I never understood why people were so scared of the dark. 

I always liked the darkness before I lost my sight darkness always was my friend 

in darkness, no one could see you no one could judge you 

in darkness, it did not matter what clothes  you whore, what dress you fancied 

in darkness, the dark was your sanctuary

in darkness, a place where nobody would find you

and no one could find you 

the dark felt like home to me

when I closed my eyes, and everything disappeared in black

it was almost like I was once again free from all my pain 

and for once it didn’t hurt my heart.

I felt happy as I made my out of the mine shaft 

if I was smart I would have paid attention 

I would have noticed the light balls had disappeared and even with all my walking all the noise had disappeared 

I couldn't even hear my own 

 footsteps or the sound of running wind

it was almost too silent to be comfortable

the only thing I felt is darkness

but darkness is my friend

it has been my friend

the one person who had truly cared about me

the one that had always protected me when times got tough

Suddenly, the darkness to one side of the tunnel seemed to swell, and a big, unwashed man with a bald head stepped into my path.

even from a distance, I could smell his disgusting odour 

my stomach churned just from looking at him.

the man stared at me for a few moments, as if trying to understand what he was seeing.

he then started to walk forward slowly towards me.

as he walked closer he stopped, crouched down and started to take a stance for that I was familiar with 

he was getting ready to fight 

he let out a low feral growl 

a low pressure started eliminating from him as he readied himself 

out of habit, I opened my soul's eyes 

and just like a switch, my vision transformed 

a mixture of perfectly normal shapes and bizarre streamers of colour filled my vision 

It was similar to the glimpses I had seen in drug-induced visions before, but now it was everywhere.  

I could see energy pulsing within the man, moving to a slow, steady beat. 

 Wide, diffuse bands of light that were almost too faint to see floated through the air, moving around him as though they belonged there, and they were somehow linked together by the flowing energy.

As I watched, those same band lights moved with the man and with their energy, and soon the energy surrounding us seemed to change as well.

The shadows of the man and of his surroundings began to fade, 

until they completely disappeared it took me a second to realise that the man had charged 

I only had a second and all I could do was raise my hands in an attempt to shield myself before the man crashed into me 

as soon as he hit me, I prepared myself for the impact to throw me backwards 

but nothing of the sort happened instead the man who had charged me was the one who was thrown backwards 

I looked at the man or rather a husk that rested on the ground at my feet, twisted and broken.

the man was no longer a man at all it was as if someone had thrown the poor man into a churner or a mixture 

the man hands were twisted beyond any recognition even his bones had bent into an unnatural position 

The man’s face had a blank, expressionless look I was pretty sure he was dead 

his skin and hair were coated in blood and dirt

His eyes were sunken into their sockets

He wore a tattered, black shirt which was stained red with his own dried blood

Even in the dim lighting, I could see blood seeping from wounds on every part of his body.

he looked exactly like a twisted rag doll 

"What have you done?" 

someone shrieked as a shadow punched onto me from the shadows 

I instinctually side steeped as the thing came at me 

it missed me completely and crashed into the nearby wall causing a deep  crater

the thing that attacked me staggered back

Its eyes had turned bloodshot crimson

The creature stood upright again and screamed with anger

its eyes turned from bloodshot crimson to deep bloodshot red, like a cat's eyes

its face distorted into a grotesque grin that sent chills up my spine.

"Who are you?!" it shrieked in shell voice 

now that I had a clear look at the creature through my soul's eyes 

I saw that it was a woman with a deep brown murky aura swirling all her around

the woman had deep black hair and ashy pale white skin and she was on all her fours like a feral animal as she began to circle me like some predator about to pounce

"You killed him!" she screeched

her voice was like a banshee's scream mixed with the cries of a dying bird

her nails elongated and sharpened to claws and she lunged forward at me 

but in my vision, she began moving slowly 

so I grabbed her hand and held her shoulder in a vice-like grip, 

stepped back, and slammed my palm strengthen with cold soul energy into the poor woman's hyperextended elbow.

