Mourning

Loud wailing rose continuously in Dragon Village.

Huoshi was as ruthless as the devil. Wherever he went, someone would drop dead in a pool of blood. The scene of the massacre was as gross as it was horrible.

"Young Clan Master, our village does not have anything against you. Why do you want to kill us?" an old man cried out, but he was quickly killed by the storm.

"Dad, Mom, help me…" A helpless and fearful child reached out for help as he lay in a pool of blood. However, at the next second, the ruthless storm engulfed him before blood and flesh were flung in every direction.

"Why… Why is this happening?!" a villager screamed.

Just a minute ago, happiness still permeated the village, yet it turned into an Asuran hell in the next. Desperation and confusion plagued the minds of the villagers. Despite that, the god of death still came and harvested their lives. 

"The heavens have forsaken us!" Tears of blood flowed down Longquan's eyes as he dropped to his knees, inconsolable and heartbroken. Right after that, the storm approached him. It sliced off his limbs and flung his mutilated body to the ground.

"Father!"

It grieved Longhe to witness his father be slashed into pieces and lay in a blood puddle. He could not have felt more regretful. If he had not been greedy and leaked the information to someone else, this tragedy would not have happened. 

He just did not want to resign to a life of mediocrity and achieve nothing. He had no intention of bringing harm and death to the villagers.

Seeing one villager after another die in front of him, Longhe bled from within. No matter how indignant, unhappy, and discontent he always felt, the village was still his home.

"I'll make sure that you die a thousand times, Huoshi! Dozens of these villagers, whose lives you've taken, will not let you off the hook even in the afterlife!" Longhe swore to the heavens, his eyes wide open in fury.

"Oh, are you going to try to turn into a ghost after your death? I'm afraid that it's not up to you. Well, considering that you have some attainment in cultivation, I'm going to turn you into my puppet." Huoshi waved his hand to shoot out a draft of red air, which bound Longhe's body and pulled him toward Huoshi. Then, Huoshi used both hands to form a mysterious mark that he infused into Longhe's mind shortly after.

Longhe's expression changed, and he tried to fight back. Unfortunately, he was immobile and unable to escape. The mark was successfully implanted in his brain, and it penetrated the depths of his soul. Instantly, two minds were fused into one.

"My Lord!" Longhe stopped struggling and bowed down on the ground with respect, his eyes lacking any sense of life.

"Is anyone still alive in the village?" asked Huoshi in a low voice.

"My Lord, except for Longshan, everyone is dead."

"Longshan, Wutian's grandfather? To hell with that little bastard. I don't care whether you're alive or dead, I'll turn your grandpa into my puppet. He will be my groveling servant and no longer reincarnate," Huoshi sneered as he marched toward the house where Longshan stayed.

...

Bang!

The uneasiness he felt grew more intense as time went by. He even felt fearful as if he was about to lose the most valuable thing in his life. His heart ached as if being stabbed by a knife.

While he ran, Wutian divined with his fingers in a panic. In the end, he spat out a mouthful of blood and dropped to the ground in a half-kneel. His face was pale. He pressed his hand against his chest as he got up and continued to run.

...

Inside the house, Longshan was leaning on a wooden chair in a frail and stooped manner. His eyes were unfocused as three figures walked in.

Huoshi scanned the place in disdain. "How could someone stay in such a place? It looks like it would be more fitting for dogs."

"Far from it, kid. All a person needs in life is a place to stay. It doesn't matter if you live simply or luxuriously, power and money are just fleeting clouds." Longshan wore a faint smile.

"How dare you, old man! I've killed everyone in this village, but you're still cool, calm, and collected? Aren't you afraid of dying?"

"The heavens made me, and I will return to it after I die. At the end of the day, it is just a different form of existence, so why should I be afraid? Besides, some people die for nothing and some for very important things. If my death can resolve your hatred and murderous intent, it will be worth it."

"I can't believe that there's such an existential master in the depths of a forest like this. Old man, you have a good nature. If not because of Wutian, I would be tempted to spare your life."

"I am not an existential master, just an old man who loves his grandson."

"I don't care who you are. Since Wutian has offended me by taking things he isn't supposed to take, he will have to die. As for you? Heck! I'll turn you into a puppet and cast away your soul so that you can never reincarnate. I want to let Wutian know that those who go against me will regret it for the rest of their lives."

"The wheel of reincarnation has its own set of laws. Things that belong to you will always be yours while things that don't belong to you will never be yours. Everything has a cause and effect. You can't force it. Otherwise, you will find that everything you do will end up in vain, and you will only bring endless disaster to yourself." Longshan slowly shut his eyes after he spoke.

"Disaster? You should worry about yourself first!" Huoshi burst into laughter. He formed a mysterious mark with his fingers and pressed it down Longshan's head, but the mark failed to permeate his skin.

"Heck, he died just like that. What a shame!" Huoshi's face was grim. He waved the mark away and created a fire with his hand, instantly igniting the interior of the house.

"Let's get out of here."

The three figures then left. They did not bat an eyelid at the fire behind them.

Wutian's heart suddenly jolted, and blood spurted out of his mouth. He dropped to the ground and rolled around, pressing his hand against his chest, where the pain was coming from. Meanwhile, his eyes were fixed on the mountain village in the distance.

This time, he could finally divine his grandfather's fate. A vivid image of his grandfather's residence appeared in his mind's eye. There was a fire. The flames were licking and surging as an old man lay in the sea of fire. His eyes were closed, but he looked peaceful as if he was not in the fire but in Heaven.

