The rain haven't subside, as it kept pouring hard falls of drop from above. The only light being emitted from the lantern in a small shabby hut across a long worn out wood bridge.
A creak rang out from the small hut, an old looking man meditating inside his humble abode. The lights from the lantern keeps the darkness of his house minimized, while closed eye, sitted cross legged on the wood flooring, his long hair colored salt and pepper he hummed along the sound of pouring rain under his thatched roof.
In his own very vision, he was walking around a modernized world, a world of peace and innovation, or as it seems. His eyes trailed over the tail of a cat, a black cat specifically, he followed it despite the shape of his body. When the cat jumped over obstacles, he watched as the small creature stopped in front of a glass window, a man seemingly in his early 20's peeked through the window, his hair disheveled as if woken up from his bed.
The young man's movement were sluggish, his eyelids kept shut. Although his fingers unlocked the small pin of his window, lifting the bottom of the steel up.
The old man's gaze were unwavering, he jumped and halted mid air in front of the young man, the young man couldn't see the other one while the old man can.
The cat, on the other hand could feel the old man's presence, noting on how it gazes on the young man petting him. The cat let out a soft pur, as the young man placed his hand on it's head, gently massaging it's head.
"Yêyú", the old man muttered under his breath, he narrowed his eyes at the cat yet there's no hostility intended in his gaze.
"A-Ling!!", a woman's voice rang out,
Ling, the young man immediately closed the window and dashed towards his door. The old man chuckled as he slowly raised higher, he looked around, he started chanting foreign words, his hand moved around as if weaving a soft silk and disappeared in an instant.
Ling Gaofeng sauntered over the kitchen, seeing his roommate burning an egg made him sigh of disbelief, he scanned over the area, smoke...smoke and smoke... it made him choke,
"Really? do you have to call me because you burnt that thing- ", Ling Gaofeng facepalm himself as he took a mug from the cabinet and poured himself half of the mug's size with hot water, stirring it with black coffee as he added a spoonful of cream mixing it alongside the grinded coffee beans.
"Ling Ling Ling... tsk tsk, come on silly boy i was just practicing cooking... i mean how hard could it be?-"
"Stupidity at it's finest!! You can't even cook an egg without burning the edges?!", Ling Gaofeng yelled out, while Hualéi just shrugged him off and continued scrubbing the burnt eggs with the spatula off of the pan.
The irritated man rolled his eyes and walked away, once outside he took steps in the stairs, he noticed the cat from earlier staring at him while sitting on the trash can beside the stairs.
"you seem to have a good day little fella?", Ling Gaofeng chuckled, petting the black cat gently with his fingers.
The cat only meowed in return, lowering its head to hit that specific spot. In a second everything was peaceful, or rather after seconds of that silence a loud bang echoed through the alley, The cat jumped out of Ling's grasp—running towards an unknown direction.
Blood started soaking Ling Gaofeng's shirt, he was frozen—unable to make any movement at all. His eyes widened in shock, his face had gotten pale fast and his lips starts to tremble.
He didn't felt the pain in the first place, he felt like something hard hit his back, the pain slowly seeps through his flesh, he managed to take a glance from the man who had shot him walking towards him, the sound of the man's shoes kissing with the paved road rang through his eardrums, the face of someone he once knew and loved, someone he will never forget for the rest of his life. Ling Gaofeng's body collapsed in the cold ground, in the distance he caught a glance of that cat, a piercing gaze that held his breath tight in his throat.
All of his memories played inside his head like an old disc of the golden time, only the good ol' time played while the opposite were never mentioned. He remembered his first love, his parents whom he cherished and loved he was worried what will happen to them after his death he was their only child and that's makes him even more sad of his own death.
One scene of his childhood days trailed over after his days with his family. His childhood friends begging for his father to let him play outside, it was such a beautiful scene for Ling Gaofeng those days were his roman empire, he never felt guilty for living in such a life that everyone would be jealous of, he never wanted to let go his life he was still beginning to carve his path and yet looks like he wasn't meant to grow old in this world, that was his only wish... Is to grow old with his beloved family.
