Chapter Text
Another night disrupted by jerking awake with sweat on his brow, bile in his throat and a cold feeling all over his body. For a moment all Liu Sang heard was the fast pounding of his heart, almost harsh to his own ears before his chest finally contracted again and he sucked in some much needed air.
It almost burned in his lungs, yet felt refreshing and helped to alleviate some of the lightheaded feeling.
More sounds started to bleed into his awareness and he reached up to drag his hands over his face. It was a good thing that he only shared sharing the tent with Kan Jian and that the man happened to be on guard duty. The other would probably have continued to sleep while Liu Sang struggled through his latest nightmare, but on the off chance that Kan Jian happened to wake up and notice that Liu Sang had stopped breathing…
No, he’d rather not think of the ruckus Kan Jian would have caused out of concern, likely waking up the whole camp in the process.
Glancing at his watch he noted that it was only about an hour before sunrise, meaning that it would only take two more hours before life would return to camp.
Deciding to give up on sleep, he sat up and wiggled from his sleeping bag. Quietly he went about making himself presentable and packing up his belongings.
With nothing else to do he went on to gather most of Kan Jian’s things as well, without actually packing his bubbly friend’s backpack. That felt too personal.
Besides Liu Sang was certain the other had his own storing system.
A sigh fell from his parted lips. Perhaps he should have sat this expedition out again. It wouldn’t be the first time the Iron Triangle had invited him, nor would it be the last time.
The invites hadn’t been exclusively for exploring tombs, but also for friendly get-togethers and other stuff.
At first he had declined because he thought they only did it out of politeness.
Then because he didn’t feel ready to be confronted with their… weird uniqueness and the combination of the three of them in one place. Or at least that was what he told himself. The truth was that the events bringing them together in the first place had left him more shaken up than he was originally aware of himself.
Granted, he doubted many could have gone through what he had, in such a short time on top of that, and come out without a scar – visible or not.
Poisoning aside, he thought himself to be left mostly unaffected for a while and blamed his hesitation to further engage with them on a personal level on his past experiences.
But just when he’d been healed up and ready to go on with is life, his body and mind decided that this was the right time to dump the whole fallout on him in one go.
It was almost ironic how the heat of fire and the smoke burning in his eyes and lungs were replaced by smooth and cold water and him desperately trying to keep precious air inside his lungs until even the last bit escaped him in little bubbles and-
He squeezed his eyes shut, shifted his glasses slightly up and pressed the balls of his hands against his eyes. Deep breaths. He was fine now.
Liu Sang fleetingly wondered what would come next.
He’d already been buried under the earth right after meeting the Iron Triangle and he had tumbled down the valley that lead to Thunder City as well, only to nearly end up as a victim of poisoned air.
So water should be the end of it. He had been exposed to the worst of the four elements – five if he included the noise from the thunder…
So,… did that make him the new master of elements? The avatar?
He shook his head at his own thoughts and let a smile curl his lips upward. Stupid Pangzi making him sit in on ‘family’ night.
Meeting Xiao Mei was a pleasant surprise thought – she was adorable.
Liu Sang wasn’t sure about the exact relation between Pangzi and her, but it was obvious that the whole group was very taken with her. Especially Pangzi was very protective.
His smile dropped as a small pang of envy went through him.
He couldn’t claim remembering anyone ever looking at him like that.
Gaze soft and gentle, yet fierce.
Liu Sang paused, suddenly thinking of a man wearing sunglasses who casually draped an arm over his shoulder and cracked a joke against his ear.
Unbidden his little smile returned. It might not be quite the same, but Hei Xiazi for all his bluster and teasing seemed to have taken a particular liking to him.
Liu Sang still wasn’t quite sure if the man liked him just for himself or if he loved the chaos he could bring – him being a magnet for bad luck and thus providing good entertainment.
He couldn’t deny that he also had ended up being fond of Hei Xiazi.
And not just because they found out that they used to train under the same master: Liu Sang for his listening training and learning to translate that into his mapping skills and Hei Xiazi…
Well, the man hadn’t been entirely clear about what exactly it was that Shifu had taught him, but he hinted that it had to do with how he could ‘see’ and fight even in pitch black darkness.
It made the mapping expert believe that Hei Xiazi had sort of similar skills as he did, just on a very limited level, allowing him to perceive his surroundings by the resonance of sound. Combined with his superior battle instinct and combat skills, it was no wonder the other was one of the best mercenaries money could buy.
Later that day, Hei Xiazi fell into step by his side, letting the movement of his body shift his weight to lightly bump their shoulders together.
Glancing over Liu Sang saw the mercenary’s head turned towards him, his mouth curled into a slightly questioning frown.
Liu Sang shook his head. It was nothing.
