"Get moving! I wanna' be out of here by nightfall!" A man's voice echoed from outside among the hustle and bustle, the creaking of wagons, heavy footsteps and the dragging of luggage could be heard in every corner of Greengate village.
Or what was left of it at least.
Many people were boarding carriages with whatever personal items they could grab before they set off, children were being rounded up and prepared to be taken elsewhere, they had lost their parents in the assault and the subsequent attack, the few that were lucky to survive were the lively ones and the others that couldn't sit still in the hall, so they snuck out.
The mood was sombre, there were no smiles or chuckles to be heard, even the younger ones felt depressed, they had experienced a true tragedy and it would be engraved into their memories for the rest of their life.
Over half of the former population of Greengate had died, whether it was to the vicious pack of beasts or the attack on the hall, families were broken and so were their homes; While the beasts ravaged the fields and weaker shacks as they tore through the town to get to their encampment, it was the explosive blast that did the most damage.
A massive earth trench had formed around the upper residential district, the buildings near the outer edge had been completely torn apart from the force, and outside many buildings near had collapsed, the lower residential district was non-existent, the wells had collapsed on themselves from the earth-shattering quake caused by the dynamite as well.
It was all to keep themselves alive, so there were no complaints but…
They could no longer live here, this village was done for, and so the people had quickly begun to set off in the direction of nearby villages, or the capital in hopes of finding a new home.
Yet there was one person who wasn't doing anything.
Shu He laid in a bed, staring blankly at the wooden ceiling.
He had woken up about ten minutes ago, slowly opening his eyes to a new day.
Yet his mind hadn't budged a single inch, it was stuck, deep in a dreary mud that clung to his emotions.
The events of yesterday continued to play in his head like clockwork, the panic, anger, sorrow, despair and anger filtered through him, yet he felt like he couldn't respond, he felt distant.
All that remained was a terrible, deep, gripping feeling in his chest that wouldn't go away.
'Today is a new day, and yet yesterday is my reality'.
"It's over" he mumbled.
He didn't know how he was alive at all; he didn't know to what extent he injured himself, but before he blacked out he felt an excruciating pain, one that told him he'd die soon.
Yet here he was now, laying in a comfortable bed.
Alone.
He would never return home after staying out all day, to be greeted by his mother who lovingly scolded him.
He would never be taught carefully by his father about how to use a bow, how to hunt, how to fight.
He would never be touched by that warmth ever again; it was lost in cold blood.
'It would have been better if I died' He thought.
He tilted his head, looking on the cabinet besides his bed.
A few containers of medicine were there, he recognised them from his own room.
What caught his attention was the silver knife, he reached over with his weak body, struggling to hold its handle before he grasped it and pulled it towards him, holding it before him.
The silver blade glimmered with sunlight before his eyes.
A very tempting glimmer.
He pointed it towards himself.
As he thrust it towards his throat-
"Please…. Live well… my son.."
His father's last words echoed in his head, he stopped, shaking.
"Shu Li… protect our child".
His mother's last words joined as well, shaking his mental state.
*Clank*
Shu He dropped the knife off the side of the bed.
He choked on his own breath as he felt a swelling at the bridge of his nose.
*Drip*
Tears began to leak, he struggled to make any noise, his throat convulsing.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuugh" He let out a wail that easily pierced the walls, he began sobbing hard.
Like a dam that was blocking a river had been removed, his emotions ran through him and out in his tears, for a full hour anyone passing by could hear his sobbing, yet no one checked on him.
Grief could only be dealt with by the person themselves.
Shu He merely joined the many that had lost those precious to them that day.
He joined the other children, grieving over their lost parents.
…
*Knock* *Knock*
Shu He was sat up in bed, his upper body exposed, toned for a child his age with a slight bronze sheen on his skin from the sun.
He looked towards the door with dulled eyes, red from crying.
Without him saying anything, the door opened, and a man walked in without any hesitation, his white daoist robe caught the light and the sword on his back made a slight clink as he walked.
"You're awake, Shu He?" He spoke with a lively voice.
Shu He looked up at his face, a hint of confusion filled his expression.
"Chao Shi?... I thought you would have left already…" His voice was still weak as his throat was coarse because of the sobbing.
"Well… normally I should have, Bai Shun has already set out to brief the sect on our mission results."
Shu He thought of the third of the trio immediately since they were together every time he met them, he remembered that figure that tried to warn him on her death bed.
"Miss… Yun Hua… did she…?" He could already guess the truth, but he wanted to ask.
