Chapter 78 - Sleeping in a Fire Chamber

  Lu Na wanted to check every device within the building, but everything was locked down. Not only that, the stairs were a smooth and steep spiral that prevented Lu Na from climbing it. She knew there had to be a way to get up there, but Sun Ren didn’t want to waste anymore time.

  Such a shame, but if they solved the puzzle Lu Na would come back.

  The trio walked through the large building until they reached the end. There was another door similar to the one they entered. They peeked out of the two windows.

  The outside was lightly illuminated. Whatever light ward they used gave everything an eerie yellow glow, almost like moonlight. There were two large trees blocking the way.

  “That looks like the underworld,” Sun Ren said.

  “It can’t be that bad. It looks like a few areas around Jianye at night,” Lu Na said. Of course, she didn’t believe that.

  “Amituofo, if I don’t enter the underworld, who would?” Hen Li said. “But even I don’t want to go into that without more preparation. How about we rest here for the night? It seems safe enough.”

  Hearing those words, Lu Na felt her legs almost buckle.

  “Yes please. I slept little yesterday and I’m exhausted.”

  “Zi Xu, is it safe to rest here?” Sun Ren asked the air.

  There was no response.

  “Curse that ghost. I’ll take first watch then. Hen Li can do second and Lu Na third. But get ready to run at a moment’s notice. The last thing we need is this building exploding or something attacking us here. The spirit energy here is too strong.”

  Lu Na nodded before laying down on one of the smooth staircases. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

  What felt like moments later, someone was shaking her awake.

  “Lu Na, we have to run,” Hen Li said.

  “What? What’s going on?” Lu Na looked around and saw the building was on fire. Every door was lit with flames and the staircases were glowing red.

  “Apparently, Zi Xu didn’t mention that this building shifts after a few hours. We were here when it was in its water phase and now it’s shifting to its fire phase.” Sun Ren pulled Lu Na up from the sloping staircase. “If we don’t get out of here now, flames will come pouring out from the very air and burn us alive. The only one that might survive that is the monk as he’s got his Bifang Niao.”

  “Amituofo. I wouldn’t. So it’s best if we run now.”

  The trio opened the door out into the darkened forest with the two trees blocking the window. Once they closed the door, it sealed itself shut and the flames burst in earnest.

  “That was close,” Lu Na said.

  “No, that wasn’t. Your mother warned us. At least I think it was her. We only heard a woman’s voice coming from the top of the building,” Sun Ren said.

  “Why didn’t you wake me? I wanted to talk with her.”

  “I had to wake up the monk. He was a deeper sleeper than you.”

  “Amituofo, I apologize. I have been weakened since entering the labyrinth. I am useless.”

  “Okay, enough self pity. We have to work together to get out of this. The only problem now is, we can’t see very well and do not know where to go. Does anyone see any landmarks that might look similar on the map?”

  Lu Na took out her map and looked around. All she could see were trees that lined the area. The pale yellow light wasn’t helping.

  “Lu Na, do you have any more of those light wards?” Sun Ren asked.

  “I’m sorry, I ran out. I used the last one to surprise the soldiers.”

  “Can you make a new one?”

  Lu Na took out a piece of yellow paper and her spirit wand. She focused on the pattern in her mind, the same one she’s made many times for the light ward. With a wave of the wand, she pulled in the fire spirit energy from the air.

  When she put the wand to the paper, she began drawing the pattern. It comprised a simple one, mostly of straight lines, that lit the piece of paper up better than any lantern.

  “There,” Lu Na said. It wasn’t her best work, but it was all they needed as it would last for a few hours at least.

  Lu Na passed the light ward to Sun Ren, but before her friend could grab it, a gust of wind hit them. When Lu Na looked down, the ward was gone.

  So was her spirit wand.

  “Someone stole my spirit wand!” Lu Na said.

  “No, not something, someone. Curses Zi Xu. Come out. Stop messing with us.” Sun Ren was shouting at this point. This was the first time Lu Na had ever seen her angry.

  Another breeze swept by them, this time slow as if caressing their bodies with an icy embrace. Lu Na hugged herself, but it didn’t help. She shivered.

  “If the little girl wants to see that ghost, she will have to join him in the afterlife. He never comes here,” a ghostly voice said. It sounded like it was right behind them, but when Lu Na turned, there was no one there. “Join us. There will be less suffering if you choose to do so. Otherwise, my friends aren’t as nice as me. They will torture you as they have tortured all your other friends.”

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  “Does that ever work?” Sun Ren asked. “Because right now, it sounds like you’re trying to irritate me. Leave us alone or I will kill you again ghost.”

  “Ooooooh, big words coming from a little girl.” The air got colder. “I gave the others a chance to join me and they chose to suffer. Then walk in my domain, little Sun Ren. I will make sure you beg me to end it like the others.”

  “Amituofo. Please let the sins pass.” Hen Li walked over to one tree standing beside them and hugged it.

  “What is that monk doing?” the ghost asked. “Is he stupid? Did he go crazy? Tell him to stop.”

  “No ghost. I know you are here, inhabiting this statue. You feel that you have been abandoned and the only way you can live with yourself is to lash out. I know what that’s like. But for this moment, you’re not alone.”

  “Statue? That’s a tree,” Lu Na said. The forest disappeared. They stood in a dark room that was only illuminated by one small light hanging on the ceiling. It still gave off the weak yellow light.

  Hen Li had his arms wrapped around a statue of a small boy.

  “Please, find peace in the afterlife.”

  “Monk, there is no peace in here. We’re all trapped and I’m lonely. None of the others want to play with me. They say I’m too far away from their homes. I can’t leave this room. I just wanted some friends.” The ghost continued babbling.

