“Hot…it’s so hot, where…where am I? FIRE. Everything is on fire! What happened to everyone else…?”
A small fragile figure stumbled and ran. If one looked closely, they could tell it was a child around seven or eight of age.
The child seems to be unaware of what is happening. He is moving forward, with survival being his only wish.
The child trips as he runs, behind him, the red blaze reflects upon his face. We can vaguely see that his clothes are all torn, with only one sleeve, revealing a thin arm.
Despite being covered in dirty ashes, it does not hide his delicate features. His messy long hair indicates that it has not been cut in awhile. His hair nearly covers his clear eyes from sight. His skin is the colour of yellow wax, and he is at least one size smaller than a child of his age.
The child staggered for some distance. Distracted, he did not notice the uneven curb.
As expected, he fell. His hands reached out as he lost his balance, and his fingers deeply sunk into the mud. The harsh impact caused his palms to bleed. The blood mixes with the soil, revealing a colour of pain.
The child woke up from the fall, and his cloudy eyes showed a sense of consciousness. It was instantly filled with fear. The child turns back, and only sees a towering fire.
At that instant, the child suddenly felt lighter. Looking down, he realized he was in mid air; someone was firmly holding on his waist.
Xuan Luo didn’t dare to look down. But the moment he closed his eyes, all he sees was the blazing inferno. He did not want to open his eyes but he did. Since he did not want to look down, he could only let his curious eyes follow the person who was holding him.
Without warning, everything turned black, and he lost all consciousness.
—–
“Ah!!” Xuan Luo‘s forehead is covered in sweat. His whole body is drenched as well. His face is white as paper. This is not the first time he had this nightmare. In the recent months, he has been having this nightmare more frequently. But it was never this clear. This time, he saw the whole thing.
He is thirteen this year. As far as he knew, he has been living at this place for five years now. But how he arrived, he has no idea. He cannot recall anything.
He sat upright, back against the bed frame. Looking ahead, his eyes seem hollow. On his forehead, big drops of sweat appeared and rolled down his face. His breathing is quick and deep. The dream had quite an impact.
After taking a few deep breaths, he felt slightly better. But he still lacked energy…
Leaning on the bed frame, Xuan Luo closed his eyes. After resting for a bit, he quickly got up and without realizing it, he took out the yellow book he found from the forest and started scrutinizing it. The book did not have a name, and he had difficulty understanding the content. The words together didn’t make sense. When he first found the book, he thought it was useless. After he got home, he put the book away and did not think much of it. Once in awhile, though, he would take it out and look at a few pages. Since he couldn’t understand it, he left it aside. But at this moment, he realized there was a secret to it. Usually, books are read from right to left, from top to bottom. But for this book, it’s read from left to right! The moment he figured this out, he was excited. Although he wasn’t used to reading it this way, he could not wait to turn the pages. Time pa.s.sed, minute by minute. The setting Sun shone through the window and onto his table. “So this is what…” Xuan Luo is talking to himself. It seems like he is starting to comprehend the book and is following the instructions.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he repeats the xin fa from the book. Slowly, he felt a warm current spreading throughout his whole body.
At that moment, he crumpled his brows. He seems to be suffering from severe pain.
The warm current happened to cause a burning sensation. Xuan Luo has no idea why, because he was just following the instructions from the book. He did not even know what the book is for. The pain left him momentarily stunned.
Xuan Luo doesn’t know what to do and tries to stop the xin fa from moving. But the moment he tried to prevent it, the xin fa accelerated and not only did the pain not go away, it was getting more intense.
“What the heck is going on?” Xuan Luo is anxious, silently blaming the spell.
“Ah!” He cannot stand this any longer. His face is so red, it’s frightening. His body looked like he was roasted.
At that instant, he felt a cool current spreading out, slowly pa.s.sing through his body, fighting with the warm current.
The two currents refuse to back down, and due to the cold current, he feels hot and cold at the same time.
He has no idea what is happening, and can only bare with it. If anyone saw him, they would think that he is distorted and about to transform.
After awhile, his face finally looked normal again.
The two currents have combined together.
According to the book, this is nei li. But he never thought that this nei li would be so overbearing. He never thought he would have to experience something like this. He has no intentions of experiencing it a second time.
Since his clothes were soaked, he decided to change. As he took off his clothes, he reveals his strong chest. Around his neck, is jade pendent that somewhat resembles a snake turtle.
Subconsciously, he touched the jade. Immediately, astonishment appeared in his eyes.
The jade is actually producing a faint current. After, he carefully a.n.a.lyzed the feeling -the current felt practically like the current that went through his body!
Xuan Luo quickly dressed and took his jade off. He looked at it in great detail.
Ever since he was young, he had this jade. He has never thought much of it, but what happened today shocked him. It is only now that he is starting to wonder about the history of this jade.
After inspecting it for awhile, Xuan Luo is still clueless. He decides to wear the jade again. The jade is the only item that could help him find his real family. He has nothing else that could identify him.
Unconsciously, the sky has already turned black. Xuan Luo never thought his afternoon nap would turn out this way. Sighing, he shook his head.
Everything around him seemed more clear and fresh though. Even the insects did not seem as loud and annoying. Instead, it gave him an unique feeling.
But then again, it may be because he was comparing it to the pain that he has been through. He seems to feel extra fresh, and his mind enlightened. Running out to the courtyard, he bent his waist, yawned, and climbed onto the roof.
The evening sky is filled with shining stars, under the bright yellow moon. Xuan Luoreaches out his hand, and feels a sense of calmness surrounding him. He loved that feeling. On the roof, he feels at peace. Because of that, each time he has a nightmare, he would climb to the roof and look up at the sky. It didn’t matter whether the sky was white or black. He just likes being part of nature…
(Creak)
The door to the courtyard opened, and a man with greying hair walked out. He looked up and saw Xuan Luo on the roof. Smiling, he said, “Xuan Luo. It’s so late! Why are you still on the roof? Come down and sleep!?”
The old man looked a bit angry, but the smile on his face was nice and relaxed.
Without looking at the old man, eyes still upon the stars, Xuan Luo loudly replied, “Yes, Stepfather! I will. You go to sleep first!”
The old man heard him and didn’t say anything else. He knows Xuan Luo had this habit. After all, he has already spent five years with him.
Humming a song, the old man swayed back into the room…
Xuan Luo shook his head, grimaced and mumbled, “You know you can’t sing, why are you trying?”
He was conflicted. Each time the old man returns home, his ears always have to go through the awful singing…