Into The Gloaming Valley Of Darkness

Zhulong could feel Azure tremble slightly as he swam across the cold water. He stayed alert for any unexpected attacks from the strange monster lurking underneath them.

They tried not to splash the water too much to prevent provoking the beast into attacking. Finally, they crossed the water safely without the beast attacking and they hastily emerged out of it, into the dry land after apparently hours of swimming.

Azure hopped off his back as she shivered from being immersed in the cold water for long and the chilly cold air blew on her, making goosebumps manifest on her skin.

Her gown clung to her body making her curves visible and his eyes glanced shortly at her full round molds on her chest which were more defined as her dress clung to her skin.

He gulped softly before tearing his gaze away from her before anyone would notice the lustful fascinations swirling into his mind.

"Are you alright?" Zhulong queried as she trembled.

"I'm fine." She forced the words to come out of here mouth between chattering teeth as. She nodded softly.

"We should leave so that we can arrive at the Mage domain and take the poison out fast." Ying said nonchalantly as he moved toward the path where the gloaming valley of darkness was situated.

They followed after him in silence as they all froze in the cold, except the vampire brothers who were rather exemplary as they possessed a modified system.

They walked for not quite long before they arrived at the dark valley with an atmosphere that took well after its name. Thick forests ran on each side of the valley, and running through the broad centre was a dreamy but eerie vast stream and the sky punching mountains as cruel as a hag's teeth soared up in the background.

The unending brochure blue sky clothed over them with glittering silvery stars cloaked over it. Misty eyed fox cubs peered their glowing eyes at them through the thicket of bushes as they proceeded on their way while the wind murmured in their ears.

The valley was clothed with a whiff of melancholy yet it was fascinating as it appeared almost ethereal like.

They went across a stream that flowed softly as it gently drifted through the protruding rocks which they stepped on as they crossed to the other side of the valley.

Weng's heavy breathing worsened and he hadn't shut his eyes open, even though the hole in his chest was wholly healed but the toxin still surged through his veins.

Zhulong wondered if he would die before they got to their destination and the dark thoughts running through his head made a sadistic grin tear through his lips discreetly.

They strode through the dark path of the valley with only the music of the meadow and the whirring of insects resonating in the valley.

"We need to do something or Weng will die on us. The venom seems potent, he won't make it before we get to the Mage domain." Xuan broke the unnerving silence as he pointed out the condition of Weng to them.

"I know, but none of us are skilled in creating antidotes or are you?" Ying replied in a bored tone as he continued walking with a rapid pace that appeared almost like a half run, but he refrained from running as too much movements would cause the poison to spread throughout his body faster.

Silence ensued.

"I thought so." Ying muttered beneath his breath in slight irritation.

They walked through the unleveled stone covered ground as they proceeded towards the mage domain. Ying abruptly stopped as he was in front of them and they all halted in their footsteps too.

Zhulong could hear the faint huffing of feet sliding across the stone covered floor moving toward them.

They unsheathed their weapons in alert as their gazes fixated on the area where the unknown figure was emerging from.

Their swords lowered warily when their eyes caught sight of a frail looking old woman wearing a ragged cloak, supporting her movement with a wooden staff in her hand. Her hair was fully covered with grey hair and not a hint of black was visible.

The old woman stopped in her track as she scrutinized the strange beings in front of her. A crooked smile appeared on her lips to reveal brown teeth, making her already wrinkled face retain more wrinkles on it.

Her dilated pupils were almost white in color which appeared creepy as her eyes darted to space.

"What do we have here? Beings who don't belong in this outskirts and one whom the universe has brought from another dimension." The strange old woman cackled as she spoke. To them, it was gibberish to them without significance, but she seemed to make sense when she spoke about the one brought from another dimension, which was undoubtedly him.

"Who are you?!" Zhulong immediately queried in an attempt to shut her up before she spilled out his secret.

The woman whipped her head gradually to face him but her white eyes darted to stare behind his shoulders and it occurred to him that she was blind, although he hadn't noticed earlier which made him wonder how she walked from wherever she was coming from.

A dreary grin tore through her dry lips to reveal her tobacco stained teeth.

"A shaman. Do you want your fortunes read? Or do you want to know secrets? I can sniff so many coming from all of your mere presence." The strange old woman's hoarse voice whisked its way into their ears and they all moved uncomfortably excepting Ying who stared at the woman intently as he scrutinized her.

"We only want to figure out if you know of a cure for the venom inflicted on my brother?" Ying said with a slightly impatient voice as he glanced over at his shoulder where Weng's head lazily rested on.

"A cure for a poison emitted from the dark creature lurking beneath the yellow river." The woman stated out as if she already gained knowledge beforehand.

"Do you know of a cure?" Ying queried with impatience turning narrow with every passing second.

"A cure. We'll need the Yang to restore life into him but we'll need a rare cure from the dragon horse residing beneath the yellow river. It harnesses the cure to the poison." The old woman stated with tilted head to the side.

"There's another creature beneath the yellow river? And it has the cure?" Ying queried with obvious impatience in his voice as he scoffed in disbelief, disrupting his usual calm composure.

"Yes, but you don't have to go back, I have the cure in my abode." The old woman said with a sheepish grin.

Zhulong leaned toward Ying.

"She might be trying to lure us into a trap, she knows just what we want and moreover, don't you find the woman a bit strange?" Zhulong whispered into his ears and he saw his jaws clenched, he had never seen Ying so deteriorated until then.

"She's a frail, old woman. If she tries anything funny, I'll decapitate her myself." Ying said with a hard tone before averting his gaze to the old woman who stood patiently waiting for his reply.

Zhulong couldn't argue anymore with Ying against going with the strange woman, his decision stood firm like an unwavering pillar.

"Can you take the poison out?" Ying questioned the woman immediately and the woman's head whipped to face Ying and a crooked smile crossed the woman's pale lips.

"Of course, and also, do you want your fortunes read?" She queried to them all as she exclaimed, screening her blind eyes through all of them as though she could see them.

"No, just take the poison out." Ying said immediately.

"Follow me then, if you change your mind and want your fortune read.." The old woman trailed off and buried her scrawny hands into her cloak and bringing it out with her body fingers coiled around a wooden pipe.

"We don't want our fortunes read, just cure the poison out." Gai muttered beneath his breath in exasperation.

She positioned the pipe inside her mouth and sucked in it before emitting puffs of thick white smoke from her chapped lips. The white puffs of smoke evaporated on the air and the smell of tobacco sated the air making them wriggle their nostrils in disgust.

"Let's go." Ying emancipated and she nodded her head with white locks falling over her face which she tucked behind her ears.

"Yes, yes." She replied and without any help, strode down the path of the valley where she emerged from.

The others followed behind as the old strange woman lead them to her abode.

"Why do you live in the dark valley alone?" Ying queried the woman as they proceeded, in an attempt to gain more knowledge about the mysterious woman.

"This is my true abode. My life has been engraved on these stones, my memories flow with the music of the wind and my future never stops counting on the endless stars covering the blue skies." The old woman replied in a riddled manner rather than logically and took in more puffs from the wooden pipe as she moved with vigour.

Silence ensued and their journey to the mysterious woman's unknown abode persisted.