  Lu Na kneeled down to face the statue. She wasn’t interested in the boy or his sad story. For all she knew, the boy had died thousands of years ago. She was more interested in what the statue was doing.

  There were some spirit techniques that ran throughout the statue. But there was one that caught her eye. She saw it before but didn’t understand it. It was a technique that used spirit energy to bind ghosts to a specific place.

  Was this how Xia dealt with ghosts?

  “Sun Ren, I think I know how to set the boy ghost free,” Lu Na said. “Should I do it? Or do you think it will attack us?”

  “Wait, you know how to set me free?” the ghost asked. “Please, please! I know you can’t break me free of this labyrinth, but if I can even get away from this room, I would be happy.”

  Sun Ren tapped the statue on the head.

  “We can do it if you give us some information.”

  “Yes, of course. Anything you want to know. I’ll tell you about my toy collection or favorite foods. Just let me out!”

  “We don’t care about that stuff. We want to know where we are.”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been trapped here since the beginning.”

  “Then what can you tell us about what’s outside? You mentioned something about others being tortured.”

  “I only hear the noises and sounds. I can’t see.”

  “Then what can you tell us?” Sun Ren scowled.

  “The moment you step out of this room, you will start screaming and you won’t stop. That happens every time.”

  Sun Ren sighed.

  “That’s useless, but more than what we knew before. Release him Lu Na.”

  Lu Na took out a flat wooden stick. Unlike her spirit wand, this one helped her erase patterns. She scratched the pattern that kept the ghost trapped until it broke apart.

  “That should do it.” Lu Na kept the idea in her head. If one could use that pattern to trap ghosts, what about using it to trap feral spirits as well?

  “I’m sorry miss, I still can’t come out,” the ghost said.

  Lu Na focused her spirit sight on the statue. She laughed.

  “What is it?” Sun Ren asked.

  “Someone put the pattern on all four sides of the statue like creating a wall and anchoring the ghost inside.” Lu Na found the other patterns and scratched them with her stick.

  The statue glowed green and Hen Li let go. After a second, a small naga boy appeared in front of them. His smile showed off his sharp fangs.

  “You did it! I’m finally free!” The naga boy hugged Hen Li.

  “You’re not a ghost. You’re a spirit,” Sun Ren said.

  “I never said I was a ghost,” the naga boy said.

  “Then who stole my light ward and spirit wand?” Lu Na asked.

  “Oh, that was a ghost. They like to play tricks on newcomers and steal their things.”

  “Can you ask the ghost to return it? That spirit wand is important to me.”

  The naga boy smiled sheepishly.

  “They don’t listen to me. But I can help you find the ghost if you’d like.”

  “I think we’d appreciate it if you could help us get out of this section and closer to the center of the labyrinth,” Sun Ren said.

  “Sure. Anything to help the ones that freed me. The next section is not that far from here. The gate leads to the inner sanctum of the labyrinth.”

  The naga boy walked out of the small room into the larger room. The darkness swallowed him. There were no lights there.

  “Come on! It’s just around the corner.”

  “Amituofo. I guess we are lucky that Lu Na knew how to release the boy. Good deeds reap good rewards.”

  Hen Li took a step toward the darkness, but Sun Ren stopped him by pulling his tunic.

  “Stop,” Sun Ren said. She walked up to the darkness and tossed a small rock into it.

  “What’s wrong?” Lu Na asked.

  “There’s no sound past this point. The rock didn’t hit the ground. The little naga boy made no sound when he walked through.”

  “But we heard his voice.”

  Hen Li reached out past the border, his hand swallowed by the darkness. He pulled it back, but nothing happened to his hand. He next got on his knees.

  “Can one of you please hold on to my tunic?”

  Sun Ren reached down and held on tight.

  Hen Li dipped his head through the darkness and then pulled it back quickly.

  “Sun Ren is right. Directly in front of this curtain of darkness is a pit. I do not know how deep it goes.”

  “The naga boy!” Lu Na said.

  “Amituofo. I saw no trace of him. He must have fallen into the pit.”

  Lu Na shook her head. How could life be so cruel to trap the naga spirit for so long only for him to meet his doom so soon?

  “Can we jump over the pit?” Sun Ren asked. “The last thing I want to do is live out the rest of my life here in this small room.”

  “There’s more bad news. Right after the pit, all I could see were narrow hallways with a lot of ghosts and a lot of traps. Because I have clear eyes, I can see through them, but you two won’t be able to.”

  “What do we do?” Lu Na asked.

  “We place our trust in the monk. Do what he does. Step where he steps.”

  “Amituofo. That would be the safest way of doing this. I’ll go first. Jump as far as you can. While the pit isn’t that wide, you don’t want to miss it. I’ll catch you on the other side.”

  Both Lu Na and Sun Ren nodded. Then they watched as the monk got up, made a running start, and jumped through the border of darkness. Just as before, they heard nothing.

  “I’ll go first,” Sun Ren said. “If any of the ghosts try to attack, I might have some way to fight them.”

  Sun Ren stepped almost to the flaming door. She crouched and leaned forward before sprinting forward. Just like that the darkness swallowed her.

  Lu Na stared at it. She tried to use her spirit vision to see if there were any techniques that created this border.

  Nothing.

  That must mean that it was created by the ghosts.

  Lu Na walked to the flaming door. The door showed her many techniques, mostly sealing techniques. None of those were going to help her now. It was time to jump into the void. She really hoped that she could jump far enough.

  Lu Na ran as fast as she could and right before she hit the wall, she jumped. She wanted to close her eyes, but kept them open.

  Her entire world became dark.