Chapter 1 Flood
Yuelian
People of this world have already forgotten the past. One of the oldest empires in the world disappeared virtually overnight. Thousands of years of culture and history burned to ashes in the flames.
A freak famine, corrupt nobles who abused their powers, an incompetent emperor, and politicians who took advantage of a weakened empire to sell natural resources to foreign powers. The amalgamation of these sequences of events resulted in a massive uprising from the people. The common people raised a rebel army, their sights set on the privileged class that had wronged them. Their intentions and goals were just, but their collective anger resulted in a bloodbath. Not just the corrupt nobles, merchants, civil servants, and even scholars were murdered in the hundreds of thousands. Our family was not an exception.
The old empire fell on the night of flames and blood. But that was more than 80 years ago.
“400 family members took poison before the rebels could enter the mansion. I still remember my father’s smile as he pushed me through the secret door.” Grandfather only talks about this when he drinks. Shameful conduct in our family. Grandmother glared at the wine in his hand, while my parents sat silently to the side. “Kong’s grandfather and his wife were the same age as myself and your grandmother at the time. Do you know what he had to do for us to get out safely?”
“Uncle’s grandfather sacrificed himself and his wife to give the rebel corpses of a young couple. Fooling them into thinking the entire family line had been annihilated, while grandfather and grandmother ran away with the other servants.” A story I have heard many times. The guardian family did their duties to the bitter end, our family is blessed with the most steward servants and friends.
“Did you know that our family refuses to harm the people? Even as they were coming to kill us. My father told the guards and servants to go home, we were the only ones that would endure the people’s anger. My father said, "If the people wish for our death, we will follow the people’s wishes.”” Grandfather’s face looked proud. “400 family members sat in the great hall and took poison at the same time. Except us…..” tears ran down his face
Survivor’s guilt. A ghost that has haunted him for his entire life.
“I wanted to die with the rest of my family. We were resolved to do so, but the servants bound me and took us away.” Sadness is apparent in his eyes. I often wonder how much suffering he must have endured after being the sole survivor of his family against his own will.
“Husband, stop this” Grandmother took the wine away from Grandfather’s hands, turned, and walked away. Sounds of wine being poured down the drain can be heard from the kitchen.
“I am sorry, Yue. A moment of weakness” Grandfather’s eyes look clearer than a moment ago. He turned and looked at me directly. “Remember our teachings, do not partake in substances that corrode the mind.”
A family teaching I am all too familiar with. Rules, principles, and philosophies that have been passed down for a thousand years. I have had them memorized since I was 8 years old.
“Yes, grandfather” I smiled at him as he ruffled my hair.
“Yue, go to bed. School starts tomorrow” my mother quickly pushed me up the stairs.
Walking up the marble stairs, the stone feels cool every time I take a step. I felt a vibration and took out the phone in my pocket.
[Hey, jackass. See you tomorrow!] A rude message is on the screen. I couldn't help but smile.
[See you]
Entering my dark room, I send the message before changing for bed. Suddenly, my room was lit up with a blue glow, the light seemed to come from outside the window. I wondered if some performance was happening on the street and went to the window to look.
What I saw was something out of a fantasy world. A hole in the sky, a tunnel made of mists and clouds.
Then I felt pain in my chest, the feeling of being extremely full as if I had eaten an entire pig by myself. I felt like I was about to explode. My body involuntarily flails about the room, spasming on the floor after a while. Then, darkness.
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I woke up the next day in my bed. The room was clean, the morning air was cold. A normal morning.
“That was an intense nightmare. The pain felt real” I was still wearing the clothes from yesterday. The clothes were soaked in a black slimy substance, it smelled like iron. “What the hell is this?”
My attention was drawn by the sound of cooking downstairs, and the smell of food. I was already late to help cook breakfast.
“Let's just throw these clothes in the washer for now.” I jumped up from the bed, took a shower, got dressed, and ran downstairs.
“Good morning, grandmother. Let me help.”
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The Big Apple is a funny nickname for the city. I am not quite sure why that name was given, and I don't have the interest to find out.
[I am leaving now] I send a message 5 minutes before leaving the house.
The brick townhouses along the side of the road on the way to school feel somehow nostalgic. The red bricks almost blended in with the leaf-turning colors. The morning air felt cold, but I still chose to walk instead of taking the bus. The reason for that is the person running towards me now.
