Chapter 3: Real Prologue
In a small house in Soaring Light City.
A young boy, with tears running down his face kowtows in front of a bed. In the bed lies a middle-aged woman with a serene smile plastered across her face. In her last moments, she still only thought of her children.
Outside of the room are two little girls, peering into the room. Their older brother, the small boy, had sent them out of the room, and they were completely oblivious to what was going on.
"What is happening?" whispered Li Jing to her sister besides her.
"I don't know... why is brother kowtowing in front of mother?" responded Li Xiu's childish voice.
The small boy turned around, noticing the commotion, and hurriedly wiped off his tears. He went forward and hugged the two girls, and steeled his face, trying to prevent the tears from falling.
"Jing, Xiu, mother won't be with us anymore," his voice cracked.
The two girls jolted in surprise and dismay as they looked at their brother. Their mother was clearly sleeping, what was he saying? They shook him off and went over to the bed, and shook their mother.
"Mama, wake up!" they urged.
However, the lifeless corpse was unresponsive. The two girls shook even harder, and the bed began to tremble, but they still hadn't gotten the response they were looking for.
Li Jun looked at the two from the door, shaking his head as tears flowed down his cheeks.
"It's useless. She's dead." his raspy voice resounded throughout the small room.
The two sisters shivered and screamed. Tears flowed like a river down their petite cheeks and their shaking became even more desperate. Their mother's corpse was about to fall off the bed, and they weren't even able to realize it.
However, Li Jun quickly came over before the corpse fell off, and stopped the two girls, hugging them.
The girls cried for a long time, before they stopped. Li Jun's robes were drenched in tears, but the chilly air in the room became apparent. A black mist had mysteriously appeared above the corpse, festering. The sibling's eyes widened at the sight as chills went down their spine.
The black mist gave off an ominous feeling and a stream was flowing from the corpse towards it. The two sisters were frozen stiff in shock as they looked at the black mist slowly float over to them.
Suddenly, Li Jun had a bad premonition. As if some primal instinct had been awakened inside his body, strength seeped into his bones. Before the two sisters could react, he shot out and grabbed the two girls as if they were lightweight, and immediately bolted out of the room.
Goosebumps appeared all over his body as more and more power seeped into his bones. Li Jun rushed out of the house and saw a horrifying sight.
In every house, black mist could be seen flowing out of the crevices. The streets were deserted, and the once lively city was completely silent.
The sisters felt their wrists ache from Li Jun's iron grip and were about to complain, but they soon realized the atmosphere. They turned completely meek and had come to a horrifying realization. The black mist was coming towards them!
Li Jun carried the two girls and sprinted towards the city's exit, hoping that there would be a way out. His gut was telling him that if he let up and allowed the black mist to touch him, then he, and his precious sisters would be ruined.
Before he knew it, he was out in the forest, and drenched in sweat. His body had exploded with a terrifying strength back then, however, it was unable to accommodate it for too long, and had overdrafted, leaving him sore.
"Big brother, are we safe?" asked Li Jing.
"We should be." replied Li Jun weakly.
Though the trio was safe, anger slowly brewed in Li Jun heart after what had just happened. Their mother had passed away, and before they even had enough time to bury her, some mysterious force had invaded the city. Li Jun clenched his fists as the rage grew and grew.
Li Xiu noticed Li Jun's angry gaze and clenched fist. She went up to him to comfort him, tugging at his sleeves.
Li Jun turned his head and saw Li Xiu's innocent and worried expression. His rage dissipated as his mind turned towards getting his sisters out of the forest. It would be hours until the night came, and they had limited time.
'The city is no longer a safe place... but I remember mother mentioning that Golden Lion City is north of here.' thought Li Jun.
He took out a golden amulet, and stared at it. Their mother had given it to him, instructing him that when he was ready, he should head to Golden Lion City and talk to the Dao Sect there. His father, though he had abandoned them, would take care of them if they came to him.
However, Li Jun was uncertain. His father, if he truly cared for them, wouldn't leave them out like this in Soaring Light City, would he? He brushed it off, and focused on his mother's last words.
Li Xiu and Li Jing stared at the golden amulet in awe. It was intricately crafted and their love for beautiful jewelry overcame them. They nudged Li Jun to let them look at the amulet, and Li Jun passed it to the two with a smile.
"Let's go Xiu, Jing, mother told me that Golden Lion City is a good place for us to go to," said Li Jun.
The two precious girls nodded their heads like a chicken pecking, and followed Li Jun. Though most of their attention was on the beautiful amulet along the way.
--- 4 hours later.
'Strange, our journey was too safe... what's going on?' thought Li Jun silently.
After four hours of travelling, the group had finally made it to Golden Lion City. Compared to Soaring Light City, the walls of Golden Lion City were much grander.
Li Jun took back the golden amulet before approaching the city gates, he did not want to attract too much attention before knowing the situation. As the three approached the city guards, the guards tightened their grip on their spears.
A guard should always be on guard, despite someone's appearance, they might be someone that could kill you in an instant. Clearly, Golden Lion City was prospering.
Li Jun stepped forward and greeted the guard.
"What's your purpose here?" questioned the guard.
"Sirs, we are looking for a relative to meet with inside the city." replied Li Jun respectfully.
