cw: gore, body horror, claustrophobia
Gui Yin couldn’t understand how a vaguely familiar voice could shake him up so badly. It hadn’t been horrible at first, but once he returned to Langxia’s side, he could feel the deep fear that the voice had dredged up from inside him. His entire body trembled uncontrollably and he was sure his face was pale. He felt a little dizzy and he had to cling onto Langxia to prevent himself from falling over.
Before they could even make it to the labyrinth, Langxia finally stopped and made Gui Yin sit down.
“Drink some water,” Langxia coaxed.
Gui Yin accepted the canteen and took a sip, but under Langxia’s scrutinization, he took a few more gulps. He tilted his head up as Langxia carefully wiped his sweat with the edge of his sleeve.
“Do you feel better?” Langxia asked softly. He gently squeezed Gui Yin’s trembling hand and looked at him carefully.
Gui Yin nodded silently. He looked at the hand that held his and brought it up to his face. He rubbed it against his cheek and let out a relieved sigh. Langxia’s warm hand slowly grounded him back to reality.
“I can go in by myself,” Langxia said.
“No, I don’t want you to,” Gui Yin said resolutely. “I might not be able to approach the furnace, but I can still keep watch. Besides, this one feels different from the last one we found at Beihua Town. It’s unsettling. I think…maybe it’s more connected to Qiao Ceng.”
It was a reasonable assumption. After all, the furnace here must have been fed with a high concentration of resentment. It wouldn’t be surprising if this was one of Qiao Ceng’s main sources of power.
“There might be more guards or traps down below,” Gui Yin said. “What if you just charge in and you don’t notice anything? I won’t even know if you died.”
Langxia chuckled as he gently caressed Gui Yin’s cheeks. “You would know though, my dear. You would follow right after me.”
Gui Yin rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. Anyway, I’m coming with you.”
“Alright,” Langxia agreed. “Let’s rest here for a few more minutes then.”
Once Gui Yin could stand properly, they started walking again.
Gui Yin followed his memory over the gnarled roots and noticed the demonic energy becoming denser. He frowned slightly as he tugged Langxia ahead. When he saw that the trees were a bit less colorful than they were before, he turned to Langxia.
“It was around…” Gui Yin’s words stopped in his mouth.
“Qinle?” Langxia raised a brow and slowly turned to look at what he was looking at.
A small bird laid on the ground, its head severed from its body. Gui Yin’s gaze darkened and he turned away.
“The bird stopped around here,” Gui Yin said.
Langxia slowly drew his gaze away and glanced at Gui Yin. “Then, if we continue to follow the demonic energy, we should be able to find it.”
Gui Yin nodded. His grip on the sword tightened, but he said nothing as he followed Langxia deeper into the forest.
The pair of them eventually came across a pile of skeletons surrounding a burrow, scattered about haphazardly as if a beast had torn them limb from limb before devouring them. The sight made Langxia cringe, but Gui Yin’s gaze turned darker.
“This labyrinth might be even more dangerous than we initially thought,” Gui Yin said.
“A labyrinth that can eat people is quite interesting,” Langxia said.
“Interesting indeed,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at Langxia. “I’ll go down first.”
“I’ll go first,” Langxia said.
“What if it’s dirty down there?” Gui Yin pointed out.
“I’ll just step on it. Better than leaving you alone somewhere,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin scoffed. “Never mind then, let’s just go together.”
“That is better,” Langxia agreed. He held out his hand.
Gui Yin glanced at it and slipped his hand into Langxia’s palm. A soft scoff left his lips as he let the other man pull him over. He was suddenly scooped up into a horizontal hold, leaving him unable to do anything but hold Langxia by the shoulders and neck. He looked at Langxia with a lazy raise of his brows.
“What’s this?”
“My dear, what if we get separated? This labyrinth is so crafty—who knows what it has hiding in its walls?” Langxia said.
Gui Yin narrowed his eyes. “You’re doing this for another reason.”
Langxia leaned down and gave him a peck on the lips. “I want to keep you safe.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Gui Yin could tell this statement was the truth. He sighed and leaned bonelessly against Langxia. “Go ahead then.”
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The walls were dripping with slime and the grounds were riddled with freshly dead carcasses of animals and even humans. Nightmare Blooms huddled in the darkest corners of the caves, away from the dripping stalactite. The ground was soaked through with puddles of blood. Most were dried up, but even just stepping on it made Langxia’s feet sink in a centimeter.