“Hey, fats. You gained weight! You are lucky you have a cute face! Some people are ugly when they are fat, some people are cute. You are on the cute side.” Her voice is loud enough for the entire block to hear. I ducked my head in embarrassment and kept walking at a faster pace.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
This foul-mouthed girl is the only friend I have ever had.
“Good morning, Miyong. Could you keep your voice down? It's 7 in the morning. You are waking the whole neighborhood.” I couldn't help but smile despite my embarrassment. Long black hair, sharp eyes, and a good figure, in contrast to myself.
“Good morning, Yue. You are so goddamn polite it's suffocating” Miyong hit my back with her palm in a friendly manner and ruffled my hair. Then she turned and smiled at me. A smile that took my breath away.
Two kids from an immigrant family that happened to live on the same street. We have been friends since childhood.
“Did you help out at the store the whole summer? We live right next to each other but we didn't see each other at all!” She complained while lightly pinching my cheek. “This bastard doesn't care about his friend!”
“That hurts! You could have just come to the store to see me.” I said while brushing her hands off my cheek. “I miss you too”
She gave me a brilliant smile and nodded her head like she was satisfied.
“Last semester of senior year……….did you already get accepted into college?” Her laugh suddenly stopped. I could hear the slight shaking in her voice, she was scared or nervous.
“I have.” I looked at her from the corner of my eye as we continued the 30-minute walk to school. Her shoulders are slightly shaking.
“.......Where are you going?” She kept her head down.
“Somewhere near. I don't want to leave my family. Also, some foul mouth girl would be lonely if I am gone” a smirk involuntary appears on my face.
“Is this jerk acting smug!?!” An open palm appears in front of my eyes.
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“That's it for today. Please do not leave the building during lunch break. I am sure you all have seen the news, please stay inside!” A middle-aged teacher yelled to the class as the students scrambled to get out of their seats. “Mr. Yue, please see me after class.”
Miyong was pushing my back, trying to get to the cafeteria quickly, but she stopped after hearing the teacher.
“Could you wait for me outside? It shouldn't take long.” I nod at her before closing the classroom door behind me.
“Mr. Yue, are you sure about your choice of college? Your choice is not a bad college by any means, but you could go to a much better institute. I am concerned that you are limiting yourself because of …………… personal circumstances.” her eyes moved towards the closed door.
“............thank you for your concern, Miss Johnson. I have talked to my family and they also prefer if I stay close by. Please enjoy your lunch” I bowed my head slightly and quickly left the room, not waiting for her reply.
Miyong leaned against the wall opposite the classroom door as I exited the room. She didn't look happy. The bright eyes are a little dim, the permanent smile on her face nowhere to be seen. My heart hurts a little seeing her like this.
“Let's go before all the lasagna are sold out.” I took her wrist and pulled her away. She did not say anything as we walked to the cafeteria. The silence is painful.
The school garden is on the way to the cafeteria. The gardening club did a great job growing dozens of beautiful flowers, creating a uniquely romantic spot. Dozens of couples can be seen frolicking here after school.
“Let's take a break here. I think we need to talk.” I pulled her into the garden and found a clean spot to sit down. We sat back to back, looking at each other’s faces might be too awkward. “What's wrong?”
“....you already know.” She said while leaning on my back. The back of her head rested on mine.
“I do, but I want to hear you say it. You need to say it yourself.” This is a bad habit that she has developed because we are so close.
“......are you staying for my sake? I don't want to ruin your future…” her voice is shaking. This tomboy is quite a crybaby.
“You know why I am staying. Do you want me to say it?” I chuckled to myself
“.......no” a whisper that almost couldn't be heard.
“Coward” I turn around and caress her hair.
“Ah”
Our attention was drawn by a sudden scream from the cafeteria. Followed shortly by numerous screams and chaotic noise. Sounds of something crashing and smashing.
“We have to see what is happening. Also, call the police right now.” I got up and tried to run towards the cafeteria. But a soft hand held onto my hand.
“No! We have to run. I don't know what is happening, but we have to run.” She pulled me away in the opposite direction.
Loud noise continues to come from behind us. When I look back, the entire cafeteria was crushed by blue mists that crashed into everything like tidal waves. The mist did not look like a liquid substance, yet it crushed and washed over buildings like water. It did not look natural.