[System Malfunction!! Bug detected! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error!
Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Error! Loading Data ◌ Retrieving old data ◌ Completed]
When Ling Gaofeng opened his eyes, it took him 20 seconds to compose himself. He immediately looked around he thought himself that his death was probably just a nightmare he'll never want to remember, the place smells like burning ashes and wood, he tried to stand up yet he felt his legs unable to do so, the place were dark but not pitch black the walls were rough in texture alike to a cave's... a cave?
Ling Gaofeng noticed he was lying on his face on a small wooden bed, the pillow were... not as soft as the one he had yet he was currently lying his head on a chunk of wood, smooth and rectangular.
After fully regaining his senses he took time to adjust his clothing, which he was surprised to see himself wearing a traditional hanfu specifically a shenyi with other decorative and accessories around him. His hair was long with small portion of hair was tied up behind his head with a floral hairpin, his face were covered in white strips of polyester, and his hands were wrapped with linen strips looking like an alive mummy.
Shiver travelled throughout his nervous system, fear creeping in as he thought this place was probably the purgatory. He shifted his gaze up and down, left to right he couldn't quite get the situation he's in, the possible answer would be he is dead, sent to hell although he's alone which wouldn't make sense if this was hell. He calmed himself first before he could let his wanton thoughts push his sanity down.
His eyes scanned the area, there was no doors and windows to escape. He cursed internally as he stomped his feet twice.
"What the f-beep is going on!? am i a mummy or what!? i feel like a damn maiden about to get buried alive", he tore the cover of his head and as well as the bandages around his body.
Indeed, there is no way he can get out of this place no matter what stupidity it takes to yank his body out of this cave. Although this place is still foreign to him, it'll take time to digest all the information he'll be receiving in..5... 4...3..2.1
Tracks of memories flooded through his eyes, the bright glow almost blinded him for a second as the memories surges through his very eyeballs.
" wtf-"
A scene which he very much don't like...The tale of the fox spirit, where the owner of the body died thousands of years ago although it's corpse remained lively and delicate, the soul of the fox were said to be fused with the man's body in order to preserve it while the fox was originally a child of a deity, the past lover of the fox whom was the deceased man which Ling possessed in the current time.
It showed him through the very birth of this man, and where he had met the fox spirit who strayed away from his kind.
The fox had imbued his soul into the man's body after the man was killed, the fox thought his lover's soul will come back if he waited... and he did, he waited for such a long time, but his lover never opened his eyes once again.
The fox shattered his soul into 2, the other one was to find the soul of his beloved while his other half stayed to guard the body of his lover.
The most surprising part would be that this two weren't even the main character of the story, the tale's whole point was about the maiden beauty and the infamous cultivator.
No one has ever seen the face of Jin Xin, the fox's lover. Jin Xin always wore a fox mask, which resembles his lover.
Everyone thought that Jin Xin hides his face because he have a curse which is contagious that's why no one dared to see the man's face, though that was only a rumor.
The truth is that, no one knows about his little secret, except for the fox. Everyone knows that the fox has a humanoid vessel although neither Jin Xin and anyone had ever seen the face of the fox.
Ling Gaofeng had no reaction about the information, of course if he hadn't read that book he'll surely have a wide ass eyes and gaping mouth.
Ling Gaofeng never truly cared about the tale, since for him it was a boring genre, romancing and cultivating is not his peg at all. It feels old for him as if he's reading a children's book.
But one thing all he gave a damn about now is that, he was Jin Xin the side character with deep background information whom have been roasted into ashes by the protagonist himself in order to prove his eligibility of the throne and marriage with Huo Sang.
Ling Gaofeng immediately changed his opinion about the tale being a children's book, the ending of this character was brutal or let's say that's the last thing he wants to happen, to him.
Ling Gaofeng turned around, he stood up from the bed and tried to make sense of what's happening.
