Chapter 6: Chapter 6- Blessed By The Neatherrealm

“So, is there anywhere else we can stop for now so these two can recover?” I said taking a break from carrying the carriage.

It had been nearly an hour as the roads kept going. There were no signs showing anywhere we could stop leaving me out of breath.

“Well, I was following your lead.” Said the old man looking back at me.

“My…what…my…MY LEAD!?! Old man, I don’t know even know where the fuck this land even is and you were following MY lead ?!?” I said both angrily and confused.

“Heh, just kidding, we are nearby a small village, although if we do go you’re going to have to change your look a bit. For one, your clothes are going to need to change, you should cut your hair and more importantly, you’ll need to get rid of that mask. Let’s just hope no one recognizes your face. They’ll all recognize your mask but many won’t recognize your face.” Said the old man taking the mask off my face.

“I’m going to need that mask…but we can hide it for now,” I said placing the mask in the carriage.

“But if someone even sees that mask you’ll be killed on the spot causing trouble for all of us. You know that right?” Said the old man as he looked at me puzzled.

“I just…I can’t get rid of it.” I said grabbing the handles to the carriage.

“And why would that be?”

“Something…or possibly someone wants me to keep the mask. I keep…feeling something anytime that I try to get rid of the mask. A feeling that almost feels like a voice telling me…no…keep it…you’ll need it later. So the mask stays but, we can hide it in the carriage for now.” I said waiting for the old man to respond.

As the old man looked at me his look of confusion turned into that of intrigue. As he blinked heavily with one deep breath he pointed towards the mountains ahead.

“If we follow the road for half a mile there’ll be a cut-off where we can go walk towards the village near the mountains. There we can meet up with an old friend there named Chang Liu. He’ll host us for the time till we wait for these two to wake up.” Said the old man as he walked forward.

It was stupid of me to keep the mask when It was my most defining feature, especially to those that saw me. But this feeling, almost like a voice telling me to keep it or to put it on at times… kept calling to me.

The more I walked in silence with Old man Zhao the more I kept thinking over and over about how I fought back at the village. I had never fought like that before or even at all back home. My body lifted itself up into the sky as I jumped, I could break swords with my hands, and those blue and red dotted figures of people…what was that even about. The only possible explanation that I had was that I was superhuman, possibly a walking immortal. But that didn’t make any sense considering my body felt as if I was thirty with how certain parts ached a bit. And how I felt like I had lived a good amount of life that my nineteen-year-old self hadn’t.

But there was one possible answer that I could get if I asked old man Zhao.

“Old man?” 

“Yes?”

“When you fight, can you see that people are made of blue and red dots?” I asked confusingly.

“So I see some things were left behind for you. What you are seeing my dear disciple is what Is called qi.”

“Qi?” I asked even more confused than I was before.

“Well, do you understand that everything around you is made of vital energy do you not?” Said the old man swaying his left hand lightly in the air.

“You’re honestly losing me.”

“Those blue dots are what people are made of, the vital energy that keeps them alive. While the red dots are their spiritual energy. Many things around us are made of these energies. With understanding qi, we can manipulate the vital and spiritual energy around us to manipulate ourselves and even reality.” Said the old man confidently with a smile as he looked back at me.

“Eh?”

“Sigh…blue and red dots can give you supernatural abilities in fighting. There. Is that easier to understand?” Said the old man looking frustrated.

“Well, why didn’t you say that before? Got me not even understanding a single thing you said old man.” I said lowering the handles of the carriage to take a quick break from carrying them.

"Where are you from Lixin? Like you’re home away from here.” Asked the old man pinching in between his eyes as he closed them.

“I’m from a small farming village in district seven of the land of turtles, why?” I said as I stretched my arms back and forth cracking bones around my body.

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“Do they have immortals in your home? Are there people who have ascended to the heavens? Are there sects in your home? Please tell me you know one of these answers.” Said the old man opening both of his eyes at me.

“Well uhhhhhhhhhh I never really left my village that much but I know the heavens and immortals exist and uh…not much else…sorry. Shall we keep going?” I said grabbing the carriage handles again and lifting them up to carry.

“Sigh…this is going to be so much harder than it has to be. Do you at least know how to fight? Like at all?”

“No……..not at all.”

“How in the heavenly realm did you fight back there before?!? You were fighting as if you had been trained in martial arts with how you kicked, grappled, and even struck. How did you even do that if you didn’t know how to fight?!?” Said the old man as he rose his voice multiple times with each time he was shocked.

“Uhhhh dumb luck I guess…uh…why are you sitting on the floor?” I asked as old man Zhao lowered his head in defeat as he sat down.

“I need a minute to…gather my thoughts.” Said the old man wiping his face with his hand.

As he sat there he kept shaking his head muttering to himself over and over till he looked back up at me. With one deep breath, he spoke only three words.

“Sit with me.”

“If you insist old man,” I said lowering the carriage sitting right beside the old man.

"I want you to close your eyes, and I want you to take in three deep breaths, have a calm mind, and tell me…what do you see.” Said the old man closing his eyes.

I didn’t even question the old man as I did what I was told. Within three breaths the darkness of my closed eyes turned to red light. I was no longer on the road at night. I had somehow found myself staring at a palace surrounded by clouds. A palace made of white and black walls, arches, and even various roof tiles with carved edges onto them. It looked as if it was some kind of worshipping palace from afar. Even the sky was red at rained a thick red liquid. 

Bizarre and mythical I suppose?

“What do you see disciple? Do you see a building? Is it day or night? Tell me Lixin? What do you see?” Said the old man enthusiastically.

I told him everything that had I seen and for a moment he did not speak a word.

And in the next, he began to shake me.

“Aye! Aye! AYE! What are you doing old man?!?” I said awakening to the sight that I was back outside on the road except for Old man Zhao looking at me with a face I would never forget.

He looked as if he was afraid for dear life. His eyes almost bulged out of his head as he sweated buckets. Even his body was shaking immensely as he looked at me beyond anything I had ever seen.

“Lixin, show me your chest.” 

“Okay?…what’s wrong old man…uh…old man what does this mean?” I said looking down at the symbol on my chest.

It was the symbol of Ying and Yang, except it felt wrong. The circles were now a square with a red line in between in it. The dots inside the black and white squares moved as if something was preventing them from coming together. It was almost as if the balance of Ying and Yang was battling but that would be impossible right?

“What does this mean old man?” I said looking petrified at what I was seeing.

“Lixin…you have been blessed by the immortals from the heavens.” 

“That’s good, right? RIGHT?!?” 

“No… it’s not…you’ve been blessed by the immortals of the heavens from the Neatherrealm.”

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