Reincarnation to the Past

Chapter 26

(A/N: I have updated Past of Alesandro, so if interested, do check it out.)

Li Yǔ's POV

Motion detectors... Of course, whoever built this place would install motion detectors too! I couldn't help but wonder whether it was all the doing of the Cyclops or whether Hephaestus had a hand to play in this. It was pretty impressive to see motion detectors at this time, although they didn't seem as advanced as in the future.

Now I could have tried to switch off the motion detector, but knowing Hephaestus or even the Cyclops, it was bound to be bugged. I was pretty sure that the moment anyone tried anything to it, it would trigger the trap...

I take another piece of meat and slide it down the floor, past the detector, and wait. At first, I didn't hear or sense anything, but after a minute or so, I heard it. A heavy rumble was nearing us very fast, and in a flash, I knew what it was. I instantly pulled Lì towards the wall closest to me (the right), while at the same time pushing the other two to the opposite wall. "Stick to the wall!!! NOW!", I scream over the rumbling sound, with an urgency in my voice that made them obey me instantly. We all pressed ourselves to our respective walls just as a huge circular boulder came rolling past us, missing us by an inch.

As soon as the boulder passed, Bai Ze's legs gave way and he collapsed on the floor, "Oh sweet mother!!! We almost got crushed by a huge stone!!!" 

"Well, if it helps, we're getting pretty close by..."

I watched as a look of relief washed over Bai Ze's face, before leading the way once again. Luckily, we managed to pass all the other traps which included a pressure plate that shot metal spikes straight up, two large axes swinging from opposite directions and planting themselves on either wall (Bai Ze gave out a shrill squeal as they barely missed him by an inch, which was funny), spike pits, fires shooting out of the walls or floors, and a mist that created illusions (I had fun slapping the life out of Bai Ze there, hehe), spiked walls closing in on us, etc... We finally reached a flight of stairs leading downwards that was covered with cobwebs.

It was weird, from the time we entered till now, we had never once come across any cobwebs, although it was musty and had all kinds of plants growing from the walls, and there were never any cobwebs. It had to be another trap, but what?? I could tell that whatever it was that they wanted was beyond these stairs. But I couldn't figure out what the trap could be. There were no motion detectors, so what would set off the trap??? A tripwire??? A switch???

Bai Ze (scared): What now???

Me: I'm not sure... But I think this could be another trap...

Lì (sighing): What makes you say that???

Bai Zou (noticing the cobwebs): Did we come across cobwebs before???

Me: Nope... That's why I think it's another trap... However, at the same time, it needn't be...

Bai Ze: So what do we do???

Me: Well... I don't see any trigger, so we could just climb down the step and see what happens. Although that could be extra dangerous, the thing you guys need is beyond the stairs so there's no choice but to go down. Not to mention there's no going back...

Lì (cautiously): How confident are you in taking a chance???

I shrugged, not overly concerned. "No matter what, I have at least a million ways to save myself... And depending on the situation, even you guys...". Seeing that we were in a water zone, which is kinda my territory, I didn't see any problem that could arise that I wouldn't be able to solve. Even if we did end up in a sticky situation, as long as I had my water powers I could vapor travel us all out of here. Although I hope it won't come to that seeing as I'd have to teleport not one but four people... 

All three of them looked at each other for a while, before turning to me and nodding in agreement. I told them to prepare for anything and took the first step and waited... Nothing happened; I could literally hear Bai Le letting out a sigh of relief... The second step, still nothing... But the minute my foot made contact with the third step, I heard a snap and the stairs gave way beneath us, turning into a slope and I could sense poisonous water at the bottom.

"Look, from what I can tell, we're heading straight into a poisonous pond... When you hit the water, immediately get to the surface and swim to the other end, leave the rest to me, got it???", I said and saw each of them nod. I focused on the waters below and started to mutter in ancient Greek, and willed the waters to form a thin layer of protection around the three, preventing the poison from touching them...

It didn't take much time to swim over to the man-made stony shore. I drew out the water from each of them and released it into the pond. By now, they didn't even look the slightest bit surprised so I didn't even bother with an excuse and we continued on our way.

We continued walking, for what seemed like forever, down a straight path until we came across a fork, which made me stop short. Two separate presences were hitting me, one was the pure water aura from the right, and the other was the darkness aura from the left. Now the question was, which path do I take???

Lì (worried): Is it another trap???

Me (brought out my thoughts): Huh??? No, there are no more traps... What you want is down that path (pointing to the left one)...

Bai Ze (confused): Then what are we waiting for???

Me (making my decision): Well... The thing is... I don't think I can lead you anymore...

Lì: What's wrong???

Me: As I told you before, the water is my element, and there seems to be something from the opposite path that's calling for me... So I feel that I have to go check it out (feeling guilty)...

Bai Ze: But only you can tell where the presence is!!!

I pondered for a while before coming up with an idea... I held out my hand and condensed the atmospheric water into a tiny ball, reshaping it into a water butterfly. The wings fluttered twice before it took to the air and hovered around the three. I grinned, "There... This will lead you the rest of the way!!! Once you get your object, you can just wait there for me..."... Lì stared at the butterfly and nodded, "See you in a bit...", he said smiling, before the three of them turned and walked down the path following the butterfly. I stared after them for a while before going down my path...