V

Encounter

I awoke to the warm feeling of the healing pill returning vitality to my body. It was mixed with something else. The poison decayed rapidly as well and my eyes struggled open. Three shadows lurked above me in the dark, leaning for support on each other as they talked among themselves.

“Are you sure this is the right idea?” A girl asked.

“I concur,” a man’s voice stammered with a slack tongue, “shouldn’t we be killing him instead of saving him? Better we hide it before someone finds out… We would be doing a lot of people a favor on the way, I’m sure. Some would praise us heroes.”

“Before someone finds out…” the third, elderly voice spoke exasperated. “You have life-jade at the sect, think he doesn’t!?” He hit them both on the head. “It’s already done. We’ve done it! We screwed up!” I finally made out the fuzzy shadows. They were the two from the Scarlet Flame Sect and their guardian. Chen was on the verge of tears as he continued, “I don’t know why they felt the need to lie, but if we have to flip a coin, I’d rather put my bet on helping him. If we’re lucky, he’ll be merciful with his punishment.”

“An unfortunate accident during his advancement killed him, they said,” the girl joined in his lament. “We thought we were spared from him, only for another to take his place. And now it turns out there are still a whole two of those freaks! Someone ought to teach the heavens what sharing means! We’ll be kissing twice as many boots because one pair wasn’t enough for them! What do you say, Lei-lei? Think our future overlord will fancy taking me as his concubine? If the era of Fang Shin is coming back then...”

“M-Maybe, it’s not him,” the young man didn’t sound convinced of his words,” he doesn’t look like him. What would he be doing here anyway? Elder Chen you think you’d hold a candle to the real deal?”

“Then get those eyes washed out,” Chen rebuked him sternly. “There exists only one man under the heavens, pray it truly is so, capable of using that martial arts technique at such a young age. There’s a mountain of reasons he could be temporarily weaker, how could we understand the ways of the great? Whatever the case is, my own eyes saw the technique along with his Qi, and if you don’t believe them, look at his. Don’t you see the silver…” his mouth halted, gaping wide open, “y-your awake, young master.”

Realizing I’d come to, all three of them fell to the ground, prostrating themselves with such force they’d have buried their heads if the earth was any softer.

“We beg for your forgiveness!” Chen bellowed, the other two echoing his words, “forgiveness, young master! I-If we had known-”

“Raise… yourselves,” my voice barely made it to their ears, but they heeded every whisper of mine with bated breath. “Thank… you…”

“We are undeserving of your gratitude,” Chen said, now raised but still bowing, “we’ve only acted as it is to be expected of your faithful vassals.”

“Then I will think of this incident as a misunderstanding.” Their bodies trembled with a moment of relief. I had neither the strength nor was I in the mood to explain anything to them.

“We’ve withheld the beacon for now,” Chen said, more relaxed, “instead, we’ve covered the surroundings in the dust of blood-spirit remnants. It will last for another eight hours,” he hesitated, choosing his words carefully, “whatever it is you need, young master, may we offer you our aid?” He dropped the tone of reverence, replacing it with unrestrained viciousness, “we may yet tear the true essence from their dead bodies if you so desire. I do not know where any of them have gone, but those upstarts didn’t build their foundation here.”

“No,” I said, failing to raise myself up. Chen hurried closer to help me, but I shrugged him off. “No. I want to be alone for now.”

“As you wish, young master,” they bowed deeply. “Your servant’s name is Chen Bai, and I will never forget today’s magnanimity. These young ones are Mo Lei and Fai Cai, distant relatives of the sect master of the Scarlet Flame Sect,” he singled her out, pushing her forward.

“M-My greetings to the young master of the Falling Star Sect,” her blush was visible even in the dark. If she had thought of her earlier words as a joke, Chen hadn't. It was clear what he was trying to do; he might as well have put it more bluntly.

“I won’t forget what happened today,” in an instant, their faces went as pale as the moon in the sky, “the aid,” I said, slightly annoyed, “I won’t forget your aid. Please… leave me alone now.”

They were about to be on their way, rudely fast, when I thought to add, “what they say about me is true. Remember that, please.” They gave me many hasty nods before they disappeared into the shadows, leaving me behind on the charred ground. The essence was gone, as they’d said. Neither Han Long nor Li Zhun nor any other survivors remained. Alone, I stared at her ribbon; parts of it had burned off, making it shorter than it used to be. How long until it was gone? I closed my eyes for some more rest.

Fang Shin was long dead. Everyone knew that, except for me, it seemed.

***

When the effects of the barrier ran out, I searched for the strength to move again. I couldn’t stay around. The bodies would attract many beasts. As for the trial, there was still plenty of time left, yet I had no idea what to do with it. I faltered through the forest, much more carefully than before, hiding in the foliage as I repeated the latest events in my mind.

From the very beginning, I’d looked at it all and thought, nothing could possibly go wrong here. Not for a moment had I taken the trial seriously. I believed myself above the rabble. Still, somewhere within me, so I thought, and my actions had shown that.

