Chapter 6: The Change

Days passed. 10 days after they left the Tai clan, they entered the Lu clan.

It came to Bei’s notice that apparently, a small pack of shockwolves had an appetite for the horses leading the wagons. Thankfully, their attempt was quickly thwarted. Shockwolves weren’t a particularly strong kind of rank 1 bests. They had an innate electrocuting bite which helped them subdue their prey, but aside from their bites being more effective, they weren’t really special. So long as there was no troublesome wild gusu attached to the pack.

It was Bu Zhen who went out to take care of the wolves. The wolves had no qualms about attacking him, but as soon as Bu Zhen transformed they lost all their wits about them, most just tried to retreat. Bu Zhen didn’t let them, naturally. Some ranked beasts could be tricky creatures, it was better to be safe than sorry and just get rid of the pack.

---

The Lu clan was bigger than the Tai clan, but not by much. The same process they witnessed at the Tai clan repeated here, so the Lu clansmen could enroll in any of the three houses.

The caravan also needed to refresh its supplies. This was always handled by the host clan the caravan had visited. The representatives from the houses again went on to introduce themselves, exhibit a couple matches and start the recruitment process. By the end of the day, new wagons got attached to the end of the train and there were a few dozen new disciples that joined the caravan.

Finally, the journey continued.

The heat has increased in recent days. The summer was inevitably approaching.

Bei continued to take care of Jin. Jin’s situation hasn't changed drastically but Bei was quite hopeful because there had been some development. Whether it was progress or regress, he wasn’t sure, he could only hope for the former. Jin’s eyes were no longer even half-open. They were fully closed. He also started adjusting his position to sitting cross legged. He wasn’t changing his position whether it was night or day, only when he was dragged around would he actually move on his own accord, albeit still very slowly, as if he wasn’t really aware of what’s going on around him.

Soon, Jin’s countenance seemed much more stable than it was before. Every time Bei checked on him, Jin’s posture was less and less hunched. He was looking more and more straight ahead, rather than just loosely hanging his head down. He actually started looking as if there was nothing wrong with him in the first place, and he was just resting.

And soon, Jin finally opened his eyes.

He looked around. It was pitch black.

He smiled.

“Where is this?” - He thought.

He observed the place for a moment.

He felt great. He felt better than ever before. Despite not seeing, he wasn’t anxious. The level of energy within him was completely different than what he was used to.

He stood up, and walked around the place. He could not see anything, besides himself.

*thump*

He heard a sound, and paused for a moment to identify it.

*thump*

The sound repeated itself.

*THUMP*

Again. This time, it was very loud.

*THUMP*

Another one. Even louder.

*THUMP* *THUMP*

The sound resembled a heartbeat. An eerie, buzzing heartbeat.

“Where does this come from...?” - Jin pondered.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

Now Jin could tell that somebody or… no, it couldn’t have been a person. That something was getting impatient. It was knocking. Each time stronger. Each time louder.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

Jin navigated to a spot where he felt the sound was coming from. Each knock made the space in the void resonate with it dangerously, yet the waves couldn’t touch him.

The last knock fizzled out. Jin didn’t know what to do. But he knew what happens if somebody determined to enter is not let in.

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK*

A crack appeared, not so far from Jin’s current position. Together with it, a shockwave which could swallow the world. This was not like the knocking before which couldn’t even touch him. His hearing and sense of touch were numbed instantly.

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK*

Another crack in the same spot. Jin senses were overloaded. He couldn’t even think.

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK* *SHATTER*

After another blow, Jin experienced a nauseating feeling. His eyes were shut again, he immediately attempted to open them, as convulsions started taking control of his body.

He threw up.

The environment has Changed. He was no longer in the void.

He was inside the wagon. He started scrambling towards the door. His muscles were desperately trying to go against his will, cramping and loosening randomly all over his body.

He felt something pulling on him. It was pulling him up.

He threw up again, after which his body involuntarily coughed a few times.

The pull steadily increased.

He made it to the door and clutched the door handle, opened it and stumbled outside,

He didn’t fall. The pull didn’t let him fall.

His body was light. It was buzzing with energy, but all he could do was to flail in the air. And flailing he was, as the convulsions didn’t stop. The pulling force had clutched him firmly.

His body started moving up, and so he looked up.

An eerie full moon was looking at him.

Once he met the moon’s gaze, he threw up again. Except there was nothing to throw up by now. A wave of electricity went through his body. He started coughing uncontrollably.

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK*

A crack appeared in the sky. Together with it, a giant shockwave. Jin was barely conscious, his terrible cough is the only thing that didn’t let him slip away.

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK* *SHATTER*

With the next crack, Jin’s body gave out. A monstrous amount of thunder has seeped out of the crack, each thunder dissipating like a spark produced from hitting molten iron by a monstrous hammer. Buzzing and thundering sound was covering the area.