Just missing out on sleep and some remembrance of the nightmare still lingering, making it seem like he would never truly be warm again and causing a queasy feeling in his stomach whenever he heard the sound of water sloshing around somewhere.
Given that they were walking along a mountain trail next to a river that had carved it’s way through the stone, the clear liquid rushing over stones rounded over time…
Okay, yes, he wasn’t in peak condition.
The heavy sigh he released suggested as much.
The arm going over his shoulders and squeezing him close almost felt natural by now and he gave Hei Xiazi a faint smile of gratitude.
Meanwhile the group had arrived at a rope bridge – the only visible connection connecting to the other side of the cliff cutting the land in two.
Xiaoge stepped forth to test it for sturdiness and gave a nod.
For safety reasons the team decided that they’d make it across one at a time.
Kan Jian was one of the first who went over the bridge.
While they waited for the rest he formed a small team and went scouting for potential troubles – just to be on the safe side.
After about 20 minutes it was finally Liu Sang’s turn, with Hei Xiazi bringing up the rear.
The young specialist was carefully putting one foot in front of the other.
The wood creaked almost threatening under his weight and he gritted his teeth, his gaze firmly fixed at a point at the end of the bridge. This way he wouldn’t have to see the masses of water beneath him, nor be forced to look into the faces of the other expedition members.
Thankfully Kan Jian had just returned and it drew most people’s attention away from him.
He swallowed hard as a sudden gust of wind seemed to lift up the wobbly contraption by a few centimeters before dropping him back down. His stomach lurched dangerously and his heart skipped a few beats before pounding hard against his rib cage.
He held on tightly to the rope, feeling the sweat stick to his hands inside his fingerless gloves. For a few moments all he could hear was a big mash-up of sounds – everything just blurred together.
He forced himself to take a deep breath and then walked on – nearly stepping through a missing plank.
The urge to vomit once he was on the other side was only outweighed by the relief of having steady ground beneath his feet.
“You good Jinx? You had me scared there for a moment when that wind grabbed the bridge.” Pangzi was suddenly by his side and offered him a bottle of water. “I told you, you eat too little. If that had been me on that bridge, it wouldn’t have done much but gently sway in the breeze.”
Liu Sang huffed out a laugh but shook his head at the offered drink. Even just a small sip might be all it took for his stomach to finally flip. Quite literally.
Pangzi looked at him in concern, but accepted his judgement and lightly patted him on the shoulder, before turning back towards the head of the group.
The moment he had stepped away to see what ‘Tianzhen’ was up to now, another set of shoes made the ground crunch and Hei Xiazi had taken up the spot next to him. “You doing okay?”
The deep and genuine concern made him give a reassuring smile in return. “Yes. Just a bit… I didn’t expect that to happen. I probably should have.” he shrugged.
And wasn’t that the truth? Everyone else had gotten over fine, it was just his luck that the wind made the bridge behave like a wild horse trying to throw its rider off.
“Don’t worry. If you had fallen in, I’d have jumped in right after you and fished you back out. Can’t have anything happen to my Shidi now, can I?”
The new nickname was so unexpected that he found himself blinking dumbly at the other. Said man just laughed loudly and dragged him along by means of wrapping an arm around him.
They didn’t get to set up camp. Not really.
It was his fault. He shouldn’t have mentioned that he had already found the tomb’s entrance when they had reached the area that Wu Xie had yet again somehow deducted to be their target location.
It probably had something to do with his degree in architecture.
The way Wu Xie’s eyes had lit up was like looking up at the night sky, away from the city’s lights, and seeing it sparkle with the light of a million scattered stars.
Unable to resist he gave into the puppy eyes and he pointed out the wall that immediately had his Ouxiang run his fingers over the surface, his interest obviously peaked.
It took less than two minutes – obviously, his Ouxiang was an expert in finding and unlocking hidden doors and mechanism – for the grind of stone against stone to begin. The rough sound made him wince and turn up the white noise of his headphones until the entryway had opened all the way.
Wu Xie nearly skipped past him in excitement and Liu Sang mused that the other acted, felt and sounded at least 10 years younger compared to when he had first met him. Surviving a usually inescapable death sentence and pushing through every obstacle that stood in his way may have had a revitalizing effect.
Not just on the body but on the mind as well.
Then again from what he learned, Wu Xie always got like this: Impatient and easily excitable.
Luckily Zhang Qiling wasn’t moved by the puppy eyes and kept his arm firmly between Wu Xie and the entrance, only breaking eye contact to shortly gaze into the darkness himself.
Hei Xiazi suddenly slapped the other martial arts master on the shoulder and casually waltzed past him. “You keep Wu Xie safe for a little bit longer and I’ll go check for immediate dangers, kay? And even if there are none you should still wait for Liu Sang to do his thing!”
