Painful...Breathing is simply too painful for me...

I can’t talk. Daddy, Ahh how I miss Daddy...

How can this be? How can Daddy be gone?

My eyes feel so heavy...Ahh, my eyelids are begging me to lower them.

I must focus. I must not close my eyes, or else Daddy’s images will form within the darkness of my heart.

Let’s take a look...It seems that the old man is carrying me over his shoulder, as my vision is quite far reaching.

I looked down, only to find a crying Aran.

His hand was still coated with that jelly thingy.

“Kuuuh...Mother...”

Ahh, it seems that we both share the same pain, eh?

...No, I guess he’s a bit better off than me. His father was still alive, after all.

“Don’t cry, Little Aran. Men aren’t supposed to show tears at all.”

I took a look to the side, at Uncle Jim’s expression, to find it filled with tears.

What ‘men aren’t supposed to cry’...

I then looked forward. At the moment, we’re going down the mountain through the road. Alone, in the dark. Just the three of us.

Ahh...this moving scenery, of the swaying grass, is somehow soothing...

To begin with, why the hell did Daddy need to go outside?

No no, to start with, how come everyone suddenly died...?

Why, then, are we three the only ones alive?

How come Daddy couldn’t still be alive?

“Hey Uncle Jim...How come everybody is all dead...?”

Can it be that the lightning killed them all...?

But that doesn’t make any sense. Why weren’t anyone outside when that happened? Why weren’t there any human sounds, when the first roar was made?

Uncle Jim came to a stop.

“This...”

It seems like he has a hard time explaining this to me...

“...How come, only the three of us are still alive...?”

I continued to look at the swaying grass, not minding Uncle Jim at all.

“Y-yeah...” Aran’s voice sounded. “How come Mommy had to die...? W-why, am I still alive...?”

Uncle Jim continued his silence. It seems...he doesn’t have an answer. Or, perhaps, he isn’t willing to answer me.

Can it be, that with his silence, confirms that there might be a probability that Daddy is still alive? Even if it was denied by none other than Uncle Jim...?

“H-hey, Uncle Jim...why do we need to run to Yan city...?”

My imagination kicked into motion. The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded. This whole situation, that is!

How come everybody is obediently staying at home? How come I couldn’t see any late farmers, or those who are out to drink with their buddies? How come I couldn’t see any kids from my class, staying out late? How come the old demon, who fought an immortal to a standstill, be dead...and Uncle Jim turn out to be fine? And more importantly...how come Daddy was never here, when all of this happened? And still, die? Uncle Jim said that he had to have been killed, because he was at the bottom of the mountain. But, why is that?

Without a doubt, when I turned around to look at the grass earlier...My gaze could be said to have been absent; empty. But when I turned to look away back at Uncle Jim, without a doubt, my gaze was filled with hope! Bright! Filled with life!!

“Can it be, Uncle Jim...That this is nothing, but a play, in order to make tough up emotionally when we enter the Heavenly Sword Sect?”

Daddy told me stories of immortals before...And each hero, rose to their status from a dark past.

Can it be that, this is all set up to give us a dark past? A motivation?

I know this doesn’t explain why Steffi was kidnapped, nor about Goldie’s existence...But! It’s still a theory that is filled with hope, filled with expectations...A theory that I wish to be true from the deepest part of my being!!

Uncle Jim’s eyes further exiled tears, which absolutely did not look fake at all. I never expected it, but could Uncle Jim be a really, really great actor?

And then, as if he just noticed something, his eyes turned extremely sharp. His tears came to a halt, and his lips slowly trembled.

He slowly parted his lips, and then sighed.

“Your answer...is coming right at you...”

And then turned to look at Aran’s side--more like, he was looking past Aran.

“W-woaah!” Uncle Jim pulled Aran away.

In Aran’s place, as if it materialized from nothingness, a ball of fur came to be.

Can it have came out of the grass? But that shouldn’t be possible... If it walked out from the grass, then I should have been able to see it. Yet, how come it just sprung out of thin air?

“Hooowl!!!”

The ball of fur emitted an ear piercing cry.

“Hnnnghhh!!” Both me and Aran cried almost simultaneously.

I had a hard time keeping my eyes open, as I felt like my whole body was losing balance. But even with my eyes half open, I could still see the faint, red string like objects flouting in the air.

What are those things?

As the ball of fur continued to howl louder and louder, my eyes kept on getting heavier and heavier. For some reason though, I did not seem like I would fall down from Uncle Jim’s shoulder at all.

If I keep my focus on something, perhaps I would be able to reduce the pain...

I began to look at the red threads of light, and followed them with my eyes. My hardly opened eyes darted pretty much everywhere before landing on a specific location...the ball of fur.

It seems like all of the threads are coming from the ball of fur’s own body!

