Feifei

You monster.

The snow fell gently, hiding the ton of blood that had covered Feifei town.

The town was deserted but shrivelled up corpses could be seen at every corner.

A young man sat in the middle of the town, eyes open, a hole in his chest. He was staring into space, not bothered by the strange behavior of his wound. The burnt looking flesh strands were intertwining. Healing.

You must like this.

There was a scroll in the young man's bloodied hands.

He looked down at it, eyes empty.

/You have passed the second quest. You judged fairly. Not everyone deserved the death penalty. You managed to keep the hunger at bay; not many can control the hunger. Your spirit grows stronger/

/There are no yin enemies in the vicinity. Revenge spirit's location is unknown/

/Number of quests until rank up: 5/

He sighed painfully and looked back up. A young boy was shivering in the snow not too far away. He called out for his mother.

Zero knew him from the memories of someone he had eaten. A sweet boy. He sighed again, he knew what it was like to lose a mother and at such a young age.

Sad, it was. His mother was such a scoundrel.

He rose from the ground, pushing a blackened corpse gently out his way. He walked forward, a grotesque mess.

His thoughts were all over the place. So many memories, so much he had seen. People's weakness, their thoughts, their loves, their fears. He could see. None of them were saints. Not even those he had let escape from the town.

Yet none of them deserved such ghastly deaths. Even the most disgusting of them all had done good deeds in their past as well.

There was no such thing as good and evil. Zero's perception was changing. He did not like this. He did not want to do such things.

But he had been roped in. Five more quests awaited before he could rank up. According the scroll, he would have to pass through many levels before he would be able to enter hell directly and search for the core.

While the mortal plane did not exactly support his existence, at least it could bear through. Hell would outright devour him.

Zero took more steps, going in the direction of the crying boy.

"Mother! Mother!!" The child was covered in dirt and blood, his eyes were reddened and he seemed to be turning blue from the cold. He was freezing. He wouldn't live much longer.

Zero came up to him and gently patted his shoulder, "come here. Your mother says to give you a hug for her."

The boy turned to him, tired eyes showing confusion and distrust. He did not seem to process the fact that a literal demon with an open chest stared down at him. He lifted his hands, wanting to be picked up.

Zero did so, holding the boy close to him. The blood spewing out his wound stained the child. Zero closed his eyes and without a waste of breath, cracked the boy's neck.

He died in comfort at least, Zero thought. His mother's soul could rest.

What had happened here in Feifei would soon spread. He had no idea what to do next. He walked out the city, back down the lonely road and into the woods he came from. He buried the little boy next to a mutated pine tree whose fruits looked like plums.

When he had covered the dead child in dirt and snow, he stayed for a while. Alone, disoriented, afraid of what he was becoming. Did he like this?

Yes.

No.

He could feel himself splitting. There was Zero from Qiqi village. The hardworking boy who despite his challenges never failed to take responsibility. And another Zero, a sinister fellow who had invaded his consciousness. The one who enjoyed this power.

' You've been treated like cow dung for as long as you can remember. You've been criticized for a life you didn't ask for. For existing!'

'The Heavenly Dao hates you, the Fates pity you, your family is disgusted by the sight of you. The only place you belong is hell...you're worthless. This power you have is the only thing to your useless name. '

Zero clenched his eyes shut. He was kneeling in the cold snow, in front of the Plum pine tree. The day was dark but it was not night. It was hard to concentrate. It was hard to think straight.

Was the other Zero right? Was he worthless? Was everything he ever was just a piece of nothing?

Was this mad mission of finding some power source the only true thing he had left?

A tear rolled down the young man's face.

'Weak. Pathetic. Someone with such potential, cries at the fact that he is nothing but a loser.'

"Stop! Quiet!"

He screamed into the distance, veins popping. The wound pulsed, dripping blood silently unto the pristine white snow.

' You are a slave of hell. Accept it. Allow Naraka to use you. Why do you fight this? Morals?'

Zero ignored this voice. He was affirming to himself, he was trying to believe.

"I am not worthless. I do not need hell. My life has...meaning. I have meaning. I—"

'Remember who granted you this so called life of yours? You were a cripple. A dead cripple! Ha. '

Zero shook incessantly. The winds were cold. He needed to get away from this forest. Away from everything. Jin city? No. The princess had seen his face: and now, so had many survivors of his Feifei attack. He had to go somewhere they could not find him.

He couldn't let the other Zero's words get to him. True, he owed hell his life and a deal to get strong enough to enter hell and find the core.

But he was not going to indulge in the power revelry. He was not a monster. When he found the core, he would be set free, he knew it. He would no longer be a pawn of hell's game.

He would no longer be a slave.

But for now, Zero could only hold on to his sanity as best he could while somehow passing these ardous quests to rank up.

A determined look grew on his face. He faced two battles now. The one within him, and the one without.

Very soon, imperial soldiers would come looking for him. The ghoul who was seen at the camp of the dead prince and who had massacred a town of innocents.

No matter how he pictured it, there was no way he would make it out alive if he was caught. He needed a map. Could he still move to River's End? Highly unlikely.

He was first seen there. Zero remembered the silly pretty harlot who had screamed at the sight of him. She'd be the first to talk.

The only way was to search the areas surrounding Feifei and hope to find a small village or something. He needed to be prepared for his third quest.

The young man rose unsteadily, a pulsing wound in his chest, a limping leg and a face full of dark red blood and tears. A weakling with untapped power. A slave who refused to buck.

He strolled downed the forest slowly, moving slightly west of Feifei. There was no joy in his steps, neither was there hope. Only questions and determination. One had to admit, against such forces, Zero's will was strong.

He walked deeper into the forest.

Back at the plum pine tree, a barely tangible being covered in sores and dressed in red stood silently.

It observed the ghoul who was now far away.

"He will taste so good. But I must rest first. Those strange winds almost tore me up. Haha!"