Panting. Panting. Panting. The black-haired woman, with only the garments on her back and a toddler within her arms, refused to catch her breath for even a second. She ran and ran and never stopped running, heading wherever her feet could take her.

She was surprisingly beautiful. She had violet eyes that shined like the moon, and her young son shared those same eyes…

Her skin was pasty white, confessing her location to whatever she was running from at night. It was difficult to run in the bloodstained dress that matched her hair, so she almost tripped a thousand times.

Worst of all, her legs were killing her.

None of that mattered to her, though. The life of her child was more important to the black-haired woman than her own. So for that reason, she couldn’t allow herself to take a break.

She trekked through countless forests and valleys and mountains, never looking back, until she eventually found herself knocking on the gates of the Wudang sect.

And this knocking turned into restless banging.

“Who’s there?!” Daiwen and two other cultivators were surprised to find that the source of the banging disappeared, and the only thing left was the adorable violet-eyed toddler, barely old enough to speak, crying his eyes out.

“Poor boy, you must be starving,” Daiwen continued with that trademark smile of his, consoling the abandoned child as much as he could. “Don’t worry about a thing. You’re in safe hands now.”

“Is everything alright?” Liqiang approached the monastery’s gate and was flabbergasted at the sight of the small toddler.

“I don’t think so.” Daiwen was reasonably concerned. “He’s dangerously cold. Get a blanket as soon as possible.”

Liqiang nodded and followed orders. The Wudang sect took that toddler under their wing from that point on, and he was eventually given a fitting name.

That abandoned child became known as Liwei. His bond to Daiwen became that of father and son.

However, something peculiar bothered the golden-haired teacher. Those violet, serpentine eyes proved to be something more dangerous than most people realized…

Ten years passed before everything in Liwei’s life started to change. He was still at a very young age, often seen in Liqiang’s office playing with puppets while the other disciples of the monastery practiced cultivation.

To most people, puppets were wooden dolls with no emotion. But not to Liwei. They were much more than that; in fact, they were friends who cared for him, much like Daiwen cared for him.

He had two favorite puppets that stuck out more than the others: the tortoise and the serpent. For most boys his age, these were odd choices. They liked puppets in the shape of terrifying dragons and warrior soldiers with lances and bows and swords.

Even Liqiang noticed this idiosyncrasy. Daiwen did too, but he was more jovial than confused. He always smiled as he watched the fascinated boy run laps around the office table, usually when Liqiang was busy working.

“He’s so full of energy.” Daiwen laughed.

“It’s getting on my damn nerves.” Liqiang was discontented. The rosy-cheeked boy whimsically spun in circles, tiring himself out pretty quickly. The patriarch continued, “But I have to admit it: he’s really adorable.”

“Daiwen,” Liwei looked up to his caretaker, both literally and metaphorically. He wanted to be just like him; someone who services others without being asked. “Today, after you’ve finished with chores, can you train me? Most disciples my age have already awakened their shishen. I don’t want to be left behind.”

Daiwen sighed. “Maybe when you’re older,” With teary eyes as golden as his hair, he patted the boy’s head as a sign of affection. “In the meantime, please forgive me.”

“F-F-Forgive?”

Liwei was speechless. He wasn’t in the room for playing with puppets anymore. He instead sat on the floor, watching a snake wrestle with a bird. The predators were battling each other to the death, and the loser would be prey.

“Forests like these… I pity the animals that inhabit them.” Liwei was practically talking to himself. Daiwen was off helping the sect elders with errands, and Liqiang was too busy at his desk to chitchat. The patriarch just hummed and nodded, sipping the bland tea he was known to drink.

“Uncle Liqiang, why does Daiwen treat me like a baby?”

This finally caught the patriarch’s attention. For a change, Liqiang wasn’t yelling about how aggravating the child seemed or ignoring him altogether. He gently sat his teacup on his work surface and spoke in a calming voice.

