“So, who's gonna be leader?” Xiao Ma asked his group, “Actually, I think I'm a good candidate, because I'm leading the way.”

“Who says you have to be leader?” Tong Tong retorted.

“Can we keep walking while discussing this? We were the first ones to leave and they're almost catching up. This isn't efficient if we want to hurry and get the gem,” Xiao Jie (girl) suggested.

“You know, I know a short cut. Follow me,” Xiao Ma signaled his group into a dark cave.

“It looks dangerous. Count me in.” Hebe herself into the cave.

The others hesitantly followed. Aaron seemed to think this was a bad idea.

Inside the dark cave, nothing was visible. Everyone bumped into each other when Xiao Ma stopped.

Tong Tong was following Xiao Ma, and he turned around. She had no clue and walked straight into Xiao Ma's lips.

She recoiled at the touch, not knowing who's lips they were, and bumped into another person.

“Why is it so dark in here?” Aaron questioned.

“Well, it was a vacant home of the spirit eaters...” Xiao Ma stopped mid-sentence.

“And why is it glowing red right now?” Aaron asked again.

“Well, that's because...” Xiao Ma flung some kind of liquid at a form that appeared. It was translucent and glowed bright red. It had no face but had arms and legs. The liquid seemed to fizz as it made contact with the creature.

“It's not vacant.” Aaron finished Xiao Ma's sentence.

“Watch out!” Xiao Jie (boy) yelled as he ran up to Xiao Jie (girl). A huge spirit eater glided over to Xiao Jie (girl) at breakneck speed. Xiao Jie (boy) barely got in front of Xiao Jie (girl) to get her out of the way. Unfortunately, Xiao Jie (boy) made contact with the spirit eater and instantly fell into slumber.

“Quick, let's get out!” Tong Tong yelled.

“But Xiao Jie!” Xiao Jie (girl) pointed.

Wei Lian picked up Xiao Jie's limp body. His face was pale and there was sweat on his face.

“Oh, why didn't Gui come with us?” Xiao Jie (girl) fretted.

“If this wasn't a horrible time, I would have squealed and said that was cute.” Hebe smiled.

“That was a quick change in the attitude, I thought you weren't girly.” Aaron said as he jumped out of the cave. Aaron's face seemed cold but curious.

“Who put that in your head?” Hebe smacked Aaron in the head.

“What happened?” Xiao Ma asked as he exited the cave. He saw the unconscious Xiao Jie (boy), and his face instantly turned a shade of white.

“Damn, I forgot how to deal with spirit injuries.” Xiao Ma scratched his head.

“What good guide you are. Let's call for help. Gui can heal him.” Tong Tong instantly sent up one of the flares Xiao Jie (girl) packed in her bag. Everyone had a few, but Xiao Jie (girl) was always prepared.

But now Xiao Jie (girl) was in a state of shock. She just sat there, staring into space. Xiao Jie (boy) had saved her and now he was suffering. Oh, why did she have to be uncoordinated?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gui Gui just tripped over a root when she felt a presence. The presence of strong spirits weren't far away. “I sense trouble.” Gui Gui told Wang Zi, who immediately sped up the pace. Not too long after, they saw flares shooting in the sky. The first group was in trouble.

The whole group sprinted in the direction of the flares. Gui Gui could sense a disruption in the spirits by now and raced on ahead. Wang Zi pulled her back.

“I'll meet the danger first.”

And then Gui Gui saw it. The spirit eaters. And then she sensed a soul without a spirit. She jumped into a clearing and found Xiao Jie (boy) unconscious on the grass. His face was pale.

“Everybody get out of the way!” Gui Gui yelled. She flew into the air and landed right beside Xiao Jie (boy). She instantly shoved both her hands into his body. Her hands went through him and it didn't even affect Xiao Jie (boy).

“Why does he have no...” Gui Gui then peered into the cave. She saw the spirit eaters. And they were mocking her. In seconds they would disappear with Xiao Jie's spirit.

Gui Gui shouted out an incantation and held out her gem. The whole spirit world turned blue as she trapped all the spirit eaters in place. In the real world, it just looked like a big gust of wind. Gui Gui's hair flew all over the place and she looked like a witch. A crazy witch.

In the real world her body fell to the ground. Wang Zi instantly reached out for her, but Xiao Xun stopped him. “Shh, she's fighting with the spirits.”

“But she's unconscious!” Wang Zi whispered-shouted.

“Her spirit is fighting, dummy. Why are you so concerned? Doesn't she frighten you?”

“How'd you know?” Wang Zi asked.

“I can see you wince every time she performs her job.”

“Maybe it's something else.”

“Or maybe you like her?”

“Nonsense!” Wang Zi shouted. He forgot that Gui Gui was performing her job. He instantly shut up and stopped talking to Xiao Xun.

Gui Gui had heard Wang Zi yell 'nonsense', and her concentration wavered, and the spirit eaters took advantage of that and sent a spirit bomb at her. Little did they know Gui Gui was so powerful that they will disintegrate before the bomb set off. They did indeed, and she quickly dismantled the bomb and collected Xiao Jie's spirit. It was weak by now, but still alive. The spirit eaters were toying with their food.

Gui Gui clutched the spirit and shot it back into Xiao Jie (boy). She saw the spirit regain strength and started to glow back to a healthy white glow. She went back into her body. She arose as if nothing happened.

“Well, I killed all the spirit eaters now.” Gui Gui said casually, “I even healed Xiao Jie. But you guys have to be more careful. Don't go into dark caves.”

Everyone in the first group shot looks at Xiao Ma.

“What? I thought it was vacant.”

“I think I need a few minutes of rest. How about you guys go first?” Gui Gui suggested. She sat down on the grass and closed her eyes. She seemed to stop breathing.

Wang Zi instantly went to her side. He thought she died. She wasn't moving.

“There you go again. This isn't liking her?” Xiao Xun asked. The others started to walk away.

“This is pure comradery.”

“There is no such word.” Xiao Xun chuckled.

Gui Gui was still there, her spirit was just resting. She had heard the conversation. Wang Zi likes her? Gui Gui felt her heart jump. And it wasn't because of her spirit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait! I was on vacay. I hope you like this chapter. I watched a reality show, that hei se bang bang tang or something, and there was this episode where the guy Xiao Jie drank all of that nasty drink and didn't let the girl have any of it because they lost. And I thought that was sweet =J. Anyways, please comment on my story, and tell me what you think!