I’d relied on what made me Fang Shin. I relied on the past that was my core; a fail-safe I could always fall back on that would make me the strongest of my peers. I looked down at my hands. They were burned and cut; the medicine hadn’t fully healed them. The flesh had been scraped off my knuckles and the bones beneath were fractured. When was the last time I’d even trained? Not for the twins' sake or Nysha’s, but for myself? Why would I? I ridiculed myself. I’m Fang Shin! I don’t need to train for an easy trial that is beneath my notice.

How different my attitude had been from the rest who took the trial. They came with urgency. A burning need and desire. I came with sheer arrogance. My hubris had known no bounds.

“Doubts, again,” I laughed out loud for no one to hear. I shouted, “that’s all I know anymore! Getting nowhere without changing a damn thing,” and I felt crying. It was a loop. Everything was trapped within it, and I couldn’t break out of it. Endless with no escape. My very own hands kept clinging to the past, unable to let go.

The wind blew strong, carrying a cold reminder of the end of summer. It battered away at my broken body, leaving me more exhausted than I believed to be. As the medicine expelled the poison, it further drained me of my strength. Above me, the grey clouds gathered as the first few drops began to fall, soon followed by an early autumn shower. I headed for a distant cave, probing it for shelter. The entrance was large and there was no telling how deep it’d go, but the growing winds and rain left me little choice. I sunk to the ground, leaning against the cold stone, staying vigilant, but the tiredness overwhelmed me.

'HUMAN.'

I thought I heard the beginning of a dream. The growl underlying the word wasn’t human. I turned my sluggish head absentmindedly, staring with empty eyes into the darkness of the cave. A beast capable of speech was a dangerous sign. I knew it in the back of my mind, but it drowned under the exhaustion. It was only after the sounds of approaching steps got louder that urgency returned to me. It lit up my tired mind like a bucket of oil thrown into a fire, and I forced myself back onto my feet. I took a small step back into the rain when my legs buckled.

'HURT.'

The growl echoed within my skill and my nerves became taut. There was no doubt, I’d heard it right this time. A beast talked to me. My body tensed, ready to fight when needed. However, it relaxed just as quickly when it revealed itself from the shadows. I almost fell back to the ground from relief. It was a snow fox. Small compared to me, but large for its species, reaching up to my knees in height. Its shaggy brown fur was streaked with white that would replace the rest once winter came. My lax body slumped into itself. If the need arose, I could handle that much.

'WAIT.'

But it did talk to me. I frowned as the fox left into the surrounding bushes, leaving a trail of its fur behind. It carried itself with a limp that it knew how to handle well, but the impression it left behind on me was that of an old man, stumbling along with one foot in his grave. A snow fox was a common beast with a lifespan of up to fifteen years. For a beast to learn the human tongue, however, it needed to reach the age of a century, at least. For that reason, the ability of speech was usually a common hallmark of a mystic beast, but there was no doubt about the fox’s common nature.

It returned with a root in its mouth. Its tired eyes that would never know the feeling of rest again met mine as it dropped the mind-blood ginseng in front of me. A plant that was known for invigorating the body and mind. I was baffled, to say the least, for it to show favor towards me.

“Thank you,” I said. The fox looked me up and down one more time almost like a doctor before it shook itself off the rain. It curled into a breathing ball of fur; its body heaving from its slow and deep breaths. I studied the root carefully before I gnawed on it, extracting the juices that removed some of the fog in my mind. I felt less recovered than stupefied by the entire situation. The rain continued to patter outside, showing no signs of letting up. I huddled myself deeper into the cave, recovering as best I could whereas the fox seemed as if asleep.

“Why did you help me?” I asked, wondering how much it would understand me.

'REPAY.' The answer growled inside my mind.

“I’m certain we’ve never met before.” It offered no further explanation. I looked at its weak breath, carrying barely any life.

“Your lifespan is running out,” I said, not really knowing what good it did to point it out.

'IT IS.' The fox sounded uncaring, stating it as a matter of fact. 'AT LAST, IT IS.

'HUMAN.' It turned its head to me, resting it on a part of its body. Along with its strength, the words had also lost their snarl. Had it rested to find the strength to speak?

‘I’ve come to this valley for someone who will listen. The stronger of your kind seldom have the ears. You’ll make the third, and likely, the last. There is something I want to ask of you. Should you ever head to the north, past the mountain of the sovereign, there is a pack of humans residing in the only place where the northern land knows green. She is among them, still. I ask a simple thing of you should you see her. Tell her that I am sorry. If you can not, then so be it.’

“Is that where you came from?” I asked, watching the fox grow smaller in its weakness. “From the top of the world? All the way down here?” I took its silence as an answer. “Why?”

