When I woke up, I found that I was back in my own room again. I groaned a little in discomfort before attempting to get off the bed. But before I could, I was quickly pinned back down onto it as something pushed down on my chest. Looking down, I noticed that the thing pinning me down was a long green slender tail. Gee, I wonder who that belongs to.

"Don't think you're slithering off so easily".

I looked to my right to see Viper smiling at me. Well, mostly smiling. She seemed worried as well. And for good reason. Last time she saw me, I was spazzing on the floor.

"Hi Viper". I smiled back. "You okay"?

"I think I should be asking you that".

"Heh. I suppose so. I feel fine anyway, that much I can say".

I tried to get back up, only to have Vipers tail keep me down. She seemed kind of tempted to keep my back on the bed.

"Is there a problem"?

Vipers smile turned to a frown.

"Mike, you've just woken up after having a seizure. It wouldn't hurt to rest for a moment longer would it"? She asked softly.

"Hmm... Speaking of which, how did you find me anyway? Out there in the middle of the bamboo forest"?

"It wasn't hard since Tigress volunteered to find you. She's a good tracker after all. She managed to find you in ten minutes before carrying you back to the barracks".

"And I take it you've been waiting for me to wake up ever since"?

She nodded. She can be so predictable sometimes, bless her.

"Thanks Vipes. But really, I'm fine".

Her frown deepened.

"I... I know Mike, I know. But after what you just went through, well, could you just please promise me you'll take it easy? Please"?

I chuckled.

"Don't worry Viper. I'll be careful". I smiled, using my tail to stroke her cheek, in which she finally allowed me to sit up and move around. The second I did, I felt that my back had almost gone stiff. A couple of twists and a few pops of the spine made me feel that much better, despite the disgusted look on Vipers face. Yeah, guess I shouldn't really do that when she's around.

"Is there anything I can get you at least"? She asked almost at once.

"No thank you. I'm good".

Viper smiled and was about to slither out the room until something else crossed my mind.

"Viper"?

Viper managed to stop before she disappeared through the bedroom door.

"Does the name Kèxīng mean anything to you"?

Viper took a second to think about it before coming up with her answer.

"No. Why, should it"?

".. No. No, just curious was all".

As soon as Viper left, I gave a sigh. I was torn between wanting to keep this whole demon trapped within my head thing a secret, and actually needing to tell them. If I said a word, then despite the whole sob story the Mèngyǎn tried to sell me, I knew that it would just try to put them in harms way. And I just couldn't let that happen. At least not without knowing its limits. Putting the thoughts aside, I climbed out of bed and decided to look through the one thing that could help me at this point. The scroll room.

Upon leaving the barracks and entering the scrolls room underneath the hall of heroes, I was quick to realize one thing that I probably should have noticed right away.

Ten... bloody... thousand scrolls... That was how many I needed to check.

Shit. Just... ...shit.

The stone tunnel-like hallway seemed to look as though it went on forever. And there were only a handful of lit torches mounted on the walls. I was oddly reminded of Indiana Jones for some odd stupid reason.

I also needed to take in the fact that what I'm looking for may not even be in here. So why even try here? Because this was the closest thing anyone would find towards a library within the Valley of Peace, so I had no doubt that it would have had information on important historic events instead of just Kung Fu tips. Well, best stop bickering and start.

I slithered over to the scroll case on the right, containing probably more than two hundred scrolls alone. I picked up the closest one and opened it up.

"Okay, scroll one. How to... make tea? Oh good God this is going to be a long day"...

2 hours later

I'm betting that the guy who wrote these scrolls must have really hated his life since he had spent so much time writing ten thousand scrolls. I on the other hand, have yet to even make it past reading a thousand right now, and I really just want to yell in frustration! I've had to read to re-read scrolls for the past... however long it's been, and my mind is just begging for me to scream to stop my head from exploding from pressure. It's just... just like...

AAAAHHHHHFJKINGMTHRBCKRBTCH!

Yeah... that pretty much sums up my feelings right about now...

I was really beginning to consider just giving up once I reach a thousand and head back up before picking up tomorrow. I mean, seriously, who in their right mind would be capable of even doing all of this in a single night? Matter of fact, I'm done. Forget reaching a thousand right now. I've been down here for much too long.

Deciding that enough was enough, I put the scroll back into its correct shelf, turned round, and just walked away. At least... I was until I heard some small clang sound coming from the far end of the hall. The end in which it was almost pitch black.

