Dream

"Brother Fei!! Brother Fei!!! Wait for me..."

A small figure ran through the forest path, panting and shouting with all its might. On closer look, it appeared to be a young boy of small stature, his skinny arms and legs could barely keep up with his pace. Far ahead of him was another figure, that of another young boy not much older. However, in contrast with the other boy, his body was tall, firm and filled with vigour. The boy looked back at his companion and shouted.

"Is that all you've got? Tian Lang? Have you already given up on courting Lady Hong Hua? If you can't even win against your dear senior brother in a race, how do you plan to win against me on the battlefield of love, eh?"

Zheng Fei said in a cheeky taunting voice. He had always loved messing with his younger cousin to see his reactions. As he expected, Tian Lang's face turned bright red, one could see the blushing reach his ears. He answered back with pouted cheeks while barely holding in his tears.

"It... It's not fair brother Fei!! You're a few years older than me, how can I possibly win against you..."

"Nothing in this world is fair Tian Lang, if you want something, you have to take it yourself!! Oh look, there are beautiful orchids growing at the finish line. Lady Hong Hua would certainly fall in love with me if I made them into a gift."

Zheng Fei let out a smirk, then he continued sprinting toward the destination.

"Wa... Wait!! I.. I will not give up, I won't lose this time big brother."

Tian Lang said, with determination in his voice, then he channeled all his might into a mad dash toward the finish line. Bit by bit, the distance between the two shortened, a satisfying smile appeared on Zheng Fei's face as he looked back at his young cousin. Who, in stark contrast with the meek and weak boy earlier, was now beaming with strength and confident.

"Good job, junior brother, but it's still not enough."

The speed of Zheng Fei's sprinting then increased greatly, he had been holding back this entire time. The one who reached the finish line first was Zheng Fei, who was now leaning against a plum tree. A smug look appeared on his face as he congratulated the exhausted Tian Lang lying on the ground.

"Tha... that was... fun big brother, but... but I won't lose again next time."

Tian Lang said, still catching his breath.

"At this rate, it would take a thousand years before you could win against me once, junior broth..."

A loud bonking sound occurred. A plum fruit had dropped on Zheng Fei's head before he could finish his sentence.

"Pffft... Hahahhahaa"

Tian Lang busted into laughter.

"It was tribulation from the heaven for bullying your junior, big brother."

Zheng Fei massaged his pained head, then he too started laughing. After laughing to their hearts' content, Zheng Fei said.

"Look, you can see our town from up here. Doesn't it look so tiny and insignificant like this?"

"Whoa~~~, what a magnificent view big brother!!"

Tian Lang said with stars in his eyes. But then his expression suddenly doured.

"But... Should we be out here having fun at times like this big brother? Isn't today the anniversary of your mother's passing?"

Zheng Fei's expression shifted to a somber tone.

"It's fine, my dear mother always told me to live with no regret. Beside, she would scold me if she saw her son spending a whole day uselessly moping around."

He then continued.

"... And I don't want to see my old man. If he could be so diligent with attending his beloved wife's death anniversary, he should have been there with her on her death bed."

"I... I'm sorry, big brother, I didn't mean to bring up the bad memories."

Tian Lang said, with regret on his face. Zheng Fei let out a long sigh and put a hand on the junior brother's head.

"It's fine, we shouldn't let such boring adult stuffs bring down the mood. Hey, how about this, whoever picked out the most plum fruits will get to ask out Lady Hong Hua next time"

"Challenge accepted, big brother, I'll go first."

Tian Lang immediately cheered up, the boy then began climbing. Before much time passed, the young boy had already gathered up several handful of fruits.

"Look like I'm winning this time, big brot..."

A loud snapping sound followed by a crack could be heard. The branch that Tian Lang was on broke apart and sent the young boy tumbling downward to the ground. Where he now lied motionless.

"Tian Lang!!!"

Zheng Fei shouted desperately as he held his junior brother's head, which was now bleeding. Not succumbing to his panic, he breathed in deeply then began giving the young boy a piggyback ride to the Heaven Gazer Sect's estate.

~~~~~~

The scene then shifted forward a few days ahead. Zheng Fei wore a worried look as he walked toward his cousin's room. The doctor had told them that his treatment had been a success. But he also said that the young boy's mind had been damaged and his behavior might become a little strange from now on. Zheng Fei's tried to calm his rapidly beating heart and opened the door to Tian Lang's room.

To Zheng Fei's surprise, Tian Lang wasn't lying on his bed. The boy was now standing in front of the window with bandages on his head. His back was turning toward him.

"Tian.. Lang? Are you feeling better?"

Tian Lang turned around, an eerie atmosphere engulfed the room. The young boy's eyes which had once been filled with starlight and youthful wonder were now in a shade of deep blue, completely and utterly devoid of lights.

"Greeting... dear senior brother. It's been a long time since I last saw you."

He said in a ragged tone.

"What are you talking about, Tian Lang? It has only been a few days since we last saw each other."

"... Indeed, that is so."

He said, with a rather monotonous tone. The boy then leaned against the table, a hand on his chin. Suddenly, with a strange look on his face, Tian Lang asked.

"Senior brother, what if I told you I've come back from 30 years in the future."

Zheng Fei couldn't believe the absurd sentence that came out of his little cousin's mouth. He accidentally let out a chuckle.

"And here I thought something serious happened, you were just making a joke, weren't you?"

Tian Lang's somber expression quickly switched to a cheerier tone.

"Yes! senior brother, that was just a joke, forget I said anything."

As the conversation between the 2 boys finished, a running sound could be heard echoing across the hallway. A small pink figure then appeared at the door, it was a beautiful young girl with lavish clothing and hair as pink as a peach.

"Lady... Hong Hua."

"How could you be so reckless Tian Lang? What would I, your potential marriage partner, do if you had just died?"

She asked with a pompous tone and clear anger in her voice.

"Well... you would still have my dear cousin."

The uncharacteristic sentence inadvertently came out of Tian Lang as he let out a small smile after.

"He's... still in the middle of recovery, lady Hong Hua, don't mind him."

Zheng Fei told a now flabbergasted Hong Hua. Who then proceeded to give both of them a long lecture.

