32 32 - Is this her past?

3rd Person PoV

As ZhenZhu reopened her eyes, she is presented with the forest view from high up, there were mortals, half-immortals and immortals all alike roaming the place, the forest itself was harmonious, the breeze of nature was something indescribably beautiful and wondrous, the peace was evident, everyone seems to lived happily in a world totally different to what she was used to.

'Is this the life before the tragedy?' She asked, 'yes this was the life that we used to live.' The wolf's voice resounded in my mind.

Seeing how this place was so prosperous before, it was hard to imagine what led to its downfall.

As she looked down on the field, she sees a familiar figure, it has glamorous shining red fur present in public view, sparkly red eyes shows she is a mischievous little thing along with a bright smile plastered on her face. Yes, it was the clearly the red wolf, it seems she was happy, happier than what ZhenZhu perceived her to be, she looked innocent, a normal child with her family just having fun on the field.

'Mother, Father, grandpa, you are all slow pokes.' The little wolf said giggling as she ran ahead, 'stop Xiao Hong (小红- little red)' her mother called out.

'Nuh-uh... I'm going to reach home before any of you.' She said happily as she increased her speed, 'be careful!' Her father shouted out from behind as a dark mist appeared in front of Xiao Hong who was dazzled by the sudden chilling aura.

'Wh...what happened?' She asked as she caught a glimpse of it but it quickly disappeared into thin air.

'Wait...isn't that?'

'Yes it was, remember the dark magic used in the myth.' ZhenZhu nodded, 'that was it, however as you can see I wasn't the owner of such dark magic' She said which ZhenZhu agreed, for such a thick and dense dark Qi, the cultivation of XiaoHong cannot reach such a level due to her young age so it was impossible to be her.

'For some reason I've seen that mist before.' ZhenZhu thought to herself, concentrating on her memories she soon came to realisation that it was the same mist that was seen in the monster she battled at the exam , but one thing that confused her was why?

Why was the dark aura still plaguing the city at this time?

As ZhenZhu was deep in thought, she was caught by surprise when her surroundings suddenly shifted, instead of being on the field, she was brought to a a cave that seems to be where XiaoHong and her family lived in, 'mommy, I'm hungry.' XiaoHong said sneakily at her mother who followed close behind, 'ok, we should eat when we go back inside.' Her mother said softly whilst nudging her to go back inside, knowing her personality, her mother knew this was an excuse so she doesn't go home but unluckily for XiaoHong, her intentions were easily read.

'Hmph.... fine!' XiaoHong pouted unhappily knowing that her plan has failed but still listened and got her way slowly inside, whilst both her grandfather and dad was standing at the sidelines holding their laughter in when seeing how adorable their little daughter/granddaughter was.

However with one sudden appearance of an unfamiliar feeling of danger, it alerted everyone of evil, 'be careful!' The grandfather shouted as he ran towards XiaoHong and her mother. Just as he did, the two turned around and was faced with warm crimson blood splattered on their face, 'Wh...what's going on?' Questioned XiaoHong who fell onto the cold ground, 'splatter' a sound was heard from behind, as XiaoHong turned to face her mother, she sees her coughing out blood whilst a sharp unfamiliar dagger with a dark qi aura surrounding it stabbed into her chest. Something inexplicable came into XiaoHong's mind at that time.

'Mom, grandfather....' a wavy small voice called out to them, the fragile child was afraid, confused, unsure of what to do, in denial of the reality she was facing. She shook the two bodies laying near her, 'wake up....this isn't funny...sniff', her tears began to tear down her soft red fur as she came to realise they turned cold, 'No...no...NO!' she screamed, the two bodies she was holding onto suddenly turned to dust and faded in front of her eyes with nothing left but her devastated state stuck at that position awaiting for them to come back. 'Quickly run XiaoHong!' shouted her father who was fighting off the black shadow in front of him, she stood up with her wobbly feet, and rushed towards the shadow in attempt to kill it with her sharp claws however it easily went through him, not leaving a scratch, 'Why?' her body fumed with anger as she she attacked once again, then again and again. But to no avail, not even one blow has landed. She then questioned why this has to happen to her family, they were the only ones who protected and loved her and now they were dying in front of her eyes.

And as for the shadow, it just hovered in front of them as if it's not affected, furthermore it didn't even sustain any injuries, she then spun around to check her father's condition, he was already bleeding quite profusely from his previous injuries he sustained whilst battling this shadow and his breathing is heavy meaning he is losing energy, 'this isn't going well.' she exclaimed.

She knew the battle has to end but she also knew she doesn't have the ability to stop it but she still kept on attacking, but abruptly the shadow started to reach out it's hand in attempt to get a hold of XiaoHong, 'Run!' her father roared as he made his way in front of her, blocking the shadow's reach but was caught himself, the strength was leaving his body and the light within his body dispersed, 'cough...quickly...run!' he whispered as he coughed up blood, 'no...' However the words she uttered didn't come out, she was too shocked, her most powerful father who was never beaten in a battle was now laying lifeless in front of her, she growled as tears flooded her exterior, her body fumed with bright red flames providing her the power she needed. She ran towards the shadow however just at the point of contact, the dark shadow disappeared.

XiaoHong roared in anger, the sky started to become cloudy, her emotions was getting to her mind, her eyes was filled with the desire for revenge, 'I'll kill you!' she shouted as she flew up into the air.

'How can this happen?' ZhenZhu said to herself, witnessing the scene unfolding in front of her, she could feel the pain XiaoHong suffered although it wasn't pity this time, instead she was agravated in anger.

The scene then suddenly migrated to the inner field of the forest where the temple was located, ZhenZhu could see a glimpse of the dark Qi flowing into the temple despite not knowing who it belongs to, and just a few seconds later, XiaoHong appeared rushing towards the temple, 'who are your beast to cause such a havoc?' a old man in white who suddenly came out of the temple said and from the robe he was wearing, ZhenZhu instantly knew it was the high priestess due to the staff he was holding onto. However ZhenZhu could sense something ominous coming from him despite the light glowing from him.

'WHY?' XiaoHong questioned, a smirk reached the high priest's eyes, 'it seems you've awakened.' he said in an amusing tone, 'Why did you kill them?' XiaoHong demanded once again, 'Why?' he questioned uninterested with the small details as if saying that the lives he killed was of no concern to him even though he is respected to be pure and kindhearted, an omnipotent and benevolent person closest to the higher up (God). 'If it wasn't because of them, I would've been the ruler of your power' he said as the evil aura surrounded him, 'you didn't have to pull them into this.' XiaoHong said with her glowing red eyes staring at the priest, 'you know, if it wasn't because of them, I would've been able to reach the level of the higher ups and rule the world however it was your so called parents who crippled my aspiration then and ran away with you. well that was until you appeared today' he exclaimed. 'You!' XiaoHong shouted as she started to rush towards the priest attacking him with her new found powers.

And with the clash of their power, a large explosion blasted out blinding her eyes and ZhenZhu was suddenly pulled away from the dream world and back to her inner realm.

'Was that real?' ZhenZhu questioned, XiaoHong simply nodded, 'it was my memories of the past and it cannot be altered even if I tried.' ZhenZhu looked at XiaoHong, unsure of what to say, 'since that day, I've been trapped here seeing the outside world through this cage however I never got the chance to actually experience the world outside' she said looking saddened with remembering her past.

But one thing that was certain in ZhenZhu's mind was that XiaoHong wasn't evil but instead someone of the same past, and with that ZhenZhu knows what she needs to do and she was certain that she could trust XiaoHong, 'ok, I'll help you.'