No Longer Spring - Writings of tomorrow

XV

The next day arrived in no time.

It felt out of place to roam and search for the hidden entrance, but I had to do it. I might have found something interesting if the place Xian Tian told me about actually existed and, truth be told, It might have been in my favor too. Anything was possible.
It was just that the hall felt so lonely and morbidly estranged, as if no one else walked on it with purpose.
I had already looked around the rooms- I even entered Li Wang's chamber and checked the wall after every painting, picked up any book even if it didn't look suspicious in the least. If it wasn't hidden in pure sight, where was it? I even looked through my own place, even though the chances were slim.
I had almost covered the entire area of the main chambers, but It had been in vain. I was starting to doubt that I was going to find it, but I was having a hard time giving up on my quest.
There was only one place left to check- the one room that no one got in. No one besides some of the maids, of course. It was a place meant for stocking things. No stranger would go there.
I looked around to see if there was anyone peeking as I entered through the back door. Not many should have been able to see me, but I had to be careful.
I had to.
The door opened with a loud sound as I stepped inside. It was small; there seemed to be nothing but cleaning objects and the shelf. It smelled wet, but It wasn't that odd. Perhaps mold made its way somewhere inside.
I felt rather stupid for doing so, but I started moving every object that could have led somewhere. I touched every cleaning solution or whatever might have been in those bottles right there. Gods, I even moved the broom in hopes it did something.
There had been no luck as far as I knew.
In a last attempt, I walked towards the shelf just as big as the wall was and, with every bit of the strength inside my arms, I moved it just enough to see behind. It was a desperate attempt at finding anything.

It was pointless, I thought.

There was no use.

That, until my heart shivered in excitement at the sight. The opening talisman was clear as the day, waiting to be reactivated.
I moved the whole shelf and took a deep breath in.
A mix of happiness and fear shook something inside of me, hands cold as I scratched my arm and redrew the sigil, adding the missing part.

Inside the wall, a new entrance had appeared, followed by a set of steps.

They led deeper and deeper, an eerie coldness coming from within.
I just had to barricade the door from the time being and get inside, not to fear the possibility of trapping myself in there with something way worse than someone finding me there. One way or another, I couldn't have ended there.
The smell of mold followed me as I took the first step into the darkness, a light talisman awaiting to be used.
The stairs seemed to have no end. The walls were worn down, the roof was cracked.
The deeper I went, the stronger the presence I felt grew, telling me to go back. I knew I wasn't alone in there. I could read it in the air, feel it.
At the end of the stairs there was a long hall, like a tunnel, a single door awaiting on the other side. Multiple torches burned by themselves as I walked past them.
I clicked on the doorknob and pushed with no hesitation, most of the fear living my body. It was just like in the past, when it was the two of us.

It couldn't have been so bad, I told myself. 
I was just trying to be positive. Being a little crazy was the only way to proceed.

My instincts were burning inside when I finally walk past the doorframe. Onto the other side there was nothing but another hall with three other closed doors in it. Every option seemed bad, so, to give myself some relief, I decided to go head on and see what awaits me in each.
I opened them all one by one, taking a deep breath in- the door on the left led to another room with a desk, the second one led to some sort of cell and the third one took me outside, to the place where Li Wang kept me locked in the very beginning. It took me back to my other cell; the room I had been kept in. It might have been some sort of portal.
I entered the desk room. It was old fashioned, the shelf full of paper and random objects. Even the desk was packed, but there was nothing else that would have come to my attention but the piercing gaze of the painting above.
The part that looked most real of it were the eyes.
When I blinked, they followed.