Chapter 388: The Monolith

Chapter 388: The Monolith

"Don't be absurd," I said as I answered back.
"I know when I'm dead, and I know when I'm alive, right now… I feel like I'm neither," I said as I pressed two of my fingers on my wrist. Trying to make sure that it wasn't just some visual thing.
But no, no pulse, nothing.
This place is getting more and more annoying and confusing. I can't seem to think up a way to solve this stupid riddle we're in.
Why is everything… dead. No, not everything, the prism, the monolith, it's now rotating slowly. It's not releasing any energy, nor does it seem to be applying any laws.
"What are you thinking?" Lin said.
"A way out," I said.
"No way out, we searched and looked, been doing that for a month now, it's not like you came and things will change, we're trapped here, and from the sound of our heartbeats, we're dead." Someone spoke.
I didn't really care to remember the names of these people but I took note of everyone who said something smart, and this person has not.
"What am I missing," I said as I was pacing back and forward looking for any sort of clue or indicator that could get us out of this mess.
"You think the monolith has something to do with this?" spoke the girl in white. "It looks like it's activated after you have come in. Was it waiting for you, or was it waiting for something specific," She said.
"Good, an idea we can work with. You guys said that this thing hasn't moved at all since you all came here. Perhaps it was waiting for us actually," I said as a figment of an idea seemed to cross my head. "It only activated when everyone up above was transported here, and not a second before, a test? Did anyone inspect it before?" I asked.
"Nothing, just a plain shiny rock, I couldn't recognize the material, but it doesn't seem that special." Someone said.
"Just because we don't understand something, we can't call it simple or not special. This thing is probably a clue or a way out of this mess," I said as I approached it.
I pressed my palm on the prism and was ejected as though I was shot with a point-blank shotgun.
"Fucking hell!" I cursed as I had somehow managed to crash against some other unfortunate person.
"Sorry about that," I said as I stood up.
I looked at my hand, there was no injury. Nor did I seem to have been harmed by whatever attacked me.
"What was that?" Liang Yu asked.
"I don't know, but it doesn't like me," I said.
"We have even more questions than answers now," Yuyu said.
"Let me try," said Wei Lei.
"What are you doing? Do you also want to get zapped?" asked Xuan, the girl in white from the Wind Palace.
"No, but I think I have an idea," he said.
He pressed his hand and immediately was shot back, only there was some difference.
"Ouch…" he said as he struggled a bit to stand up.
"You're pretty smart, I always thought of you as an idiot," I said to him as I understood what he wanted to do.
"Yeah, I get that a lot, just because you have two brains doesn't mean that mine is rotten, anyway, I think this thing works on order, first come first serve, anyone who touches it out of order gets zapped," said Wei Lei.
"And how did you figure that out?" spoke Xuan. "Because I got repelled only in a far less in potency than Shen… there, he got a whole lot more hurt than I did, so it should by logic not attack the first person who came here if they were to touch it," he said.
"Who was the first to arrive here," I asked.
A hand rose up, it was a person from the Fire Palace, "I came here first," he said.
He then approached the prism and with hesitant steps, he stood in front of it and took two breaths.
He then touched it and it didn't send him flying back.
The man's hand seemed to grip tight against the monolith and soon it tightened. I could see the veins on his arm pulsating. Not from the beating of a heart, but some sort of energy was flooding into him, and rushing immediately into his mind.
The man's eyes opened up as light came from them, he had a wide smile on his face and spoke, "MINE! ALL OF IT MINE! THE WORLD! THE VAST EXPANSE! MINE!" he said and immediately most of his body began surging in Qi.
I didn't hesitate when I tackled him away from the monolith and disconnected his hand from it.
"What happened? Why am I here, No", he said as he struggled to get away from me, "Mine! My kingdom! MY PALACE! ALL MINE! NO!" he said as he grasped the monolith as if he wanted to get back to it.
"What the hell is going on here? What happened to him!" a person from the Fire Palace spoke.
"I don't know, and in case you didn't notice I'm trying to stop him from touching that thing again! IF YOU DON'T MIND! COME HELP!" I said.
His buddies soon came and stopped him, and only then when his veins seemed to return to their normal nature.
Suddenly the room shook and behind us, one of the many archways seemed to shudder as a small crack not longer than a finger opened up in one of the massive doors.
"I guess we figured out a way to get out of this place… only it's slightly annoying," I said as I looked at the rest of the people.
"What do you mean? Do we also have to touch that thing? Look what it did to him, he is delusional!" said one of the people from Lin's race, this was the same 'dog' from earlier.
"If you have another idea please do share," I said. "Anyway, let me check up on him," I said as I approached the Fire Palace disciple.
"Get away! You only caused us trouble!" said one of the Fire Disciples protecting his buddy.
"I appreciate the solidarity, but if we don't get information on what he saw we're all gonna be stuck here forever, and that my friend, is a long fucking time!" I said.
"I'm not your friend!" he said.
"Neither am I, it's a figure of speech you dipshit, now get the fuck off," I said.
And immediately stopped.
I'm being riled up, this is not good. The purple skull effect…
"They are close," I said as I looked up at the ceiling.
"What do you mean by close," asked Yuyu.
"Before I got here, I left a trace… up above, and it has been removed. The Poison cultivator is above us, and he is coming. We need to open this shit fast, we don't have time!"
With my words, everyone seemed to realize that they were still being hunted. And that person the crazy guy with far too much power than anyone should have in this place is coming for all of us.
"Look, his eyes, they returned to normal," one of the Fire Disciples said.
I took a closer look and said, "What did you see in there?" I asked.
"I-I saw… what I saw is a blasphemy, if I speak of it I'll die!" he said.
"You have to tell us!" said Xuan, "It's the only way to find out how to leave this place!" she said.
"Then why don't you do it yourself! If I speak of what I saw I will die!" He said.
I frowned, "Hold on, will you die due to the monolith, or due to speaking of the things you saw?" I asked.
"Not the monolith, but if I speak of what I saw, my companions will kill me," he said and removed his hands from them.
The four of them looked at him in confusion, "Why would we kill you if you saw things that aren't real," they said.
"Because they felt real, they were real, to me, they were true, and it was a lifetime," he said and almost for a moment, I saw that his eyes seemed to swing back to the time he was back in the monolith.
"Oh…OH! I get it," I said.
"You," I pointed at him, "You were the Fire King!" I said
And immediately the four people next to him all pointed their palms at him as if it was an execution squad.
"You just killed me!" the Fire Palace disciple looked at me with shock in his eyes.