“Labby, don’t act rashly and stay away from any infected creature. Call for help if needed and don’t run away like this again. I’ll be mad,” I sent to Labby, making my voice stern. She was a kid, and I was spoiling her too much. I needed to be more stern before she hurt herself in a reckless stunt like this one.

“Labby will take care!” she sent back, and I sighed, feeling like a worrying parent suddenly. Kids are rough.

Bringing my attention back to the pile of rubble, I turned to look at Liuxiang. I didn’t like whatever these spirit zombie plants were, and I would prefer to get the people stuck inside and quickly head back out.

“The path looks unapproachable from this side. The rubble could be moved with Senior’s help, but the person on the other side would likely get crushed,” Liuxiang said, inspecting the collapsed area.

“Zhi Zhu tells me the man is alive, but his feet are injured. The spores have also started to take root, but there’s minimal infection yet. Zhi Zhu will take care of them by the time we get there,” Liuxiang spoke, and I nodded.

“Great Master! Labby can smell a spirit herb up in the lake nearby. And a large amount of Qi!” Labby exclaimed, from the other side. A lake huh, perhaps an underground stream flowed from nearby.

I took a look around the cavern walls, watching the wall formations. The entrance had clearly been mined by humans. But this deep in, the walls were circular, and from what I could tell from the vague article about caves I’d read, these were formed by flowing water carving through the rock over centuries.

“There should be a path leading somewhere nearby,” Liuxiang said, getting up, and I followed behind the boy. Corpses of creatures were found on our way back in, taken over by the zombie-grass as a purple and white flower bloomed on them, forming a grim sight of nature.

A few lizards hissed, their movements aggressive. Far more so than the bear we’d encountered as the gran grew on their back, with disgusting round bumps of skin that had gotten inflamed by the intrusive plants.

I crushed a few beneath my feet, as Liuxiang took care of each with a precise throw of his needles. The accuracy was almost terrifying, all the more so when coupled with the fact that the needles were layered in a transparent poison that I could barely sense with my Qi sense.

I bent down and picked a single stalk of leaf in my hand. The zombie plant looked just like any ordinary herb, with two green leaves sporting from it’s thin white stem that extended in a bundle of roots.

Curious, I sent some Qi near where I held the plant in my hand. I felt a light pinching sensation in my hand. I stared as the roots pushed against my skin, trying to pierce through it as I felt the plant pull the Qi towards itself. A tiny amount, yet slowly but surely, the amount started to grow.

I stopped the flow of Qi, crushing the herb in my hand, as I stared in surprise at the slight red mark where the root had tried to stab me. It took effort to cut myself with a knife now, unless it had been doused with Qi. What a single root could do to the villagers had to be quite terrifying.

“These don’t seem like normal spirit herbs. They latch on to Qi and the roots try to suck the source dry for it. The sect will probably need to be warned about these things before it can spread to humans in the village,” I said to Liuxiang. A plant-based zombie apocalypse was the last thing I needed to be dealing with.

“Have you encountered this kind of plant before?” I asked Liuxiang, wondering if the boy knew something. Nothing I’d read so far had referred to such a kind of plant till this point, or even made mentions of parasitic spirit herbs. It did not surprise me that these existed, but I was surprised by the fact that they were not documented. Either that, or those documents were outside the reach of an outer disciple like me.

“This one has heard of man-eating plants and other such creatures. But the abominations were mostly found deep within the ground, near corrupted lands with a high concentration of miasma and Gu. This one hasn’t heard of any parasitic plants like these that dwell on the surface,” Liuxiang replied, and I quirked my eyebrows.

This was the first I’d heard the mention of miasma being found in deeper layers. The only mention I’d heard so far were of the tribalistic blood rituals and death arts that the barbarians from outside the empire used to wage war and cause chaos. Naturally, the use of any art involving such was frowned upon, although very similar forms of techniques could still be observed in the sect library. The Empire wasn’t above hypocrisy either.