Since the body of Jin Xin was possessed by Ling Gaofeng, the fox also imbued his soul to the body although only the other half of the soul was accepted the fox didn't forced itself inside Jin Xin or else It would dust the body if ever the fox had tried to possess Jij Xin's corpse fully so in order to safely imbue himself, he corrupted the half of his soul, impurity would balance the qi of the deceased man's body.
Ling Gaofeng thought that he can't even feel anything about the fox's soul inside the body as if everything was ordinary.
'wait wait- since no one has ever seen this body... means i can safely go out????', he thought to himself
"but there's literally no way out..", he scoffed.
Man vs himself, if Ling ever met his other self, it'll be war.
Ling Gaofeng looked up, the surface seems moist. He remembered that Jin Xin was once a disciple of the infamous water yielding master, Jin Xin insisted his uncle to teach him the way his uncle does, he was deeply amazed by the power his uncle held not only through sword fight but as well when it comes to casting spells.
But how is he gonna be able to do that!?
He woke up with little information and now he's thinking of the impossible- well kind of unlikely to happen but there's 0.90% that it'll work.
Ling Gaofeng slowly looked up, realizing several drops of water had stopped falling just above his head... he stretched his fingers, the skin of his index finger nearly touching the water, when his skin and water made contact the small droplet exploded, smaller droplets fell down his face. daaa-
He tried to think of what to do, he couldn't quite remember the names of the abilities the book have, but he can remember one out of all..
'maybe i can use water teleportation...', he happily chirped in his thoughts.
The water slowly multiplied by his command, dancing around him like bees, the water seemed like to move in slow motion although the manner of it was graceful and deadly fast.
He tried letting himself fuse with the water although it was a fail in his first trial, he tried and tried yet still failed.
He almost gave up, yet he needed to try for the last time.
Ling Gaofeng inhaled and focused his mind, closed his eyes and imagined himself fusing with the water. He felt the peace he thought was impossible to reach, as if the water was hugging his whole body without drowning him, it was a beautiful experience.
Even though his eyes were closed, he could hear someone calling him by the name of 'Jin Xin', he could feel someone pulling him towards the unknown. He felt peace rather than to be alert as if he knew this stranger, he heard the unknown man whispered, he could see an illusion of a man speaking towards him, the moonlight illuminating brightly to the man's face making the stranger's features stands out.
In his deep trance he heard several screams, and when he opened his eyes, to his shock it actually worked.. although he was a bit numb at the time, his body was still paralyzed for seconds.
And....he saw three men running as fast as they could, it was probably them who had shouted earlier which made him wonder if something was trying to catch them.
Ling Gaofeng exhaled happily, now that he's out of that hellhole he can freely- no he's not yet free... If someone ever tried to visit the cave, they'll find out about the deceased man's body went missing.
*crack!*
The sound of branches being broken caught Ling Gaofeng's attention, he noticed a young man staring at him, fear and curiousity etched on the younger one's face.
"um hey?", Ling Gaofeng called out hesitating if he should ask the boy about the place.
"Thank you...", the young boy uttered aloud with his trembling voice, his stretched out his hands in front of Ling Gaofeng and spreads his palms where a small beetle was nestled with leaves.
The beetle's color was unusual, the base of the insect were golden with tints of red dots, it amazed Ling Gaofeng and immediately thought it must be some rare type of beetle, and so, he gently took the small insect into his palm.
" Why are you thanking me young one?"
"big brother helped me, so.... i wanted give this to big brother",
" how old is this younger brother?", Ling Gaofeng asked, in the original story this boy was never introduced, he can't get the plot wrong since this was the story his jiejie kept blabbering about since he was in elementary.
"I'm 13 big brother, I'm Lengge...what about big brother?"
"I'm.. -err"
"Er?"
"No- big brother's name is...Yêyú"
The young man smiled and walked besides Ling Gaofeng, on the other line... Ling Gaofeng was furious at himself for saying that 'Yêyú' was his name when he initially thought of something cooler like 'Tanhuang' or 'Taoyan' and still he spoke the name of his pet gold fish instead.
