A Song for The Ages

Feiyin leaned back against the cavern wall, the dim glow of the distant fungi casting soft shadows around them. The quiet murmurs of the gathered survivors filled the space, a stark contrast to the tension they had lived in for weeks.

Yue hadn't stopped hovering since she first tackled him. Even now, she sat next to him, tail curling around herself as her ears flicked toward every sound he made.

Ren sat across from them, arms crossed, expression unreadable but relaxed in a way Feiyin had rarely seen before. Shen Mu was nearby, his gaze sharp but filled with quiet relief. The rest of the survivors, some familiar, some new, huddled closer, watching.

Feiyin sighed, shaking his head. "I get it. You missed me."

Yue puffed her cheeks, tail flicking sharply. "Of course we did! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"

Ren scoffed. "I wasn't worried."

Yue shot him a glare. "You wouldn't stop complaining about how stupid it was that you weren't the one trapped."

Ren clicked his tongue and looked away. "That's because it should have been me. I would've found a way out faster."

Feiyin laughed. "That's cute, Ren. You should say that with more confidence next time."

Ren's eye twitched.

Shen Mu coughed into his hand, amused. "To be fair, you do seem annoyingly difficult to get rid of, Feiyin."

Feiyin grinned. "I try my best."

A soft chuckle spread through the group before the mood settled into something more serious.

Yue exhaled slowly. "But really… what happened to you? Where were you?"

Feiyin waved a hand dismissively. "Long story. Crawled through tunnels, fought a monster, nearly died, killed the monster, got lost, found Bai Yu, "

The white snake flicked his tongue at the sound of his name.

", wandered around for weeks, then found you guys. That's the short version."

Yue stared at him. "That's not a short version, that's a nightmare."

Feiyin shrugged. "What about you? What did I miss?"

Yue's ears drooped.

"…After you got trapped, we had no idea what to do," she admitted. "Ren wanted to start digging through the debris, but…"

Ren's scowl deepened.

"…We knew it was too risky," Shen Mu finished for her. "So we did the next best thing: we made sure we survived long enough to find another way."

Feiyin nodded. "And? How was it?"

Yue snorted. "Terrible."

Ren grunted. "Tolerable."

Shen Mu shrugged. "Manageable."

Feiyin chuckled. "Which one of you do I believe?"

Yue huffed. "Me, obviously."

Ren rolled his eyes. "What she means is that we had to be extra cautious without you."

Shen Mu nodded. "With one less strong fighter, we had to rely on strategy more than brute force. We avoided direct confrontations unless necessary."

Feiyin glanced at Ren. "And you?"

Ren stretched out his legs, rolling his shoulders. "Figured out what I was doing wrong in my training. Turns out I was using the wrong muscle groups for my strength exercises. After I fixed that, my inner strength shot up."

Feiyin raised a brow. "to how much?"

Ren smirked. "4000 kg."

Feiyin let out a low whistle. "Not bad."

Ren's smirk widened. "Obviously."

Yue grinned. "It was crazy. He kept muttering about how annoyed he was that you weren't there to see it."

Ren's eye twitched. "Shut up."

Feiyin laughed, genuinely impressed. Ren had always been strong, but with the right guidance, he was rapidly catching up.

"What about the others?" Feiyin asked, glancing around.

A few of the survivors shifted under his gaze.

Shen Mu hummed. "Most of them focused on training their survival skills. Some managed to improve their body tempering by a small margin. Others… just tried to endure."

Yue nodded. "Food was scarce. Water wasn't always safe. We had to be careful where we slept because the caves kept shifting. Some nights, we could hear something moving in the dark…"

Feiyin frowned. "Something?"

Ren's expression darkened slightly. "Not beasts."

Shen Mu met Feiyin's eyes. "There are other survivors. Not all of them are friendly."

A heavy silence followed.

Feiyin let the words settle. Of course, it wasn't just them.

Some people, when pushed to the brink, lost their humanity before they lost their lives.

Yue's tail wrapped around herself. "That's why we stuck together as much as possible."

Feiyin's gaze softened. "You did well."

Yue blinked, ears twitching. "Huh?"

Feiyin smiled. "You kept everyone safe. That's not easy."

Yue opened her mouth, then closed it, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

Ren snorted. "She's been waiting for you to say that."

Yue whipped around to glare at him. "REN!"

Feiyin chuckled. "Well, I mean it."

