Light and Shadow

Chapter 4 - A Mysterious Shadow

After two more days of traveling, Cao Cao and Xun Yu successfully made it to Puyang. They entered the large city's stone gate and decided that they would stay at an inn for the night since it was late when they arrived. They tethered the horse to the hitching rail in front of the inn, removed their belongings, and went inside to pay the innkeeper so that they could stay for the night. In the morning, Xun Yu and Cao Cao walked outside of the inn with their belongings. Neither of them slept well last night, and they felt somewhat sluggish and sleepy still. Cao Cao walked over to Shadow Runner and untethered him from the rail in front of the inn after Xun Yu returned their belongings to their position on the side of the saddle. Cao Cao then turned the horse to face away from the inn and climbed onto the horse's back, extending a hand to Xun Yu to help him up.

Once the two were comfortably situated, Cao Cao urged the horse forward and they set off to look for the place that Xiahou Dun told them to meet him at. As they trotted into the large market on the west side of town, the lively chatter of people filled the air. The streets grew more crowded the closer they got to the market, which sold foreign goods, food items, silks, dyes, and various other things. Xiahou Dun waved to them from the other side of a large sea of people, and Cao Cao did his best to weave through the crowd. When they made it across, Xiahou Dun greeted them, and took the horse's reigns as the two hopped off of the horse. He then led it over to a nearby tethering rail.

Nine soldiers sat on the ground outside of a dark, damp tunnel entrance just below the slightly elevated stone ground. Moss green colored water flowed out of the tunnel's entrance in a small stream, passing through a rectangular-shaped opening underneath the slightly elevated walkway that the three stood on.

"While waiting for your arrival, I asked around the market for information and many citizens complained of hearing strange noises coming from this area at night. After looking around, we found this tunnel, and we think that the creature has taken residence here. We await your orders, my Lord." Xiahou Dun stated.

"Great work, Dun. Let's head inside. I will lead." Cao Cao said, taking a step forward.

"No!" Xiahou Dun and Xun Yu exclaimed in unison, grabbing the man's arms and stopping him.

"Forgive me, my Lord, but it would be best if you did not lead the unit this time. We do not know what we are dealing with, and it is too risky." Xun Yu stated, earning a nod of agreement from Xiahou Dun.

Cao Cao sighed.

"Fine, I will agree to your proposal. Xiahou Dun, you may take the lead then." Cao Cao said as he reluctantly agreed with the two.

Xiahou Dun nodded and moved to stand in front of the tunnel's entrance. He stepped down from the small platform and grabbed a torch that was secured on the left wall of the tunnel's entrance before motioning for everyone to follow him. Two troops took up position next to Xiahou Dun, four soldiers stood behind him in a square-like shape, and Xun Yu and Cao Cao stood next to each other at the back of the group with one troop on each side of them.

The atmosphere grew heavy and tense as they stepped forward, slowly inching their way deeper into the dark, narrow tunnel. Everyone had one hand gripping their swords, ready to unsheathe them should they find themselves in danger. Droplets of water fell from the top of the tunnel into the slow-moving stream beneath their feet. They slowly moved forward, treading carefully to avoid making too much noise and alerting the creature to their presence.

Xiahou Dun contorted his face in disgust as they entered a part of the tunnel that had a horrid odor; however, he did his best to ignore it and silently continued forward. The putrid stench of decay was all around the group, it was strong and suffocating. Human bones and guts were strewn about, lining the tunnel. As they rounded a bend in the tunnel, they entered a large cistern. In the middle of the open area was a deep pool of water that spanned nine meters across, and it had four tunnel entrances that led to it, one of which included the one that they entered through. A small amount of light filtered in through the ceiling, shining into the murky green water of the pool. The group approached the edge of the walkway that circled around the large pool and lead to the other tunnels. Two soldiers investigated the water, curious as to what lurked in the depths below.