Chapter 3: Rising Tension

Shan was standing atop of a tree. A particularly tall one, which grew on a hill so he could easily see the expanding mountain surface: riddled with newborn grass, countless shadows of trees and trees themselves, dry dirt and stones here and there; it was going heading and lower and up to the horizon at a steep fall.

A breathtaking scenery to which he paid no attention. His gaze was deep inside his own mind, where the map lied. Several images of turns to take rudely butchered out of reality.

Shan's legs moved, he jumped and a grey serpent enveloped his arm. Next second lasted for too long. First, he felt nothing, the tattoo appeared and brought him little shiver. Then hollowness enveloped his mind, then understanding. At last came fear, immediately swallowed by a hot, white pain spreading from the back of his head.

He fell down on a stone and bruised his elbow. But Shan couldn't feel that at all, he kicked the ground and like an arrow shot himself into a run. Back, home, right now. His pouch got torn by a tree and become lighter. With a swift motion, he threw the bag from his shoulder away. Everything to run faster.

"Master, need to protect Young Master…"

Like an annoying fly, this thought was buzzing in his mind, breaking him from inside.

Faint purple flame covered his legs, he needed to get back faster, faster. The wind created by his ran bent all passing trees.

…

Meanwhile.

Wei Xin has been slowly walking in the forest. His initial run ended in a collision with a tree so now the pain mixed with embarrassment made the fear go away.

Great trees of all kinds were surrounding him, all in different shapes but all same. His head was spinning a bit; after several minutes he was almost on the verge of realizing the horrible truth that he was lost, as suddenly a dot appeared between the trees in the distance.

He ran there with all might and soon the dot became a silhouette.

An intimidating man in a heavy armor with a sabre in hand.

It could scare any passerby but only if his surname wasn't Wei. That was the statue of Family's Founder, Wei Yifei.

A crude statue, unpolished, it was a wonder how could it be so lifelike. A question not of artistic mastery, but a Martial one. Wei Zhan, his son, carved it with a sabre shortly after his father's death.

When Wei Zhan was young, he and Wei Yifei were sparring daily. The father's battle spirit was deeply engraved in the son's mind. The day Yifei died, Wei Zhan stayed silent, his eyes closed, unmoving like a pillar. Then, by the nighttime, he stood up and under the eyes of the entire household, his children, and wife walked to a big stone. He unleashed his sabre then and fought; exactly, fought with a stone. Retreating at seamless attacks, slicing back with passion at every opportunity.

One could think it was silly, but that way he'll reveal his ignorance. Except for Wei Zhan, no one could move at that moment, no one could think. Their instincts knew better than minds.

Stroke by stroke, the figure was gradually revealed under the morning shine.

The next day poor widow finally left her chambers. Seeing the faceless statue, she embraced it and cried once more.

The next day blind slave suddenly froze while walking by the courtyard; when asked what had happened, he answered that "his master was looking at him".

Wei Xin made a deep breath. Now wasn't the time to think about the glorious history of his family. According to Ruo, he should go west from the statue to reach the lake.

"West should be… to the right?"

…

Shan's face was full of worry; his Young Master was nowhere to be found. In a way that was a relief, for the barrier has been broken just once, and as neither he nor anyone else was present, it was safe to assume that Wei Xin was one to go out and no one has come in.

Still, much remained unknown, and as he was hastily going around the mansion, playing the game of "hot and burning hot" with his serpent tattoo to deduce the exact location of breakage, Shan's expression was getting more and more ugly.

Finally, he stopped in front of the menacing shadow of the forest; wind passed by and tree branches chuckled at him with a mocking laugh.

The situation was bad, extremely. He immediately ran toward the house.

That path lead toward the most dangerous parts of the forest, still inhabited or rather nested by beasts of all kinds. And no mere beasts; that huge mountain spanned beyond the inhabited territories, to the Unknown Regions, a paradise of Spirit Beasts.

Even he couldn't treat that place without caution.

So there was no choice.