Ling Gaofeng felt stupid, as always, he believes that he won't be able to survive the story if he keeps messing up
"so- Lengge where do you live?", Ling Gaofeng asked, since he doesn't really know the place, no matter how much detailed the places were in the book Ling Gaofeng would still get lost.
"Lower mountain", Lengge spoke as he looked up at Ling Gaofeng, his eyes were twinkling gleefully...what's wrong with this shit-
"eh?", Ling Gaofeng pondered about it, Lower could either mean this child lives in the lower area of the mountain literally or it defines about the sociological state of the country, Ling Gaofeng nearly rolled his eyes, when he was about to utter a word Lengge hid behind his back, his body was trembling with fear as he clutched onto Ling Gaofeng's robes tightly.
" D-dire wolf!"
"what??? what do you mean?? dire woof? ", did he heard it right?
Before Ling Gaofeng could finish his questions an enormous wild predator, a wolf like appearance yet bigger and scarier, and that's what Ling Gaofeng thought about the creature in front of them lunged at them, it's sharp claws digging to the soil beneath the wolf as it landed on the empty space.
"ahh you mean wolf not woof-", As Ling Gaofeng speaks he unsheathes his sword and dashed around the creature, his sword sways in the air, lunching several air attacks towards the creature.
Lengge stumbled and rolled over his sides, his eyes locked onto Ling Gaofeng and the wolf.
With a final blow, Ling Gaofeng managed to take down the wolf. It took him like a whole minute, though in reality he knew he'd be dead before he could even move, luckily he knew how to hold a sword properly and how to use it. wait something's wrong...he knows how to use one yet he never have the guts to kill anyone or such a strong opponent.
It was still a surprise to him that he could wield such a sword, he felt like it wasn't him who controlled the body, he shivered to the thought that maybe it was the fox's doing, perhaps it's soul was still intact inside the body.
Lengge rushed over him and happily chirped about how they can sell it off to the market place and earn money, Ling Gaofeng's eyes gleamed brightly at the thought, if they earn money then they can buy such food for dinner.
Ling Gaofeng chopped off the parts of the creature to sell off the market, they took the head and the limbs of the wolf.
After half an hour of walking, Lengge and Ling Gaofeng reached the open gates of the said Lower Mountain, the place were a mess although people seemed to be working just fine, laughter are louder than fights, and the sweet aroma of foods in the stall makes Ling Gaofeng's nose wander a bit.
Lengge on the other hand kept his hand tightly grasped on Ling Gaofeng's, as they walked through the sea of people, towards the certain area where Lengge wanted to go eagerly.
"Does big brother have a place to stay?"
"hmm? no, brother doesn't have a place to stay...", Ling Gaofeng have no reason to lie at all, he certainly can't sleep in the streets, and have literally nowhere to go.
"ah- i have a place for you to stay big brother!", Lengge happily spoke, his voice doesn't tremble like before.
When they reached an alleyway, Lengge stopped in front of a bamboo house, it was steady and made of tough materials: enough to hold itself from typhoons.
Once Lengge opened the door he urged Ling Gaofeng to enter his simple abode. Ling Gaofeng nodded and quietly stepped inside, he noticed several figurines atop the cabinet, it send shiver down his spine and gulped his fear down.
"stay here big brother Lengge will go make dinner in the kitchen..", Lengge excused himself as he sauntered over the other room,
'that sculpture looks sick as hell, i mean it...',
Ling Gaofeng took his time to meditate while Lengge cooked over the kitchen,
Ling Gaofeng heard a commotion outside and hurriedly walked towards the door, there were people on the view shouting and running as if scared for their lives. Ling Gaofeng took the scene as another 'part of the plot'.
*ding!*
[Chapter 2: Heart of the Wilderness]
Originally the chapter was titled as 'The beauty of the maiden' and now, it was completely changed. Ling Gaofeng thought it was probably because of his arrival. and wait-
'why the heck a screen with text just popped up into my head!????', he thought, everything was starting to hurt his head. But the most important is-
He still haven't met the man who'll kill him and the protagonist's love interest. Ling Gaofeng thought that maybe since he was still in the Lower Mountain he won't be able to meet the main characters as for such they were born with noble blood.
