23 Gone
"Son…" his father said to him with a proud look
His mother had teary eyes as she is held by her husband in his arms, whilst his sister finally looked at him with the same eyes she did when he was little. That day when Ye Qin formed a contract with his koi, the city came to know him as the trash of the Ye's. Even then, Ye Qin's little sister didn't abandon him and treated him like normal, that was until one day, his little sister was bullied and Ye Qin was nowhere to be seen
Even when he did arrive, he didn't change the situation and instead took a beating by the bullies. His little sister cried all night and when she recovered, she started treating him differently. Ye Qin never knew why but he always thought that it was because he was pathetic and didn't fight back leading to his sister hating him
As he looked at his family of four including him, he smiled and faced their warm welcome. Facing his father, Ye Qin said, "Father, I."
"I know, you've made me proud. I even got to see some footage of your battles, to think that my son was such a genius all along." his father replied
"..."
"A genius huh.. If the meteor didn't hit me that day, what would have happened? Would I've still been trash for the rest of my life? Going to a third rate college and getting a regular job in some rural area?" Ye Qin thought as he smiled bitterly
"What's wrong? Why do you look so sad?" His father asked with a puzzled look
"Ah, it's nothing. Let's talk over dinner." Ye Qin replied
Finally, his mother had a chance to intervene, "Qin er, you should go to your room and take a shower now, you must be tired."
"Yes, I'll be going up now." he nodded as he walked up the stairs and opened the door to his familiar room
…
After taking a shower and drying his hair, Ye Qin changed into a comfortable set of clothes as he made his way down for dinner
Step* Step*
Walking down the same set of stairs he walked down daily for most of his life, Ye Qin looked around the house while he still could. "I wonder when the next time I will be able to come back home is… The Nine Peak Academy does have a mid year holiday and even days where we don't need to attend, most students wouldn't go back home until the holidays since it's too far from their home
Step* Step*
As he looked around the house, Ye Qin smelled a familiar fragrance arousing in the air and entering his nose. He walked towards the dinner table where his father and sister were sitting and filled with his favourite dishes
From sweet and sour pork, to kung pao chicken, ma po tofu, dumplings and even red braised pork belly. Over dinner the four of them chatted away until it came to the topic of Ye Qin's college
"Son, I heard that all of the top five academies sent you an invitation, are you going to choose the War God Academy?" his father asked
Tok*
Ye Qin put down his chopsticks and faced his father then replied "I've decided on the Nine Peak Academy."
"..."
"I see.. Any particular reason?" his father asked
"Well, since there's a lot of free time, I can use it to get stronger faster." he replied
"I see.. Whatever suits your needs, try to come home as often as you can. Your mother will miss you." his father added in
…
After dinner, Ye Qin walked up to the terrace of his house and looked up at the dazzling lights from the millions of stars in the universe. He gazed at the stars for an hour as he thought to himself "This is where it all began..."
Looking at the countless stars in the night sky above him, Ye Qin looked around for a while until he saw the Big Dipper which is a part of the Ursa Major. As he looked at the stars, he felt a strange energy flow through his eyes and when he focused on it, the energy dispersed
Since he couldn't do anything about it, Ye Qin continued watching the seven stars of the Big Dipper. As he continued watching, he felt a strange sensation in his mind as if he was comprehending something from the stars. Bit by bit he felt as though he was remembering something from the past, though he knew those memories cannot be his own
Then, faint images that couldn't be made out appeared in his mind. The constant flow of images entered his mind so rapidly, that it caused him to faint
It wasn't until 2 hours later that Ye Qin woke up. When he did, he looked around to see that the sky became even darker. But what shocked him most was that when he gazed around in the darkness of the night, not a single star could be seen, only eternal darkness
Ye Qin rubbed his two eyes as he looked out once again, he found that the stars had really disappeared from his sight!
He then quickly called Wang Tao on his smartwatch
Ring* Ring*
Ring* Ring*
Ring* Ring*
Pok*
"Hello? Boss?" Wang Tao said on the other side
"What happened to you? To pick up so late." Ye Qin asked
"I don't know, I was lying down on my bed and looked out the window then i felt strange for a while before passing out. When you called me just now, I woke up actually." the fatty replied
"..."
"What? Do you not believe me?" Wang Tao cried
"No, no, I do. In fact the same thing happened to me, quickly look outside the window and tell me what u see." the former said
"Ah? Outsi.....de???!!!"
"Ah! The stars! They're gone!" Wang Tao exclaimed
"So you see the same thing I do? Quickly go ask your parents or anyone if they can see the stars!" Ye Qin said as he ended the call and ran downstairs
…
Step* Step*
Since it was only about 9pm, everyone was still awake. Ye Qin knocked on his fathers room as he opened the door slowly to see his father wearing glasses and reading some documents. "What's wrong son?" his father asked
"Father, can you look outside at the sky and tell me what you see?" Ye Qin asked his father
"Huh? Of course you'd see the stars…" his father replied as he turned his chair around and looked outside the window
"I don't see anything wrong? I can see the seven stars of the Big Dipper just over there." his father pointed out
"Strange…" Ye Qin thought then replied, "Oh, that's all I wanted to ask."
"Hahaha, alright good night Qi'er." his father said
"Good night father." Ye Qin replied as he walked outside the room and closed the door quietly. After leaving, he then asked his mother and sister who told him the same thing his father did. By the time he went back to his room, Wang Tao sent him a message
[Boss, I asked my family, everyone else can see the stars!] - Wang Tao
Seeing this, Ye Qin pondered "Are those memories the source of this strange occurrence? Not only did it happen to me, the same happened to the fatty."
"Let's see if he remembers anything else." Ye Qin thought as he typed away on his smartwatch
…
The next morning, Ye Qin had breakfast with his family then left the house and headed to Kong Bo's place where he was to meet up with Wang Tao. Once he arrived, he entered the mansion's gate and was welcomed in by Kong Bo who he had sent a message to the previous night
"Hey kid, congrats on taking the top seat." Kong Bo laughed
"Thanks, though I only became the champion of one of the many tournaments that were held at the same time." Ye Qin replied
"Regardless, a champ is a champ, so where's Wang Tao?" Kong Bo asked
"Well he should be here soon." Ye Qin replied
Huff* Huff*
Just behind him, a chubby young man catches up and says "I'm here!"
"Well speak of the devil." Kong Bo laughed
The three of them then went inside to have a discussion
…
Though they met up at Kong Bo's place, the two of them chatted with him until he left to do other things whilst the two boys were finally alone. Ye Qin then took this chance to ask Wang Tao directly "So last night when you looked outside the window, did anything appear inside your mind?"
"Hmm, I guess? I did see some fuzzy images but I couldn't make out anything before I fainted." Wang Tao replied
"I see, well it's the same with me though I could see a tiny bit. I think they are someone else's memories, but for some reason it feels so familiar and nostalgic…" the former said
"Yea, I felt that way too, even though all I saw was a few patches of colors in some places. I wonder if it happened to anyone else? And why us, there must be a special meaning behind it." the fatty replied
"A special meaning indeed, it must be some kind of message." Ye Qin said quietly for only him to hear
