Heero slowly opened his eyes and what awaited him was a bright blue sky.
"Am I dead?" Heero muttered, but he found something was not right. He felt that he was lying down on the grass and he was familiar with this scene.
"Isn't this Marrie's house backyard?" Hero muttered as he remembered often lying down here with Marrie to watch the sunset.
But then, Heero remembered Specter was attacking the Xing Village. He immediately stood up and hoped the Specter attacked the village was just a dream.
Heero looked at his surrounding he found that he was in an unfamiliar yet familiar place. This patch of grass, for example, he remembered clearly this was the place where he and Marri often played. Even though he was sure this place was the place where he often played with Marrie, but he could not find a single house. He was not in Xing Village, but he found this place had a resemblance to Xing Village.
Then suddenly, a voice transmitted into his ears, "Oh, you awake?"
Heero jolted away from the voice as he looked toward the voice's direction. He found a man with long black hair, wearing white plain silk cloth, and the aura of this man gave him the impression of the otherworldly man.
The man exuded an aura a benevolent, tranquility, and charismatic. When Heero gazed at the man, he found the anxiety in his heart vanished, and brought a calm to his heart.
After calming down, Heero suppressed his heart which kept urging him to worship this man. Yes, the longer he looked toward the man, the bigger his urge to worship this man. However, Heero managed to hold back and managed to squeeze a question out of his mouth.
"Who are you?" Heero asked. He did not ask where he was as he found that the man in white cloth was the reason he was in this place. Starting a conversation with this otherworldly man would clear all his doubts.
"I…" Saint stopped, he was trying to remember his real name. During all those years, his friends always called him with the title Saint. He had not used his name for a long time and he felt unfamiliar with his name.
"Hmm, you can call me Master… Yes, just call me Master…" in the end, Saint did not know his name and came up with this idea. After all, this boy would be his disciple, there was no harm for the boy to call him Master earlier.
"Later at home, I will check the Saint Record! How come I forget my name? If his friends know about this, I will be laughing stock!" Saint thought as he tried to hide his embarrassment, but then, he heard the boy mumble in a small voice.
"The person is bright, but the name is weird. Master… Master… How come there's parent named his son with this kind of weird name." Hero muttered in a low voice. He thought, his voice was small enough to be heard by "Master" and he believed "Master" could not hear his words.
"This boy thought my name is Master. This is simply ridiculous, when this boy becomes my disciple, I will teach him some manner! This boy is being disrespectful to an elder!" Secretly, Saint formulated a hell training for his potential disciple.
"Then, Master, may I know where are we?" Heero politely asked "Master".
"We are in Xing Village, your village…" Saint replied with a puzzled look, then he realized something.
This boy was unconscious for an hour. During this hour, he excavated the ruin of Xing Village and buried the dead along with the ruin. On his back, he buried the whole villager. Of course, he separated the tomb of this boy's family.
Now, the Xing Family was "Clean", it was as if Specter never attacked this place. He understood this boy thought this was not Xing Village, or maybe this boy still did not dare to face the reality that his village was gone.
There were four graves. Amongst the four graves, there was the biggest grave, Saint buried all villagers in this grave. The normal grave was the boy's family grave.
Earlier, he was still hoping it was just a dream, but the "Master" explanation crushed his hope. Heero gazed toward the graves on "Master" behind. The people he loved and the villagers he had been living with for 13 years are now gone.
Heero looked vacant and his eyes dimmed. Slowly, tears were falling from his eyes as he walked toward the grave. Yesterday everything was fine, but now everything was gone.
Right before the grave, Heero fell with his two knees down and cried. He cried aloud which shocked Saint.
Saint did not try to comfort the little boy, he just let the boy cry. At this time, crying was the best way to vent out the boy's sorrow. It was not the time for him to step in. Saint took a year at the patched grass; he was waiting for the boy to wake up from his sorrow.
Four hours long, Heero was crying for four hours. Now, what Saint could hear was only a sob of a hoarse voice.
"It's the time!" Saint stood and approached the boy.
"Enough boy. Put the tombstone and let's send them!"
There were two ways to proceed with the dead, one was to burn the body directly, so the Specter could not use the dead. Specter could use the corpse to make an undead army. The second was to bury the dead, but after burying the dead, one had to do a special ritual so the Specter could not use the dead body.
Of course, Heero also understood the meaning "Let's send them". Heero looked at the "Master" with his red eyes and asked, "Master, are you a priest?"
"I am not! All right, the most important is to send your family and fellow villagers first!" Noticing the boy wanted to ask more, Saint waved his hand to stop the endless inquires of the boy.
Heero also stopped and stood behind "Master". The ritual was simple, rather than a ritual, it was more like a seal. Using Light Elemental Ki, Saint sealed the graveyard, so the Specter could not use the body of the dead.
Heero witnessed the magnificent scene. He saw a bright light descend to the grave. But Heero did not feel marvel or impressed by the scene. He still could not overcome the sorrow of losing his loved one.
After a moment, the bright light slowly seeped into the grave and the ritual was over. Heero was dazedly looked at the grave with a vacant look.
Finishing the ritual, turned his body, and looked toward the boy.
"Boy, do you want to take revenge for your family and fellow villagers?" Saint asked the boy.
"I…" Want! Heero almost blurted out these words, he shook his head, "I don't want to!"
Saint surprised, in his mind, he believed the boy would say yes without hesitation. However, the boy's answer was out of his expectation. If it was him, without a doubt, he would answer yes.
"Why? I can help you! 10 years, no 7 seven years. In 7 years, you can kill Specter King with your hand." Somehow, the boy answer panicked Saint. After all, finding an appropriate successor for Saint was not easy. After thousands of years, he finally found one, he did not want to let this boy slip out his hand.
Hearing this, the vacant look on Heero's face turned into a surprise. Once again, Heero scanned this "Master". This "Master" looked reliable, but this "Master" sure knew how to brag. After 7 years of training to kill Specter King, Heero would not be easily swindled.
He was indeed lived in a remote village, but he also knew how hard it was to be a Hero. King of Hero Xing, his grandfather told him, King of Hero Xing killed his first Specter King only after 42 years debut to be a Heero. This meant it took Xing 42 years before he could kill a Specter King.
However, this "Master" bragged that he could kill Specter King if he practiced under this "Master" guidance. Heero looked at "Master" in doubt but considered the reliable look and the ritual just now, Heero concluded this "Master" was a priest that knew how to brag. At least, this "Master" was not a swindler, not a bad person.
"I don't want to take revenge for my family, but I want to be a Hero. I want to kill Specter so the other kid like will not experience what I experienced today!" Heero replied.
"Good, I will follow you!" Heero continued. Even though he knew this "Master" was bragging but following the person who could use the ritual was a good start to be a Hero. After all, he lived in a remote village and he did not have the way to the city. Following this person was a good start for him.
Saint was stunned at the boy's reply. Because he panicked earlier, he forgot to tell the boy about the Saint.
"Never mind, I will slowly brainwash this boy and change his mind. Maybe, after I tell him about Saint, he will choose to be Saint willingly." Saint secretly thought. He had still a long time, so he was not in a hurry to tell the boy about the Saint.