*THUMP*

An eerie heartbeat sound has resonated again. Everything was buzzing. The air itself seemed to be buzzing.

*thump*

The heartbit seemed to be fizzling out.

Jin opened his eyes.

It was pitch black.

He tried opening them again.

Didn’t help.

It was the same space as before finding himself within the wagon.

“Hello again.” - Jin muttered. His convulsions were gone and he felt much more able here than outside. He was glad he escaped.

“This is the first time we’re meeting.” - a voice answered unexpectedly.

Jin stood up and turned his head to the source of the voice.

There stood a boy, his build not unsimilar to Jin’s. The boy had a storm of flowing hair, neither long nor short. The boy’s gaze was relaxed and sharp at the same time. His clothing flowing and waving in constant motion.

As strange as she was looking, the most grabbing feature were his eyes.

There was a glisten and shine in them, as if they caught a supernova explosion within them.

Jin was surprised.

“I wasn’t addressing you.” Jin smiled.

“There’s nobody else here.” The other boy tilted his head in confusion.

Jin didn’t reply this time. He just waited for the other boy to steer the conversation. There probably was a reason he’s showing himself now.

“Anyway, welcome to my domain.” - The boy said, as he waved his hand around.

“Thank you for letting me in. A most curious place, this domain.” - Replied Jin, looking around again.

“Impressed?” - The boy asked, smiling.

“How could I not be? But, I’m confused. I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“That’s natural. Let me brief you. You entered here previously, however I wasn’t here at the moment. I didn’t expect you so soon, but nevertheless that was my mistake. As you know, we have an inconvenience on our hands to handle.”

“Inconvenience? Are you referring to that heartbeat?” Now it was Jin’s turn to be confused. He wouldn’t call the phenomenon an inconvenience. In fact, he was quite wondering how he’s not dead yet. It was completely overwhelming him in terms of how powerful it was.

“Yes. I have it under control.”

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK*

A crack appeared. Together with it a giant shockwave that numbed the senses and freezed the mind.

The boy trembled and frowned.

“There is nothing we can do to remove it. But, it’ll follow you. I need to kick you out again.”

Jin was about to respond, but a nauseating feeling had wrapped him, same as it did when he left this place previously.

He opened his eyes and immediately threw up, despite his stomach bag being empty for a while now. He started having convulsions again.

His body was on the grass right now, but he already started feeling the pulling force.

His body was not listening to him at all. He was totally helpless.

Another series of convulsions and involuntary attempts to remove the non-existent contents of his stomach.

The pull was enough now that his body started lifting off the ground.

Jin wanted to laugh, but his body didn’t listen to him.

He didn’t know what kind of situation this was.

This felt too real. This had to be real.

Yet it was so abstract, he couldn’t dream it if he wanted.

This made him want to laugh.

Instead of laughing though, a terrible cough started possessing him.

He glanced at the moon. It was the same full moon as just before. It wasn’t the usual, enchanting self. There was something behind it now. It was eerie. It was as if it wanted to swallow him.

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK*

A crack appeared in the sky. Together with it, a giant shockwave. Jin was barely conscious, his terrible cough was the only thing that didn’t let him slip away.

*TTHHUUMMPP* *CRACK* *SHATTER*

With the next crack, Jin’s environment changed again.

He was back in the void.

Out of the two places, he definitely preferred this one.

At least his form was somewhat usable here, on the other side there were only torturous convulsions awaiting him.

“Welcome back.” The boy greeted him again.

Jin just stayed on the ground and closed his eyes.

He laughed. He couldn’t before. So he did now.

The tall boy tilted his head.

“I need a little breather.” - said Jin, after he finished laughing.

“That’s fine.” - said the boy, removing the tilt.

After a couple of minutes, Jin spoke up.

“Has it given up?”

“No.” - the boy answered.

*TTHHUUMMPP*

“But it probably won’t be able to breach this space anymore.”

*TTHHUUMMPP*

They both waited. The boy was vigilant, trying to determine if they were out of danger.

*TTHHUUMMPP*

The last knock was weaker than the previous. The boy finally grinned.

“Mighty heaven cannot breach a tiny rank 1 aperture. This is too embarrassing.”

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

As if in response, a series of threatening thumps resounded again, not unlike the one Jin heard the first time he landed here.

The sound drowned the boy’s voice with ease, but compared to crack-producing shockwaves, these knocks didn’t affect the space much.

“We should be fine now.” - said the boy, giving off a satisfied sigh.

“You need to stay here. It’s actually way harder for the tribulation to do any damage to the aperture’s inner space than to do the damage to the food body outside.” - said the boy.