"Grandpa..." Seeing the scene in his mind's eye, Wutian was heartbroken, and he cried out loud.

He felt a thousand knives piercing his heart.

It was painful, the kind of pain that felt like his heart and lungs were being torn apart.

The pain even reached his marrow.

It was as if a million ants were eating his flesh and bones. He would rather die than endure such pain. His body convulsed uncontrollably as blood oozed out of his mouth, and soon, dizziness set in.

Looking at the burning fire and gradually dissipating shadow, Wutian grieved. He shivered as horror, fear, and desperation simultaneously came like ocean waves hitting a rock. They drowned him and weighing him down.

He felt as if his body was being ripped apart, stabbed by an awl. The pain was unbearable. Tears of blood flowed out of his eyes, dripping down and soaking the earth red.

"Grandpa, please hang on. I'm on my way!"

Wutian was in a state of frenzy, pulling himself forward to hurry toward Dragon Village.

"This place will no longer exist." Huoshi stood outside the village, watching the fire consuming the village.

"I think you have gone overboard this time," said Liuyan.

"The only way to make sure weeds won't grow again is to uproot them entirely. You should have known better than me." Huoshi was unruffled. He then looked at Longhe. "Stay on guard here. If Wutian returns, bring him to me alive. If he hasn't returned after a month, that means he is already dead. Then you may come back."

"Understood, My Lord." Longhe went down on his knees as a sign of respect.

"Sister Liuyan, we should return to the clan immediately, and then send men to search the river. We must find the emblem," said Huoshi.

Liuyan nodded her agreement, and they hopped onto the back of the Flamingo in tandem. The bird spread its wings, took off into the sky, and disappeared into the horizon like a meteorite.

Meanwhile, Longhe disappeared into the forest and hid behind the mountain with just a few leaps.

Four hours later, the village was gone. Other than the sporadic flames at the scene, all that was left were piles of ashes.

Wutian limped and stumbled on his way and finally made it back to the village. But everything used to be here had disappeared. All he saw was scorched ground and wood that had been reduced to charcoal.

Walking into the village and stepping on the black ashes, he was distraught. Tears of blood flowed from his eyes as he saw those partly buried white bones on the ground. He could not have been more sorrowful.

These people had been mocking him all the time, but they were the villagers he had been living together for sixteen years. For Wutian, this was his home, and these people were his family.

But now everything was gone. Wutian's heart had turned into an icy world.

"Grandpa!"

He called out in sorrow as he staggered before a skeleton and dropped down on his knees. Using his bare hands, he cleared out the black ashes, held the skeleton in his arms, and wailed.

"Didn't you say that you would wait for my return? Why did you leave me behind, Grandpa? Why… Grandpa! I beg you, come back to me. I need you. I can't live without you! I beg you, please, come back..."

Wutian sobbed and choked, the pain within him tearing him apart. No one could ever understand this feeling, and only he could know how terrible it felt.

Let Grandpa divine your future. See if you could ever find a wife for yourself, you stinky rascal.

Why are you sighing like an old man, Wutian? Be careful not to become as old as I am. Otherwise, you couldn't find yourself a wife. 

The Fire Cloud Clan will come for a recruitment drive soon. You have got to show your best. If you could join the clan and become a legendary figure, I would need your help to extend my lifespan, you know!

Trust your grandpa, Wutian. You will become a much-anticipated, sole superpower of the world. You can do it! I have faith in you!

Wutian sat on the ground, tightly holding the skeleton that was covered in black ashes in his arms. Those sixteen years of memories came back like surging sea tide, footage after footage being replayed in his mind. They were so real, as if he was at the scene, seeing them happening before his eyes.

"You told me you would wait for me to come back, Grandpa! You said you would tell me the truth about my parents. Now that I have come back, yet you have left. Come back, Grandpa! I don't want my parents but you. Please, come back, Grandpa..."

Wutian looked up at the sky and cried at the top of his lungs. He did not want to believe what he saw was real. But the skeleton in his arms and the surroundings kept reminding him of reality. He had to believe. And he dared not to believe otherwise.

"Please, come back, Grandpa! We still have a deal!"

Wutian cried out again, his wail of sorrow piercing through the clouds. His happy family, his avuncular, loving grandpa has left him, leaving him behind, alone. A sense of helplessness and loneliness hit him.

He was anguished and could not believe that it was real. But he knew he was just crying over spilled milk.

As if it was by chance, or heaven is having mercy on him; a wind was gathering force, bringing dark clouds with thunder and lightning in the sky.

In just a few moments, the wind turned into a storm. Dark clouds were blocking the sky with thunder rumbling and lightning flashing overhead. Heaven suddenly seemed to have opened with rain pouring down at once.

Wutian looked up at the sky, transfixed. Tears mixed with raindrops and seeped into the ground.

Angry clouds rolled like thousands of horses running at once. Thunder roared as if the beating of the drums in heaven. Rain cascaded from the sky, beating the earth sideways. The air turned into a vast, faint, white veil as if to comfort his lonely, chilly heart. But his heart was only becoming even more lonely.

"Caw, caw!" Little Tian rested on his shoulder and stuck out its long tongue to lick Wutian's cheek, trying to bring him some warmth.

However, neither Wutian nor the Gobbler noticed that his forehead, beneath his wet hair, had a glow shining brightly like a full moon in the night sky.

Right then, heavy footsteps came amid the storm. Longhe, face expressionless, strode toward Wutian like a lifeless puppet.