When You Become A Target Of The Martial God Heavenly Emperor [Tian Guan Ci Fu]

Prologue

It was a bleak midwinter day.

Snow had begun to coat the sidewalks of the quiet province, thick enough to nearly reach a grown person's knees. The roads were of the same state, only the tracks of car tires visible to the eye. Though, it was inconspicuously quiet that day, solemn even. No cars seemed to pass for hours, and few people wandered the streets despite the usual busy hours. The traffic light blinked its colours uselessly, patched with snow and dangling icicles.

A group of children in uniform shuffled through the streets, hopping onto the deepened tracks to pass to the other side. One of the children, however, paused in their step, causing the others to follow their lead without thought. A lamppost stood in their way, a small, black-clad figure standing beside it silently. Their face was halfway covered, a bluish light illuminating the upper portion of their face.

For a short while, none spoke a word.

Then a light click! sounded out, the figure slowly putting the phone they held to their side as they stared ahead at the children in front of them, who were still frozen in the middle of the road. The person's eyes widened slightly as if they only noticed their presence. But the surprise quickly melted away, revealing a sombre yet weary expression. Finally, they spoke in a small voice, "Where is the Farrington Cemetery?"

The children didn't respond, only pointing in a particular direction.

The shops underneath the buildings were brightly lit, the window panes revealing the interior within, in contrast to the darkened square-lined windows on the main building. The plaza at the central platform was shadowed and inconspicuously hidden, encircled with a black metal fence. Only one being was there, and it was a lonesome janitor cleaning up the seemingly abandoned stalls.

A child walked through the obstacle of piled-up snow in silence, already stuck waist-deep yet seemingly unbothered. They take their phone out for a second time, scrolling down the numerous rows of unread messages before selecting one that had been labelled: [[ Seen at 2:59 AM, Sunday ]].

The last message that was sent.

A low rumble sounded out, followed by a blinding flash that lit up the area in the blink of an eye. The sky had dimmed from the accumulated clouds, covering the streets and buildings with a thin veil of darkness. Staring at the screen, the child stayed motionless before tears began to shed. They didn't linger long, quickening their pace towards the hill in the distance. On the hills' slope were scattered stone tablets and graves, standing out from the raised land even with the heavy mark of winter.

The streets and dirt trails were deserted, as were the surrounding buildings, as though no one had set foot in the area for several years. Cobwebs can be seen in almost every corner, and wooden barricades were bolted onto most windows. The light of the nearby stationed lamppost flickered on and off, sometimes providing a small, simple light source and sometimes shrouding everything in complete darkness.

The light source gave way to the writings written on the side of the entrance. The words "FARRINGTON CEMETERY" were engraved deeply into a wall, right by the tall steel, rusted gates, rather worn out due to time. Atop its pointed spikes, tree branches can be seen curling around, unexpectedly clear of snow. Small, healthy leaves even sprouted from within them. Next to the wall were more little wooden signs that contained instructions such as; "Do not litter", "Do not dig up the graves", "Keep silent", and "Do not step on the grass".