2 Dogs are not crazy. They have better instincts.

When Cheng Yan woke up, he realized that he had never slept this peacefully before. He always had nightmares in which he would dream that his wallet was always empty and that his parents would be nagging him every day to send back home more money. But today for some reason he felt quite refreshed and even optimistic. Which he never was. It was still nighttime and he couldn't remember how he fell asleep under a tree. He was starting to feel cold and itchy.

He tried to grab his bag but to his annoyance, he touched his bare shoulder. And then he realized why he was feeling itchy. He was almost naked except for a flimsy loincloth that did not do justice to his buttocks and was barely covering his family jewels.

"I got robbed!" was his instantaneous reaction.

"They took everything from me! EVERYTHING!"

His bag was missing along with his wallet, his clothes and even his hard-earned pair of Chuck Taylor's was gone! And the most depressing thing was that he lost his phone! It was bought under an EMI for which he had not even paid half of the original price. How could he sleep in a place like this when he knew that he would be an easy prey to muggers... This was the worst thing that ever happened to him in his life!

And he was sure that the thief was an old man because the thief had even taken his boxer shorts and had left a loincloth on him. Tears started rolling down from his eyes, he wanted to eat the old lady's dumplings that night and the thief had not even left him some bills. He frantically started searching the area for clues when...

"Young Lord! Where have you been? I have been searching for you this entire time! The Lord was extremely furious when you were found missing from your room. I swear I have cross-checked this location before, but you were not here earlier. Ah, my soul is safe! I was sure my soul was going to be fed to the demons to search for you if I didn't find you tonight. Young Lord, let us return to the castle, the shamans will be incensed if you don't show up before the sunrise."

Cheng Yan looked behind him to see why did this "Young Lord" run away from something that was clearly very important and worth even this man who was approaching towards his direction to sound so worried and scared at the same time.

"Young Lord, did you lose something? Shall I help you find it? We need to hurry" said the new character when Cheng Yan looked behind.

Cheng Yan flipped his head back and pointed at himself. "Me?"

Seeing the dazed look on Cheng Yan, the man said, " Young Lord, are you okay? You don't need to be scared of the ritual. I know you are only 14 and having to decide your fate may be unnerving but I, Xiao Lok, will always be there for you."

This time Cheng Yan realized that this "Xiao Lok" was talking to him. And the number 14 slowly registered in his, for once, slow working brain.

"Say what? I am 14!?" No wonder he felt refreshed and optimistic, those are gifts only teenagers had.

"And I don't need you to be there for me! I don't swing that way. Are you conning me? Let me tell you upfront! I have no money on me and I am very hungry myself!" As he slowly felt that there was a rhythmic pain forming around his navel.

"In fact, let me borrow your coat, it's getting cold. I'll repay you when I get home. " Though I am already broke, he thought.

"Young Lord, how strangely you talk! Please do not play with me!" He was internally crying not knowing why the Young Lord had to act like this now. "The Lord will really punish me if I don't bring you to the castle tonight. We can play tomorrow. And you do not need to pay this lowly one. Everything I have and own and even my body belong to your family. Here, please put on this cloak for now. "

Cheng Yan became more reluctant when he heard this. And thinking that this "Xiao Lok" was probably a pervert he decided to escape before he dies of shame. He tried to run in the opposite direction only to collide with the ancient tree he was sleeping under before. And then, he realized, he had short legs and he was indeed very hungry. And now on top of this, he could see stars after hitting his head.

"Owwwww... what crazy luck I am having tonight."

"Young Lord!!! Don't scare me like that! If anything happens to you my soul will be forfeited!!" Xiao Lok cried out as he flew in to hold and steady Cheng Yan.

"They are just going to draw some blood from you. You needn't be a coward at a time like this. You were perfectly fine in the morning. I know the shamans can be intimidating but that's how they are. Let us go home before the shamans realize that you are gone."

Reeling from the pain of crashing against the tree he did not hear them entirely. But he realized two things. ONE: he began to remember how he found an old bone under the same looking tree as the one in front of him and he clearly remembered how "this" tree moved and even hugged him to death. He panicked but he did not feel any pain at that time when he died. TWO: he is in some 14-year-old boy's body who had to shed blood for some crazy "initiation ritual" and that he was a "Young Lord" or something and some angry people out there were waiting for him.

And with the pain and hunger, the realization of his death and this new undigestable information, he suddenly felt that the stars around his head looked brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding and Cheng Yan fainted.

Xiao Lok was relieved though anxious at the same time. The Young Lord was acting most oddly. Since he fainted he won't need to argue with him and will just need to carry him back to the castle. He prayed in his heart that the Lord's anger would have subsided by now and he also prayed that the Young Lord wouldn't be angry with him when he wakes up.

....

Little did Cheng Yan know that the dogs he encountered in the forest all ran away from the bone because they instinctively felt that the tree was "guarding" it and the dogs were not crazy like he thought they were. They just had better survival instincts.