Zhang was left glued to his spot once he opened his eyes. He saw all his comrades, and other people as well, wrapped up in vines, struggling with their own nightmares. Even in the midst of such a huge crowd, the first person Zhang's eyes landed were on Wu Xie.

He immediately sprinted up to the bespectacled male and drew out his sword. As soon he was near enough, he raised the blade and slashed away all the vines that were wrapped tightly around the younger. He was careful enough not to harm Wu Xie and precise enough to clear away all the vines.

Wu Xie jolted awake, drenched in sweat as if he woke up from a terrible nightmare. His legs felt weak and his knees trembled, barely keeping him on his feet. He lost all balance and fell on the hard chest of Zhang, the older welcoming the male with open arms.

"Wu Xie, are you okay?" Zhang asked as his eyes were full of worry yet a hint of relief. He felt a sense of happiness he had never felt before as he held the younger close to him in his arms. The dark, cold and empty place in his heart was now filled with a strange sense of light, warmth and another feeling, one he couldn't decipher.

"Xiaoge.....is that you...? For real? " Wu Xie croaked out, his voice was low and harsh and his throat felt as dry as sandpaper. Zhang immediately put his bag down and pulled out his water bottle, settling the male on his lap and helping him drink the water as his hands were too weak to hold the bottle properly.

After drinking to his fill, Wu Xie finally was back to his senses and realized that the place was a lot warmer than before. He looked around was left dumbstruck.

They weren't in a cave but outside in a forest.

"What's going on? How are we in the forest? Weren't we in a cave? Wait a second.... Was all of that an illusion?!" Wu Xie asked away all his doubts in a single go, his eyes drifting over to every person that was wrapped up in a maze of endless vines.

"Xiaoge, what about you? Are you okay? How did you break free?" Wu Xie asked as he cupped the older's face in his hands. The elder gave off a small smile at how worried Wu Xie was and softly held his hands.

"Don't worry about me puppy, I am fine. As for hoe I broke free from the illusion, it only took a few minutes of meditation and I was back into the real world." Zhang said. He kept his voice low and soft as he noticed that the younger was shivering a lot.

It isn't cold out here, did he see scary illusion?

"Puppy, why are you shivering?" Zhang asked and Wu Xie only gave off a smile. He held the hands of the older tightly and only shook his head as a no.

"I am fine Xiaoge. Really. Just, when I was caught in that illusion, I lost sight of you. I couldn't find you and the thought of never seeing you again terrified me. That's it. Now that you are here, in front of me, I am really okay." Wu Xie said and Zhang felt a swell in his chest. His heart was content with hearing such endearing feelings that had nothing but honesty dripping from them.

"Besides that, I think we should focus on helping the rest of the people here. You helped me by cutting off the vines, but if you go one by one, it'll not only take a lot of time but also tire you out. How about I use my skill?" Wu Xie suggested, rolling up his sleeves to get ready.

"Be careful Wu Xie, do not over exert yourself. You know it can cause you to pass out. " Zhang warned and Wu Xie nodded.

Once again, Wu Xie could feel that burning sensation in his chest and at his command, vines wrapped themselves around his hand.

I am the master of vines. They'll listen to me.

"Unwrap yourselves from these humans at once!" Wu Xie yelled out and in a flash, all vines untangled themselves from every person and one by one, everyone was free. Free from their frozen, zombie like state.

This place shouldn't be called the cavern of blood zombies, more like the cavern of frozen zombies. But I don't get it, why blood...?

Wu Xie, looked at the exposed skin on his hands and his eyes widened. The vines had thorns on them and the illusions are caused by loss of blood. These vines were carnivorous and lived off of the blood of humans. Consider them, vampires of the forest.

The people that were trapped here for a long time were long dead as they had been sucked dry whereas thanks to Wu Xie and Zhang, this troop had survived the challenge that no one was able to overcome.

Wu Xie, along with Zhang, rushed up to everyone and rehydrated them, helping them come back to their senses and feel alive once again.

Wu Xie, after tending to Pangzi, got up eyes full of determination to finish his mission.

Now to find what uncle told me about.