Never Again

Gulping, Xi Rin rushes to get out of its way as it dives at her. Moving to put some distance between them, in that moment of panic, she realized she just made a stupid decision. She just placed herself between the cave and the panther with the exit behind the panther. Now her chance of survival is even less. So instead of escaping out into the forest, she"s now stuck with this killer cat in an enclosed s.p.a.ce.

Great. She just escaped that snake, only to become cat food?! No way!

Like being in a cave with a killer cat isn"t bad enough, there were spikes everywhere. The last she would want to happen is to be food served on a stick by running into a spike herself.

To make things worse, the ground was rough and uneven with patches of moss making everything more slippery. On more occasions than one, she would almost slip before barely catching herself again. The result of slipping would be too disastrous to handle. As she looks ahead, she can see the wall. The very wall that signifies the end of the cave.

A dead end.

Behind her, the panther was chasing her at an alarming speed. With low growls. that reminded her of a horrible death, she whipped up a plan at top speed. The wall is steadily approaching with the panther closing up the distance between them. She would soon be sandwiched between the two with no way out. When the wall was mere inches away from here, she suddenly jerked her body to the right, barely dodging the panther that lept at her from behind. Realizing its mistake, the panther tried to yank its body away but it was too late. It crashed into the wall, creating a dent while it was dazed from the impact.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned towards the exit and planted her foot for a mad dash.

However, she relaxed too soon.

Instead of charging forward, her foot slipped and her whole body starts to plunge. Flailing arms waving wildly in panic, she somehow managed to hold onto a ledge on the wall.

But, Lady Luck decided to screw her again.

Trying to stand up, she slipped again, and again. Holding onto the ledge, her body swung back towards the wall. But instead of hitting the wall like she expected, her body hit empty air and soon she realized that she was no longer in the cave. Before her, was a mahogany hallway composed of wood, giving off a rich red colour. With bright lanterns decorating the hallway, the place gave off an antique and luxurious feeling. But that raised her alarm even more.

Looking behind her, instead of seeing the cave, she backed up onto a wall. With no door to be seen, her fear begin to grow.

She was stuck here with no way out.

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Now standing alone in the cave, the black panther suddenly morphed into a handsome man. With a tall built, strands of dark hair hung loosely around his broad shoulders. His muscular chest was exposed under his opened robe, tempting one to remove the robe to see more. His delicate, defined features that should have looked feminine, made him all the more enticing. With piercing golden eyes, he seemed to be able to melt any heart and see through any soul.

This man is too attractive to be real. And that is what he is. Unreal. Nothing more but a mere spirit.

Staring grimly at the wall that Xi Rin just disappeared into, it appeared as a normal cave wall. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing like the mahogany hallway Xi Rin saw. But he knows that the wall is a trick. A disguise. One to hide the things behind it.

Reaching out a hand to touch it, there seems to be an invisible barrier repelling him away. A bitter smile appeared on his face, but it did not last for even a second before disappearing. Soon, it resurfaced again. This time, the smile was one full of ridicule and contempt. A sarcastic one.

"It seemed centuries pa.s.sed and humanity still hasn"t forgotten about me. Nor my treasure." His smile grew wider in derision, "No matter. I"ve never let anyone who seeks my treasure escape alive. And neither should this one."

And with that, he disappeared completely from the spot.