Book I Chapter 3
…
The village of Mok, the happy village which was full of warmth and calm tranquility now looks like a decrepit place filled with corpses and the thick smell of blood covered the air. The pungent stench of rotten corpses wafted in the air which almost made Na-na vomit.
Her legs began shaking and her hand quivered as she covered her mouth controlling herself not to cry.
A bad premonition enveloped her heart as she forces herself to take a single step towards the broken gate of the village.
She could see a few scavenger birds eating the corpses of the people she once knew in the village.
This scene made her heart sink far deeper as she diverted her eyes.
"Mom… where are you… Na-na is scared…" she muttered with a shaking voice.
Her footsteps quickens as she began running towards a seemingly familiar path towards their house.
But then she suddenly stumbles to the ground as she seems to have stepped on something.
When Na-na looks back, she saw a piece of rotting hand on the ground.
This made her puke while crying. She could not hold it back anymore as she cried and cried while she crawled on the ground.
Her mind is a mess and as a child, she did not know what to do.
Suddenly, her slightly dim eyes noticed a figure from the thick smoke rising from a familiar place.
As she tried to stop herself from crying, she sobs and wipes the tears from her eyes making her face look dirtier.
She slowly picks herself up and saw a familiar figure calmly sitting by the window. But that familiar figure is only a visage of her former beautiful self.
Tears once again filled her eyes as she looks at their already burned-down home. But the burnt figure of her mother was etched in her mind as her eyes did not leave that seen forever engraving it in her memories.
She seems to not understand how things become and confusion has covered her mind. But even in that confused state, she still recalled her mother's teachings.
"The world outside is dangerous… so what will my little daughter do to be safe?" she recalled the voice and figure of her mother in their nightly study time together.
"I need to hide and change myself into another form?" she replied innocently.
"Yes, very good… Look at mom…" she then saw her mom changing from a beautiful woman into an old woman.
Then her mom changes from an old woman into a handsome young man.
"Wow! Mom is the best!" she claps her hand in excitement.
"Can Na-na do that too!" she asked.
"Umm… But Na-na needs to learn and then grow up first…" Wu Min said while patting her head.
Na-na pouted as she also wanted to change herself into another form.
She did not know why, but she seem to hear her mother whispering near her ears.
"My darling... this is the right time to try that rune combination... You can do it, my love..."
Upon hearing those words, she looks at her palm with her tear-filled eyes and then picks up a sharp object on the ground. She then rubs that pointed object on a charred wood and uses the black substance to draw a combination of runes on her palm.
She then covered her palm with a torn cloth that she found in the area and she even entered the house nearby and changes her clothes to that of a boy.
After walking out of the house, Na-na's eyes are still lifeless as if she just did these things unconsciously guided by someone, and then she walked to the side of the window.
She looked at her mother's burnt corpse and tears once again flowed down her cheeks uncontrollably.
"Mom… Na-na is here… Na-na knows that you went somewhere... Na-na... will never forget you… Na-na will make sure that those bad men… will pay for what they did to you…" she muttered in a low voice as her tears could not stop falling.
Not long later, she lost consciousness out of the heartbreak she felt from losing her mother.
…
Wu Hyuna slowly opens her eyes and found herself inside a warm room. The soft bed on her back made her feel that everything that has happened to her was all just a dream.
But when she looks at her clothes, her mind almost instantly cleared up.
It was not a dream, but it seems that someone actually saved her.
She then looks at her palm and could feel a warm sensation in it.
She knew that the rune she wrote is still functioning.
"I need to hide… I need to follow what mom told me…" she muttered as she slowly opens her hand.
To her surprise, she did not see the rune on her hand but she could still feel it.
As she touches her hand, she saw them appearing.
She then recalled that only by touching would the rune reappear. This would protect it from being erased accidentally before a month has passed.
"Where am I?" she muttered as she slowly crawl out of bed and walked towards the door of the room.
