Cursed

"Lily."

"Stay away from my kids."

"Okay, if a fight is what you always wanted, then I will give you one."

The same nightmare. Once again. When would it leave?

Flare once again woke up from the same nightmare he always had. His body was drenched in sweat as he panted taking in deep breaths.

When he looked around, he found that he was not in his room but someplace new. He does not know this place.

"Where am I?" He instantly turned vigilant as he looked around frantically.

Slowly he recalled the old man whom he saw meditating on the rock in the middle of the forest who grabbed him and brought him here to treat his wounds.

As he recalled everything, he sighed and took a breath of relief.

Then he slowly got up and prepared to leave. He would not like to stay at this stranger's home any longer.

His mom, Yao Xinyu, always told him to never follow any strangers as it is never safe outside.

At the thought of his mom, Flare worried again. He had left the home for so long, she would have been worried for his sake.

This thought made him hurry up and run outside the house.

As soon as he got out of the house, he saw the weird old man once again. He was once again sitting cross legged and meditating.

'Just how long will this man meditate?' "Won't you sleep?" He thought to himself.

It was already dark outside and with the amount of stars visible it was very clear that it was already in the middle of night. How can this man stay awake for this long? 'Weird old man.'

"I don't need to?" The old man spoke out of the blue.

"Huh?" 'What is this man talking about?' Flare did not understand.

He then recalled that he had asked the man if he wouldn't sleep. 'Was he replying to my question?' He asked himself.

He then looked back at the old man to see that he was looking back at himself. It was very clear that the man was talking to him.

This confused Flare even more. He frowned as he tested the waters by slowly asking, "Can you understand what I am saying?"

"Of course," The man replied once again. His voice was way too casual that it almost looked like Flares question was too stupid to ask.

But Flare knows that his question wasn't stupid in the least. After all, how could a normal human understand what a raccoon was talking about?

He asked once again, "You can really understand what I am saying?"

The man smiled mysteriously. His smile looked like he knows everything that Flare doesn't know. This made Flare feel weird and fearful of this old man.

He then heard the old man answering calmly, "Yes, little raccoon, I can understand you."

This answer that was full of crystal clear words made Flare get the perfect confirmation that the old man could really understand what he was talking about.

This fact not only shocked Flare but also immensely confused him.

He subconsciously repeated his question with a soft voice, "You can hear me?"

In reply, the old man did nothing but give a smile in return.

"Who are you?" Flare asked him again. 'Who is he that could hear me and understand me? He is definitely not any normal human. He is definitely different from others.'

"Me? I am a cultivator," The old man once again replied casually. So casually that it felt like his answer was the most obvious answer and the person opposite should understand it before he had said it.

"A cultivator? What is that?" Flare asked in confusion. How could he know what a cultivator is? Just because the old man gave a very 'obvious reply' doesn't mean that it would be obvious to everyone, right?

This time though the old man did not reply to Flare directly. Instead he asked back, "First you tell me. Who are you?"

'Who am I?'

"Me? I am a raccoon," Flare too gave the most obvious answer imitating the old man. "A normal raccoon."

Unlike Flare who was confused at the old man's casual reply, the old man smiled deeply after hearing his answer.

He spoke in his calm voice, "No cursed being can be called normal."

Flare froze in his spot as he stuttered softly, "C.. cursed?"

The weird old man smiled deeply once again. He lowered his body to hold Flare's tine paw and looked directly into his eyes before speaking calmly, "I can feel that you are cursed."