Goldcrest Town

As the sun rose slowly on the horizon, its beautiful golden rays gently caressed the land, bathing everything it touched in a warm feeling as if it were a mother stroking its newborn. The light illuminated every crevice and glistened in the pure morning dew as the birds chirped a soothing melody.

"Hurry up, son!"

Wai Feng's father shouted as he stepped into the carriage.

"Coming!"

Scurrying to equip Heartseeker into its sheath and tidy himself up, Wai Feng hurried towards the carriage and stepped inside. This would be his first time visiting the town with his father, thus he was quite excited.

Upon entering the carriage, Wai Feng quickly took a seat and stared out the window, awaiting the long journey. He had always wondered what sort of place the town was, as well as the people who inhabited it.

As if he knew exactly what Wai Feng was thinking, his father looked at him and spoke up,

"The placing we're heading to is called Goldcrest Town, and is situated about a few hundred miles south of Blurry City - one of the many cities that lies in this Dong Empire."

"Blurry City? Dong Empire?"

Wai Feng was puzzled; this was the first time his father had told him anything regarding these places.

"Haha! I've raised you in too much of a sheltered environment. Don't worry, I'll tell you about them later, just know that we're heading to the Goldcrest Town. There are only around 3,000 people that live here, so it's not that big compared to the nearby city - where over 100,000 people reside."

"If the city sounds like such a great place, why don't the people from the town live there?"

"It's not that simple; you can't just live anywhere. The price of living in Blurry City is incredibly high so the majority of these poor town dwellers can't afford it."

"Can we visit it one day?"

The corner of Wai Feng's mouth slowly started to rise.

"Do you take your father for a wealthy merchant?"

Wai Feng's father chuckled as he looked at his son.

"Alright, rest up. This journey will take a few hours."

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In the distance

From a certain corner above the sky, stood a white-haired, bare-footed, old man. He was flanked behind by another figure: a seemingly middle-aged man, dressed completely in a black cloak. At this moment, the old man's gaze lingered on the carriage containing Wai Feng and his father, as soon as it left.

The cloaked figure looked at the old man and, with his body half-bowed, spoke out in a quiet voice,

"Sir since he's left again, should we report this to the Grandmaster?"

The old man stood there, staring at the carriage for a while before raspily replying,

"There's need to report anything. For now, you can return whilst I continue the surveillance."

A frown engrained itself on the cloaked figure's face as he looked at the old man and hesitantly questioned, "What am I supposed to say when I'm asked about the situation?"

"This old man decrees silence surrounding the matter."

A shocked expression surfaced on the cloaked figure's face before he proceeded to nod respectfully and dash away.

The old man sighed, before stepping forward and disappearing into thin air.

All the while, nobody had heard their conversation, nor even noticed their existence.

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Goldcrest Town was one of the many settlements situated in the southern region of the grand Dong Empire. It was famed in the area for its talented blacksmiths sent to Blurry City each year, as well as its skilled older generation. Even the location name is based on a legend of the town: it was said that many years ago, during its nascent stages, when the town was threatened with destruction, it was saved by an army bearing a goldcrest symbol. As a result, the early town founders decided to name it such in order to honour their saviours.

At this moment, a carriage arrived in the town and stopped close to the nearby tavern. Two figures emerged from the carriage: a handsome, young man, and an older-looking man with a slightly unkempt appearance. These two were naturally Wai Feng and his father. Their arrival was immediately noticed by the town residents, as a bearded, round-faced man rushed out from the tavern and over to greet them. Seeing him, a smile crept up on the face of Wai Feng's father.

"Brother Cai! It's been a while since you've visited our humble town."

The bearded man greeted with a hearty voice as his gaze swept over Wai Feng.

"I see you even brought your son with you this time. We finally get to see the little one you keep telling us about."

Wai Feng's face slightly reddened as he was being eyed up and down by this stranger. After a few seconds, the awkward atmosphere subsided as Cai Linghun spoke to the bearded man,

"Alright Fatty Wang, that's enough of looking at my child now," He turned his head to look at Wai Feng. "Wai, this is Fatty Wang, a good friend of mine. He's one of the towns greatest blacksmiths, and he helps me sell and buy materials whenever I come to visit him."

"Hahaha, one of the greatest... I can always rely on Brother Cai to flatter me."

"Nice to meet you, Fatty Wang, I'm Wai Fe-"

"Wai Feng, right? Your father is always telling me about you. Anyway, you're welcome to come visit my shop anytime you want. I might even prepare a gift for you."

