35 Strange Carvings

There was nothing to do. After being closed, the family tomb wouldn't open until three and it was barely noon. The trio standing outside the tomb didn't move. They were the only ones waiting for her. They were the only ones that cared for her.

Suddenly one of them sat down. It was Long Wei.

Mallory turned in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

He looked up at that annoying face but for once, he felt relieved that someone else cared for his beloved. He wouldn't be the only one helping her through her suffering.

"I will cultivate to protect her. No one will dare touch her with me around."

Seeing his conviction, everyone sat down and cultivated within a barrier.

Long Wei had yet to realize that the blood in his veins had been boiling with suppressed rage and his lineage was about to awaken. All he needed was Daiyu. She was his motivation, strength, commitment, and medicine. She could hypnotize him with a single flick of her finger without knowing it and he would be at her disposal.

He was about to awaken and his prowess would begin to show. Although his father was human, his mother was a mix of powerful races. She was the product of forbidden love. She was forbidden because of her talent. Her blood was dominant. She made him. He was a genius hatchling.

However, he had yet to awaken for the moment when his loved one needed his protection the most.

-Fan Family Tomb-

It was dark and a small child wandered aimlessly within the tomb. It wasn't large but she wanted to keep her mind occupied from her mother's corpse. Only God knew how much she wanted to run into her mother's cold embrace and cry endlessly but she feared she wouldn't be able to let go or would begin to think of ways of dying next to her mother. She needed to trudge forward and wait until the grave was opened. She was standing within the farthest corner were even light couldn't reach. He hair seemed to glow even within all the darkness and it's silver radiance lit a bit of her surroundings.

It was humid and hot. It made her a bit uncomfortable but she was quick to adjust. She had experienced many environments as a homeless person with no warmth during the winters and no fans during the summers. Life seemed miserable but it was beneficial to her now.

To temporarily forget the pain in her heart, she decided to look for an alternative way out.

It was dark and humid but still chilly. There were vaults everywhere. It was strange because to her knowledge vaults were meant to be beneath the ground. It brought upon her curiosity and wonder.

As she walked, she lifted her hand up to brush the wall like her old habit but she noticed bumps and shapes. She could feel the outline and see the carvings.

She began to study her surroundings after noticing those strange carvings.

They were detailed and delicate but somehow managed to last so long. She looked closer and noticed that they were only a strip of the entire wall that lead somewhere. She began to feel giddy with excitement and anticipation.

[This place seems to have some history.] Her eyes shined with expectation, temporarily forgetting the sorrow she was feeling. She might have done it unintentionally or consciously but it was fine as long as it distracted her.

[Dragon… war… death… burial… protection… fate…]

Those were the thoughts whispered into her soul as her fingers brushed the wall.

They weren't her thoughts but words someone was whispering into her head or within her head.

She knew that there was a war and that there were dragons involved because of the intricate carvings but as for why or the meaning behind the rest, she didn't know.

She marbled at the beauty and effort in each carving as she walked on. Eventually she found herself at the end of the route. Her hands lead her to a small corner in which she found strange letters or at least they seemed to be a kind of language. She couldn't understand it but the moment in which she reached out they lit up with a faint blue light and a hole appeared. It had a roper knotted and secured to the side of the ground that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

[It looks deep, cold, empty, and dangerous.]

It seemed like an endless pit and she knew that she shouldn't head in. She had seen enough horror advertisements on large building LED displays to know the many possibilities that she could encounter down there. She knew she couldn't go. It wasn't safe. But, a force seemed to pull her body and hypnotize her into grabbing that rope and sliding down that pit of darkness. The moment in which she was already a few feet beneath the ground, she recovered her wits and looked up to see that the dirt was closing up.

There was no way out.

She wanted to smash her head into the dirt wall and hit all her stupidity out of her head.

[Why am I so stupid!? I shouldn't have come down here! Why wasn't my body listening to me?]

She knew she had consciousness and it was only her there so the only possible explanation is that curiosity got the best of her.

[Aish. Curiosity killed the cat. No wonder I'm going to die.]

Once the ground closed, everything above seemed tranquil as if she had never been there to begin with.

…

Everything had gone completely pitch black and Daiyu couldn't see anything. All she could do was slide downwards since there was no was out upwards. She had tried to dig her way out but everything seemed to have a protective cover. It frustrated her.

She slid down for what seemed like an eternity until she felt the soft ground beneath her. She stood up and everything around her lit up. It all took her breath away.