What is that sound...it is like a running water?

Ubel blinked and looked down.

There was a small stream of transparent water trying to push through a mound of dirt. There were marks of a claw on it, and the scraped parts were already painted dark brown by the water separating into two lines that died not far from the source. Though it was milder than the days before, the little stream sounded quite loud today.

Ubel raised his fingers and tapped on his earlaps twice; the buzzing and swirling sounds dimmed.

I should clear it out- Ubel nodded to himself and crouched near the dirt pile. He waved his hands over the hill and sent it tumbling over to the side, letting the water rush through the fresh opening with vigor. Just as the stream pushed out towards the small garden at his back, Ubel heard the buzzing get louder again. This time with pain.

His index fingers slightly dug into the ears, sealed their entrance. In the same instant, the ringing vanished. In its place was now the gurgling of his own blood- quite a soothing source.

With his fingers in his ears, Ubel stood up and watched the nature’s mother leak into the garden of yet-to-bloom crops. Though there wasn’t much left to their awakening, and to the chance of Ubel and his family eating some hand-grown fruits and vegetables.

Once he made sure everything was in order, Ubel walked past the series of vibrant oaks and maple trees across the garden, rounding the boulders half-mined by his father, and came before their door. Years of use had worn down the exterior, now half a pinky’s size splinters threatened to stick out of the main body. Ubel pushed his hands on one and slid his palm down the surface to straighten the splinters.

Ouch-

One prickled his open hand, he felt it pierce and burn, and so he raised his arm again- the other one still in his left ear.

A droplet of blood coagulated on top of his ring finger’s tip, right next to his chipped nails. Ubel inspected it for a second to see, yet as the pain subsidized he felt no more need to focus on that. He swept his finger across his leather robe, the blood smeared on the robe’s upper-right leather, and no more blood seeped out of his finger.

He pushed open the door with the same hand and stepped in after its squeal. His footsteps rang in the ears of a certain duo, and one called out to him.

‘’Ubel, are you finished?’

‘’Yes, grandma,’’ Ubel replied across the small corridor between bedroom and kitchen, in the meanwhile walking towards the source. ‘’I’ve cleaned the garden.’’

‘’Good,’’ a thicker, and perhaps jovial, voice commented. Ubel’s steps suddenly came to a halt right before the entrance of the room. He had an instant hunch in his heart, one that smashed even the veins connecting the heart. But it disappeared as fast as it came, in an instant.

Ubel stepped forward and entered the now slightly empty room...

Wasn’t it always like this, though?

Ubel’s foot ceased its descent mid-air, for his eyes swept the room that he was most familiar with.

There was an elderly woman leaning on a rocking chair, swaying back and forth, and patting something in her hands.

‘’Have you seen the fox?’’ The thick voice asked, and Ubel’s gaze fell from the elderly woman’s face to the head in her hands.

The whole world froze.

*********

The sound seemed quite louder than before, Ubel realized.

Even with the prey in his sight, and his bow drawn full in an arc, he couldn’t get himself together. The gazelle, on the other hand, didn’t carry the same set of troubles as him. It licked out blurbs of gurgling water to taste and drink, unbeknownst to it the death awaited.

A buzz, a gurgle, a fierce storm? How could he describe this sound the best?

He never heard anything like it before- though one couldn’t say he heard too many things. Chirpings of the birds, the cries of the eagles, the roars of the boars, whimpers of the deers, howling of the wind, doting of the soft breeze, cackling of the fire, squealing of the door, squeaking of the floor, tapping of the rain...

Now that he listed, there were many indeed.

Just as he was deep in thought, the gazelle had finished its short period of rest and trod to the other side of the forest- away from Ubel. Now Ubel added to the list of sounds the hard stomp of the gazelle, but he had no idea of what to do now.

Should he go back? They had meals for today, and tomorrow as well. Keeping them fresh took a lot of salt though and mining salt was a dangerous deed. His father already took out at least a few meters down in the past, leaving the salt well in its current state of pseudo-depletion. Unless he created a new well to mine from, and that was also an affair harder than it sounded, it would take quite an effort to replenish their salt reserves.

So he should chase the animal down? If it was before, he could. But the gazelle rested, drank quite an exorbitant amount of water to lower its body heat and quench its thirst. Yet, right after it again warmed up its limbs to take caution. Gazelle continued drawing farther from him- thus, in such a state, only the light knew whether he could catch it before the night fell.

In the end, he chose to go back. Prey was numerous and centuries alone couldn’t end the wild life here. If he wasn’t truly unlucky, Ubel would definitely get a deer or a boar tomorrow to home.

But not today. Picking berries and clutching wild fruits were all he did today.

Now that the sun almost set and dyed itself the color of a fox-fur, Ubel decided it was enough exploring for now. He gathered the few pellets of berries and a dozen of pears into a leather pouch tied with an itchy rope. It slung on his shoulders and swayed back and right with his every step towards his home.

