My jaw dropped.
Churan?
Like the person Wei was frantically looking for? Right in front of me?
She looked battered and completely out of it.
Even after all the noise I made, she still hadn't woken up.
I'd seen Churan fighting with Wei before.
Stripping away all her Li-Liang, her martial arts skills are still amazing.
To see her like this...
... It makes sense why Wei was acting so different.
She didn't seem to be waking up any time soon.
Hah, if I had my briefcase, I could've fed her a health potion.
I got up from the ground to look around the area.
Luckily, there weren't any Èmós.
... But how am I supposed to approach this?
There's no way I can let her see me. Agh, I can't just leave her here alone either.
... I guess I can think of one way...
From our first interaction, well... she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.
And hopefully, her senses are dulled after such a beating.
... Ah...
Here goes nothing.
[Mr. Octopus — A Rank]
[Status: Active for approximately fifteen minutes before user's Li-Liang is insufficient]
***
"Ah-! Who's there!"
I shot up from my sleep and scrambled onto my feet.
Something, or someone, had shaken me awake, but looking around...
The dim fire that came out of my fingertips showed nothing.
Churan, you're losing it! Seriously losing it...
I'd stayed in the same place, hoping that maybe Wei or a soldier would stumble upon me.
Yet it has to have been hours... maybe even a day, but I've yet to see a single person.
And I've even started to hallucinate.
I raised my pants to reveal my ankle.
The bruising started to show, exposing a hideous purple hue.
My back was once again leaning against the wall, and I slowly slid myself back onto the floor.
That was until a low whisper was said into my ear.
I could feel its soft breath tickling my ear.
"No, you need to get up."
Immediately, my hands went up to my ears, covering them.
"No, No, No, NO! You aren't real! Get a grip!"
Maybe I've been in silence for too long; I have to talk!
Even if it's to myself, I need to talk!
But the whisperings continued.
I had now started moving around the tunnels.
I'm not sure where I went, or what direction I was even going towards, but as long as the whisperings stopped, I kept walking.
Sometimes, they would get quieter, so small it sounded more like a hum.
Other times, they got so loud and so close to my ears. That's when I ran even farther.
My mind had even started inventing the sound of footsteps behind me.
At this rate, I wondered when the whisperings would even stop.
But that's when I reached it.
Right before I deemed myself a madwoman, I came across a temple of sorts.
It was a completely different area from where I was before.
An actual structure that wasn't just the same rocks and tunnels.
I slowly walked down the long hall, making sure to apply less pressure to my sprained ankle.
Different colors of teal glass tiles lined the walls, and I could barely make out my reflection in them as my fire lit up the hall.
At the end of it stood a large, towering door.
My astonishment at actually finding something made me oblivious to the fact that the whisperings had stopped.
No longer could I hear the footsteps behind me.
Before I moved forward, I looked back, just to see nothing.
I turned back to the door in front of me.
Delicate carvings were engraved into the door, almost seeming like telling a story.
Wei has to be around here, right?
Either way, it's a lot easier to navigate around here than those horrible tunnels.
Please, please let Wei and everyone be here...!
I gulped, and with a huff, I pushed it open.
***
It seriously wasn't easy trying to guide Churan to the temple.
We were incredibly lucky no Èmós were attracted whilst she was screaming.
Not only that, but she would constantly take the wrong turns.
At least she somewhat caught on to the whisperings, though.
She would turn around and find another path whenever the whisperings grew louder, and when the whisperings got lower, she would continue on the path we were on.
And now that we've reached the temple, there was no need for me to keep whispering.
Wei and that Yin Ai girl should be around here; if not, just further down.
I watched as Churan limped through the hall, inspecting everything with the neon fire on her fingertips.
I'd noticed it before in the tunnels, but she'd hurt her leg somehow; on top of that, she'd occasionally wince before grasping her hip.
It was obvious she was in no position to fight.
I tread lightly behind her.
The rooms grew bigger and grander as we kept moving forward.
Or at least, you could tell they were once grand.
Layers of fabric drooped down from the ceilings, but they were so torn and faded, you couldn't even tell what color they were originally, let alone any type of pattern.
There were also pieces of furniture lying around.
They didn't seem too distant from the past, but neither were they fashionable by today's standards (or more so this world's).
At some point, I'd deactivated Mr. Octopus.
I hid behind walls and made sure to always stay at least fifty feet away from her.
As I'd expected, she didn't notice me.
I was starting to zone out until a distant sound was heard.
The sound of screeching and yelling.
A mix of humans and Èmós.
I'd stopped to listen, but Churan had immediately bolted towards the direction of the sounds.
With no other choice, I quickly followed after her.
The sounds got closer and closer, to the point where I had a good idea of what was happening.
Although Churan wasn't the brightest, I was sure she also knew.
Without a doubt, I'd heard Wei's voice, commanding soldiers.
She burst open the final door, which was more stately than all those before it.
I peeked behind her and saw we'd entered a rotunda.
Water covered the floor at about a foot deep, making the movements of the soldiers slower and sluggish.
In one of the corners, I could make out Yin Ai, yet surprisingly, she wasn't fighting, but instead watched with suspense, only calling out heads-up whenever an Èmó tried to sneak up behind a soldier.
Wei stood between the edge and the innermost center, fighting alongside everyone else.
It was about ten soldiers and twenty Èmós, a one-to-two ratio.
The second Churan burst through; all eyes seemed to fall upon her.
Churan didn't even seem fazed in the slightest that she had stepped into, well, basically, a war zone while in her poor condition.
I swiftly hid away from view while everyone's eyes were still on Churan.
From Wei's tone alone, I didn't even have to see his face to tell the expression he was making.
"Churan—! Your—"
"Hah—! I-it took me forever to find you guys, y'know!"
She ran into the room, not sparing the Èmós a glance, before the sound of flames bursting out could be heard.
Bright neon lights reflected onto the floor, and before long, there was no more screeching.
Only the sound of relieved gasps and shuffling.
Did... Churan just activate her Li-Liang...?
But her injuries! Did seeing Wei push her or something?
Nonetheless, I stayed quiet, listening in on their little reunion.