The guards scrutinized the sibling's appearance for a while before nodding and letting them pass through the gates. The two sisters thanked the guards on the way in, earning a faint smile from the guards.
As the three siblings entered the city, they were greeted by a bustling city. Vendors were scattered about, and numerous cultivators could been seen walking to stores with pouches of spirit stones.
Li Jun's eyes gleamed with anticipation at the sight. He had hardly come out into the streets like this back in Soaring Light City. Most of his time was spent going to school and educating his two sisters so that they could have an official position in the city government.
Although Golden Lion City focused less on mortal affairs, it was still a haven for cultivators and practitioners.
Li Jun walked over to a bearded middle-aged man and greeted him.
"Senior, do you know where the Dao Sect is?" asked Li Jun humbly.
"Ah, are you interested in joining the Dao Sect?" the middle-aged man smiled.
"Senior, it's not that, but we're looking for someone within the Dao Sect," responded Li Jun.
The middle-aged man nodded and stroke his beard while thinking.
"Then if you head in that general direction, you'll be able to find it. There should be a bustling crowd waiting since the Dao Sect is taking in disciples today," where the middle-aged man pointed was where a massive amount of people were heading.
"Many thanks, senior," Li Jun cupped his hands.
The middle-aged man smiled and walked away.
Li Jun, Li Xiu, and Li Jing followed the crowd and after a few minutes, they had arrived at a massive courtyard gate. Many people tried to enter, but the five disciples at the front stopped them. The disciples wore a plain black and white robe with a taiji symbol on the back.
To the far stood a disciple with a shaved right eyebrow and a wild look on his face.
"Hmph. All these old fogeys are trying to get into the Dao Sect." the disciple sneered.
The Dao Sect was only looking for talented youth to join their ranks, not expired old men.
Though it was understandable why the old men wanted to join the Dao Sect. The promise of immortality by joining the Dao Sect was a deadly allure to these ordinary people after all.
Li Jun gulped as he saw this sight. It was obvious that the disciple with the shaved eyebrow wasn't a good person. Though the other disciples gently prevented the middle-aged and old people from entering, the disciple with the shaved eyebrow would attack them with force.
Li Jun slowly walked towards the gate with his sisters in hand with a cautious pace. He looked at the disciples to see their reaction, and when they were impassive towards him approaching, he adopted a brisk pace.
The trio entered the Dao Sect courtyard, and it seemed as if they entered a different world. The bustling noise from outside had suddenly disappeared, and was instead replaced with the chattering of the people inside.
"Jiang Dian Su, fancy seeing you here?" sneered a pompous young master.
"Hmph. Zhang Wan, what do you want." replied Jiang Dian Su coldly.
"To break your legs obviously!" shouted Zhang Wan as he unsheathed his sword.
The atmosphere turned cold and the chattering stopped. Jiang Dian Su slowly unsheathed his sword as well. However, comparing the swords, Jiang Dian Su's sword was dull and old, while Zhang Wan's sword gave a sharp and clean feeling.
Li Jun broke out in cold sweat.
'Damn what the f*ck? These people fight so easily!' he widened his eyes in surprise.
In comparison to Soaring Light City, Golden Lion City was a place for madmen he felt. Though he had lived in Soaring Light City for 13 years, he had hardly ever seen a fight break out. But even then, the fight would be usually settled with fists.
Li Jing and Li Xiu stepped back, trying to hide behind Li Jun's back. Unlike Li Jun, they were never exposed to fighting like this, and the swords frightened them.
Li Jun walked past the fighting, trying to conceal himself and his sisters, hoping that they wouldn't be implicated with the brawl.
However, the brawl never happened.
"Impudent!" An old voice came out from the courtyard building. Though they were just mere words, under some mysterious power, the words carried irrefutable power.
Jiang Dian Su and Zhang Wan were both forced to their knees as blood flowed down from their noses.
'So strong! But... why Jiang's Dian Su also punished?' Li Jun's and his sisters' eyes constricted in awe.
The two were swept away by a gust of wind and thrown out of the courtyard, disappearing within the deep crowd.
Li Jun continued on his way and entered the courtyard building. Inside were rows of pillars with people attacking. After the pillars were rows of orbs where people were placing their hands. Batches of people would go in at a time, and those who couldn't pass left the building dejectedly.
Overseeing the assessments were numerous purple robed elders. Unlike the disciples outside, their robes had intricate gold lines and jewels embroidered. Li Jun gulped as he steadied himself.
'From the way mother put it, Father must be a very important figure in the Dao Sect and Golden Lion City. These elders would have answers for me.' thought Li Jun.
He gestured for Li Xiu and Li Jing to stay behind as he walked up to one of the purple-robed elders and kneeled.
The purple-robed elder looked over with a curious gaze at Li Jun.
Li Jun took out the golden amulet from his robes and presented it to the purple-robed elder, who took the amulet and stared at it.
"And you are...?" asked the purple-robed elder.
"Elder, I am Li Jun," he replied.
"What's your relationship with Jin Kuo?" asked the elder as the amulet in his hand suddenly began to break down.
"He is my father."
The elder laughed at Li Jun's response. Tears began to come out as the elder's laugh grew louder and louder. The other purple-robed elders had also heard the conversation and burst out laughing as well.
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