Even with people near, you still feel lonely

Light shines through the crown of the jade trees as it passes through the leaves giving it a cold sensation, because of their huge crown and leaves the grass floor was a dark green with a lot of shadows between the trunks.

In one of those trunks there is two young boys, one was lying on his back the other sit on his ribs, with his shaking hands soaked in the other blood, his chest up and down heavily, he looked right and left, but all he could see was the dark and cold forest trough his dizzy vision.

"Shi'er! Wake up!" shouted Long Shin, he was standing in the air looking at the kid having a panic attack.

But no matter how much he tried, the boy wouldn't answer his calls.

"Sigh.. a panic attack uh? This situation was really unlucky, to find an evil path boy right when he's starting meditating" The dragon sighs and enters the jewel waiting for the kid to get hold of his own thoughts.

After a time of burning sticks the rapid pounding heart of the kid would slow down, his throat would stop being tight, but his breath was still chaotic.

He looked down at his trembling hands soaked in blood, looked at the emotionless boy below, the socket of his eyes had hollow holes, his neck was with red hands marks on it, he would never move again.

"So you are finally awake." The dragon came out of the jewel, floating in the air, looking at the weary boy.

"Father.. Did I killed him?" a shaking young voice sounded out, his eyes dull as water could be seen drop from them, his face emotionless.

"Kid, don't get overwhelmed by it, you didn't kill an innocent, he was from the near evil sect, he didn't ask you how did you ended here, he was trying to capture you to sell like a slave, torture or was trying to kill" the dragon said with concerned eyes.

"En" the boy answered in not a convincing way, getting up from his enemy body he heard Long Shin's voice again "Search in his body for useful things, like that short sword".

The boy's mind trembled as he thought about touching the stiff body, his hands touched the belt holding the sword, but at the same time a nausea came to his throat.

"Ugh oh" almost throwing his bile out, he gulped it, looking at the dead body, moving his hands through it.

After some time, he got a short sword, water gourd and a little bag with a blue flower and seeds.

"Take off his upper body robe, use it as a bag for your sticks and leaves and.. " as finishing his sentence, the dragon got a little uneasy "Also fill that water gourd with his blood."

"His blood? This… it's a little too much isn't? You are not going to teach me an evil technique right?" asked the boy, with uneasiness in his heart.

"Of course not, it's to use as a fertilizer, using his blood qi as a source of vitality it will make spirit herbs grow faster we are going to need a lot, normally beasts blood it's the best, but you can't fight one in your actual condition" answered the dragon with a serious voice.

The kid slowly gather his stickers on the red robe, belted his new sword, and walked deject to the moist cave, getting there, he made a fire, picked up some square looking stones and used it as cooking plate for the fishes, looking at the fire with emotionless eyes as he's thinking about anything.

"Shi'er don't be like that" the dragon lying on his shoulder started to talk "Look, let me tell you about myself, do you know why I accept you? Because I was a victim in the hands of evil people when I was a child, but different from you, I was not only raped but suffered tortuous experiments just for their fun. It took such a long time for me to get over it, and I lost a lot of things in between" sighed Long Shin.

The kid's eyes became large as he heard his father relate "You.. Sigh I know father, I am not this way because I killed him, I saw his murderous intent" his heart still shaking because of the Long Shin confession.

After eating, he started talking with his father again.

"Father, why do people like him exist? Like that woman? Why do they need to do evil things?" the boy asked.

"There are a lot of answers for that, but the simplest way to think about it is that some people can't handle being in the darkness alone, they need to bring others, and some of them, they just let the darkness consume them" looking at the child Long Shin answers in a calm way.

"This kind of thing, it's just too soon for you, how many encounters like that do you think you're going to have? There is an evil sect just at your door, how much time until they ride your village for fun?" asked back the dragon.

Long Shi took a breath, got up and was going in the waterfall direction.

Taking off his dirty bloody wool clothes he put them in the water, he started to enter the pond to take a bath, looking at the waterfall at least 2 meter from him, his mind started to deviate, he died almost two times in less than two days.

