Chapter 5: Journey To The Sanctuary

Liu continued his journey to the sanctuary which Zhang had told him about. Zhang had given him the map and he was using it to the fullest. It has been days since he left the City Of Scholars and it seemed like he was on the right track.

The air around the mountains seemed denser and the qi seemed stronger as he passed through searching for the sanctuary. He decided to rest atop another tree for the night he had become tired from the endless walking. He awoke the next morning on the floor again.

"Again?!" He grumbled at himself. He got up from the floor and dusted off the dirt from his clothes. He looked around and found that his bag was still hung up on the tree. He climbed up and retrieved it and then went on his way.

He arrived at a stream that flowed on the mountains. He recalled being told by his grandfather about the streams that flow atop the Misty Mountains. The moment he turned to another direction, he saw a lady taking her bath. As curious as he was to know who she was, he wasn't foolish enough to go after a woman when she's most vulnerable so he waited beside a rock that was a little bit far from the stream and a place where she would not easily notice him.

The young lady got out of the stream and put her clothes back on. Liu watched her movements attentively. She turned in his direction, causing him to hold his breath in trepidation, he breathed out a sigh of relief when she just disappeared into thin air. He got up and decided to move towards the stream when he heard someone behind him. He felt something cold on his neck.

"Don't move." It was a feminine voice that spoke, but who was it?

"What do you want from me?" Liu asked, his body trembling from fear.

"I sensed you earlier. You thought that you could hide from me? Well you thought wrong." She said to him, it was at that moment that he realized that it was the lady who was bathing earlier.

"I was just trying to be respectful." Liu said.

"Hmm." The lady said. She removed the knife from Liu's neck and stood at a safe distance from him.

"My name is Liu Xhikang." Liu introduced himself to her.

"I'm Mei." She said to him.

"Mei? That's my sister's name." Liu said to her, smiling.

"I couldn't care less." She said as she observed him from head to toe. "So where are you heading?" She asked.

"The Ancient Sanctuary." Liu replied and Mei stared at him with her eyes wide open.

"The Ancient Sanctuary? Do you know how to get there?!" She asked. She was clearly interested in the sanctuary but for what reason?

"Yeah I do. I even have a map that'll take me there." Liu said to her and she jumped for joy. He thought she was strange. Why would someone be happy about going to a sanctuary?

"Can I come along?!" She said to him, she looked just like a child in his eyes, behavior and all.

"Why should I let you come along when you just tried to kill me?" Liu asked her.

"Well… I wasn't trying to kill you, I was just trying to find out your motives." She replied to him.

"Fine. You can come along." He replied and she jumped on him.

"Yay!"

They both began moving towards the sanctuary. The day was still bright and they had a long journey ahead of them.

"You said you were able to sense me earlier. How?" Liu asked.

"Once you're able to use qi, you'll be able to sense the qi of others. I thought you knew that." Mei said to him.

"I do know about qi. I haven't been able to use it as of yet but I feel it going through my entire body." Liu said to her.

"Then you should be able to use it, even children who grew up on these mountains know how to use Qi." Mei said to him. The way she said it made him feel downcast. She noticed this and laughed. "Hahahaha. So you're sad about that?" She asked.

"No, I'm not. I just thought that even with the way I am now, I won't be able to complete my journey." Liu said to her.

"What journey?" She asked him.

"Nothing of your concern." He said to her and walked ahead.

"Nevermind that. Don't you want to learn how to use qi?" She asked him again.

"Of course I want to learn. With the way you describe it, it doesn't seem like it's all that hard." Liu said to her.

"Alright." Mei said.

"So how do I start?" Liu asked. He needed to learn more about this if he wanted to defeat the gods.

"You said you could feel it moving through you right?" She asked as they walked along.

"Yeah, why?" Liu replied.

"That's the first step. If you're able to feel it moving through you, then it won't be that hard to use it." Mei replied, smiling at him.

"Then what's next?" Liu asked her.

"Channel it towards any part of your body." She replied. He remembered when he fought the guardian of the mountains and how he was able to drop a beast that large in one hit. It was qi. He remembered how it was channeled to his foot as he delivered the kick.

"I think I've done that before, although subconsciously." Liu said to Mei.

"When was that?" She asked.

"At the start of my journey. When I was faced by the Guardian of the mountains." Liu replied.

"Hmm. The Guardian eh? I thought he was a myth."

"No. He's real." Liu replied.

"How were you able to use it back then?"

"As I said before, I don't know. I did it subconsciously back then."

"Then, the sanctuary can wait. You'll have to learn the basics here before we go any further. If you don't you're going to get the both of us killed."

"If you say so." Liu said, watching Mei as she dropped her bag down and stretched in preparation for the training session.