'To repay. To give her what she needs,' it spoke in small whimpers, directing them half at itself in reminiscence, 'but I can not. The many years given to me, I tried and I failed. I was… too weak. I chased after the sovereigns of ice and sun, dreaming of their destiny, but it was never meant to be mine. I’m but a little beast unable to repay the hand that fed it, only able to bite it. I was dumb, then, and weak. Now I’m still one of those, and the change in the other does me little.'

It gazed at the clouds above, forlorn.

'This body is my prison,' it hissed with the acceptance of defeat, 'I could not change that. The only thing she was wrong about.'

It returned to look at me, 'young human, that is all I ask of you. A simple favor should the chance arise. But, if you swear on your kin, here and now, to take the journey no matter what, then if there’s anything I can still give you, I will. I can procure other remedies to aid your injuries, and more. I know of the reasons you’re here. Swear, and I will lead you to the essence not yet born in the frozen cave of this mountain valley. You may nurture it into something greater. I was unable to,' its gaze lingered on the gruesome scar that cut through the fur on its limping hindleg. 'I could not be rid of what I am.'

“That is...” I met its eyes as it crept to its legs with a great struggle. The words carrying the weight of its life resonated deep within me. “No, that… I don’t want that to be…”

'You will not swear?' The fox’s voice held nothing. 'So be it.' It limped away.

“Where are you going?”

'You’re injured, still. Wait. I will return shortly.'

“You mean to say,” I reached out for it to stop, my voice wavering, “you couldn’t change? After a lifetime, more than a century long…”

'The heavens have given me this body. I tried and I failed and now I rest. Maybe it is to be found in the life that follows. You humans talk about that… She did. A lot. The tears… Only now do I understand.'

“No,” I shook my head. I must’ve sounded like a child throwing a tantrum, but I was young still, “I can not accept that. I can’t.”

'Fate is my shackle… but it must not necessarily be so for you, young human.' Did it try to cheer me up? The frail fox that had traveled across the vast continents and beyond? What dangers had it met? Where did it find the strength to continue onwards for a century when doubts plagued me within months? Even on the threshold of death, it still searched for a way to reach its goal. The small, common beast; how had it carried its heavy burdens? I longed for it. I felt for it, deeply.

“...Will you not join me?” I reached out towards it with an open palm. “Show me? There is a chance for change yet. There must be. I refuse to believe otherwise.”

'...Do not do this, young, young human. I know of your ways. My essence may be old, so it deceives you, but I assure you, it is of no worth to you. It will only harm you. This is no plea for my life, but a lesson I’ve learned. How many times have I seen it before?

Its voice dripped with unshed tears.

'Mighty beasts, true hunters that fought for the peak, left me alone - I was not their prey. Humans had also left me be. You had that same look in your eyes like them. Relief because I was no threat. Disappointment because I was no use. That is the essence of my being. Do not taint yourself with it.'

“Take my hand,” I said, its words holding no sway over my decision, “You’ve told me of your Will. Show me more of it, and so will I. It is only right that I do so.”

The fox hesitated. A torn, indecisive look plagued its tiny eyes. They held pain. Fear and regret. But most of all, acceptance. And yet, within all of that, there was that tiny sliver of hope that had endured time. A flicker of its indomnitable Will. I took hold of it, offering my hand where it placed its paw upon it together with that last remaining sliver, and I knew then, it'd yet truly surrendered. It would never until its dying breath.

***

Why do you seek change?

I remember it as if it were my own memory. My mother had told me the story many, many times, cradling me in it; her eyes brimming with fondness as with pride. I’d sought to live up to her hopes, but she’d never see the day. It may sound morbid, but I was relieved to know she never had to learn about my disgrace either.

The sky heralded the birth of a new age with a shower of stars descending from the heavens, so the story goes. They fought, vying for the right to lay the new foundation of the mortal world. The tallest of them all fell towards the highest peak of the Fangxin Mountain Range; mere skips away from the mansion where my mother was giving birth to me. My father caught the flaming boulder with his bare hands. It was a rock like none had seen before, and it was to become my foundation many years later. My birthright.

It was on that day in the cultivator year of 42.746 after Zhanhai (the year 971 of Wang Jen’s Reign) that I was born. The reveal of my latent talents alone dropped half the cultivators on the continent to their knees. My birth was hence celebrated as the greatest fortune the sect had ever seen in its lifetime, and as such, it was to be remembered each following year. He will be the lord of a new era, so their praises sung atop the mountain peaks, the young master, Fang Shin.

Two years before that, in a small village at the bottom of Windpeak, he was born. No one was there to remember but his parents and the midwife they hired. He was raised in a distant branch of the Fang Family, a cousin of mine with blood so thin he was barely considered as such.

His existence had remained in obscurity. He worked his early youth for his parents in a rundown restaurant, making ends meet, instead of training in martial arts. When he got the right to dabble in the teachings of the outer sect with his nonexistent talents, learning how to make a fist, I’d already set the record for the youngest person ever to master the first rotation of the Starfall technique.

His name was Fang Lin, and the day he started wearing that necklace, the plan the heavens had laid out for us would change everything.