To Xing Guang

A new year had arrived beneath everyone's noses, and with it, a golden token clenched tightly inside an eleven-year-old child's tiny hand. The arduous path of cultivation was now within his reach, his firm resolve unshaken, even through the piercing winds of change that threatened his everything. His father looked at his son, who steadily approached his height with a peaceful smile, knowing his son would be safe in the sect, even if it meant he would miss out on seeing his son grow up.

The light of the sunrise brilliantly shone over the horizon, dimly illuminating the two figures. "Fenhua." His father softly spoke, "Our paths are soon to split. Someday, they will converge again… and you'll be able to tell me stories of your adventures."

"There are many things I want to say… but long-winded speeches are for goodbyes…" Hesitation arose before he spoke again. "Put your hands out, Fenhua." He said with authority that masked the sadness in his voice. He then grabbed the bag by his waist and placed it in his son's palm. In addition, he removed a jade-colored necklace, with a reflective silver, dragon-engraved pendant, from around his neck and placed it atop the bag with care. "This is my gift to you," He said while he turned around with hands clasped behind his back.

Huo Fenhua tried to speak, "But Da-." However, his dad quickly interjected.

"I once used that artifact in my youth. When fate still favored me." He narrated, indirectly telling his son an infinitesimal fragment of his past. Huo Fenhua tried to speak again. But the moment his lips separated, his father cut him off, "May fate favor you forever." He walked away, leaving only his son in this green field. Staring at the father's back with reverence, and the desire to prove to his father that he will succeed.

The father, who was still walking away with no rush in his steps, trying to appear tough, had a few tears calmly trickling down his face. He did not know what to say, what he could reply with, or how long he could continue to stand strong before his son. This was the turning point of his son's life, yet he did not want to become the old fossil who made two mistakes and lost both his wife and son. His dear was long gone, and he could not bear to lose his only child… even if it was just temporary, unlike the former's permanence.

He hurriedly wiped those tears away as he forced himself out of thought and smiled, tightening the grip of his hands behind his back. Lightly whispering six words to the crisp air, "Things will be different this time…"

…

Huo Fenhua on the other side did not cry, his emotions were vastly different.

His emotions told him there was a goal within his reach, to take the next step forward, first, he had to take a step back. It was only a temporary loss for a permanent gain; The gain of the ability to protect himself and his father… Unlike the time he could not protect himself from the "immortal" that permanently branded him with his weakness. The branded pale scar that spanned diagonally across the entirety of his back ached as he remembered the moment. It could only be described as the consequence of lightly bumping into an immortal, or as he would now know them, cultivators.

Huo Fenhua shook his head determined to erase the memory. With a clearer mind he carefully clasped the gifted necklace around his neck and tied the bag of blue stones to his belt loops. From the ground he lifted a stick wrapped by cloth towards the end; The cloth delicated covered his possessions. He then glanced to his waist at the sheathed, steel jian[1] his father gave to him almost a year and a half ago. The sword was a little over half of a meter long, and the blade was slightly dulled, which was fine, as he would likely need it few times before he receives the chance to sharpen it. Or better yet, receives a better weapon.

The sun continued to ascend higher, bringing light to the once-darkened world. The boy, with a map in hand, took the shortest path, a path he long memorized, directly to the nearest city. Hongshui[2] City, the place where he watched his father build a reputation unrivaled by any other in the city. Whether it be forces in the light or those in the dark, for their business' sake and potentially their life too, it would be a terrible idea to consider even touching a hair on Fenhua's body.

His steps were stable and unwavering, constant and confident. Few stops were made on this journey, primarily consisting of simple conversations with merchants who he happened to pass. Merchants he had certainly seen few times while growing up. Other than that, his entire journey was uneventful, it was merely three hours of walking after all.

Upon arriving in this small, village-like city, that spanned a little over one kilometer by one kilometer with a population of barely over 500, Huo Fenhua went straight to a building rather familiar to him, considering his father was the one who built and sold it.

The wooden building had a sign on it that said "Ma's Transports" and had an unfamiliar, small warehouse-like building beside it. He entered the building with a faint smile on his face, exuding warmness. The building's inside was much smaller than it appeared from outside. Though, that could be explained by the back wall, separating the building into employee and non-employee sections.

Huo Fenhua ignored this detail and looked at the man at the counter who stared at him with an incredulous expression. Huo Fenhua gave a slight bow of respect, "Greetings Elder Ma! I hope you have been well these past years." He said with deep sincerity in his voice.

The man he had greeted was a 1.6 meters tall, wider man dressed semi-professionally. His head was clean shaven, almost deflecting the light the sun brought in through the windows.

The elder gave a boisterous laugh, "Huh, Well, if it isn't Haoyu's kid," he laughed again. "At ease, you don't have to keep up all these formalities and polite gestures. Now tell me, how have you and your father been."

Huo Fenhua gave another slight bow, "If Elder Ma insists then what more can this boy do to go against Gengxin." His vocal tone had carefully slid from formal to casual, "Me and Dad have been well. With his many skills, we never have to worry about things like money or food." Huo Fenhua's eyes seemed to light up with a chance to talk about his father.

Ma Gengxin lightly smiled, "Is that so? I'm glad to hear of your good fate." He then looked Huo Fenhua in the eyes with the gaze of a merchant, coins nearly appeared in his eyes, "If you've come here, you must have a reason?"

