NoGift

WHEN that golden seal appeared, Lei Feng tried to get to Argent as fast as he could. He was hovering above, so he completely saw what the whole seal looked like. Though it's probably more apt to call it a symbol rather than a seal. It was the image of a dragon surrounding a sword with its huge wings. The symbol clearly represented the dragon race. Lei Feng's worry just intensified upon seeing that. But before he could even touched the water, that intense bright light appeared.

When he opened his eyes, Argent was no longer in his sight. Instead, the former unobstructed sea now had a circular island the same size as that seal. At the center of it was a calm lake. But Lei Feng knew that the circular island was not actually an island but a crater and the lake was the sea of Leng Jing. The image in front of him was exactly like that of the map that Argent showed him.

Which meant at the bottom of this body of water was the Temple of Tian Long. And that's probably also where Argent was right now.

Lei Feng slowly descended. And he didn't hesitate to dive into the sea of Leng Jing. But what greeted him was only a bottomless abyss of water. There was no temple. Even Argent's shadow couldn't be found. He gritted his teeth in anger and frustration.

The only explanation he could think of at this moment was that after the initial enchantment was broken, there was another layer of enchantment. Probably to make sure that no one else beside the 'child of all' could enter. As evidence of Argent's disappearance.

Lei Feng suddenly felt useless again. What's the use of him being here when he couldn't even do a damn thing?

All he could do right now was to pray for Argent's safety.

[Please. Please, be safe.]

----------

Argent swam towards the temple made of smooth white jade. She had no doubt that this was the Temple of Tian Long. She stopped in front of the huge door. At the center of the door was a transparent crystal. Even if no one told her what to do next, there's no doubt in her mind that she probably had to put her hand on this crystal. Maybe it would recognize her bloodline and let her enter inside.

Without hesitation, she put her right palm on the transparent crystal. Then there's a sudden feeling of weakness. As if the crystal was sucking something from inside her. She tried to remove her hand but couldn't. Seeing the color of the crystal changing from transparent to bright red, Argent had a feeling that the thing that the crystal suddenly sucked in was her blood.

Two bright red lines appeared. It went up and down and only stopped until both reached the top and bottom of the huge door respectively. The door slowly opened and Argent finally was able to remove her hand from the crystal. She still hadn't reacted yet and she was immediately sucked inside.

The next moment, Argent found herself standing in a huge, wide, and very empty hall. No, not so empty. There was a stone tablet erected at the very end of the hall.

Argent started to move, but then she noticed her sorry state. She looked down at her wet clothes and suddenly felt uncomfortable. Maybe she should make some water-resistant clothes once she got back to her lab. Since, clearly, she was the only person here, she decided to just change clothes. She took some spare clothes from her space ring and quickly changed as fast as she could. Once done, Argent started walking towards the stone tablet.

She turned her bracelet into a sword, her vigilance as high as ever. She never let down her guard. Even when she was changing clothes, she was still on alert. Who knew what kind of trap would suddenly appear here. But to her surprise, she managed to reach the stone tablet without any problems at all.

Argent stared at the stone tablet. Just like the temple, it was also made of jade. There were inscriptions written on it. Argent carefully read every words.

'You who has the blood of all flowing in your veins,

If you truly wished to take the sword of the dragons,

Be courageous and face your fears,

Because only the brave could be worthy of the King's praise.'

Argent furrowed her brows. [Is this some kind of riddle?]

She raised her hand and tried to trace the words on the stone tablet. She never expected that just like the crystal on the door, she suddenly felt like the table was sucking something from within her. But unlike the crystal, Argent felt like what the tablet took was not just simply blood but something from within her very soul.

An unknown fear suddenly engulfed her. But before she could even think why, the empty hall was suddenly filled with light.

When Argent opened her eyes, she was no longer inside the hall. She was standing on a beautiful rose garden. The wonderful scent unique to roses filled the air. All the roses were in full bloom, showing their wondrous beauty to the world. But Argent couldn't appreciate it. Especially once she saw the two storey white mansion in front of her.

The fear that she felt suddenly intensified. To the point that her whole body started trembling. Memories she kept in a box inside her mind suddenly wanted to break free. As if something was forcibly trying to open it. She clutched her head with both hands.

[No. I don't want to. I don't want to. Please... Please, don't do this. Don't let me remember.]

She was startled when someone suddenly held the end of her shirt. Argent looked down and saw a little girl about five years of age standing beside her. She was wearing a pink, frilly dress. Her long black hair was tied by a pink ribbon. Argent was not surpised by her sudden appearance. She was shocked because the little girl had no face. Her face was like a blank canvas. But somehow, in Argent's conciousness, she knew what this girl was supposed to look like.

"Big sister, what are you doing here?" the girl asked in a milky voice.

Argent stepped back.

"Do you want to play with me?"

Then they both heard a scream coming from inside the house.

"Mama is calling me," the girl said. "Bye bye Big Sister! Play with me next time, okay?"

Then the girl ran towards the mansion.

Argent suddenly moved and wanted to stop the little girl. But she only took one step and tremors of fear attacked her. Her body automatically stopped moving. She felt cold. So cold. She shouldn't follow the girl. She shouldn't go inside the mansion.

Because she knew there's a monster waiting for her.