Gui Yin could see their surroundings quite clearly. He glanced at Langxia to check on his reaction and patted his chest sympathetically.
“Let me down.”
“But it’s so gross,” Langxia said. He held Gui Yin closer to him and took another step forward. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the squelching sound reached their ears.
Gui Yin couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. He hugged Langxia closer and kissed the side of his head. “Let me down. If you have me as an extra weight, you’ll sink more in the dirt, you know?”
“But if I let you down, you’ll have to step in…this,” Langxia mumbled.
“I’m okay with that.”
“I’m not,” Langxia said. He held onto Gui Yin persistently with a small pout appearing on his face.
“We can just clean ourselves after this,” Gui Yin said. “Now, be good and let me down.”
Langxia looked away reluctantly. He glanced at the walls and clicked his tongue. “What is this even?”
“From how I see it, this place almost looks like a stomach,” Gui Yin said. He shifted upwards and attempted to worm his way down. Instead, he shifted until Langix was holding him as if he were a child sitting against his arm. He glanced at the other man tiredly and focused on looking around first.
“The slime on the walls is like digestion fluid,” Gui Yin said. He patted Langxia’s shoulder. “Let me down and let me test it out.”
“You’re just giving me more reasons to not let you go,” Langxia said, his head leaning against Gui Yin’s shoulder.
“Let me down or I’ll get angry.”
“But—”
“One…two…”
Gui Yin’s feet touched the ground before he could form the next word. He gave Langxia a light kiss on the cheek and put Fenghua into Langxia’s hands. He picked up the nearest bone and walked over to the walls. He rolled the bumpy end of the bones against the slime and stepped back.
Langxia and Gui Yin both tilted their heads and watched as the slime slowly dissolved the end of the bone. Langxia took the bone from Gui Yin’s hand and threw it away.
“Let’s stay away from the walls,” Gui Yin said.
“I would have done so anyway,” Langxia said with disgust on his face.
Gui Yin chuckled. He glanced up at the place they slid down from.
Unlike usual, the burrow remained open, but that was most likely because it would be very difficult to climb out of such a narrow, sloping passage way again. He let out a soft sigh and pulled out a Night Pearl that they could use as their light source. He glanced around before taking Langxia’s hand and pulling them forward.
The Night Pearl flew ahead. Gui Yin took his sword back from Langxia and the two men started to head down the passageway.
The passageway was large enough to fit two more people who had the same stature as Gui Yin and Langxia. While the floor was riddled with bones, the Nightmare Blooms were actually scarce. Not to mention, they no longer emitted any pollen. This was probably where the flowers would end up once they had been refined. They posed little threat now, but Gui Yin and Langxia were still wary of them.
As they traveled, the passageway grew narrower. In the past, Gui Yin might have struggled to be so close to another person, but now he found himself naturally leaning closer to Langxia. He clicked his tongue as he shifted their hands until only their pinkies were hooked.
“I think we have to let go,” Gui Yin muttered. He glanced at the slimy walls. “It would be bad if we touched this.”
“Then, stop for a second,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin stopped as Langxia said. He felt something slip past his waist. When he glanced down, he saw that it was Langxia holding out a rope by his waist. He understood what Langxia intended to do and pulled the rope forward. He tied it tightly around his waist and glanced back to find that Langxia had done the same. There was enough length between the two of them that, if need be, they could simply sever the rope and be on their way.
“Good idea,” Gui Yin complimented. He was about to move forward, but he felt something hook his pinky again. He glanced back.
“We can still hold hands for now.”
Gui Yin laughed and pinched Langxia’s finger. “Stop being so clingy. We have to be serious.”
“I’m plenty serious,” Langxia protested.
“Fine, do whatever you want,” Gui Yin sighed.
Langxia was generally clingy, but his current actions felt like something more. Since they had seen that dead bird, he had been closer to Gui Yin than usual. He wondered if this was his way of comforting him. Though, for some reason, Gui Yin almost felt like Langxia’s actions bordered on possessiveness.
They eventually had to completely separate.
The labyrinth was similar to the one created by Qiao Ceng’s Stygian Claw in that it had a mind of its own. However, this one was far less subtle about it.