“He’s been pretty strange lately. Ever since you came to this sect, with those serpentine eyes, he became a different person.”

“Different person?”

“Believe it or not, he was very arrogant when he was your age. He’s the most talented person I’ve ever taught, but others couldn’t stand his ego.”

“Daiwen is the most humble man I know.”

“It’s unbelievable, right?! That’s probably why he’s so respectful toward the sect elders now. I guess he feels bad for being such a pompous asshole.”

“Pompous…?”

“He drastically changed when he laid his eyes on you, though. I can still remember the moment he found you outside the gates—“

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“It’s a shame! He’s never allowed me outside of the monastery grounds since that day! Other disciples witness beautiful trees and mountaintops and markets! I’m sick of hearing their stories, I want to see it for myself! I want to venture past the gates once more--!”

“He only protective of you because he loves you! He sees something in you— something that nobody else sees! Even I don’t understand it!”

“Bullshit!” Liwei was absolutely fuming. Without warning, he stormed off and slammed the door behind him.

He passed the cultivators polishing the main temple hall; he passed the cultivators sweeping the stone courtyard; and for the first time in ten years, he found himself outside the monastery’s gates.

Daiwen was finished doing errands for the elders when Liqiang told him the news, but the golden-haired caretaker wasn’t angry at all. Actually, a sense of worry flooded every nerve in his body, and his legs automatically started trembling.

Liwei was sprinting through the forest, and suddenly, he recalled the earliest memory he could possibly think of…

That beautiful woman with his same eyes, carrying him through the same forest, but in the opposite direction.

The single tear that fell from his violet, serpentine eyes was more blood than water. The same rain that poured on that black-haired woman— it poured on Liwei as well.

Then he tripped over something stringy, like a small wire. Before he knew it, his face was planted in the dirt.

Armored warriors from the imperial capital dropped from the horses they were riding and surrounded him. Liwei tried to scream for help, but his mouth was covered by a gloved hand. No sound could be mustered.

He kept trying and trying and trying to scream; but alas, nothing. He continued to weep and braced himself for certain death with closed eyes. Tears fell onto his hands.

Steel severed skin. Blood dripped onto the floor. Silent yells filled the forest. Liwei opened his eyes and found the soldiers that accosted him. Slaughtered. Every last one of them.

He counted them. Two. Four. Six. Eight.

“Daiwen…?” Liwei spotted his savior.

Daiwen was embellished with a golden qi that Liwei never saw before. The entire forest started shaking. Confusingly enough, dirt floated around him. This aura manifested horns and hooves, displaying one of the heavenly beasts that decided the Celestial Empire’s present and future.

This was none other than the legendary Qilin.

“Those eyes will get you in trouble. I should know,” Daiwen’s golden eyes sparkled almost as much as the qi around him. The sword in his hand was absolutely soaked in the blood of the imperial soldiers he killed. “I’ve been cursed with the same fate.”

“Same fate…?” A blessed qi started to slowly leak from Liwei’s body. Xuanwu’s flowing energy glistened in the moonlight.

“The divine beasts exposed by our pupils… Inside of us is something that even the imperial family fears. If their soldiers find you, they won’t hesitate to kill you! I’m only hard on you because I want you to be safe, Liwei…”

“How do you expect me to be safe if I can never be strong?! You won’t always be there to protect me! You treat me like I’m a little kid, but I can never grow up with you breathing down my back all the time!”

“You just don’t understand—“

“You’re right, Daiwen! I don’t understand! In this cruel world where predators fight to make each other prey, I can only survive if I’m strong! What do you think would happen if the soldiers ransacked the monastery while you were out running errands?!”

“Liwei—”

“I can’t spend twenty-four hours every day just sitting in that temple! I always hear about glorious palaces and lively markets, but I’ve never seen something like that! All I get to see are the walls of that goddamn temple!”

“Just listen to me okay!” Daiwen was growing frustrated. “I was able to save your ass because I’m strong! If I wasn’t there to save you, who knows what would’ve happened?!”

