Chapter 7 King Ah Yu

Qi exerted force into his palms and slammed them to the ground.

Bam!

Bluish chi energy surged out of his palms into the ground, spreading around the whole team. This created a faint blue light which illuminated the surrounding. This action caused the force which had suppressed them earlier to release them. It seemed the unknown assailant was afraid of light.

Seizing this chance, the whole team stood up and ran, their feet stomping the ground ferociously.

Qi's right hand emitted a glow, illuminating the whole surrounding so that they would see where they were going and as well ward off the unknown assailant.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

They kept on running through the tunnel, hoping to find the staircase which had led them into the tunnel. But the more the ran, the more they realized the staircase was nowhere to be found.

"This is problematic," Qi muttered, stopping in his tracks. The others stopped as well, panting.

"Where exactly are we?" Bao asked, pulling out his sword in case any creature came flying out of nowhere at them.

"I have no idea," Zhou replied, widening his eyes. It was obvious he was afraid.

Sigh...Ying sighed, "I noticed something weird about this place."

The others looked at him, hoping to hear more from him. Perhaps they could gain some insights from his observation and use it to escape.

"We've been running for some time now but we can't get to the staircase..." Ying continued.

"So you think the supernatural force which suppressed us last time is stopping us from leaving?" Long asked, his mouth moving in a funny way.

The others wanted to laugh but held themselves. This was not the moment to laugh.

"No! Think harder," Ying grinned. "We are not only being stopped-the distance seem to be increasing!"

"Yes, you're right. I spotted the staircase once only to see it farther away before it vanished!" Qi admitted. He had been observant all along. His right hand dimmed a little before becoming normal-the darkness returned.

"Qi!"

He could hear his teammates yell his name. They were actually afraid of the darkness.

"I'm replenishing my chi-I can't keep on expending it," Qi explained.

"Just do that thing already!"

Sigh...They are sure problematic, Qi thought to himself. He made his hands glowed, illuminating the surrounding again.

"Let's move around," he said. "Perhaps we can find something to make us escape."

"We have been moving around since," Bao complained.

"He means we should do serious expedition. We may find something," Ying sighed.

The team moved, each person looking around for something.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Their footsteps echoed through the tunnel. They checked on the ground and walls but didn't find anything. Just as they were about to give up, Zhou shouted.

"Guys, take a look at this!"

They looked over, anticipating what he was looking at.

"See!"

They moved closer, straining their eyes to see. They saw what Zhou was looking at-a painting. On the wall was a drawing of a handsome man. He was dressed in a flowing robe, a crown on his head and staff in his right hand. His eyes were adventurous making him look like an adventurer instead of the king he was.

"This should be the king of this castle..." Bao said.

"Sssh..." Ying placed his right index finger on his lips. The others were looking at the words at the bottom of the painting. It read:

King Ah Yu

"Ah Yu?" Qi remembered something. Ah Yu was a familiar name at the Monastery. The monks used to tell them legends about the King who had mysteriously disappeared alongside his castle and everyone in it. He had found the tale hilarious but now he knew it was the truth!

"You know him?" The others all asked at the same time.

"Sigh. As the Regent would say...You are not informed," Qi sighed. "King Ah Yu was a very powerful king in the Bronze age. Legends say he had supernatural abilities which made him a force to be reckoned with. During wars, enemies usually disappeared without a trace."

The others sighed in a self-deprecating manner. They knew a little about the Bronze age. It was the age when humans began evolving into civilized beings. They began creating tools and weapons to help them in various areas. It was five thousand years ago.

"Legends also said something mysterious happened to him. One day, the castle and everything in it vanished, including him."

"Maybe he's the one stopping us from leaving..." Zhou said.

"Perhaps he wants to tell us how he mysteriously vanished so that we may help him," Bao said, chuckling dryly.

"This isn't funny," Ying frowned.

"That's exactly what I'm saying! We were asked to go on an expedition to this castle and now we've been targeted by some unknown force which may or may not be King Ah Yu!" Bao was tensed, veins bulging out of his neck.

Everywhere became dark. They were not agitated this time. They knew Qi was replenishing his chi. After sometime, everywhere became illuminated.

They were still looking at the painting, contemplating about what to do.

"It seems this King Ah Yu can manipulate distance and locations," Qi came up with a theory. "This is evident from the disappearance of his enemies and us never reaching the staircase. The former would be him changing the location of his enemies, sending them somewhere dangerous. The latter would be him increasing the distance between us and the staircase."

"The Regent would have said you're informed," Ying praised.

Qi chuckled, "It was easy to guess."

"Hmmm...I guess this is the reason past hunters didn't find any treasures," Long said. "It was because Ah Yu didn't want the treasures to fall into their hands and deliberately kept changing the location of the treasures."

"Then why didn't he trap the previous hunters?" Zhou asked.

"It's simple. They didn't venture into the tunnel," Ying answered.

"So why were we targeted when we entered the tunnel?" Bao probed.

"..."

Ying was becoming irritated with Bao. What's with him and the questions? He was about to answer when Qi volunteered.

