Chapter 0 prologue
The Sun has gone to rest finally after a long and lively day. The moon took over with it's stunning beauty up in the wide calm space, with its gleaming light reflected on the surface of the land, the beautiful breeze of a pleasant wind began to move freely, roaming around the earth calmly as it would cause the bushes and the leaflets of the nearby trees to dance along, releasing a smooth rustle sound that can be so satisfying to one's ears.
On that random day, begins the tale. Around a calm village surrounded with many cultivated lands and green areas, a sign of farmers existing in such place, the fruit of their hard work are these green fields which contained various types of vegetables and fruits which yet to be harvested.
The plans would move along in a wavy motion due to the calm force of the wind, which makes the plans move and rhythm visually.
Old Chinese houses were located across the village in various spots and nearby the green fields where farmers usually worked, those houses were made of bricks, wood, bamboo, along with thick straw on top of these houses to give them extra protection to their roofs. These poor materials were what the villagers could afford during that time.
The active movements in the morning vanished and not a single person can be spotted outside, only the sound of the roaring wind and the rustling of the leaflets.
"Mother...? Are you awake?"
A tiny voice that sounded like it belonged to a child due to his low young pitch, it was clear, however it still did not echo around the area.
he slowly enters the room as he approaches a bedridden woman, she was having a hard time breathing so her breathing was a little heavy and hard for her. In addition to her sweating that was abnormally unusual for someone to sweat that much, and that is all due to her invasive sickness.
"Here, I brought you the herbs"
The boy then gently placed his palm behind his mother's head trying to help her to have a suitable position to drink some sort of water mixed with herbs. All added in a wooden bowl that looked pretty old and semi shattered.
The boy's mother finally managed to drink the whole liquid within the wooden bowl. And within a few seconds after drinking the medical water. Her breathing seemed to be at ease and her grinning face turned into a slightly relieved expression.
"better, right?"
Said the boy in a disturbed tone. His throat sounded a little weakened, his clothes looked pretty old and dirty. Many torn parts could be seen on his clothing just from his appearance, he looked very stressed out.
"Z. . .Zu. . ."
The mother spoke quietly that her voice was quite difficult to be heard, she seemed to be calling for someone's name, but her sickness deemed to be preventing her from using her voice properly, her sentence was shattered.
"Eehk?!, please do not stress yourself, mother..."
Said the boy with a worried expression engraved on his face.
"Thank you, dear. .i-"
The mother's speech gets vexed suddenly by her coughs followed heavily, one after another.
*coughing*
"Crap. ., I already told you rest!"
The mother's coughing has gotten heavier which lead her to cough out blood as she covered her mouth with her palm.
"No.. .!"
The boy panicked while seeing his mother coughing violently, with the droplets of blood fall on the worn blanket she was covered with.
Suddenly and without hesitation, the boy reached out a small berry-like fruit, which is supposed to have a medical effect on his mother's current critical condition. He squeezed the juice of the fruit in the wooden bowl with some water added to it.
"Here... please mother, hang in there"
As he helped his mother once again to drink it. The mother's expressions changed dramatically to a grin, a cringe-like expression as it seems that the juice of this fruit was too sour even after adding water and mixing both together, the sour left a grin on the mother's face yet it was effective. Her heavy coughing stopped as she started to feel relaxed.
". . . ."
The mother laid her head on the pillow peacefully as it seems that her condition has become more stable.
"Rest well mother. . ."
Said the young boy before he took his leave from the room where his bedridden mother was in, laying on her bed helplessly.
The boy slowly walked outside the house which was made of constructed stones with a roof made of straw and wood.
He sat on the rock nearby the door. Dominated by a profound sadness, fatigue engraved on his worn face.
*Creek*
The sound of cloth that is being torn and ripped apart can be heard slightly in the middle of the calm night, the young boy was ripping some parts of his clothes. Both of his hands seemed pretty injured and covered with bruises especially around his fingers. He started wrapping the torn cloth around both of his hands carefully.
*drip*
". . ."
A tear rolled down on his cheek to end up falling and splashing on his palm while he was wrapping it with the cloth.
*drip*
More tears continued to fall on his palms as he paused his action for a moment to wipe his tears.
"Eh. . ."
The young boy continued wiping his tears while crying silently and grinding his teeth together to keep his voice lowered.
