7 The Turning Point

-Shen Wei-

A few minutes, after they proceeded carefully, inside the ice cave with the Guardians making a circle around the professors, ready to act at any moment, if needed, they were left in darkness as the flashlights, all stop functioning at the same time. Shen Wei heard Yunlan curse, as Guo which was behind him hold his sleeve and the other professor slightly hit their flashlights, to see if they could make them work again.

"Hey, don't panic, we are prepare for this kind of situation too..." Zhao said a second before igniting the lighter his father once gave him, poorly illuminating a bit around him.

"Okay guys, the torches... It seems we will have to keep on, in the old way." Zhao commanded and his entire team put their backpacks on the iced floor and look for a few pieces of thin sticks, they put together creating small sized torches.

"This place sure is strange. The magnetic field here must be something else. Not even my watch works." Lin noted, as Da Qing ignite the first torch and pass it to his Chief.

Shen Wei also looked at his watch and just like the technology expert said, his was also out of the picture. Then he notice that his bracelet was shining slightly with a greenish glow. He looked a bit surprised at Yunlan, but he was busy now helping the others with the torches. Maybe it was those kind of bracelets that shined in the darkness, but then again, it also felt a bit warm over his cold skin.

"Shen Wei... something wrong?" Zhao asked as he passed a torch to him and Wei simply smiled at the handsome man that was turning his world upside down in such a short amount of time with both his alluring personality that was making his heart race more times than he wished and his intriguing gift.

"No... just checking my watch too. It isn't working either." He responded.

"Yeah mine is totally out. This must be the reason why some parts of these mountains are still unexplored, not even with satellites." The local guide pointed.

"Let's just be more careful from here on. Remember the rules, don't panic, don't go away on your own and follow our instructions. Whatever strange thing we find, let us handle it first and stay back." He said in general, then as the others were distracted receiving their own torches, he came closer to Shen.

"Stay always behind me Xiao Wei, because I will look back a few times and I hope to find your lovely face in each glance." Shen blushed once again, as he felt Yunlan's warm breath over his ear and neck, which send shivers all over his body.

"Will you ever stop teasing me?" Shen whisper back.

"Nope... remember, it was you who kiss me first." Zhao keep up.

"But I don't even remember it." Shen protested slightly moving his head, almost kissing Yunlan in the process, as Zhao also moved his to look at him.

"Should I remained you? I'm more than willing..." Shen sighed, as his face heated even more.

"No. I'm sure you will do far more than what I dared." Shen said, smiling shyly as his heart raced faster. His teasing at least was making him warmer and it was beginning to take a real effect over him, because Zhao Yunlan was quite tempting and he knew it.

"And you will love it... I promise." Zhao teased deeper and right after the words left his lush lips, Shen Wei felt a tingly sensation over his wrist, right in where the bracelet was, but a second later it was gone as Chu interrupted Yunlan's flirting.

"Hey! Stop embarrassing my friend, you shameless Chief. We better move on before the night comes." Chu said, making Zhao move away from the red hot professor.

"Alright... let's go back in formation. This time we take it more slowly. Be careful, stay alert and ready to take action." Zhao instructed as he moved first, with Shen Wei following him closely. Soon enough, they went deeper and deeper into the mountain and the ice walls of the cave turned more crystal like, as they keep walking, making the torches reflect on the surface, like on a distorted mirror. In a way it was fascinating beautiful, yet a bit creepy at the same time.

They keep up the circle, until the cave narrowed in almost a smaller tunnel, then they walked in a single line, which gave Shen Wei the opportunity to focus on any sign that could point that the professor had been there at some point. He try to illuminate as much as he could while walking behind the imposing Yunlan, now back as the indisputable leader of a safeguarding company with his small torch, but found nothing out of ordinary. They didn't even found more traces of military boots, although farther from the entrance there was no snow, only solid ice.

