The air was cold, and so was the morning. The streets were filled with people; buyers, sellers, beggars, merchants and even strollers. Long Qiao and his son walked through the busy market in search for a space device.
A space device is an enchanted physical object that can be used to warehouse other physical objects, such as food, clothes, weapons and so on. Consider it as a large room where all your loads could be kept instead of carrying them physically.
"Father, where is the shop?" Long Xue was getting impatient as he yanked on his father's white robe. They had just checked over 50 shops and still hadn't found any with available space devices.
"We'll soon be there, it's just over that stand." Long Qiao retorted, pointing at a nearby stand that sold cold beverages.
"You've been saying that for the past 30 minutes!" Long Xue grumbled, pouting.
"I'm sure that this shop will have what we're looking for, even though it doesn't, the owner will make one specifically for me, he's a friend." Long Qiao patted his son's head.
Alas! The shop stood before them, and a man probably in his sixties, emerged from the shop. "Long Qiao! Long time no see! How have you been?"
"Other than the little ways cramps I've been having, I think I'm alright." Long Qiao let out a chortle.
The man laughed, "What do you know, we old people got to take care of ourselves."
"I'm not that old, at least I'm younger than you're." Long Qiao sneered.
The man's smile suddenly vanished as he glared at Long Qiao.
"Anyway I heard about you reaching the pinnacle of a fifth level practitioner." The man whispered.
Long Qiao looked left and right before replying, "Qui Bei, who told you that?"
"Feifei came earlier."
"You mean Ahli? I told her not to tell anyone." Long Qiao frowned.
Qui Bei laughed, "She needn't have to tell me, I figured it out myself. You were gone for almost half a year and you expect me to think you hadn't made any developments?"
"Well that's true though." Long Qiao nodded as he glanced at Long Xue who had been looking at the weapons Qui Bei hung outside his shop.
"I guess he's your son." Qui Bei spoke as he smiled at Long Xue. His smile was a little creepy.
"Long Xue," Long Qiao called out as he tapped on his son's shoulder, "this is Uncle Bei, the owner of this shop."
Long Xue who wasn't paying attention to the man's presence finally turned to face him, "Ahh!" He exclaimed, hugging his father's thigh.
Long Qiao was rather shocked noticing that he son was afraid of a total stranger. He and Qui Bei had been friends for years, but he was certain that Long Xue hadn't seen Qui Bei for almost seven years now, and even though he had, why should he be scared?
"Why is my son afraid of you? Did you do something crazy again?"
Long Xue grumbled, "Father, this is the lunatic I told you about!"
What! Lunatic! Gui Bei's mouth opened up in bewilderment.
"He's that bastard I saw at the market that day!"
Bastard! This kid's going too far.
"He chased me all over the market place using his dogs." Long Xue stomped his feet on the ground.
Gui Bei's eyes twitched as he slammed his palm on a nearby table. The table broke into halves and little particles of dust floated off into the air.
"Kid, your mouth is still to big for you! Why don't I help you take it down to your level, that should teach you a little bit of respect." Gui Bei said.
"Gui Bei no–" Before Long Qiao could finish, Qui Bei's loud whistle launched itself into the air. The next second, three barking dogs popped themselves out of the shop, glaring at Long Xue.
"Father, they're here again! This man as lost it!" Long Xue shivered in fear.
"Long Xue, the way–" Once again, before Long Qiao could speak, the dogs had already chased his son down the market.
"Hahahaha!" Gui Bei laughed out loud but paused the moment he noticed the looks Long Qiao was giving him. "I only did that to teach him a lesson."
"So you're teaching him a lesson by having your dog's pursue him?" Long Qiao sighed deeply, "No wonder all your children are criminals."
"Not just criminals, good criminals." Qui Bei corrected, "They stole food from the rich and distributed the stolen items to the poor."
Long Qiao shook his head, "What about Qui Yi? The notorious Dart assassin of the Vermilion brotherhood?"
Qui Bei looked around before replying, "She's just going through a phase. But as long as she doesn't assassinate any of my friends I'm fine with it."
Long Qiao's eyes widened in bewilderment as he let out a chortle, "Anyway, I'm here to purchase a space device for Long Xue."
"Alright, what form would you it to be in? A necklace, a sword, a ring, a bracelet, a earring–"
Long Qiao answered, "A bracelet should do. Make sure to add some dragon carvings."
Gui Bei thought for a while, "You'll owe me fifty copper coins."
"Sure." Long Qiao smiled, watching Qui Bei scurry back into the shop. He then remembered Long Xue and wondered if he'll be fine.
...
Long Xue ran through almost every corner of the market place trying to get the dogs off his trail. Dodging the crowds wasn't making his run any easier. He was getting tired, he couldn't keep this up much longer.
Suddenly, he bumped into a man and fell to the ground.
The man stared at the boy before smiling, "Why are you running my boy?"
"I'm being chased by beasts!" Long Xue replied, panting.
"Not by beasts, by dogs." The man laughed as he looked ahead at the barking dogs coming his way, "You shouldn't be afraid of mere dogs. You haven't even come across those monsters living across the Great Beyond. You call yourself the Progeny of the Dragons, don't you?"
"I do." Long Xue replied.
"Then stand your ground against those dogs. They're just dogs, but you, you have the blood of the dragons flowing through your veins. Show those dogs who the boss is." The man patted Long Xue's shoulder before exiting the scene.
Long Xue then realised that he had been running from dogs this whole time. Just the thought of it, aggravated his infuriation.
Long Xue's anger caused the qi flowing in his meridians to speed up. Meridians are pathways which qi uses to circulate around the body. Like veins, which carries blood around the body, meridians carry qi.
Qi is the vital energy that exist in all things. Without qi, nothing would exist, even the universe as well. A cultivator's power is determined by the amount of qi he has condensed. Everybody is a cultivator, harnessing the true power of qi is what makes one a true cultivator.
With the power of qi, one could attain immortality, gain superhuman strength and speed. With qi, everything is possible.
The crowd noticed the changes in the boy and immediately spaced out. Long Xue's body radiated off an intense amount of fighting qi that if you were five metres away from him, you'd immediately feel the heat.
As the dogs approached him, he shouted out, "Enough!"
The dogs stopped in their tracks. They could sense danger coming from Long Xue and they fearfully ran away, but Long Xue wasn't going to just leave them be, after all the torments they had brought upon him.
He ran after them, chasing them all over the market place like they had done to him.
...
"The maiden shivered in fear as she shut her eyes, praying to the gods to protect her. The group turned back and began walking towards the palanquins. Hearing the footsteps getting louder and louder, she forced herself to open up her eyes again. They were just a few metres away.
The young maiden had two choices to make, and only one would be worth it. She could either stay and get caught be the Yin sect or run for her dear life. In the end, she chose the latter and jumped out of her hiding spot, running as fast as she could.
The chantings she heard intensified and the temperature in the street continued to dropped. She was sweaty but yet, she felt cold as ice. The sounds of the iron clangings behind her moved symmetrically with her heartbeat which psychically, caused her fear to climb higher.
She couldn't stop now, she had to make it tonight, she had to survive. All of a sudden, a pitchfork pierced through the night's cold air and plunged itself deep within the maiden's shoulder."