Out of the City

"Hey kid, why are you even out this late? Are you running away from home? It's not safe over here, especially at this time of night."

On a medieval trodden cart, the seats roughly bumped as the horses hoofed on the uneven road. It was already near midnight, but to think that a little child was out this late in this area of town.

The driver was actually a kind person, despite the vicious appearance he had on him. He was a buff man with dark skin, even some scars here and there, but he was actually a very kind person at heart. He only worked out a lot more because he always traversed in the areas of town with higher crime activity. He was just like any normal man, fearing the thieves and burglars which might appear.

This made him less approachable, but in turn made his journeys more safe compared to his peers. In fact, his outer look was not even needed as everyone possessed Martial Souls, but as people say, it is the first appearance which strikes at them.

When he was gathering the last of his supplies on his cart this night, a little kid around six asked him to give a ride, seeing that he was going out of the city.

He was worried about him as he could tell he came from a good family, but seeing how depressed he was, nothing good could have ever happened to the boy today, so much that it made him want or need to leave the house...

Thinking of how much potential drama his life had, the young driver started to tear up at his own imagination. "Actually, you don't need to answer me. Just know all people aren't like that, and there are always people that will help and be kind to you somewhere in this vast world. You can find a new home, and a new family."

Of course, Chen Hai was the little boy who had asked him for a ride. He started to feel some danger walking alone at night, and he still didn't know how to get out of the big city.

The bright lights which lit the sky, gradually dimmed down, and the celebratory city disappeared behind the shrubs.

He ignored the talkative man's conversations as he was still locked away in a battle of his mind. His father had abandoned him, and he was not sure what his life will come to now.

Noticing that the kid who appeared six years old did not want to talk, the man started to spew random stories about his life throughout the whole long trek.

The cart passed woods, fields, hills, and mountains. Up the world, and down the mountains, it was a long journey.

The sun battered Chen Hai as he cuddled in with the luggage with dead eyes. Red pink eyes strained from lack of sleep.

His assaulting thoughts did not let him have a rest, so he was still awake during the night when all else went to sleep.

Stars glistening onto the rooftop of the cheap carriage's cloth, warm fires to cook their foods, dull water to drink when they were thirsty, and a never ending voyage of rocks kicked by the horse's strong legs.

One day their water ran out before the two could end the journey, right before their destination. The driver didn't pack enough for two people as he originally planned only for himself.

Luckily having traversed this area of land many times, he knew there was a river nearby off the road. Seeing that Chen Hai still had no sleep, he felt like it was better for him to do something in order to get whatever was on his mind, off of it.

So he gave him his only spirit equipment which he held on him, trusting that a little kid won't be able to run away with something so expensive. It was a small storage wristband, any storage items were very common for merchants to possess these sorts of things, and was a common commodity for people who traveled a lot.

Giving him his storage wristband, the driver asked him to get some water for them. "Little boy, can you get some water for us please? There's a river about four minutes down the hill from over here, if you walk that direction you should be able to find it pretty easy. This is a storage equipment, and all you need to do is tap on this part twice quickly to open it u, while thinking of what you want to take out, and to put something in, you just need to tap the item onto this colored part here. It's pretty simple, and as you are freeloading, I hope you can at least fill up some water for us to drink."

Not declining, Chen Hai wore the wristband onto his wrist, and started walking down the hill towards the river. It was a small river, but the water was very clear and not polluted.

Unpacking all the buckets inside the ring used for containing water, he started to fill the heavy things one by one. As they were too heavy, he had to dip the storage item in the water each time to put it in the ring. After around an hour, he was done filling up all the buckets. It would've normally taken shorter, but it was a harder task to complete as a small kid.

Tired in body too now, Chen Hai finally felt like he would get some sleep tonight. As he returned however, he noticed there was a smell of smoke of burnt charcoal, meaning wood has recently lit afire. He would've brushed this off as it could be the driver making a campfire, but those fires were not big enough to make a scene like this.

Starting to rush towards the area he had left, he noticed a huge pillar of smoke rising into the air. The carriage was on fire, the horse was nowhere to be seen, and the driver was laying on the side close to dead!

Dashing towards the kind driver, he noticed that he was covered in blood, maybe even broken bones! The youthful man from earlier was now nonexistent, he was replaced by a soulless carrier on the last legs of his life.

Spotting the kid which he sent away, he thought to himself that at least he was safe when he sent him away, but also had some unspoken regret about him not being the one to fetch the water. "Kid... It's lucky you weren't here... If you follow that road, you will reach the town on foot in about one to two days... Can you take my wristband to my wife..."

Coughing out blood, the energy wisped away from him faster, draining him from all his life. "I have some letters in there... You can find my address and details from there... hopefully you don't steal what I own... ha-...ha-"

Seeing the man on his deathbed, Chen Hai scanned the area for any herbs. At least while he lived in the mansion, he did not waste all of his status. He was very interested in herbs, so he had a better knowledge than most about them. If he can find some things that can heal him, perhaps he can still be saved...

Looking at the young boy trying to find help, the man started to laugh more causing more blood to spray out. As he started to close his eyes, to succumb towards death, he felt that child start to push things onto his wounds, and then pushing a mixture of herbs and juices into his parched mouth.

"Kid... please don't do this... At most it'll only make me live a cripple, or even worse... just prolong my waiting for death..."

Not listening to him, he waited for the effects to show, but sadly they were not very noticable. He couldn't find good materials at this short of a situation after all...

Seeing the large guy start to die once again, he decided to try and use his Martial Soul. It sort of looked like a medical powder, and it helped the boy from before...

Grabbing a bucket of water, he sprayed the powder into the liquid, making it dissolve into the water. Next he took some of the spare herbs he didn't use from earlier, and dripped their liquid essence into the buck, mixing everything together.

Discerning that the man was not paying attention to him, he decided to lie to him. He remembered his father telling him about the placebo effect before, and perhaps with that, the guy would have enough will to continue living.

"Drink this too, you should feel very lucky. I don't know much about herbs, but I somehow found a Spirit Herb, and this should hopefully be enough to heal you up. Think of your wife, plus what if you have children? If you need me to hand the stuff to them, doesn't that mean they wouldn't be able to support themselves? What if I were to steal all this too! Then what would happen to your family!?"

Shoving the medical liquid down his throat, the man started to regain his will, a strive to live. 'That's right. Who will support my family, what will happen to my wife, what about that newborn child we just had!?'

Then the scene churned and twisted, the scenery fading away. A muffled voice came into Chen Hai's ears, and he felt gentle pushing and rubbing on his body.

"Ch-... i-..."

He couldn't clearly hear what the soft voice, but his bad memories from earlier were wiped away. He started to remember that was already the past, and recognized that he was not living that moment anymore.

"Chen... Hai..."

Opening his eyes to the world, his vision was blurred by the bright lights shining from the sun. A hazed figure rested next to him, gingerly calling his name to wake him up.

Eyes starting to focus, he noticed that he was sleeping onto Ms. Biyu's side. His mind still not fully awake, and his body feeling heavy, he asked her where they were. "Where are we?... What happened?..."

Putting her delicate hands to push him off warmly, she shook him a tiny bit to help him become more awake.

"We're here already, we need to get off the vehicle Chen Hai..."