A feeling of sorrow and pain in the heart of the young boy, suffering because of the sickness of his mother and that he is unable to do anything to help her out with. He slowly wrapped both of his arms around his knees, burying his face within both of his knees, then after a while, he rose his head towards the sky, with his exhausted eyes he gazed upon a beautiful moon that was reflecting its beautiful shine on the surface.
"Mother I promise you that we will make it, hang in there just a little bit longer. . ."
The young boy spoke with a saddened voice as he started wiping his tears once more.
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[The next morning]
The sun rose up high into the sky, above the beautiful earth. The beautiful morning beams like a cheerful smile above the cultivated paddy fields and the villagers who started their day cheerfully and the sound of the hummingbirds give out a beautiful atmosphere and a true meaning of peace.
"Mother, I will be going now. Stay safe until I return"
Said the young boy, with a vigorous smile engraved on his face, directed towards his mother who seemed a lot better than last night.
"Aw. .going already?"
The young boy's mother struggled a bit, helping herself to sit on the bed to embrace her son within her warmth.
"Well then, come here. .~"
She flattened her arms wide open waiting for her son to step forward and get within her range so she can hug him with her protective arms. With a warm and beautiful smile on her cheerful face, although she still seemed sick yet her beauty was overwhelming. To give such a warm smile towards her son, that was the true motherly love.
"Eh. . . .well. ."
The young boy walked towards his mother hesitantly, he gulped as a sign of embarrassment once he had reached his mother. Her protective arms were wrapped around him tightly, even when she was out of strength she managed to give him a tight and warm hug.
"You are my blessing. .you are special, my dear, I know that you are capable of many things already"
She spoke with a soft tone as she patted her son's back gently.
". . . ."
The boy remained silent for a bit while his mother's arms were wrapped around him gently. His mother broke the hug slowly, releasing him from her grasp.
"Be careful and come back early"
She said as she smiled once more while looking at her son with the same warm smile as before.
"Yeah, please take your medicine mother, I will be back soon"
Said the boy, bidding farewell to his mother before leaving her, as he headed outside.
"Alright, let's get to work then"
With much confidence, he spoke his words seriously.
The boy ran on the sidewalk beside the paddy fields and the traditional Asian houses along his way.
The boy was in a hurry, which was why he ran until he reached his destination after a short while. He paused his running to catch his breath as he stopped towards a big paddy field and the paths of water which are connected to the river near flows between the soil parts.
"Why the hurry? you weren't a late kid. Take it easy"
A deep voice of a man suddenly appeared, a man holding a farming hoe who approached the boy later on once he saw him stand right there trying to catch his breath.
"Thankfully then, I shall get to work as soon as possible" said the boy as he gazed up at the man who spoke to him.
"Skipping school again huh?"
The man asked.
"Tsk!"
The boy panicked, once he had heard the man's question.
The man laughed loudly as he patted the head of the boy.
While the boy looked at the man with a deep gaze, apparently this man seemed to have much authority over him.
"You should be at school now aren't you?"
Said the man.
"That's something for me to decide, school is boring for me. Now if you excuse me geezer, I will be heading to work no-"
Suddenly the chop fell over the boy's head, done by the man.
"Iye!!"
"Behave!"
The man shouted. As the boy placed his hand above his head where the man his him.
"Screw you, geezer, you will pay for this!"
The young boy's expressions changed to a sad grin as he ran towards the paddy field.
"Bah! damn brat. .well I guess it can't be helped, sure there is a reason for everything. .weird younglings nowadays!"
Said the man before returning back to plowing the field before him.
"Old hag. . ."
The boy picked up a wooden pole which had two wooden buckets, one attached to each end. He then started picking up rocks and putting them in each bucket and after a while of doing that, he managed to fill both of the buckets with rocks which are supposed to separate between the soil and the water path.
"Hey look! it's the homeless kid who doesn't have money!"
A voice of another kid reached to the boy, it appears that there were around three other kids his age standing from a far distance from the field as they spoke.
"Bet he doesn't even have a family, the kid where are your Mommy and Daddy?!"
The kid laughed, while his laugh echoed through the area, the young boy refrained from responding although he knew that the other kid was talking about him and nobody else. Of course, he was the only kid working there on the paddy field as well.
"Man. .no fun, let's leave"
They attempted to finally take their leave but. .suddenly and without any warnings.
"Hehehehe!"
*Bang!*
The young boy tossed three rocks directly at their heads, surprisingly each rock hit their heads successfully as they started panicked and crying from the pain.
"Haah!"
He stood there laughing at them with victorious expression over his face. Unfortunately, his loud laughter dragged some attention, which was no good for him.