One because of a stupid sheep, he needed that boring job for living, but he always hated, hated the eyes of those villagers, the girls and boys taunt at his condition, orphan, abused, poor and he hated that woman.

He didn't have anything to live for, but he couldn't kill himself, something always made him stop, after those two death situations he knew, it was fear who stopped him.

If it wasn't for the last situation where fear was almost every part of his body, he would never think about it, now he knew why the dragon scolded him earlier.

A slight trace of hope glinted on Long Shi eyes now, he had found a father, a mentor, someone who already teached him.

After taking a bath, he sat naked by the fire putting the last three sticks in the fire, he put his clothes near to dry.

Looking at the flames he said "Father, I want to cultivate, to be stronger, to not live by the hand of others".

"You already cultivating boy, that breathing and imagination thing I teached you was the fundamentals of the primordial breath, my main technique, what make people cultivate isn't the bloodline, neither the bones or muscle, all those things serves only to hold the spiritual qi, what's important it's WILL, even spirit and veins came later, since it's just a searching and gathering tools." Long Shin said as he swayed like a serpent through the air.

"When you fell from that waterfall and came here by accident, I didn't give you too much, but as you keep walking even with that pain and wound in your back, just for some sheep, it showed me your responsibility, about your heart demon, at this young age you should be crazy, but since it has to do with women your natural bones take a little care of it."

The dragon sway suddenly stop but his mouth keep talking "when I offered you a chance you didn't wanted your freedom, but you wanted someone, company, because you are feeling lonely, and that's sad for a child" the dragon sighed as he keep talking "a lot of cultivators like to say this, or that. But this universe it's just the same, cruel, to a child like you feel lonely even when there are people near you it's truly sad."

"That breathing technique it's your main cultivation way, it gathers the primordial chaos qi from the heavens and earth, the best time for it it's when the sun and moon got to see each other, doesn't matter if you siting, swimming, jogging or even making love. What's matter it's the understanding of the yin and the yang." Long Shin started to talk seriously about cultivation with the kid for the first time.

The boy listening to his new father words became sad, but not for too long, yes he was lonely, yes he was responsible, if wasn't he would die of hungry, just a sheep it's worth a year of salary.

He got straight and put his legs on a lotus pose, as he started to try the breathing method, sometimes he would see the fishes, but there's always something bothering him, be the water noises, be his legs, or even just itchy feelings through his body.

Seeing the boy so serious, but at the same time making newbies mistakes, Long Shin felt the nostalgia knock at his heart door and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

-

"Wake up boy!" Long Shi heard his father calling, rubbing his eyes and looking dizzy he asked "What's it Father?" every time he said the word 'father' he got a smile on his lips.

"It's time for you to go back to your village." The dragon lazily said "also you need to bring that body to this cave before someone finds it" Long Shin instructed the kid with a stern voice.

"Bring that body here? Why?" the dull kid asked in an immature voice, which made the dragon look weird at him, trying to understand if he was trying to pass as a stupid child.

"For people from that sect don't find that you killed one of them silly child" the dragon talked with an annoyed tone by the dullness of his child.

Long Shi was outside the cave, looking at the stone wall, as he gulped just one more time, he started to climb, the sun was almost set, the clouds where with red sunlight passing through them giving it a beautiful sight, as he got up and up, his sweat started to stick on his clothes, his father would talk about anything with him, just to make him not look down.

Sometimes he would use the tip of his short sword to make a place to put his hands, sometimes his hands would slip, making him almost have a heart attack.

After a long climb he finally was up in the mountain range again, close to the area of the old stone village, sitting on the ground getting his breath again, he looked at the beautiful night skies, thinking about all that happened in those 2 days he was down there.

As a determined cold glint passed through his eyes he got up, going in the direction of his house with his ragged, sticky and blood stained clothes.

"Father where should I hide the circlet?" asked the kid before getting too near the village, looking like a thief in the night.

"There is no need for that" as the circlet shone in the kid's head it disappeared and a beautiful tear little golden mole appeared in between his eyebrows, giving the handsome boy a cultivator look.

After getting close to the village, people start to notice and shout at him.

"WE FOUND THE LITTLE THIRD!" an adult voice shouted in the night.