Chapter 1 "Beginning"

*haaah* I let out a deep sigh and watched them form into a haze in this horrible cold,

in the dead noiseless street of this town.

A lot of other cities or villages had never been this serene, and I could faintly fathom that the reason for this was most likely this scorned weather.

I looked up at the sky, and as I did so when I exhaled, my breath traveled up like it was in hopes that it would reach the sky, along with my prayers for this weather to end as soon as it could.

the night sky was covered with gloomy clouds, that could rain snow at any moment,

and yet I found myself in this terrible situation,

while I was unsure of everything, the single thing I was sure of was, that if it was to snow,

I would be done for.

I was wandering alone in this lifeless street, where the only few I could hear were the whistling of the wind against my ears.

one would wonder if any people actually lived here,

but the lanterns lit outside assured me that I had in the least not gotten lost and walked into the lower realm accidentally.

rubbing my hands for warmth, I tried to look for any inn or house that was still open by this hour, or maybe even the exit.

but for as long as I roamed, I neither found any,

I wandered through many streets,

with only my breath and the soft crunching noise as I pull my feet through the snow to give me company.

I was about to just give up searching,

Because at this rate I was going to wander around till daybreak even if I had to stay the cold night outside, I would still be able to save my energy.

I could always ask the local folks for directions, and sometimes they would even take their time to guide me around but this time there was not a single person on the street that I could ask.

I guess I had become too dependent on others' guidance.

it is quite embarrassing,

" a cultivator lost in a town because he did not have a guide and just could not remember the signs and was way too bad at directions"

it had an inexpressible manner to it.

regardless, one thing was certain, I would not be quite pleased with that title.

I sighed, if there was even a suitable place for me to just sit down I would be content.

but just then I found a dark alley,

there was not a single lantern that lit up that alley,

Is it intentional?

one thing, just as how I had always been bad with directions without a guide, I have also always been terribly curious.

maybe my poor sense of direction fueled my need to know everything,

when raising a child there is always a phase of "what, why, how, and where"

This is a phase where every parents are drained to the brim and the phase which the new parents dread.

however, turns out I never actually grew out of that phase, and until now I just have been trying my hardest to restrain it.

I still vividly remember the day Uncle Chen took me to a festival while we were on a mission, it was also my first mission, and at that time the sect leaders and elders had sent me along as a part of my training.

I don't quite remember that town's name but I really loved the scenery around it,

the trees that breathed life were everywhere giving shade in the scorching summer

and also protected them from heavy rain

the air was full of life and the huge lake they had just near the market was full of life flowing, the place was lively, and crowded with cheerful people.

the lotus bloomed and faced the sky,

and they would occasionally dance with the current as the wind played the music for them, tugging them along.

as far as I can remember that day,

I saw my uncle's face turn from excitement to exhaustion in a span of a few minutes as he got bombarded with my questions.

I believe we could not even see the fireworks that he intended for me to see, as he got so tired he could not take it anymore before it even reached that point.

it was my first time outside of the Chen sect habitat so I did not know a lot of things,

that day was the first time I learned about candy art which was art made of sugar by an old lady in a stall.

I made him buy four of them for me.

and that was also the first time I found out that there were varieties of sweet dishes other than cakes but of course, cakes are still the best.

and when I realized the impact my questions could have on a person I started to restrain more of my questions and would most of the time only ask the most necessary things.

Uncle avoided me for a few days after that.

Now I was alone and even if I were to get lost, nothing would change since I was already lost the moment I entered this town.

I had nothing to lose and no need to restrain myself for anybody's sake,

so I decided to indulge in my curiosity a bit more.

but as I thought it was dark,

when I made a certain turn, my eyes widened with shock.

the clouds covering the were carried away by the wind, unveiling the moonlight and it shone down directly on a boy who had curled up into a ball in a corner of the wall on top of the snow blanket.

turning himself so small taking up as little spot as possible, his hair fell gently on the soft snow.

but

he was already half covered in snow as if he had already become one with it.

his hair blended with those pale snowflakes like how a chameleon would blend itself in a tree and was like it was illuminated under the soft moonlight

the spots in which his robe failed exposed a porcelain skin.

and we both stayed under the moonlight directed at us.

his breathing was faint,

his clothes were tattered and some blood cluttered and made dark spots on some places

and stained his already dark clothes, which was in contrast to his whole appearance.

he was in a wretched state of life and death.

Although his breathing was there

his heartbeat was so faint that even the ants' voices would be louder

almost as if... it was concealed.

even though he was in such a state I still had to be careful, because who knows what would unfold, I was still not clear about his identity,

but when I saw him laying there alone with nothing but himself, hugging himself into a ball for warmth.

I felt a tug in my chest,

"...child." I stepped closer to the body of around eight or nine, as I asked,

"Do you want to live?"

my gaze fixated on that small lump laying on the snow.

how long had it been, since the thing I asked people was not of direction.

upon hearing my voice that lump twitched, he was half-dreaming as he turn to lay on his back,

his vision blurred making him unable to differentiate between dream and reality

as he turned he exposes his face, his eyes slightly opening his cheeks already flushed from the cold.

I could not make out a lot of his face because the moon was once again covered away.

he turned his head straight towards me

with very little consciousness he has,

he muttered in a low hoarse voice,

"...I want... to live."

that was all I needed, all I needed to hear.

the corner of my lips turned upward forming a smile

his expression revealed his gentleness which was nevertheless, not discovered by that child.

....

as I carried that weak child in my arms I covered him with my cloak to warm him even a little,

he was cold as a corpse

and his robes were doing a very poor job of keeping him warm.

was he a young child from a nearby family that got lost?

judging by the quality of his outfit I could be sure that he wasn't just some common child.

although it was now difficult to notice it because of the condition they were in.

this child was in a state where he could not even take care of himself how would he be able to care for the condition of his clothes?

I thought for sure that he could not be human seeing how he was probably outside for a long time, no normal human child would survive such a situation.

if he wasn't, with little training he could be considered a genius in the cultivation world.

but nowadays I have been hearing many rumors about some wealthy families adopting demon children and claiming them as their own.

many cultivators from various sects have been trying to find those families, apparently, the Emperor has placed a large sum of rewards for the person catching people doing this practice.

so does this mean that I would have to report it to the cultivators if he turned out to be non-human?

even if I did so I would get nothing in return,

...and it's been a while since I had someone to company me.

after walking through the alley for a while, I came across an inn that still had its lamps inside burning brightly.

a speck of hope twinkled inside me that was already buried away,

I fastened the pace of my steps, but I did so as carefully to not disturb the little one's sleep.

and from a nearing distance, a man seems to have noticed us approaching

he waved his hand,

he was just about to close when we arrived.

he glanced up and down, and noticing the life in my hand he took a step forward to peek inside,

he saw the little boy, who was in a rough condition

his breathing was barely audible.

then he looked at me again, and his gaze landed on the jade hanging from my waist, which was previously covered by my cloak

then with a smile, "Good sir, are you a traveler?"

he asks

seeing how we were most definitely in need of a place to rest he gestured towards the door leading us in.

taking a seat for a moment, "Yes, I'm just passing by." I answered,

with the boy still in my arms, I did not notice as I was too tempted to take a seat upon seeing a chair after walking for so long,

that this little boy had already wrapped both his entire arms around my waist and snuggled against my belly,

"I figured so,"

hm?

why did he say that? seeing the question on my face,

he continues...

Side note:

Hello:)

it's me and I just wanted to let you know that, I'm still very lacking in writing, so there may be some flaws here and there,

and I'm hoping you could give me some feedback so that I can improve,

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed it:D

happy reading