As they walked, walls would abruptly slide out of place, as if the labyrinth had changed its mind about where it had wanted to direct Langxia and Gui Yin. They continued walking, choosing the paths that looked the least dangerous, and eventually made it to their first room.
Langxia and Gui Yin looked at the opening before them and then glanced at each other.
The stalagnate decorated the clearing. Some stalagmites protruded from a nearby water source while others sat on the surface. The cave stretched further than the Night Pearl could illuminate and from the darkness, Langxia and Gui Yin could feel several pairs of eyes watching them silently.
Gui Yin’s grip on his sword tightened.
“Er’lang,” Gui Yin whispered.
“Hm?”
“This might be where we separate.”
Langxia smiled gently. He shifted closer to Gui Yin as he reached for the jade bottle in his sleeve. He pulled out a pill and pressed it against Gui Yin’s lips. Gui Yin glanced at him as he willingly parted his lips and accepted the pill. A soft kiss followed, leaving Gui Yin’s face a little warm.
“Same as usual,” Langxia whispered as he placed another kiss against Gui Yin’s ear. “If we separate, I’ll come find you.”
“Then, I’ll look for the furnace?” Gui Yin suggested.
Langxia hummed. “You look for the furnace; I’ll look for you.”
Gui Yin chuckled. He could feel the enemies starting to move. He pinched Langxia’s chin and gave him another kiss. “See you later then.”
“Be careful,” Langxia said.
As soon as Langxia finished his sentence, a large shadow leapt in their direction.
Gui Yin severed the rope and the two men spun in opposite directions.
Gui Yin managed to toss another Night Pearl in Langxia’s direction before he was swarmed by a set of demonic beasts. Langxia caught the pearl and used it to illuminate his side of the battle.
Gui Yin cut through several demonic beasts and just narrowly dodged the one coming for his throat. He glanced over to the opposite side of the cave.
As expected, the roots that had been hanging from the ceiling and from the walls were beginning to converge, weaving a wall that blocked Gui Yin from Langxia. Gui Yin’s eyes narrowed, but he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted.
He ran his sword through several oncoming enemies and quickly looked around. There was no exit near him, but the beasts were herding him closer and closer to the edge of the water. His brows furrowed and he glanced back.
The lake within the cave was unnaturally calm.
When Gui Yin remembered the lake in the last labyrinth they had been in, he couldn’t help but shudder. They hadn’t had to face it head on, but he remembered the wretched smell that emanated from it. The water had been polluted by red and there were even several corpses floating towards its surface. The goo from that labyrinth far contrasted the clear waters of this one.
However, even if the lake in this one was perfectly fine, Gui Yin still didn’t want to step in it.
The slime on the walls were acid. Who knew what the water was composed of?
Still, despite his reluctance, the monsters grew in number and continued closer and closer. The ceiling suddenly dropped, making it impossible for Gui Yin to leap over the creatures and take their battle to the other side.
Worse than that, the wall composed of vines had solidified into rocks and were pushing the monsters closer and closer to Gui Yin.
Even if Gui Yin managed to send the monsters back with his internal energy, they wouldn’t make it too far. And the rebound would only hurt Gui Yin.
Gui Yin pursed his lips as he fought the hoard. He gritted his teeth.
He could feel the hem of his robes get heavier as his foot fell back into the pond. His eyes widened and he glanced back.
It was getting bad. This was no good.
Gui Yin couldn’t swim.
In his moment of distraction, a large, wolf-like figure lunged itself at Gui Yin.
Gui Yin blocked the wolf’s snapping jaws, but was sent straight into the water.
Fenghua returned to its fan form and faded in a shimmer of silvery light. Gui Yin’s vision was blurred by the water and the sudden change of temperature made Gui Yin freeze up.
The water was very, very cold. It seemed to soak through his clothes and pierced directly into his bones. Gui Yin tried to struggle up, but the water had a certain weight to it that was certainly unnatural. He held his breath and tried to kick his way out of his restraints, but the water held his ankles and wrists tightly, eventually managing to pull them together. Gui Yin’s eyes widened and he nearly let go of his breath. Still, he continued to kick and struggle.
The figures in the water above had vanished. Even the sounds of battle had disappeared.
There was still a faint light above the water’s surface, but it was growing even darker now.
Gui Yin felt strangled. The darkness was familiar, but unwelcomed.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and tried to kick up. He wanted to scream out, but if he released his breath now, he would certainly drown.
