"And they said Yokais were the least intelligent of all monsters."
Without the fake mud ceiling, everything is exposed and out in the open.
Cocoons. Black cocoons are attached to the cave ceilings. If one listens carefully, they can hear the faint heartbeats from within.
"This is...incredible." Xin Linhua stares "Do you think you can get some of them down?"
Rong Yizhan nods.
Minutes later, five to six cocoons lay at their feet. Xin Linhua rips one open.
"Ugh!" He covers his nose "If their heartbeats aren’t so loud, I’d think they were dead."
Xin Linhua studies the figure. It looks human, but not really. The upper half of the body is human, but the lower half is that of a Yokai. Bat ears have replaced human ones and purple veins course through the veins.
"Metamorphosis..." Xin Linhua crouches "I have never seen anything like this..."
They rip open the other cocoons. Some are still human, some are half human, half Yokai and some have gone through full transformation.
The whole place starts to reek, like the smell of rotten corpses. Xin Linhua covers the lower half of his nose.
"Yaras?, do you have a lighter by chance?" Xin Linhua teases.
To his amusement, Rong Yizhan pulls a lighter out from his pocket.
"Seriously...are you a pokemon?" He takes the light "Or do you smoke? It’s bad for your health, you know."
Not willing to explain and unbothered, Rong Yizhan ignores him.
"Take the others down." Xin Linhua drags the bodies into a heap "They’re still deep in sleep now. Let’s make this quick."
Rong Yizhan nods, taking down the other cocoons as fast as he can.
They pile them up in a heap. Xin Linhua towers above, the light in one hand. With a soft click, a small flame flickers.
"What are you doing?" Rong Yizhan grabs his wrist.
"I’m going to burn them, what else?"
"They’re humans." Rong Yizhan’s tone is colder now "You want to kill them."
"Ah..." Xin Linhua sighs "Yaras?, from the moment they wrapped up like a birthday present, all hope is lost. There’s no salvation. Even if we bring them back, we can’t stop the change. They’re like caterpillars going through a change, but they’re not becoming butterflies, just man-eating Yokais."
Rong Yizhan hesitates for a bit. He releases his hold on Xin Linhua and takes a step back.
"I’m sorry, I have to do this. May you find peace on the other side."
They wait. Sit through the smell of burning corpses, Yokais and humans alike. Not once did Rong Yizhan glance away, all his attention is on the burning corpses.
"Don’t look so disheartened." Xin Linhua pats his shoulders "We still need to find out how they bring humans back here without the rift detecting them. If we can find out that secret, it’ll help the institute save lives."
Rong Yizhan nods. Xin Linhua squeezes his shoulder.
"That’s the last one." He stands "Let’s go back to the entrance."
"Why the entrance?"
"I don’t know. I just feel it."
Thus, the two find their way back to the entrance under Xin Linhua’s lead.
"See? I told you the entrance was calling me."
Yokais. Entering the rift after causing chaos and destruction, possibly multiple homicide on the human world.
The world knows them as low ranking monsters that multiplies and reproduces at record speed.
Their ability to fly makes it suitable for Aeromancers and Geomancers to deal with them, but their screeches make it hard to focus cause it can damage one’s hearing. Low ranking but a menace.
A perfect example is like Xin Linhua who won’t let Rong Yizhan have a day of peace.
The records are wrong though. Yokais don’t reproduce. They nab humans, use a means to bring them back to the cave, and turn them to Yokais.
No wonder they look part human. The records say that they tried to mimic humans, but it’s not true. It’s because Yokais were once humans!
Just thinking about it makes Xin Linhua’s teeth hurt. He stretches his hand towards the Yokais.
"I know you can understand me, you bunch of purple vampires. If you have any humans with you, hand them over."
The Yokais exchange glances. They let out a loud screech, but they had both worn the earplugs back so they remain unaffected.
"Not willing to?" Xin Linhua recalls his hand "Fine then. I’ll take that as a challenge. Yaras?, take the bigger ones."
The whole thing blows over. Both sides collide with each other. Knives, screams, claws and hands.
Xin Linhua keeps an eye out, but he can’t find any of the humans he had suspected the Yokais went to bring back.
After losing so many of their comrades, they’re probably the last batch of Yokais left. It’s inevitable that they’ll use this chance to turn more humans into Yokais. After all, they can go out and come in as they like, but humans can’t.
One Yokai breaks free from the struggle and flies towards the inner layer of the cave. Xin Linhua pulls back from the scuffle. Something catches his eyes.
"Is that Yokai...pregnant?" His eyes suddenly light up "Not it’s not!"
Xin Linhua turns towards the direction the mutinied Yokai had taken.
"Yaras?, I’ll be right back! And whatever you do, do not stab their underbelly! Just cut off their heads or something!"
With that, Xin Linhua runs after the Yokai. It’s fast, and it’s hard to stay on track with how dark the place is, but having walked around in it for who knows how long, his eyes have adapted.
Having arrived at the Yokai’s destination, Xin Linhua realizes that it’s a somewhat familiar place. The blue pond.
Xin Linhua hides behind a wall. He watches as the Yokai glances around to see if it had been followed. Xin Linhua presses himself harder against the wall.
The Yokai reaches into its mouth and down its throat, gagging and pulling something out. A human!
"Shit..." Xin Linhua mutters "Straight out of a loony bin horror show."
Covered in both blood and grim, the human is submerged in the pond. The Yokai wait for a minute or two before unfurling its wings.
It lets out a screech, like a battle cry and charges straight into the dark pathway.
Xin Linhua hides in a crevice in the wall. After a few seconds, he emerges.
"Sorry Yaras?, you’ll have to deal with them on your own." He walks towards the river bank.
Unruly as he is, he kneels beside it. He can’t forget the nightmares he had experienced in that pond. Still, he holds his breath and jumps into the waters.
He grabs the unconscious human and drags both of them to shore.
"Ah!" He inhales "Damn, I hate that water!"
He turns to the human. A female. Probably a college student. She’s pale, and looks sickly.
Xin Linhua lifts her on his back and walks back to Rong Yizhan’s location.
"You killed them all?" He raises an eyebrow.
"The rift has opened." Rong Yizhan points at the entrance.
Xin Linhua carefully places the human he’s carrying against a wall.
"Let’s check their stomachs." Xin Linhua pulls out the knife Rong Yizhan gave him.
Maybe he’s imagining it but Rong Yizhan feels like Xin Linhua is far too happy for someone who wants to go fishing in a bunch of Yokais’ stomachs.