Then, after slowly walking for long hours inside the mountain belly, the cave became less narrow, until they reached a widen area with an abrupt cliff, that was slightly illuminated with a kind of faint glow. Wang hastily fell to her knees to pray some more to the gods, then Shen Wei had an impulse to look up. The combination of the torches gave him a better view of the cave both up and down, but as there was a deep hole, the others concentrate in looking down, only him bother to look up as soon as they end up there and he was speechless for a second, paling suddenly, as he took professor Ouyang notes out of one of his pockets.

"Shen Wei? Are you okay?" Zhao asked, a bit worry as he saw his professor go pale in matter of seconds.

"Look up." Shen reply, and so they all did and gasped at the unreal sight of a glowing moonstone just above the heads of three huge stone statues embedded in the iced walls. All three figures were looking down on them, as if judging their presence and souls. Everyone reacted differently at the same time.

"I'll be damn..." Da Qing whisper.

"What the hell?" Jin Ling asked.

"Dear gods, spare us..." Zhu whisper a bit taken aback at the unexpected encounter with the unknown.

"What are those?" Chu asked more curiously than anything else and Zhao whistle as he came closer to the professor at the same time Guo yelped quite frightened at the imposing sight.

"Shen Wei? Seriously, do you know about the statues?" Zhao looked at him and Wei simply show him one of the professor's drawings. In the page, everyone could see the three figures at the mouth of a deep hole.

"Somehow, professor Ouyang was here before disappearing. This is where the real journey begins. The statues represents a warning, because from here on this is a land of gods, no meant for humans. The legends said that many gods born here, as well as many creatures we had never seen. They all gain their divinity not only for the cultivation of mind and body, but also for the energy that can only be gained in this sacred place."

"He is right. This is indeed a turning point in which anything could happen." Wang said as she stood up again.

"If we follow the notes then, the hole below will take us to an unexplored part of these mountains, probably to a more dangerous one, as this is where all the strange drawings of different creatures begin. Apparently at the end of a bigger ice cave, we can access inside of the close off mountains, but honestly, after this part, the professor notes are all mess up... and it makes me wonder just how this notebook found his way back to me." There was a deep silence as no one truly had an idea of how could the professor sent the notes, if he was clearly somewhere down and alone.

"It must have been the will of the gods." Wang broke the silence.

"Or he wasn't as alone as he make you believe." Zhao added, seriously looking at his professor.

"He wouldn't lie to me." Shen said with disapproval.

"But what if he had no choice? I know he is like a father to you and I assume it's the same with him. Then I wonder why he would sent you the notes of such a dangerous place when knowing you will go look for him? If I was in his position, I rather die in the land of gods than putting my beloved one at risk." Zhao said, making the other professors think about the new possibility.

However, Shen Wei couldn't think in anything else, but in the burning sensation over his wrist, which came back tenfold, in the moment Zhao had said, my beloved.

"Shen Wei? Are you okay?" Zhao asked, coming even closer, but Wei was now feeling dizzy and Zhao had to hold him, so he would stay standing. Chu took the torch from his hand, noticing he was about to drop it.

"Shen Wei! What's wrong?" Zhao asked urgently and Shen pass a hand over his shoulder for more support, because the world seems to be spinning around him. Just before he closed his eyes, the professor looked up.

"Yunlan... be careful... above..." Then he fainted in Zhao's arms. As Yunlan held Wei tighter, the others looked up and gasped in terror at the glowing above. What looked before like a moonstone, became something else. The whole sealing of the ice cave became alive with what looked like hundreds of tiny bat like creatures glowing in blue. Immediately, the Guardians dropped the torches and surrounded the professor's and their Chief, which had Shen Wei on his arms and took out their special guns.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" Wang yelled, but the glowing bats turned red with fire and descended toward them at a fast speed.

"May the gods protect us all..." Sang said before holding his wife in his arms, because that will probably be the last thing he will do in that life. They were as good as dead.

AN: Ups... cliffhanger! LoL.