“Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.” - Mencius 327-289 BC
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A boy stood at the edge of a precipice overlooking an ominous chasm. Above, dark clouds morphed in perpetual agitation. Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the world in brief intervals. Despite the general eeriness of his environment, the boy gazed nonchalantly into the distance.
It was his 3,269th attempt to escape this damned dimension, but who was counting. The boy had been trapped in this reality for longer than he could care to remember.
“If I can gather enough lightning qi and redirect it into the abyss, maybe the shockblast will generate an exit,” he thought optimistically.
The boy knew his attempt was a far shot. In the uncountable period of time he had been stuck in this plane, he had learned one hard truth. Whenever he did anything drastic, whether it was absorbing all the qi or killing himself, the dimension would reset itself, and he would wake up on the edge of the cliff just like the very first time. More than once, he had tried to fly as far away from the chasm as possible, only to realize that the far edges of the dimension were enclosed by an impermeable gray mist.
“Here goes nothing,” the boy joked. With no more than a thought, he beckoned the lightning qi above to coagulate near his outstretched hand. Then, the boy fired the highly compressed lightning qi into the abyss below. He waited for a reaction, but nothing happened.
The boy’s shoulders drooped in disappointment, and he sat down with a sigh, dangling his legs over the edge. Patience was another virtue he had become familiar with over time.
“Maybe next time Xiao Long,” the boy spoke sadly to the carefree dragon that glided to and fro on his robe. “You know, you and I aren’t so different. The fabric is your prison, and this dimension is mine,” the boy said with a wry smile.
While he contemplated his loneliness, the world around him abruptly froze. The boy instantly sensed the time dilation. After living in this plane for so long, the boy had learned to detect even the smallest of fluctuations in the qi. He noticed that the clouds had stopped moving, and several newly-formed arcs of lightning froze midway in the air.
A rift appeared a few meters behind him. Light spewed out from the torn fabric of space. The boy got up, slack-jawed, and watched the portal stabilize.
“Did my attempt work?” he wondered. Regardless of its origin, the portal was a welcoming sight for sore eyes. Fearing an eternity in prison, the boy leapt into the rift without any hesitation.
When he stepped out on the other side, the first thing he noticed was an overwhelming presence of lost souls. “Interesting,” he mused. Having mastered the Dao of Life, the antagonistic souls posed no threat to him. However, they could very well hurt the injured man lying on the ground in front of him.
“I’m not going to let them hurt a potential friend,” the boy thought to himself. The shadows hissed synchronously, preparing for another attack. Little did they know, they had come across one of the few existences who held complete dominance over them.
The boy effortlessly summoned a spirit vortex. A white arch fully materialized around the vortex and released thousands of translucent chains that latched themselves to the shadows. The black masses squirmed desperately to break free, to no avail. With a nod from the boy, the chains began slowly reeling the souls in.
“Go in peace. May you all find better fortune in the next life,” the boy prayed.
Once all the souls in the vicinity had been taken care of, the gate disappeared and the atmosphere lightened considerably. The boy wanted nothing more than to celebrate his newfound freedom with the man in front of him. However, afraid he might scare the other person away by acting unruly, the boy decided to wait for the man to come around on his own.
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In the meantime, the boy tried to identify other threats with his qi sense. A complicated look briefly flitted across the boy’s face when he discovered an array around him. This was second time he had felt unsettled in a long while. The first time occurred during the brief moment he crossed the portal. At the rift’s threshold, he was subjected to a powerful mind technique that imparted him with knowledge of a new language. Only a cultivator who had mastered the Dao of Insight could overcome the boy’s considerable mental defenses.
“First it’s someone capable of using the Dao of Insight, and now it’s someone skilled in the Dao of Space-Time,” the boy thought. “An interesting day, indeed. This array answers as many questions as it introduces. And that concentric eight-sided star appears to be the source of my imprisonment. Utilizing my own qi core to entrap me in a stasis. Genius!” the boy commented silently.
Now knowing that the array was the reason for his incarceration, the boy felt like one piece of the puzzle had been put in place.Though the boy detested the individual or individuals who imprisoned him, he could not help but admire their talents. As a cultivator who had mastered more than one Dao, the boy knew how rare such accomplishments were. The universe contained many secrets, and to even understand a tiny bit of reality was an enormous achievement.
The boy’s momentary reflection was disrupted when he noticed the man in front of him begin to regain his bearings. Then their eyes met.
“Wuh,” the man uttered a sound. Now that they were face-to-face, the boy had realized the man in front of him was fairly advanced in age. The old man wore a simple grey shirt and tattered brown pants. His greying hair was neatly tied together in one knot at the back.
“Greetings, sir. I’m not sure where I am. Would you kindly tell me?” the boy spoke in the friendliest way he could with the new language he had acquired. Not wanting to frighten the man with his sudden appearance, the boy tried to show a sincere side of himself by smiling.
Unfortunately, his actions only seemed to jolt the old man. For a brief moment, the boy had thought the man couldn’t understand him, but his initial fears were quickly dispelled.
“We’re somewhere below the Shadow Ruins,” explained the old man, pointing up at the opening above them. “What’s your name, and how did you get here?” the old man inquired.
The questions prompted a flurry of emotions in the boy. Who am I? Why was I imprisoned? Why don’t I have memories of my past? These were all questions the boy longed to answer. Although the boy retained his abilities, the lack of memories always made him feel like an empty husk. After all, one’s experiences contributed largely to one’s identity. Following that logic, the boy was a nobody, regardless of his vast cultivation capabilities.
“It’s really strange, sir, but I can’t seem to remember. Do you know?” the boy responded, thinking that speaking the truth was more beneficial at the moment than a lie. For reasons he couldn't explain, the boy had taken a liking to the old man in front of him.
Earlier, he had noticed that the array required someone else’s blood in order to be broken. Judging by the smear of blood on the wall, the boy surmised that the old man had unraveled the array by accident. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, the boy was thankful.
“I’m not sure either. There was an earthquake, lights, and hissing noises, but they’ve all stopped. Then you appeared out of nowhere,” the old man replied. “And now we’re both stuck down here, and my ankle is broken.”
The boy detected a hint of frustration in the old man’s tone. The man’s emotional state wasn’t particularly surprising. Judging by the way the old man favored his right leg, the boy knew he had been injured. Moreover, the old man had probably been frightened for his life after encountering a horde of lost souls.
“I see. If I have any responsibility in causing your predicament, I apologize. Since it seems we are fated to meet on this auspicious day, I do not mind being of service,” said the boy. Looking up at the opening, the boy decided it was time to repay his dues.
“Is that the way out?” asked the boy.
The old man nodded.
Though there were still many questions the boy needed to resolve, he had realized it wasn’t going to happen right this moment. Maybe the world at large held answers for him. The boy’s eyes widened in anticipation, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in ages. And for the first time in a long time, the boy felt hunger. In the other dimension, the concept of sleep and food was nonexistent. It was different in this world, and his body adapted accordingly.
“Well then, perhaps I have a solution,” said the boy, grinning at the thought of a nice meal.
[Chapter End]