A Happy Family

{Follow the path. I'll guide you.}

Yin Huan clenched the dagger in his grip. He would not leave his parents here, not like this. He crawled towards his mom's tassel, something she got from her own mother. He wanted something to remember them by. As he untied the knot, he looked over at his dad's sword. No matter how heavy it would be, that was also something that he had to take with him. His dad treasured his sword the most, so he could not leave it here for anyone to pick it up.

{Leave it.}

"No." He wanted something, anything.

{Sweetheart, I'll only tell you once more. You don't want me to repeat myself. Leave it.}

Would she really kill him for this? For just taking something that belonged to his mom? Maybe it seemed insignificant to her. "A-die's sword," he said, hoping they would see the usefulness of having a sword with him.

{What will other people think if they saw a child with a sword? You'll only become a target. Leave that too.}

No, he could not leave like this. He wanted to stay with his parents. And if that was not possible, he wanted something that belonged to them. But it seemed the woman would not allow him to.

"We have to bury them." That was not a duty that he could neglect to do. If his parents were not properly buried, their souls might not have the chance to find a resting place.

When the woman just cackled a laugh, a bad feeling came over him. {Bury them? How will you do that? No, you can't stay here anymore. Leave them as is. Someone will find them.}

Yin Huan knew he would do a poor job in burying them, but he had to at least try.

{Leave now.}

The impatience in her words was palpable, so he pushed himself up from the ground. With shaking legs, he took a step forward.

{Good boy.}

As he took one last look at his mom and dad, at their still bodies, a single tear made its way across his cheek. He wished he could do something. He did not want to leave his parents here, but he had no choice.

He set one foot before the other and started walking. The path seemed endless, the woods surrounding him stayed the same looming presence along his sides. Yin Huan wondered how long he would have to walk like this when a little house showed up in the distance.

{We're here.} The woman's voice sounded giddy. {Now, let's knock on that door.}

They would allow him to interact with other people? Maybe he could find help there! Maybe they would know how he could get rid of their voices. Maybe they could help his parents.

{Hide the dagger under your robes. Tell them you got separated from your parents. Don't tell them anything else.}

Yin Huan pouted but did as he was told. After a few knocks on the door, it swung open and a woman with a scowl on her face stood in the entrance. Then her gaze went down and the look on her faced softened. She looked back up, clearly looking for something, but when she did not find it, she lowered herself to his level.

"Little one, what are you doing here? Where are your parents?"

She would probably think he was insane if he told her one set was laying death further down the road, and another set had pulled him away from them and talked to him in his head. "I don't know. I can't find them."

"Oh, you poor soul. How did you get here? How could you get lost so far from the center of the village? Where did you lose your parents?"

With every question, Yin Huan just shrugged.

The woman sighed. "Come in. We'll go looking for your parents in the village tomorrow."

Yin Huan nodded and stepped inside. The small room inside was warm and cozy, but before Yin Huan could take in more, a dog came running at him at full speed. It barked excitedly and jumped on him. Losing his balance by the weight of the dog that was half as big as he was, he stumbled backwards, but before he could fall down, hands were under his arms, and he was lifted up. Yin Huan looked up at the person who picked him up, and a bearded man smiled down at him.

"Don't mind Bao, he gets very excited when he sees new people," the man said. "Not many people travel this path or come this far out of the village."

The dog whined as he looked up at Yin Huan, his tail wagging rapidly. A bit hesitantly, Yin Huan waved at the dog. He got a happy bark in return.

"What's your name?" the woman asked.

{Lie.}

"Fu Bo," Yin Huan answered. It was the name of one of the friends he made during their travels.

"What a beautiful name!" the woman said. Yin Huan agreed completely.

She then waved the man with Yin Huan in his arms over to the corner of the room, where a small cot laid. On the cot, a baby laid, and as soon as the baby saw the woman, he stretched out his arms. The woman picked up the baby and cradled it in her arms. "Fu Bo, meet Qian Gui. A-Gui, this is Fu Bo."

The baby brabbled something that sounded vaguely as his name.

"Qian Gui," he greeted.

"So polite! Your parents are raising you well."

They did. But what about his supposedly new parents? Yin Huan smiled as sadness washed over him.

"Don't worry, Fu Bo," the man said. "You are safe with us tonight. We'll find your parents tomorrow."

He nodded as tears prickled behind his eyes. Even if they found his parents, nothing would change. His parents were gone.

After stuffing him full of food, the couple prepared for bed in the only other room in the house. When the baby quieted down, they brought him into their room and showed him the small cot they had prepared for him.

