Water Qi Perception

Re'Kha noticed that she was in a courtyard, standing under an extension of the sloped roof. Before her was the entrance to the house while behind her was a space of blankness that she had no clue of. All she knew was that there existed some area of open space where she fought just now.

Through her Wind Qi perception, Re'Kha noticed the layout of the house. A banner of sorts made from cloth was hung at the entrance, spanning its entire breadth, right above her head. And, hung at regular intervals behind them were what seemed to be shaped like lanterns.

She noticed the generation of the blank space from within them, which meant the lanterns were lit. The flooring was made from wood and seemed aligned with the ground, an unusual case of architecture since every house in their region was built a fair distance above the ground, because of the frequent rains they faced.

Re'Kha shuddered, noticing more than twenty silhouettes stand in the room next to her, huddled together as their facial features seemed off. Their mouths were inverted and covered the place of their foreheads, curling up with a devilish smile. The place their mouths ought to have existed only sported a thin line, the oddity throwing her off.

Whether they were beings of monstrosity or the wrinkles on their foreheads were outlined as such in her vision or they all sported pursed lips, she didn't care. All she knew was that they were trying to hold her back in place, using whatever means possible.

Re'Kha raised her hand, grabbing hold of the cloth banner hung overhead, tugging at it using her body weight. It crashed to the ground—along with the beam it was attached to—with a thud, the impact splashing a lot of water on the figures that rushed at her.

Re'Kha watched their forms crumble, filled with a lot of blank spaces as they crashed on the floor before her. She threw the lanterns through the entrance, watching them crash onto the figures inside and instantly generate a large spiralling blank space in the area. It was the oil in the lanterns spilling out before catching fire.

She left only one lantern hanging while throwing the rest through the entrance, watching the blank space become bigger and bigger. The house had caught on fire, judging based on the dancing the blank space did amidst the grey sand. The movement was a characteristic of fire, one that had been generated by oil.

As she inhaled the scent of the burning oil, Re'Kha soaked the cloth banner in the water, immediately smelling an intense stench of blood. The fabric surface she held became mushy, like it was covered in a lot of grease.

But, Re'Kha was pleasantly happy on finding that it wasn't disappearing. Her initial clothes had become tatters but they covered her body fairly enough. Unfortunately, the maid seemed to have tucked it somewhere away and the clothes she put on Re'Kha weren't normal clothes. That's why the moment she came under the rain, an intense stench of blood wafted out from them.

Moreover, they turned into jelly, beginning to disappear soon after. That was why she had discarded them at first notice. If not for that, she would have continued wearing them. Now, as she soaked the cloth banner in the water, she noticed that beneath the greasy texture was the smooth texture of the fabric.

'It probably has a clue to this place.' Re'Kha thought, watching the humanoid figures disappear one after another from the fire. As the fire blocked the entrance to the house, the humanoid figures at the back were unable to close in on her.

The rain continued to fall on her other side, with the nearest building situated a fair distance away. So, even the figures that constantly sprinted through the rain towards her were a mass of jelly by the time they reached her. And, through her Wind Qi perception and her tracking of the footsteps using her ears, she could retaliate and maintain her ground.

For a moment, she had created a safe zone of sorts. The fire continued to burn, soon spreading throughout the house, not doused by the moisture in the air, for it was an oil fire. The building creaked as the wooden pillars seemed on the verge of collapsing.

Re'Kha stepped to the side to shield away from the smoke while remaining close enough to feel the heat. The heat warmed her body, rejuvenating her, alleviating her numbness. She rested for three breaths after every ten breaths before activating her Wind Qi perception.

She didn't sense any hostiles around her for the moment, heaving a sigh of relief. She then noticed the stench of blood disappear, replaced by the scent of the rain and the burning oil. She felt the texture of the cloth banner, deriving based on its texture that it seemed to be made from silk, rather high quality at that.

Taking in a deep breath after deactivating her Wind Qi perception, Re'Kha felt the level of water that had stagnated above the ground, finally heaving a sigh of relief. It was what she had been waiting for all along, the reason she had jumped on the ground in the first place.

Water Qi Perception!

The rainwater had formed a finger-thick layer over the ground from the downpour. The rain that fell on the roofs of the houses collected along the sides, entering tiny channels made using the tiles as they flowed in a stream before descending to the ground through a pipe.

They formed a continuous stream, layering the house while connecting with the water on the ground. The moment Re'Kha activated her Water Qi perception, she felt the world around her turn blue.

Everything was pitch black around her, thanks to a disconnect between the falling raindrops and her body. But, through the feet she had in contact with the water on the ground, her perception spread. A massive area was immediately outlined in her perception, through which she immediately came to know the scale of the place she was trapped at.