It was the early mornings of winter. Each day it was closer to spring. Small flakes of snow landed in Bingwen's hair as he walked a long frost-covered dirt trail. It had been a year and two months already since he left.
He saw a girl in a colorful dress walking down the opposite side of the trail. She was a hybrid by her pointed ears and the color of her eyes. She was traveling with a royal guard so clearly she came from the eartern clan region. She stared at Bingwen as he passed her. "Wait!" She said from behind Bingwen. He stopped as she approached him. Her voice was sweet. "That sword. You must be the son of the Yusheng clan." She said, Bingwen bowed to her. "I am. I'm Yusheng Jin of the Yusheng clan. And you must be?"
"Yue Chengying, young lady of the Yue clan of the eastern region. Have you met my twin brother yet, young master?" She asked. Bingwen shook his head. She frowned but quickly smiled again. "There's a nearby village here. Do you mind if I treat you to a meal?" She asked. Bingwen agreed and went with her.
The village was nearly empty but there was a small dining hut. This was definitely a rare coincidence that occurred. Usually Bingwen would only see regular citizens of a nearby town pass by him.
"We don't serve hybrids!"
"How rude of you! Why should it matter? We're all living things? And it's just one meal sir!" Yue Chengying argued with the worker of the hut. Just another person who hates hybrids. Bingwen stepped in front of the two. "Sir, do you know who you're talking to?" The man looked at the symbols on Bingwen's robes. "M-My apologies, young master Yusheng!" The man stuttered. Bingwen shook his head. "Not Me, her. This is young lady Yue of the eastern Yue clan." Bingwen said. The man stood silent, guilty of what he had done. "We can just leave." Yue Chengying said. "No, wait." Bingwen said, pouring some coins out on the counter. "I'll pay for our food."
Sometime later the two sat at a table inside the hut. Yue Chengying looked disappointed. "I want to apologize for the scene that was caused. That was not my intention. I…wasn't expecting racial criticism either." She said with a sigh. "I guess wherever you go, there will be people who don't like you or judge you for the things you can't change. And I still assume that everyone is accepting and equal. It's a silly thought really. Just the thought of a child's dream." Bingwen took a drink of the tea he had ordered. "You have a point. But I feel like even as adults, we still have childish thoughts and that's alright." He said. She smiled. "I wanted to talk to you and I'm glad I recognized your sword markings. I thought we were similar somehow. And I've heard of what you have gone through. You're ill. But I also know that you know Ning Cheng." Bingwen's heart stopped. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. But Jinghua had left him again. "Have you seen him?" Bingwen asked her, fiddling with his sleeves. "Rarely. On my travels across the northern clan region, I have seen him." She answered.
"How….is he?" Bingwen asked again. Yue Chengying swiped a piece of her hair out of her face. "He's changed. He seems…scarier. It's hard to explain but he has changed." She told him.
Bingwen brushed the thought off and continued talking with Yue Chengying. The two parted after a while and Bingwen continued on his journey. It was becoming evening as Bingwen had made it into the middle borders of the southern and western regions. He needed to find a place to stay but was nowhere close to a village or civilization. A group of Ning clan disciples passed him down the road he walked. Bingwen was lucky to look away at the right time after hearing their conversations.
"Why does the master want us to try and find the son of the Yusheng clan?" One of the disciples asked.
"Remember, he already tried to kill Yusheng Jin." "We have to find him though and isn't Ning Cheng going to do it?"
Their conversions were cut off as Bingwen walked faster. If they were looking for him he needed to leave quickly. But why were the disciples all the way out in this region?
Bingwen found a small abandoned structure on the side of the road and built a fire. He slept under the mossy structure that night.
Birds chirped within the forest surrounding Bingwen. He woke up next to the burnt out fire. He was about to get up but a hand gagged him with a cloth and a knife was at his throat. He passed out within seconds.