"Hello"? I called out, expecting it to be Mantis since he often spent a lot of his own time reading scrolls on accupressure.

Getting no answer, I had no choice but to to head in, grabbing a torch, I ventured into the darkness, barely seeing anything that was beyond the torch light. I couldn't help but slither slowly. This was the sort of thing that you would expect from a horror movie. You think watching it is bad enough? Let's see how well you do experiencing it. If I hadn't been a certified kung fu master, I would have lust left upon hearing the sound. Still, it didn't take long before I saw something up ahead. I had to squint to see it, but it looked a lot like another snake. Upon sensing the torch light, it turned and I could make a single eye. A pure blue eye.

"Viper? Is that you"?

The figure said nothing but instead slowly slithered over, making its way into the torch light. I nearly screamed in fright. The thing looked like Viper. Only, a more twisted version of her.

Just like the one from my nightmare, its stomach was torn open. But as for the rest of her, or rather it, her skin was rotting. Deteriorating badly enough that traces of her skull could easily be seen. She looked as though she had been put through a giant blender! I knew it wasn't really her, but let's be honest, it was still horrifying. Her left eye was missing, or to be more precise, her socket looked like a balloon filled with red paint had exploded. At this point, I was pretty sure I was slightly shaking the torch I was holding.

It lifted its tail up, carrying a single scroll. The fake viper dropped it and pushed it towards me. I looked at it, and then back up to she that she was smiling with a mouthful of broken teeth and blood. It was like she was daring me to try and take it.

... Screw it.

Without thinking, I threw the torch right at her, grabbed the scroll at once and fled the way I came, not bothering to look and see if I had actually hit her. Though I did hear a small sinister laugh as I ran right up the stairs, into the hall of heroes, and shut the door. There was no way in hell that I was going back down there. No! Freaking! Way!

As I did my best to recover, I chose to slither back to my room, since it would be the only safe place to read the scroll, providing the real Viper doesn't come a knocking. I traveled back, sat down onto the bed, and read it.

The tale of Kèxīng and Jiùshìzhǔ

During the reign of the first Emperor, two little lion cubs named Kèxīng and Jiùshìzhǔ lived with their family, under the rule of Emperor Bàojūn (Chinese for tyrant). For the first twelve years, the two sisters lived their lives peacefully under the watch of the emperor within his city. During the thirtenth, the family was robbed, and the father of the two sisters was killed by the bandits as the mother and two sisters were forced to watch.

The day after, the family made their way through the city and to the emperors palace, where they begged for help and justice. Instead of helping, Bàojūn believed their story to be nothing but lies. That they were just beggars attempting to trick him out of his money. His guards forced them out of the palace.

The mother had decided that they would leave the city since they were unprotected. And they did. Though they didn't see that they would have fared better within the city walls. In less than a week, the mother had been taken from the two sisters by bandits. Upon discovering her corpse, the authorities claimed that her neck had been sliced and that she was possibly raped.

The fate of the two lion cubs were unknown. That was until a month after their claimed disappearance. Many people with the emperors city had reported several deaths. As normal as this may have seemed, the victims all had one similar connection. When found, the bodies seemed to have been ripped apart, not by another being, but by their own hands, turning the murders to suicides. This continued for the next six months. Over eighty people had commited suicide, all in the same way. Most of them being well known thieves. After the six months, the suicides mysteriously stopped. The last known victim had written a message on the wall upon their discovery.

The message read: DEATH IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!

Most people within the city claim that they had seen Kèxīng walking along the city streets and entering the buildings in which the suicides have occured. Some even claim that it is her angry spirit, seeking vengeance on those who killed her parents. There have been no known sightings of Jiùshìzhǔ. Authorities say that she may either still be out there outside the city walls, or that her spirit had found peace.

Eventually, the story turned from reality to myth, and myth to legend. But even now, some people claim that Kèxīng still roams China, unable to rest in peace until her vengeance is fulfilled.

...

I gulped. The story was short, but dark. Plus, there were many questions that I felt needed answering. Why did Kèxīng seek vengeance against thieves if she claimed she only wanted the emperor? What happened to her sister? And what did that message mean? Death is only the beginning? I did not feel comfortable repeating the words in my head.

Before I could think about it, someone made their way into the barracks. I reacted and threw the scroll under the bed, just in time as the unknown being walked in.

...

I think I've been reading one too many creepypastas lately ^^' Cheerio!