2 Where all things began...

Shen Dynasty, The land of Ning

The sun had set and the full moon was shining brightly in the night sky. Millions of stars were shining upon the earth; it was a sign of joy towards the people of the Ning Kingdom. The full moon that would come once every 100 years had finally come upon the kingdom once again.

Mt. Mìng Yùn (Mountain of Fate)

Two figures could be seen climbing up the mountain as the moon and stars shone their light to make way for the pair. Their figures were both swiftly making their up to the peak of the mountain.

It was a brother and sister who were of the royal blood; one was a prince and the other a princess. If it were to say they were second in beauty then no one would be able to say they are in first. Although he was a prince, his face was almost as beautiful as a woman. If it was not for his masculine figure, one would have mistaken him for a princess.

On the other hand, the young princess was even more beautiful. Her features were sharp but were raiding many charms. If looks could kill, then she would be counted as one. She had a petite and curving outline, but with the layers of clothes she was wearing tonight had covered some parts of her feminine body.

"Aiyo...Brother! Stop right there, you're going way too fast" Shen Mi Rong kept on stumbling with her festival dress that she was forced to put on by their mother, the Empress of Ning Kingdom. She was twenty-five and her brother, Shen Yi Chang was 27. Although it may seem old, people of the Ning Kingdom would live up to two hundred or three hundred years if they were powerful cultivators. Considering their age, both of them should be fairly close to being one.

However, there was no reply.

Mi Rong tried her best in adorably persuading her brother which was very contradicting to her usual unladylike self, "You shouldn't go too fast Brother or else you might hurt yourself." She tried speaking slightly louder.

"Pfft...Ahahaha, that's the worst excuse you could ever come up with. Mi Rong ah, should worry about yourself." Yi Chang had tried his best to keep in his laugh from the very moment his sister complained. "Besides there's no use with your funny expression you've put on. It only works with imperial father, but never for me. I would never know what weirdness got into you." Yi Chang had spoken to his full delight but there were no signs of him to be seen up ahead.

They both had high martial arts, but because their mother had dressed Mi Rong (forcefully) to the fullest today; she was unable to move to her full potential. However, the reason was exactly not to let his younger sister move around too much, and it was especially put on her to keep her in the palace for the ceremony. Nevertheless, it all turned out useless and the princess had gotten away once again. He didn't have much to do and had only wanted to tease his little sister by speeding up the hill a little, even though, his clothes weren't anything better off.

"Humph! Then I wonder what your fiancée would think about you bully your beloved little sister? Would she think of you as a guy who bullies girls and never marry you? Tut tut, what a sad ending." Yi Chang's face went pale and immediately halted his steps. Since she could not hear any more movements from her brother; she knew it indeed worked, well it always does. Mi Rong was thinking happily about her fortunate close relationship with her soon to be sister in law. She was like her real sister and nothing would get into their way of sisterhood.

Yi Chang finally showed himself in front of Mi Rong and could not help but complain, "You are still little and keep quiet if you don't want mother to know."

"Fine whatever, but can you carry me, please? My legs are awfully tired." Although her tone was asking nicely, her face had 'I will tell sister in law that you did...' written all over her face.

Full of reluctance, Yi Chang showed his back and bent down for Mi Rong to hop on. However, once Mi Rong 'jumped' onto his back, his legs went wobbly for one moment. This...he had no other words to say and could only cry silently. She was too heavy! It was nearly three times the weight she had, even though his sister was fairly slim, it was like putting sandbags on his back. No wonder she couldn't catch up with him. Mother had put in a lot of work to keep her in the ceremony tonight.

Sigh, but in the end, this little kid still got out. Even more, she pulled him into the fire as well. If she had more time, probably she would have pulled in his fiancee together.

Nevertheless, both of them loved escaping the palace since little and their favourite place to hide to was always Mt. Mìng Yùn. Especially Mi Rong, because this mountain was a source of a very special myth. Their mother would always tell this tale to them and don't know why but Mi Rong took it in the most. They never got caught coming which made them come to this mountain more often. Never knew why nobody would have thought they would come here. Maybe because of the so many tales about this place, that nobody would even want to step near.

It once was said that this was the place where the Fire Queen and the Almighty King Bian Fu (King of Bats) of the most powerful kingdom at that time, the Shadow Kingdom. They both met here and fell in love with each other. The importance of this story was because the pair were praised by the Ning Kingdom as the founder. All the citizen would praise and look up to their forefathers, especially the original King and Queen. This mountain was then kept as a sacred place where people would respect, but some were simply scared because of the mighty power the King Bian Fu once had.

However, little did the citizens know that there was another side of this story. A different side that would shock everyone. The two siblings walking up the mountain were one of the exceptions from the rest of the people. Their side of the story that was past down by the royal lineage was entirely different from their people. It was unbelievable to have another side of this famous tale, but still; it was possible.

Long ago, it was told that the woman King Bian Fu had fallen in love with was not the Fire Queen, but her stepsister, the Ice Queen of the Snowy Kingdom. The Snowy Kingdom was a mysterious Kingdom that was told to have never really existed on this continent. However, the pair's lineage told otherwise.

Nevertheless, the two sister's father was the emperor Tian Di, the Ice Queen's mother was the Empress and the Fire Queen's mother was the honourable concubine. Both of their mothers came from two drastically different kingdoms and in the end, once the sisters grew up; they were both given the responsibility to take care of their own maternal kingdoms.