“How can I be strong if you never even train me?! My entire childhood, I wanted to be just like you! You selfish son of a bitch!”

With tears still clouding his eyes, Liwei turned around and started walking. Like that beautiful woman so many years ago, he had no idea where he was heading.

“Go to bed.” Liwei wiped his tears, looking back at his former caretaker as the qi disappeared. “I’ll see you when I’m stronger.”

Daiwen couldn’t hide his heartbreak. All he could do was watch the person he loved the most forsake him. “Please forgive me…”

In a little less than a minute, the violet-eyed boy was gone.

After a few hours of wandering through the forest in a search for survival, Liwei stumbled upon a fresh lake smelling of wildflowers and soil. He saw fish swimming through the water, playing with each other whimsically, which reminded him of the days he would spin around Liqiang’s office with his favorite puppets. He thought he saw this in the reflection…

Those days were sadly behind him.

Silently cursing, Liwei picked up a stone and threw it as hard as he could, watching the rock skip across the lake. There was no way he could go back to before. Everything he knew was long gone…

The stone’s pathway pointed toward a pink-haired girl, laying on the coarse forest grass and gazing at the distant, bright stars. She looked around Liwei’s age and was dressed in silk clothing saturated in a gorgeous midnight black. Startled by the sound of the skipping rock, she gasped and peered toward the sound.

“Who’s there?!”

Liwei quickly hid behind a bush, letting out a sigh of relief. He whispered, “Phew, that was close.” He tried to stand, but an obstruent boulder caused him to topple and fall.

A few seconds later, he found himself face-planted into the lake. I really need to stop falling on my face, he thought.

As soon as he lifted his head, Liwei’s face met the clenched fist of the wrathful adolescent girl. He rubbed his palm against his bruised cheek. “Ouch, what was that for?!”

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to perv on girls like that?!” She exclaimed. She was so furious that her eyes turned white and veins were popping out of her head.

Liwei stood up and dusted himself off. “It’s not like that! I was just wondering why a pretty girl was alone in a forest like this, especially so late at night.”

This was a terrible choice of words. The pink-haired girl was even angrier than before. “Pretty?! I outta give you another beating! I don’t think it’s any of your business why I’m here, anyway!”

“Sorry, it’s just… I saw your robes and I thought you were lost.”

The girl’s expression changed immensely. “Actually, I don’t know if you could consider me lost. I don’t know my way back home, but it’s not like I want to go back…”

“Why not?” Liwei noticed the torn fabric on the girl’s robes. It was much easier to see it from close up than far away. “You’re not from here, are you?”

“I’m from the Yinlin clan, several kilometers from here. It’s a group of assassins that kidnaps children and turns them into ruthless mercenaries. I wanted to find my real parents, so I ran away and eventually— I found this place.”

“It looks like we have something in common… I didn’t quite catch your name?”

“It’s Xiuying. You?”

“The disciples at the Wudang sect call me Liwei. It’s nice to meet you—” He awkwardly extended his hand. Xiuying was initially hesitant to shake it, but she ultimately gave in.

“It’s nice to meet you, too…” The chilled autumn breeze left Xiuying shivering.

“There should be a market town nearby. My friend runs a lot of errands for old people, so he goes there a lot. They could probably help us out—”

“No.” Xiuying was straight-faced. Liwei noticed the peculiar tint in her eyes that shined like pink diamonds.

“You’re like me, aren’t you? You have one of the five heavenly shishen. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Father told me this power would benefit the empire someday, but a lot of bad people want to use this spirit for their own personal motivations, including him. Even after my training, I’m too weak to protect myself. That’s why I’d rather sleep here in isolation, living off the forest animals and fishes I could find, than fall into the hands of miscreants…”

“Then let’s get strong. Together.” Liwei smiled. It seemed the king of the heavens blessed their fate, wanting them to cross paths.

And ever since then, Liwei and Xiuying were friends.