Burrowed behind the Northern Mountains, laid a village. The clouds had not separated, the plains were distant. The sky was clear, the stars were visible. The tall bamboo trees near, the buildings closer.
The village behind the mountains' birds were silent, along with only a few humans up at this time of night. The sun had just fell an hour ago, leaving an old man, praying to a statue. The statue was of the Tai An villages ancestor. The wrinkles on the elderly man burrowed into skin as he rested his legs and knees, on the floor.
The tip of his head touched the floor before clasping his hands together while treating the statue, as a god.
"Oh, dear Ancestor Tai An Lu Feng! For the past five years, we have not been blessed with enough talent! The nearby Kai Ja village has a single disciple of Grey Grade talent and his name was Bai Lu. If you look at our village in comparison, the best we have received was White Grade.", the old man, with a tied pony-tail, cyan robe dragged down to his entire body. The daoist robe crumpled along with the stance he fell into.
"Please, I beg of you! Please bless us this year with outstanding talent, at least Grey Grade! We need someone who can lead the Tai An clan in the future, and even I am getting too old. I hopefully pray that this happens this year, dear Ancestor.", he prayed one more time.
* * *
In the same village, a boy with a healthy state and long dark robe sat on his bed. He was tall for his age, and could barely fall asleep. The pupils were delicate, letting the eyelashes rest above his slender faces' eyes. They blinked slowly, tired, but not in the mood to fall into the deep dark slumber. The oval shape of his face led his chin to point down to his resting hands. The most beautiful feature was his well-kept skin, and dark thick eyebrows.
But as he struggled to fall asleep, a knocking pattern was released, giving a sudden break to the silence at his door. What was strange was that no footsteps could be heard before the sound at the door.
A cautious boy, still fifteen years of age, crept his feet to the door. Before answering it, he drew the cupboard of the desk that was next to his single bed. A sharp object was taken out, with no sheath.
Some time passed again, the door was knocked again. The teen was closer to the door, this time only a few inches away. In one hand was the metallic knife, and in another was his bare left hand reaching for the door carefully.
Anyone could've been behind that door, since it wouldn't have been strange for an assassin to have been sent after him. It was indeed the day before the awakening ceremony that was held each year for all children, fifteen years of age. His family was known to have enemies from across the village, hence, the careful demeanor.
The hand grabbed the handle and quickly swung it left, desperate to see who it was at this late of night. "Phew.." A sigh of relief exited the lips of the male as he felt safe seeing someone close, also standing outside the door. The other teen outside was similar in age, but still older than the one inside. His features were very similar, having only pale skin, being slightly taller, unique pearl eyes that were very uncommon and a tiny smile appear on his face.
"Older brother, Huang Zhiqiang!", the teen whispered quietly with a reflective smile, that both let out. "I wasn't wrong to assume that I wasn't the only one who could not get to sleep."
Huang Zhiqiang replied with a pat on his brother's head. "Huang Ka, do you want to go for a walk? Perhaps, that will help calm us two down." He suggested the idea with his calm nature. Anyone who saw him would usually would think good and never ill intent, if they met for the very first time.
Huang Ka nodded his head, slowly taking off the hand, not liking the idea of being treated like a child. "Stop patting me, older brother. You are only a couple months older!".
Huang Zhiqiang giggled slightly.
Huang Ka returned the attitude by smirking. "That would involve us sneaking out of the village without the Ki Masters noticing, Older brother. Are you sure that you are up to the challenge?"
Huang Zhiqiang nodded for the second time. "Who do you think your older brother is? Of course I am."
The two didn't need to engage in a further conversation as they immediately began sneaking through the narrow paths. It was a very reckless move since this part of the village was the Academy's dorm rooms. But luckily, the dorm rooms were only filled with low ranking Ki Masters in their section.
* * *
A little time passed and they had escaped the village without provoking anyone. The two brothers had ran through the small plains, to the small cliff. They looked down the cliff. The fall was so low that even the trees could not be saw with anyone's own eyes.
Huang Ka threw a stone towards the bottom of the height. After a few seconds, the stone could be heard reaching the bottom with a muffled tiny ring. "How steep!"
They both chuckled and sat behind the cliff, not taking the risk of falling down that height which was a death wish. The silence befell the two again as they stared at the skies that was filled with stars.
Huang Ka spoke again, "Older brother, let us both become incredibly strong, okay? We will become Rank 5 Ki Masters who will oversee the village!"