Yue grumbled, looking away.

Shen Mu chuckled softly. "With you back, our chances have doubled."

Feiyin raised a brow. "That bad?"

Shen Mu's smirk didn't quite reach his eyes. "It was never good to begin with."

Feiyin exhaled. "Then let's change that."

Yue grinned. "We've been waiting for you to say that, too."

Feiyin smiled, glancing at the faces around him.

He was back.

And this time, he would be ready.

The following days settled into a rhythm, one that felt almost normal. Almost.

Feiyin took back his role with ease, training the group, correcting their stances, their breathing, their execution of techniques. Some were better than others, but Ren was the one who flourished the most.

"You're still putting too much weight on your front leg," Feiyin pointed out, watching as Ren executed a powerful strike.

Ren huffed. "It's the most stable position for a direct blow."

Feiyin tilted his head. "Stable, yes. But stable doesn't always mean optimal. If you're rooted too deeply, what happens when you need to dodge?"

Ren frowned. Feiyin stepped forward, demonstrating a motion, a strike, then a sharp, fluid pivot backward.

"You need to be adaptable, not just strong. Otherwise, you're a mountain waiting to be pushed."

Ren clicked his tongue, grumbling, but adjusted his stance. It only took a few more corrections before he finally managed to cross the 5000 kg boundary.

"See?" Feiyin smirked. "Now you're actually dangerous."

Ren wiped the sweat off his forehead, rolling his eyes. "I was already dangerous."

Yue snickered. "You were scary. Now you're just terrifying."

Shen Mu chuckled. "A terrifying meat shield."

Ren glared. "I hate all of you."

Laughter rippled through the group, but there was no mockery in it, just familiarity, warmth. It was something they hadn't had in weeks.

Something worth holding onto.

Feiyin took the time to learn from the others as well.

Shen Mu proved invaluable in teaching him more about plant life in the caves. Feiyin listened intently, absorbing knowledge about what was edible, what could be used for medicine, and what was better left untouched.

"This one here," Shen Mu said, pointing to a faintly glowing fungus, "is safe in small amounts but causes hallucinations if eaten in excess."

Feiyin raised a brow. "Hallucinations?"

Shen Mu nodded. "I suspect some of the more unhinged survivors we encountered may have ingested it unknowingly."

Feiyin frowned. "That's good to know. Anything else?"

Shen Mu pointed to another plant, this one dull gray and barely noticeable against the cavern wall. "This can slow bleeding if crushed and applied directly."

Feiyin committed the information to memory. Knowledge was as much a weapon as his blade.

Hunting became more efficient.

Yue led the group alongside Feiyin, tracking creatures using her nose, while Feiyin and others took them down swiftly. They began stockpiling food, ensuring that everyone got enough to eat. Even those who had barely survived before began regaining their strength.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't comfortable.

But it was survivable.

Feiyin should have felt more at ease.

And yet,

That strange, uneasy dissonance in the back of his mind never left him.

Something was wrong.

And it had nothing to do with the cave.

The heart-eating worm.

Feiyin had spent nights trying to sense it, to understand its oscillations.

It was small, nearly imperceptible. A parasite hidden within, waiting, watching.

It pulsed faintly, in time with his heartbeat, but not in sync. A discordant presence. A parasite, just as Shen Mu said, one that only needed an excuse to wake up and devour him.

Feiyin's fingers clenched over his chest.

'I have to figure out a way to remove it.'

But how?

He didn't know.

And that was what terrified him.

Still, he didn't stop searching.

Because he refused to be anyone's pawn.

He would find a way.

The days passed too quickly.

And then, the sharp whistle cut through the cavern.

A commanding, cold voice followed:

"You have two hours to get here, or you will die."

Silence fell over the group.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

They had all known this day was coming.

But knowing was different from facing it.

Ren exhaled through his nose. "Well. That's subtle."

Yue's ears flattened. "…It's over?"

Shen Mu's jaw tightened. "The month is up."

Feiyin closed his eyes briefly, before opening them again. "We survived."

Some part of him expected to feel relief.

He didn't.

Because survival wasn't victory.

"We should feel happy, right?" one of the younger survivors murmured. "We made it, so… why do I feel like something worse is about to happen?"

Feiyin didn't answer.

Because that feeling?

He felt it too.

They were about to see their captors again.

And nothing about that could be good.