Hao Xuan looked everywhere but could find no trace of Jin Wang. Exasperated, he traced his steps and went back out where he was met by a group of children not too far from the entrance. They were playing some sort of a game with rocks, tossing them from one spot to another on one foot.
With a smile and candies in hand, Hao Xuan walked up to them. To any adult he would seem like the most suspicious person, creeping around kids, offering them sweets. Thankfully, no such adult was nearby.
"Hey kids, you want some chocolate? The biggest piece goes to the one who can answer my question," he said waving a bar of it around in front of his face. But the reaction he was expecting didn't come. All of the children looked at him with the same confused expression until he realized why.
None of them had any idea what chocolate was.
*Sigh*
"Free sample to get them hooked," he mumbled, using the same strategy as a drug dealer. He broke of several small pieces of it and gave one to each of the 6 kids before taking a bite himself.
"See? So good!" he made an exaggerated expression. Still suspicious, one of them took a small bite and his eyes widened. Maybe it was because of the sugar rush or just pure astonishment, but he gobbled up the rest instantly.
"MORE MORE!" he jumped up and down in front of Hao Xuan like a rabbit.
Hao Xuan smiled, "Sure, just tell me if you saw the guy that came with me. Where did he go?"
"I don't know. More!" the kid shook his head while extended his hand.
The other children saw him and tried out their pieces and had much of the same reactions. All of them surrounded Hao Xuan, begging for more.
A little girl pushed several of the bigger boys away and squeezed through to the front with a raised hand, "Me me! I saw him!"
"Great, where did he go? Tell me and the rest is yours," Hao Xuan gestured towards the remaining bar.
"Aunty Buse took him over there," she pointed towards the west of the camp.
"Buse? Is that why she didn't come back for dinner?" he mumbled. Without waiting any further he threw the bar towards the little girl and walked where she had pointed.
All the other children looked at her with envy. One of them walked towards her with a troubled expression.
"Cara, if I give you my favorite rock, can I have a little piece?" he opened his palm in which a perfectly spherical rock laid. Some of the other kids gasped.
The girl named Cara pushed his hand away with a smile, "You keep the rock, I'll share with everyone!"
All the other kids started cheering for her. Hao Xuan who was watching from afar was impressed. He stayed nearby and observed the situation unfold in case they tried to take it from her but she gave it away willingly.
"I would have never done that as a kid..." he mumbled, prompting Baracus to speak up.
"Of course, you are not that kind-hearted."
"Really? I think I'm pretty kind," Hao Xuan retorted with an annoyed expression.
"Should I mention the name of every person you have killed so far?"
"That's different," Hao Xuan shook his head, "They were asking for it."
"If that's what you want to believe, sure," Baracus replied nonchalantly, making Hao Xuan's brows furrow.
"I don't like you very much you know," Hao Xuan commented.
"Oh no, whatever will I do," Baracus replied sarcastically.
Ignoring his further comments Hao Xuan made his way through the maze-like structures while avoiding any others to the best of his abilities. 25 minutes later he finally reached the end of the cavern.
There was an alley leading to this place but it was a dead end. And judging from the footprints on the ground someone had passed by not too long ago.
"Baracus, can you find anything?" he mumbled while looking around himself. There were no false walls or anything. It didn't look like anything opened here.
"Let me scan," Baracus replied as a horizontal beam of light came from the watch. Hao Xuan stood back and raised his hand so it could cover a wider area.
"There is no false wall, it's just a little deceptive technique. 5 meters straight, 3 meters to the left."
Hao Xuan followed his directions and the cavern wall that seemed like it was right in front of him suddenly moved back. Or rather, it was always like this.
The wall was carved in such a way so as to create an illusion of it being closer than it actually was. Right under it was a meter wide pathway that went straight into the ground.
As he followed the path, the light from the lightstones slowly vanished. He waved his hand and summoned White and made him use his ability. As White's Qi circulated within his body, Hao Xuan's pupils changed into that of a snake and he could once again see clearly in the dark.
The pathway was extremely narrow. Even someone of a smaller stature would have trouble moving freely so with Hao Xuan's slightly larger body he had to move sideways and it still felt suffocating.
Thankfully, he didn't need to go far. Just a few minutes in and the pathway started expanding until he could see a doorway in the distance.
It seemed like barely anyone ever visited this place. The air was stale and smelt a little like rotting flesh. The doorway was carved out of stone and on top of it were some carvings.
Hao Xuan squinted his eyes and after a few seconds realized that the carvings were similar to some of the letters in these people's language, although these ones looked far more complicated. He tried to read the words the best he could.
"The First...born?" he mumbled.
"Ohh, you're here.. Come," a voice suddenly spoke up, startling Hao Xuan.