~Scroll of the Dead~

Muchen District / 8:00 pm

Yang’s smile died down.

After a long day and a joyful reunion with Hui, he was now back home. In his left arm was the vase he had picked for himself. He wondered for a while where he’d place it in the floored apartment he stayed in.

As for why his usual happy face had turned to a frown…

He slowly turned the door handle.

It was unlocked.

He pushed it open, but the light was dim. The light was always dim.

‘So much for allowances,’ he shook his head. What was the point of the money his dad sent from the capital if they couldn’t even use it to fix their electricity?

He took a step inside. Perhaps it’d be different?

-SPLAT!

Yang dodged the incoming pie that was thrown at a high velocity. He had no time to notice the wall beside him decorated with whipped cream, instead, he rolled away to dodge the next one which was cherry-flavored this time.

“Oi what the hell is this, Aunt Fang?!” he called out

“Oh lighten up worm!” A mature feminine voice replied from the dining room, causing Yang to get annoyed. ‘Not in the mood for this bullshit!’

“You’re a grown-ass woman!” Yang snapped back before dodging the next pie “And besides, what the hell are you even doing baking all these pies, aren’t we having noodles for dinner?”

“Oh?” A woman came out from the kitchen, she had dark green hair tied up into a braid. All she wore was a sleeveless vest which revealed a tattoo of a Chinese dragon on her chest. This was Fang, Yang’s aunt whom he lived with since his mother’s passing. She scratched her head with a finger “I forgot?”

“So much for being my guardian!” Yang reacted in anger

“Hold your horses, we can just have cup ramen, how about that?” Fang asked as she threw her apron into the laundry basket.

Yang said nothing as he went to the home line, he picked it up and shot a glare at her. Fang quickly realized he was about to call child services and changed her mind immediately.

“Or your favorite meal, eh Yang?” She said with a sweat, child services meant Yang would get taken away from her which also meant she’d stop receiving allowances from her brother.

“You know for a former gangster, you have no sense of pride.” Yang looked at her in disgust. Before he was born, Fang was a former member of a famous gang running Xiao-Long town. One thing led to another and they got caught but were left on probation by a request from Yang’s father.

“Pride doesn’t put food on your table now does it?” Fang replied sharply.

“Tch,” Yang hissed before walking away “I’ll be in my room.”

“Oi hold it!”

‘What now?!’ he groaned before turning back, he hoped she’d be quick.

“I heard you got into a fight with Ping earlier today” She spoke, but with a calmer tone.

“No, I didn’t!” Yang quickly denied

“No need to lie, Jiàn Yǔ already told me.” She answered blankly

“He did? Man that snitch!” he snarled

Fang responded, “Nah it was his mom, I just wanted to hear you say it.”

Yang became dazed at her words, his aunt acted childish at times but she was smart beyond belief. Probably because of her experience in a gangster group that made her like that, though Yang couldn't care less.

“So?”

Fang frowned, her nephew did not start fights unnecessarily, she knew him as one who tried to get along with others. Ever since his visit to the Crimson temple, she noticed he had a great interest in the hero from ‘Journey to the West’.

It was the only thing he only talked about now.

It shocked her even more because boys his age normally talk about games or anime, not novels or mythological heroes.

Concerned, she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Yang hesitated for a moment before quickly shaking his head.

“Oh, then what do you say we apologize when next we meet him?”

No response came from her nephew, all he did was to pick up the vase he kept on the floor and head to his room. Fang’s mood changed as she was greatly offended.

“Tch, the hell do you think you’re going?!”

“Bed,”

Yang didn’t want to carry on this discussion, he had already lost his appetite, and his sanity was next if he kept on talking.

He felt a grip on his arm as Fang shot him a glare, he had always been giving her the cold shoulder, and she hoped to find out why.

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“I didn’t ask you to leave,” she said

Yang shot a glare at his aunt, this time more serious. Fang saw this and became a bit intimidated, she could take on the boy in a fight with her having more experience and their age differences, but she just couldn’t bring herself to use violence on a child without a good reason.

The rod had to be spared in this scenario.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” Fang asked, this time calm.

“It’s nothing,” Yang muttered in frustration.

“No, it isn’t, you’ve been a jerk to the people around you since last year’s temple visit,” her tone increased “At least talk to someone!”

“What’s there to talk about, you won’t even care about it,” he shot back

That line made Fang’s patience reach its peak.

“Because not everyone’s life revolves around a damn monkey!” She yelled in annoyance “Get a grip, he’s a guy on a fucking piece of paper!”

Yang froze on that spot, he could feel a sharp pain in his heart. Those words pierced through him like an arrow, it wasn’t because he saw it coming. She was bound to say that eventually, but why did he feel hurt? Why did this one get to him rather than the times he was told that in the past?

