67. Another Stirring

A majestic beautiful bird made of flames. Its head looked down at him, it's wings spread wide, its talons aimed at him and its nine tail feathers fluttered freely. Under its presence Hiro felt like an ant, and was frozen in place. He could not move out of the way, and was forced to remain as his body trembled.

*Shriek*

It cried out and dived down at Hiro. He could only gulp as he watched it charge at him. He could tell this wasn't real, correction, the bird charging at him wasn't a physical entity. He could tell, but it didn't change anything. Once that bird reached him, he was done for. That was something he was sure off.

"Seriously, I am unlucky to have you as my disciple," a voice sounded. Immediately, four streaks of light flew past him from behind and converge to greet the bird. When they met, a shockwave sent Hiro back and Hong Xi appeared blocking the bird from advancing forward. "I died because of you and after dying I have to save you. Why is it a soul attack?"

"Senior?" Hiro muttered.

"Huh? A phoenix? Boy! Why did you pick trouble with a divine beast? Are you out of your mind!?"

"…"

"Tch." Hong Xi pushed the phoenix back. "Fortunately, it's just a soul ability of a youngster but this is a waste of my soul protection."

He struck out and the phoenix was destroyed. "Tch, boy be careful. I can only protect your soul space one more time."

Hong Xi split into four streaks of light and disappeared. Slowly the darkness subsided and Hiro's surroundings returned.

*Ack*

He found himself hanging on a tree branch on a lower level than he originally was. His breathing was heavy and his eye ached. However, Hiro had something on his mind right now.

He raised his head and activated his left eye again. The barrier was no longer there, and he could not only see the egg, but also feel the vitality coming from it.

"It's going to die… ouch! Ah!"

Hiro closed his left eye and grimaced. Quickly he took out some healing pills and swallowed them. And then tried to control his breathing.

After resting for a while, Hiro made his way down the tree. He continued in the direction the egg was. A short while later he arrived at the foot of a small hill. Hidden behind some trees was a cave.

Cautiously, Hiro passed the cave entrance. This was where the red barrier had been. Seeing no threat, Hiro relaxed a bit. He looked around the cave. It was a small cave, barely the size of a room.

At a corner of the cave was the egg Hiro had seen. "There you are," he says and walks up to it. "I wonder how you ended up like this, little one?"

He sat down beside the egg and placed his hand on it. With his hand he could feel it, the weak vitality of the egg.

"I see, you weren't calling out to me. You were just crying out, knowing you'll die soon," Hiro says. "I'm not sure I can save you but I hope this works."

He takes out his pouch bag and frowns. "Right, where did I keep the sword?" He checks the pouch bags in his possession, but couldn't find it. "Seems I misplaced it."

He sighs while keeping the bags. "Hmm, okay I'll use my teeth," he smiles and bit his palm. He bit so hard until his teeth tore his flesh and his blood began to flow. His blood flowed down and he placed his hand above the egg.

"I hope this works."

After pouring enough, Hiro sat down behind it. He rested his back on the wall and urged his energy to stop his blood from flowing.

He took in a deep breath and exhaled softly. His gaze fell on the trees and grasses outside the entrance. With time his thoughts finally settled and Hiro couldn't help but wonder…

"Why? Just why do I take these actions? Why do I do things on impulse?"

He took in another deep breath as memories clouded his mind. The first was when he woke up. Although, the right thing to do to survive was fight, he had charged at the beasts while searching for stronger beasts to fight.

"Why?"

The second time was when Hong Xi wanted to take Mia away. His body had moved on its own and his mouth spoke before he thought things through.

"Why?"

The third time was when he was falling. He still couldn't understand why he sent the spirit flame to help Mia. At that moment his body wanted to save Mia so bad that he thought not of himself.

"Why?"

And now here he was trying to save an egg just because he felt a desperate cry for help.

"Am I really the one taking these actions? Or is there someone in me taking them?"

"Two colors?" Hong Xi's voice sounded. "The memories of two beings in one soul space?"

A scene came to his mind. It was when Hong Xi stepped into his soul space. He had replied Hong Xi by asking. "Two beings?"

And Hong Xi had replied as such. "Yes, and they both seem to originate from here."

"What does that mean?"

"It means none of these were placed in here by someone else. These two set of memories belongs to the owner of this soul space, you."

Back then he didn't bother about Hong Xi's words and thought he was saying gibberish. However, now was different.

"Are there two beings in this body?" he stares down at his hands and legs. "That would explain why I sometimes spoke to myself and sounded like a different person."

He sighs. "Is that even possible? Two beings in one body, that means there are two souls, right? But when master and I entered my soul space, there weren't two souls. It was just me. What if the other soul was sleeping? And only wakes up during those moments."

"Argh, I don't even know what I'm saying. Hey, if there's someone else in me, I want you to listen. Stop making me take unnecessary actions, I want to reach the peak of martial arts, and not die. Your stupid actions will get me killed one day."

Hiro sighs and turns to the egg. "I think I've gone crazy, tch… ha, two beings in one?" he folds his legs and wraps his knees with his hand. He placed his head on his knees and asked. "What do you think?"

He blinks his eyes and sighs. "I've really gone crazy, I'm talking to an egg. Huh?"

At that moment he noticed, his blood on the egg was being absorbed. It wasn't obvious at first glance but at a closer look one could notice it too. Hiro's eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face.

"You like that, should I give you more?"

As soon as the words left Hiro's mouth the egg shook slightly. It rocked back and forth causing Hiro's eyes to dilate even further.

"You understand me?"

If the first time, was Hiro seeing things, then the second time was a confirmation. The egg shook again, answering him. Hiro voluntarily moved away from the egg.

"Is it possible for an egg to…?" he thought while staring at the egg that was currently still. "I should get some fresh air, it's hard to breath in here."

Immediately, he got to his feet and quickly walked out of the cave. "Am I really going crazy? An egg can understand me? No, no, no… I'm just seeing things haha. Right, that attack from that bird must have affected me. I should forget about this and cultivate. That should help me clear my head."

Quickly, Hiro sat down in a meditation pose, closed his eyes and started cultivating.

***

A few hours later Hiro opens his eyes. The setting sun greeted him and a soft breeze brushed his face as it blew by. And the birds in the trees called to one another.

"Senior really is awesome, marking everything here with the dao of time. If I can absorb these marks, my comprehension of the dao of time will increase bountifully."

He stretched his back and then yawned. "Let's try that again," he mutters while raising his right hand. His index and middle finger points to his chin, while his thumb held his ring and little finger in place. He took in a deep breath and exhaled.

As if waiting for him to exhale, the air formed a sphere around him. He could feel it, the time within the sphere had ceased moving. And with it, so did the fluttering grasses, the breeze that blew and the little insects around him. Right now, he was the only one with the ability to move within the sphere.

"Let's give this technique a better name than stall," he says with a smile on his face. "Stasis."

This was the first ability he comprehended from the time dao. However, he knew there were more to come. Honestly, he could feel it, there was another stirring up. He just knew it. Like when one had something at the tip of their tongue to say, but just couldn't say it. It was there, but there was a mental wall keeping it at bay.