Deadly Contract

The night came almost as fast as the day did, the people eating and drinking slowly went away one by one paying their respect once more before they left. Lianming was still in the field, although he finished plowing he was instructed to sort out grains of rice and he did so for the past 4 hours.

A group of drunk men walked past the field and they all stared at Lianming, one of the men laughed while the others hushed him and went on their way, anothe drunk elder passed by and as he saw Lianming he went close to him.

"Counting grains at night? Are your eyes not failing you?" the old man asked, Lianming shaked his head slowly as he stopped sorting the grains. It had been years since a person spoke to him.

The old man groaned and teetered a while after he fell on the ground face first, Lianming quickly stood up and helped him to sit properly without a word and looking at the ground the whole time. After he was able to sit, the old man gently patted Lianming's shoulder.

"Thank you" he said, Lianming glanced at the old man's hand which was resting on his right shoulder, his words may come from a drunken mouth but Lianming felt a hazy feeling of warmth after hearing it.

However, he knew that once his master catches him helping this old man, he will likely be beaten by the whole folk since his master will tell them that he tried to kill or steal from this man. He bowed once more and shifted away as he gently placed the hand of the drunk man back to his lap.

"Thank you" Lianming mouthed, no sound came out from his mouth but he was happy. He went back to his position and continued seperating and counting the grains even though he can't see that much anymore because of the darkness. The drunk old man woke up afterwards and stayed on his sitting position while staring at Lianming at a distance.

"You want to hear a story?" The old man asked, he must be hallucinating right now and thinking that Lianming is a wandering child, Lianming nodded in return and the old man smiled.

"Once I heard of a story about a star, its not normal like the others in the sky. They say this star had heavenly powers with it and that it was a gift of a Goddess to a Cultivator out of love. A lot of people say stories about the star saying it was actually a spirit or that it was just a myth that birthed into being after numerous people started believing it."

Although drunk, the old man was straight and forward in telling the story, Lianming couldn't help but turn and look at the old man wanting to hear more, the hazy feeling from his chest growing more and more. It's been so long since he heard of stories like this, he felt like he was a child once more, seeing his reaction the old man smiled and continued.

"One day a boy saw the star, it was different than any others, and he thought of the stories from people back then. The boy lived a poor life and he wished deep in his heart that he will live in prosperity as he grows. A month later the boy was found by a cultivator and trained him to cultivate after seeing his talent. And when the boy grew up after 5 years, he became a famous cultivator and he indeed lived in prosperity and fame."

Lianming was amazed at the story, he thought of how the star would look and how that must've felt having a wish come true, the old man shuffled a bit and found a nice position to sit and he continued his story.

"The star fulfilled its wish, and the famous cultivator shared his story to others, soon people started to make wishes to the star and no matter what wish it is they will always find out that their wishes came true! Another boy went to the mountains and found the star, he was a slave of a prosperous family, he wished to be as prosperous as his master and that fateful night his master and the whole family died in unknown reason and the slave inherited all the fortune that the family left behind."

Lianming suddenly felt a stinging sensation on his chest, it was like knives plunging straight to his heart. The last story the old man said, he saw bits of his memories on the day that the damned Ping killed his whole family, but since he was still alive and if he dies Ping will likely be seen as the onlu culprit he went on and made everyone believe that Lianming was crazy and insane.

The old man stood up and walked in zigzags away from Lianming, the night sky was clear and the sea of stars were shining brightly above his head. His master's wife came by and unchained him, he bowed to her and she motioned him to go away without any pity or even a piece of food for him. Lianming walked away, mind swirling in the story of the old man.

It was the first time he heard of such a story, and if the star does grant wishes in a good way then it really is blessed by the heavens. But the last story bugged his mind, it was almost identical to his condition, he thought about instances where Ping really made a wish and he found out a way to vanquish everyone and pull the strings.

He stood infront of the burned house once more, staring blankly at the house he once called home. He went inside and sat on what was supposed to be a small garden of amaryllis before, and he looked up to the night sky. He wondered if the star was real, if it grants any wishes, Lianming closed his eyes and wholeheartedly thought, if he was only strong enough to outpower the whole Ping family, then his family's death will find light and peace once and for all.