.
The journey into the abyss seemed to stretch on, the water's depth proving a deceptive illusion. The rotund man, unphased by the all-enveloping darkness, navigated as though sauntering through a picturesque garden, the ominous depths nothing more than a sylvan trail. The enigma of his guide's uncanny sight in the stygian depths began to gnaw at Yip Chor's curiosity.
The aquatic descent took an interminable hour, the increasingly crushing pressure compelling Yip Chor to recalibrate the resonances within his bones repeatedly to adapt. At the apparent nadir of their underwater journey, they found themselves surrounded by an ethereal forest of salt crystals, their jagged edges catching what scarce light filtered down. Yip Chor marvelled at the scene, reminded of the impossibility of their underwater expedition.
The large man, turning towards a seemingly unremarkable wall, placed his hands against it. As though engaged in a futile struggle against an immovable adversary, he exerted his considerable strength, legs kicking against the ground churning up the sea floor. The wall, however, stood obstinate, refusing to yield. Yip Chor watched this spectacle, the puzzling behaviour adding another layer of mystery to their journey.
With a swift gesture, the rotund man interlaced his fingers, his hands taking on an intricate sign. A visible surge of power coursed through him, his flaccid fat rippling into muscular ridges and valleys of sheer power. The transformation was dramatic, leaving Yip Chor in stunned awe. His host heaved against the wall once more, splitting it apart with newfound might. The wall was, in reality, a set of concealed doors, their secret depths hidden beneath layers of water.
As the doors yielded, a cloud of sediment and fractured crystal erupted, shrouding the entrance in a haze of undersea dust. An expansive passage unfurled before them, leading them deeper into the abyss. Yip Chor's third eye, though initially hindered by the billowing sediment, gradually adjusted, offering him a clearer view of their subaqueous path.
Ancient carvings graced the cavernous walls of the passage, their once vivid tales now faded with the passage of ages. Yip Chor discerned an array of stars encircling a meditating monk with the head of a bird. Another carving depicted men with cobra heads restraining a formidable beast with chains. Yet another captured the beast mid-rampage, devouring an entire city in its wake. Further images suggested a gruesome conflict, culminating in the bird-headed man driving a spear into the beast's back, his talons wrapped around its heart. Yip Chor shuddered at the sight of the bloodied heart above the open beak, poised to drink the lifeblood of the defeated beast. Such imagery, in its brutal honesty, was the stuff of legends, meant for epics, not for reality. Did men with bird heads truly exist in this world?
The passage sloped downward for several hundred meters before its gradient shifted upwards at a midsized landing. His host, with unerring certainty, began striding upwards until they reached the water line, and broke free from the water's oppressive embrace. The ordeal of holding his breath for hours on end while navigating an underwater labyrinth left Yip Chor in awe of the large man's capabilities.
The trail ascended to a circular chamber, pristine and untouched by time. Elaborate etchings in gold and red ink adorned the black stone walls, their intricate patterns radiating an arcane aura. Six doors were positioned strategically around the room, each marked with detailed representations of the monstrous beast's body parts. The heart, replicated in lifelike detail, took centre stage, its surrounding etchings hinting at meridians and arcane secrets.
At the centre of the chamber, a seventh door stood, its stark simplicity in contrast to its ornate counterparts. A single inscription in a language reminiscent of the one Yip Chor had learned as a child was etched upon its surface. Its age lent it an ancient gravity, the message it bore partially obscured by time.
"Here lies the... of the... may his light exist eternal, cursed be those who..."
From the cryptic inscription and the massive circular stone guarding the inner sanctum, Yip Chor deduced the chamber to be an ancient tomb. It was a humbling realization, sending a rush of trepidation coursing through his veins. The tomb was larger than any he had encountered before. He couldn't help but speculate that the remains of a powerful cultivator must be enshrined within.
His host, standing amidst the etchings, surveyed the room with a scrutinizing gaze before acknowledging Yip Chor's presence with a mild surprise, "Oh! You made it."
Yip Chor, baffled at this unexpected observation, nodded in affirmation.
"Good, good"