A faint rumble escaped Yuxuan’s mouth.

“Is… is Yuxuan snoring?”

Fu Liu cleared his throat and raised a hand to block Zhihao’s way.

“He’s deep in enlightenment Zhihao!”

“Is that why he caught up to me? Am I supposed to sleep during meditation?”

Fu Liu shook his head.

“Your brother’s situation is… special, Zhihao. When that tribulation lightning struck him during his enlightenment it damaged his soul, but didn’t wake him from his meditation. He’s both meditating and in a coma.”

“What?”

“He’s in a very deep sleep right now.”

Zhihao made a suspicious face at his grandfather. A sound like a stifled laugh snort came from the bed beside him. Zhihao peered at his brother’s unconscious form through squinted eyes.

“Yuxuan’s faking it! Look he laughed at me!”

Fu Liu and Fu Ying both looked at Fu Yuxuan with a raised eyebrow. Yuxuan snored louder as if to say Look, I’m asleep! Zhihao raised his hand and slapped down at his brother’s face. Yuxuan deftly rolled out of the way and snored harder.

Zhihao climbed on the bed and continued slapping at Yuxuan. Yuxuan kept rolling out of the way snoring, but with an aggrieved expression on his “sleeping” face.

“Yuxuan if you don’t wake up I’ll kick you in your eggs!” Zhihao yelled.

That got a reaction from Yuxuan. He immediately sat up, covered his groin defensively, and glared at Zhihao.

“You dare attack this young master’s little eggs?!”

“ I dare! This young master is foundation establishment now!”

Yuxuan smirked and jumped at Zhihao. The two started wrestling and fists flew. At least, until they heard Fu Liu clear his throat with a strange expression on his face.

“Zhihao, I believe we asked you not to bother your brother.”

“He was faking!” Zhihao said through gritted teeth, Yuxuan’s arm wrapped around his throat.

“Dat doesn’d meand dyou can hurd dis youngd masder’s eggd!” Yuxuan said with Zhihao’s fingers in his nose.

Fu Ying rolled her eyes and clapped her hands. Zhihao and Yuxuan were gently lifted into the air and pried apart then set back down. Fu Ying released some of the pressure of her cultivation and the bows were forced to kneel.

“ That’s enough boys.”

“Zhihao. Your brother was in a dangerous position. He could have been injured worse had he still been in the state he was in before he woke up. Do you understand?” Fu Luis’s voice was stern.

Zhihao nodded.

“Good. Yuxuan.” Fu Liu turned his attention to Yuxuan. “Why were you pretending to still be unconscious?”

“So we wouldn’t have to practice again right away.” Yuxuan answered, his eyes growing wide. He slapped his hands over his mouth as he realized what he said. His voice continued even as he tried to stop speaking. “I wanted you and mother to leave so I could hang out with Zhihao.”

Hang out? Zhihao arched an eyebrow and shot Yuxuan a questioning look. Yuxuan looked at Zhihao out of the corner of his eyes and furiously shook his head.

Fu Liu sighed and shook his head. “You two nearly died. Do you truly think your grandfather is so heartless as to make you practice as soon as you recover?”

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Zhihao and Yuxuan shared a look. Yuxuan shrugged.

“Apologies grandfather, but this disciple didn’t know what to expect.” Zhihao replied.

“These young masters must consolidate their realms grandfather.” Yuxuan nodded.

“You caught up to me again?!” Zhihao’s eyes opened wide. Yuxuan just smirked and gave him a look of superiority.

“Of course. I’ll return in a week to bring you to the main branch and introduce you to the main branch head.” Fu Liu pinched his forehead and closed his eyes. He turned and nodded to Fu Ying. “Ying, do not allow them to leave our third branch until I return.”

“Yes father.” Fu Ying nodded. Fu Liu disappeared from the room and Fu Ying turned her attention to her children. “You two heard your grandfather. You are free for the next few days. If you need anything, I’ll be in my garden. Rest well boys.”

Fu Ying ruffled Yuxuan’s hair and smiled at Zhihao. With that, she exited the room. Zhihao turned to Yuxuan just in time to see him tackling him again. They rough housed until they fell off the bed laughing.

“Yuxuan everyone was acting like you were dead!”

“Well…” Yuxuan looked away, his laughter cutting off.

“And why are you talking strangely? What’s hang out?”

“If you’d just let me speak.”

“And calling yourself young master!” Zhihao started to laugh until he saw Yuxuan’s face. Yuxuan’s usual calm and cheerful smile was replaced with an expression between lost and sad.

“Brother, I died. Twice.”

“You died?”

Zhihao stopped playing around and scooted closer to Yuxuan. Yuxuan seemed serious, at least as serious as Zhihao had ever seen the eight year old boy act. Zhihao was two years Yuxuan’s senior but at this moment he felt as if he were listening to an elder speak.

“ I… yes. I’m not entirely sure what happened. And I’m not sure that other life was me, but… everything is halfway between a dream and a memory.”

Zhihao wasn’t sure what Yuxuan meant, but he nodded for Yuxuan to continue. Yuxuan stopped speaking for moment to gather his thoughts. When spoke again, it was with the air of someone who had experienced the vicissitudes of life.

“I woke up as a child in a world of light and steel and glass. I had a mother but no one else. I can’t remember her name or her face. Instead of practicing and meditating, the children studied as if to become scholars. There were carriages that ran on a fuel instead of qi or horses. Towers that touched the heavens. It was a world of mortals. A world with no cultivation but infinite knowledge.”