Liu Sang had closed his eyes the moment Hei Xiazi entered and was doing his best to track the other’s movement and surrounding terrain.
It took him a few minutes of carefully removing any other sound from his immediate vicinity to fully focus on Hei Xiazi moving around inside.
The sound was kind of off.
“What do you mean the sound is off?”
The question was asked very quietly but he still jumped in surprise, ripped out from his intense concentration so unexpectedly that he actually felt dizzy. A gentle hand at the small of his back helped to keep him steady.
Another hand took hold of his arm and he blinked confusedly first at his Ouxiang and then Wu Xie who actually looked apologetic.
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to take a peek at what you were drawing and then you mumbled to yourself...”
Liu Sang blinked again slowly before looking down onto his drawing pad.
It wasn’t a map, of course.
He may be able to map to a degree without his tools, but…
Blankly he stared at the seemingly random lines arranged in a sort of circular shape, tilting his head slightly to the side as if that would help him to make sense of the drawing he himself had created. He thought back to what Wu Xie had said.
Right, ... the sound had been off.
But what had he been thinking about when he said it?
He never drew random lines. It was all connected to his auditory input and-
“Waves...” he suddenly muttered, before glancing at Wu Xie with newfound clarity. “The distortion of sound. That’s what is off. Given the size of the tunnel he shouldn’t be throwing an echo, not even a small one. It must be the odd shaped surface of the walls themselves, as the material is not known for creating echoes at all.”
Seeing how advanced the craft of the creators of this tomb must have been – going by the mechanism at the stone gate, which needed someone of his Ouxiang’s caliber to open – he refused to even entertain the thought that the ripple-like surface of the walls leading below were a coincidence.
The probability of this phenomenon being a freak of nature that the architect of this tomb just happened to stumble upon was very slim.
Besides, the path behind the gate was leading down in a large spiral that was slowly getting smaller. There was no way that this was created by nature alone.
Unbidden he stepped closer to the entrance and closed his eyes again, absently letting out a low whistle that barely carried sound for normal people, but was loud enough to help recreate the structure before his inner eye once again.
He found Hei Xiazi just as the man reached the end of the spiral. He stayed in place for a few moments before turning around and starting his trek back up again.
After Hei Xiazi announced the immediate entrance free of dangers their team started to head down. Only a few people remained behind to guard some of the heavier equipment.
The odd shapes of the wall reminded Liu Sang of roundish shell-imprints, just way larger.
At the bottom of the spiral he let himself drop down onto a clean and dry spot,
sketchbook open and pencil poised to get started.
The metal of the whistle was cool and smooth against Liu Sang’s lips and he once again confirmed that everything was in place before nodding slightly.
“It’s on everyone! Not a word or any other kind of sound!” Pangzi cheerfully hollered out the order, making Liu Sang give him a little glare as he pulled his earplugs out and blew into the whistle. Immediately his special view of the world bloomed before his inner eye.
The scratch of lead on the rough surface of the paper, multiple heartbeats and some rustle of clothing as people shifted or stretched and an occasional sigh of impatience were the only sounds audible to him.
By the time Liu Snag was finally done with the map his legs tingled and he had to blink a couple of times against the light before glancing at his latest creation himself.
Getting his first look at the 2D map he had created from his “sound-seeing” always felt weird to him.
His master had relentlessly trained him in this craft until he no longer needed to consciously think about the conversion between sound and drawing. As long as he had his eyes closed and just let it flow…
“What are these spots here?” Wu Xie asked, leaning in almost greedily to get a better look at what awaited them.
Still a bit out of it he mutely pulled the paper from it’s holding and held it up for the other man to take.
“Water.”, he absently answered, the question barely registering in his mind.
“There seem to be all kinds of ponds around. They might be stacked like a water terrace.”
There were excited exclamations as people were looking forward to a hopefully divine view.
A leather gloved hand slid into his field of view and Liu Sang didn’t really need to trace up the rest of the limb to know that it belonged to Hei Xiazi. Said man was looking at him with his usual shit-eating grin.
Shaking his head, he clasped the offered hand and let the other pull him onto his feet, staggering at the surprising strength, ending up stumbling against Hei Xiazi’s chest and promptly poking him between the ribs. Obviously Hei Xiazi had intentionally used more strength than had been necessary.
Show-off. It was unfair how the other could make it look like Liu Sang weighted nothing and pulling him up was easy as pie.
He allowed himself a smug little grin as Hei Xiazi yelped at the ‘attack’ and promptly drew away from him. “What was that for?!” he protested, making Liu Sang roll his eyes.
It was a pity Huo Daofu wasn’t with them. The man was capable of truly epic eye rolls.
As it was he had to settle for crossing his arms and lifting one unimpressed eyebrow, causing Hei Xiazi to snicker and drop his act soon after. “Alright, alright! I give in!”