Aftershocks

Rian or Dia Ning sat on a luxurious chair with crimson colored shapes decorating it.

At times, he crossed a leg over another while in other times he leaned forward.

He simply sat and thought, enjoying a care free life as he always did.

He watched out the window in front of him absentmindedly when he saw something strange.

There were bushes close by, decorating the concrete flooring surrounding the house as a pathway. Then there was a small plain field while a forest surrounded it, extending to an unknown distance.

In the far distance though, he could make out the white clouds hovering over the distant forest.

The strange part was that the cloud seemed to gradually part, as if a crowd opening up to allow someone important to walk through.

It looked like a fairly slow process before suddenly, above his head, something flew at a speed he could barely follow.

All he saw was a mix of bright rainbow colored light and complete darkness before, a millisecond after, everything returned to calm as the anomaly passed by.

A second after though, Dai Ning felt a strong gust rip at his skin as it tore apart that part of the house. Suddenly, some sort of power resisted the strong, ripping wind as Dai Ning no longer felt it and the surroundings stood still, contrary to its previous state.

Dai Ning looked overhead at where the gust came from and then looked for what passed by by looking for a window on the opposite side.

On his way there, he noticed that everyone was completely terrified as if they heard the whispers of a monster into their ears.

Fan Liang, who was trying his best to calm some of the weaker willed people that yelled, noticed Dai Ning from the side.

"Young Master, are you okay?" He looked gravely sick and terrified, but nevertheless was hanging on in better condition than most of the others.

Dai Ning was a bit confused on what exactly was going on and why everyone was so scared, but he was more interested in the after effects elsewhere. The window he was seeing from had a limited view, after all.

…

I nodded and tried my best to act worried to seem less out of place, confirming that I was fine as well. Then I walked quickly to another window farther down the hallway that split two ways out of my room.

Outside a view presented itself which brought shock.

Devastating was the least descriptive term to describe the scene.

Soil flown out of the ground to the point where the ruins of other buildings were barely visible with how much soil covered them.

With his ponytail swaying behind him, the somewhat tall Fan Liang quickly caught up to me and looked out with me, registering the true afterschocks they could've faced.

I did the same, but likely to a greater extent. I previously saw the wind blow past me as if an inch away from my face and just before that it really did blow at me.

I rubbed the cuts on my face just thinking about it.

Fan Liang looked down at me and I think he narrowed his eyes. "I noticed before, but why don't you do Qi Regeneration?"

I naturally narrow my eyes, greatly interested in learning more about Qi. Ever since I learned I could skip cardio just by cultivating, I found out Qi could be very practical.

He chuckles. "Forget it, I was just curious."

I widen my eyes and almost choke on my saliva.

Hey, hey I'm in character, aren't I? Please explain it to me. You mentioned it, didn't you? Explain what Qi Regeneration is!

Well, it's not hard to guess, but just tell me.

I visibly frown, still looking at the overturned ruins outside.

It was really terrible out there.

Then I catch eye of a hand. A hand rising out of the soil and flailing about before slowing down drastically.

I didn't get to catch that last part, since the instant I saw the hand, I ran out.

The perfectly maintained front door opens up to a world covered with soil. The great forest far away was like a cake turned over. Very few trees remained standing and even those were on the verge of falling. Wood splinters were all over the floor.

The Eastern tradition of removing shoes before entering a building remained here as I quickly put on my shoes and looked at the soil covered in different fabrics, wood, and glass.

It seemed whoever protected this building didn't even think about protecting the smaller buildings.

I faintly heard some cries that came from a baby and a woman. Recalling the hand I saw earlier, I forget about hesitating from stepping out.

I rush out to the source of the sound and turn over a heavy boulder, finding the two.

Seeing them injured and having no idea what to do with them, I rush back and call for Fan Liang.

He sees my nervousness and after hearing the situation, looks confused. Seeing my seriousness, though, he follows orders.

I rush to where I remember the hand being and see a woman covered half in dirt.

She looked fine with her eyes closed.

I check to see if she's still alive.

She's dead. No breath, nothing.

I find myself touching a cold corpse with heat escaping from it rapidly.

The woman was dead, her expression serene.

I roughly scratch my head and get lost in thought for a moment.

How did this happen? A person died right next to me from what, a hurricane?

What was that?

Was it because I came too late? She was clearly raising her hand before. She was alive. She was alive just now.

Then why?

I looked around and searched for other survivors with remnant tears on my eyes.

I found a middle aged man laying down on his back with a splinter wound through his stomach.

Before I could check his condition, a voice that rooted itself with worry was heard behind me near the house. "Young Master! Come back immediately!"

My voice cracks as I yell back while pointing at the man next to me. "Help me with this guy!"

Fan Liang, who was shouting, grew a solemn expression as he suddenly vanished and reappeared with me next to him.

Once I noticed where I was I tried running back out when the door was closed in front of me.

My expression covered in dirt and tears was observed by Fan Liang who was confused. "Why do you care, anyway? Forget it, there's other attacks coming soon. Hurry up and follow the others below. "

Other servants who were watching as I tried saving the others were alarmed once they heard Fan Liang's words. They quickly ran off as Fan Liang ordered them to their direction.

Once they ran away, Fan Liang grabbed my arms as an attractive force grew around him. "Come with me."

I tried resisting for the man with the splinter injury as Fan Liang overpowered me easily.

As he pulled me along with his strong grip, I ask, "How about the other servants? Why aren't we going with them?"

He looked at me as if looking at an idiot. "Well, because they're hideout isn't strong enough. You own a much better one. You started the construction of it, too."

I noticed that Fan Liang pulled back a lot less when he was speaking to me. He no longer spoke to me as if he was a dog, but as an equal. I much preferred this treatment.

"Ah yes, then let's bring the others with us. It should be much safer there."

He once again looked at me as if I was an idiot before walking faster, pulling me harder. "No."

I was lead down a long staircase that opened from the floor to a rock cave.

In it were a number of things that would sustain me for quite a bit.

I looked back confused to find the door closing in on me, right in my face.

I last saw Fan Liang's smile which looked partly bewitched as his lips curled up greatly before all light disappeared.

I rush back up in the darkness, stepping up each stair and I try pushing the door that was above me. I fail, not nudging it an inch as if I tried pushing a mountain.

No matter the strength I put into pushing it, nothing worked. I became nervous and tried all different means.

The strength this body had seemed like it didn't exist as even punching the rock besides me didn't work. Previously, doing something like that would shatter the rock.

I was stuck.

Maybe they made a mistake?

I'm alone in the darkness.

Then I hear something. It was the sound of shouts and cheers.

Everything else was simply faint or nonexistent.

I echo through the dark staircase behind me, "Sh*t."