~~~~~~

The scene shifted forward again, now to years later. Several figures could be seen sitting around a table, discussing something.

"Sect leader, please, we cannot afford to send any more of our disciples toward the frontline, even if it's a request from the king himself."

The figure was that of an elderly man, desperately begging someone who appeared to be his Sect leader.

"It is our duty to fulfil, great elder. The Huǐmiè yǐnqíng* has started to make its move again after years of slumber. The entirety of central highland has already become a battlefield. We must not allow it to make any more advances lest our very hometown be burned to the ground."

He made a short pause, then continued.

"Moreover, it's not just our country of Zhao that is facing this crisis. I'm sure the Ming and Yan and their sects are having their hands full as well. The balance of power won't shift that easily."

"But.. but even then.."

"Big brother has already made up his mind, it's not like any of you old bones are fighting on the frontlines anyway."

Sitting in the corner was a younger Liu Jiang Ping, his snide remark enraged the surrounding elders.

"You imbecile, don't you know that thieves and bandits are going to be breeding like vermins in times of war? Who are going to defend our lands against such threats if you sent all of the disciples to the frontline?"

"Enough, we will have no lands left to even defend if this foreign threat isn't extinguished. This is... the lesser of 2 evils. Our meeting ends here."

The Sect Leader swiftly put an end to the war council. Yet numerous loud shouting and arguments could still be heard after...

~~~~~~

The scene shifted once more to several months later. Zheng Fei, now a teenager, was making his way through a treacherous mountain path. He seemed to be searching for something, with desperate look on his face. The only thing on his mind was the conversation he had with Xiao Mei earlier.

"It's... It's all our fault, young master. We should have fought till the bitter end... But, but my brother and I were no match against those bandits. They already took Lady Hong Hua away. I'm sorry... I'm sorry.. young master."

A visibly shaken Xiao Mei said with a cracked voice and eyes filled of tears.

"Calm down, Xiao Mei!! It's not your fault. Now tell me where they took her."

Zheng Fei put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down. Xiao Mei raised her arm, seemingly still shaken and pointed at the far away mountain range.

"We... we last saw them running in that direction, they must have taken her to their lair. Young master Tian Lang and what left of the disciples had already departed for a search."

Zheng Fei's flashback got interrupted as he saw several figures running toward him. They appeared to be armed and donned in ragged, barely cobbled together armors. It must be them, the bandits, Zheng Fei thought.

Zheng Fei stopped and put a hand on his sword hilt, preparing for battle. But to his surprise, the bandits just ran past him. It was as if they didn't even notice he was there. He grabbed one of them by the collar and shouted.

"Scum!! Where did you take my beloved fiancé. Answer me or I'll take your throat!!"

The man was shaking profusely with eyes full of terror.

"O... Over there, please, please spare me. I'll repent and take up farming, I swear!! I swear!!"

Zheng Fei looked in the direction the man was pointing at, flames and smokes could be seen rising upward from there. He then threw the man to the ground and sprinted at full speed toward the destination. The man's mumble could still barely be heard coming from behind as he ran away.

"Mon.. Monster!! Please, I will repent, spare me!! Spare me!!!"

When Zheng Fei arrived at the bandit camp. What greeted him was a scene straight out of a painting of hell. The entire camp was engulfed in a raging fire. Corpses were lying around everywhere, some burned to a crisp, others cut clean in half with organs spewing out. The sight made his stomach turn, but he quickly composed himself and looked around, searching for any sign of Hong Hua.

"Lady Hong Hua, where are you?"

He shouted. Then in a distance, he saw 2 figures standing in the open field. On closer look, he noticed it was his cousin Tian Lang and... Lady Hong Hua, safe and sound. He made a dash toward the two. But what awaited him after was something he didn't expect, not even in a million years.

"Shink"

A deafening sound of sword digging into flesh echoed throughout the camp. Hong Hua's expression shifted to that of shock and fear as she looked down. The sword had embedded deep inside her stomach, blood was spewing out like a river from the wound. With her last breath, she could only utter weakly.

"Tian... Lang... why..?"

"The seed has been sowed. With your death, the course of history will change... forever."

Tian Lang said with a cold look in his eyes as Hong Hua fell to the ground, motionless.

After witnessing everything, a flood of emotions overwhelmed Zheng Fei. He dashed toward Tian Lang and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Have you gone mad Tian Lang!!! What have you done!!! Wh... Why!!! Answer me!!!"

He asked, his trembling voice filled with rage and confusion. But what greeted him back was only his cousin's gaze, with eyes as blue and emotionless as the day he fell down that plum tree.

"Hello there... Brother Fei."

Tian Lang said softly. The scene then became blurry as the flame began to engulf everything...

~~~~~~

"Aaaaaarrgrgggggg"

Zheng Fei let out a loud scream, as if he had just woken up from a long nightmare. His body was sweating profusely. The young master took in a deep breath as he began to calm down.

"What an unpleasant dream..."

He said to himself. Then he started investigating his surroundings. Around him lied a lush meadow stretched as far as the eyes could see.

Zheng Fei noticed he was holding something tightly in his palm the entire time. It was Xiao Mei's Yìnbáng.

"So that part wasn't a dream..."

He thought with a solemn expression. But it was quickly replaced by his usual demeanor.

"There's no use crying over spilled milk, now where even am I?"