The sound in his ears, however, became much unbearable when the night approached. It turned from a faint buzzing to an outright, shrill scream. Not the kind an iron plate did, nor the last whimpers of a dying animal.

It was like being dragged in the sea at extraordinary speeds.

...what kind of sound is that?

Ubel shook his head and bit his lower lip whilst approaching home. At the half-open door step stood half the body of a man, with the lower parts completely missing.

Intriguing, however, was the lack of any treatment or blood near the bottom belly. It was a flat, stone like surface and above the flesh. The half-a-body looked at him, Ubel, with relaxed brows and a wide, warm smile.

Ubel’s feet stopped mid-air, again.

The whole world froze.

*********

In the eyes of a small and crunchy cicada reflected was the gleam of the moon- full moon. The round, silver bead hung in the sky implored with its soft light to cicada, to get it chirp and hoot with others of its kind and owls. An orchestra of nature, the moon seemed to explain, that it had to join before some danger befell.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

But a cicada was no creature with will, sentience; it was just a small insect born to be two things, a song and a food. It couldn’t understand why the grand celestial star wished for it to enjoy the former without encountering the fate of the latter. That was what people called instinct- and yet, even with that, cicada was foolish enough to laze around before acting.

It stuck on the thick bark of a tree not far from the garden, meshed together with the darker shade of the bark under the black of the night, and chirped. Once, twice, thrice...its wings fluttered, making the sound it was destined for so long.

Yet mantis had come already.

A lush monstrosity with four legs and two arms like blades; with a pair of sharp dots to act as its vision. It slid down the bark of the tree, silent, and came behind the cicada living the moment. Its blade like arms rose, then befell- the chirping halted.

Like a tidal wave starting with the faint ripple, the faint sounds in the forest disappeared one by one, then ten by ten, then a hundred by hundred. A raven let out a long, piercing cry at the absence of the cicadas’ voices, followed by the supporting hoots of the owls stalking in the branches.

Cicadas returned to their song at the order and continued...

Ubel watched it all with mild interest, sitting beside the door with his arms wrapped around his knees, and his back leaned on the wooden beams of the house.

Then midnight’s refreshing breeze had not much effect on lightening his mood, nor did the tragic end of the cicada. His limbs refused to move, even, in restlessness as he awaited the man of the night.

The door creaked at the same moment; it slightly propped towards the outside. Then a head peeked out, eyes locked on him with curiosity.

‘’...may I come?’’ He asked to Ubel, his body cloaked behind the door.

‘’Yes.’’ Ubel nodded, so the man pushed the door open. With a faint squeak he stepped outside, not with his head or with half a body- but with a fully operating, well-trained body without any disabilities.

The man pushed the door behind him to close it. The door shut with first a squeal, then a thud, and the man took two steps to the side of Ubel. Ubel was three steps away from him, crouching and leaning to the house, while the man stood upright and gave his back to the house to cross his arms.

Ubel snuck a peek at his feet; he realized there really were no more deficiencies. So he gulped and gazed down at the mantis munching on the cicada- as he didn’t know what even to say.

‘’Owls are plenty tonight-’’ The man said, ‘’And cicadas too.’’

Ubel didn’t reply, but his ears perked up a little.

‘’And the moon is...haah,’’ As the man continued, his words came to an abrupt halt, then escaped a heavy sigh. His lips trembled for a moment to tell something else, it seemed, but gave in in the end.

‘’You’ve grown,’’ He said, ‘’And I don’t know what to talk to my son anymore...’’

‘’Why?’’ Ubel asked. ‘’I am still your son.’’

This time, it was his father’s turn to stay silent. His long nose, however, had a shade of crimson near the nostrils.

‘’Won’t you ask what I did after you left?’’

‘’...do you...want me to...?’’

‘’...I do,’’ Ubel said, his hands wrapped around his knees a tad bit tighter. ‘’I really do.’’

‘’...How did it go? The sect, the world? The cultivation?’’

Ubel’s answer came not much later, yet with a break to process his words.

‘’It was...interesting. I didn’t have much hope or dreams about them, I was still thinking of coming back to take care of her, if she ever survived at all...’’ He couldn’t go farther than a few words before his voice turned into a whisper.

‘’But I met misfortune, and had bad dreams, and there were things I don’t know why even happened...’’ Ubel continued. ‘’Still, I kept going. I had some worries, and I learned of some secrets that I probably shouldn’t be aware. Even now, I’m not sure if they are real or not...’’

‘’It didn’t last long. Two and a half years at most. I almost died at the border city, my meridians were wrecked when I was healed. I lost my cultivation there, in Yadratafos.’’

‘’Then you are here?’’ Ke’ai Zhanglao said. ‘’What happened in between?’’

‘’I...gained some friends. I also gained a master, Quan Bing Yingxiong is his name. And some closer than a friend, who saved my life. But I’m unsure...’’

