Marcus crawled up and stood where he was, gradually lowering his body while looking around in attempts to locate Gloria when the fog and the howling wind blew through his surroundings. Even with him pouring his Qin into his legs and his entire body gradually getting into a crouching pose, he was not able to move even one inch.

After a while, something in one of his inner jacket pockets started releasing a gentle energy. This energy flowed through the exterior of his body, seeped into his clothes and became a thin, flexible but sturdy shield against the wind. With this added protection, he was about to make two steps forward, before the wind grew stronger yet again, pushing him back, and eventually lifting him up from the ground and throwing him backwards.

The wind and fog dissipated, along with the fog it carried. Marcus rolled on a cold, hard and smooth ground inside of some kind of man-made structure.

Gloria was groaning on the ground, just a few more steps away from him. As he stood up and looked around, this appeared to be an ancient passageway with no ceiling above them. On top of their heads, however, was not the normal daytime sky like when they came, but that of a clear night sky, with stars, and a faint moon hidden behind a cloud.

Both their backpacks were gone. He checked his inner jacket pockets, his phone and his other personal belongings were still there.

“Where are we? What is this?” Marcus asked as he helped Gloria up.

“We’re inside the old ruins.” Gloria nodded at Marcus as a sign of thank you, before looking around with surprised fascination: “At least I think we are. Someone brought us here. Or something.”

“Okay, where should we go?” Marcus nodded, then looked both ways: “Have you been here before?”

“No, not really. I’ve only been to the outskirts of the ruins, I’ve never been inside, not to mention this - this corner.” Gloria sighed and shook her head. She grunted when she took a step forward, for the wounds on her legs were still seeping dark, thick blood.

“You’re poisoned, use your Qi to push it out.” Marcus narrowed his eyes: “Sit down and meditate, I will stand guard.”

“It’s okay. As long as I don’t use too much of my Qi from now on, it can just push the poison out gradually in time.” Gloria shook her head: “Come on, we need to get outta here, we don’t have much time to lose.”

“No, no. Just take a moment. If a fight breaks out I don’t think I can cover for you.” Marcus stopped Gloria: “I’ll need to heal as well to be best prepared. Just do it, I’ll help you if you’re not comfortable.”

“... fine.” Gloria grimaced when she tried to take another step. There was no other option for her, than sitting down and activating her Qi like Marcus said. “Okay, just stand guard, I’ll ask if I need help.”

“Sure.” Marcus nodded and stretched his arms and legs.

As Gloria sat down by the foot of the wall and got into a meditative state with her legs stretched out, Marcus walked to her side and started using his Qi to enhance his senses.

Light smoke arose from Gloria’s wounds. Dark red blood seeped out, carrying a tingling smell with it. Before long, the blood dripping became fresh red, symbolizing the removal of most of the poisons in her system.

Gloria gasped as she tore up her sleeves to bandage her legs. Then she looked at Marcus: “Okay, your turn.”

“Sure.” Marcus grunted when he sat down. There were a few scratches and shallow puncture wounds on his back and his lower waist. Not super serious, but could be much more troublesome if the poison got in his way during critical moments.

Taking a look at Gloria, Marcus took a deep breath and got into a meditative pose.

When he opened his eyes after squeezing the little traces of poison out of his wounds, he saw nothing around him, and no one. The entire passageway was empty, slightly dimmer than before. Gloria was gone, and there was no sign of her ever being here. Not footsteps, not droplets of blood on the ground, not even her scent.

Marcus shot straight up and activated his Qi, ready for a fight. He enhanced his senses further to make sure he could see threats incoming earlier. The air was chilly, and the walls around him gave off a strange dim light purple glow.

“Marcus.” A faint whisper almost made him jump. He turned to the direction where the voice came from without delay. There was only an empty passageway under the starry night sky. A small shadow was casted onto the ground, seemingly from the wall on the left side.

Slowly, gradually, a piece of white came out of the shadow.

The hairs on his back all stood up. Marcus focused his Qi along on his arms and legs, if there was anything abnormal coming his way, he would preempt it.

The white grew brighter, taller and wider. It was the lower part of a woman’s dress. Marcus narrowed his eyes and lowered his body. Anything that could come straight out of the shadows in this place would surely not be anything normal.

The dress came forward, eventually revealing her face. It however stopped at about five or six arms’ length from Marcus. Marcus was stunned where he was, his Qi flow halted for a brief moment.

This was his mother, in a white dress, just like the last time she appeared in Marcus’ dream. At least, from the looks of it.

“Marcus.” The woman smiled.

“Who are you?” Marcus was not dumb to be fooled, his Qi flow continued, and his readiness to fight did not waver.

“I don’t have long, so here’s what I can tell you.” The woman sighed: “Be careful what’s in there. Go forth with your heart hardened and ready. There’s only danger ahead. But if you want to break out, it is the only way you can go.”

“What do you mean?”

“Go forward. Marcus, it is full of danger, but it’s the only way.”

”What do you mean? I don’t - “