44 White-Monolith

Discarding her turmoil mind, horrified Qin firmly held onto Leng, who was currently unresponsive. Their flung bodies headed straight toward the long, grass-land beneath, cornered by thick-short trees. Air blared past them, their hair, clothes flailed, eyes tightly shut.

"Fahhhh…" Qin yelled through her gritted teeth, torment ensued on her back as it crashed on the ground, cracking a large perimeter of the ground, inciting a sonorous sound.

They continuously flipped, grinding on the mud, splattering, clothes ripped but she didn't let go of him, absorbing all the force. His nigh-close eyes perceived each of her actions.

Soon, their whirling figures came to a halt, leaving dents on certain parts of the previously intact field, on where a man's body lay above a woman's now.

Suppressing the lashing pain, that fortunately was soaring from her crushed muscles, and not from cracked bones, she mumbled, extremely worried.

"Leng...my dear..." No response came. She repeated again and again but only her voice echoed in the quiet periphery, mind ensnared by guilt, regret, and sorrow. Moreover so with her incapability to get up due to the collision pain.

Unable to do anything else, she kept an eye on the surrounding, stubbornly keeping a grip on Leng, and sporadically called him. Around four minutes later, her crave-filled cries for his awakening met a response. It was a bloody-cough from Leng, panicking her.

"Leng!"

Through clenched teeth, she forcibly got herself up, laid his head on her lap, tears oozed from her eyes.

"Get-Get the Livid Pills from my robe-sack." Leng's strained voice sounded, sweetly gazing at her face even in this condition. His back was no different from a dilapidated carriage where agony danced across, that he occasionally voiced through groans.

Qin quickly moved, suppressing her pained-voice, she took out a tiny box, filled with eight white textured pills. Immediately, she put two inside Leng��s mouth, who mumbled, stifling the pain and chewing.

"Why aren't you eating one?"

"Mine isn't that terrible. The somewhat I have is already subsiding seeing you," She was truly happy. The mental anguish, sadness, emptiness, she had felt while he was unresponsive was indescribable. Physical pain seemed outlandishly inferior.

"Do you want me to throw the pill out of my mouth? Quickly eat or..." He didn't give her a chance to refuse.

"Ehh, wait…" She stumbled, picked a pill, and gulped it. The healing effects slowly spun into action. She followed up with.

"Don't say anything, anymore. Rest!" She emphasized, wiping the droplets of blood from his lips, she massaged his temple with her thumbs.

Over time, the pills affect reached its potential, reformed his muscles, fixed his bones, and resolved the internal injuries. Although it wasn't a full recovery, what he gained was astonishing for half an hour period. During that, the massage soothed his pain and calmed his mind.

"I am alright now. How is your pain?" He assured her, opening his eye-lids then attempting to get up, Qin swiftly aided him.

"Are you sure? Mine has completely subsided, I feel rejuvenated," While saying her piece, Qin did a quick inspection of his body.

"Umu. Your eyes...they are red...did you cry?" Leng's voice gentled. He cupped her face and wiped the residue away, embracing her. She too firmly wrapped her hands around his waist, nudging her face in the middle of his chest.

"How could I not, it was all my fault! The reason why you even got injured to this extent," She poured out with a dejected expression.

"Not at all. Sure, it was a heavy hit but my body also appropriately shielded it, trust me! And your concern bountifully numbed my pain," He endearingly stated, rubbing the back of her head.

"Really?" His consoling warmed her heart.

"No truer words have ever been said before," Leng smirked, prompting a small smile from her.

At that moment, the Sky thundered, air-swept the area, heavy rain ensued. Black clouds quickly hid the previous clear Sky.

"Ah! We are going to get wet! We need to find a shelter and leave this forest," Qin hurried. However, Leng had different thoughts.

"It's fine, enjoy the rain. Do you really want to leave? I am more inclined toward touring that place," He pointed toward a spaced out tree collection, revealing a grass-land ahead, opposite from where their bodies soared by.

Wholly drenched, robe sticking on her curvaceous body, Qin strongly voiced.

"That....I didn't notice at first, I would like to but you need to get enough rest first!"

"So you don't trust my body?"

"No-No, that's not the case at all."

"Alright then, come with me."

"As you wish." With a smile, Qin agreed at the end.

