Chapter 138: A Past

"...a random spawn"

Guang Yan looked around her, only to find that Xing Cai was nowhere to be found near her. This could only mean one thing, she was spawned on another spot.

The countless flying creatures covering the sky seemed to have not noticed her yet, so she quickly hid behind a nearby boulder that was closest to her, placing her bow beside it. What she needed to do now was regroup with Xing Cai.

She took a long breath to calm herself down before grabbing something from her pouch. It looked like a small circular mirror, with two red dots blinking on its surface. As soon as she saw the two blinking dots, Guang Yan let out a sigh of relief.

"She's nearer than I thought", she said as she returned the mirror in her pouch. Now she just needs to go unnoticed by these disgusting looking creatures.

And as soon as she thought that, a warm feeling slithered on her neck. She could only click her tongue as she slowly looked and turned her head upwards.

And there, a woman with an abnormally wide mouth was staring at her, the wings on her back folded as she was crawling on top of the boulder, what was most noticeable was that the creature's lower half was completely gone, causing her innards to hang from her waist, and onto Guang Yan's neck.

"This… is a bit gross"

***

On the other side of the field, sharp whistles resounded in the air as a golden blur created almost a perfect sphere as it slashed the winged monsters that approached it.

And like a moth to a flame, the winged monsters died as soon as they touched the golden sphere. It dismembered their already lacking body into pieces, cutting off their wings, their arms, and their necks.

And inside the sphere, Xing Cai looked as if she was dancing as she left after images of herself as she waved the golden great sword as if it was a light brush.

"Tch. There's no end to them"

With a breath, she suddenly slowed down her movement. She then embedded the great sword to the ground, and with a snap, rotated her body and threw the great sword through the air.

The great sword spun at an alarming speed as it created a loud whistle. It cleanly and effortlessly sliced the winged creatures that were unfortunate enough to be on its path.

Xing Cai then quickly summoned her other weapon, a golden sword and shield. Slamming her shield to the ones that were still approaching her, and finishing off those were still crawling on the ground with her sword.

And then, as soon as she heard a loud whistle approaching her, the sword and shield on her hand quickly disappeared. She then stretched her left hand, carefully catching the golden great sword that returned back to her while it was still spinning.

Taking advantage of the great sword's momentum, Xing Cai rotated her body as she released a huge breath.

A thunderous explosion echoed throughout the field as Xing Cai swung the great sword in a circle, creating a shockwave that pushed any of the remaining winged creatures that still dared to approach her.

And once again, with a breath, she calmed herself down as she scanned the dismembered corpses that were strewn on the ground. Xing Cai could not help but click her tongue in irritation as she stared at the almost human looking faces of the creatures.

She then shook her head as she retrieved something from the pockets of her robes. It was a small circular mirror, the same thing that Guang Yan had.

Xing Cai only looked at it for a second before nodding and returning it to her pocket. She was about to run towards Guang Yan's position, but she suddenly felt something grab her foot.

Rustling noises started to crawl on the ground. And soon, the corpses started to move, their wings fluttering, and their wounds either regenerating or connecting again.

Xing Cai could not help but sigh as she saw the creatures starting to heal themselves. She then kicked the hand that was holding her ankles and proceeded to run away.

She already had her fair share of regenerating creatures from the countless dungeons she had entered to. And in these kinds of situations, it was always better to just run away.

It did not even take a quarter of a minute before she saw Guang Yan in her sights. She was currently shooting hundreds of arrows towards the endless creatures that were flying towards her from the sky.

With one flick of her bow, dozens of arrows that looked like they were made of light shot out from all around her.

"Ah! Xing Cai!"

Guang Yan instantly stopped drawing her bow as soon as she saw Xing Cai approaching her, "These monsters they are regenerating!", she shouted as she met Xing Cai halfway.

"I know. Have you checked the objective?", Xing Cai calmly said.

"It says… Manananggal Queen… How do you even say that!?", Guang Yan almost bit her tongue.

"Doesn't matter", Xing Cai said as she casually waved her sword towards an oncoming manananggal, "Let's just hurry and find the queen so we can close this portal"

"We're closing it already?"

"It is not fit for re-entry since it's a random spawn dungeon", Xing Cai sighed,

"Hopefully Diao Mei won't enter anymore"

***

"Sorry, but we can't let anyone else enter other than you, Lady Diao"

"I am telling you, Elder Xing Cai will want to meet this boy!"

The leader of the standby unit squinted his eyes and stared at the golden-haired boy behind Diao Mei, "Sorry, Lady Diao. Strict orders", he said as he respectfully bowed towards Diao Mei and walked away.

"S-sorry, Viel", Diao Mei could not help but sigh in regret as she turned her head towards Viel, "A… lot has changed since you disappeared"

"No, it is fine", Viel said as he slowly stepped towards the portal, "Sister Xing Cai is inside?"

"D-don't tell me you will enter the portal forcefully!?", Diao Mei quickly blocked Viel's path. Remembering Viel's antics from the past, she was sure that he was about to barge inside the portal any second now.

"Of course not, Lady Diao", Viel smiled as he looked at Diao Mei straight in the eye, "The man said we weren't allowed inside", he said as he slowly turned away and walked back towards his female companion.

"...Eh?", Diao Mei could not help but twitch her eyes as she was left in front of the portal with her arms stretched.

"Was ist los?", Viel's female companion spoke as soon as Viel returned to her.

"Wir gehen in", Viel said as he shook his head.

"..."

Viel… Viel really has changed. Melancholy filled Diao Mei's eyes as she stared at Viel's back.

That was obvious, wasn't it? They were still… children back then. It wasn't that she was clinging to a ghost for all these years...

...She was clinging to a past.

A past that would probably never return.