Dao of Cooking

Lei stumbled away from the silver tongue and was about to duck under it when the tongue darted midway toward Zhu Luli, spattering wet, sticky saliva all around. She nimbly dragged herself away from the sharp tip, crouched down, and let out a grunt, stretching a finger into the meaty part of the tongue.

She winced when she couldn’t drive her finger too deep and jerked her hand back as the tongue turned and made for Little Yao. The squirrel was high in the air, near the ceiling, clawing her way to the beast when the silver tongue came at her. She jumped down and stuck a claw into Silvertongue’s fur, which sent a shower of sparks about it as she started slipping down.

“Watch out!” Lei flinched as he saw the tongue was about to catch Little Yao from the side, but then a steel sword clattered against the creature’s iron-like skin, distracting it for a split second as Fatty Lou reeled back from the impact.

Zhu Luli used the distraction to get around the beast’s towering legs, her fingers trying, and seemingly failing, to find any spot that would make a difference. The Silvertongue didn’t even spare her a glance, instead staring intently at Fatty Lou.

“Uh,” Lei grunted as he pulled his brother-in-arms back, the sharp tongue drilling right into the place where he’d just been standing. Then Silvertongue took a big step forward, the ground shaking, stones raining down on them as it pulled its tongue back for another attack.

Stones and walls, saliva hissing and eating away at Lei’s robe, the sound of metal grinding against metal ringing deep in his ears. His head hurt from trying to understand what the hell was happening around him. But there was no time to wait; Silvertongue swiped a claw at Zhu Luli.

She jumped away, the claw barely missing her face, then ducked forward and drove another finger into the joint of the creature’s left leg, earning an angry roar from the Silvertongue.

I can’t just keep staring.

Lei clenched his teeth as he pushed forward, ladle grasped tight in his hand. The beast was easily thrice his size, taking up most of the cave, and its claws were longer than his arms. Yet none of this mattered as, just when he was about to swing the ladle, his feet got caught on the ground, and he plunged through the stones.

Shit!

He couldn’t even keep his feet on the ground. The shame was worse than the slight sting of the cuts that opened around his body. The Silvertongue stood there, blinking at him. Then it snorted and turned its head back to the group, sending its tongue screeching into Zhu Luli’s face.

Zhu Luli swatted the tongue away with the back of her hand, jumped high, and planted a punch into Silvertongue’s face. The beast shook its head after the impact, clawing blindly at the air even as Little Yao tried to hold onto its side, flailing with one claw still stuck inside its fur.

Lei floundered to his feet. He was separated from the group, standing on the other side of the door, staring up at the creature’s back. Behind him stretched another stony hall, a different one lit by strange glowing spheres hanging from the ceiling. They swayed with the wind of the battle.

It just… ignored me?

His fingers brushed against the locket in his robe. He pulled it out and raised it high. This thing carried the smell of these beasts. That was probably why the Silvertongue looked confused for a second when it stared at him, then shrugged it off, thinking Lei was a different sort of beast.

A scream tore into his thoughts. Fatty Lou was hanging barely on the steel sword as the sharp tongue wrapped tightly around it, trying to pull it away. He then saw Zhu Luli pull out a golden pill from her pack, gulping it down right away and closing her eyes. When she opened them again, they were blazing.

The Silvertongue whimpered in pain when a finger caught it right below the neck. Zhu Luli twisted her hand and let out a cry, ripping out a big chunk of rotten flesh from the beast’s throat.

Yes!

Lei clenched his fist as the beast started swaying. Ladle in hand, he decided he’d use this opportunity to make his own dent on that smooth fur, only to gawk at the beast when it let out a furious roar that shook the cave.

No.

It seemed Zhu Luli’s move only made it angrier, as it sent out that silvery tongue toward the woman, this time its tip brushing against Zhu Luli’s right arm. Blood spurted from the wound as Zhu Luli wobbled a couple of steps, barely saving herself from getting crushed by an enormous paw.

Lei shot forward, heart thundering in his chest. For a second, he thought of throwing the locket to Zhu Luli, but he wasn’t sure if he could make the toss. The distance between them was full of jagged stones and a giant creature. There also was no guarantee that the beast wouldn’t just crush him under those paws.

He stooped under the creature's belly, looking for a soft spot rather than the silver-like fur covering the beast. When he found a hole close to its neck, bruised and leaking with pus, he hauled the ladle with all his might and swung it at that spot.

The Silvertongue shrieked in pain, shaking its legs to fight off the tiny bug underneath it. Lei whipped around and raised the ladle when a paw crashed into him, sending him sprawling against the walls. The impact stole the breath out of his lungs, and he winced, his vision blurry and full of stars. Blinking didn’t change anything. His whole back was alive with pain.

But he powered through it, squinting his eyes as a wail echoed inside his ears. Zhu Luli and Little Yao were standing over the beast’s head. Rotten blood poured out from a gaping hole near the beast’s neck, now torn wide open from side to side. It swayed back and forth, nearly flattening Fatty Lou with one paw before crashing loudly to the ground.

His brother-in-arms leaped in fury with a sword in his hand, stabbing the beast’s skull a couple of times for good measure. But there was no time to celebrate as the cave shook madly around them. It seemed all the thrashing had triggered some sort of earthquake, with walls crumbling and fist-sized stones raining upon them.

“Run!” Lei struggled to his feet, dashing toward the glowing spheres. Zhu Luli and Little Yao were quick, but it was his brother-in-arms who first managed to throw himself toward the lights.

