The hole they had blown up had apparently been well placed, —which fact Wu Xie couldn't resist being a little proud of,— and ended up opening up a whole tunnel, where it led? They would obviously have to find out, but almost anything was better than sitting in a pit waiting for death.
Wu Xie could hear a shuffling noise in the distance, and was glad that he had not lost his knife in their long series of mishaps. Who would have thought the tunnel would collapse on him like that? There wasn't a single sound to indicate it's coming. And why was it always bugs?! If he wasn't careful he would develop a phobia of the damn things.
He was aware of how heavily he was leaning on his companion, but he couldn't do anything about it, the tunnel was long, and they had given up on rushing through it soon after entering, but they were still on high alert.
Qiling could feel the other becoming heavier the longer they went on, but couldn't decide if it was because he or Wu Xie was tiring out. Or both. Most likely both. He didn't mind the extra weight, but it was the implications that worried him, because if either one of them reached their limits they were doomed. He could hear the slight sounds of the thing at the end and in the walls of the tunnel, most likely the roots that had attacked them before. He could also hear the sound of wind though, and leaves rustling with it. And it gave him hope. Hope that if they could just get past this thing, they could get out. He assumed that Wu Xie would want to stay longer, could sense his insatiable levels of curiosity throughout the short time that he had observed him the past few days.
Even when he had clearly been sick on the way here, he had displayed more interest in figuring him out than in focusing his glazed eyes on the road. Hence why they had nearly died before ever making it to the tomb.
And why they had been chased by insects until they fell in this blasted hole. The younger just had to go poking at the things. He almost chuckled at the thought, before his wandering mind was interrupted by a pulsing wooden arm reaching for his face. His sword was raised and the thing was detached within a second, but his senses were back on high alert.
He jumped forwards, pulling the other with him, as another arm attempted to snatch at the younger, who's hunting knife was now raised in a defensive position. This wasn't good, he could see the end of the tunnel, but it was still some thirty feet away and these things were clearly not going to let them through without a struggle.
Wu Xie's eyes had been on the edge of dropping when the first arm had reached out, and was on the ground before he could even see it properly. Before his hazy mind could even form a proper thought about it he was being dragged forwards without warning, and he felt the rush of air at his throat where a splintered hand had narrowly missed him.
All of a sudden he could feel the adrenaline kick in, and his own blade was up, ready to hurt the next thing that attempted to get near, which, he realized as he looked up, would be a lot. A branch/root stabbed upwards from the ground, nearly stabbing him in the foot, which was so not something he needed at the moment thank you very much. He stumbled forwards to avoid it, and with his senses kicked into overdrive, became aware of the sound of the wind in the trees above, and the slithering of what must be the main body of the creature hounding them.
How to get through all of this 1o1.... He thought with a twinge of morbid amusement. He studied the chaos with careful eyes, looking for any kind of pattern, that.... And that there, they seem to be the same root reaching through different areas... The stumbled backwards to avoid another root. Those two zombies have almost made their way through the wall, so unless we want to fight them both we don't have much time, the rest have maybe between four an ten minutes, the roots are the unavoidable factor, they don't have a pattern and stab randomly through everything, but that also means that they don't know where we are either, so that's good I guess. Small victories.
He briefly explained a portion of his thoughts to the other, who only nodded when he was done. The plan: run through and hope for the best.
Yeah right, this place is gonna fucking burn.
YOU ARE READING
Does It Matter
Fanfiction*Updated description* Wu Xie once again finds himself dragged into a tomb by his uncle, and meets the seemingly emotionless Zhang Qiling along the way. He instantly decides that he does not like the aloof stranger, no matter how many times the other...
