THE ASCETIC LIFE 3

"Something bad? How do you know?"

"Everything that happens in the world, has actually been told by Nature. Cold winds, rain, storms, earthquakes, drops of dew, rainbows, bloody moons... these are the ways of how Nature communicates to us and tells us all of Her feelings, desires, and hopes towards us. Be more sensitive to Nature, then you will be able to know what'll happen."

"Ah, I see. But... what does actually that bad thing look like?"

"I have no clue about this." Chun turned away. "But, please remember. To be careful. Always."

The unnatural chilly wind blowing once more forced them to stutter. "Al... alright!..."

And the provocative question that Zhu Su almost asked, was swallowed back into his stomach. Zhu Su knew it for sure, Chun would not be able to answer that question. Because that question, was a question that had no answer. Or precisely to say, there would be no answer that truly satisfied his expectation.

***

"How is the medical center, anyway?"

Now the weather was not as warm as the previous day. Dark clouds began to hang on the afternoon sky. The wintry wind started to blow again. Zhu Su, Zhu Youdun, and Hu Nayin were taking a leisure walk at the temple backyard adjacent to the wild. They were intending to keep the distance from the priesthood at this moment, so as to express their thoughts freely.

Zhu Su eyed the dark clouds above him, his face turned grim in a sudden. Just the three of them could enjoy this tranquil and peaceful life here, Zhu Su felt very guilty towards his fellows at the medical center. The latest news he heard was a large number of strange soldiers had ravaged the medical center. Three days had passed after that, anything could happen to Wu Qi, Li Heng, Guo Songmi, Liu Ku, Qu You, and others.

"If only I can get the news about them..."

"You will put yourself in danger, Your Highness..."

"But... we can't live here forever, right..."

Zhu Su stared at that silent temple where its inhabitants were doing their minimalist activities, and then turned his eyes, looked at the mountains soaring into the sky in front of him which appeared secluded and isolated.

"Why not, Fu Wang? The priesthood can do that, so why can we not?" Zhu Youdun asked.

"We shouldn't live here comfortably by sacrificing the lives of those good people." Zhu Su lowered his eyes in sadness.

"I think, it's their pleasure to sacrifice themselves to save you, Your Highness," Hu Nayin said seriously.

Zhu Su curved a bitter smile. "Why?"

"You are a Fan Wang. A leader. What people should do is to defend their leaders and to serve the country. That becomes the first reason. Then, you are not just any leader, you are a good leader. You are dedicating yourself to help the people, that is the second reason."

Once again, Zhu Su curved a bitter smile. "Helping me will precisely make them rebel against the country, because right now I am an enemy of the country who endangers the emperor's power." He looked at the sky which was now covered with a congregation of gray and white clouds. "I don't want them to end their lives in vain, and after that being remembered in history as the rebels of the country. I... want to save them... at least, I want to know, that they are fine... that they are safe..."

The sky was seemingly being torn apart by the lightning which soon dazzled their eyes. Hu Nayin bowed her head, screaming loudly. And, the thunder boomed as if it was shaking the whole earth.

A second later, an unnatural roar appeared - it was the roar that should not be heard in this quiet mountain.

"That... sounds like the howl of many soldiers..." Zhu Youdun listened more carefully. "Or it is just another thunder and I've mistaken it..."

Hu Nayin's heart pumped faster. "It is similar to the sound when the soldiers attacked the medical center!..."

Zhu Su and Zhu Youdun immediately jumped to their feet.

"They've really found out our hiding spot?!"

"Will they ravage the temple just to look for us?..."

Hu Nayin squinted to that source of the noise. She screamed.

"That's right... They are the soldiers who attacked the medical center last time!..." She yelled in panic. "Your Highness! We must run away, immediately!"

Zhu Su looked doubtful as he wanted to help the priests and priestesses in the temple, but Zhu Youdun had pulled him. "Fu Wang! The best way to save them is to run away as far as we can. If the soldiers can't find us, they will only leave the temple furiously but will let them remain safe. It will be totally different if we get caught within the temple area!"

The vicious steps were getting closer. Now the screams of those soldiers could be heard clearly. "They must be here! Search this place! We must find them, dead or alive!"

Zhu Su gnashed his teeth. He had no way out, except running away. Zhu Youdun and Hu Nayin followed him.

"But where should we go?!" Zhu Youdun yelled in his panting breath.

"Don't know. Just follow your intuition," Zhu Su answered hurry-scurry, his eyes were fully focusing on the pathway in front of him which began to be steep.

Their ears caught the footsteps running fast towards them.

"They've got our trace?!" Zhu Youdun shouted again.

"Don't mind it. Just get focus on running forward!"

Zhu Su was unwilling to waste his energy just for looking back even to ascertain whether the enemy had been near or not. The pathway they were taking was undeniably precipitous. Extra energy was truly needed to climb it up. It was only in a few moments and Zhu Su felt that his energy had been drained a lot.

"They've been much closer, Fu Wang!"

"Then you must run faster!"

This hiking trail apparently took them into a dense forest. Zhu Su huffed a sigh of relief, finally, the path they took had changed its shape into flat. But the new problems appeared. This forest was so wild and dense that the situation inside was almost dark. The sunlight was more difficult to penetrate since it was hindered by the thick trees. And although they could run faster because the pathway was flat, they must be more careful in order to avoid the roots of large trees overlapping and coiling around on the ground as if being ready to trip them once they were less vigilant. They had to jump over big roots or avoid small animals passing through them while running, and it made their running speed slower than it should be.

"We are supposed to hide!" As Zhu Su said, two of them soon nodded.

The enemies' footsteps sounded to get closer. And they could hear the clanging of swords were slicing ​​through the bushes and trees. Panting, exhausted, and frightened, Zhu Su looked left and right, searching in panic for a gap to hide. Then he saw a big black hole emerging in the midst of large leaves and lush trees.

"I see a cave there!"

Zhu Youdun and Hu Nayin nodded. "Let's enter it!"

They soon pushed the stumbling leaves asides, and rushed into the cave.

Zhu Su gasped. He could seemingly feel that his heart had stopped for a moment.

His feet did not stomp the ground. They just stepped on the air.

"Nooooooo!!!"

He heard Hu Nayin was screaming out loud beside him. And he, had no energy anymore to shout. A chill spread from the base of his spine up to his back. His body had overturned, just like his surrounding that was being flipped as he fell down.

The three of them were now falling into a bottomless hole. Being directly slammed down towards the center of the earth with deadly speed.