 The break was quick and savage. 

Then I twisted the woman’s broken arm and kicked her in the ribs.

 All the while I wondered,  “Why? Why?!”

I was suddenly hit with a wave of overwhelming nausea

my insides began to churn and writhe against my very being.

I felt dizzy, nauseous, and extremely weak.

As quickly as the sickness started to overcome me, it ceased.

My mind cleared as I began to quietly chant.

without waiting for the woman to react 

I began to channel my soul energy, spiritual energy I never got the correct name from Erebus and the others 

anger came to me as  lightning began to pulsate on my palms 

I grabbed the woman's forehead in one hand as I grabbed the back of her head in the other hand 

I began to visualise the two hands as two opposite points 

one negative one positive fueled by my emotions 

A crimson red lighting charged between my two hands 

 as the woman howled in agony

she tried to move away from my grip.

the lightning charred her as it passed through her brain 

it was only a few seconds but the 

lightning turned the woman to dust as her reaming charred body fell to the ground as I dropped the lifeless corpse, as its remains dissolved into ash

a smell of burnt bacon, clothes and some other nasty smell filled the cave 

, making me cringe

The corridor was silent now but there was still this dreadful ringing sensation in my ears

without looking back I began to run away from my crime scene and towards the exit from this godforsaken place.

....................................................................

thankfully I found no other surprises on my way to the exit out of this place 

.

The sun shone bright and warm as I exited through the entrance of the mine.

I sighed contentedly.

There was nothing more beautiful than the sunlight reflecting upon a clear blue sky.

I was glad to be alive again,

after living through my worst nightmare I wasn't keen on staying here any longer.

“All of you, go out and capture more people. Go capture more, quickly. Go capture more of these lowly peasants.” 

a shrill angry voice disturbed my mood 

as I looked I found twenty or so armoured men standing around an elderly woman wearing the sect robes  of my former sect 

.

They stood with their swords drawn

they stood in complete silence

they didn't speak nor move

their weapons were ready

I could see them shaking in fear

they were dressed in ancient Chinese  Han bronze armour painted in red 

the elderly lady was screaming and shouting at the men 

as if challenging them not to kill her, as if she expected them to obey.

She was clearly in her sixties but was strong and strong enough to defeat all of them alone.

Her greyish yellow hair was tangled

and matted by dust, dirt and blood.

she was also covered in cuts, bruises and bloody scars.

in my soul's eye, I could see the red angry energy flowing through them the most of the energy scared me 

if I had to do a comparison the two I met before just embers while these men were torches and the elderly lady was a dammed bonfire 

I was never able to see any energy in silver, Erebus or Lady won't but I bet they were much stronger than anyone here 

was roaring angrily.

“But young mistress.” The bald armoured guard said frantically, 

“We’ve already captured virtually all of the salves and practitioners in this area  there are none here anymore If there are any they must be at the central area where the main battle is going on"

the old lady blanched and pointed her bony finger at the bald man 

"You, insolent wretch, how dare you.........

she stopped in  mid sentence then gave a tooth from showing her crooked and blackened teeth 

"There no one left you, say" 

the bald armoured man frantically nodded 

"Then tell what is he"

suddenly she pointed at me and all the twenty guards turned toward me 

there was a prevent pause as  both parties stared at each other  and waited for  one of the other to speak or at least to do something 

"Aren’t you going to catch him?" the old woman said in a quite happy mood smiling from ear to ear  

then her smile vanished as she pointed at me 

"Kill him" she screamed 

there was a pause then 

“Kill!” The other Guards screamed as their aura instantly inflated a deep  red, 

and all of them transformed into blue blurs as they pounced towards me

they think the youngster in front of them is an easy kill. 

I thought I poured my energy into the

 golden sword rune and the golden shield tune I had imprinted on my wrists and 

With a movement of my right hand, I sent a golden broad sword chopping towards the chest of the closest  Guard. 