‘’Does that person not feel the same for you?’’

‘’I have gratitude for him, and he is like a half-brother in my heart. But it is in my heart...and I don’t know if he did the same. It doesn’t matter anymore, he left for a battle of the utmost rate of mortality.’’

‘’You might meet or you might not, son,’’ Zhanglao crouched down near Ubel. His hand reached out to Ubel’s head; his fingers traveled between tendrils of short hair. ‘’But does it really not matter? A bond is as strong as the string tied to it, as well as the end it is anchored; Like a bow. Think about who he is, who you are, and what made your bond in the first place.’’

‘’That might tell you what you want to know.’’

Ubel raised his head to look at the beaming Zhanglao. How much had he longed to see this delighted man again? How long had he imagined gazing on this soothing, warm smile while sweeping that hard, cold tomb? Only he knew. So he nodded and gazed up, further than his father’s face, to the twinkling sea of milky stars above.

‘’Say, father,’’ Ubel asked suddenly. ‘’Why can I not keep onto my aims?’’

‘’Because you are impatient, weak-willed, easy to mislead,’’ Zhanglao started listing off, ‘’passive in action, not willing to open your heart to anyone, mistrusting before a threshold...and liar.’’

Ubel let out a slight chuckle at this and he looked at his father; They both gazed upon the floating galaxies outside the world.

‘’Your resolutions are empty because you don’t seek them,’’ Zhanglao stopped crouching and outright sat on the ground, crossing his legs to relax. Ubel released his arms around his knees.

‘’We had a saying in my home: Heart is softer than sand, hotter than the Sun. Do you know what it means?’’

‘’It can be swept away, or it can be divided, but sand can’t be crushed. Heart can be mild, it can be cold, but in the end everyone has that spark of emotion in their hearts. That is passion, and is a virtue. And virtue is what makes someone a person.’’

Zhanglao slightly furrowed his brows. ‘’Your master’s words?’’

‘’His words,’’ Ubel nodded with a grin.

‘’Answer with your own,’’ Zhanglao said, ‘’Or I will have to add thief to your flaws as well.’’

As they fell silent, their eyes were still on the sky, inspecting the field of stars inching closer with each second.

‘’Am I...heartless, then?’’ Ubel asked.

‘’No, it is this, Ubel, that is heartless.’’ With his hand, Zhanglao plucked the necklace hidden inside Ubel’s robes and tore it from the ropes- the ropes that couldn’t be cut by the spears of the forsakens.

‘’It is this...?’’

‘’Ubel is the one without mercy, without wisdom, without will, without patience,’’ Zhanglao clenched his fist and boundless crimson light seeped out of the black stone. The word Evil turned ethereal and passed through Zhanglao’s hands to float in front of them.

‘’You aren’t evil, and you aren’t Ubel.’’

As he spoke, the Evil morphed into a distorted shape and lost all its luster; with a bang, it turned into a single word.

Ubel

‘’You are Xie’e, you are my son. Not the embodiment of Death or Evil, but an idea.’’

‘’We gave you this name because of the supposed destiny...of our people,’’ Zhanglao stopped for a moment and fondled Ube- Xie’e’s hair. ‘’It is not in our blood to be bad, nor in your mother’s fate to be wicked. It is all an idea, and you are our hope for that to stay the same.’’

The stars in the air gleamed through their eyes; now inches apart from them.

‘’Xie’e...’’ Xie’e lowered his head and gazed into his father’s eyes.

‘’What should Xie’e do, then, father?’’

Zhanglao raised a brow at him and let out a small sigh.

‘’You still ask, son?’’

Zhanglao grasped his son from both shoulders and pulled him into his embrace, sniffing his hair. The scarlet around his nose now gathered under his eyes and on his cheeks.

‘’You get to find your dream again, spoiled boy.’’

Xie'e let out a laughter at the nickname. The stars from the sky were now right above them, at most a few millimeters away. The moment they touched, Xie'e knew this would all disappear.

‘’Say, father,’’ Xie'e asked before the light enveloped them, ‘’Is it you, is it grandma, or is it...myself?’’

His father beamed and clutched him tighter; a drop of tear fell on Xie'e’s face.

‘’It is me...’’

The sea of stars descended on them and they disappeared within.

*********

‘’Thank you, mother.’’

Ke’ai Huiqing cast a long glance on her palm, to the head now turning into dust. The faint glow of stars around it glimmered for once, then dimmed; the twisted expression on the face turned into a tranquil smile. A second later a wind picked up and took her son's last part from her, and a strand of her white hair.

Huiqing sniffed with her red nose a few times; to keep her tears and calm herself down.

She waved her sleeve and the Tian Hui below her let out a sorrowful cry. With a step, they both disappeared in the direction of the extreme north.

Behind them, left to drift in the ocean, was the giant corpse of a Rainbow Phantom.