Shan ran into his room, took a key from his sleeve and inserted it right in the middle of the floor. Illusion went off, and a square hole full of darkness was revealed beyond it. Without a thought, Shan jumped in.

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There a dark pathway awaited him; not too long, he crossed it in few seconds and entered a vast open space.

In the middle, there was a large wooden chest. A stone urn was standing to the right of it, completely plain, but dustless as if someone has been taking care of it.

Shan's glanced over it for a second and then opened the chest. His breath stilled.

"Long time no see…"

Emotions overwhelmed him, he felt a strain thread of nostalgia, shining like a spider web, illuminating the darkness. Then pain, burning pain from his nape enveloped his memories, his mind, everything.

Only one thing was left, the urge, the order to hurry save his Young Master and stop thinking.

Right now.

…

Wei Xin has been walking for some time now. His feet were aching slightly but he paid it no attention. He was far above the material plane at the moment, in the company of clouds, his biographers, who were praising him to no end with the best of the vocabulary of ten years old child.

And indeed, he deserved such praise, he made such a great did, after all. Become a hero, saved someone and so early in his life!

However, how did they get to know about it? A very good question, believable world of his imagination suddenly had a crack. His unreality became uncertain.

Indeed, how? Maybe he will tell them. But what kind of hero brags about his accomplishments? Bad hero, bad.

He should be content with only himself knowing his bravery. That would be truly noble.

Just a bit… lonely?

Suddenly Wei Xin stood still. He saw a lakeshore between gaps in trees, a tiny line of sand sliding into the water. The sunrays were gliding along the lake surface, calmer than the sky.

Wei Xin sprinted forward and stopped just before the water. He breathed in deeply, and then shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Ruo, I'm here!"

No response, few seconds of awkward silence and embarrassment at how his shout became a scream at its peak. When will his voice mature...

Wei Xin has already thought about shouting again when waves suddenly started to emerge. A harsh wind blew at his face so he had to close his eyes.

When his eyelids separated once more the world was as if ten times brighter.

"I am glad that you have come, Wei Xin."

Just before him, standing on the water there was a young girl with wavy blue hair.

He body was fuzzy as if dressed in a haze, her face round, and eyes big, dark-blue, without a black dot.

"Ruo… that's how you look like…" Wei Xin was in a sort of daze. He was so fascinated that it was hard for him to take his eyes away. He never had a definite image of Ruo in his head, until now. The moment he saw her Xin become sure. That how she looked like. When they were talking, when he was thinking about her. That was Ruo.

Always.

"Come closer, Wei Xin."

"Ah, yes, how do I break the seal? Should I just cut my finger?" He awakened from his dreamy state and took out the knife. His little figure was very bizarre-looking with a big knife in hand. He smiled a bit.

"No need. Give me your hand and I will do everything painlessly. It would be a crime do damage your fair skin." Her voice was still coming from his head, lips were barely opening and face was expressionless.

"That simple?" He asked.

"Yes, just give me your hand nothing more. Come closer, to me, and close your eyes."

"Oh, ok." Wei Xin hastily took off his shoes. He was about to step into the water as suddenly…

"Get away, monster!"

A shout, like a lightning, struck at his minds. He felt shocked at first, then came fear: something has just passed by his right ear, he could see a strand of white hair flying before him.

"Wait!" Wei Xin screamed and looked behind. There was Shan, running, with his legs shrouded in a purple flame. In his hand, he was holding a large pitch-black sabre. Its edge was so sharp that Wei Xin's felt a cutting pain simply by looking at it.

"Wait, Shan, she…"

"Awake Young Master!"

The second Shan's shout was much heavier. Like a hammer it hit Xin's head, froze his entire body, and brought an end to all thoughts.

He could hear nothing now, time itself has slowed down. The air became much fresher.

For some reason, Xin turned to the lake.

It was a clean distinct sight. His mind was so blank at the moment that he could not even feel fear. It took several seconds for Xin to comprehend what exactly he was looking at.

Then he tried to scream, but no voice came out. The feeling of terror enveloped his tiny body as Wei Xin lost consciousness.