Chapter Ten - Yue Chen's Past

Standing above Yue Chen the Silver Eyed Mirage Tiger growled angrily.

Blood poured from his orfices. Yue Chen was aghast. A single strike from the disaster ranked beast had rendered him immobile. Yue Chen could feel that he had broken bones all over, his feet were both uninjured, unfortunately his left hand was the only one functional after that blow.

"Hahaha! Karma never forgets faces indeed!"

Ka Meng laughed at Yue Chen's peril, it seemed the heavens favoured him today, Yue Chen's head would guarantee his future as a commander ranked imperial guard!

Holstering his enflaming sword Ka Meng rushed at Yue Chen, his blade slanted above his head.

"Brother Ka, your feet!" the hoarse voice shouted.

"shuu!"

Sharp pieces of ice shot out of the frozen ground, aiming at the gap in his armor around his throat.

Shifting his body Ka Meng dodged the attack, losing his balance in the process.

"shuu"

Before he could regain his balance more ice shards shot out of the ground at Ka Meng.

"Enough Playing!" a scorching flame aura erupted from Ka Meng's body, immediately melting and evaporating the surrounding ice.

"Growl"

Returning to its original position the Silver Eyed Mirage Tiger sat, not even looking at the collapsed Yue Chen.

Seeing the demon beast ignore him Yue Chen still couldn't calm down. His attention was trained on Ka Meng, all his attacks had failed and he was too injured to run. If he couldn't kill these two today, his chances of survival would be zero.

A powerful force pressed onto Yue Chen onto the ground, causing him to puke mixtures of digested meals and blood. He knew he was already at the end of the road, he was destined to die here.

Ka Meng struck down with his enflamed sword viciously at Yue Chen's neck, intent on beheading him.

Feeling death approach Yue Chen felt relief amongst his despair.

"Is this how you wanted it to end?" an etching voice echoed in Yue Chen's ears, it was almost like scraping two pieces of metal together.

Hearing the etching voice Yue Chen subconsciously replied "No"

"No? you have resigned yourself to your pitiful fate, and you dare say no!?"

"Ostracized, rejected, discriminated, this world doesn't accept me" Yue cried bitterly. Only he understood how difficult it was for the past 16 years. Ever since he was a kid, for as long as he could remember he'd always been the center of conflict and aggression. He had never picked a fight before, yet he would be beaten by the other kids daily because he wasn't like the rest. The teachers weren't any better, they would never look his direction during lessons, ignoring his every questions, as he grew Yue Chen thought, if he had made it clear, if he showed the empire he could be more than just a cursed child, then maybe they would accept him, instead they despised him for trying to fit in, for being like everyone else. His suffering had started more than ten years ago, they would toss rocks at him, they would hurl abusive words at him at every given opportunity, they picked on him - beat him until he was bruised, swollen and broken all over, the officials and guards of the empire were aware yet did nothing to stop the public, but Yue Chen never gave up on trying to be accepted. His optimistic character as well as his close friend Bo Yang drove him forward and with his above average talent he believed he would make a name for himself one day, and one day the empire would recognize him and finally treat him like he belonged. But he was wrong. The fear brought by the people's ignorance as well as the emperor's greed had led him to his end.

"Can't you see, the people are blind, the world is unjust, you'll never be accepted" the etching voice whispered in Yue Chen's ears

"Don't pretend you don't remember. We remember it like it was just yesterday" the chilly voice echoed in Yue Chen's mind. The light particles then converged once more, revealing the figure of a young girl that seemed only 6 or 7 years old. "Hey...I'm.....your ....too?"

Waves of pain assaulted Yue Chen's mind, it felt like hundreds of worms were slowly forcing their way into his brain, causing him to scream in agony.

"I'm too late, his life energy is draining constantly and his soul is collapsing" an elderly man shrouded in red mist appeared above the graveyard where Yue Chen was.

Slowly landing the mist surrounding the elderly man dissipated. Assessing the situation silently the elderly man took the unconscious Yue Chen and threw him over his shoulder in a fireman carry before quickly ascending. "You harmed this young man and have earned my wrath, may King Yama treat you well" with those words the elderly man shot a deadly glare at everyone present before turning to mist.

As soon as the elderly man left the graveyard became deadly silently. Everything within a 30 kilometer had turned to dust.

After the incident in the graveyard a few months passed and the news of 'The Cursed Child's Betrayal' traveled far and wide soon, many of the great nations had come to know of Yue Chen's notorious deed.

Lying in a small hut in a remote village Yue Chen's body laid bare. All his wounds had disappeared but he still hadn't awakened.

"Hmm why isn't he waking up Doctor Jia, is he dead?" A soft voice asked.

"I don't think so, his heart is still beating, there are also faint spirit energy coming from him, he should be okay" Doctor Jia responded while scanning Yue Chen's body.

Inside his head Yue Chen had been conversing with the eerie voice for the past few months.

"I remember.....the reason I attended the annual talent meet, I remember now" Yue Chen's said slowly with a trace of doubt in his voice.

"Hmm I realized your memories are fragmented, you're worthless, indulging in pleasures and losing your way" without any attempt at hiding it's disdain the eerie voice spoke with contempt.

"Mn I remember that little girl from my memories, is she..."

"Dead? Yes she died before your very eyes! Do you doubt your own memories? Can your intellect fall any lower?" The eerie voice mercilessly hurled insults at the poor Yue Chen who was still facing a state of confusion from regaining bits of memories he never knew he had.

"Can't you be a bit less harsh?" Yue Chen sighed. Organizing his memories gave him a mild headache.

"Less harsh? Do you deserve it? The dimwit that resolutely swore an oath of revenge lost himself in years of bliss!" The voice argued angrily.

"Give me a break, I was eight, It was an impulsive decision." Yue Chen retorted.

"What was an impulsive decision?" A confused little girl sat next to the bantering Yue Chen, not understanding what Yue Chen was saying.

"Who?" Opening his eyes Yue Chen met two beady eyes staring right back at him. Leaning forward his head collided with the little girl's "ouch"

"Pardon my apprentice Gila, she's a bit eager" Doctor Jia laughed while placing a change of clothes next to Yue Chen.

Standing up Yue Chen was about to exercise his loose muscles when he felt a sudden chill "a...achoo" almost immediately he realized his close was missing.

"It was getting in the way so I removed your clothes, they were beyond repair so I tossed them out" Doctor Jia said with a smile.

Instinctively Yue Chen covered his private areas.

"There's no need to be shy, I'm a doctor, I've seen plenty of male bodies and yours is one of the feeblest in the lot, while your junk is however, outstanding for a 16 year old" Doctor Jia said in a nonchalant tone.

Hearing Doctor Jia's assessment of his body Yue Chen's face glowed bright red....