Yang knew the answer to that question, but he wasn’t going to accept it.

“Stop trying to act like someone you’re not,” he replied “You can’t play that mom role, so just-”

THWACK!

‘Huh?’ Yang suddenly felt a sharp pain on his right cheek. He was disoriented for a bit before he finally regained his senses and realized what had just unfolded.

For the first time during his stay with his aunt Fang, she had raised her hand to hit him. It stung a bit but he was old enough to take hits like that, though it didn’t stop him from losing his guard even for the smallest second.

That was more than enough to loose his grip.

CRASH!

He heard an ear-piercing crash. Yang turned his attention from his aunt towards the ground. The usually clean floor now had broken bits of ceramic scattered about.

“Y-Yang I didn’t mean to,” Fang stuttered, she was now more worried than ever.

“That’s…” he bent down to the ground, he could recognize the shattered bits.

“Yang?”

She hoped her words could get to her nephew, but sadly she couldn’t. The vase he spent the day picking had just been broken, and it was her fault.

The boy in question was at a loss for words, he picked up a few pieces of the broken object. He tried piecing it together like a puzzle but failed.

Still worried, Fang placed an arm on his back with the hope of comforting him, but all she got was a cold look from him with a reply.

“Are you happy?”

Fang’s eyes widened in confusion, he continued

“You wanted to talk,” His tone became darker “Well? We’re talking, aren’t we old hag?!”

‘Sorry,’ is what she tried to say despite the insult, but was cut off as her attention was drawn towards the shattered vase, from it, a dark maroon colored aura was emanating from the bits.

“Yang,” she reached out towards him, she could tell something wasn’t right. Fang’s hand was nearly about to grab her nephew and pull him away from there.

BZZT!

All efforts were ruined as a sharp pulse shocked her, this feeling wasn’t new to her. This was a distinct feature of one of the three divine arts.

“Chi?” She asked shockingly, Yang hadn’t even undergone any training of the sort.

Even if he did, a whole year wasn’t enough to awaken it. ‘Don’t tell me it’s that vase?’

Sadly, her thoughts weren’t confirmed before the room was covered in the same dark aura from before.

There was total darkness.

~Scroll of the Dead~

Shin just shot Yang a look of contempt.

They were walking for a while now in the forest room with Yang narrating his past along the way. Shin just looked in pity, he was reminded of himself back on Earth.

They both had their conflicts within their respective families.

But one thing was still on Shin’s mind.

“So what happened next?”

Yang’s eyes shot up, but his usual calm demeanor returned.

“You seem pretty hooked,”

“Well to be honest, I had a problem like that back in my home,” Shin explained “Not just with my mom, but my sister and friends as well.”

“Oh?” Yang raised an eyebrow, he was now interested in Shin’s life for that reason.

“Yeah,” he nodded “My dad died a year ago-”

“Apologies,” his head was lowered in grief

“No, no, it’s alright,” He waved. If what Theseus said was true and his dad should be resting somewhere in Heaven, then it shouldn’t be a huge bother.

“Since when?” Yang asked

“Ah, probably a year.” He scratched his head innocently

Yang’s reaction was blank “Don’t talk about it like it’s normal.”

Shin’s elbows jerked a bit, he apologized with a bow “So sorry,”

Shaking his head in disappointment, Yang muttered “You’re a case, so how’d you get over yours?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t be dense, the problem you had with your family.” Yang paused to stretch a bit.

“Hmm…” Shin stopped to think about it for a bit, his answer leaving Yang in shock “I just talked to them.”

“Talked?” Yang asked ‘It was that easy?’

Shin smiled. His conflicts back home were solved as he shared his problems with others, and hearing those same people out which made Yang even more confused with a hit of regret.

‘All this time’ Yang thought ‘I could have avoided this path by just a normal conversation?’

Although the boy wished to reminisce his thoughts, he was cut off as he sensed an intense amount of heat heading his way. He slightly moved his head as a fire bullet rushed past him and exploded.

“Oi-” Before he could call out his partner, he was already on guard. Yang looked around to find where this attack could have been launched.

All of a sudden he was tackled to the ground by Shin, he was left confused till he noticed a fire bullet land at the place he once stood. Though he wasn’t safe from the explosion as the impact grazed his leg, he was able to figure out the bullet’s fire point.

On a tree, a red salamander crawled out. These creatures found only in dungeons could be identified by their red skin and black spots which were used to absorb mana-like heat, and the fact they were spitting tiny balls of fire.

