NOVEL NEXT Creation! Mysterious Cave
“Ah, it hurts so much, it’s killing me... Huh? Am I still alive? Where... am I?”
Time seemed to stretch indefinitely as waves of excruciating pain swept over Ding Sheng, awakening him slightly. He instinctively tried to move, but his body felt as rigid as iron, completely immobile. With great effort, he managed to slowly open his eyes.
What he saw was a blinding white light, obscuring everything else.
It felt as if he was enveloped in a soft liquid.
This sensation was reminiscent of being in the womb, surrounded by amniotic fluid.
Yet, waves of intense pain coursed through his body, leaving him in a semi-conscious state, his mind somewhat hazy.
His eyelids felt as if they were sewn shut, and it took immense effort just to open a small slit. Through that narrow gap, he could vaguely see the white, gooey liquid that encased him.
“Am I really submerged in this disgusting liquid?” Ding Sheng thought, nearly overwhelmed by the agony.
Suddenly, something extraordinary occurred—
In this extreme state of confusion, Ding Sheng clearly saw a pair of ancient sword-like shadows, gliding like swimming dragons in the milky liquid surrounding him.
Strangely, these sword shadows lacked any tangible form yet seemed alive, flickering between illusion and reality, circling around him, almost like two picky customers evaluating something.
“Gods? Demons?” Ding Sheng’s heart raced.
At that moment, the pair of ancient sword shadows seemed to reach a silent agreement.
A sound like dragon roars echoed as the swords met.
The two shadows shot forward, akin to dragons freed from centuries of confinement, joyously penetrating Ding Sheng’s body, transforming into two streams of warmth that quickly vanished.
Then, he experienced a hallucination.
Faintly, he heard two voices arguing, distant yet ancient, familiar yet vague. There was an inexplicable sense that two people were quarreling, but he could never quite discern what they were saying; not a single complete word could be understood.
Soon, waves of indescribable pain surged through him once more.
Ding Sheng felt as though he were submerged in sulfuric acid, experiencing a torment worse than death, as if the liquid surrounding him was the most corrosive substance on earth, threatening to dissolve him completely.
This slow yet clear agony was unbearable.
“I can’t die. I have to find K’er, find my sister... I must find her.”
An unparalleled desire to survive and the bright smile of his sister K’er shone like an eternal, unextinguishable light in the boundless darkness, guiding him to hold on miraculously.
He gritted his teeth, enduring wave after wave of excruciating pain.
Time crawled by like a snail trapped in a swamp.
Eventually, after an indeterminate period, the agony reached its peak, and suddenly there was a change.
In an unexpected instant, Ding Sheng felt the pain recede, replaced by an indescribable, marvelous new energy that filled his limbs and every cell in his body, bringing a warm, euphoric sensation.
Half an hour later, control of his body returned to him without warning.
“Can I... move?”
Ding Sheng abruptly opened his eyes and pushed himself up.
Instinctively, he assumed a defensive stance, scanning his surroundings, and quickly realized he was in an ancient cave.
The grayish stone walls were mottled and rough, showing no signs of human craftsmanship. Yet in the center of the cave stood a simple, ancient stone table with two stone chairs, all covered in a thick layer of dust, clearly unused for hundreds of years.
On the table were intricate, intersecting lines that were not natural but had been carved into the stone. The patterns were enigmatic, seemingly full of meaning yet almost like random doodles. As Ding Sheng stared at them, he felt dizzy, unable to discern their purpose or significance.
He speculated that someone had lived here long ago.
But it had been abandoned for at least a century.
The cave was spacious, with a ten-meter deep corridor leading outside.
A howling wind surged through the cave entrance, and dark mist swirled outside, seemingly held back by some mysterious force, as the foul black mist couldn’t invade the cave at all.
Ding Sheng stood in a square depression about three meters wide and one meter deep.
At first glance, it resembled a deliberately excavated grave, with smooth, neat edges. If there hadn’t been no trace of human excavation, it would be hard to believe this depression was naturally formed.
The milky liquid that had enveloped Ding Sheng earlier was from this depression.
Now, however, the liquid had turned from milky white to a faint black.
Yet it still emanated a strange fragrance, though its volume had significantly decreased; it barely covered Ding Sheng’s ankles now.
With a gentle leap, Ding Sheng hopped out of the stone pit.
“What exactly happened? That pair of ancient sword shadows, and the liquid changing from white to black... and my body, all the fatal injuries from my fall, have completely healed? It seems... something else has happened?”
Ding Sheng waved his fists, feeling a sense of power flooding through him.
“Not just recovery from injuries; my physical strength feels several times greater, my body has undergone some inexplicable transformation…”
He sensed that something significant must have changed within him.
During his unconsciousness, he clearly saw those ancient, majestic sword shadows enter his body, but now he couldn’t identify any obvious changes, which left him bewildered.
His clothes were tattered and ragged.
Yet, the rusted iron sword remained strapped to his back.
In this moment, Ding Sheng looked utterly disheveled.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself. His gaze roamed around the cave, seeking clues in this unfamiliar environment. The cave was dimly lit, and as he approached the stone table in the center, he found it covered in a thick layer of dust. Carefully brushing it aside with his fingers, he revealed intersecting lines. The more he examined these lines, the more he felt they contained profound meanings, as if telling an ancient tale.