"Big brother Yun!" Little Hua ran towards him. Ling Yun quickly ran and embraced her. He started frantically rubbing her back checking for any injuries.

  "You're safe now. Let's go back to your father together." A small smile bloomed on the girls face. "Yes!"

  And then she exploded in his arms, vanishing into nothingness. "Little Hua!"

  "Ling Yun!" He turned to his left and saw Chensha on the ground. "Little brother please save me! I don't want to die!"

  "Brother Chensha wait-" "Are you trying to save a blood fiend?" The cold voice of Su Ning came from behind. Her sword was glowing, poised to kill. Then suddenly the image of the quivering Chensha transformed into the blood soaked berserker.

  "You want to save that thing? If you get in my way I will kill you." The image of Chensha started flickering between the brother he knew begging for help and the berserker roaring like a wild beast. Both Chensha and Su Ning stared at him, waiting for his decision.

  "Both of you just please wait-" Sick of his indecision, Su Ning rushed and stabbed him. As his vision darkened he heard her voice.

  "This is what awaits at the end of the wrong path."

  Damn. I fell asleep again.

  Ling Yun opened his eyes. Since that night he hasn't moved an inch from the floor. Judging from the sunlight coming from the window it could be either morning or evening but anyways it didn't matter.

  How many days it has been? Two or three?

  Those dreams have gotten more and more vivid. Whenever he closed his eyes due to drowsiness, those haunting visions arrived disturbing his sleep. But he was glad that they came.

  It was a fitting punishment for someone useless like him. The worst were the ones in which little Hua and Chensha were blaming him for their deaths.

  Asking why couldn't he save them? Why didn't he save them? He would take getting killed by Su Ning over that any time.

  His stomach made a grumbling sound but Ling Yun ignored it. He was feeling the pain from intense hunger but that couldn't compare to the anguish in his heart.

  Many times the thought of leaving the room came to him. Not to sate his hunger but to apologise to old man Ping. The old man must have a lot of questions about his daughter's demise but instead he was hiding in his room.

  I just don't have the face to meet him. No, another excuse you useless coward. Just admit it you are afraid of facing him, failing after making such grand promises.

  He had been staring at the closed door for quite a while. This closed room felt like an entire world to him. A world where the useless Ling Yun was all alone, with no one for him to fail or hurt.

  How wonderful would it be if I just slowly died here? My clan could care less about me. Yaoyao, she would be better off without me.

  Yes, let's just lie here till death arrives.

  BANG- the door slammed opened with a loud noise. "I didn't give you this room so you could sleep here all day like a lazy bastard. Get up! The opening time is approaching fast."

  Old man Ping entered his room with an angry expression. He was familiar with the look, it was the same when one time he overslept and missed his morning shift.

  Seeing him, guilt started flooding his mind. "Uncle Ping I-" A loud clap resounded in the room. "You are still not getting up! Go and wash up your dirty face. How could our customers enjoy their tea if they saw your ugly mug?"

  Unable to form a retort, Ling Yun just wordlessly followed his instructions with a blank look on his face.

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  He properly dressed up and felt the sunlight after a long time. Many times he would look at old man Ping but the man was acting like nothing had happened.

  For a moment Ling Yun fell into the delusion that everything that had happened before was a dream. He perked up his ears to catch little Hua's cheerful laughter but was met with silence again reopening the wound in his heart. There was no little Hua or Chensha, just a man who had lost his daughter and the sinner who let it happen.

  He was lost in his thoughts as he watched the boiling kettle. Being here in this shop where he spent the most time with little Hua and Chensha was making him more and more uncomfortable. The shop felt so dull and lifeless without them making his heart ache even more.

  I just want to go back to the room. Why did I even come outside?

  Old man Ping entered the kitchen carrying a box of biscuits. He put it infront of Ling Yun.

  "Here eat some. You must have been hungry these past five days. Can't have you fainting during work."

  Ling Yun just quietly kept watching the kettle. He didn't dare to take anything more from old man Ping. The man looked at his antics and sighed.