Zhihao held his chin in his hand and tried imagining what a world like that would look like. The mortals he knew were nice, the servants hired by the Fu clan treated him and Yuxuan well enough. He realized he’d never asked what their lives were like outside of the Fu clan. Maybe they had towers of glass that touched the heavens and he’d just never seen them.

“I wasn’t always aware. In that life, or those memories, I get bits and pieces of what happened. I remember trying to make friends. Moving schools. Trying again. Reading. Studying. The pieces I can remember have gaps between them. But brother, I don’t think I’m the only person who’s seen or been to that other world.”

“What makes you think that?”

“In that world they had stories of cultivation.”

Zhihao was taken in by his brother’s words. He wanted to refute Yuxuan and tell him that he’d dreamt it all up and to get some rest. He couldn’t. The way his brother seemed to be looking wistfully into the air. The way Yuxuan spoke was nothing like how he had before.

“Do you remember any of the stories?” Zhihao asked, curious.

“Strangely enough, other than my death in that life, the stories are what I remember the clearest. Get comfortable brother, this young master has many tales in store for you!”

Zhihao didn’t know what to make of other worlds or the implications of his brother having been to one. He was, at his core, still a child. Regardless of his cultivation at the early stage of foundation establishment, he found himself lost in the stories his brother told.

Stories of children like them. Of cultivators fighting for power and honor. Of people coming across once in a lifetime good fortune and leaping the dragon’s gate to the heavens. Of righteous disciples turning to demonic practices for revenge. Of demonic cultivators defying their peers for the sake of righteousness. Of children like them defying the heavens and usurping the heavenly dao.

Yuxuan told stories throughout the night and Zhihao paid rapt attention. When the light of the morning sun came in through a window did Yuxuan finally finish. He yawned and gestured for Zhihao to head back to his own room.

Zhihao returned to his room and climbed into bed, the stories he’d been told racing through his mind. When he finally fell asleep he found himself dreaming of them too.

Fu Liu sat beside a beautiful table. Its wooden surface inscribed with images of qilins and dragons. The character Fu emblazoned on the top. Colored in reds and golds, like the rest of the terrace he was seated in.

Fu Liu sat in the Patriarch’s palace. Built up and into the side of a small mountain the Patriarch’s palace could oversee all of the Fu clan’s lands. At the foot of the mountain sat the main branch’s estate. Organized semi-circularly around the base of the Patriarch’s palace, the main branch was made up of mansions and courtyards as well as administrative buildings that directed the entirety of the clan.

To the east of the main branch’s estate were the second branch’s estate. This was where the cultivation happened. On the lesser peaks of the mountain where the Patriarch’s palace was built were arenas and open air theaters for lectures. Some of the lesser peaks held small palaces for the elders more interested in teaching the younger generation than the day to day operations of the clan. Fu Liu hoped that once he could pass on his position as head of the third branch he’d claim a peak of his own.

To the west of the main branch’s estate were his lands. The third branch was where the clan directed the production of resources. Generally, they grew spirit plants and fruit, made pills, painted talismans, or forged weapons. Any non combat focused cultivators of the clan were welcome. Many moved to the third branch when their cultivation stagnated but wished to continue being of use to the clan or earning their share of resources.

The fourth branch reached around the southern borders of the other three branches. It was where business was conducted between the clan and all outsiders. Markets, inns, taverns, brothels, restaurants, mortal businesses, anything that wasn’t directly under the purview of the other branches was handled by the fourth branch. Their lands were the largest of all.

Fu Liu nodded in thanks as a servant brought him a fresh cup of tea. It smelled of lemon grass and ginger. He took a sip and the rich qi invigorated him.

“The Patriarch sends his condolences, he will be with you shortly.” The servant bowed and left Fu Liu to his own devices.

Fu Liu pulled a jade slip from his storage ring and inspected it for the umpteenth time.

Qi deviation.

Soul scarring.

Unnatural heavenly tribulation.

The more he pondered on what Fu Yaling had imprinted on the slip, the more suspicious he became of what had happened to his grandchildren.

Fu Zhihao had potential. Once in a generation potential. In a smaller sect or clan, they would rest the hope for their future on him.

Fu Yuxuan though… that’s was potential spoken of in legends. He had only been cultivating for 6 months and caught up to his brother who’d been cultivating for 2 and a half years.

Zhihao shouldn’t have broken through yet. Fu Liu knew this. He’d been the one training the boys since they took their first steps on the path. He knew Zhihao was struggling with cycling his qi while going through the basic sword forms. If Fu Liu had buckled down, a few weeks of more stringent training, he could have had Zhihao ready to go with Yuxuan to the Starlit Sword sect.

When Fu Liu had received the message from the Patriarch he had never had any doubts about Yuxuan reaching foundation establishment before the month was up.

Fu Liu withdrew his mental energy from the jade slip and noticed the Patriarch had arrived. Taking a sip of his own tea, he nodded to Liu.

“You’ve waited long enough. Speak Liu.”

Fu Zixin was tall, even while sitting, and slim. His long ink black hair hung loose around his head. He had almond shaped eyes the color of steel, sharp cheek bones, and a few light freckles dotted the bridge of his nose. Even though the man was Liu’s great grandfather, they both looked to be in their late thirties.

“Patriarch, I think someone attacked my grandchildren.”

“I know.”