Chapter 15: The fated encounter!

The first snowfall of the wintry season was over when the sun seems to lay rest.

High in the night sky, the hazy cloud curtain has dispersed as the wind comes to blow ceaselessly and allowed the seven silvery moons to spread their shimmering light through the heart of the darkness.

They glisten and shine splendidly, dazzling anyone with their captivating elegance.

Down below, the chilling current of a river was carrying the unconscious little Myah and gushing unobstructedly to an unknown destination through the depth of an ancient forest.

Although the snow has stopped falling, the water here was colder than ever, with pieces of broken ice mixing in the flow.

Unaware of what was going on, something mysterious inside Myah has quietly guided the spirit energy that he has previously absorbed from the Spirit Stone and circulated it throughout his body.

They progressed through his veins and generated waves of warm heat, defending his internal organs against the bitten coldness from invading inside.

Albeit the amount of spirit energy was pitifully little, it was still enough to preserve Myah's life for the time being.

As the deluge current crashed the ice blocks against the steep and rocky cliff of the ravine, water splashed everywhere. They split into water droplets and is freeze instantly.

It was that cold!

Back then, at the Awakening Ceremony. If it were not for the old elder who was suspicious and allowed Myah to stand on the platform for that extra thirty minutes, perhaps, he wouldn't have lasted for so long in this harsh condition.

...

The following day,

Seven suns once again rose and emerged from the horizon. Its gentle golden sunlight was slowly dispersing the hazy morning mist, embracing a new beginning.

With some smaller-sized spirit beasts and normal animals snacking on their stocked food for breakfast, little Myah was washed to the bank of an unnamed place below a cliff of a rocky mountain.

While bathed in the warm sunshine, Myah's face was still pale with little to no color. Shivered weakly, the little guy was startled awake by a strange dream, and it gave him a mixed feeling of pain and happiness.

"Cough! Cough! uhaaa, haa..."

Coughing up a mouthful of water, little Myah then gasping for breath as he turns over, facing the ground while supporting his frail body with both his forearms digging into the fluffy snow.

Failed to feel anything, Myah began crawling instinctively and murmured in a low voice that only he could hear, "Mama... mama? Where are you? Myah can't see you..."

"Mama... can you light up the candle? It's all dark here; Myah can't see anything..."

Assuming that he has woken up from a bad nightmare, Myah's mind was in a state of disarray. Unable to comprehend that his thought has become more apparent and brighter.

Something has unquestionably changed!

Not hearing anything from his mother, Myah felt scared. For all of his life, she has always been there and gives him morning kisses. So what changed?

Patter!

Patter!

"Huh? my heart, it hurts..."

Unknowingly, tears of blood started forming in the corner of Myah's eyelids. And without warning, they streamed down from his soft cheek and adorned the snowy blanket below in a deep red color like the tiny budding of flowers.

Confronted by a world of darkness, Myah continued marching forward, feeling numb to the stinging sensation in his limbs. The last bit of his spirit energy slowly dissipated with each small step as tears of blood continued shedding.

The cold wind blows inhumanly while the suns continued scaling up high, steadily sending golden beams in all directions.

The reflection of the light on the frozen snow making those bloody tears marks efflorescence, one by one, they bloom like the blossom of the red spider lilies along with the imprint of Myah's feet, whispering a soundless prayer of heartbroken goodbye.

Losing his eyes, Myah's sense of balance was greatly affected as his fragile body stumbles over and over again.

Despite being bathed in the first ray of sunlight, Myah's body gradually loses its heat, getting colder and colder. The little boy's skin becomes dry. And with each fall, the fluffy snow as if transformed into tiny sharp blades, effortlessly injuring his body.

The last strand of spirit energy has been dried up. Yet, little Myah continued wandering; his mind was blank, becoming detached from the world, for everything was the same, the perpetual darkness.

It was a miracle for a regular six-year-old child to survive for so long in the cold.

For a long, long time, marching on the endless snow, Myah finally stumbled on an obstacle.

No, to be exact, it was the body of an unconscious good-looking middle-aged woman clothed in a tattered white robe; the bloodstains on it have long been withered and changed into a black pigment.

There was a small wound that was puncturing through her body in the center of her chest. Luckily for her, it was still a few centimeters away from her heart.

However, the ghastliest thing wasn't the multiple terrifying injuries on her body or that she has lost one of her arms, but the strand of black and ominous energy lingering on the wound of her chest.

If anyone knew seeing this black energy, they would be left with their mouth gaping as all they could think would be questioning how she is even managed to stay alive.

Even though the woman looks like she was on the verge of death, her hand never let go of the handle of a broken spear. In the open field full of snow, she lay there motionless with a pale face, perhaps even paler than Myah's.

Then, with a soft thud, little Myah blindly stumbled once again and fell onto the unconscious woman's body with his last bit of strength evaporated.

'So warm...'

Feeling an unknown heat source that made him feel comfortable, Myah nudged into the pair of cozy marshmallows and fell asleep. Finally, being able to rest, the looks on his childish sleeping face was blissful.

'Arghh! Just kill me already...' The middle-aged woman screamed inside her mind and wanted to cry, but no tears come out. Myah's unintentional stumble made her wound worsen to another level.

'Hu hu hu good heaven...What is a kid even doing here in the wilderness anyway...'

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