2 YOU ARE CALLED CHENG HAO (1/2)
As he slowly got accustomed to his new body, Xu Ling guided the golden-eyed child to thread the small path leading to the burning village: right now, the place where the 'past him' had lived for about eight years was being slowly eaten away by the blazes.
The few valuable things those poor villagers had ever managed to gather during their harsh and penniless life were all being pillaged by a numerous group of dark-clothed figures. As they advanced towards the more populated center of the small town, the cries of women and small children began breaking the silence of the night, accompanied by the laughter of the assailants and the crackling of fire.
Roofs and walls all came crashing down and were turned into ashes as the flames burned down the wooden buildings. The child smiled as he walked in between the flaming debris, as if the fire posed no threat to him. Step by step, he headed towards the only part of the village that had yet to burn down: here, the buildings weren't made of wood; instead, all the houses had been built out of stone. Although thanks to this the fire had slowly come to a stop, the biggest threat of the bandits attacking remained unperturbed by the shift in construction materials: dozens of people clad in black were rushing down the paved roads, each of them holding a sack in one hand and a weapon, blood-soaked in most cases, in the other.
In between all of these chaotic happenings, of people screaming and buildings crushing down, the child walked undisturbed through the burning village: he was headed towards the one place where the fuzzy memories of his new body remembered the people of Stonewood Township would be able to defend themselves from the bandits' raid; the major's mansion. Seeing how the assailants were all heading in that direction as well, he eventually came to the conclusion that cleaning up a bit wouldn't bring much harm.
He walked into the town plaza and no one seemed to notice him. It didn't matter if it was a bandit looting a house, one of the rogue having his way with a woman, or another of the criminals drinking from a freshly-stolen gourd of wine: they all were unaware of the shadow that had just swept by them, just as they had not noticed when their heads had at some unknown point fallen on the ground.
Swish! Swish! Swish! The shadow reaped its harvest noiselessly, akin to a silent grim reaper.
After some time had passed, the night finally began to quiet down until all that was left was the crackling sound of burning wood.
A golden-eyed child sat atop a pile of corpses, examining his blood-stained hands, some of victims', some his: the skin of his palm had basically split open, the result of using advanced assassination techniques with such a feeble, untrained body. Nonetheless, the ones to suffer the most had not been him for sure; around him, the lifeless, headless bodies of tens of black-robed figures had all been gathered in a single spot. The surrounding stone houses, other than being charred black after the fire, they were now also painted with streaks of vermillion.
As he tore the shirt of one of the bandits and made a makeshift bandage for his injured hands, Xu Ling smiled knowingly: someone had stepped into the plaza. Judging by his careful and silent steps, he most likely was one of Stonewood's few hunters. He had no enmity with the town that had brought him up. He allowed the man to get closer without showing any sign of having noticed him, so as to not scare him off right away.
”You… Who are you?” Unexpectedly, it was the hunter that actually initiated the conversation. Although it took a few tries before he could get the words out, it was still commendable given the outright nightmarish scene surrounding him.
Pleasantly surprised, Xu Ling turned around and smiled kindly, ”Actually, I don't really know myself… I was honestly hoping for you to tell me!”
”H-Hao'Er!” squeaked the hunter in disbelief as he finally saw the other party's face.
”Oh? So you DO know me! Uncle, do tell me quickly if you know!” Xu Ling urged.
”Ah, ah… How could things turn out like this?” The man lamented, and looked at the child, whose clothes were all but soaked in blood. He seemed conflicted for a while, but ultimately managed to blurt out, ”Child… Your name is Cheng Hao, you are this town major's son. However… it looks like you aren't anymore, are you?”
The child's eyes gleamed with amusement but did not answer. Instead, he chuckled, ”Cheng Hao… Since I have technically stolen this guy's body, even though he was already dead I will still make sure to use his name to repay him!” He then turned around and told the confused hunter, ”Oh, and thank you for telling me all this, my friend! These dead bandits are my way to thank you and the village of everything you have done for the other me up to today!”
The man frowned. He was about to say something but he suddenly gaped in shock: the figure of the child that had been sitting right over there had suddenly vanished! He looked around yet found no trace of him.
”Ahh, Master Fen, Mistress Rong… just what has our Stonewood Township gotten itself into now?” The old hunter could let out a sigh and chuckled bitterly to himself, ”May the gods have mercy on our small village and on Hao'Er…”
…
Six months later, a black blur shot through a vast forest at the foot of a huge mountain chain. In the blink of an eye, it had sped past a swamp and was now running up and down the peaks. When it finally began to gradually slow down, the sun was hanging directly overhead. Noticing it was noon, the blur came to an abrupt stop on top of a tall cliff. With it standing still, the figure could finally be seen a bit more clearly: 'it' was actually a young boy; he was wearing ragged clothes, and was carrying a huge backpack on his shoulders.
His skin and clothing were so dirty and covered in dark mud that he appeared to be completely black. If it weren't for the pair of bright, golden eyes and the two rows of perfect, white teeth perennially arranged into an excited grin, one would easily have mistaken him for a shadow.
Looking down from the edge of the tall cliff, the youngster examined his surroundings: below the edge and off into the distance, a gigantic fortress could be seen; the outer walls extended for countless miles to the point they disappeared beyond the horizon. Inside the fortress there weren't only houses or other buildings as one would expect. Instead, there were actually many lakes, forests and even actual hills and mountains. It made people wonder whether the gargantuan castle had actually been built somewhere else and only then moved on top of such fantasy-like scenery.
As his gaze landed on the majestic walls, the child's golden eyes glinted with delight. ”That seems to be it!” he told the wind, ”The Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect of the Four Beasts Mountain Range… We're almost there!”
Suddenly, the youth plastered a smug smile on his face as two slender arms completely covered in filth crossed in front of his chest. ”So, what do you say now, uh? What would have happened if I had turned left at that time, uh? Thus, as per our bet, from now on, I keep the map!”
”...” Unsurprisingly, no one spoke back.
The golden-eyed child didn't seem to mind the lack of a reply and instead stretched a bit, ”Mmm... Anyways, this was a pretty long and harsh journey, even I feel a bit of pressure after running so much... but I must say, even if it were just for such a beautiful view, it would still be worth it!” And indeed it would have been: the imposing fortress was striking, but there was also a beauty in the way the nature had been preserved. Was it intentional, the boy pondered, but did not truly give it too much of a thought.
The youngster covered in filth kept stretching his arms and legs for a bit. His body emitted creaking noises, followed by delighted moans that occasionally escaped the thin lips. After the short stretching session, the boy rubbed the bridge of his nose with a satisfied smile, ”Well... Shall we head down?”
”We sure should!” Surprisingly, a voice really did answer him! It seemed to be that of a middle aged man, yet it carried a hint of ancientness as well as of loftiness. The mysterious voice continued, ”We wouldn't want to be too late, right? Especially after running so much just to get here on time!”
”Absolutely… since I did all the running!” Xu Ling rolled his eyes, ”Your only usage as of lately seems to be that of a dead weight I need to take care of. Be sure to breakthrough soon or just slither like the snake you are! Now then, let me see whether there is something worth snatching…” The boy looked at the valley beneath the cliff and frowned thoughtfully. Suddenly, his eyes brightened up and the pupils within seemed to transform into golden coins as they glinted with greed. ”There! Look over there!” The youth exclaimed. ” An Advanced Stage cultivator with an actual Heaven&Earth Pouch? That's just announcing to the world how rich you must be! Fat yet clueless sheep are my favorite! ”