Did you ever miss home?

For me, I have never been far from home, and I don't travel that much. At home, I stay most of the time in my room, only going out to eat and take a bath. I am a shut-in. But, I always wanted to leave the place I grew up and travel the world, but I never had the chance or money.

It never crosses my mind that there will come a time that I will miss home or my family. Now that there is the possibility that I won't ever go back, it makes me think a lot about home.

When was the darkest period in your life?

Today is one of the darkest days of my life...in this life. I am inside a dark stone room. The cold and hard stones leach the warmth off my body, making me shiver. It is so dark that I can't even see my hands in front of me. And worst of all is the deafening silence.

Each sound I hear, even how faint, makes me jump in fear. Yes, fear...I never felt this fear of the unknown. I don't know what will happen to me...what they intend to do to me.

I tried sleeping, but my mind is running a million miles per hour. I imagine different things that may happen to me. Asking myself over and over again: What did I do wrong? What do they want from me? Are they going to kill me? Am I going to die a horrible death?

It felt like an eternity, yet I was unable to sleep. I can not even tell what time it is or if it is morning or night. I wish everything that happened is not real...I just want to wake up from this nightmare. But the dull ache on my head reminds me otherwise.

Bad things started to happen a soon as the gate opened. I expected a grand reception to welcome the new members of the Sect. Yet, what greeted us instead is a cold reception.

The peak master and several elders have severe expressions as they walk out of the gate. They asked every one of us to line up. After that, the elders started inspecting each of us.

That's what I assume they're doing. Each peak master ordered each child to summon their martial souls and inspect it... as if they are feeling the martial souls. This is very odd and suspicious. It's because the information on our martial souls is already recorded. It's unnecessary to recheck our martial souls.

After each inspection, the elder would nod, and they allowed them to enter the gates. Lou Yi and I are at the end of the line since we were the last to arrive. I counted how many of us were able to arrive on time, and it seems like we are fewer in number.

Then it was Lou Yi's turn. I don't know Lou Yi's martial soul, so I am a bit curious. The elder asks her to summon her martial spirit.

As expected, Lou Yi responded with a confused look. The elder patiently explained to her what to do... Lou Yi looked at me. I smiled and nodded to assure her.

Lou Yi did what she was instructed. She closed her eyes as she concentrates. After a few seconds later, a long chain, about three meters long, emerges.

At one end is a spiked ball as big as a baby's fist, and at the other end is a deadly looking blade. I don't know what you call that weapon, but I think it's a weapon used by ninjas or something.

It was so cool I gave an envious look at Lou Yi... I wished I had the same martial soul.

The elder nodded after inspecting it, then let her enter. Lou Yi glanced at me as she enters.

Then finally, it's my turn. I summoned my martial soul for the elder to inspect. The instant my martial soul appeared, the elder's expression changed. He looked at the peak master. Zhang Wei's face darkened. He nodded, then suddenly, an elder appeared behind me and knocked me unconscious.

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When I came about, I found myself in this dark stone room. My head hurts like hell for some reason. My initial reaction was to look around, but it was so dark I can't see anything.

I tried standing up with difficulty and feel my way like a blind man. Finally, I felt the hard stone in front of me. I fumbled with my hands, and what's in front of me is a concrete wall made of stone.

Not giving up, I moved to my right, and I almost tripped myself. Walking in the dark is hard because you can lose all sense of direction. Because of the pitch darkness, I can't even see my hands and feet. It was like I lost them. I began to panic, but I suppressed my fear.

Again I reached a dead end. I fumbled, and it's another wall. My heart started pounding harder as I walk towards my right and yet another wall. I'm already losing my mind... Did I move at all? Or I'm inside an enclosed space.

I started yelling for help, but no one is responding. I shouted at the top of my voice, yet no one came to bring me out. I am ashamed to admit it, but this time I started to cry. I screamed and screamed for someone until my voice broke but still nothing. Eventually, I got tired, and only the sound of sobbing can be heard.

What am I doing here?

The time went on, and it felt like an eternity has passed. Finally, I was able to fell asleep due to exhaustion.

...

...

...

A grinding sound woke me up; it was a sound of stone grinding against a stone. Blinding light entered, making me squint my eyes. I have never been so grateful to see the light... My eyes adjusted to the light after a few seconds. A man entered and dragged me out.

He brought me out of the room by carrying me by my both hand like a rag doll. This place looks like a dungeon. I don't know why, but only now do I notice that the air in this place feels heavy. It is so stuffy and rancid, making it harder to breathe. Like the darkness of the stone room, it deprived me of my senses; that is why I failed to notice this before. I can also smell a metallic smell...the smell of blood.

He brought me to an open space where an elder was waiting for me. He dropped me on the floor and leaves me with the elder.

"I will ask you some questions. Make sure you answer them correctly or else...".

The elder doesn't need to finish his sentence because his face shows it all. This caused me to flinch and back away.

"Why did you enter the Sect?" He started.

"Aah- I entered because I want to learn how to cultivate."

I did my best to answer clearly, but it came out like a whisper. The elder got angry and slapped me on the face.

I'm sure he controlled his strength because my head would be in pieces right now if not. Yet, it's strong enough to knock me down. I screamed with pain and rolled on the ground. I can hear ringing in my ear, and blood trickled down my mouth.

"Stop mumbling and speak clearly. Why did you enter the Sect?"

He repeated the question after I had settled down. This time I answered clear and loud. He nodded and continued.

"Who sent you here?"

"What do you mean?"

I said, genuinely confused about the question. My interrogator got annoyed but refrained from hitting me again.

"Which enemy sect sent you?"

This time I blank out...do they think I'm a spy or something?

"Nobody sent me; I came on my own volition. I just want to become a cultivator; I don't have any ill intentions." I said slowly and sincerely as I can.

He glared at me and sneered, "Then why did you kill two of the new members?"

He keeps on dropping these bombs; my heart can no longer handle this.

"Wha- what- what are you talking about? I did not kill anybody..."

A fist landed in my stomach, sending me 2 feet off the ground and my body folds, reeling. It was excruciating, and it's so hard for me to breathe. The wind knocked out of me. I gasped for air, but it was like I'm breathing fire instead of air.

"Don't deny it because we detected traces of your Qi inside their body. No wounds were found, but a powerful Qi entered their bodies, killing them." He seized me up and muttered to himself:

"What puzzling is, you need to be a powerful cultivator to do that."

I can't believe what I'm hearing. Are they accusing me of killing... "No no no no... that is impossible; I did not ki- kill anyone."

I did not perceive what hit me. But I felt pain all over my body, causing me to howl with pain... The pain is excruciating... A series of burning and piercing sensations throughout my body. I'm losing consciousness, but when I was about to, the pain subsided.

"Don't deny anymore the peak master himself examined the bodies, and he felt the Qi is similar to yours."

"Please believe me!! I did not kill anyone. Please....arrghh" vomit came out of my mouth as I twitch on the floor. Before I lose my consciousness, I heard another voice.

"Enough, I heard enough. It seems that …either this child has no memory of the killing or did not do it. But it is evident he is not lying."

"Give him a dose of Yaocoa, make sure he won't remember anything."