There had to be a way out—was what Gui Yin thought. But if the labyrinth was truly trying to kill him, how would there be a way out?
Gui Yin shook himself and glanced around. The water stung his eyes and he could barely see in front of him, but at least he didn’t notice any corpses. He struggled to move himself to the side and managed to shift just a little bit.
In his surprise, he kicked himself lower.
After a few more minutes, Gui Yin learned the rules of the game.
He could move side to side and down, but he couldn’t move up. It was clearly a one-way route to death, but something told Gui Yin that it wasn’t so simple.
The labyrinth was set up so that it could gather the creatures’ resentment and send it into the furnace. This most likely meant that it would torture and toy with its food.
Gui Yin, who didn’t remember the worst parts of his past, was not a very good meal. Therefore, it would have to mess with Gui Yin. It would make him crave death more than anything else in the world. That meant he would be able to find a way out.
Not to mention, drowning was horrible, but it wasn’t horrible enough for someone like Gui Yin to get resentful energy after death. He was a cultivator, and a high ranking one at that. He had studied ways to prevent resentment from tainting his soul after death his entire life—it would take a lot more to convert him.
With this in mind, Gui Yin finally calmed down. He allowed himself to sink lower and lower.
If he allowed himself to relax—maybe to even accept death—then the labyrinth will let him out.
Gui Yin was beginning to feel a little light headed. Although he could hold his breath longer than the average human, that didn’t mean he didn’t need to breathe.
Still, he kept his calm. He fell into a meditative state. And just as his vision was about to vanish, he saw a flicker of light, not too far from him.
Gui Yin’s eyes widened. He kicked his legs towards the light, fighting desperately with his last breath. His vision blurred in front of him, but he felt his hands suddenly come free. He struggled faster and somehow managed to make it to the water’s edge.
He stepped on the cave’s floor and jumped upwards.
With a loud gasp, he managed to break the water’s surface. He climbed out from the hole, dripping wet from head to toe, and flopped onto the ground.
His chest heaved as he stared up at the cave’s ceiling.
He weakly lifted his hand and recalled the Night Pearl that was still floating on the other side.
The pearl flew into his palm, only to brighten up the room once he released it again.
Gui Yin breathed in a few more gulps of air and slowly turned onto his stomach. He pushed himself up and looked around.
He pushed his fringe back from his face and managed to get up onto all fours, his arms and legs still trembling.
A low curse left Gui Yin’s lips as he fell back onto his butt.
“How nice,” Gui Yin muttered. “Giving me time to breathe…”
He took the Night Pearl into his hand and tucked it away. Darkness enveloped him once more, but soon his vision adjusted.
The darker parts of the cave could not be seen, but the parts closest to him were completely visible.
The floor was clean. The walls didn’t contain the slime or any roots. It looked to be a perfectly normal cave, but that’s what sent Gui Yin’s nerves into a frenzy.
After a few more gulps of air, Gui Yin finally found strength in his arms and legs to stand. But as soon as he stood, the ground began to shake.
Gui Yin’s eyes widened as he flew into the nearest wall. A loud grunt left his lips, but before he could recover, the ceiling began to fall down. His eyes widened.
He dropped to the ground and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
The ceiling pressed into his chest until he felt like his arms were going back into his legs. Gui Yin closed his eyes tightly and wondered if this would be the end.
When this thought fell into his mind, the ceiling abruptly shot back up. The walls flew back, returning to their original state, leaving Gui Yin breathless and speechless.
He propped himself up and stared incredulously at the room around him.
A speechless laugh tumbled out of his lips as he stood.
“Who’d have thought that out of all the enemies This Lord has faced, a stupid little labyrinth is what makes me out of breath!”
A/N: FOLKS someone drew fanaart! ( https://x.com/nyimn000/status/1711397842340765815?s=20 ). Thank you for the lovely fanart!!!!!!!!!
i was happy they went down Together and as they got deeper, i was thinking “hey this is familiar yet it feels different” aND THEN THEY GOT SEPARATED AGAIN 😭😭😭 hopefully it’s temporary….. my attachment to their attachment is such a thing
hehe thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!
GOD. IT WAS ME. THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING ME! I love your work as always!!!
OF COURSE YOUR ART WAS ADORABLE! thanks for reading 😀