1 The little gravekeeper

He stood there proudly, with both eyes gazed intently towards the distant sky. His left hand hold a small curved-blade, with drench of sweats flowed like an eternal river. His right hand was clenching firmly on a stalk of immortal grass, as if he is ready to uproot it from the face of the heaven. The blade moved steadily towards the neck of the grass, and a sinister smile appeared on his calm face.

GOD!!!!!!

He shouted the word as if a calamitous roar had descended upon the mortal kingdom. He tightened his grip on the blade, and his finger muscle was twitching like an apocalyptic earthquake smashing the highest heaven. The stalk of grass was unmoving, like a mortal who had forsake his fate and life for the next seven reincarnations.

Contrary to his demeanour, the sky was still in total silence. It was like the god had turned its tail, and the sky grew even darker. His sinister grin turned into a maniacal laugh and his blade neatly slice the immortal grass.

He loosened his grip on the unfortunate immortal grass, and his bloodied hands was shifted onto another immortal grass, but suddenly a sudden roar from distant horizon found its way towards his consciousness.

ABE!!!!!!!!

He was jolted by the sudden roar. Abe was his name. He dropped his blade, and dry his sweats with his old-tattered white shirt. He smiled and turned his head towards another figure.

There was a girl who was adequately dressed in yellow, with her long hair swaying sideways. She looks like a 14 years old girl, with a bamboo basket attached towards her back. She grabbed something from her pocket and hold it firmly in a fist.

"Take this for today" She instructed him.

Abe unhesitatingly took it with his eyes closed.

"9 copper coins" he muttered to himself. "That's one less but maybe she doesnt have enough coin for herself. This should get me well-fed for three days. She can repay me anytime and i won't force her."

"Thank you" Abe said as earnestly as he could. He turned his back, grab his sickle and and a sack of cut grass while singing himself an old folklore song. He looks like a 10 years old brat with a slight overweight body shape. He made a meticulous movement with each step, precisely avoiding each gravestone under the cover of surging darkness as he slowly dissapeared into the depth of the graveyard.

Yaya stood there as she watched him disappeared.

"I gave him one less copper coin, and he didnt even fuss about it. I wish i can talk to him more. He is such a sad kid and i wonder how he made it alone here"

Yaya packs herself, and examine if everything was in order. She was a disciple of an outer branch sect who is responsible for maintaining the eastern outermost graveyard of her sect. She temporarily hired a number of mortals, and Abe was one of them. And only Abe catched her attention.

The town they currently located was called Gelang. It is one of the outermost southern town which bordered the Eastern Graveyard and Southern Desolate forest. The town does not belong to any nation, and is governed by local council made up of various sect's representatives.

The town relied heavily on trade, where numerous fortune seeker or even graverobber made their living here. It also received thousands of pilgrims praying their respect to their late ancestor.

Yaya does not know how enormous is the Eastern Graveyard. Its periphery was surrounded by hundreds of kingdom and sect, and only a few had been able to cross such perilous land. Abe was living here all alone, a few miles deep into from where she is standing right now.

....