  "Ling Yun do you know, my eldest son wanted to become a hunter. He was very mischievous, causing much troubles for me and my wife. Everyday he would run around in the forest, playing hunter with his friends."

  The old man was staring at the wall unwilling to meet his eyes. Then his voice which was calm till now started cracking.

  "He was just twelve when he died. He was trying to climb a tall tree and fell, busting open his head. How much my heart broke at the news? He was my only son, my first child.

  "In my grief I stoped working and drowned myself in alcohol. Afraid of the memories, I couldn't even go back to my house. But on the sixth day, my wife slapped some sense into me. She reminded of the most important thing I had forgotten, my daughters were missing thier father.

  "Now Hu-... my second daughter has died. But my wife and my little girl are still waiting for me in my home village. How can I let them down! I don't have the time to keep crying in the corner, I have to keep on living.

  "Ling Yun, life never stops for a single person. You can't just stop and remain hiding after one loss. Remember what's important, keep that in your heart and keep moving forward."

  Even with a few tears leaking from his eyes, uncle Ping stood upright casting off the gloom. Ling Yun couldn't help but be in awe. He understood what the old man was trying to say but-

  "Uncle Ping what should I do? Because of me ... Chensha and ..... I have already caused so much pain.

  "I don't have even anything important left in my life. How can I continue moving forward?"

  Hearing his serious dilemma, Uncle Ping started chuckling. "Boy you are not even sixteen yet, you think you have life all figured out. Even I haven't and I'm already past fifty.

  "The world is vast and life is long, there are plenty of treasures in store for you to find. Keep moving forward and one day you may also find your something important."

  The old man patted his shoulder. "You cultivators keep in going on and on about power but for us mortals, inner strength is the real deal.

  "Boy no matter how strong we become we are powerless against the heavens. Heavy rains can destroy our harvest, storms uproot our homes easily. Even disease can strike at any times. But the important thing is to not lose your spirit and keep standing on your legs.

  "I don't know much about cultivation so the only advice I have for you is to become such a person that can take everything the heavens throw at him and keep moving forward with his back straight."

  The old man took the boiling kettle off the stove and left Ling Yun alone to digest his words.

  Damn it, I became the same as my father. He too drowned in alcohol and hid away from everything, neglecting both me and Yaoyao. I thought so much ill of him and now look at me.

  How can I fall so low?

  After pondering for quiet some time, Ling Yun finally hesitantly called, "Master, are you with me?"

  "Hmmph! So now you remember me." The prideful sardonic voice that he so much missed reverberated in his head.

  "I won't mock you further by saying 'I told you so.' So care to tell me why you finally called me after moping for so long?"

  But you already said it.

  "If I had the strength, Su Ning or Chensha who should have I helped? Righteous or demonic, which path is the correct one? What way should I go?"

  "Both paths have a lot of rich history behind them. Their cultivation and their way of think are antithesis to each other. The righteous path is the understanding and acceptance of the nature and the heavens but the demonic path is the defiance of the heavens.

  "But you Ling Yun, it's too early for you now. You only have a shallow understanding. Don't think all righteous cultivators are like Su Ning and all demonic cultivators are like that trash. Never keep your vision narrow and mind inflexible.

  "Similar to what that mortal said, as you keep moving forward you will experience different types of people and their ways of life. See from your own eyes, don't just blindly follow others.

  "The further you deepen your understanding of the world, the more you will also understand new aspects of yourself, my disciple."

  "Sorry for disappointing you master. Please continue teaching me again. I want to grow far stronger that I don't always remain a helpless bystander."

  "That is a given, my disciple. Just so you know I wanted you to get mentally stronger and overcome it yourself. If you had remained like that for a week, I would have obviously stepped in."

  "I knew my master isn't so heartless."

  "Hmmph. Prepare for some tough training tonight. There is a lot of stuff for you to learn."

  As the two bickered, the wounds in his heart had finally begun to heal.