Huang Zhiqiang didn't respond. His eyes relaxed more, letting them stare, this time with no sign of emotion. The teen who had been smiling a few seconds ago, had no expression left on his face.
Huang Ka turned his head, hearing no response, but was greeted by silence itself. Not only was there terror enveloping the gentle eyes, but also confusion. The other few noises made their way to his stomach, carrying an object while widening his eyes. A knife had pierced his gut, leaving a dark thick red liquid, slowly draining his natural Ki away.
It was disturbing. Too disturbing.
Just a few minutes ago, they sat as brothers, enjoying each other's accompany. The last thing that Huang Ka expected was to be stabbed in the stomach by the one who he trusted with his own life. "B-brother.. w.. why?" Huang Ka couldn't even process what was happening in front of his very own eyes. His brother was expressionless, and the void enveloped his eyes, drained of all emotion. He didn't even think a single time about the fact he was dying currently, and the only thought that occurred was, "why?".
"Why?", Huang Zhiqiang casually blinked and glanced at the star patterns. "That's too long of a story to tell. But if it helps, it was because I do not trust you now. Or really back then."
"Back.. then?", he couldn't interpret what he was saying. But he did understand what he meant before that last sentence, though it was all too surreal.
Cough! Cough..!
The clock was ticking, and time was running out. He desperately tried to pull himself together and get up but he couldn't. "There is no point in trying to get up. I've sealed your vital points already, whilst I stabbed you, younger brother.", Huang Zhiqiang casually remarked for another time.
"You.. cunning fool. I'm curious. How did you always know that I hated you?", Huang Ka removed his veil, darkening his eyes and clenching his teeth. His true nature was revealed.
"Younger brother, I will tell you a special secret that nobody else will know of, ever. I'm a time traveler, It was not difficult to enquire on that much.", Huang Zhiqiang's smile returned after seeing his brothers anger releasing into the air. "After all, aged ginger is much more powerful and spicy."
His eyes thrashed itself open, creating a mood of hopelessness before pure hatred engulfed his mouth. "How dare you!! You'll die, the elders will definitely find out about this!! You'll be executed or at the very least, imprisoned-"
"Oh, poor brother.", his hand rested over his mouth, letting his muffled screams and curses get out. "You're so gullible to the world. Have you not noticed the preparations that I have made for the past two years?" His expression changed. There was no calmness left within the demon. A sly smile, led his small wrinkles to dig into creating a treacherous aura. "For the past two years, I have been purposely acting kindly around you, even vowed to donate half my savings of Soul Stones to you when we gain access to them at the age of sixteen. I've also scouted the entire environment out, which my pretext was walking around the outskirts. And what do you think I'll tell the village elders?"
Tears began to flow down the demons cheeks. Those that were not real, only crocodile tears. But at a glance, the expression would be enough to bring any veteran who had seen emotional manipulators to their knees. "Oh, dear Elders. I-I.. I snuck out the village at night with my younger brother to have fun and vent out our nerves. We went to play b-but suddenly.."
Huang Zhiqiang grabbed the drenched knife stuck with thick dark liquid and his brothers pupils dilated at what he saw in his last few moments.
Stab!
He launched the knife through the muscles of the thigh, with no reaction. "H-he.. stabbed me! I tried to run away but he was trying to drag me and throw me off the cliff. But then all of a sudden.." Huang Zhiqiang paused, realizing that his eyes were slowly starting to close. The tears were wiped off by the cloth of the arm and his previous acting persona was switched almost immediately.
After a few more seconds passed, Huang Ka was no more. He grabbed the body, dragging it to the cliff. "Two years from now on, a man and his child were playing on this very cliff. But all of a sudden, it broke off, burying the two alive. It was indeed a tragic tale"
The teen gently walked to the human-size rock and tree next to the hanging cliff. Huang Zhiqiang used all his force to push the boulder towards the cliff. His body sweated but with enough determination the rock tumbled towards the cliff. One more push occurred, causing the rock to stay on the cliff. However, the cliff began to crack, bursting the structure that held it up in the first place.
The rock, Huang Ka's body and pieces all crumbled down to the bottom, eventually causing a surprisingly quiet drop. Even from the perspective of the murderer who stared at the sky once more.
"Fragrance will be lingering over your hands when you give out flowers.", Huang Zhiqiang, suddenly spoke of a poem he had once heard as a child of his mother. "I'm sorry, mother. I died trying to fulfill that promise. There's no way I am going to be killed again. The heavens have granted me a chance this time. Thus, I will take it."