["Father what is that?" a young Michael called out to his father who was polishing a luxurious platinum coloured item.
"Hehe, this here is the Soaring Dragon Palace Token, it used to belong to our ancestor" he puffed out his chest as if he was a peacock. "Apparently he was gifted this after saving the Sect Master's daughter".
"Whoa" young Michael stared in wonder at the token "Can I hold it?" he asked
His father quickly held the token to his chest "No, only the head of the Trist house can hold this token. Strict orders from the Ancestor".
"Buu" Michael pouted and got annoyed "What use is it anyway" he grumbled unhappily.
Sticking out his chest yet again, his father began to lecture him "I'll have you know; this token is the Sect Master's which grants any cultivator entry into the Soaring Dragon Palace"]
The sun peaked its head above the east mountains. Unaffected by the tragedy that befell Rigante Village yesterday, it shined its light down on the piles of ash scattered throughout the ruins.
Michael had awoken as the first rays of dawn touched his face. Still reminiscing about his dream, he forgot everything that had happened and sat up quickly. It wasn't long before the scenes of ash and smell of burnt wood had dredged up the memories of what happened.
Sadness crept onto his face as he once again looked at his mother and sisters charred bodies.
"I have to give them a proper burial" he mumbled before getting to his feet with much effort.
Bathed in the light of the sun he carefully moved his mother and sister to the back of the house where the remains of the greenhouse were situated. He placed them down with care before going to locate his father at the front of the house.
Seeing the once stoic and grand stature of his father now a charred mess, Michael felt agitated.
He slowly walked toward his father and bent down "I'm sorry father, I… I'll never be lazy again" he clenched his fist tightly.
Michael put strength into his legs as he lifted his father onto his back. The weight of his father buckled his knees as he attempted to walk toward the back of the house.
"F***, you can't be this weak" he yelled at himself in frustration.
"You supported me my whole life, this is the least… I… Can… DO!!" A surge of energy expanded from his chest as he trudged under the heavy weight of his father.
"Haaa, haaa" Michael collapsed to the ground and began to draw heavy breaths after he finally made it to the back of the house. Taking a moment to recover, he then stood up and began digging the graves that would serve as the eternal resting place of his family.
A long time later the sun was beginning to set over the western mountains. Michael wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm, he'd just finished carving on the headstone of the family grave.
Michael looked at these words he had carved out a moment ago and said with conviction "I'll get stronger and find out who did this to you all… then they'll suffer 100 times more than you did" as he made this vow, he felt a calming sensation move throughout his body.
He took one last look at the graves and headstone as if burning the image into his mind and without another sound he turned and walked toward the village entrance.
Passing through the wreckage of the once bustling city, Michael kept an eye out for any survivors. Scanning the rubble, he saw similar scenes of charred corpses littered throughout the main street.
His anger was once again brought to the surface "F***ers, just you wait".
"Sob sob" a soft cry could be heard from behind one of the burnt houses. Michael perked up at this cry and quickly ran toward the sound.
"…Jason is that you?" he asked with disbelief. On the ground in front of him was a boy around his age hugging a charred corpse and rocking back and forth.
"Mother… Mother" as if not hearing him, Jason hugged the corpse close to his body and cried.
"Jason! She's gone. JASON" Michael quickly rushed over to Jason and shook his shoulders trying to get his attention.
"M…Michael. Mother, s…she's going to be okay right?" clearly in shock, Jason tried to get reassurance from his friend after his world was turned upside down.
Michael looked down at the burnt corpse and back at Jason. Upon looking down at his legs he could see tremendous burns from his feet to his thigh. Judging by the colour of his feet, his shoes must have melted onto his skin.
Ginseng… he thought internally. As if by some form of magic, a stalk of fresh ginseng appeared in his palm.
"W…What is this?" he was startled by the sudden appearance of the ginseng.
"Ughhh" Jason groaned painfully, lost in his grief.
"Shit, whatever let's put some of this on your legs first Jason" Michael quickly pulled out his knife and cut the ginseng in half. Using the cut surface, he began to rub the ginseng on the burn wounds on Jason's legs.
"Arghhh" as soon as the ginseng touched his burnt skin Jason let out a howl of pain and fainted, falling onto his back. Michael took this opportunity to skilfully apply the herbs onto his burnt legs, doing his best to be gentle. Once he was done, he put the remaining ginseng in his satchel.
Standing up, Michael looked toward Jason's mother and bowed at 90 degrees "I apologise but I don't have time to bury you, I will look after your son and make sure he has a good life"
After paying his respects he bent down and lifted the now sleeping Jason onto his shoulder in a fireman carry. Luckily Jason was short in stature and light in weight, he easily carried him out of the front gates of the village.