Chapter 4: Lighting the Way
Yu Hua pulled herself from her cultivation with a long sigh. She could feel the energy within her build and get denser the more she cultivated. Over the past week or so nothing had happened besides that. She wasn't very certain how any of this worked really. She looked down at the book and flipped the page again to find it blank just as it had been every time she had looked.
"ugh, what am I even expecting to happen?" she shook her head at herself in frustration as she placed the book to the side next to the white seed, she had sat there sometime before.
"I need to do something else" she exclaimed tapping her fist into her other hand in front of her and nodding her head. Yu Hua peered around the cavern for a moment before deciding she needed to find a way out of these caverns eventually.
"I'm going to need light and a basket and ooh I should make a fish trap while I'm at it" with that she began to busy herself looking for some of the smaller vines to weave into a basket and a fish trap.
She spotted a cluster of smaller vines in the back of the cave near the waterfall, which over the past week had stayed at a peaceful flow almost as if someone had closed the flood doors on a damn. Yu Hua made her way to the edge of the lily pad closest to the cluster of vines and dove into the water. As she swam with ease to the shore she could feel the water ripple around her as the fish scattered in all direction's. Yu Hua made her way to the cluster of vines. The light mist from the waterfall showering her as she did.
She shivered as the field of bodies she had seen before flashed through her head, she anxiously grabbed one of the vines. As she wrapped her hand around the vine she felt it draw some of her spiritual energy from her. To her surprise she watched the vines brighten from their usual pale light to bright light. She thought it was somewhat like lighting a candle. Upon further examination of the vines, she found they had also grown slightly thicker and a few offshoots had sprung.
Yu Hua touched a few more of the vines this time giving them a small bit of her spiritual energy, she watched as they grew brighter than the previous ones. She wondered if she could do this with herbs and vegetables.
"ok, back on task now" she muttered to herself and began to tug the vines lose and gather them in a small pile. After a short while, she felt happy with her efforts and used one of the vines to tie the rest into a bundle. She looped the ends and secured them on both sides so she could carry it on her back, in the same fashion as a backpack.
"To swim or not to swim" she chortled and giggled at herself as she began to walk the length of the shore around to the steppingstones. She explored as she went noticing more mushrooms of different varieties as well as various plants.
Yu Hua couldn't help but reminisce, she used to gather vines with her Old Auntie. She smiled as she remembered traipsing through the forest around her village. When she was young, she would gather small arm fools and bring them to her Old Auntie, she would be so proud of herself. Her Old Auntie would pat her on the head and tell her 'good job' even though she knew that half of them were unusable.
She grinned as she thought of the first basket she had ever made. Her Old Auntie had taught her how, thinking back to the lopsided basket full of holes she shook her head. Her Old Auntie had said 'very good, now try again and don't rush this time. Baskets are like children, you have to be patient and take care with each weave, every step counts.' She had loved the long days of weaving baskets and traps of all sorts. It was simply hard work, but the company is what made it worthwhile to her.
Yu Hua took care to step carefully across the stepping stones she had found that she was much steadier now than she had been before. She speculated she had her cultivation to thank for that, at least partly. The rest well she had gotten used to them as well.
She walked back to the lily pad and sat her bounty down plopping herself next to the bundle. She untied the vines and set herself to work, pouring a little bit of her spiritual energy into the vines as she went. She found the small bit of growth helped further secure the basket.
A peaceful smile found its way across her face as she worked, minding her Old Auntie's words. She loved to weave if she was being honest, though at this very moment as much as she loved it, she also found herself feeling lonely. Back home she would be working with her Old Auntie and several other village women, listening to their antics as they complained about their husbands.
She slowly weaved like that for several hours before putting the finishing touches on the basket. Yu Hua examined her hard work and nodded her head in satisfaction. She thought she was used to the luminescent glow of the vines, but she still found them mildly bizarre like much of her current lifestyle.
She shook her head and examined what was left of the branches. There wasn't enough left for her to make a fish trap, but she had another idea for them. She broke the remaining vines into smaller pieces and put them in the basket.