" big brother! dinner's ready!", Lengge called out to him, he already finished placing the hot pot on top of the wooden-ceramic table and a porcelain plain teapot alongside 2 small wood cups.
Ling Gaofeng closed the door and headed over the young man, his face was still etched with confusion and irritation which Lengge noticed,
"is brother alright?", he spoke with his head low.
" ah- no it's fine, brother's fine it's-",
Ling Gaofeng fainted...
He could still hear the commotion outside, which he realized the noise was getting louder and louder, he could also hear Lengge's worried plea for him to wake up.
Minutes later, Ling Gaofeng woke up and found himself surrounded by flowers, the scene was a grassy field with a tranquil atmosphere.
The air was dry, and the sun was high. It was alike to those vivid dreams he rarely get the chance to finish and now here he is living a dream inside a dream.
Ling Gaofeng heard a rustling behind the bushes and immediately stood up, his hand tightly grasped on the handle of his sword.
*Ding!*
"eh?"...
[System: Loading Data ◌]
" WHAT????",
Before Ling Gaofeng could even whine about it he felt a soft fur brushing against his boots, he looked down and saw... a fox?
This was probably part of the chapter or so he thought, the fox starts climbing on his foot and stared at him with his big ocean like eyes.
Ling Gaofeng stared back...
And the fox stared back..
"Jin Xin..."
"who- *ehem*... Hmm?", Ling Gaofeng immediately forgot about that he's inside of Jin Xin's body.
".....", the fox continued to stare back, a word never escaping from it's snout.
Ling Gaofeng couldn't resist the urge to pet the fox, it looked so adorable and fluffy...with an extended hand his fingers touched the fur of the fox's.
Everything went black, slowly, Ling Gaofeng managed to get back into his senses. When he woke up he was lying on wooden bed, a soft foam underneath him and soft silk as the bed sheet.
This wasn't Lengge's home, he thought.
The place were lavishly decorated, it was filled with high class furniture and curtains, it was still night time so it haven't been long since he fainted.
*Ding!*
[Chapter 2: Completed]
"ohh....what the hell does that even mean!?? what Wilderness are we talking about??? and what just happened!?", Ling Gaofeng furiously stomped his feet, he tilted his head to the side and his brows continued to knit together, his face were red as tomato.
Before he could rant once again a knock from the door was heard, as the other line introduced themselves Ling Gaofeng shook his head and uttered aloud for them to come inside.
" ah you seemed better isn't? you passed out awhile ago and your little brother took you to my house if you haven't known yet..", A women in her late 50's entered the room, her voice was deep and soothing to the ear, wrinkles on her forehead and under her eyes yet she possessed a maiden beauty despite her ol' body.
Ling Gaofeng was about to speak when another person entered the room, a young man seemingly around Lengge's age.
Ling Gaofeng eyed the new person behind the woman, when he realized what he was missing on he snapped back to his thoughts and tried to reminisce the information from the book.
The woman and the lad was actually the protagonist's future in-laws...That's why he haven't met the love interest of the book in the first place, Li Wugu wasn't born yet and he was sure of it.
In the original plot, the woman would hear a knock in the middle of the night and when she opened it she was greeted by a wailing child, nestled with white blanket inside a basket. The woman would not hesitate to adopt Wugu Li since she couldn't give birth anymore and her son would feel lonely if ever one day, the clock of her life would stop ticking, her son, Wugu Ye would not be alone.
Originally Wugu Li is the middle child of the noble family 'Huo', she studied medicines and later on became an imperial apothecary. Ling Gaofeng snapped out of his trance and looked at the two person in front of him.
"I- i give my thanks to this Lady, may i ask where Lengge is? and- how long have i been asleep madam", He asked in a low tone afraid that he might insult the position of the woman in front of him, he knows nothing about greetings or formal names for those who have higher status.
