Chapter 29: Trial and Error

Inside a large tent, nine people were tied up to stone pillars that seemed to extend out of the ground. Their arms and legs were tightly secured. The place was dark and suffocating; the only light source at the wall of the back dimly illuminated the anxious faces of the prisoners, but there was a short boy who didn't seem to mind the gloomy atmosphere.

"Do you guys wanna know why I got imprisoned?"

"..."

"The commander of the invaders is my uncle! I was a spy sent by him to scout the distribution of the sect in detail, and to find clues of a certain object."

"..."

"But I found nothing on the object until a few hours ago, you see. Instead, I got caught! There was this really pretty and smart girl… no, not pretty, I can't say that of a friend's woman. She was super smart and I don't know how she did it."

"..."

"She broke my door and I had to escape naked! Good thing I was invisible for a while… But I had to call for backup and the annihilation army had to attack early."

"..."

"Ah, right! I met her again and ordered a group of Flaming Swamp Sect's disciples to kill her. I'm sure she's still alive somewhere, though. I hope that my friend doesn't know of this, because, if he finds out, I think I'm dead guys."

"..."

"So, what's the reason for you all to be here?"

"..."

There were no guards inside, they weren't needed. The people in here had gotten their meridians –the channels of their body through which spiritual energy flowed– blocked, meaning that they couldn't make use of their abilities, and therefore couldn't escape.

Ling Zhou had been talking for a while about various topics, which included the 13th Outer Disciples' Talent Competition and his adventures in the past 24 hours. Everyone was tired of his ramblings, but they were even more tired of voicing out their complaints.

Those tied up were already bracing themselves for an eternity of Ling Zhou's stories, but it looked like the gods had answered their prayers; the curtain that served as a door was lifted and four people came in: two girls, one boy and a man with clouded eyes.

"Brother Yi, it seems you also got caught! Don't tell me they could beat-"

"Stop spouting nonsense Ling Zhou, I'm here because I want to."

"You don't look very happy to be here though."

The short boy who had

"Shut your mouth, Ling Zhou, else we will do it for you like we did with Stick-boy."

Feng Mai said menacingly as she pointed towards a tied up guy in the corner. He was Stick-boy and had a piece of cloth gagging his mouth. Although he hadn't done anything, he was also brought here; they thought he was very annoying.

"We don't have much space, so sit somewhere in a corner. Fila will ask you some questions and we'll let you leave after we verify your answer's veracity." She then spoke to Yi Ren, instructing him to sit.

"I have been wanting to tell you something for a while, yet you don't listen."

"I don't care the reason for you to try to leave-"

"The elders are approaching."

"-this place… What!?"

"The Third Realm cultivators of the attacking side want to swiftly erase all the disciples located here, I saw them coming. It seems every disciple present died, except for me of course, else how could you not know?"

"Why are you saying that now!!?"

"Is that true!?"

"What happened to the elders!?"

"Crap we're all going to die…"

"It's all your fault Mila. Had you not gotten us lost…"

Even the prisoners started to comment when they heard the news, regretting their life choices. Mila's group never considered death when they accepted the mission; they weren't in a long-lived organization, and were more like children playing hidden power.

"I say this now because you wouldn't let me speak… But don't worry, it will take a while. The Sect Leader and the elders are fighting with them, blocking their path. Maybe they'll arrive after a couple minutes? It depends…"

"Shit! We need to get ready! Fila, stay with him. Fauss and I will make the preparations!"

"Mhmmm! Mmhmm mmm!"

"Shut up, Stick-boy!

Feng Mai and Fauss quickly left, leaving the nine prisoners, which included Ling Zhou, Stick-boy and the suspicious group of seven that had sneaked in the sect when the battle started, along with the two newcomers: Yi Ren and Fila.

Fila, the girl that seemed to be sleeping all the time, finally opened her eyes. The peaceful movement of her eyelids that revealed a pair of lime-green eyes evidenced the elegance of her usual demeanor. She didn't have any expression whatsoever and only looked at Yi Ren calmly. Her appearance was way above ordinary, causing her plain personality to become interesting in the eyes of the people.

'Is this the supposed top 1 Gray Grass Beauty according to Fang Chang? She does seem to deserve that title…'

"Why are you dressed in black? The attire you had before was the same as everyone's. Who did you take it from?"

The girl didn't let Yi Ren finish his thoughts, immediately asking a question.

"From a dead enemy elder."

He replied, giving off the same calm energy. This style suited him, he didn't like wasting time. However, that didn't mean he was going to be honest. His real thoughts; his real emotions, those were not something he would discuss just because he was asked to. If he was, like a character made of a parody of himself, only his unimportant traits would be reflected in his actions.

But if he wasn't asked to, and if he didn't need to act, he would say a lot. He didn't have a lot of people to talk to in his childhood.

"Why from him and not from another person?"

"It seemed cool."

"..."

"It is indeed a cool outfit, Brother Yi."

Ling Zhou watched the scene with an innocent smile as he added some words. He was having fun in this place, it was more interesting than whatever he was doing back with his father.

The rest of the captives were also looking at them with curious eyes, they had nothing else to do anyway, but something seemed off. There was an invisible pressure that caressed their minds; a mild blow of air that pushed their consciousness into a pond of peace when they gazed at the two people standing at the entrance, looking at each other with the same pair of undaunted eyes.

"Anything else?"

"What's inside the bag you're carrying?"

"Ah, right. This…"

Yi Ren gently put the bag at the floor and pushed the edges of the yellow cloth down, revealing the bizarrely painted object. It was a black cube, but there wasn't any change in the tones of its faces, like an irregular two-dimensional figure. Only by looking at it from different perspectives and sensing the shape change along the position of their eyes would someone be aware of its tri-dimensional properties.

"This is something I found while I was out there." He said as a barely distinguishable tone of indifference seeped into his voice. It wasn't aimed at his possession, but at them.

"You… what!?" One of the members of Mila's group couldn't help but voice out, in his face was a mixture of worry and relief.

After a disaster of an operation, they had finally found the object of their mission, but there was nothing they could do about it for the time being, they were still facing great danger.

"D-Don't tell me that's the fragment…" Mila looked incredulously at the piece that was darker than its own shadow..

The pressure she had felt earlier wasn't coming from the people talking, but from that thing. It was not like it had been described by her boss. Instead, it was the opposite. She was supposed to feel threatened by being close to it; and was said it emitted light, not that it sucked it in.

"Woahhh." Ling Zhou's eyes shone in curiosity upon seeing what he was supposed to find days ago.

Everyone was startled by Yi Ren's actions, or rather, by the sudden disclosure of truth. The only ones unaware of the context behind the situation, Stick-boy and Fila, weren't exempt from the feeling of intrigue for the bizarre item presented to them.

"This is a Titan's fragment. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I can't find a clear explanation of its unique appearance. However, isn't trial and error the best way to get answers?" Sighing, Yi Ren turned to look at the black-haired girl beside him.

Fila's small mouth quivered, trying to speak, but no words came out of it. Her body didn't have any strength, that was how she felt; she couldn't move a finger. Her long eyelashes trembled cutely as her large, lime-green eyes looked at Yi Ren in confusion, trying to get an idea of her current condition.

However, her eyes grew even larger when she saw that an arm of the boy she had been staring at was suddenly piercing her stomach, finally revealing emotion. Blood flowed out of the still plugged hole, forming drop by drop a small pond on the floor.

Her face contorted into fear; tears dripped out of her eyes but she still couldn't even mutter a desperate plea that could at least dampen the noise of her fatalistic thoughts.

She was, for the first time of her life, terrified.