Seeing the purpose of his arrival be brought forth so quickly Fenhua helplessly smiled with a nod, "I've stumbled upon a… lucky encounter to enter the Starlight Soul Sect. And, I need a carriage, driver, and guard to Xing Guang[3] City." He narrated in two breaths…

The two conversed a bit more and before long, papers were signed, his father's signature strangely already present as well, and Huo Fenhua found himself in a carriage with a lightly armored stranger. Huo Fenhua had already introduced himself to both the driver, who was outside the carriage guiding the horse, and the guard, who of course would stay inside guarding him. It would take three days and three nights to reach Xing Guang City.

Time passed by with silence inside the carriage for the first day, Huo Fenhua and the guard peacefully meditated, enjoying the lack of conversation. During the night they set up camp in an open plain right beside a forest, the plains seemed artificial and fake. Regardless, this is where they rested, allowing the night to pass without a single complication…

However, the next day Huo Fenhua was awoken by screaming coming from outside the carriage. It was not the screams of the driver or the guard, but new voices. Pain-filled voices of bandits; voices that formed a horrendous symphony as the musician continued to draw his bladed instrument through more bodies. The guard did his solemn duty as he was an invincible force among the two dozen weaklings.

Huo Fenhua noticed an oddity within the bandit's formation. 'Why are there no slingshots pellets, stones, or arrows flying through the air..? And why are the swords so poorly made, not even a shred of armor beside their clothes? Even the poorest of bandit groups can get slingshots…' He thought until something suddenly clicked in his head.

Like lightning, he quickly made his way out of the carriage with his sheathed sword in hand, distracting some of the bandits for a short while. A grave mistake on their part as the guard did not get distracted. The driver quickly backed off from the fight and went to Huo Fenhua, "Why did you leave the carriage!? It's harder for us to protect you out in a field!" The middle-aged man said sternly, scolding the young child harshly.

Huo Fenhua quickly retorted, "Don't you see their backup within the trees? These bandits are just fodder to wear you out!" The driver who had not known this looked towards the trees beside them, and surely enough carnivorous eyes looking to devour them whole were staring them down. The last of two dozen bandits had perished under the guard's sword, the blood leaving a rich metallic scent to be carried by the wind.

But this was only the beginning. Three dozen bandits rushed out with a murderous intent directed towards the guard, the driver, and Huo Fenhua. Another dozen stayed back at the edge of the trees and aimed either their slingshot or bow with precision. Almost as if they were telepathic, seven arrows and five lead balls pierced through the air at the same time with a whistling noise. Making their way quickly across the 100 or so meters distance. In two seconds, an arrow had already reached the guard. Three of the arrows were directed at the guard, two at the driver, and two at Huo Fenhua. All five slingshots were directed at the guard. As if a single one of those lead balls[4] hit the guard, the guard would hear the melody of death that very day.

That was under the assumption the guard was an ordinary man, not a martial artist. The guard thrust out his palm and canceled the movement of the lead balls. That same motion caused the shaft of the arrows that aimed for his life, as well as the two lives targeted behind him, to shatter and the obsidian arrowheads made a loud noise as it too shattered…

The guard did not stop there and took it a bit further, causing his skin to steam and fade from a gold beige into a slight shade of red. Fear enveloped every single one of the bandits rushing towards him, each of the bandits knew what this meant. It was the symbol of his status as a martial artist equal to or perhaps greater than someone who had just broken past the first major cultivation stage. In other words… he happened to be at least a Blood Qi Stage Martial Artist. Even without qi used for cultivation, the bodily blood qi was a force to be reckoned with.

With this revealed, none of the bandits dared rush forward, quickly turning around without regard for their cowardice. As far as they were concerned, running was being a wise sage, as that was the only chance they have to survive. They did not have to be faster than the lion, just everyone else.

That only worked if the lion wasn't hunting for sport.

The guard vanished and reappeared behind one of the running bandits and grabbed him by the neck. The bandit who was grabbed had started to scream but his voice was quickly quelled as he was thrown into the body of the bandits to the left of him. This toss did internal damage to the original bandit who was grabbed and broke the bones, if not outright killing, of the seven bandits who got caught by the launched body of their companion. The guard spoke, "Eight down. Forty to go."

The time he spent talking gifted them extra seconds to run, but it was not enough. "Lin Family's Sword Wave. Rest in pieces, bandits." The guard swung his sword horizontally, the metal blade shined gold glow. The light separated from his blade and the world seemed to have gone silent. A giant arc of fifteen meters split almost all the running bandits in two. Some tried to jump over it and suffered even more as it would impossible to perfectly time the jump. Others tried to duck and instead just suffer even more. Then a single fellow knelt with honor, allowing their head to be cleanly sliced off.

Most of the ranged bandits were still running far away through the forest, only three stayed behind. The three refused to run and leave their allies to die, an honorable but dumb choice. They were added to kill list; thirty-nine with nine far gone.

All remaining bandits that clung to a strand of life, surviving the sword arc, were finished off by the driver and his spear while the guard began to collect the rest of the bodies to burn. A precautionary to prevent any potentially extraordinary souls, that were fated to resort to thievery, from haunting this land as evil spirits of the sorts.

[Word Count: 2314]