Part 1

2.1K 52 17
                                    

In a world where there were different clans with different traditions, different cultures, and different outlooks on life, there was one clan that was different from all of them. There were various rumors about the Wu Clan, who shut themselves off from the world of everything and stopped leaving the mountain at some point. Some said that these people had magical abilities and hid in the mountain to keep themselves safe. Some said that there was no one left there and all the people had long since died out. The only thing that was known was that no one had been able to get there yet. The mountain was protected by a barrier, through which it was almost impossible to pass. There were of course daredevils, but their end was tragic. So after a few unfortunate incidents, people stopped going there altogether. It seems that even everyone became deeply indifferent to this mysterious clan and everyone began to live without paying any attention to them.

Although, among the common people, various stories about the Wu Clan were highly valued. Fans of these kinds of rumors would gather in front of the storytellers' tavern in the evenings and listen to them attentively. There were even a few books about this clan called «Secrets of the Wu Clan», which were divided into several parts and had various unimaginable facts about them inside. The writer was a certain man who called himself  «The Illuminator» and said that he had once had the good fortune to visit these mountains and see the people who lived there. «The Illuminator» described the appearance of these people in an extremely strange way.

«When I saw this creature...I forgot how to breathe. It was much taller than me and had a long tail, with pointed ears. It stared at me for a long time before disappearing through a thicket of trees...»

- And someone believes that? - Yibo sighed as he finished the third page of the crazy writer's book.

He had never been interested in this Wu Clan enough to dig into their history and read different books about them. But he didn't think that at some point, he would need it all....

- Why do you think it's nonsense? - asks Master Li, who was at this moment doing his trademark noodle cooking. What he and his younger brother really loved....

- Well... - he began, thinking about how to present his thoughts properly,  - Let's start with the fact that no one ever came back from there. Those who were curious enough to go there... no one haven't heard a word from them. Where does some lucky man come from who managed to make it out? And given the way he described the "creatures" that dwell there... if they really existed, they would have come down from the mountains long ago due to lack of food, given how much stuff they eat according to this narrator. So it's all a bluff.

- Is this how you reassure yourself before you go there? - smirked the man, already transferring his cooking to small bowls. Dinner was ready, we should call Wang Jie.

- You know from somewhere that a certain person called Xiao lives there, right? So there are still ordinary people living there According to my research, it's not because of fear, but because of hatred. I've researched that they also had a conflict with the Cheng clan. Those assholes have done a lot of damage. So the Wu Clan decided not to be where they are. So my task is simple. Find someone named Xiao and make them come out against the Cheng clan, - Yibo pauses for a few seconds to call out to his younger brother, "Wang Jie, let's go to dinner" and continues on, hearing footsteps in return, - If it works out the way I really intend, then.... I'll be able to avenge my parents, - he says the last words quickly, not wanting his didi to hear such things... Master Li just shrugs and starts eating his noodles without waiting for them.

Well... it's been so many years since their parents died. And it's time for retribution...

According to Master Li, there was a time when all the clans lived truly in peace. There were no conflicts and people from different clans were friendly to each other. But at some point, everything went downhill. When the Cheng Clan decided that they should be in charge of everyone else. Ridiculous, isn't it? But that's really what they had gotten to... Yibo's parents didn't belong to any of the clans. To be honest, he didn't even know where they came from, as they never told anything themselves. Yibo himself had never asked about it either. So it would all remain only a mystery to him. They lived in the lands of the Xiao Clan, who were in a military conflict with the Cheng Clan at the time. He was only 9 years old at the time... the only snippets that remained in his memory were the sudden cries in the middle of the night that the enemies were coming. And within minutes, he and his younger brother were lying under the bloody bodies of their parents, who had tried to cover them. He doesn't remember much about that day, but the terrified faces of his parents and the crying of his younger brother are forever etched in his memory....

Knock at my heart Where stories live. Discover now