“A plant like this existing within a Qi vein is troubling. It may be feeding off the ambient Qi to support itself. There would likely be a need for a thorough cleansing of the area, and a deeper dive into the vein to see if any branches lead into miasma filled caverns,” Liuxiang spoke with a strained voice.

I paused, staring at the boy, as a frown covered his face. “We need to hurry Senior, Zhi Zhu just found something troublesome-”

I paused, as his voice cut off, interrupted by Labby’s voice echoing in my mind.

Great Master… Labby thinks she might be in trouble

***

Labby felt her Qi pulsing as arcs of lightning coursed across her body. She wiggled and pushed, squeezing through the rocks and earth as she stared in mixed fear and wonder at the creatures that walked nearby.

A pack of wolves walked nearby, growling and snapping at each other as they walked. Their bodies were covered in growing plants with blooming purple flowers. That mixed in with the flesh, forming infected bloated wounds.

Labby could feel the Qi in her core tremble. She could tell something was wrong with them. She couldn’t sense any life of their own. Just moving husks of bodies that walked even when death had claimed them.

Abominations.

Labby jumped back into the dirt as one wolf yipped at the place she’d burrowed herself in. Its eyes glowed with a blue shimmer as it circled the area, growling madly.

“The rat needs to better learn how to hide her Qi.”

Labby turned to look at the spider near her, sitting calmly as its mandibles clicked. Labby could feel its Qi, like a mixture of herbs, similar to her master, yet this one was anything but delicious. The Qi made her spirit rise, generating a primal fear she’d forgotten ever since she’d gained her name.

Labby stared at the spider as the wolves continued to bite at the gap she was hiding in, trying to grab her. She tried to pull her Qi inwards, but to no avail. There wasn’t any space in her core for more Qi, or she would’ve already grown it in size.

“You need to let go of your Qi and stop pushing out into the world. Confine the Qi that is within your core, cut off the rest.”

Labby frowned. She didn’t need to be taught by some spider, she would learn from her great master. Yet, another bite coupled with a growl had Labby reconsidering her choices.

She turned to look at the spider, its presence hidden well with its Qi gone from the outside. If the other spirit could do it, then so could she! She had to be the best spirit for her Great Master, she couldn’t bring him shame.

Labby began to focus on her core.

Qi pulsed, it moved in patterns unknown. A cycle just like the numbers,the moon and the sun, and the movement of the stars, this too had a rhythm that it followed. Labby watched the moving Qi, as it formed in her core with each breath she took, replenishing the constant leak of Qi that emanated from her body. A cycle, accompanied by her each breath, tied to the beating of her heart.

She had to break that cycle.

Labby cut off the moving cycle of Qi that travelled from her core, outwards into her body. She restrained her cycle, stopping its motion. Her Qi remained within her core, as she held it with a tight grip, holding the cycle from resuming again. It was uncomfortable to hold, but she could manage it.

“The little rat can do more than Zhi Zhu had thought,” the spider said and Labby smirked, almost breaking her suppressed Qi.

“Let us move out of this path. Zhi Zhu can sense some more humans nearby.”

“What about that stuck human?” Labby asked, as she moved through the rocks.

“Zhi Zhu has already informed Yi Liuxiang, he’ll come take care of the human before the wolves get there. Zhi Zhu and the little rat can also distract the wolves away from the humans if need be,” the spider spoke.

Labby gave it some thought, before agreeing. She could run away from the scary wolves if need be, and she was strong now! Her Great master would be proud if she could save all the humans. And she could eat the lotus if she found it. Just one bite.

“Labby agrees, we should go save the humans!” Labby exclaimed as Zhi Zhu walked ahead. Filled with new determination she made her way ahead.

***

I ran ahead, rushing through the caverns at high speeds as I traced the flow of the Qi and the air. Yi Liuxiang ran beside me, with a similarly concerned expression. I hadn’t heard much from Labby before her voice had faded. Concern filled my heart, but I could sense that she was alive, and didn’t have any serious injuries.