Afterward, they quickly walked toward the open-land, simultaneously, marked the domain too.

"Whoa! This place has such a tranquil ambiance," Qin commented after seeing the vast open space. Puddles littered the area, tinny grasses occupied it. The turbulent rain fell on them while the strong winds swept the area.

They couldn't gauze the actual size of the grass-land, white mist covered the faraway periphery.

Treading on the open field, Leng noticed a white monolith, 247 meters ahead.

"Maybe, we were meant to come here. Look at that thing." He speculated, calmly.

"What is that!" She tensely uttered, unsheathing her blade.

After they carefully neared it for inspection under the escaping rays of the Sun through the ashy clouds, they keenly observed it. Possessing a pristine look, the monolith appeared inviolable, half of Leng's size, 1 meter.

"There are red inscriptions on it," Qin inched closer, Leng mimicked her. They scrutinized it, reading its title of "Charred Moon" followed by, three indented texts. One detailed "Tally: 04," the other one read, "Required: 9, 995," these pieces of information bewildered them.

Next, their keen attention fell on the last text, which stated,

"Serve the nourishment; Receive the grace.

"--Unseal the Path--"

"Nourishment? What could be a nourishment for this..." Leng wondered out loud. He felt the monolith, which had an exceptionally smooth texture and solidity.

"Possibly a precious delicacy?" She supposed due to its refined appearance. Pointing at the middle-red inscription, she continued.

"Monoliths generally surround an altar where predominantly humans are sacrificed so the nourishment could refer to that. Look here, five nourishments seem to have already been given. Could they be the five people we saw before…" She thoughtfully muttered, connecting the dots. Rainwater continuously ran down her face, spraying ahead when she talked.

Leng's eyes gleamed, emphasizing, "Could be. This place is definitely related to the mountain. So, possibly, its nourishments are the people who perished earlier."

Nodding, she added, "Then, to unseal the mystery path, 9,995 people will need to meet their demise. That's ridiculous!" In the end, her tone heated up.

After contemplating, Leng expressed, "First of all, this could help us in getting closer to the mysterious, invaluable Jade Pond. Secondly, there doesn't seem to be any requirements on what kind of people should perish, we can totally use that to our advantage."

Realizing that, Qin's tensed voice came, affirming "That's true! How could I miss that, we just need to kill depraved lunatics." Due to the sheer absurdity of the content, her mind had overshadowed this essential detail.

Suddenly, the monolith brightly glowed, urging both of them to get defensive. The tumultuous rain couldn't enter its illuminated zone, which startled them.

"Wow! It's drying us at such a quick speed," This was a mystical phenomenon to her. All the droplets of water instantly evaporated from their bodies, accompanied by a soothing feeling, however, they remained cautious. Subsequently, the back of their left hands radiated a tiny flicker that immediately dispersed with the dimming of the monolith.

"A ring!?"

On their left-thumbs, there was a flawlessly-white, thin, fully circular ring. It had a scarlet inscription on it.

"Is anything etched on your ring? Mine has 9,995 engraved." Leng glanced at her.

"It's the same," She returned, feeling it.

Afterward, the monolith's light wholly diminished, unsealing the rain, which dampened their clothes again.

"What was the point…" Qin mumbled, miffed. Leng let out a chuckle. Their attention was about to fix on the ring when the mist started to congregate around them, he quickly held her left hand in fear of separation.

"Don't leave my hand at all."

Both warily surveyed their foggy surrounding, discerning no anomalies. Under seven seconds, it began to recede away from them. Their heart-beat accelerated, palm sweated, eyes narrowed.

After it wholly dispersed, puzzlement contained their face, seeing they were inside their room in the tavern.

"How...how did that happen," Qin's astonished voice rang. She felt the now kempt bed. Beneath her, water puddles formed.

"I wonder too," Leng commented, checking the outside through the window. Brightly illuminated roads bustled with sauntering people. The weather was totally different from what they had experienced before.

Leaving aside these thoughts, to prevent his mind from going haywire, he spun and moved toward Qin and hugged her.

"Don't think too much, it's only going to mentally strain you. We can gradually uncover these mysteries." He gently mumbled, rubbing her stomach.

"You are right... " She lowered her head on his chest, held his hand for a few moments, to compose her thoughts, and put the mysteries at the back for now.