Death didn't seem too bad. There was no God awaiting me on the other side, only a warm darkness. I could've sworn that I heard some voices if I strained my ears enough, but my qi was absolutely wiped from my body.
Death also felt quite uncomfortable, so I turned onto my side. It was almost as though my arm was going numb as I lay there, which was weird for a place that was meant to host only spiritual forms. I turned onto my other side in an attempt to get comfortable, but was interrupted by a loud bang.
"Yuron! Get up! Why are you still sleeping?!" A man yelled, and I felt myself being lifted. I opened my eyes, only to see my father holding me like he did when I was a child- by both of my shoulders with a firm yet loving grip. "Get ready, quickly! We're going to the market right now. You need to start learning how to be a good farmer!"
"I-I… father," was all I could manage. Me, a man who had given countless speeches to thousands at a time, even during war, could only muster a single word. What was going on? Why was he here? He should've still been alive, secluded with the Mount Hua Sect after they became indebted to me. Why was he here? "I've missed you. Where are we?"
"What are you talking about?" He asked, letting go of my shoulders and letting me fall onto my bed. "We're in our house in the shitty Longrig Region, like always," he said, raising an eyebrow in even further confusion. "Anyway, get ready. We're heading out in ten minutes."
"Where is mother?" I asked, still unable to grasp whether this was some sort of illusory dream that death permitted. But if it was an illusion, then why could I feel it? And why was I able to act differently than I did at the time? "I need to see mother."
"What, did you piss the bed? And why are you talking all funny? You'll get nowhere around here by using fancy speech, kid," my father warned, walking out of my room with a sigh. "Porta!" My father called my mother's name with a vicious roar, stomping down our house's stairs.
'Isn't this amusing? To see my favourite student stuck in a child's body, with not a trace of qi to be found,' a familiar voice spoke from behind me. I could never mistake that voice, ever. I turned to see who it was, only to be greeted by a man I revered even after surpassing him in strength. Manju Song.
"W-What are you doing here?" I asked, watching as a perfect recreation of my master sat on my windowsill. His body was engulfed in a beautiful, ethereal gold hue, but I knew it was him. "Is this Heaven? Are you an angel, master?" I asked, not recognising how silly my question sounded.
'No, no,' Manju laughed, though his mouth never opened. 'We are not in Heaven. As your father said, we are in the Longrig Region, in the year… 1678 I'd estimate.'
"W-What?" I asked, trying to dissect what that meant, only to be interrupted the voice of a real angel speaking from my doorway.
"Yuron?" My mother asked gently. Somehow, hearing her voice was enough for me to believe what Manju was saying. I'd believe anything to see her again. "Are you alright?" She asked, and I began to feel warm streams of water trickle down my cheek. Was our home so run down that there was rain coming through the roof? No, it was sunny outside, so what was this? "Why are you crying, my sweet child?"
Ah, so that was it. The White Dragon was crying. Once mistaken for the Demonic Cult's leader for my prowess and familiarity with murdering, here I was crying like a child. I truly had gone back in time, for whatever reason.
"M-Mother… I love you," I sobbed, furiously wiping the tears from my face with my sleeves until I was taken into her tight embrace that I had missed so much. "I missed you so much."
"We had dinner together last night, so how could you miss me? You silly boy," she shushed, but her words were more of a comfort than any sort of reprimand. The act she had to keep up around father was exactly as I remembered. Love and adoration veiled as some sort of encouragement to become a tougher boy. "And we will always have dinner together, so forget such a silly thing as missing me."
'Isn't that just beautiful? When was it you said she died? Two years from now wasn't it?' Manju asked from behind me. I had no way of replying to him whilst my mother was here, but I held her tighter than I thought possible in that moment. Two years. That was about right.
"I will ensure that you can eat like Kings and Queens do," I promised her, which elicited a small giggle from her. She let go of the hug, a large smile that shone brighter than the sun emanating from her face.
"You talk far too properly for a ten year old boy, Yuron," she said, walking out of my room and downstairs to be with my father. I hopped out of bed and got dressed in the garbs that sat folded at the foot of my bed. They weren't the clothes I had become accustomed to, but they were good enough despite their plain colours and dull tones.
"I need to begin gathering qi," I said to nobody in particular, though I knew Manju would be listening somewhere. "Starting five years early can only be a good thing, and I feel like if I begun wielding a sword at this age i'd do nothing but worry mother. One step at a time."
I went downstairs to meet with my mother and father. Father stood like a military guard, likely due to his training as one for a few years, whilst mother stood like the proudest geisha to grace the Lord's castle. I was proud to call them my parents. I was proud to call this place my home, and I was proud of my humble beginnings.
This time I would protect these humble beginnings. I would not sit back and watch as my childhood got ripped to pieces by some lowly bandits once more. I knew my plan for the next two years. Get stronger. That's all that mattered until then.
"Let us head out," my father ordered, leading the way as we mingled into the crowds who had already begun heading to the market. A few familiar faces, such as those who had been my friends whilst I was living in the Longrig Region, but knowing their later paths in life I thought it better to maintain my distance from them. I would find my real allies in due course.
"What are we aiming to buy today, father?" I asked, holding my arms in my sleeves like my mother did. I mean, I had always held them like that, but it was only in that moment that I realised I had learned it from her. "Our farm only grows rice at the moment, but perhaps some diversification would increase profits. Though, to truly increase profits we would need a product that provided its own seeds."
"Yuron," my father said, and I realised that I had just recited what our sect's farmers had said to me in passing before. "Where did you learn that? I thought you had no interest in farming."
He was right. It bored me to tears, but it was necessary for our family's income. "I heard it from a few farmers in passing. I know you probably had the idea in mind already, so I apologise if I overstepped," I replied, using a personal favourite tactic of mine. Give them all the credit, to stroke their ego as well as build good relationships with them. Build good relations with my father? I guess I really was a sect leader to the core.
"Not at all, i'm simply surprised by your knowledge. What would you recommend we buy?" He asked, obviously testing me further. The farmers I had known enjoyed growing rice for a consistent source of food to sell, flowers for perfumes, and keeping livestock. Livestock seemed out of the question, as did flowers at the moment. Nobody was going to buy materials for something lavish from the Longrig Region after all.
"Perhaps we could grow… peppers?" I suggested, remembering that they made any dish taste better. "They are rather easy to grow, and they give a lot of seeds to replant. They are quite popular with taverns and places that deal in food, so it shouldn't be hard to find customers for it. After we establish that then I would suggest livestock, but that is possibly just wishful thinking."
My mother began to giggle, hiding her face with her droopy sleeve, whilst my father beamed with joy. Despite being a farmer, he had limited knowledge on the subject. He was a warrior at heart, after all. It seemed unfeasible to try and tie him down to a farm forever. He was probably just happy that there was someone around who had more knowledge than he did on the subject, even if it was a child.
"Then that's what we shall do!" My father exclaimed, his stride filled with a new sense of purpose. I guess being such a young Grandfather had its worth.