Murim Recurve

Chapter 28 - Chaos Among The Kalhas

"Wow, so this is where they hid their treasury," Re'Kha exclaimed, extending her perception to the other side of the false granary wall. It was a narrow room that spanned the breadth of the granary. Still, it was wide enough for three people to walk side by side.

It was divided into three sections. The section on the left was a lower platform on which a bathroom had been constructed. It seemed to be fitted with everything a person needed for their daily necessities. The section in the centre was an elevated platform on which a bed and two vats were placed.

The bed was a foldable type, also possessing an expandable section underneath that contained some clothes and a blanket. The vats were Aeki, their contents unknown. And finally, to the right was a sealed room.

"Jackpot!" Re'Kha measured the distance to the bottom of the manhole, grabbing the roots of the Aeki as she jumped. No ladder mechanism was placed. So, her only option was to use the roots of the Aeki to climb up and down.

Re'Kha landed on the floor, dusting her palms that ached. She paced some distance through the narrow path before grabbing the roots of an Aeki hanging from above. She took in a deep breath before climbing up.

Re'Kha peered out from the manhole on the other side, pulling herself out as she held the leg of the bed while panting in exhaustion. If she was in her normal state, this wouldn't have been much to her. But now, even moving took a toll on her injured body.

'I hope I get to soon learn the healing technique master had used on me before.' Re'Kha thought, recalling the scene when her master had saved her from the brink of death. Her body had been badly mutilated in her betrayal and the resulting fight with the Sha—The Blinded Ghost.

There was no hope for her to survive even if the doctor stationed in her Clan rushed to save her. But, her master had healed her to a significant level within a couple of days.

'If not for the poison plaguing him, he could have healed me completely.' Re'Kha sighed, hoping she would soon get to learn that ability. She gazed at the section on the right, focusing on the keyhole in the door. Only by opening it would she get access to the treasury.

But, there was no key in her vicinity. It seemed to have been securely hidden to prevent any thieves from trespassing into it. Re'Kha covered the entire area in her Wind Qi perception, extending her senses through any crease or crack she found.

Soon, she found her target. It was in the bathroom. Of the taps placed for water flow, one of them seemed to be corked looser than the others. Re'Kha grabbed hold of it, twisting it clockwise to find water flow out from the tap. There didn't seem to be an oddity in the situation.

But, through her perception, she noticed a gap in it, a tiny gap through which she extended her perception, noticing the underside of the tap be shamed similar to the keyhole. Only because of this did she find out.

Water fell into the bathtub as Re'Kha watched it flow. The water didn't seem to possess any Water Qi in it, so in her perception, it wasn't a flow of blank space but one that was outlined in grey sand. Because of that, she could perceive its flow clearly.

She noticed that the water level in the pipe fell steadily. It didn't seem connected to a tank, and only possessed as much water as contained in it. When all the water within the pipe flowed out, Re'Kha twisted the tap shut, noticing that she could rotate it once more, even though it was already closed.

When she rotated it, the tap came off. She noticed the underside of it be designed according to the keyhole. It was the key she was searching for. 'Thankfully, this wasn't too complex. It seems this settlement hadn't encountered any thieves, judging by the lacking defence mechanisms.'

She arrived before the section on the right, looking at the door that was a hulking mass of metal, 'At least, this door isn't something that could be broken down without alerting the entire settlement.'

Re'Kha inserted the key into the keyhole, twisting it clockwise, noticing that she had to rotate it more than 20 times before the door opened.

The thickness of the door exceeded her girth. It was indeed a massive block of metal. Re'Kha was partly excited as she opened the door. What she didn't know what that when all the water flowed out from the tap, the pressure within the pipe disappeared.

At the top of the pipe rested a metal plate, kept in balance on a rod. If the water had been present, it would have touched the underside of the plate. Now, with the water's disappearance, the plate was solely balanced by the tiny rod.

Moreover, when the last batch of water left the pipe, it created a disturbance in the air that entered, the resultant turbulence shook the metal plate. The metal plate and the rod had been created to be as sonorous as possible.

So, even the smallest vibration caused them to produce a ringing sound that echoed for a long while before subsiding. It was a sort of mechanical alarm the household had set up.

The ringing sound disturbed all the Kalhas taking shelter from the rain, flying chaotically within the house as their sense of direction was disrupted.

The ringing sound seemed to irritate them as they coiled their optic nerves on one another and tugged at each other, forming and breaking eye clusters repeatedly. Some of them flew out of the house under the chaos, feeling the rain fall on them.

A scream of sorts resounded from within as the light in them died out. They turned into a normal eyeball before plopping to the ground, getting damaged from the impact. Some leaked blood while the rest were carried forth by the thin water streams, heading anywhere the water flowed.

Re'Kha opened the door to the treasury, unaware of the chaos she had created, gawking in shock at what she witnessed.