Something cold drizzled over my shoulder...gazing up; it was raining.
I felt a feeling I couldn't define nor express...pity tinged with remorse.
...
He dropped casually from the tree branch, landing steadily on the wet ground.
Beside him lay his chopped sword; broken in half cleanly through the middle.
He picked it up and carefully sliced through the beast's neck, already lying on the ground after Wei released the chain.
When he finished, he grabbed the head, effortlessly lifting it up.
He never specified where to find him...
Wei strolled back to his usual spot, not that it was his favorite, but it was the only place he could escape the dozens of eyes looking down on him.
Setting aside the head, he threw himself gently into the cold ground.
Wei waited, pitch black darkness swallowing distant objects. Silent sounds of clicking and tingling attracted Wei's attention; the noises were like a lullaby, soft, and satisfying.
------------------
Thoughts scattered, until there was no room left to think — just an endless void.
Mind was present; sounds sharpened; a coolness settled evenly across skin.
And yet, despite experiencing so much, it felt no different from experiencing nothing at all.
A bright blinding light covered the view; the longer I looked, the brighter it got.
Someone was chatting in my ear, the words were blurred, their voices were cold, deliberate, almost cunning...
...
Wei zoned in, this time. Unlike before, innocence flickered within him, like a child newly born into the world, knowing nothing beyond the moment.
He noticed the head beside him; bloody and foul-smelling, taken aback; he scooted back slightly, staring blankly with an unreadable expression.
He crawled up into a little ball, leaning against the wall, hugging his legs, waiting to fall back asleep.
As his vision slowly descended, a calm voice whispered in his ear…
"Boo."
Startled, Wei jumped quite a bit and shifted his gaze toward the noise.
Recognizing the familiar figure, he calmed down.
"Heh, you've grown quite soft, haven't you?" He burst, chuckling.
The young cultivator had returned.
His vision darted to the head lying beside Wei. A flair of surprise and joy spread across his face; his eyes seemed to emit a faint glow.
"Oho…You actually did it." He stated, quite impressed.
He stood up from his crouching position, later turning back to Wei.
"Well? Why are you still slopping around? We're leaving." He simply said.
Wei looked at the man, confused.
But he didn't dare to utter a word, and so he followed behind the man obediently.
------------------
The man strolled quietly, his outer robe sparkling with every touch of light. Up close, the beaded tassels on his umbrella appeared quite exquisite.
Wei followed, unlike the cultivator; his steps were short and faintly noisy.
…
"Since you're my discipline, you shall call me master. Understood?" He said firmly.
Wei nodded lightly.
"Ah — what's your name, anyway, kid?" The man continued.
Wei handed him a poorly maintained strip of wood with his name carved onto it.
He carried this nametag for as long as he could remember, although he couldn't read it by himself. Someone from the village had once told him what it said.
The man took the slip, laughed, then handed it back to Wei.
"Wei…hm. that's a simple name." He said as his laughter slowly faded.