MadGhostofBrownHollow

Yeah, uh, this chapter is short. (Not that that’s anything new...)

Tan Shihong followed the stranger closely, not necessarily because of his immense suspicion towards him, but just because the sudden impulse overtook him. A part of him desperately wanted to try and climb back up the stone walls to reach the opening of the cave again, but due to the impressive size of the cavern he knew that was impossible. What other reasonable options were there? 

    He just jumped down and down, from pillar to pillar, following the stranger until he was doubtful he even knew where he was going anymore. It grew dark, and even if he was dead, Tan Shihong still couldn’t see in pitch-black conditions, and thus kept following the sound of the stranger’s footsteps. He had to rely on the sound of his own footsteps touching the pillars because due to his lack of sensation and the surrounding environment, if he began falling again, it would be difficult to tell. Like being buried in an avalanche, he was unaware of what was up and what was down, and everything in-between. 

    That was, until he heard the stranger turn. The stranger had begun walking across the pillar, and Tan Shihong stumbled after him, and it felt like he was walking down a never-ending road. Step after step, until he heard the stranger stop too late to avoid crashing into a wall. 

                Then, with a snap of his fingers, the stranger held a blazing torch above his head, lighting up the dark expanse of the room. 

               “What the hell?? You could’ve done that the whole time?” Chang Fa exclaimed, “Why’d we walk so long in the dark for if you could do that, dude?!” 

                Tan Shihong rolled his eyes at Chang Fa’s outburst, but he had to agree. Wasn’t this guy just being needlessly edgy? 

                “Man…” Chang Fa slunk back next to Tan Shihong, leaning close and whispering, “This dude is so creepy… Isn’t he creepy? Just look at him standing there… weirdin out-“ He broke off, turning his head away and gagging, “You need to brush your hair, it’s all in my mouth now…” He said, shutting up finally to pull out a the few strands. He shivered in disgust, who’d want to have a dead guy’s bloody hair in their mouth? 

              Tan Shihong rolled his eyes again, slapping Chang Fa on the back once in response hard enough he thought he could hear Chang Fa’s ribcage echo, “Here, let me help you.” 

               Chang Fa slumped and laid down on the floor uselessly, allowing Tan Shihong a second to properly look at their surroundings. 

               The room wasn’t incredibly large, but as he took a few steps forward the place started to seem less like a cave and more like an actual home. With another step, his vision seemed to warble and the morphing cave walls became painted, furniture that wasn’t there before emerged in his sights. 

              ‘Wait… which one is the illusion? Are we really in a cave or are we in a mansion? Or… both?’ Tan Shihong wrinkled his brow in confusion. 

              [Oh finally figuring out you don’t know everything?] The system drawled sarcastically, in that sweet monotone voice of it’s. 

             ‘You and Chang Fa really are similar in being a pain in the ass.’  Tan Shihong snarked.