Juan Xi once again found himself somewhere else. This time, inside a bright room five or six times bigger than the small bedroom of his family's rundown shack. Maybe ten meters to each side. As his gaze darted across the room, he discovered the open space only having a few pieces of furniture; a bed, a table, and a couple of chairs next to the table. The windows frames, however, were lined with exquisite, white candles in golden cups that were breathtaking.

Perhaps what lies outside will tell me what this place is, because it’s certainly not that cold place, or the village.

"Ah!" Juan Xi struggled to bring his small body up to above the window frame. It was surprisingly easy to do this. He remembered to always have problems pulling himself up to objects due to his weak body. Had he perhaps gotten stronger?

Strange!

"Huge!" exclaimed the little boy, eyes wide open after getting up.

He looked out from the window and was completely dumbfounded. Outside his room laid a gigantic city covering more land than his eyes could see. The houses had jade-colored plates as roof and stretched out seemingly infinitely; an endless sea of green! It was so big! How long would it take to build such a city? Years? Decades? Or even centuries?

While he was admiring the view, a sudden knock interrupted his daydreaming.

A middle-aged woman opened the door and walked inside. She wore a white dress with beautiful, red roses embroidered upon, and looked like a noble lady, similar those he had seen before when the village had hosted their autumn festival. That was, of course, before the great war and before the river demons went to attack.

She looked at him, smiling apologetically.

"You are the new one, right?” She said. "I've come to take you to meet your master."

He was confused. What does this woman mean? My master? Oh, yes, when I think about it, didn’t that bull creature say something like this too?

“What do you mean?” he asked. ”My master?”

"Ah, you haven't been told." She said, and then explained to him, not unkindly. "Don't worry, everything will be explained in due time. Right now, all you need to worry about is how you are going to repay your new master for giving you a new life. Nothing else matters."

He slowly nodded. She doesn't seem to mean harm, let's meet this master.

She gave him a careful look. "Come with me."

The middle-aged woman turned around and exited through the door. Juan Xi hurriedly followed her with his small steps.

"Whoa?!" he thought to himself as they had walked outside.

Everything was clean here compared to his village. The houses around him were all made from some sort of white stone. He didn't know what type of stone it was, but it was pretty and sparkling, like that seashell he had found years ago by the river when he was trying to find his father. The little boy could at that time not accept the news of his father’s death and strove out every night to search for him. One of these nights he had stumbled upon a white, gleaming seashell which he kept in his pocket all the time. After a while, it grew important to him; a symbol for his search.

"Take my hand." ordered the middle-aged woman in a stern tone as they stood outside in the shining sun.

He took her outstretched hand.

*Swoosh!" the wind brushed past his ear as they somehow rose in the air. The houses down below became small, like black dots. His feet dangled in the air freely, and it made him very afraid to think about what would happen if she accidentally, or on purpose, dropped him. He would be smashed like those meat pies aunty next door used to make for throwing at her husband who spent time with other women.

Juan Xi was amazed by the view. He was able to see the whole city from up here and it was absolutely magical. People were flying in the air like birds. Everyone in the air was dressed colorfully and the majority had weapons hanging from their waists.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

At this moment, he caught up to reality. Flying? What the heck? How is that even possible. What was going on and who were these people? Gods?

However, when they came higher up in the air, Juan Xi felt the blood drain from his face. The wind hit and entered through his mouth as they soared across the sky. The wind resistance here was too powerful, and he was eventually unable to breathe as they came further and further up. Less than a minute after, he fainted.

When he opened his eyes again, he was lying upon a stack of hay inside a normal looking barn, except without no animals. His tattered shirt and brown shorts were full of that scratchy, dried grass. He got up to his feet and was about undress in order to spare himself from the resulting scratch of doing otherwise when an old, melodic voice rang out in his ears.

"You're awake?" it said.

Juan Xi stopped moving around and glance from side to side. No one was here. Then where had the voice come from? His imagination?

An old, wrinkled-faced grandpa stepped inside the barn with a smile. The old man was different from all those Juan Xi had seen earlier, those with colorful robes and shiny weapons. A brown leather tunic and black leggings adorned his haggard body and he had no weapons or so from what Juan Xi could see.

The little boy was surprised at how energetic the man seemed to be even if he was this old. Most grandpas in his village were just sitting in the square talking to each other about the old times, basking in the sun as they spoke about how teenagers were more polite when they were young.

"I see it as you are my new disciple." He said, coughing. "I've been expecting you.”

Juan Xi was quiet, not knowing what to say.

The old man laughed and flicked his fingers. Juan Xi felt a sharp pain to his head and blinked hard. Moments later, a purple paper slip left through his forehead and landed in the old man's outstretched hand.

The old man’s face went from cheerful to solemn as he inspected the paper slip. A flash of anger appearing in his eyes before he turned his head up, looking at Juan Xi with a perplexed gaze that was filled with pity.

“You’ve had a rough life, little Juan.” He said after a while. “It’s a shame for a boy to go through that sort of things. But you don’t have to worry. As long as you help me and complete what I ask for, this will be your new home.

Juan Xi blinked, surprised. A home?

The old man continued. “You will not have to live in fear anymore. I will make sure of that. Except for when you perform well, I will even allow you to have some time off.

“A home?” Juan Xi repeated to himself loudly, a few tears in the corner of his eyes. What does it feel like to have a home? The little boy couldn’t even remember the last time he felt like he truly belonged somewhere, where he was welcomed. The only memories he had of a home were those when his father was still alive, when they were a big family. Yet those times were gone, they had been replaced by daily torture and beatings.

“Yes” The old man explained. “It might take some time to get used to it, but you are welcomed here as long as you complete the tasks you are given.”

“I… am welcomed here?” the little boy couldn’t hold his tears anymore. He felt both joy and sadness as his snivels turned into sobbing. The memories from his past life in the village, to now, when this old man told him that he was welcomed, replayed themselves all over each other in his mind. How his father died and how his mother went crazy. The times she hit him, lashed out her pain with her fists and whip. The worst was how his mother strangled him; those eyes he didn’t recognize, those eyes full of insanity.

Before coming here, he had been like a dam on the verge of breaking loose.

Now, everything just came out at the same time without stop.

He sat down without thinking and curled up, crying. The little boy let everything he had held for so long loose. "Waaa..."

“Eh,” the old man scratched his head. ”Now what?”

“Tch,” Horwin heard a female voice from behind and spun around only to see an extremely beautiful woman in her twenties. The woman’s face was perfectly symmetrical. One couldn’t find a single fault to point out. A warm aura was radiated from her whole being, and a smile was painted onto her face, along with her brown, soft eyes.

“Lady Jia Lien!” the old man’s face shone up. “Just in time!”

“Oh, Horwin… you sorely lack in skill outside your profession,” Lady Jia Lien snorted, shaking her head that was adorned with curly, brown hair stretching to her waist. “You are far too old for not knowing these things…”

“Heh,” Horwin coughed, smiling. ”My loyalty lies only w–”

“No need to flatter me, old friend, now step aside and let this woman do her thing.”

Jia Lien ignored Horwin and walked over to the crying Juan Xi. She gently took him in his embrace.

Juan Xi did not resist. Deep down, the smell she gave off, and the way she spoke; It reminded Juan Xi of how his own mother had been before she went crazy. Unconsciously, the little boy hugged back. These soft arms felt just like home.

“Shh, don’t worry, little boy.” She said. “Everything’s going to be alright…”