Ultimate Note: The Calling

Fate Strings

Wu Xie

"You..." The word had go out of his mouth unconsciously as he stared at the young man opposite him. On his dreams he had called his name sometimes with a kind of need and yearning, while in others with desperation and urgency. He had always wonder who he was and why was he calling on him to begin with. Now he know one answer to the question. He was Zhang Qiling, a top expert tomb raider and his connection to the unknown.

He gave a few steps on his direction, almost like in trance, completely engulfed by an irresistible pull. All sounds and movements around him were muffle by that strange sensation to get closer and as he slowly walked toward Zhang Qiling, their gazes never part from one another, yet when he was around five meters from him. A hand over his shoulder stop his transfixed pull toward the mystic man in black, making him snap out of it.

"He had already charm you at first sight? Tianzhen, I know he is devilish handsome and all, but he is capable of killing with a single finger. Don't get too caught up on his web. He is bond to hurt your naïve heart sooner or later. We all know that he is not bond to anything in this world." Pangzi said from his back and Wu Xie could not help but feel the heat rush to his face.

"Don't take it wrong, it wasn't like that. I was just curious about who he was." Wu Xie said, facing Pangzi.

"Yeah, right. That's why you didn't hear me calling you at all and damn, I can yell quite loud too." More blush rushed to his ears and he looked back to where Zhang Qiling was, but find him gone.

"See? He already left. Come with me, Madam Dolma want to see you in private. You certainly are making a big impression on your first try." Pangzi said and he passed an arm over his shoulder to push him away from the spot in which he had rooted.

"It was you who doomed me from the start. What the hell was that Pangzi? Stop calling me naïve already." Wu Xie said.

"I will, I promise, but only when you grow up from it. The old woman is on the orange tent, go on and meet with her, then have some rest, yours is the blue one. We will go to the desert tomorrow morning, so try not to enjoy yourself too much tonight, especially around black clothed handsome man. Oh, Uncle Three will be so heartbroken to know his beloved nephew had put his big shining eyes on another mysterious man..." At that, Wu Xie pushed Pangzi away and stormed his way toward the orange tent.

Damn Pangzi and his strong sense of humor. He had never been so embarrassed on his whole life... but in a way he was right. He had let himself be too caught up in someone else radar. He sighed as he walked toward the entrance of the door, moving it away to meet with the old woman and her grandson.

The woman looked up at him as he enter and the grandson offer him to sit, which he did, feeling curious about what the woman wanted to tell him. He was obviously new to the tomb exploring business and so there was no reason for her to call him out privately, unless she too wanted to warn him about the dangers of tomb raiding with a bunch of weird and dangerous people.

"Madam Dolma, I was told you wanted to see me, right?" Wu Xie asked and the woman assented and started talking, but he could not understand her language, so he waited patiently until she finished, to hear the translated version on the voice of her grandson.

"She said that she had a vision sent to her by the gods in the moment she saw you. It was revealed to her that your destiny will pull you on a dangerous road inside the tomb. She said that it cannot be avoided, thus don't try to defy it any longer yourself." He said and Madam Dolma continue her tell once more.

"The Devil City in the desert is bigger than the explorers think and on the many roads it had you will get lost. There you will be tested by the gods one time after the other, to see if you can fulfil your role. There is something primordial dormant inside those ruins. Long ago, the City was one prosper and rich, blessed by the gods, but as time passed and the population grew wicked, they were punished for their sins. Ever since, the Devil City became a haunted ground for mystic creatures."