Everything was dark and when she opened the door, she found that she is in a small old courtyard.
The room is the only building in this courtyard that looks a bit neglected.
"Why am I in here?" she muttered.
"Oh, you're awake!" a female voice suddenly interrupted Wu Hyuna.
She looks in the direction of that voice and saw a tall and slender-looking woman wearing a dark green robe.
She noticed that the woman looks a bit pale yet her beauty is like that of a mature fairy.
"Where am I, elder sister…" Wu Hyuna asked innocently.
The woman showed an amicable smile and walked towards her. She is carrying a tray with some bowls on it.
"Let's head back inside… I will feed you first… I think you are still hungry…" the woman said.
Wu Hyuna walked with the woman and came back to the room.
The woman waves her hand and the room lights up brightly.
Wu Hyuna was astonished and exclaimed.
"Wow! Are you a fairy?!" she asked innocently.
The woman did not say anything and just showed a faint smile on her face.
The woman feeds Wu Hyuna and after Wu Hyuna finished eating she asked.
"What is your name little boy?"
Wu Hyuna was confused at first but then recalled that she has changed her physique at this time. So she thought of a name.
"I… I have a name… A boy's name…" she said while feeling a bit panicky.
The woman showed a slight smile on her face but did not say anything and just waited.
Suddenly, she remembers a boy's name which she recalled her mom saying to her.
"Wu… Wu Jin…" Wu Hyuna said while nodding her head vigorously.
"Ah, it's a boy's name indeed…" the woman said while smiling.
Wu Hyuna showed a faint smile on her face seeing that the woman was convinced.
For some unknown reason, Wu Hyuna decided to use the name of the father she did not meet.
That was the only name that came to her mind, so she just decided to use it at that time.
"Okay, little Jin… You should rest now. Tomorrow, you will meet someone very important…" the woman showed a faint smile on her face and carefully gathered the bowls, and walked out of the room.
…
The Urokai Sect is one of the most powerful sects in the kingdom. The sect is named after the name of the kingdom itself which signifies who was the founder of the sect or its connection to the kingdom of Urokai.
For centuries, the kingdom of Urokai stood firm against their neighboring kingdoms and none dare to challenge their kingdom because of the presence of the Urokai sect along with the other Honorable Sects within its territory.
The Urokai Sect has several mountain peaks under its control, and in the middle of those mountain peaks is the Sect Hall.
This is where the main government of the sect is, along with most of the major upheaval and tournaments are held.
Inside the tallest ancient buildings in the central peak, where the Urokai Sect hall is located, sits several men and women on a platform at the head of the hall.
"We must investigate what has happened to Mok village." a middle-aged man in a white and blue robe said while slamming his fist on the armrest of his marble seat.
"Calm down… Our Core disciples are already scouring that place… if they found traces of what has happened there… then they would surely find an answer…" a woman in white replied while showing an expressionless beautiful face.
"Those poor villagers, how someone just kill them like that. I think this is the work of those heretical evil sects!" a man who looked like in his 30s added with a deep frown.
"By the way… where is the sect master?" asked a man with a white beard while frowning deeply.
"The sect leader is in his seclusion… He would be coming out two months from now…" the one seated at the side of the head of the seat replied while shaking his head.
"About the four orphans, we should take each of them as our outer sect members… But I will take the young girl as my apprentice…" he suddenly added.
"Senior brother! That is really cunning of you… We have not seen the orphans and you are already taking your pick!" a thin-looking man suddenly interjected.
"Haha… fourth, you already have hundreds under your tutelage… She would only be my 6th personal disciple, why would you fight against me with her?"
Upon hearing this, the thin-looking man frowned and then suddenly said.
"I'll take the bigger boy then…"
With his words, the others suddenly stood up to argue.
The reason for this argument is because, for some reason, three of the four children from Mok village actually have strong Qi roots. Though they are still young, they could already see the potential in their bodies.
All except for one… and that is… Wu Jin.