"Isn't it obvious? He was trapped in this tunnel-this is the source of the disappearance!"

The others nodded, impressed with Qi's knowledge. This must be why the Regent picked him over the others-his knowledge.

"So what are we going to do now?" Long asked. He couldn't bear to stay another second in the tunnel.

"I think we should summon him," Ying suggested.

"..."

The others were momentarily at loss. They knew what he was insinuating.

"Evil spirits can be summoned why can't he?"

"What makes you think he's an evil spirit?" Qi asked, arching his brows.

"Simple. The force which was suppressing us stopped when you emitted your chi energy, illuminating everywhere. Evil spirits love darkness."

"So how are we going to summon him?" Bao asked.

"A corresponding summoning spell."

Ying leaned against the wall, stroking his hair.

"Are you serious? This should be problematic!" Qi exclaimed. "We don't even know why those corpses are there. Perhaps those people got here and were killed by him!"

"You're right. But I've seen a few summoning spells and tested them. In fact, I've summoned an evil spirit before," Ying said.

"..."

The others couldn't help but tremble. Ying was sure problematic. How did he even summon the courage to carry on such an act?

"By saying an evil spirit's name continuously in an esoteric manner, you'll summon it. Who's gonna try?"

They all shook their heads. Nobody wanted to do the summoning. They didn't want to be stalked and haunted by an evil spirit for the rest of their lives.

"Sigh... I'll do it then," Ying sighed. They're so afraid.

Closing his eyes, he changed his in an esoteric manner, "Ah Yu..."

Four times he said this and stopped. Nothing happened.

The others looked at him for explanation while he quivered in shame. The summoning had failed. Just as they were about to think up another way to escape, they felt their hairs stand.

Whoosh!

A cold wind blew into the room, making them shiver all over their bodies. Immediately, they found themselves in a desert.

"..."

They were momentarily at loss. Then they realized the summoning had actually worked.

Standing before them was the same man they had seen in the painting-Ah Yu. But this time, he was pale looking and had an aura of death around him.

"I've been trying to reach out to people for thousands of years now all to no avail. I really commend your knowledge," Ah Yu smiled.

"Did you kill those people?" Qi asked, suppressing his fear.

Ah Yu chuckled, "Evil spirits are malevolent. I tried to kill you as well."

They all nodded. The thought of that moment sent shivers down their spines.

"How did you become an evil spirit?" Qi asked.

"It all started when I recently became king. Our enemies were always attacking us, defeating our kingdom everytime they attacked. I was weak, my kingdom defenseless. It continued for years to I truly yearned for power. While searching the library for possible ways to gain supernatural powers, I came across a book written in strange language-Landish wasn't used. But after looking at the language for sometime, I could understand it!"

"..."

Wasn't that problematic? Qi thought. The only language people from the Land continent spoke was modern Landish-ancient Landish was used by devils and dukes in mysticism as it could trigger the supernatural forces. Why would someone suddenly understand an unknown language?

Seeing their reactions Ah Yu continued, "I read the words on the book aloud. It said, 'Hanzo'. After reading that word, I began hearing voices. They were so ethereal that they left me almost dying. Then I heard a voice which told me to stand. After standing, I realized I felt different. Then the voice told me that I have been bestowed with distance and location manipulation. I was shocked and trembled, knowing fully well that it was a deity."

"A deity!" The teammates couldn't stop themselves from shouting.

Then Qi remembered what he had been told: Thou shalt not use the Name of Thy Lord in vain. When Ah Yu had read the name, the deity had been summoned. Hanzo was the deity's name!

"Things went on smoothly and I became very powerful in the Bronze age. Then one day, I transformed into an evil spirit! My Duke had to seal me in here after sending everyone out of the castle. Sigh...I used my powers to move the castle to the spirit world and then back to the physical world."

"What's this deity's domain?" Qi asked.

"You mean Hanzo?" Ah Yu chuckled. "Don't call his name like I did, he leaves to his expectations. Hanzo is the God of Mischief and Theft."

The God of Mischief and Theft!

None of them had ever heard that name. Perhaps gods were more active in the Bronze age than in the present Silver age, thus it was easier to stumble across gods. But even at that, they didn't dare rashly mention any deity's name.

"This God, He transformed you into an evil spirit?"

Ah Yu sighed in regret, "I shouldn't have mentioned his name. He's truly mischievous."

"So, what do we have to do now?" Ying asked.

Ah Yu chuckled deeply before saying, "Release me."

"..."

The team was momentarily at loss. They had no idea in the field of mysticism. Only devils and dukes were capable of doing what he asked.

"How do we release you?" Bao asked.

"Destroy the seal trapping me."

"How do we destroy that seal?" Qi asked.

"..."

Ah Yu couldn't speak. These hunters were sure not informed.

Everywhere became dim and then faded to reveal the dark tunnel. They were back in the dark tunnel! They were mildly relieved that Ah Yu was still with them or they would have had to recite another summoning spell.

Ah Yu chuckled dryly and said, "You see that painting-that's the seal. Get it off that wall."