Shin immediately stood up, he pulled out a dagger he had bought some days prior since his training with Theseus. The creature was about to fire its next attack at them, but it was too far for Shin to strike it down because he was only good in melee attacks and he couldn’t use a mana attack because he hadn’t awakened yet. So he improvised

He threw the dagger at an incredible speed, eventually hitting the target on the head and piercing through it.

“Rocket” he muttered. Unfortunately, Shin couldn’t see a second red salamander hiding in the tree ready to snipe him. Shin was left defenseless for the next attack.

‘Dammit, gotta get my blade back!’ he ran towards the tree unaware of the sniper, reaching out for the short blade.

It fired a bullet at the boy, it was a sure hit based on the location and timing, Shin could not dodge no matter how hard he tried.

“[Monsoon: Lightning Serpent]!”

A streak of lightning deflected the incoming bullet, sending it a few meters away as it exploded. Yang was now in front of a startled Shin as his arm was stretched out. Though he wanted to question what had just happened, he saw this as an opening and threw the dagger once more at the salamander. It missed as the creature simply dodged it.

“You missed,” Yang pointed out slyly

“Tch!” Shin hissed before running to fetch his weapon, dodging the next few shots from the red lizard. When he finally got it, he prepared for the next attack but was called back by Yang.

“Oi, move back for a bit.”

“Eh?” Shin looked surprised but eventually listened as he leaped back.

Yang smirked, he raised his hand, and a white ball of lightning formed. He quickly grabbed it with full force and threw it towards the tree.

“Are you stupid? It’ll dodge it cuz of that distance!” Shin yelled, but Yang remained calm

“It won’t,” he responded “It can’t!”

He was right, as the lightning ball made a collision with the tree, it caused an explosion. The salamander along with the tree was blown to bits by Yang’s skill [Thunderclap].

Shin was left in awe, though it wasn’t on the same level as Theseus’ [Blue Flare], he couldn’t help himself fawning over a skill that could cause so much damage. He quickly ran back to Yang.

“That was so awesome!” Shin exclaimed

“Really? It’s not all that though,” Yang replied with a shrug

“What do you mean?” Shin asked in confusion

“The old man can wipe out a forest, and I’m barely struggling to try to manage my stamina with that attack.” Yang furthered, in his five years of training, this was what he could do. ‘At this rate, I’d be with grandkids by the time I become Monkey King’

“So? Who cares?” Shin asked, “You can shoot lightning like it’s nothing, that’s pretty cool enough.”

Yang was left speechless “Uh, Thanks. But I hate to break it to you, that’s not actual lightning.”

Confused, Shin asked “Huh? But it-”

“It may look like lightning and even act like it, but it’s not real lightning,” Yang interrupted as if he knew what Shin was going to ask next, he went on “One of the properties of Chi is that it’s dynamic, it has no true form since it’s free in nature unlike Mana and Zen, understand now?”

Shin was flat on the ground with smoke comically coming out of his head, he understood not one single thing Yang said.

“It’s not even that complex, how simple-minded are you?!” Yang reacted in frustration

“Too… much words…” Shin forced out.

Yang’s eyebrows twitched then calmed down, he stopped himself from lashing out since patience was a virtue. He tried explaining it but in simpler terms “Mana and Zen have only one shape, Chi has no shape since everything has Chi-”

“Huh? But why didn’t you awaken yours yet if everyone can use it?” Shin interrupted

Yang sighed, true Shin did throw a valid point, but there was a reason to that as well “The gods in my homeland theorized this, if life exists then so should Chi, since it’s present in all things that bear life in the universe, people can absorb this energy and use it as a weapon.”

Shin was confused but managed to piece it together, he now became worried “But that’s like an endless power battery!”

Yang shook his head in disagreement “You’re right, but think about this, say you plug in a phone and you keep charging it without unplugging, what would happen to it?”

“Huh? It’d burn.” Shin said as he felt his cheek, talking from experience.

“That’s exactly how Chi works, you need intensive training and stamina to hold and control that power, or you’ll end up popping like a balloon.” Yang continued, emphasizing the last part. This made Shin swallow his spit at that thought.

“Yeah, that’s why Chi is more dangerous than any divine art.”

“I just hope I won’t end up in a situation where I’ll need that,” Shin turned his head away.

“Hmm…” Yang stroked his chin “Nah, you’ll probably never need it.”

All of a sudden, a red portal materialized in front of them.

“Oi, the gate’s open!” Shin pointed vigorously like a child on a sugar rush.

In the dungeon for some time now, they’ve been traveling through gates that spawn at random intervals and locations, these gates lead to other rooms in the dungeon.

Yang stood up as well, ‘This’ll probably be a long journey,’

Shin quickly ran into the portal without hesitation which made Yang smile softly “But definitely not boring.”