Birth of a Demon

The bald headed men rushed out like ants. They did not pay attention even to the guards besides MoQiu, who are broadcasting we are guards from the government with all of their being. The river of baldheads passed by them so fast, the guard captain couldn't even show off his tag. The guards stare after the rushing bald heads with their little uniformly swinging little braids in despair.

The guard captain's face has gone puce.

"After them." He shouted, then the guards rushed after the monks just as uniformly.

MoQiu would have laughed at the comical effect if he wasn't so busy grieving.

"I am sorry, son." his father told him somberly.

MoQiu's eyes are still filled with tears.

"She would have made a great daughter-in-law." his mother told him.

…

..

.

WHAT !!!??

What the hell? Daughter-in-law?

For a moment MoQiu's brain circuit is scrambled. Then he realized, perhaps, in this antiquated world, the girls and boys married according to the ancient age limits, thus marrying off a daughter at twelve and son at fourteen is not weird. However, he is from a modern society, and he disapproved of early love, even with parental consent. It's one thing to do such things when one does not know the effect that has on children's growth cycle, it's entirely another when you know and do such things.

His hands habitually found the jade pendant. It's a bad habit he carried over from his world. He was teased for this habit often from his friends, for it looked way too girly, but it's his fidget spinner. The moment his hands touched the pendant, the words popped up.

'Rescue Ally' the words are flashing in red.

MoQiu was so surprised, he almost jumped off the cliff.

His mother did not notice it, but his father noted his surprise and looked at him in askance.

MoQiu looked at his parents.

They are looking at him, not at the flashing red words.

Those words.. They are only visible to him.

He touched those words furtively.

It opened up into an explanation immediately.

'Your Ally is stranded in the abyss of fire. Rescue her, strengthen your alliance.'

Mo Qiu stares at the words.

This.. does this mean what he thinks it means? Does it? .. Does it really? … After a moment, he had an epiphany. It doesn't matter whether she is alive or not. He just needs to believe she is alive and find her. If she is alive, there's no greater joy. If she is dead, then he will give her a fitting funeral, pray for the peace of her soul.

"Then we will find her, Mother. If she is truly dead, then we will bury her as family." Mo Qiu told his mother.

His parents in real life are normal people, if somewhat patriarchal and overbearing. This ideal set of parents where father is heroic and supportive, mother is loving and kind, almost never saying no to whatever he wants; made him feel guilty, for having little worry about his own parents, sometimes, for wondering how nice it would be if they were his real parents. At the same time, he has been on eggshells around this set of parents, for they are being the same around him. Perhaps the words adversity bonds people is true, for it is now he truly felt they are his family.

His father set a leisurely pace for them. It sounded absurd when one considered Jiushu is probably roasting in hell fire. However, if you think about it, no one can survive such a fire by normal means. If she indeed did survive, it implies her means are extraordinary, they could very well hold to end. Or probably, they are going only to retrieve a dead body, so, doesn't matter how fast they go to the site of the accident.

The monks each climbed a different cliff. MoQiu took a look at all their positions. There is only one outlier among this group of monks, a handsome man and an equally cute child, both with full heads of hair, trying to climb the tallest summit. MoQiu did not think much of their presence, which would become his greatest ever regret in this life.

There is something more bizarre that grabbed his attention. Almost all the monks are carrying pots with them, a pot, and a furnace, all scratching the symbols furiously on to the pots, vases, and otherwise implements they are holding. In a very cultivation world type action, they finished writing, uttered a sutra and the furnaces they have were lit up.

The monks who succeeded looked like Christmas had come early, while the ones who failed looked like they lost their life's savings. The fire is raging among all this. Mo Qiu watched the hullabaloo going on for quite some time, trying to make sense of it. He failed. As he did with these things, he turned to his father to receive an explanation, however, his father is watching the tall cliff with extreme concentration.

MoQiu turned his attention to the same, only to see the young man block the nose of the young child. Normal people would not be able to see this. The cliff is too tall, the fog and smoke covered the summit alternatively. He was rooted to the spot for a moment in disbelief and horror, only to unfreeze when his father started sprinting towards the summit. He is not going to make it there, MoQiu knew. The summit is too tall, his father has hurt his legs.

He flashed as fast as he could, with no care as to who might see him. Yet, he could only get more frustrated as smoke and fog covered half the terrain, he still has to run half the way. He knew beyond doubt, even an Olympic athlete would not be able to make it before that child died. Mo Qiu made it to the summit, just as young man removed his hand from the child's nose.

The murderer raised his eyes to MoQiu.

A fog cloud passed them by.

Mo Qiu started running towards the child, only to see the hands of the young man shrouded in fog tossing the corpse of the young child down the cliff.

MoQiu flashed by instinct.

He appeared beneath the young child.

Perhaps it was adrenaline, or his super power going on overdrive, all he could see is the youngman's eyes.

For the first time in his life, MoQiu understood what people meant by 'Demon'.

The young man's eyes….

They are like abyss.

For that young man knew…

He is damned now.

He will be damned .. no matter what he does.

…..

…

..

And he is thrilled by the prospect.

The young man's lips curled up.

MoQiu flashed to his hidden spot involuntarily, for that is what he does when he is frightened.

For a moment, he was so overcome with fear, his hands and feet felt as cold as ice, and his heart beat erratically. The time started running oh so slowly, as if the entire world is still, he could see even the path of the smallest dust mite. He felt as if his head is down a tiger's mouth, he could feel it's putrid breath on him, he could hear it's muscle's twitch as the jaws are about to snap his neck...

Then he fell down like a puppet whose strings are cut, along with the child's corpse in his arms.

The thud as he child hit the ground woke him up.

Gods..

The child..

MoQiu rushed to apply CPR.

Push..

Push..

Push..

Breathe air into the mouth of the child.

Push

Push.

Push..

Fortunately, with a gentle heave, the child started breathing again.

The young man on the cliff frowned for a moment, for he felt the power rush go down..

He shrugged it off as a fluke.

That was probably the only mistake the young man made in his life.