Bang…a low sound rang out, and the Blue Guard was sent flying far away into the air. His eyes were bulging and round, and his mouth was hanging wide open. His face was red. 

Bang! Fresh blood spewed out from his shattered arms and gutted stomach 

He fell into the ground over a hundred meters away, and as he did, he kicked up a dust storm sending mini end storms everywhere Clearly, he was dead.

every single one of the guards froze in place staring at me horror-stricken. They stood perfectly still in a rigid manner 

frankly, I was shocked to my sword attack was never this powerful before I had used it a thousand times by now and never did it do what it just did 

this was too powerful according to me 

.

The old lady looked at the fallen guards then back at me and smiled 

“Wonderful!” she exclaimed then she began to clap her hands and giggle 

“It looks like we have ourselves a powerful cultivator, how very nice" 

“Aren’t you going to fight him? He just killed one of your people! Quick, fight!” 

she shouted at all the guards as they remained frozen still in shock.

all of a sudden she jumped in the air and landed a few meters away from the guards

"Come on dogs! Go kill him now." She yelled.

All at once they all jumped and once again moved toward me 

“Oh no!" I thought 

this time I never had the chance even to channel my energy as they pounced toward me 

but as they got up close for some reason they became slow like they were mortals 

Hu! Hu! Hu! nineteen Guards attacked in unison.

but they were too slow in my eyes 

 With a wave of my  hand, I pushed away the first guard to reach me 

I was surprised to see how easy it was 

with another step, I sidestepped another onslaught by the two other guards 

with another wave of my hand, I swept away three more guards who were coming from behind me

I continued to evade their attacks and attacks without stopping, without getting tired...

Faced with the attacking Guards, I suddenly transformed into a ninja-like a gust of wind, the carefree wind which went where it pleased. 

When the Guards chopped and stabbed at him with their, sabres, spears, and sharp swords,

 I leisurely stepped past all their attacks, easily pushing the guards into each other 

HU! HU! HU! HU! HU!

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! 

with each don't each side steeped I activated my golden sword rune 

a series of swishing sound was made in a row 

as each sword sent a man flying 

some lost their hands and legs, some were disembowelled on the spot, some even lost their head 

As each man flew away, my golden sword would swoosh through the air and send them into the next life 

In less than a second, the remaining men were lying at the feet of each

others dead 

The old lady was staring at us with her mouth hung open in shock

she was speechless

"This is incredible"

then she began to jump up and down as she clapped her hands and giggled with glee.

"This is incredible I finally get to fight"

she screeched 

then suddenly the air around me began to turn cold  and dark

she raised her arm in a defensive stance in front of her body, as she growled

“Now then little boy! Come here! Come here! Fight me! Fight me! Come fight me!”

She snarled furiously with her greyish white teeth

Instantly, a cold aura began to radiate forth, and the temperature rapidly began to lower.

I could even see  A layer of ice and frost begin to spread out, and instantly the area within thirty meters of the old woman had turned into an icy death trap.

"Oh, this is fun I'm really enjoying myself."

the old lady grinned evilly

“Let's play with you! Let's make you suffer! Let's have some fun!"  

Suddenly she lifted both her hands high into the air

I readied myself as I began to manipulate their energy into the golden aura to fight this lady whoever she was 

but the then 

"Ackkkk!!"

She let out the most horrifying scream in my ears that even sounded terrifying

Her shrieks caused my heart to drop and my guts to churn and feel uneasy

After letting out those agonizing screams of pain the old lady collapsed in a heap on the floor

“What happened to her?" I thought 

then from behind her, I saw a smiling  Old Bu coming toward me as 10 brown rusty swords hovered and dance all around him and his smile grew wider and brighter and more sinister.

"Well well well,” he said calmly "what a surprise, to see you here, where have you been and what have you done to yourself never mind we don't have much time to waste follow me"

he then raised his hands and a sand storm formed around and gathered me up 

I let out a scream as it threw me in the air so fast.