"Heritage of your clan? Then....are you from the Hidden Family of Stryae?"
The man looked at Beibei, surprise fleeting through his eyes.
"You have heard of us? Does that mean....people still remember us? It has been so long.....I thought most people would have forgotten about us."
Beibei and the two boys glanced at each other before turning to the man again.
"Most people have indeed forgotten. We read of the Guardian Families in some of the old records. We did come searching for you, but we were not sure we could indeed find your whereabouts."
"True. A few more hundred years....and indeed you wouldn't have found anyone of us."
"Then....where are the other people of your clan?"
Even as she asked this question, Beibei was having a bad premonition. This man had just mentioned the heritage of his clan. No clan would readily hand over their heritage to a bunch of strangers, unless....
The man paused and looked upwards, his eyes looking at some point far beyond the boundaries of the sphere. Slowly his face lost its joyful sheen, turning serious. A heavy sense of grief and desperation permeated throughout the room, weighing down heavily on the three as well.
"No one is alive....not anymore. I might very well be the last of the connections between my clan and the world. Some of us may still be alive.....if you can really call them living being anymore."
For a long while no one spoke. The man seemed to be lost in reminiscing the past. The three could not bear to disturb his flow of memories and waited patiently. They were more shocked at the fact that the hidden families had indeed died.....just as the people of the lands thought!
The man let out a deep sigh full of pain and sorrow, then turned back to face them with a wistful smile.
"Then tell me.....why are you kids searching for the long forgotten Guardian Families?"
The three looked at each other wondering where to begin. The man laughed, then gestured for them to follow him. Passing through two more similar rooms, they finally came to a smaller but more cozy chamber.
There was a large stone table in the center, with glazed stone seats surrounding it. He gestured for them to take a seat, then pulled out a stack of cups, plates, drink-gourds, sweet snacks, freshly roasted meat strips, and a pile of other savory snacks from one of the little chests set in a groove underneath the table.
Within moments, Beibei and the others were served with freshly minted drinks, their aroma still rising in soft steam from the cups. The snacks too were warm to touch, as if just brought out from the stone oven. They had indeed seen storage spaces which could keep food and drinks fresh for a very long time.
But the Guardian Families had disappeared for over a few thousand years. Exactly how long did this storage space keep things fresh?! They glanced at each other again, wondering if they could really eat what was served before them.
"Ha-ha-ha. Do not worry. These are specially inscribed storage spaces. Not the kind readily available in the markets. In fact, these inscriptions are also part of our clans specialty. These storage spaces can keep food and drinks as fresh as just made for tens of thousands of years."
He paused, his eyes dimming as he glanced at the snacks and drinks already laid out on the table.
"These snacks and drinks were specially prepared by the master and mistress of our clan. He wanted to make the people who ever came to search for us, feel welcome. I just never thought I would have to live so long in order to hand over our heritage. That it would take so long for someone to come and search if we still exist or not."
Beibei blinked her eyes in confusion.
"There have been many people who came to search for you through the years. Especially when you first disappeared. But the path to your place was being guarded by the Totram Tribe. So most people never found their way."
"The Totram Tribe still exist? That means....they escaped the predicament the rest of the clan faced? Then where are they? Did you meet them?"
"It was Monmona who sent us here. She wanted us to bring her words to you. She said that she and her tribe have kept their promise and safe-guarded the portal through which you escaped that place. But now the valley has changed, and they can no longer continue to hold fort. They are being forced to leave the place. So she wished to give back the power of authority bestowed by the clan onto their tribe."
Beibei held back on the last words Monmona had said. If the clansmen were already dead, there was no point in digging into their wounds by wishing them long life and prosperity. The man turned his face once more, staring at the spinning outer membrane of the sphere, looking dazed as he got lost in his memories.
"Monmona is still alive? That is good, that's good. She truly kept her promise. No wonder no one came to search for us for such a long time. But.....then how did you kids manage to pass through her tribe? She is not an easy woman to deal with. Also.....why do they need to leave the valley? All their ancestors settled in the valley. That is not only their home, but also their heritage. Why would they leave and go?"
Beibei pursed her lips, and was just wondering what to say, when the little toddler ancestor jumped out of her spirit space, and sat down in the air before them, staring at the spirit of the man in contempt.
"That would be because of me. I made a contract with this little person here....and decided to finally leave the valley. So now the valley has lost both its defense as well as its special powers. So they had no choice but to leave."
The spirit of the man stared back at the toddler for a long time, before he suddenly jumped up from his seat.
"You....you!! You are the spirit of the mountain?! How....how.....why would you make a contract with a little girl?!"
"Ahhhh....This girls aura....I like it. Anyway....I do not need to explain my actions to you, do I?!"
The man looked at the group of kids and then at the toddler spirit for a long time. Then he finally sighed and sat back down.
"True, you do not need to explain anything to me. If you have made a contract with this girl here, then you have also taken away all the spiritual power in the valley. Now it will be susceptible to the black miasma. No wonder Monmona has decided to leave the Valley with her tribe. But if you are searching for me....then that can only mean that the black miasma has started making its appearance once more on the outside lands again. Is that why you are here?"
Beibei nodded her head.
"Indeed. There have been some strange sightings, both at the Ancient Sand Runes, and at the End-Points. Initially we were not clear what it was. But after going through the Visionless Path, staying with the Totram Tribe, and then coming here....we are now pretty much sure that those sightings must have something to do with the black miasma."
The man got up slowly, then walked out of the room. After a short time he returned. Three medium sized chests were hovering in the air, following in a neat line behind him. He placed the chests at one corner of the room.
"I am already a spirit body, and I need to preserve my essence in order to maintain this sphere. So I will not waste my energy. The Guardian Families are as old as the Main Sect.....as old as these lands themselves.
In these three chests are kept the records of the past two hundred thousand years. That is indeed the age of these lands. If you truly wish to figure out what is happening now, then you will need to find out what all happened in these lands before.....right from when these lands were created. You can take your time. I will take my leave for now. If you need me, just come to the first room."
The man walked out of the room and soon disappeared. Nanate and Kunwa looked at Beibei. She had already stood up and walked over to the chests. The chests were heavy. The three of them dragged the chests apart.
"I think we should each take on one chest. That'll make it easier for all of us."
Beibei nodded, then gently opened the lid of the chest she had taken out.
The chest itself did not look so old. But the bone slips inside had turned a deep yellow, and she could make out very fine cracks at the edges. She turned to look at the slips in the other two chests. They looked comparatively newer, which confirmed her belief that she had taken on the chest containing the earliest records of the clan....probably records from when this space-time-dimension was created.
Her pale fingers shook slightly as she reached out to pick up the slip in the bottom most tray. This was also the one which looked the most decayed. Was this the first record? What kind of information would it contain? She could feel the shiver of anticipation crawling over her back and neck, making her shiver despite the warmth inside the sphere.