There was not a single cloud in sight in the blue sky as a short, beige-robed old man wandered across the land. The hair on his chin was braided into a single strand with the string of a wilted, yellow plant. His eyes shined a bright golden, and within them, a gentle warmness.

He carried himself like any other ordinary man and apart from his lively complexion and strange eyes, nothing was out of the ordinary. As he treaded further upon the dirt road at the same slow but steady pace, time passed. The man continued to walk on the road, not encountering a single person. When the sun set, the old man walked over to a nearby patch of grass adjacent to the road and laid down, dozing off to sleep without care. And when he awoke, the sun was glistening from over the horizon.

Thus, this cycle continued. Many days passed and eventually he found himself walking on a stone road next to the coast. Sandy beaches extended into the distance, churning waves washing over the sand to his right as he walked. And after another day of walking, he reached a small town with a port filled with boats.

Walking on its main street, he passed many happy faces. Children holding the hands of their fathers and mothers, boisterous merchants asking their customers about their days, and wild birds peering their surroundings above the tall roofs of the nearby buildings.

It was a serene scene. Something that the elderly man knew was precious. Something that was to be protected no matter the cost. It was a sanctuary, a place untainted from war and its bloodshed. It had evaded natural disasters and was lucky enough to not have been discovered by bandits yet. The old man had seen many things and many places. But places like this were scarce and hard to find.

As he continued his stroll, he eventually stopped and came to a certain stall. A man of similar-looking age to him sat behind it, carefully cutting the leaves of a bonsai plant. The elderly man watched the man behind the stall for many moments, not wanting to interrupt him when he seemed so focus. The elderly man had a keen eye for things like this. Moments of focus were not to be interrupted.

So, he waited.

The merchant delicately handled his tiny steel cutters, taking time every so often to lean back and analyse his work before he further continued. He took it leaf by leaf, the process taking an excruciatingly length of time to make progress. When he finally finished, he ended up with a lush green plant, its trunk forming a distinctive s-shape. Setting down his tools and wiping sweat off his forehead, he let out a big sigh. Satisfied, he revealed his teeth in a big grin.

“Your craftsmanship is beautiful,” The elderly man praised.

Turning in his seat, he appraised the person before him and chuckled to himself, “No, no. I still have a long way to go.”

Standing up from his chair, he walked over to the front of the stall and asked the elderly man, “You’re a new face. I haven’t seen you around. What’s your name?”

“My surname is Wan,” The elderly man named Wan answered.

“Call me Qin. Well, Mister Wan, you looking to buy some apples?” Merchant Qi raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the large array of bright red apples laid upon his stall.

Stroking his beard, he pointed to five apples out of the bunch. Compared to the rest, they were all slightly discoloured, and one could say they were the worst ones of the entire stock. Still, he seemed stern of his decision and smiled as they were handed to him and pocketed them inside the pockets of his robes.

Pulling out a bronze coin, he gave it to the merchant.

“You are the first customer to deliberately buy the worst ones I have. What’s wrong with you?” Merchant Qin jested with a laugh and his hands on his hips.

Mister Wan shrugged his shoulders as he bit into one of the apples he bought, “They’re not that bad.”

The apple merchant could only smile as Mister Wan left.

Leaving the main street, Mister Wan came into a less-travelled side street. Wooden houses standing side-by-side, the old man saw groups of children and varying ages of woman along the street. Many of the men would be out during this time out day, fishing at sea on big boats. The women were left with the household chores and the children were left to their own devices, free to play and run around.

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After waving to a passing elderly woman, Mister Wan came to the end of the gravel road, which marked the beginning of a dirt one. Upon a large plot of land, at the end of the road, there was a wooden manor. The old man reached the manor after a brief walk and couldn’t help but smile when he saw a squirrel looking at him with a funny face, eating an acorn atop a tall tree nearby.

Knocking on the door, the elderly man heard a pair of skittering steps before the door was opened. Surprisingly, two small children opened it. One was a snot-nosed, shaven-head child while the other was a red-haired, freckled girl.

Both stared up at the elderly man for a short moment before they both brightened up and screamed, jumping at him, “Mister Wan!”

“Oh-Hoh!” Mister Wan laughed as the pair cheerily jumped into his embrace.

This caused more children to pour out from inside and soon nearly thirty children or so had surrounded him. A few though, peered out from windows inside, unsure as to who this person was. Then, a tall, black-haired, middle-aged women with remnants of a beautiful young lady on her face, walked out and greeted Mister Wan.

“I was wondering when your next visit was going to be,” The tall lady smiled.

Herding the children inside, the group sat back down and went back down to eating their food, consisting of fish and rice. It wasn’t fancy but it was still far better than what many people were eating out in the larger world.

Greeting each child and how their day had been, he eventually came to those he hadn’t met before. As the newest kids in the place, they all happened to sit at the same table together.

Walking up to the table, he sized up each one with a cheeky smile.

“You know, I don’t really like hearing about sad stories. How about some apples?” Revealing several, bright-red apples from beneath his robe, the group of children perked up from their previously sombre and less giddy mood. If Merchant Qin happened to be here at this moment, he would be scratching his head at how the previously discoloured apples had somehow turned bright and red.

Immediately devouring the apples, Mister Wan proceeded to make several jokes and comments, cheering the children up. After several minutes he left them with smiles on their faces and walked up to the tall women who was currently cleaning up in the kitchen in the next room over.

“You need a hand?” Mister Wan asked.

“To any other person I would say no. But since you’re such a persistent and helpless old man, I have to say yes,” The woman replied, chuckling as she cleaned the metal pot in water, scrubbing it up and down with a rough fabric.

Helping her, the duo quickly finished up cleaning up the kitchen and the two came to a room upstairs. Inside was a study with bookshelves and a wooden desk. In front of a window was a wooden desk with paper and ink. Here, the old man and lady caught up with each other over the past year that they had been apart, reminiscing over what had happened in the time they had been apart.

The women talked about the children at the orphanage while the elderly man talked about his travels around the world and all the things he had seen during this time. How he travelled to the centre of the world and met a small clan of monks to discuss religion. How he accidentally awoke a zombie from their grave, and that he helped a few men catch a murderer.

They were all interesting tales, but as the lady began talking about the children once again, the topic came to a specific child.

“Chao An?” Mister Wan raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, he is quite a troublesome child. He is always creating mischief and creating trouble. But there is something incredibly strange and unique about him,” The lady explained.

Mister Wan nodded.

“He-“

However, just as the lady was about to continue, a tremor shook the building. A loud rumble sounded in the distance and the children playing outside began wailing and crying. Books flew from their shelves, and the lady's chair lost footing and she fell to the ground. Amidst this situation, Mister Wan retained a calm expression and his golden eyes shined as he looked into the distance out the window and towards the town's port.