“See.” Uncle Jim calmly said, “Every single person here...No, every single living thing within this mountain, turned into that!”

He then pointed with his free hand at the ball of fur. He then flung his finger, and the ball of fur erupted into a mess of blood and flesh; not caring at all about our reactions to his brutality.

His eyes looked at the passed out Aran, who passed out on the ground while having his hand still being held by Uncle Jim.

“Good thing that he passed out...he won’t be able to take it otherwise...” Uncle Jim whispered.

“W-what d-do you mean...U-uncle Jim...?”

Before Uncle Jim answered my question, he let me down.

“First, let’s start with how Aran woke up. I’ve already told you before, that he won’t be able to wake up without the medicine, right?”

I nodded in silence.

Of course, otherwise...Daddy wouldn’t have been out of the house today, or yesterday.

“So, how did Aran wake up?” I asked.

“Pretty simple. I woke him up.” Uncle Jim answered me with a smile, as if it’s the most normal thing to do.

“E-eh...? How...? You know medicine too, Uncle Jim...?”

Uncle Jim shook his head in denial.

“I gave him some of my own life.” He laughed.

And Uncle Jim, noticing my worried expression, continued, “You won’t understand any of this anyways. Well, I’ll explain it all later when you’re a bit older...hopefully...”

“Now!” Uncle Jim hollowly laughed, “ ‘How could all of this have happened?’ ‘Why us?’ I bet that’s what you’re wondering, right?”

I nodded again.

“Good child.” Uncle Jim rubbed my head, “Listen very carefully for what I’m about to say and make sure to remember every single word. No, you should also remember what I said earlier, about giving some of my life to Little Aran. You’ll come to understand all of this in the near future...and if you don’t, then that’s all for the best.”

“For both me and your father, I really hope that you don’t understand what I’m about to say when you grow just a bit older...But, when the time comes and you understand, the things I’m about to say really are quite important, y’know? So don’t blame me for being so cryptic, okay?”

“O-okay...” I nodded. However, I couldn’t have helped but get a bit distracted by the red threads that are coming out from the blood splattered on the ground. But for some reason, none of them are coming near us at all.

I quickly snapped out of it. This is important, I must listen. I might...find hope that Daddy is still alive. I also need to know, why did that ball of fur have anything to do with this entire situation at all? How come it’s the answer, to why all of the villagers, Daddy, had to die? To be completely honest, it’s my first time even seeing something remotely similar to the ball of fur...

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“This world is exactly how you thought it would be!” Uncle Jim shouted, unlike the usual him.

“Yet, it’s the very opposite of how you would have imagined it to be!”

“Eh...? I-I don’t understand, Uncle Jim!!”

Uncle Jim smiled in response, “This isn’t the time for you to understand at all. Just make to sure to remember these words of mine, for the day where they might have a meaning.”

“Now let me continue. That ball of fur used to be a wolf, y’know? It used to be!”

“...? How is that possible, Uncle Jim! There’s no way that ball of fur is anything like a wolf!! I saw one just the other day, and it was nothing like this at all!!!”

Uncle Jim bitterly smiled, as he threw a side glance at the passed out Aran.

“That’s why I said that it used to be a wolf...Well, no matter. What happened to give it such a transformation--”

Uncle Jim paused for a moment, “--You might not understand some of the big words that I’ll be saying now, but just make sure to remember them as hard as you can”

He then took a deep breath. “--Living beings, for example this wolf, needs to consume both water and food in order to live. However, there is something else that living beings need in order to live...and that is Qi. Every single person has Qi. Some have more than others, while some might have less. That’s just how life is.”

Eh? Qi? W-what’s Qi...?

“Just like how you pee out your water, and poop out your food...Qi also needs to be filtered through, and get rid of every now and then. Thankfully though, that all happens to us, humans, during our sleep. Other living beings might have it the same as us, but I’m not really knowledgeable in that area at all.”

“Are you memorizing everything I’m telling you, Little Jean...?”

I hastily nodded, “Yes, Uncle Jim! Qi is something very important!”

Uncle Jim laughed in response.

“Little Jean, that’s great. You need to make sure that you memorize all of this...because, there still might be a way to help your father.”

“Eh? So Daddy is still alive!?”

Haha! I knew it, he was still alive!

“Uncle Jim, if he was alive, then why didn’t you tell me earlier? Who cares about that! Let’s go see him now!!”

“We can’t...” Uncle Jim shook his head, “We can’t see him right now...”

Why? Why can’t we go see Daddy?

I grabbed a hold of Uncle Jim’s hand, “Please tell me why, Uncle Jim? Why, can’t I see my Daddy?”

“Because he’s in a lot of pain...” Was Uncle Jim’s response.

“In that case, then all the more reason for going to him! Doesn’t Daddy need help? Let’s go and help him! Ease Daddy’s pain!”

