*Thump* Shu He placed a wooden box on the floor causing the floorboards to creak, he sighed and wiped his brow while looking around the room, there was too much here for him to bring with him which he found saddening, but the carriage they'll be using can only carry so much.
He was currently inside his room, sorting what he wanted to bring with him to Orefine City, the city that's near the Titanic Steel Sect and his home for the coming future, they had a single carriage to take them, and it'd be a long journey, so he'd be unable to take everything he wanted.
Chao Shi assured him that he'd be able to get a hold of the herbs that he'd been growing far easier over there than this village, which was basically in the middle of nowhere, so despite his reluctance to bring his entire gardens worth of herbs with him, he would leave them behind.
He breathed in the familiar air of his home; it wouldn't be long before he would never smell it again.
Miraculously, because his house was near the outskirts of the village, it was in a fairly good state, nearly untouched by the chaos that had unfolded the previous day, it even made him want to just stay here.
But he couldn't, he needed to move on.
He glanced out the window, at a carriage passing through in the distance, its wheel splashing as it trawled through the muddy puddle that filled the road, it had been raining lightly for a few hours now washing away the scent of disaster present since yesterday, the countless corpses of beasts here and there in the village were stacked up, the roads had been cleared yet the blood remained, yet now even that was steadily being washed away.
The smouldering remains of buildings set alight from the explosions and tipped fire brands were doused by the small drops, it was if the heavens itself was telling everyone that 'it was over now'.
After everything that happened, Shu He couldn't help but silently listen to the sound of the rain pattering against the worn wooden planks of the house, each drop seemed to break away the tense feeling he had been carrying on his shoulders, he felt himself feel calm for the first time in a while.
He sat down on his bed, stroking his hand on the sheets.
He used his sight too look at the house in his entirety, burning its picture in his memory so he would never forget it.
And then he suddenly stood up, like he'd remembered something.
He stepped out of his room, into the main hall and then towards the room of his parents, he had never entered here before, simply because there wasn't any reason to, it was a room where his parents slept and nothing more, yet he did just remember something that he wanted to check out.
He had seen it before with his 'Keen Sight' , there was a long metal box resting beneath the floorboards under his parents bed, he just ignored it before since everyone had something to hide, yet he felt like he should take a look now, at least before he leaves.
He entered their room, he could see that the bed had been shoved to the size, a floorboard was resting on it exposing a hole in the floor, and a metal box had been taken out.
'Father…' He felt a small lump in his throat as he imagined his dad, moments after he found out they had gone missing, rushing here to open that iron box.
He felt it was likely that it contained that small vial that Chao Shi had showed him, maybe even the saber he obtained from somewhere.
He walked around the bed steadily, as if to not disturb the rest of the room as if they were part of some remains.
"Huh?" He stood over the box, peering inside to see if there was anything else left, and there was, he bent down to pick it up and pulled it out from inside, it was a bunch of clothes that he hadn't seen before, tattered and torn, like something a vagrant would wear, but they felt incredibly durable and had many repairs done to them, they had definitely been well worn.
He also noticed a fold, or indent in the clothes as if something had been laid against them before a long time, one long and thin like a stick, the other an oddly shaped ball.
'I was right, he kept the vial and saber here'.
*Clang* As he was inspecting the clothes, a metal plate fell from the clothes hitting the wooden floor leaving a small dent.
Shu He almost jumped in fright from the sudden loud noise but immediately became curious after looking at what it was, he carefully laid the clothes on the bed and bent down picking it up.
It was old and worn, a brass plate not too bigger than a hand, Shu He immediately knew what it was after looking at it, it was a house name plate, one that a family or clan would display by their front door to let people know who lived there.
"Fu family…" Shu He whispered the words engraved on it to himself.
He wasn't sure at first where this name plate came from, but it was important to his father for him to have kept it for so long.
But he looked at the clothes on the bed.
'Those were probably the clothes he always wore in the past, so much so he didn't want to throw them away, the same for the saber, he never showed me how to use one, but maybe there was a reason he kept it all this time?'
Unfortunately, he would never know.
He stared at the plate in his hands for a long time, he could almost feel a sentimental cherishment embedded deep in its simple exterior.
'Father's name, this is the house plate of where he used to live… maybe long before he joined the group'.
'Shu came from Mother, so Father was a 'Fu'?'
This knowledge brought him nothing, yet he still smiled to learn a bit more about his father, he put the plate away inside of his pocket, he decided to keep it.
As for the clothes, he decided to place them back in the box and return it to where it was hidden, moving the bed back in to place.
The bedroom now looked like he had always seen it from the outside.
In the end, there was no last will, or letter written before he left, or a diary detailing his past; His father wasn't that type of person, nor did Shu He expect it of him, hell he couldn't even write well enough.
All that was left were objects that were mementos of a man who no longer lived.
Listening to the rain on the roof he sighed once more, returning to his room to finish packing what he wanted to bring with him, they were going to set out before the end of the day, so he needed to hurry.
…
A few hours later, Shu He was sat on a bench inside the upper residential district, the area around the hall was the place most left intact so many had gathered around here, mostly just to rest or reorganise.
