Abode Of A Mage Shaman

The shaman lead them through an eerie path with shrubs shooting out of the ground and small hills situated at the route. Sparkling vast of waterfall streamed down from a lofty hill in an ethereal manner.

They walked for a few minutes until an extended shabby looking straw house came into picture. It would only take a small storm to blow the entire house away from its position but anyway, they had no choice but to go in.

The old woman shoved her smoking pipe beneath her cloak and extended her hand to hover in front of the door. A strong gust of wind blew past them, making the drenched duo more chilled than they were.

The door shut open with a loud bang to reveal a darkness enveloping the space and they went in after her but with caution, in case she tried to attack them. The house immediately lit up to reveal a well furnished traditional house with good feng shui.

It was a gaping disparity to the interior of the house. Burning incense were positioned on low tables sating the house with a pleasant smell, variety of strange relics and sculptures hung on the smooth wooden wall, with some seated on the table.

A passageway with remote network of labyrinths leading to hanji screened rooms intersected from where they situated.

"You all should freshen up and change in the rooms. Ying, follow me with Weng." The old woman stated and without waiting for a reply, started walking through the corridors while Ying went after her, till they emerged into a hanji screened door and faded from their sights.

The others exchanged puzzled looks on how she knew their names without exchanging it, but they silently did as she asked, as they couldn't wait to get out of their soggy clothing that became heavy in their body.

The girls occupied a hanji screened room while the others settled in another. Fortunately, but weirdly, male clothing were neatly stacked atop a small table and more weirdly, they were accurately of the exact number that they were.

Zhulong took a long warm nice bath situated inside the room. It was odd how the exterior of the house looked so dilapidated and unfashionable, yet the interior varied in contrast to it, as it appeared almost as ravishing as a noble's.

Lei, Gai and Xuan occupied the bath also as they freshened up. Xuan as usual, shot him death glares but he ignored and continued to enjoy his frizzling bath.

"Is it me or is the old lady just creepy as fuck? She even knows our names, no doubts she knows our secrets too." Lei voiced out with a throaty chuckle.

"She's a Mage shaman, isn't she?" Gai queried with raised brows as he soaked his hair in the warm water with steams erupting from it.

"It seems so. She has the power of manipulation, its either we're bathing in animal shit or the exterior of the house has been manipulated to appear as rubbish." Xuan remarked with a lazy drawl as he immersed his fingers softly into the water and wriggled it.

"I hope its the latter and not the before." Gai said as he swayed his body with unease in the water.

"We'll never know." Zhulong muttered softly with a sheepish grin on his face.

"She spoke of us having secrets. Anyone ready to share theirs before it gets out of the bag?" Lei remarked with a mischievous grin as he peered his eyes lazily across all of them.

Zhulong managed to appear neutral to the statement. He had a secret he would never be willing to share, not that they would believe him anyway, he couldn't take the risk still.

"She may be a mage shaman but she appears crazy to me. And besides, we're not here to learn of frivolous secrets but to cure Weng and then we leave for the Mage domain immediately." Xuan chipped in with a hard tone in an attempt to hinder the topic.

"Xuan has a secret, interesting." Lei drawled in an amused tone as a sarcastic smirk played on his lips.

"It doesn't matter if I do, don't poke your nose in my business!" Xuan snapped with a firm voice before emerging from the water and stepping out of the bath. Trickle of water dripped from his masculine naked body and from the tip of his white hair.

"I'll go check up on Weng." Zhulong said and without waiting for a response, sprouted out of the water.

"I'll come too!" Gai said and with a heavy splash, merged out of the water as he followed behind Zhulong.

Zhulong dressed up in one of the robes stacked on the table, it was fairly pleasant and comfortable, although he hoped it wasn't a trick of the mind, from the Mage shaman's manipulation powers and he wasn't wearing rags instead.

Not that he cared to check up on Weng, he was only curious to know if Weng was dead yet or if the cure the strange woman gave to him had revived him, yet.

Gai and Zhulong strode down the labyrinth of corridors till he reached the room. Zhulong slid the hanji screened door open to see the strange woman pouring a strange liquid from a gourd into Weng's slightly parted mouth.

Weng laid on a low mattress while the old woman knelt beside him.

Zhulong's eyes narrowed to Azure who was also watching. She was all dried up and changed into a fine robe with plain yet subtle needleworks, her hair was still slightly damp as it was tied up in a slick bun.

Azure's head tilted up for her gaze to meet his, but their stare was abruptly disrupted when they heard Weng coughing loudly and hoarsely.

Their gazes narrowed to him as his body jerked uncontrollably amidst the coughing. The black web like veins in his neck gradually disappeared and his head shot forward for thick black liquid to erupt out of his mouth.

His entire eyes turned white before it turned normal and his black irises became visible but he soon fell unconscious as quickly as he regained his consciousness.

"What's wrong with him?" Ying queried with a firm voice.

"He's reviving. He needs some rest, he'll regain his consciousness in no time." The old woman said as she took the Yang lying on the table and gradually placed it atop Weng's chest with a soft rising and falling movement.

"How fast? By sunrise?" Ying queried with creased brows as he narrowed his hazel eyes at Weng.

"Sunrise, when the dawn breaks for yet another advent with an unknown plight." The old woman spoke in riddled phrases.

"We need to leave by sunrise. Will he be alright by then?" Gai enquired again.

"Of course, but be heedful. The moment you step foot into the Mage domain, there will be no escape from the fate that awaits you all. Death and darkness will haunt your paths till the end, but yet the end is still so elusive and inaccessible even by I." The strange woman spoke again before extending her hands engulfed with misty black clouds toward the pool of black liquid on the floor which Weng vomited out.

The black liquid shriveled up in size until it completely dispersed, leaving not a single trail behind.

"We didn't ask for out fortunes read." Ying replied nonchalantly as his expression appeared unfazed by the woman's words.

A throaty cackle erupted from the woman's lips as her eyes darted aimlessly in the room, not stopping on anyone.

"It is not your fortunes I have read. It is your fate established on the choice you will make by sunrise." The woman spoke in riddled words that made them stare at her in an unnerving way.

"You said death and darkness haunts our path, what does that mean? Are we all going to die?" Azure spoke with a low voice. Her tone was wary, although her composure and demeanour still retained its serenity and gracefulness.

"Death and darkness haunts your path. Why don't you find out for yourself?" The old woman spoke with seriousness.

"If you know so much, do you know who sets the monsters loose from the realm of monsters?" Ying asked.

The woman shook her head softly before burying her hands beneath her cloak and took out the smoking pipe between her fingers. She took a long puff from it, misty white smokes rolling off her lips before she spoke.

"That part of the puzzle is for you to figure out yourselves. I cannot disclose it to you even if I knew. The universe has created a divergent path for you all and that path needs to be followed accordingly, or else it'll lead to disruption of balance. You don't want to defy the laws of the universe by which all kinds must adhere to." The old woman spoke before taking another puff and sating the air with the putrid stench of tobacco.

"Run if you want, but you cannot evade the pattern by which your fates are designed." The old woman remarked before placing her wrinkled hands atop Weng's chest were the Yang was situated.