The two kingdoms had never been on good terms and this was apparent during that time. Rumours were that their kingdom had been fighting with each other long before the two sisters were born. On the other hand, the Shadow Kingdom that grew powerful under the hands of the Bian Fu King was expanding their control across the land. Then, there came a love triangle of the two sisters with the Bian Fu King. It was an infamous tale of superpowers where animals and nature were still able to humans. Sadly, only some knew of this.

Time past and rumours were turned into stories and myths. What was left was told to the generations behind. Since it was of the past, not many tried to dig it up. Those that did would mysteriously vanish.

Back to the present, to the land of Ning.

The scenery on the peek of the mountain had no words to describe it. From here, the biggest waterfall on earth that was ever been created was apparent. Then, if you look ahead, a forest of flowers and trees were spread across the mountain range with patches of snow falling upon the mountain covering your feet. The snow here would never melt and would oddly never destroy nature. It was like it has its' own life of itself.

However, instead of admiring the scenery, there was another scene going on. A scene that you wouldn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Mi Rong who somehow was not on her brother's back and was now chasing her brother. In her hand, she was holding a long stick that she had found randomly along the path and was trying to hit her brother with it. Although they were in their mid-twenties, they seemed to have never grown whenever they were together. Others would never be able to see this picture. For the outside world, the brother and sister were counted as one of the coldest siblings in the entire kingdom

When Yi Chang got tired of running, he decided to give up " Rong Rong, wait wait, give your brother a little break." However, the next moment he exclaimed, "Hey, ouch."

"Never in a million years, brother." Mi Rong spat out those words with her teeth clenched together as she was also tired of carrying the weight of her dress. It was nearly reaching her limit as well.

Once it didn't work, Yi Chang then decided to distract her sister, "Hey, look at the moon up there!"

Mi Rong could not help when she heard about the moon and changed her focus, "Gasp! Wow, it is unbelievably beautiful, but don't think you'll get away with that, ha, I will definitely tell sister-in-law."

"Mi Rong ah, pleaseeee, I thought we agreed already?" Yi Chang really could not predict this sister of his.

"Keke, what will I get from keeping quiet?" Mi Rong's eyebrows raised sneakily.

"Well..." He t wanted to cry. What a sister he had.

Mi Rong proudly announced, "I say you give me that thousand-year sword of yours to me, you're not using it anyways. I want to keep it in my collection."

"No!"

"Then," Mi Rong left her brother hanging for a moment and proceeded to say, "The next day be prepared."

Yi Chang's eyes shook, "Wait, okay okay."

Mi Rong's sharp eyes turned to her brother, "What? Did I hear you say something, hmm?"

"Hey, that's enough ya, I already said it." Yi Chang was nearly reaching his anger tolerance.

"Hahaha, alright."

Yi Chang let out a soft sigh, "Phew."

Seeing her brother looking like he had aged ten years more made her chuckle. Mi Rong then turned to look at the full moon that everyone had been anticipating for. It made her think back to the story their mother once told them, "Brother, do you remember that story that mother would always tell us before going to bed?"

Yi Chang scratched his head, "The one that the Bian Fu King and the Fire queen fell in love with each other?"

"Hey, stop mistaking it, it's the Ice queen, not that fake woman." Mi Rong's hands immediately went on her hips.

"Hm? what's the matter with you and the Fire Queen, did she do anything to you? You always seem to hate her this much?" Yi Chang was slightly confused.

Mi Rong went silent for a while, before taking a deep breath and said, "Well, I just don't like her from what she did. She wasn't even the one in the story, but just because the Ice Queen was lost from history; she took the full credit. Even more, to think that she's known as our ancestor only makes me want to feel sick." Suddenly, in the corner of Mi Rong's eye, she saw a great bright light shining from the side of the big waterfall. Her attention immediately turned to the light. She then saw a pathway that she had never seen before, despite coming to the waterfall with her family and alone several times.

"Brother," She pointed her finger towards the light and spoke in astonishment, "Do you see that?"

"See what?" Her brother looked at her confusingly because when he looked; there was nothing there. Just some rocks.

"Um...this!" She decided to walk closer to it and pointed at it again. Her instinct kept telling her that there must be something very peculiar about it.

Yi Chang smiled, "Rong Rong, what games are you playing, hmm?" He genuinely thought that his sister was trying to scare him again.

Mi Rong was speechless. What games is mother nature playing with her? She turned back to the light and then to her brother.

"Come on, surely you can see ah Brother?"

However, her brother seemed to have become frozen right on spot. She looked down and saw herself stepping right on the edge of the light. When was she this close to it? She turned her gaze to her brother and saw that everything surrounding her brother froze. The leaves falling from the tree was lying in mid-air. Time seemed to have stopped except where she stood. The sound of the wind rushing past her ears from behind her was still audible.

"Brother!" She called out to her brother, but no words came out from her brother's mouth. However, her brother's eyes were showing how worried he was and was trying to tell Mi Rong to come out.

Mi Rong tried to move out but she couldn't get out from the pathway. She felt her body getting heavier and heavier every time she tried to free herself. She tried pushing through several times but failed each time. It felt like there was a transparent wall separating her and her brother.

"Princess," a small faint voice cried out to her.

Mi Rong's eyes widened, "Who's there?" She spoke while naturally pulled out her sword facing towards the darkness that lurked behind her.