In an unnamed village, various families lived in peace and harmony, never disturbed by worldly affairs. Occasionally a traveller would pass through or stop for some rest and sometimes one could see a cultivator flying free through the skies.
And today, like any other, Yin Lian woke up to the sound of her mother calling out to her.
"Yin! Breakfast is ready!" Her mother called out in a motherly tone.
"Coming!" The six-year-old girl responded as she put on a plain and simple dress and some shoes before running of her room and to the table, her footsteps echoing throughout the house.
"Ah! Yin! What have I told you about running in your dresses?" Her mother scolded.
Yin Lian looked down and apologised, "I'm sorry…"
"Hahh… Just don't do it again, okay?"
"Okay…"
"Now! Who wants breakfast!" The mother cried out cheerfully.
Yin Lian's face lit up as she jumped excitedly while calling out to her mother, "Me! Me! Me!"
The woman chuckled as she served some warm porridge for her daughter while calling out to her husband.
"Honey! Breakfast is ready, come and get it before your daughter eats it all up!"
"Coming!" A man shouted in response.
One of the doors slid open and a well-built man came out in a white shirt with a worn-out brown jacket and cloak donning his upper body. He also wore a pair of brown boots and muddy black trousers.
He sat down and received a bowl of porridge from his wife and kissed her on the cheek, making her giggle. She then sat down also and served herself a bowl of porridge while setting the pot down in the middle for easy access if anyone wanted seconds.
The family of three ate their food in silence before the child asked for seconds, as she couldn't serve herself yet due to her small stature.
"More please!" She said as she presented her bowl to her mother to be filled again.
She giggled and gladly gave her more. They then continued to eat until there was nothing left in the pot.
"Welp, time to get going. I'll see you two later." The man said as he waved his family goodbye and went off to work.
"Bye bye papa!" Yin Lian shouted.
"See you both later!" He shouted back as his wife waved him goodbye.
He then exited the building through another sliding door and closed it.
"Now that your father is gone, what shall we do today?"
"Umm... I wanna go out and play!" She said excitedly.
"Okay, but I have some chores to do first, so why don't you go out and find some of the other kids and play with them for a little bit. I promise I'll play with you later."
"Kay…" Although the girl seemed enthusiastic about playing with the other kids, she was hoping to play with her mother more.
"Bye mom!" She said before running off outside to the other children of the village.
"Bye sweetie! Be careful, okay?" She shouted back at her daughter.
"Kay!" The child replied in kind.
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A few hours later Yin Lian had finished playing with the others and was feeling rather hungry, so she went home to see her mother for some lunch.
She came in to see that her mother had prepared lunch already, and was in the midst of washing the floor.
"Hi mom! I'm home!" Yin Lian cheerily called out to her mother.
"Yes dear, I can tell. Are you hungry? I made some lunch already if you are."
"Mhmm! I played lots with the other kids and got really hungry!"
"That's good. Let us have some food and I'll play with you afterwards."
"Okay!"
The mother and daughter ate lunch cheerily before playing together for a couple of hours before the mother had to go and start dinner.
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"Girls! I'm home!" The father called out as he entered the house.
"Papa!" The little girl cried out as she rushed into the loving embrace of her father.
"Hahaha! And how are you my precious little girl?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"I'm good! I went to play with the other kids, and then I came home and had lunch with mama, and then we played some more, and then you came back!" She expressed with joy.
"Hahaha! I'm glad that you've been having fun. Is Yi cooking dinner right now?"
"Mhmm! She started an hour ago I think."
"Then it should be ready soon then, shall we get the table ready for her then?"
"Okay!"
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The two then prepared the table and Yi Lian brought out the food for the three of them to eat. It was a stew with some lamb meat cooked to perfection, and some nicely cooked vegetables.
They ate in harmony and each talked about how their day went and how they were feeling and lots of other mundane things. When they finished their food, they all gave a prayer to the heavens for blessing them with life, peace and prosperity.
They then spent the rest of the day together as a happy family before Yin Lian was tucked into bed and read a story by her mother about the mystical cultivators that often fly overhead.
Yi Lian then wished her daughter a good night's sleep and went to sleep with her husband.
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The next day they all woke up and did the same things as they normally do. Yin Lian was washed by her mother in the afternoon and player with her father for a bit and they all had dinner and went to bed once again, waking up and continuing their rather mundane lives in contentment.
However, one day, they saw a group of cultivators when the three of them were gazing at the clouds. they gave them a wave even though they knew that they would be ignored, they still did it because it brought them joy.
They didn't think much of it as cultivators did this all the time. Some of the 'lesser' cultivators even passed through because they couldn't fly just yet, so they usually stayed for a day and left like all the other travellers that came through.
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Later that day when they were having lunch, they heard someone screaming in terror in the distance.
"W-What was that?" Yi Lian asked nervously.
They had never heard such a horrified scream before, and it scared them.
"You two stay in here, I'll go see what's happening." The father said, trying to calm the two frightened women, even though he himself was also frightened.
He got to the door and opened it, stepping outside with a pensive look on his face, and when he saw what was happening his eyes shrunk and he swiftly shut the door.
He then quickly ran back to his family and said, "We need to go, NOW." He said with fear evident in his voice.
He picked his daughter up in one of his arms as she held onto her father tightly in fear as he grabbed his wife's hand and bolted for the door. Yi Lian hastily opened it and the father tried rushing in the opposite direction to where the scream came from.
But it was too late as there was laughter resonating from behind them and the sound of horses coming closer.