" ah young one, you've been asleep for 2 days.. I'm afraid i can't say where Lengge is since he said to me not to tell his whereabouts", Wugu Jia uttered, her tone calm and low.
'2 days?!! I've been asleep for that long??!', Ling Gaofeng almost fainted again, he took a deep breath and calmed himself before he could do something stupid like running away and catch Lengge, wherever that lad is.
"Umm Madam Wugu may i ask where am i?...",
"Upper Peak, is there anything you need dear?"
"n-no"...
'I'm f-beep-ed up', Ling Gaofeng cursed internally, Upper Peak Mountain is not easy to climb to, secondly, He can't go down without Lengge since he have no proper identification and he is clearly unknown to this place.
Ling Gaofeng remembered that in the book, people who lived in the Lower Mountain are not allowed to enter the Upper and peak mountains, Ling Gaofeng started to make up several conclusions on how Lengge managed to drop him off in this place if Lengge lived down the mountain.
While Ling Gaofeng is in his little trance, Wugu Jia had already excused herself while Wugu Ye was left in the room alongside Ling Gaofeng.
" ehem!...Mister may i ask who you are? And your clothes...are you perhaps a master?", Wugu Ye spoke which mare Ling Gaofeng snapped the hell out of his thoughts once again.
"hmm? why is that young man?"
"I saw you have a sword...it's in the cabinet, actually i wanted to ask if this mister have a disciple? or is Lengge your disciple mister?", Wugu Ye's tone was soft just like his mother's, he took steps towards Ling Gaofeng and halted right in front of the man.
Ling Gaofeng gulped down his own saliva as he urged the man to sit down on the canopy bed, he looked at the window and back at the lad.
"...This master doesn't have any disciple, i met Lengge only few days ago are you perhaps... interested in sword art? you seemed eager to learn about it, how old are you?"
"14..."
"will your mother accept?"
"certainly..."
....For the next day, when Lengge finally came back, Ling Gaofeng didn't hesitate to inquire the lad, Ling Gaofeng often eyed Lengge as in wary of the young man's true nature.
Lengge indeed never appeared in the original book, the world of the novel was quite confusing and the book never had a prequel which does not accurately set the original timeline in order. The prologue started when Wugu Li was 16 already, and the protagonist was 18, and the current timeline is quite out of line.
Jin xin was supposed to be confined inside the cave, never existing but right now Jin xin exists....and it's all because of Ling Gaofeng himself, well not entirely though the thought bothers him.
Basically he is now in the embodiment of Jin Xin, so Ling Gaofeng doesn't exist in this world but rather as Jin Xin, Ling Gaofeng had to keep this thought intact inside the nerve cells of his brain.
Before Ling Gaofeng lose his sanity, he planned out how to change the plot... which he sooner or later would forgot about.
He planned about staying over Lengge's home in the meantime while he haven't found a suitable house for himself, he'd take care of Lengge first until the lad was able to have a decent job. Notwithstanding Wugu Ye, whom have other intentions other than being his disciple, Ling Gaofeng never questioned about the teen's existence nor why the young man have decided to become his disciple.
"Rest for now Ye, come back tomorrow for another training..."
"Will do master Yeyu..", Wugu Ye bowed himself and left. On the other side, Lengge kept himself busy by boiling herbs and making dinner.
" does big brother Yeyu need anything else?", Lengge noticed Ling Gaofeng walking back and forth, Lengge wouldn't dismiss the sight in front of him especially when Ling Gaofeng have his brows knitted together.
"This is big brother's business, no need to worry about it..", Ling Gaofeng uttered, he sauntered over the window and looked up at the rising moon.
'the birth of Wugu Li is nearing...', Ling Gaofeng thought to himself, 3 days from now madam Wugu Jia would hear a wailing child right on her doorway.
The first day before the birth of Wugu Li, Ling Gaofeng thought to himself that if Lengge doesn't have a proper job then he must go and earn money. He roamed around, working as an extra to different merchants and farmers. He also offered to the owner of the pottery shop that he have experience over making vases and pots out mud clay, although the shop offers porcelain and ceramic works, Ling Gaofeng still insisted on persuading the shop to hire him.