The hall was cleared long ago, the bodies buried, yet no-one wanted to go inside, instead opting for the small houses dotted around or shelters quickly built for cover.
Who could blame them? No-one wants to sleep in a place where a mass murder happened a day before, Shu He was also the same, it just didn't feel right.
He did learn a bit more about what had happened though, it appears an incense had been used that was made to weaken people, which is what caused everyone to collapse, but it had been inhaled in a much larger dosage than intended, which caused the frailer ones to pass away.
It was unknown whether this was intended, or the unexpected interruption from a cultivator prevented it from being stopped.
Shu He placed his chin on his hands as he waited patiently, the rain had not let down for even a minute since it had started, he started to worry that they'd get flooded, but then reminded himself that he didn't need to care about such a thing anymore.
The pitter patter of rain and the sounds of footsteps and low talking were what accompanied him, before long he heard the sound of muddy steps closing in on him and he looked over to see Chao Shi and an old man walking towards him.
"Shu He… I heard, it's unfortunate… my condolences." The old man, Cao Yang greeted him with a sad tone, he shook his head as he spoke.
Who knows how many times he has said these words today.
Shu He opened his mouth to talk but stopped.
"…Thanks" He didn't feel like saying anything else.
Yet Cao Yang came up to him and sat besides him, he had a cane in front of him with his two hands crossed over on top, it seems the recent events had done a number on his back.
"You're going to Orefine? I'm surprised, I thought you'd head to Rockfell like most of the others" He asked.
"Yeah well…" Shu He looked up to Chao Shi who was standing off to the side with his eyes closed "An opportunity presented itself before me, so…"
"That's unfortunate, I was thinking of adopting you if you went there with us" Cao Yang spoke casually.
"EH?!" Shu He looked at him in disbelief, his expression clearly asking 'Why?!'
"Cheh, that face of yours is exactly like your father's, so obvious" He chuckled slightly "I guess it would be because I'd feel guilty if you were left alone, your father did a lot for me you know?" He sighed.
"Running a village isn't easy, and yet one day one of our young girls pulls in a vagrant that screams trouble, my first reactions was to shoo him away; yet she was insistent so I let him stay in the end; At first no-one wanted to go near him, yet after a while he began teaching some of them how to hunt well, how to use a bow, and other useful things, he even helped the village guards improve and planned their routes, he basically became the head of security, there were times where massive fights were brewing and all I had to do was call on him to end them, in the end he did a lot for this village in the short time he was here, yet I never really thanked him."
"Now this village is going to be wiped off the map… left to ruin" He sighed again.
All of his work, his life's achievement had been destroyed in a single night, he no longer had the strength to yell at others or build everything up again.
"Never mind, I'm just rambling… you need to set off right? If you ever need to visit me, not that you'd want to… you can." He patted Shu He on the shoulder before getting up and walking off.
Shu He couldn't say anything, he just stared at the back of the old man, he felt like he was staring at a hollow pit, a different kind of loss than the one he was feeling.
He decided he would try to visit him in the future, even if just for the sake of it.
In the distance, he saw a bulky man, Dai Niu walk up to Cao Yang and begin speaking to him, before getting hit with the cane, he could hear the old man yelling once more.
'He'll be fine' Shu He couldn't help but shrug.
A couple more splashes sounded out before he found Chao Shi standing next to him.
"Your stuff was loaded up into the wagon, have you done everything you needed to?" He asked, looking around at the devastated village.
The population was quickly decreasing.
Shu He looked around as well, the village wasn't really recognisable to him anymore, it had been wrecked and destroyed beyond belief, the only thing familiar was the scenery of the outskirts of beyond.
He would be lying if he said he didn't have any more attachments to this place, but that was inevitable, he wouldn't be able to sever them, only time would.
He took up and looked Chao Shi in the eyes.
"Yeah, let's go".
Chao Shi nodded in return, and they began walking off, the streets were littered with rubble and stains that were being washed away, every now and then someone would walk by carrying their belongings or rushing to catch their carriage, there was a limited amount of them, so people bundled up and pushed themselves together like a can of fish.
Though it was different for his carriage, apparently it was sent from Rockfell itself for Chao Shi and the other two, if they needed it, yet now it'd be used by him, and probably Chao Shi as well.
Or so he thought…
Right before he arrived before the carriage, Chao Shi suddenly spoke up.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, but you aren't the only one going to Orefine, you'll have two other travel companions."
"Huh? Wait? What?" Shu He was caught off guard, almost stumbling as he reacted.
"Yeah, I'll be around when you need me, but I won't be riding the carriage, too stuffy in there for me, anyway we're here so I'll be setting off ahead, enjoy!" Chao Shi said cheerfully before he seemed to pop out of existence, replaced by a gust of wind.
"…Huh?" Shu He froze for a few seconds, his mind trying to process his thoughts, before he just walked towards the wagon and opened its back doors.
Inside were two men that he was definitely familiar with.
"Gang Bo? Old Yun?"
The bald mercenary and the old craftsman were sitting either side, one asleep the other looking over to him as he entered.
"The Shu young'un is here, we can leave now".