*Smack!*
"You scum!"
A man suddenly appeared before the boy as he smacked his face with his thick and huge palm, which caused to the boy to fall back from the strong impact.
"Fuu-!"
"I do not pay you money so you can mess around you filthy brat! Get back to work now!"
The man shouted angrily at the boy before he took his leave, this was a totally different man and it seems that he is the owner of the field.
"Oww. . . ." the young boy placed his hand over his cheek, rubbing it softly then he stood up again.
"Screw you all. . ." he mumbled as he held the pole from the middle, so he can carry the rocks to the field and arrange them, he looked back at these kids to find out later that they all left, he turned around to find himself about to bump into a tall man who was wearing a coolie hat.
"Woah-"
He was nearly losing his equilibrium since he was carrying too much, and attempting to avoid bumping into someone before him at the same time was very hard for a boy his age since the weight he was carrying was already vexing his proper movement.
"eh. . ?"
The man's hand extended suddenly towards the pole that the boy carried, helping him to stay on track without falling off or even dropping what he was carried, with one hand the man managed to carry the pole which had two buckets attached to each end and filled with rocks.
". . . ."
Nothing but silence came out from the man, as he adjusted the coolie hat he wore, lowering it a little bit forwardly allowing it to cover half of his face, preventing anyone to be able to see him from any lower angle.
"You should be more careful when you are walking with something like this"
The man spoke with his hidden identity, a deep voice came from behind the hat. Holding the pole from the middle towards the boy, giving him a sign that he should take it back.
"Sure. . ."
The boy grabbed the pole, taking it away from the man as he would continue walking in the opposite direction of the man, but for a moment the boy stopped walking as he would look behind him, gazing upon this mysterious man with curiosity taking over his thoughts and his countenance.
The silhouette of this mysterious man began to vanish as he continued walked farther away.
"When did he. .-?!"
A loud man's voice cut through the boy's thoughts which startled him suddenly.
"Go back to work brat!"
Said the owner of the field as he shouted loudly.
"Ehk!"
The boy rushed back to work once he heard the man's loud voice.
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[Meanwhile on the other side of the village]
"Not many people are around. . ."
Two strange men walk around in the village as they do not seem to be from this area, they looked strange considering their strange actions and their clothing which was dirty and covered with dirt along with its bad odor, their bodies had a huge muscular build.
"Yeah. .look over there"
One of the two men pointed while deeply gazing at an old house among the other houses nearby.
"The door is unlocked"
The man was right about that, the door of the house was unlocked. Then both of them took a few steps towards that house as they pushed the door slightly, opening wider but it was a little dark inside and nothing can be heard from the inside.
"Nobody is in there it seems. . ."
Said one of the men to the other with a low tone until they both snuck into the house.
"You go look for any food, I will look for anything worth selling"
Apparently, they were both bandits, their barbaric appearance was already a proof of that, they were lucky enough to sneak inside the house without being noticed by any one of the villagers out there.
*Bonk!*
". . .Dear are you back home?"
The boy's mother was inside the house, apparently, it was their house that the bandits have entered, the noise caused by the bandits outside, luckily the boy's mother was in another room while they were outside, messing everything outside looking for items to steal.
"Dear. .?"
She struggled a little bit until she managed to stand up as she got off her bed, heading towards the door. She walked slowly until she focused her gaze through a small gap opened by the door.
"Oh no. . ."
Her skin became pale once she had seen that there was someone else outside instead of her son, her eyes were wide open and fear took over her countenance as she placed her palm on her mouth tightly, trying to prevent any noise from coming out so she wouldn't attract any attention.
She took a few steps backward but unfortunately out of all places, she bumped into a wooden broom behind her, the impact caused the broom to fall on the ground. Causing a loud KANK noise to echo through the entire silent atmosphere.
"Did you hear that?!"
One of the men heard the noise that came from inside, alerting the other one about it.
"Yeah. .someone is in there"
His hand reached to his hips as he pulled out a dagger. Walking slowly towards the source of the noise until he approached the door of the room, where the mother of the young boy was.
". . . ."
With much force, he pushed the door wide open as he enters. To find nothing and no one inside.
"Nobody is there. . ."
The one man who stood behind commented.
"Wait a minute. . ."
The bandit who held the dagger walked slowly into the room as if he was scanning every corner of it until he stood before the bed.
"No.. .someone was here. . ."
He spoke in a deep voice with a sharp gaze on his face.