“We have to get to a higher ground! Miyong! Up! Up!” I took her hand and ran as hard as I could. Luckily this school is in the middle of the city and the school building is tall rather than wide. We ran and ran and ran until we reached the roof, 10 floors up. There were a few students and teachers here already. It seems like most people who saw the cafeteria get crushed had the same idea.
“Is this building going to hold? The gym and cafeteria were crushed like a wooden shack.” One of the younger students asked the teacher.
“This building is earthquake resistant, but I am not sure what this is. Is it a flood?” A young teacher looked down at the blue mists flowing past the buildings below.
“Flood? It's not raining! It hasn't rained in weeks! Is that water? It looks like blue smoke.” Everyone started to look down at the mists below. Miyong held onto my hand tightly, as if she didn't want to let me go. Her grasp got tighter as she looked down at the blue mists.
“There is no cellphone signal. Miyong, you have a signal?” She looked at her phone and shook her head. “Anyone got a signal?” I could hear the panic in my voice. Our family is not far away from here, but there is no way to go home at the moment and we don't know if they are safe or not.
“No……..” a few students checked their phones and we realized that we had no way to call for help. Looking at the condition of the buildings below, we could not escape from this building and we have no way of knowing how long this condition will last.
“We don't know how long we will be stuck here. We need to pool our resources and decide how to survive for now.” I said with a shaking voice.
Miyong is shaking. A few students started crying. I had forgotten, unlike myself, these kids never had any type of training to deal with high-stress situations. I felt grateful to my family for training me since I was a child.
“I am sorry everyone. We have to salvage what we can from the building and classroom. We should build an S.O.S. sign on this roof so rescue helicopters will be able to see it. Everyone else should build a shelter inside the classroom. We should stay near the roof so we can evacuate quickly in case rescue comes.” I said while thinking deeply. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me at this moment. Miyong nodded her head, her eyes determined.
“Who the hell are you?” One of the male students said.
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The construction was done very quickly. The S.O.S sign was built with bright orange traffic cones that we found in the bathroom closet. We built makeshift tents inside the classrooms one floor down from the roof. A shift system was decided quickly to have 2 people always on the roof to spot rescue teams. Everyone else can rest inside or try to find supplies and food. Unfortunately, the cafeteria building and the main building are separate in this school, so we do not have access to the kitchen or food supplies at the moment. If this situation lasted more than 3 days, we could run into a problem of starvation. Fortunately, we can drink water from the sink.
The sun was already hanging low.
“Yue, we found a few snacks, sandwiches, and water bottles from some student backpacks.” A group of students came back from scavenging. They found enough food for about 3 people. Unfortunately, we have more than 20 people in our group at the moment.
“Thank you, guys, the snacks should be kept for later, but the sandwiches can be eaten today. If we try to preserve it and they go bad, it would just be a waste.” I put the snacks and water bottles in the locker behind the desk. The sandwiches are placed on the table. One peanut butter and jelly sandwich will be divided up for 20 people’s dinner tonight.
As everyone looked at me dividing up the sandwich, lights in the building flickered and went out.
“What?! Fuck!”
“Ah”
A few panicked screams. After a few moments, everyone quiets down. I could feel people's eyes on me. I know this very well. The same eyes I have seen from my family since I was young. Expectations.
“This is a bad situation. Please get any clean buckets or water bottles you can find. Fill it up with as much water from the sink as you can.” A few people looked at me, confusion on their faces. “If the lights go out, water will probably follow soon. We need to secure as much water as we can”
A few people panicked at my statement, but the group of students who came back with the sandwich immediately moved out.
“Yue! Come quick!” A female’s voice came from above. Miyong and another female student were on the first roof shift.
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“What the fuck is that?”
I was trained from birth to fulfill the role of a prince of the family. I learned governance, philosophy, ethics, law, and military strategy. But nothing I learned is useful for what I am seeing now.
Some type of gigantic weird-looking eel or fish is swimming inside the mist. Its body is so long and big that it coiled around a townhouse near the school. Looking at the other buildings nearby, weird giant trees and strange flowers are growing all over. This was no longer the city he grew up in.
Miyong looked at the scene in front of her with wide eyes. Only a few hours ago, this was just a normal neighborhood in a normal city.
The blue mists that crushed the school earlier in the day have become even more like smoke. I tried to not breathe it in, but the blue mists have pretty much dispersed into the air. The taste? Or smell? It is sweet.
A transparent screen suddenly showed up in front of my eyes.
[Mana Veins activated]