Uncle Jim shook his head again. “We can’t do that at all. We don’t have time to do that...I don’t have enough time to do that. Even If we did have enough time, I still won’t be able to anything to ease his pain...other than killing him, of course.”

“Why? How come Daddy can only be either in pain or killed?!”

“That’s what I’m about to explain. That’s why, you need to make sure to memorize my words. So when the time comes, you’ll be able to help Raul--your father to the best of your abilities...”

“You see, the reason why I told you that Raul died earlier was for the sake of Little Aran. After all, I had...to end his mother, with these very own hands...”

“H-huh...? Aunty...why did you, to Aun--”

“I know!” Uncle Jim shouted, “I know what you’re going to ask! But what choice did I have, other than to do it? What else could I have done, other than to end her life? She was in so much pain! I was simply, simply too late!!”

“U-uncle Jim!” I shouted as hard as I could, “It’s alright!” I continued.

I don’t know what Uncle Jim did. However, Aunty was no longer here, just like Daddy, right? Uncle Jim must be in as much pain as I am, right?

“But...why, Uncle Jim, did you have to k-kill Aunty with your own, two hands...?”

I had to know. I know it might be painful to accept, just like how I am toward Daddy...

Yet, I need to know. He might give me some sort of clue, to help Daddy! He said that there was a possible way to help Daddy...I must know the cause, to know the cure...So, I must ask Uncle Jim!

“Her Qi was corrupted!” Uncle Jim bit as hard as he could on his teeth, “I was too late! I somehow managed to protect Little Aran, purely on coincidence! If I haven’t visited him while you just went outside, then I could’ve been too late! Little Aran, might have already began his transformation!”

“Qi...what exactly is Qi, Uncle Jim? How can it be so evil? How can it kill everyone...?”

“Hoowwwlll!!” “Hoowwwl!!!” “Hooowwwwl!!!”

“Shit! Fuck! God dammit! We’ve been talking for far too long, Little Jean!!”

As Uncle Jim said this, he grabbed my hand and lifted Aran over his shoulder with the other.

Ahh...so Aran picked up his foul tongue from Uncle Jim...?

“Let’s run as fast as possible!!”

Just as we took the first step, countless other balls of fur appeared out of nowhere. They dotted the whole road, from the front and behind, seemingly endless.

I bet that they were, at the very least, more than thirty balls of fur.

“God...dammit...”

Uncle Jim faintly cursed.

“Listen very carefully, Little Jean...”

“You must make sure to research Qi corruption, alright? If you were to ever know what Qi is, anyways. If you want to save your father...you must find a way to cure Qi corruption, alright? Cure it!”

After he said that, he let go of my hand.

“You must go to Yan city alongside Little Aran, okay? I want you to go there, and search for a guard named ‘Elian’ and tell him ‘You stinking good for nothing bastard, get a real job!’ Then explain the situation to him...He’ll help you two, for sure!”

“W-what about you, Uncle Jim...?”

I have a really bad feeling about this...This feeling, I really don’t like it...

He then made some hand gestures, and then tapped Aran who was on his shoulder.

Greenish threads extended from Aran’s body. And then, Uncle Jim pointed at me. No, his finger was moving. Moving toward the space between my eyebrows. Before I could respond, his finger already touched my skin. The green threads, who were floating aimlessly, quickly shot toward my body.

“Mmm!!” Pain rang throughout my body.

I closed my eyes, as I tried my best to hold back my tears. It’s really painful. It hurts...

“Hooowwwlll!!!”

More and more howls came to be. I opened my eyes, and saw the scene before me. More fur balls appeared, and they seemed to have even doubled in numbers.

I then turned to look at Uncle Jim...

“Eh...where is Aran...?”

Aran, who was on top of Uncle Jim’s shoulder, disappeared.

And Uncle Jim just stood in his place, as pale as a sheet of paper.

“I’ve sealed Aran inside your body...” Uncle Jim’s voice was like sand paper. As if, he was trying to talk after many years of silence.

“He should be getting out of your body in two days...You must make sure, that you are at Elian’s place...before then...”

“W-w--”

“I’ll create a way for you to run away in. Just follow the road, and don’t stop! You’ll reach Yan city in half a day’s time, if you continue walking without sleep!”

“B-b-bu---”

“No buts!” Uncle Jim interrupted me again. He then raised both of his hands, made some hand gestures, and then swept his hands across the road in front of the howling balls of fur.

The balls of fur in the very front exploded. Their blood went everywhere, including the balls of fur behind them. Those who were touched by the blood, then in turn, exploded with a “Boom!”

“Now quickly, run into the grass! And keep on running forward, following the road! Make sure to remember what I told you about the corrupted Qi, and finding Elian at Yan city!!”