In a dark room, a figure draped in black robes lay on top of an altar. The altar was made from black marble and it was inscribed with strange symbols. The figure was Wei Zhi!
Wei Zhi slowly opened his eyes, his mind foggy as if waking from a long dream.
Confused, he looked around, only to find himself in a mostly empty room. Apart from the altar, only an iron door could be seen.
He stiffly stood up, his body making crackling sounds as it moved.
The loose, hooded robe he was wearing seemed to float over his body, obscuring his visage and making him look like a phantom as he walked to the door.
While his pace seemed unhurried on the outside, Wei Zhi was struggling with each step. Every movement felt as if he were pushing against a mountain.
As he arrived at the door he found that it was locked, this much was expected, as he stood behind the door he noticed that other than his faint breath nothing else could be heard, a heavy silence permeated the room.
Wei Zhi touched the door, his fingers were draped in cloth gloves, the gloves seemed to contain strange symbols carved in black.
The door was completely flat, like a slab of iron with no openings or knobs.
However, as Wei Zhi stared at the door, an indescribable sensation washed over him, the symbols on his gloves seemed to twist and whirl as if they were centipedes, a cold wave surged through his body to his hand.
With a small push, the previously unyielding door suddenly cracked open.
Startled, Wei Zhi peered through the opening to find a long, dark hall. The darkness seemed to quickly vanish as he focused his vision, revealing a set of stairs at the end and a young man sitting nearby in a wooden chair, seemingly asleep.
Wei Zhi hesitated for a moment. However, a strong longing for freedom quickly squashed the hesitation. Gritting his teeth, he decided to move on regardless.
To his surprise the door opened silently. Although his body felt as if he were pulling a heavy cart, in reality he moved fairly silently, seemingly gliding like a ghost through the hall.
Just as he reached the stairs, the sleeping guard suddenly trembled, waking up abruptly as if he were splashed with a bucket of cold water.
The guard stood up quickly, recovering from his stupor, glancing at the shadowy figure in front of him.
He felt the hair on his skin stand up as he took a step back, reaching out for something in his belt.
"Who are you?!" The guard started to raise his voice in a shrill tone.
Wei Zhi gritted his teeth. He lunged at the guard, grabbing his neck with all the strength he could muster.
His shadowy figure stood in the darkness of the hall as low gurgling sounds softly reverberated. Then the hall went silent again, only disturbed by a low thud as the body fell limply to the floor.
Wei Zhi's body seemed to have reacted to his desperation. The force of the throat grab was so immense that the guard could not emit a sound, the guard's neck was crushed.
Wei Zhi stood in the darkness, looking down at the body. Recently, he had seen many people die in gruesome ways, but this was the first time someone had died by his own hand.
He took a deep breath. Sometimes it was inevitable. In this place, the rule of the jungle governed, and sometimes it was simply kill or be killed.
He then proceeded to climb the stairs, his stiff and slow body taking them step by step.
As he reached the door at the top of the stairs, he could hear chatter and banter. His captors, the ones who had imprisoned him, were just on the other side.
Lamenting his luck, Wei Zhi stood still behind the door. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, however, a voice rousingly ordered the group to leave. "A new group has arrived. You lot come with me to get the peasants to the cells. You two go and tell Senior Brother Gu that we have a new batch."
This was the break Wei Zhi needed. Everyone in the hall seemed to abandon the place.
After the commotion died down, Wei Zhi opened the door slowly to find the hall empty.
He then proceeded to cautiously slip away.
As he made his way out, a large pair of iron doors were cracked open. The light coming from the outside shone like a ray of hope.
Wei Zhi reached the door and peered outside. Noticing nothing amiss, he slowly pushed the door open. He found himself at the entrance of a cave in the mountains, where a familiar path descended to the base.
As he recalled, that path would likely lead to the guards who, like last time, were handling another unfortunate group like himself.
He decided to keep going up toward the mountain pass, recalling that a city should be just beyond.
However, as he made his way forward, a young man was standing in the path. The young man wore black robes with a red copper band crowning his hair. He was looking the other way when he noticed Wei Zhi and turned around to face him.
Wei Zhi froze. The distance between them was too far to try to strike, but fleeing would be difficult since the path back was also filled with peril.
As he stood there, the young man also stood still, observing. After a few breaths, the young man's pupils shrank. He then cupped his hands, saluting and lowering his head.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother Gu, on reaching great success with your treasure puppet."
Wei Zhi was confused, but seeing no hostility, he simply nodded and kept walking slowly.
As he approached, Wei Zhi felt his chest tighten, but the young man did not make a move, so he slipped past.
Just as he was about to clear the gauntlet, the young man straightened up and asked with a frown, "Who are you?"
Wei Zhi staggered for a moment. Unable to react in time, he felt a rush of wind sweep past him.
The young man dashed toward Wei Zhi, driving a black curved blade toward his back.
A sharp, metallic clank resounded as the blade hit Wei Zhi's spine, unable to penetrate or inflict any damage.
The young man bounced a step back from the physical backlash. Before he could recover his footing, however, he saw the figure in front of him turn bizarrely.
Wei Zhi spun on his heel, swinging his arm with all his might. It was not a punch in the traditional sense, but more like swinging an iron rod at high speed.
The young man had no time to react before his head exploded from the impact of Wei Zhi's arm. Blood and bone flew through the air, the strike was instantaneously fatal.
The figure stood still, his arm drenched in blood. As his hood fell, it revealed a young man with fair, almost crystalline skin and long black hair that gave him an ethereal, eerie aura. This young man was Wei Zhi...