“We must go up! GO UP, NOW!” Luoshan Zi urged, not only those who were held here, but also the ones who came here with her. She grabbed Ruo and put her body on her back, while holding Liaht shoulder in an attempt to support and carry both of them out of the station.

  Keying and Ming held each other and stumbled towards the entrahrough which they came. Right now they were barely strohan those who were held down here. Some of the hostages were coughing, sneezing or even slightly paralyzed due to the residual pepper spray in the air, and this slowed down the move out of the station.

  “Luoshan - leave us.” Just when Luoshan Zi was ready to go, Keying stopped her: “Please - we bring Ruo and Liao up - right now, only you have the ability to go further.”

  “Please, Luoshan, this is o favor we ask of you.” Ming heaved, “Please. They said that there’s another altar down there. That’s the most important part of this foul pce. We ’t go there. Please, you have to try.”

  “Go.” Keying sighed: “We will direct everyo. Please e bad meet us up there.”

  “We’ll go with you.” Turner Ouyang interjected from the side: “We know the pce they’re in. We go with you. We still have most of the ons we brought.”

  “... alright.” Luoshan Zi sighed. This was ihe most effective and hopeful measure. She slowly pulled the body of a master off her bad handed her to Keying and Ming. These two masters fought back tears as they accepted the body.

  “Go.” They said at the same time.

  Luoshan Zi the masters, then wiped her eyes before following Sue and Turner into the depth of the station. The first thing she noticed was red and bck lines painted along the walls on both sides. The patterns were not symmetrical, as one would expect from an underground array.

  As they ventured deeper, they entered a long tunnel right through the area in which they fought. One siunnel, more than the width of two subway trains bihere were no rails ihe tunnel, only uneven ground with some patches of t and the rest of the area was covered in gravel and sand.

  Around halfway in, Luoshan Zi caught the smell of burned paper - three piles of burned neer and talismans sat in three different ers of the walls, all of which were under particur knots of the lines. Signs of their sabotage. As powerful and foul as the underground array might be, it still did not take much to ruin it from inside.

  “Here!” After running past several open doors of empty rooms, Sue pointed right. There was a small metal door hidden in a er, with some symbols etched on it. It was barely noticeable visually, but somehow being in the presenyone would feel drawn to it, inexplicably. It was cursed and dangerous, even just judging by the air around it.

  “You ’t go in there. ” A tired, old voice came from behind.

  Luoshan Zi turned and out of instinct stepped in front of Sue and Turner Ouyang. Even though the voice came from an old monk with ragged clothes, eared to have been imprisoned here for a while as well.

  “At least not this way.” The old monk sighed: “From all my days here, I have figured out how to ehe pce without being instantly corrupted. That’s what will happen to you if you just go and open that door.”

  “How do you know we don’t have any prote?” Luoshan Zi asked, theuro Turner Ouyang and Sue, whispering: “Do ynize him? Was he one of them?”

  “I - I don’t remember.” Sue shook her head. And Turner Ouyang did not remember either.

  “What should we do? ” Luoshan Zi turo the old monk, still suspicious.

  “Let me open the door for you.” The old monk bowed with his hands in a prayer pose: “This is a method that requires being in this enviro for a prolonged period of time. You should have felt it as well - this pce, it’s full of corrosive flow of Qiyun. And whether you are injured or not during that fight, your life is never going to be the same. That door leads to the ter of this pce, a pce that’s already broken, fully tainted and harb massive amounts of un energy.”

  “If that’s the case, how is that doing to stop it?” Luoshan Zi asked, frowning.

  “You will see.” The old monk walked around them and to the door. He took a deep breath, then cut his left palm using his right index fihe long, unmanaged nail sshed his skin and drew an are symbol with blood.

  “Master …” Luoshan Zi and Turner Ouyang realized what the old monk was about to do, so they stepped forward and tried to stop him.

  “Remember two things.” The old monk anting: “First, you only have less than five minutes in there, be as quick as you ; and - ” He took another deep breath, coughing: “When I say so, you must stand aside and make way for me.”

  “We uand, Master.” Luoshan Zi bowed to the monk: “May we know your name?”

  “The name’s but an old symbol, it shouldn’t be another burden on your already heavy shoulders.” The old monk smiled, then he smmed his left palm on the door.

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