The cavern walls quickly led way to an entrance into a widern section spreading out in a circular area. The Qi saturated the air heavily and I could feel my ears buzzing from the density of the Qi present emanating from this area.

“There, near the wall,” Yi Liuxiang spoke, pointing as he ran ahead and I hurriedly followed behind. Within a few moments, I spotted the man stuck near the collapsed section as the two of us hurried over.

I paused as Liuxiang walked over, crouching as he began to inspect the man. “Where are you Labby?”

I sent to Labby, scanning the area. “Labby is saving the humans!” she sent back to me, before her voice faded once more.

I frowned, trying to reach back but the link wavered, the Qi density of the air buzzing in my ears. Goddamn it.

“Is the guy alive?” I asked, turning back towards Liuxiang.

“The man is alive. This one is removing the plants, there’s some injuries on his leg, but this one can take care of them.”

I let Liuxiang work as I walked around the area, trying to keep a lookout for any other humans, as I scanned the section. The walls were curved in a dome, and I could hear water flowing beneath the earth.

Little plants and ferns grew from the walls and the floor, and I could sense hints of Qi present in them. A growl drew my attention away from the spirit plants as I noticed a group of creatures moving towards us.

“Spirit wolves, infected, second realm all,” I said, circulating my Qi as Liuxiang got up beside me. Taking a glance at the boy, we both rushed in together as the wolves leap at us.

I flared my Qi, letting my pathways fill with them as I struck out with my fists. The movements came surprisingly naturally to me, as I shifted my weight over with the strike. I pulsed my Qi gathering it at my core before I let it flow in a singular blast like a pressured valve being opened.

My fist struck the wolf's skull tearing through it as the creature was splattered in a mess of dark blood. I felt teeth sink into my shoulder as another wolf leapt at me from behind. A shudder had the creature twitch as I noticed a silver needle stuck in it’s skull. The wolf kept biting anyway.

“This one’s arts are ineffective on these creatures, moving corpses do not react to this one’s poison arts” Liuxiang spoke, slashing through the packs that continued to nip at him and I nodded.

Taking a deep breath in, I let all my Qi gather together, as I split it in two circular channels. The essence of the world swirled with my Qi as I formed a raging torrent. I grabbed the exploding pills from my belt, as the Qi continued to swirl around me in a torrent as more and more wolves began to leap at me.

I took the exploding pills, and threw them at one of the wolves moving towards me, as I flexed my Qi. Fire spread in a swirling inferno and I took the opportunity to expell my Qi outwards in a wave, focusing it towards the surface of the ground.

A Qi pressure difference was formed as the flame essence spread through the air, I sensed a torrent of Qi swirling as the fires from the pills began to form a rising pillar of flame. Hurriedly I jumped back as the fire began to spread, the swirling fire pillar of death now pulling creatures within itself as it tore through the wolves.

I heard growls and yips as fire began to eat through the herbs and the wolves’ bodies alike. I stared at the fire inferno for a moment, watching as it burnt through the spirit beasts, raging with a bright light before it fizzled out into nothing, running out of Qi.

I turned to look at Yi Liuxiang who stood carrying the injured man on his shoulder as he stared with surprise evident on his face as well. The expression was quickly masked as he noticed my gaze and I walked away, not looking at the charred corpses I’d left behind.

I was about to check in on the man when I heard Labby shout.

“Labby found the lotus master!!! Oh and the humans too.”

“Do not eat it!! Where are you Labby?! Did you-” my words got cut off midway as tremor shook the cave. I felt a wave of Qi burst from further in, accompanied by a loud rumbling roar that made the Qi tremble.

A presence spread through the cavern, like a vast body of water surging out into the world as it washes everything away with it. The presence was massive, larger than all but the Elder’s presence that I’d sensed, yet this presence wasn’t held back like the Elder and I felt myself being crushed underneath it. I stared at Liuxiang for a moment before I dashed towards the direction of the Qi.

What the hell did you do now Labby?!