While the bandit stood there before the bed, the woman was standing behind the door which was preventing him from seeing her since she was between the door and the wall behind it, which was her only refuge. Her heartbeats started to become louder from the fear, and sweat drops began to race down on her face, hoping they wouldn't notice her.
"let's hurry up already before someone else from the outside notices us"
Said the man standing at the back.
"You are right"
The bandit placed the dagger into the hilt attached to his hip before leaving the room, as he walked through the door.
"Dear. . .please do not return now. . .i need some more time"
She silently thought to herself, thinking about her son and what would happen to him if he returned at this time, he could be harmed by the bandits if they saw him.
The woman suddenly regained a bit of her strength for the sake of her own son, she quickly grabbed a sharp piece of a mirror beside her and then she quickly jumped behind the bandit before he passed through the door.
But suddenly the bandit turned around then he grabbed her tightly from her wrist.
"I knew someone was there-"
She banged her head at his face so hard with all her might.
"Ack! You-"
She swung her hand while holding the sharp piece of mirror towards his neck. Stabbing him brutally on the side of his neck with it until he screamed from the pain.
Blood squirted everywhere from the deep wound that she had caused to him as she tried to push him away to escape.
"You filthy woman!"
The other bandit shouted loudly before punching the woman's belly extremely hard, drawing her backwardly from the strong impact, while the injured bandit managed to pull the mirror piece out of his neck.
The woman laid there on the ground, helpless until she started coughing blood, vomiting an extraordinary amount of blood.
A few villagers started gathering around the house to see what's going on and what is the reason for all this noise.
"Crap. .we have been noticed, let's get out of here now!"
The bandit shouted at his injured fellow, both of them managed to escape from the back window of the house, leaving the woman laying there on the ground on the verge of death.
She tried standing up, no matter how hard it was for her. Her skin and her injury were not something easy to deal with, she challenged death but it was no use, her eyelids were getting heavier. No matter how hard she tried to keep her eyes open and breaking out of her current state, it was all useless. All that was left for her now was remembering her son, her thoughts spoke for her while she remembered his face and his cheerful smile.
"This is the end for me now my dear. .I'm sorry I had to go like that, I know we both had a promise. But I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to live until we accomplish that. Live my dear child, I know that you will become someone great. .i have never doubted you. Forgive me, my dear. .and I love you"
She died with a warm smile drawn on her lips, a beautiful smile like a lotus flower floating on the surface of a clear flowing river.
Villagers entered the house as they saw her laying on the ground.
"Oh no!"
"Somebody call for help here!"
A crowd gathered around the house right after knowing what was inside.
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The sun began to set down slowly, the bright orange rays filled the entire era, with a beautiful breeze of air.
"What a long day, I'm already tired. . ."
The boy finished plowing the field when he heard someone calling his name.
"Come to receive your paycheck for today's work!"
"Finally!"
He jumped happily and enthusiastically as if all the fatigue he had vanished in an instant.
He ran towards the owner of the field as he gave him a few silver coins while he did the same with other farmers besides the boy.
"Now I will be leaving"
He grabbed the coins, placing them into a pouch that he had as he started running. But the sound of a man stopped him.
"Hey, kid! Wait a minute!"
It was the man who met at first when he came to the field in the morning, and who was also one of the workers
On the paddy field.
"Tsk. .what does this geezer want now?"
He walked back towards the man with a puzzled expression on his face.
"What?"
"Here"
The man grabbed the boy's hand as he placed three silver coins in his hand.
"I know you and your mother are having a hard time so, have some of my-"
"Yeah, thanks!"
The boy took the coins as he resumed running in his path, he was careless about what the man had given to him and without any manners, he just ran away.
"Are you serious?!.. .well this brat sure got some guts"
~ - - - - - - ~
"I have to hurry now"
Said the boy as he continued running until he changed his direction else were to end up stopping before a small shop.
"Ah, it's you again"
The merchant lady who stood there looking at the boy with narrowed eyes.
"Here, I want some tender berries and harsh herbs please"
The boy placed some silver coins on the table before the merchant, while looking at her with a grin on his face.
"What's with the face hon?"
The merchant asked.
"I'm in a hurry, so hope you don't mind hurrying up"
With a rude tone, he spoke his words in a hurry.
"Geez. . . .you sure are a rude kid. Why are you even in a hurry anyway"
"None of your business"
She sighed before heading towards the roofs behind her to get his order for him.
"How's your mother?"