Fatty Wang smirked as Cai Linghun interjected,

"Let's go now Fatty. We've got some business to do, and time is money. The more time you waste here, the more money you're losing."

Fatty Wang's eyes gleamed as he heard the word "business". He immediately grabbed Cai Linghun by the arm and dragged him away.

"Business! Yes! This way, come! You know what they say, Brother Cai, where there's money to be made..."

The duo's conversation slowly faded away as they disappeared down the street and into a rundown store. Wai Feng stood there dumbfounded; they had only just arrived, and his father immediately left him for some money-loving stranger that he had never even met before. "I'll talk to father later," Wai Feng thought. "For now I'll just take a look around like he suggested."

Wandering around the town, Wai Feng would see people every now and again. It truly was as his father said: the population here was quite low. There were many winding streets with buildings on either side, from normal housing to Florists and Forges, as well as many shady alleyways that he dared not go down. The streets were paved with gravel and despite the lack of people alluding to a ghostly town, the constant sound of smiths beating swords and breastplates into shape was enough to let you know that the town was still alive.

Everywhere he went Wai Feng would be in awe as he stopped to admire the scenery, resulting in people giving him strange looks. He truly was a country bumpkin. "This place is amazing, and father said that Blurry City was even greater than this? I can't wait to go there someday." Wai Feng thought.

Suddenly, Wai Feng could hear screaming coming from the next street over, and the sounds of swords clashing. Without even a moments thought, he dashed off as fast as thought or time, to around the corner. He could see a young boy on the ground, his body covered in cuts and bruises as he shrieked out for his attacker to stop. Turning his head, Wai Feng saw that the one assaulting him was another young man, but one with a more noble demeanour. He wore a white robe, exuding an elegant and honourable feeling. Such an appearance very clearly contrasted with his actions, "You really can't judge people from the outside," Wai Feng thought.

Wai Feng ran over to help the poor young boy on the ground. Noticing his approach, the white-robed young man turned over to look at him and, with a smirk on his face, exclaimed, "Stop this kid."

At that moment a large, well-built man appeared in front of Wai Feng.

"You're out of luck, kid."

Wai Feng abruptly came to a halt. Sensing the threat from this bulky man, he immediately drew Heartseeker and dashed forward, trying to slash at the man's legs.

The bulky man didn't expect this country bumpkin to draw a sword in front of him, and even strike at him. He attempted to dodge out of the way but, alas, Wai Feng was too fast for his large figure. His sword successfully slashed at the man's legs, forcing him to drop to the ground and shrill in pain. Wai Feng looked at the man on the ground, then turned his gaze back to the blood on Heartseeker... this was his first time injuring someone with a sword, and he didn't even feel anything.

The countenance of the white-robed young man turned serious, as he didn't expect someone to be able to defeat his guard. He looked over at Wai Feng, and then placed his eyes on the sword, shock surfacing on his face. This opponent of his was quite strong, thus he didn't want to start an unnecessary fight.

"Why are you interfering in my business?"

Wai Feng looked at the white-robed figure with disgust. In a cold voice, he stipulated,

"Let that kid go."

The white-robed young man let out a laugh.

"So you're thinking of being a hero today? This peasant dirtied my shoes, so I decided to teach him a lesson and let him know about the trash that he is. What? You want to save him?"

Wai Feng nervously flexed his fingers around the hilt of Heartseeker; he instinctively felt that this white-robed young man posed a much greater threat than the bulky man before.

"Let him go, and we can avoid this fight."

"Looks like I'll have to clean out even more trash today."

The white-robed young man pulled out a wooden, talisman-shaped object and crushed it in his hands.

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Far away, in a dark room within Blurry City.

A man was seated in a meditation pose, and his red hair flowed down behind his back like a waterfall. His red eyes abruptly opened, a hint of rage exuding from them.

"Somebody dares to attack my disciple? Let's see who has such guts."

From within the room, his figure disappeared, and he reappeared outside of Goldcrest Town.

His gaze landed on where Wai Feng and the white-robed young man were about to battle, and he noticed the bulky man lying on the ground, injured. Staring at Wai Feng, shock registered on his expression for but a mere moment, before being replaced by fiery rage. Fires of fury and hatred were smouldering in his eyes.

Without hesitation, he dashed forward towards their location, a thick air of killing intent engulfing every move. Just as he was about to advance any further, a calm voice echoed throughout his mind,

"Move any further, and die."