He had heard stories in the village of miraculous medicines that could make one a demon vanquisher – cultivators who harnessed the power of demons in battle. This is why he ate the white, gold-shining bead without any hesitation. If he could become one such cultivator, maybe he could find his mother.

A pleasant warmth spread across Xiao Wen’s body, making him pant. He even let out small moans of pleasure. His whole body felt extremely rejuvenated and every fiber of his body were roaring in happiness.

“What is this? It’s feels so good!”

When Xiao Wen’s mother left him here in the village, she had given him this statue. At that time he was only 7 years old, but he still remembered the scene back then. 

...

Xiao Wen looked up to his mother with his blue, piercing eyes overflowing with love. His mother was exquisitely dressed and had sharp but delicate facial features. As she spoke, her voice was crisp and clear; like the cool winter noon.

“Little Xiao, my little boy. Mommy has to go somewhere far far away, she has some stuff to do, but trusts her little Xiao to behave well while she is gone.” 

His mom ruffled his hair with her white, jade-like hand, then gave him a statue of a man holding a halberd. Xiao Wen held the statue and looked at it, it was beautiful.

“This is something very precious.” His mother told him. “If you get wounded, and want to fight back, when the light in the tunnel seem to fade; turn his halberd the way you want to go, and you will get the power that you seek.”

Little Xiao blinked with his big, blue eyes. “Mom, I don’t understand.”

She revealed a sweet smile. Her hair fluttered in the wind. “Don’t worry, my boy. When the time is right, the answer will come to you.”

...

Xiao Wen came back to reality, his body still feeling great. But then, out of nowhere, he felt something bubble deep inside his body. It was as if the fibers that were roaring in happiness now started to roar in rebellion, his blood surging. He looked down to his chest and saw that it was red, glowing with a crimson shimmer. He removed his pants too, and saw that they were the same.

“Aaaah!? What is this?”

Xiao Wen became frantic from fright. He had no idea what was happening, and didn’t have anyone to ask either. Slowly, he felt the heat of his body rise from the normal temperature, which for him was quite lukewarm, up to over 50 degrees. 

“This, this!” Xiao Wen stuttered, afraid to the extreme.“What’s happening to me? My body is so hot, can it be… that this will kill me? No.. no, mom surely wouldn’t give me this to kill me. Right…?”

He was merely 10 years old, and had his whole life in front of himself. Trying to think of a way to save himself, his mind worked quicker than ever.

“Hot… warm… I need to make my body temperature colder… Water! That’s it! There’s a lake not far from here, I can go there! But I need to hurry!”

Xiao Wen didn’t bother to dress himself and immediately exited his tree crown house, climbing down the tree, and then as fast as his legs could carry him ran toward the lake so that he could get back his normal temperature.

“There!”

He could now see the lake, it was about 100 meters away. 

Suddenly, his body convulsed. The heat was increasing! He felt himself losing strenght, making him slower than before.

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“Crap, I need to get there faster!

He tried to muster more strenght in his legs and propelled himself forward.

50 meters!

“Rooooar!”

“Ehh!?

Xiao Wen stopped in his tracks, his face instantly becoming whiter than a piece of paper. In front of him stood a black, three headed dog. Saliva dropped from its mouth and chains were tied to its body while scorching flames were slithering across its body like serpents. It was bigger than even the biggest normal dog.

“A d-demon!” 

It glared at him, showing its black, red stained teeth. Beginning to crouch down, Xiao Wen understood that it was about to attack. This beast could easily tear apart men’s limbs with its teeth and even rip them to shreds with its claws. To kill him would be as easy as to let out a fart.

“Run!” A single word appeared in Xiao Wen’s mind. He had to run, quickly get to the lake. The beast probably wouldn’t follow him into the water. Most demons had a huge fear for water. And therefore it wouldn’t follow him inside. Only if the beast was incredible hungry would it do that. But hopefully this wasn't the case.

Just as Xiao Wen was about to move, he discovered to his fear that he was unable to do so. His legs were frozen in place, as if they were stuck in the quicksand of the western plains. No matter what he did, they didn’t want to move a single inch.

“Roar!” The dog lunged at him, claws ready to tear him apart. Its huge body was like a big, black cloud coming down upon him, and the beast’s black eyes were glimmering with shades of red causing afterimages to distort the air when it descended from high above.

“Am I going to die? Just like this?”  A fast replay of his short life played up in his mind. He couldn’t remember back to before his mother left him – only the beggar life replayed. Every day he had almost been starving to death, only kept standing by the thought of that his mother would come and find him living blissfully ever after.

“So in the end, she never came?” Xiao Wen’s face became tragic and he wasn't as scared as before. 

So what if he died. Did anyone care for him? Weren’t everyone just cursing at him and telling him to disappear. Wasn’t he nuisance, a homeless boy living of the everyone's sweat and blood? Wouldn't it be better for him to just die...?

"No!" Xiao Wen screamed. "So what if the village hates me? Don't I have Auntie? Surging within Xiao Wen's blue eyes, the flickering flame of determination shone strongly. 

At this moment, a red, crimson barrier formed around Xiao Wen's body. A tremor shook as the beast charged head-on into it.

"Boom!" 

A/N: Feel free to comment your thoughts. Thanks for reading :-)