The merchant lady asked.
"She is fine, she will be better... Aye hurry up already!"
He spoke hesitantly at first until his attitude changed back to the same old rude one, rushing the merchant in a questionable hurry.
"Alright alright! here you go. . . .and you may keep the coins, but the only the-"
"Thanks a bunch!"
The boy grabbed the coins along with the items he wanted, breaking his way through the door of the shop running outside, without caring less about what the merchant had done for him.
"Are you for real?!"
She was amazed by his actions that seemed a little bit rude and funny at the same time. She laughed for a moment before she went back to her work.
The boy didn't stop running for a moment as he headed to his house.
"Mother is now waiting! She must be hungry as well, today will be good and we will have a good talk and that's for sure"
He thought to himself while running, until he paused when he saw a crowd around his house at that time.
He took a few steps closer, hesitantly as he walked towards the crowd.
"What's. . . .going on?"
The people saw him approach as they all looked down and then they moved away with shame carved on their faces.
"It's her child. . ."
"The poor thing. ."
People started whispering to each other when the boy stood before the door, he dropped his belongings on the ground, with his eyes wide open while gazing upon a very heart matching view.
His mother laying on the ground, with her clothes covered in the blood she had vomited. And a beautiful smile remaining on her face. He started breathing heavily.
"M..Mother?"
He walked towards her slowly. Both of his knees were shaking as we walked.
"Mother are you. . . .alright?"
He seemed to be in a stat between nothingness and reality, trying to understand the scene before his eyes. And at the same time unable to understand from the shock which stroke down his spine..Y. shouldn't pull up games like these mother, come on stop joking. .wake up. . ."
His eyes were still hidden, he started shaking his mother's body a little bit, as he thought she might have been joking around.
"Hey. . ."
He begins to shake her body even more.
"Wake up. . ."
His eyes were instantly filled with tears. His tears began to fall on his mother's face.
"Come on. . . .come on!"
He wiped his tears roughly with his arms rubbing his eyes violently as he sniffles.
"Wake up!!"
He exclaimed, as he couldn't help it but shout out, the tears didn't stop running down from his eyes like a fountain of sadness.
"Why are you not waking up! Dammit!"
People continued watching helplessly, some of them cried from what they were witnessing and others didn't want to interfere with what's happening.
"Please. . . .wake up. . .we had a promise. ."
He wrapped his arms tightly around his mother's neck.
"I brought you tastier berries this time. . . . they are not the sour mother. .wake up already, you are going to like them."
His voice became disrupted and unclear, his will started to shatter and more tears ran down on his cheeks from the sadness. He continued hugging his mother with both of his arms, unable to let go of her and her warmth that he was feeling, although her body was cold he couldn't let go of her, his sorrow was unbearable, he finally realized that it was already too late for his beloved mother.
"I'm sorry. . . .I'm so sorry mother."
He continuer crying beside his mother until some people finally decided to interfere and carry the mother's dead body to bury her.
"Child. . .it's alright now... Please."
"Wh. .What are you doing?! Leave her alone!"
He shouted in anger as they managed to carry her body onto a portable bed. At the same time, s, some others the be the to the bothe y so he wouldn't move and cause any trouble, giving some understanding to his situation.
"Let go of me! Mother! MOTHER!!"
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[a few days later]
A new morning has taken over, the sun shone above the surface of the earth. Yet the light didn't reach for a certain someone around a familiar era.
"The poor boy. . . .he didn't come outside of the house for several days now. Do you think he's okay?"
"I wouldn't have the guts to go and check inside, the house might be possessed already!"
"I guess so. . ."
The conversation between two passenger women passing by the house as they talked about the boy, he didn't come outside for several days so everything was pretty unknown.
A man who was wearing a coolie hat has stopped before the house once he had heard the conversion between the two ladies.
". . . . ."
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*creak*
The man pushes the door with his hand until it was opened widely.
The light enters the house once for them.
The man stood there gazing upon a frail boy with a weak body sitting right in the middle of the darkness, the light slightly helped him to break through and be able to see him clearly.
The boy looked up towards the light but naturally for someone who didn't see the light for several days he will not like it when he is exposed to it all of a sudden, he placed his hand over his eyes, preventing the light from reaching up to his eyes.
"Rise. . . ."
That was the only word the mysterious man had spoken as he stood before the boy. While the light continued leaking inside the house from behind him, shining upon the boy's face, which was consumed by his sorrow.
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End of the prologue (Chapter 0)