"Thank you, ayi," he said to the woman as he bowed, then he turned to the man and did the same. "Thank you, shushu."

"Look how adorable he is!" the woman said as she patted his head.

"Go to sleep, Fu Bo," the man said with a kind smile. "When you wake up, you can see your parents again."

With a heavy heart, Yin Huan nodded and climbed into the cot. Soon Bao came running into the room and settled down next to Yin Huan. Bao closed his eyes, and Yin Huan watched as the man and woman got into bed. Only when he heard a soft snoring, could he close his eyes too.

But not for long.

{Now that everyone is asleep, we can start.} The woman giggled in excitement. {It's heartwarming, don't you think? This little family. So happy, so kind to strangers.} Her voice got darker as she went on. {Too happy, they are too happy. We can't have that.}

What was wrong with being happy? Apparently, this woman did not like happy people, because she sounded angry.

{This is the moment to prove your love to me, a-Huan. Show your love to your muqin by doing a task for me. Your muqin would love it if this little family got shattered. And you know how families get shattered? Through mourning.} She laughed sharply, and it came as a stab in his head. {A-Huan, kill one of them.}

Yin Huan must have misheard her. Sometimes he misinterpreted things, but his mom was always quick to point out where he got it wrong. Words sometimes had double meanings, or different meanings in different contexts. This had to be the case this time too.

[[Your mother gave you a task. Kill one of the members of this family and you'll gain 150 G-Points. If you fail to fulfill this task, you'll lose 300 G-Points, which will result in your death.]]

{You have a dagger, sweetheart. Just swipe it along their throats. It's not difficult.}

He felt the cold of the blade through the inner layer of his robes. A dagger got used to get rid of monsters. This woman wanted him to do the same to this family.

"No," he whispered.

{No? You said no to your muqin?}

"I will not kill anyone."

The sharp stab of her laughter entered his head again. {Are the consequences not severe enough? I have not punished you yet, maybe you should get a taste of what you'll get if you fail to listen to me. Not only will you die, before that, I will do this.}

One moment, everything was fine, the next moment he felt like he was stabbed everywhere on his body. The severe pain made him scream out, but he heard no sound coming out of his mouth. He screamed in silence as he felt like his body was ripped apart.

It hurt, it hurt so much. Make it stop, please, someone, anyone, make it stop.

Then, just as suddenly as it came, it disappeared. As if he had been running for ages, Yin Huan gasped for air.

{This will be your punishment if you fail this task. It will be much, much longer too.}

His body trembled at that thought. No, he did not want to feel that again. It felt horrible. He reached for the dagger in his clothes and took it out. His hand shook as he looked down at the dagger that had belonged to his mother. He could not use it this way. He could not do it.

{I see you learn quickly. Who will you choose? Personally, I would go for the baby. Can you imagine how torn up his parents would be?} The woman's voice went up in glee. {Their marriage will fall apart by their mourning; not only will they lose their son, but also the love they have for each other. How beautiful!} She cackled in delight.

Yin Huan would never hurt Qian Gui. He had played with the baby earlier, and the whole time, Qian Gui had been smiling. He was so happy, it made Yin Huan a bit happier too. No, he would never hurt him.

His gaze fell on the dog next to him. Bao had laid down next to him in full trust, thinking he would be safe.

No no no no.

But before he could think too much about it, he slid the dog's throat as the woman had instructed him. Bao did not even react as the blood gushed out of him.

He had killed Bao.

And something died inside of him as well.

{Stupid child, you're not supposed to kill the dog! Who cares about the dog?}

"He is family as well." Yin Huan pushed himself up, the blood pool next to him growing bigger and bigger, but he just stepped around it. He walked towards the door, opened it softly and walked through.

{You failed! You failed the task!}

Pain descended down on him, but Yin Huan did not care, he felt so numb. He screamed his silent scream, felt the pain rip him apart, but he felt it was deserved.

[He did not fail, the dog belonged to this family too.] The man's voice sounded calm.

The pain stopped. Yin Huan walked forwards, towards the door, towards the dark forest that would hide him. Hide him from himself.

{No, he-}

[A family member has died. A-Huan completed his task.]

[[150 G-Points were awarded by your father by completing your task. You now have 200 G-Points.]]

He stumbled onto the path. He looked back at where he had come from, where his parents laid. He wanted to go back, but now he could not. Not after what he did. So, he walked the path further down the opposite direction, ignoring the arguing between his supposedly new parents.

What had he done?