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Chapter 49: Into the Depths
The night sky glowed faintly red. Whether it was Li Xingyuan’s imagination or not, he couldn’t say for sure.
Since the arrival of the Black Tide, the colors of the evening skies had shifted unpredictably each night, and the stars seemed different too. Tonight, they appeared closer—blood-red and ravenous, pressing down on Earth as if leaning in to observe every detail below. They rolled across the heavens like a sea of disembodied eyes, twisting, trembling, yearning. Drawn by the lingering aftertaste of the day’s feast, they seemed eager, almost impatient, for the next banquet to begin.
If the Black Tide could transform something within the solid earth into that horrifying black liquid—the so-called milk of Di Mu—then what of the stars above? Had they also been infected by the chaotic tide, becoming living entities locked in cosmic battles?
Li Xingyuan lowered his gaze. The doorways flickered at the edges of his vision—he’d grown accustomed to these apparitions. The beings passing through them remained oblivious to everything around them, even during the frenzied feast earlier that afternoon. Not one had paused.
Perhaps, to those entities, nothing happening on Earth mattered. Or perhaps such madness was commonplace to them.
"Mr. Li?"
Old Liu’s voice snapped Li Xingyuan out of his thoughts.
"Let’s go," Li Xingyuan replied, refocusing. He followed Old Liu back into the Fengyuan Copper Mine.
He still wore his miner’s boots and helmet, but the ground beneath felt sticky, like tar. Black fluid seeped from the walls of the mine, clinging to his boots with an incessant murmur—a cacophony of disjointed whispers resisting his every step. The stench that had assaulted him earlier was now overpowering, thick and cloying, as though countless proteins were burning and flesh decaying all at once.
Li Xingyuan had to exert more force to pull his boots free with each step.
Someone had pulled the power switch before leaving, plunging the mine into darkness. When Li Xingyuan restored the electricity, the entire Fengyuan Copper Mine seemed to stir, as if the great beast had awakened and sighed for the first time. Lights flickered on where they stood, stretching deep into the tunnels ahead—an invitation into the abyss.
The guards stationed at the employee dormitories would surely notice the power restoration and might already be en route.
Li Xingyuan and Old Liu boarded the elevator, descending deeper into the new section of the Fengyuan mine. Earlier, they had checked the explosives storage above ground. The good news: no guards. The bad news: no explosives either. Mine Director Shi must have moved them. Their only hope now lay underground, where fresh supplies were typically stored near newly excavated areas. Hopefully, Shi hadn’t gotten to those yet.
The descent felt strange, the darkness slowly swallowing the layers of ancient rock around them. The air grew stale and foul, reeking of scorched proteins and rotting flesh.
Li Xingyuan realized something unsettling: while some of the black liquid had surged out of the tunnels to become Fengyuan’s feast, much of it had stayed behind, pooling within the mine in a more stable form.
What exactly was this substance—or lifeform?
Occasionally, during the elevator’s descent, Li Xingyuan caught fleeting glimpses of isolated eyes floating in the residual black liquid. They stared at him briefly before vanishing.
When the elevator finally reached the bottom, its heavy steel frame slammed onto the ground with a wet thud, as though crushing something beneath it. A low, feeble groan followed. Li Xingyuan didn’t want to know what—if anything—the elevator had destroyed.
At the deepest level of the new mine, pure blackness reigned.
The miners’ lamps barely penetrated the oppressive darkness, illuminating only a small patch directly ahead. Unable to rely solely on light, Li Xingyuan and Old Liu extended their arms forward, feeling cautiously for obstacles hidden in the void.
“Old Liu.”
“Hmm.”
Black droplets fell on them like viscous rain, indifferent and merely passing through.
Li Xingyuan thought again of the grotesque creature from the afternoon. He hadn’t sensed any hostility from it, even as it was devoured alive.
Contemplating the meaning of the Black Tide’s anomalies felt futile.
In this suffocating darkness, the only thing Li Xingyuan could clearly see was the door.
The distribution warehouse wasn’t far from the entrance—a sturdy iron door designed for maximum security, requiring two locks to be opened simultaneously. For Li Xingyuan, however, it posed little challenge.
Instead of fiddling with the physical locks, he touched the invisible keyhole at the center of the door. It swung open effortlessly.
“That’s… a dangerous ability, Mr. Li,” Old Liu remarked, his tone layered with unease.
While summoning flames or ice might seem flashier, Old Liu understood the true peril of being able to unlock any door imaginable.
Li Xingyuan said nothing, adjusting his headlamp to survey the contents of the warehouse. Inside were not just explosives but also mining tools whose functions eluded him.
“Old Liu, take a look,” Li Xingyuan said, stepping further inside. Old Liu followed closely, scanning under the lamplight for what they needed.
But then, both froze mid-motion. They heard a sound that didn’t belong here—the unmistakable crunch of something stepping across the ground.
Another monster?
Old Liu wasn’t armed, but the two “Ritual Attendants” hadn’t attacked them earlier. Perhaps this one wouldn’t either.
Still, better safe than sorry. Li Xingyuan quickly pulled the thick, reinforced iron door shut, preparing to wait until whatever it was passed by.
The sound drew nearer, eventually stopping right outside the warehouse door.
Had they been discovered?
Could it sense prey through heat, like those monstrous flying creatures associated with that divine being?
“Mr. Li, there you are.”
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