The day didn't last long, Ling Gaofeng went home exhausted, though he managed to get pouches of silver with him. Lengge on the other side of the room was quite shock at the information given to him, Lengge himself tried applying for jobs despite his experience and age sadly no one wanted to take him in for multiple reasons.
The second day before the event, Ling Gaofeng went to the pottery shop, the day went well satisfyingly, molding pots with his bare hands and the soothing surface of the material added to his satisfaction. He knew how to mold one as for his grandmother once owned a shop for it, he even considered working a shop in the future although he lately failed since the lack of money, his bank account never reached 4 digits.
While walking home another commotion occurred, a manslaughter happened and the crime scene was just near to Ling Gaofeng. With his nosy nose he went there and listened to the gossips, he spit out the bun he was chewing after he heard what happened.
The man was slaughtered, and the worst thing of all, his organs were ripped out of his body. From his eyes to his intestines.
Ling Gaofeng felt his stomach churn from the information, he immediately threw the bun away and walked out of the scene.
"halt!", a voice of a man yelled behind him, of course he dismissed it since he wasn't the only one in the scene.
" I said halt!!", a large hand grasped his shoulder and turned him around, the man was wearing a guard uniform which resembles the color and the gears from the one only sect....
"mm? does this mister need something from me?", Ling Gaofeng spoke in a low tone, his eyes were wide not from the sudden grasp but rather from the crime.
Before Ling Gaofeng could even compose himself he felt something hard smacked his head that made him fall unconscious, hours later he woke up with great pain all over his body, he couldn't move his hands and his waist feels like it's being squeezed...damn it!
He was tied up to a wood pillar inside an abandoned building, the other wooden posts were already cut off and the walls were full of scratches.
His hands and waist were tightly tied by a thick rope embedded with unknown magic, he couldn't breathe properly from his position. He tried shouting but all the words came out as a muffled cry, he could see through the large holes of the house, the sun was about to fall exchanging places with the moon soon. The vibrant gradient hue of the sky, mixed of orange, red, and pink across the once blue sky was a beauteous sight.
Ling Gaofeng felt hopeless, he thought Lengge would be worried about him although he neither give a damn about his situation nor about Lengge at the same time when he noticed someone from the corner of the room.
Ling Gaofeng squinted his eyes to get a better view, it was a woman...wearing a dress that Ling Gaofeng could definitely not forget, that clothing definitely came from the Huo family!, When the woman slowly stirred awake, her gaze fell to Ling Gaofeng... Slowly she stood up, holding a large basket seemingly heavy, her movements were alike from a drunken man walking in the middle of the night alone in the streets.
The woman had a disheveled appearance, her hair was curled in knots and her face was covered in dirt.
When the woman reached Ling Gaofeng, she stood weakly in front of him and hung her head low to the ground, her hands trembled when she placed the basket down helping Ling Gaofeng untie the ropes. Finally, Ling Gaofeng managed to get a better view of the woman, she looked young, a dewy skin with pinkish plump lips and her eyes wore the color of emerald.
The woman then took the basket back into her arms, cradling it .... Ling Gaofeng himself thought that the woman has mental disabilities although he sees her normal, not basing on his own judgement of course.
Ling Gaofeng slowly approaches the woman, the woman looked at him, gazing at up and down as if assessing his ability. The woman then tilted her head to her sides, her lips trembled and finally she took a step forward and extended her arms, urging Ling Gaofeng to take the woven basket.
Ling Gaofeng himself was utterly confused at the woman, he have no idea what was inside the basket nor the woman's intention but when the woman parted her lips, all she spoke was.. "take care of her", The woman disappeared in the blink of an eye, this shook Ling Gaofeng's core and what was utmost would be is when he took away the blanket covering whatever may be inside, it was an infant, sleeping peacefully inside the cozy makeshift bedding inside the basket.
Ling Gaofeng could only utter two words-
" Wugu Li.."