The morning light seeped softly through the forest canopy, touching the leaves with a gentleness Mei-Ling had almost forgotten.
A month had passed since the disaster had swept through their village, leaving silence and sorrow in its wake, yet here she was, in the quiet of the forest, where some remnants of beauty still lingered.
As she picked sprigs of wild mint, Mei-Ling hummed a tune her mother had once taught her, the melody a distant memory of warmth, wrapping around her like a fragile embrace.
She moved lightly, careful not to disturb the peace, when a strange sound echoed through the trees—soft at first, then sharper, closer.
Mei-Ling froze, her heart skipping as she glanced around, the familiar forest suddenly strange and unfamiliar.
But before she could take another breath, a dark shape hurtled toward her from the shadows. A beast, wild and twisted, burst forth, its eyes gleaming with a terrible hunger. Mei-Ling stumbled backward, her basket spilling its precious herbs as she fell onto the mossy ground.
The creature loomed closer and under the sunlight its figure was clearly visible, it was like mixture of a wild bore and a panther pitch black in color with a snot, sharp long teeth and horns on it head, each of it step was slow and deliberate, and its gaze locked on to Mei-Ling.
She could feel the rough bark of the tree pressing against her back, leaving her no place to run. Her mother's melody seemed to drift further from her mind, replaced by the ragged sound of her own breathing. With nowhere to go, Mei-Ling clenched her fists, ready to face whatever came next, when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something- a swift shadow shot forward, landing squarely between her and the snarling creature.
It was Lin Haoran, a boy no older than ten but already spoken of in whispers as a martial prodigy. His feet were planted firmly, arms loose at his sides, and an easy grin lit up his face as he eyed the beast.
Mei-Ling's fear shifted, replaced by amazement—and a touch of worry—as she realized how young her rescuer was. But Lin Haoran didn't flinch; in fact, he looked almost delighted.
The beast lunged forward, claws flashing, but with a quick spin, Haoran dodged it effortlessly, laughing as he leaped aside. "Come on," he taunted with a bright smile, his voice light and playful.
The creature roared in frustration, swiping again, only for Lin Haoran to flip over and kicking its snot in the process . Mei-Ling's heart raced as she watched him move, his agility unmatched, each motion flowing like water. Lin Haoran ducked low, then leapt onto the beast's back, ruffling its fur like it was a big, unruly pet.
"Not so scary up close, are you?" he teased, balancing with ease as the creature thrashed, trying to shake him off. With a quick flick of his hand, he gave the beast a harmless slap on the nose, sending it skittering back in surprise.
The creature, clearly outmatched, growled once more before retreating, its eyes wary of the boy who had bested it so playfully. Haoran dusted his hands off, grinning as he turned to Mei-Ling.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked.
....
"Thank you so much young master Lin" After a bout of thanks Mei-ling, the little girl headed back towards the village from where she came.
Lin Haoran smiled as she watch her slowly disappears.
"No, I should be the one to thank you" He softly muttered seeing the prompt in front of him, and also decided to head home.
[+ 10 Destiny point]
Lin Haoran walked briskly and unhurried, along the way he saw shadows of the disaster that had happened 1 month ago, the great number of landslide everywhere, crumbled visage of a former villages and house, at first Lin haoran thought that , the village near the mountain had suffered the most during the disaster, but as thing came to light, it turned out they were one of the few lucky once!!
Many of the village along the Giant's path were directly flattened!! with nearly few or no survivors at all!!
Luckily this horrifying event also the alarmed the entire Long Dynasty which mobilize aids to all suffering party at once, the Entire Martial Alliance Branch of the Yan County was also mobilize to all demon infested regions to suppressed the fear of the people in the region.
Even right now, on his way back Lin haoran could see several unknown martial artist searching for any remaining track of 'demon infested' people.
After a few hours of walking Lin haoran returned to the nameless village at the base of the mountain.
"Greetings Young master Lin"
"Mmh"
"Greeting Mr. Lin"
"Mhm"
As he entered the village several people greeted him as he make his way, and upon reaching the center of the village he sighed.
"To think that this village would be abandon after such catastrophe...i'm indeed naive" he said as he look at the bustling community here.
Right, after the demonic catastrophe, nearly 80 percent of life in the village had also been wiped out, and Lin haoran originally thought that this village would also be forgotten and abandoned but contrary to his guessing the life village became more lively than ever, and the reason could be blamed on many things.
First off, Because Chun Yijun martial shrine was the one of the few only surviving martial shrine in the surrounding 100kilometers most of the martial artist deployed to quell the demonic disaster decided to make this village their main base of activity, and hearing this many of the survivor of the surrounding village also began to migrate here mainly to seek shelter and safety, this lead to the current lively situation here.
The once tiny village of 30 house had become a place that was looking to accomodate more than 400 houses at once!!
"However not all thing had been wiped off" Lin haoran muttered as he stood at the center of the village.
in front of him, was a rather large pillar and on it were hundred and hundred of names that had lost their life on this disaster, there were even poster written with charcoal ink of people searching for their lost family members and love ones.
There were still people in the middle of the street searching for anyone who could have seen their families and people who were weeping in the corner.
Despite the lively atmosphere it was all very sad in the end,
Seeing all these Lin Haoran even thought of a poem he heard in his past live.
"Though the sun will rise and the fields will green,
The scars of yesterday linger unseen.
New blooms may cover the charred, broken ground,
But the whispers of loss still echo around.
Time pulls us forward, its currents run deep,
Yet shadows of sorrow in silence we keep.
We walk, we rebuild, with hearts heavy but strong,
For even in healing, the wounds still belong.
Life moves onward, with each step we grow,
But the pain of the past we will never let go."
Lin haoran sighed as he took out a small knife and carve out the poem in the monument, the knife flowed smooth despite the hard surface of the monument as if it was written by pen on paper.
And after carving out the poem he too also left for his humble abode.