Chapter 4: Eyes

Zhu Dong opened his eyes, his head was no longer aching, no, he actually felt rather light, relaxed. It was as if he were floating on a cloud.

The moment he looked around, he had an odd expression on his face, there was a tropical forest with trees tall as towers everywhere. The overarching canopies blocked out any remainder of the skies, the darkness wasn't terrifying though, the prowling creatures in the dark, letting out their cries, they didn't bring discomfort for his mind either.

The jungle gave him a strange feeling, a feeling that he hadn't felt since he was a toddler. It was strange and fleeting, yet spread warmth throughout his heart, his tight spine would unknot, and his muscles would relax.

This was the feeling of returning home.

Up ahead across the narrow dirt path was a faint glow, the glow was of a roaring flame. He could hear the loud chanting of an unknown language. People were laughing and embracing each other, having fun.

He followed the sounds of the chanting.

As he walked, he saw the jungle was covered with delicious-looking fruits and ferocious-looking beasts. There was one that he found more intimidating than the rest, it had three heads and a long snake-like body.

Yet no matter how afraid of them he was, all seemed to avoid him like he was carrying the plague.

As he stopped and looked upwards, he saw a strange and small lemur looking creature sitting upon a treetop. Its eyes were bright orange, and it had white and red fur all over.

It jumped down, landing straight in front of him.

It gazed at him suspiciously and started to follow him.

As Zhu Dong walked towards the chanting, he finally set his eyes upon them, the tribal peoples.

The peoples had a mix of pale white, grey and purplish skin. They had had horns emerging from the top of their heads, each of them was different, some had twisting horns, others had horns that were tall and straight.

All of these people were naked, and each had rather well… impressive physiques, to say the least. It was like they were crafted by the heavens themselves. Each was like a prince or princess of a divine kingdom, happy and carefree.

He felt a longing in his heart as if he belonged here… even with their immoral actions. They were mating like… well animals, sharing each other going from one mate to the next.

As Zhu Dong reached out, trying to get closer, it was like he was stuck. An invisible forcefield was attempting to pull him backwards.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

In a flash two golden serpents with wings that could cast shadows over a country appeared from out of nowhere, invading Zhu Dong's vision!

With a crash, he was flung backwards.

"What the hell." Zhu Dong muttered; he wiped his mouth as a bit of blood leaked from it.

"Hmm, how strange." He suddenly heard a voice to his right.

Looking over, he saw the little Lemur was sitting on its tail, looking at him while scratching his chin.

"You can talk?" Zhu Dong said, bewildered.

"Is that such a strange thing?" the little Lemur asked, looking at Zhu Dong, confused.

"But, you're an animal?!" Zhu Dong exclaimed, even more confused.

"Animal?! Who are you calling an animal?! How rude! I didn't call you a half-blood, did I?! No! I'd appreciate you showing me the same courtesy!" The little Lemur snorted, spitting on the floor.

"Wait… wait… what's a half-blood, and could it be you're a Demonic Beast?" Zhu Dong looked curiously at the little Lemur, he knew that supposedly above Ferocious Beasts were Demonic Beasts, who possessed extraordinary intelligence and could in rare cases communicate with humans.

"Demonic Beast, you think, I, a noble Terror Tailed Lemur am a petty Demonic Beast?! Pah! As far as I know, there aren't even any Mythic Beasts on Serpentine, let alone Demonic Brats!" The Terror Tailed Lemur had a proud look on itself as if it were saying "look at me, in all my glory!"

"Serpentine, what's that?" He looked at the Little Lemur, confused.

"HAHA! So, you don't even know what Serpentine is? No wonder, you must be a lost one then." The Lemur put its hand out to Zhu Dong; its hand went straight through his head!

"Interesting!" the Little Lemur shouted, "You're not even here in the flesh! Yet here you are! Tell me Lost One, what Realm are you from?" The Lemur looked at Zhu Dong, peeling its eyes wide open, looking at him curiously, much like a misbehaving young man would be interrogated by their elder.

"Realm, I come from the Zong Prefecture… in 'Ao Leng' Country… or Empire, depending on how you look at it…" Zhu Dong spoke slowly as if unsure.

"'Ao Leng'? Never heard of it. Hmm, oh I know, what cultivation level are you and your countrymen. That'll help me figure it out!" The Lemur said assuredly as if that'd help him.

"My countrymen, well the town I'm from is called Blue Grass and the strongest cultivator there is probably Patriarch Chu, who's at the early Qi Sea Realm… whereas I can't even break into Body Ref –"

"WHAT?!" The Lemur howled, in both shock and laughter.

"You can't even enter Body Refining?! People on Serpentine are born with cultivations that could tear your whole town asunder!" The Little Lemur fell over, slamming its first on the ground. Tears leaked from its eyes it was laughing so hard.

Zhu Dong's face grew sour, his eyes started to grow increasingly dark. Flashes of purple lit within them, three red rings with a line between them also appeared.

"Oh. Well, that is a surprise." The Lemur looked into Zhu Dong's eyes, whispering something to itself, "It's no wonder that you're like that then. Listen, young one, what's your name?"

"Zhu Dong." The young man replied in a deadly cold tone.

"Zhu Dong, a good name. Appropriate for your deposition." The Lemur nodded.

"Zhu Dong, you should know people like you shouldn't appear here. There's a reason those eyes are cursed wherever they go. You want my advice, settle down wherever you are and don't seek anything. Be content. Otherwise, a calamity will come for you." The Little Lemur tutted, with a snap of his fingers he caused Zhu Dong's vision to blur.

"Wait, what do you mean, what curse?!" Zhu Dong screamed desperately as his figure began to flicker as if for one second it existed and one it did not.

"If you must follow this path, I'll give you one piece of advice. The Serpent lies within your own heart. I'm sorry. Whatever the outcome." The Lemur sighed a little.

"What does that me-!" before he could finish Zhu Dong's flickering figure had already disappeared from the jungle. The Lemur was sitting there alone.

After a time, the Lemur sighed, shaking his head, "Poor boy, his fate is not one I envy."

"Such is the fate of Mo Di Yan's dependents, Hou Bu." The three-headed snake slithered next to Hou Bu – the Terror Tailed Lemur.

"She Si, aren't you looking lovely today. You're here to eavesdrop on all my conversations?" Hou Bu smirked.

"Hou Bu, you're the Spirit Guardian to the Primal Demon Tribe. Yet you're not informing them of a Lost of Mo Di Yan appeared, how disappointing." She Si tutted to herself, scalding Hou Bu.

"She Si, you yourself are the Spirit Guardian to the Chaotic Heaven's Tribe. Aren't you supposed to be reporting this to your Spirit Chieftain?" Hou Bu smirked.

"Hm, well. I did owe Mo Di Yan a favour or two. He was always a good boy; it isn't his fault that he's unique upon Serpentine." She Si sighed slightly, thinking back to the how the young child had played in the forests, how he'd sneak up and bite her in her tail.

"So, we're not going to report this to the Spirit Chieftains?" Hou Bu asked eyebrow raised.

"I suppose we could pretend we didn't see anything. There's no need to disturb the souls of the ancestors, after all, leave them to their rest. Let the living worry about such things." She Si shrugged to herself, slithering off into the bushes.

As She Si went Hou Bu took a deep sigh once again, looking up with his eyes to the skies of the world he tutted, "I wonder where that little rascal is now, I am truly sorry Yan'er." Hou Bu jumped back up to the trees, putting his self in a depression.