Onwards, forwards, through the lights, they bolted as the ground crackled and groaned, jagged stones falling like sharp knives over them. Lei used the ladle to block a couple of them, but with each impact, his whole arm trembled as the stones grew bigger and bigger.

The good thing was his [Spiritual Sensitivity] skill had gone silent, meaning there were no other beasts beyond. It was the single hopeful thing there was, and Lei held onto that thought, praying they’d soon find Snake and Stone in one piece.

But the cave stretched away… away into the distance, like the tail of a giant snake, it just wouldn’t end. The room-like caves around them reeked of pus and rot, probably the resting places of those beasts. Not a human was in sight. There had to be someone guiding these creatures.

“Jump!” came Zhu Luli’s voice from behind, and Lei let his feet sail through the air without a second thought. He’d learned to trust the woman now. Anything and any word from that mouth of hers should be taken as a command. At least here, while they were amongst the beasts.

Wind slapped his back all of a sudden, sending him flying across the cave as the ground below them started crumbling. He shared a shocked look with his brother-in-arms. A curious thing that it was under some dungeon-like cave that they’d have their first experience with flying.

Then Little Yao whistled past between them, winking playfully toward Lei before Zhu Luli chimed in from behind, taking the squirrel with her as they barreled forward like a human-shaped hurricane.

Lei watched as Zhu Luli landed beyond the gnawing hole that opened below them, with the grace of a swan, and barely strained before giving them a bright smile. Lei’s descent, though, lacked that masterful touch, as he splashed face-first to the ground, with Fatty Lou following suit.

“Uh!” he grunted, spat out the pebbles in his mouth as he floundered to his feet. His world made a couple of crazy spins before it righted itself, allowing Lei to peer back the way they came.

There was nothing but the walls sprawling from the sides of the gnawing hole. A few paces from them was a dark, deep nothing that seemed to stretch to the core of the world.

“That was some serious shit,” Fatty Lou said, picking out the pebbles stuck in his face. He winced and cursed, wiped the bloody wounds before barking out a laugh. “But we're still alive!"

Lei felt heat shoot up his head. He didn’t know how, but even now he was holding onto the spiritual ladle with all his strength. He gave it a deep look and pulled it closer, planting a gentle kiss onto its worn surface.

You’ve been a blessing.

“You good?” Fatty Lou asked, shaking his shoulders and arms like a boxer getting ready for a big fight.

Zhu Luli nodded as she bandaged her wound with a piece of her robe, dots of sweat heavy on her brows. “I’ll live.”

Lei glanced deeply into Zhu Luli’s eyes. The only reason why they were even breathing right now was because of the pair that joined them. How foolish of him to get suspicious of this woman when she was more than ready to risk herself for a pair of children she barely knew. Lei couldn’t bring himself to think that she was doing this just for the sake of his dishes.

No, unlike most cultivators in this world, she was different.

“I’ll make sure to fill you two up with dozens of dishes once we get out of here,” he muttered, nodding firmly.

“What did you say?” Zhu Luli asked, looking at him.

“Nothing.” Lei smiled and shook his head. “I’ll tell you once we’re out of this place.”

“We move, people!” Fatty Lou started down the stony hall.

As they moved, Lei studied the glowing spheres hanging down from the roof of the cave. They were almost translucent, but inside, he couldn’t see anything but a flash of light.

He checked them.

[Sphere of Substance] - (An empty sphere infused with blight.)

He frowned at the explanation. The name was similar to the locket in his pocket, so they probably shared the same origin, but it was the ‘blight’ part that worried him. Somebody crafted these things, put them here, established a base under the mountain, and decided to use ‘blight’ as a damned light source.

What kind of operation are they going for here? Like, what is the purpose?

Something told him that they were dealing with more than just some kidnappers. If, as Fatty Lou said, they were a demonic organization—a demonic sect, if you will—then they were in some deep shit.

Take the kids and get the hell out of here. That’s the plan.

The trouble was, the deeper they strode into the cave, the more his [Spiritual Sensitivity] skill started rocking his mind from within. Dangerous and deadly, that was the message he got from the skill. But it wasn’t enough to scare him off.

“Look,” came Zhu Luli’s voice after a while. She was pointing at the ground, at the footprints in the soil while Little Yao sniffed around as if searching for something. “There are multiple prints here, but this one is different.”

Lei scowled as he stared at that spot. The ground was riddled with sandal prints, all hurried and pointing to the way they came, but there was one that sloped upwards, deeper into the cave. What was strange was that it belonged to a pair of bare feet.

“Bare feet,” Zhu Luli said solemnly, nodding at him. “While everyone was dashing toward the exit, this one walked slowly into the deeper parts of the cave. Little Yao, what do you think?”

Little Yao leaned closer to the print and sniffed sharply before raising her head. A look of confusion flashed behind her eyes before she shook her head.

“We should trail it,” Lei said after a long second. “Follow it and see where it goes.”

“Mm.” Zhu Luli nodded. “Let’s move.”

“After you,” Fatty Lou said with an uncertain look, and shrugged when Lei glared at him. “Let the master do her job, shall we? I don’t think I’m up for this sort of thing. Following trails… we have a spiritual squirrel for that.”

Little Yao puffed her chest proudly, which made Lei sigh.

“I guess you’re right,” Lei said, then they stared after the little but way-too-spiritual squirrel.

......