Yu Hua looked at the book and the seed, she didn't want to leave them where they could be found even though she thought the chance was slim. Picking them up she looked around for a good spot, near the entrance was a lot of brush. She decided after a minute that, that was her best option for now.
"I'll need to design something later to hide them while I'm looking for a way out, for now, the brush will just have to do" with that said she scooped them up and sat them in her basket. She grabbed the strap she had woven into the basket and slung it over her shoulder, with the basket sitting nicely against her back.
"Time to explore," she said finding herself oddly excited to explore the other caves. She hoped to find a way out, but she also wondered what else she would find. She made her way quickly to the entrance hiding the manuscript and seed in the brush. Less than satisfied she thought about taking them with her, eventually deciding against it.
Having made her decision, she looked at the cavern entrance and proceeded back into the cave tunnel she had come in through. Yu Hus walked steadily forward watching the darkness get closer as she moved. After the light started to dim, she stopped and used her hand to dig a small indent into the cave wall. She repeated the action on the opposite side. Yu Hua pulled the basket from her back and sat it down grabbing a piece of vine and giving it some of her energy before placing it in the indent. The cave-hall instantly brightened from the luminous vine. Satisfied that her idea worked well she did the same on the opposite side.
Nodding her head, she re-slung the basket over her shoulder and continued down the cave stopping every so often to place two pieces of the vine in the wall. Finally, she made her way into the main cavern, finding it easier to see this time around.
The cavern was much like she remembered it, though now she could make out some rocks under the whole she fallen in through. Barely any light filtered in through the whole, she wondered if that were because it was night or the woods outside were simply to thick to let any sunlight through.
After a moment's thought, she concluded it was probably neither. She had fallen a good distance, even if the light could make through it wouldn't be much just like it was now. Illuminating only a very small portion of the cavern leaving the vast majority in darkness.
"Well, how about I shed a little light in here" she mused to herself as she started adding vines to the cavern walls. With the light from the vines, she could make out this side of the cavern.
On the opposite side from her across the lake was another cave hall. The lake water was just as clear as the water from the other cavern though she noticed there were very little fish in this lake. She found this odd since this one was many times bigger than the one in her cavern. Yu Hua speculated it might have something to do with the Jade Lily, though speculate was all she could do.
"hmm" Yu Hua pursed her lips; the vines had given the cavern much more visibility but not nearly as much as she had hoped for. With that thought, she still needed to cross the lake to continue her search. She took the basket from her back and held the strap setting it afloat in the water. If it were a normal basket that she had weaved it would fill with water, but the vines had sealed the sides when she added her energy during its creation process.
To her appreciation, she found there was almost no current. She grabbed one of the vines and reached down in the shallow water, wiggling it in the sand to lodge it in place before adding a bit of her energy to as she had all the others.
She wondered if she would run out of energy anytime soon, although all she had been doing for the better part of a week was storing more energy with almost no progress. Yu Hua hadn't been sure what she expected really, but she did find herself a bit disappointed. Pulling herself from her thoughts she found herself delighted to see that the vine was much brighter in the water.
She waded further in repeated the same process as she pulled her basket along until the depth became such that she could no longer dive down to place them. After a few feet, she found she could place more on the opposite side. She was a bit surprised at how deep the center was given she could see everything now but a deep trench in the bottom.
"With my luck, that's going to be the way out" she muttered to herself as she waded on to the shore. She placed more vines in the cavern wall along this side, checking frequently to make sure she had more than enough pieces left to keep on with her exploration. If she did run out, she could still use her basket to see if she needed to.
With that, she looked back across the cavern at her handiwork.
The lake where the light emanated from seemed to have taken on a life of its own as it reflected off the crystals growing from the cavern walls. Though not as magnificent as her cavern she found it had its own kind of reticent beauty.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ScarletL
ScarletL Question, Comments, and Suggestions Always welcome!
I will Post as soon as I can It will be a mass release of chapters! I'm sorry for the delay I work full time and I am a full time college student.
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