Chao Shi's expression turned slightly sombre.
"Yeah, she passed away".
A tinge of pain poked into Shu He's heart.
"Do… do you not feel sad, do you not want to mourn her?" He stared at Chao Shi's expression, he felt it lacked the feelings he felt.
"Of course, I do, but Shu He, how many allies do you think I've seen die? I'm over 100 you know. I'm not young".
Shu He felt shocked at the reveal, not just at the first statement but his age, he had thought he was in his late 30's at most.
"So, you don't feel anything?" He retorted.
"…Are you actually asking that? No matter how many times I see someone I know die, it will hurt. But that doesn't mean I can stop and cry every time, to me, It's just part of life, it's part of the way of cultivation, you will see many die on your path, whether it's natural causes, other's hands or your own." Chao Shi spoke while looking outside of the window, as if he was looking to a far-off place.
Shu He gripped his bed sheets hard.
"Does this path have to be that cruel?" He asked, not just to Chao Shi, but to the world.
Chao Shi closed his eyes, asking himself the same question.
"I don't know, this is my experience, the path that I've tread so far, I'm only a single man and the heavens are boundless." He merely shook his head.
"But… If there's one thing you should remember-"
The air around Chao Shi seemed to stir,
"-You failures. Your mistakes can lead to the death of others, your loved ones, your close friends, your allies, they can also lead you to your death without you even knowing."
"NEVER forget them, learn from them, make sure you never repeat one, that is the only way to truly move on."
Shu He could feel he was speaking from the bottom of the heart, that the words he was speaking were scraped on to the walls of his flesh.
After a minute of silence Chao Shi calmed and dug into his robe and dug out something, holding it between his fingers, it was a small vial with beautiful silver trimming, Shu He had never seen anything that looked so expensive.
"This vial contained the drug that your father took".
"Father?" Shu He looked at it closer, he had definitely never seen it anywhere in his house, nor on his father's person.
"You've never seen it before?" He asked.
Shu He shook his head, he would remember such a fancy vial if he had.
"I see… unfortunate…" He put it back in his robe and sighed.
"What was inside?" Shu He felt the need to ask, he remembered the strength his Father had shown, and that it had cost him his life.
Chao Shi scratched his head and thought for a second before speaking "Well, don't tell this to anyone else since it's a restricted substance, I'm not too sure what It's made of myself and I only heard about it by chance from our sect master, it's called "World Devouring Elixir", its name is scary because it's a frightening elixir, you saw the results, it forcefully draws in the worlds qi, creating a temporary core at the cost of the user's life, such results came from a mortal using it, it's far more devastating for a cultivator to do so"
"Where does it come from?" Shu He immediately asked.
Chao Shi shook his head in response "I don't know, even if I did, I wouldn't tell you".
"Why?!" Shu He shouted for the first time.
"…It's obvious, whoever made it basically had a hand in your father's death, you want revenge?"
"Is that bad?!"
"…No, there's nothing wrong with revenge, but you can get it when you have other things in your life, living only for revenge is a sad life."
Shu He merely grit his teeth.
"I'm sure your parents wouldn't have wanted you to tear yourself apart over revenge either" He said, causing Shu He to paused.
Shu He hated how he worded it, but he was right, even in their last moments they just wanted him to live happily.
He calmed down, closing his eyes.
"What should I do?" He asked.
"That's up to you to decide" Chao Shi said, yet his expression was filled with a weird sense of expectancy.
Shu He grunted and began to think.
'The village is done for, I can tell just by listening to those passing by and from the damage yesterday so I can't stay here, I could move to another village and continue living normally by selling medicine but… I want to move forward. As a cultivator, I need a place to learn and get resources, and that'd be a sect' He looked over to Chao Shi's face, seeing a slight smile he couldn't help but sigh.
'In the earth region, the Trembling Earth Sect is the prime sect so It'd make sense for him to head there or one of the smaller sects in this region, but… he has a in invitation sitting right in front of him and someone he at least knows to guide him'
Shu He sighed again before he made a decision.
"Then I'll try joining your sect" He spoke, causing Chao Shi's smile to grow.
"Great!" Chao Shi spoke with joy before putting something in front of Shu He.
It was the entry token he had shoved in his rooms draw!
He stared at it, exasperated.
"Did you know this was going to happen?"
"No, it just turned out this way!" Chao Shi wiggled the token in his hand before Shu He snatched it out of it shooting a glare at the man.
'Something still annoys me about him!'
And so, Shu He decided the next step in his journey.