Chapter 56
Useless
After an entire day had passed since the catastrophe… one hundred soldiers returned from the Field of Death to Fire Phoenix City.
They came back with pale faces and hearts weighed down by terror, their eyes restless, their breaths uneven. They looked like men who had escaped hell, yet their souls remained imprisoned within it.
The soldiers did not know how to begin speaking, nor what words to offer their lord. Nothing they had seen was logical, nothing could be explained. How could their minds comprehend that an entire village and a vast forest had disappeared beneath an inexplicable darkness?
The size of the village and the forest together was no less than three thousand square meters, yet it had been swallowed whole in an instant, smothered beneath a dome of oppressive blackness that reeked of blood and death.
Could such a thing truly happen in this world? Could any man, or even a beast, possibly cover such a vast space with a single dome of darkness?
No one had an answer… and no one dared to speak.
…
When they returned to the palace, the soldiers entered the great hall of council. The floor gleamed with red marble, towering pillars adorned with engravings of blazing phoenixes. And there, at the center of the hall, sat an elderly man of dignified bearing, his gentle features concealing mountains of unease.
This man was none other than Lord Lou Sa, master of Fire Phoenix City—a man renowned for his fairness and wisdom, and a presence whose mere silence commanded respect.
He sat upon an elevated chair, decorated with gold and crimson silk. To his right and left were many seats, filled with nobles and generals, all watching the returning soldiers with anxious eyes.
The soldiers approached in an unsteady line, and as soon as they drew close, they all bowed deeply in discipline before Lord Lou Sa.
Their commander lifted his head slightly and spoke in a hoarse voice:
—"My lord… we have returned."
The lord did not hesitate. Leaning forward slightly, he asked directly, his voice a blend of firmness and urgency:
"Tell me what happened… speak everything without concealment."
The commander trembled, confusion and fear etched upon his face. Then he began slowly, as though reliving the scene before his eyes:
—"My lord… we went to Red Light Village as you commanded… but… there is no longer anything called Red Light Village."
He paused, drew a deep breath, and continued in a broken voice:
—"The entire village… the forest beside it… a space of no less than three thousand square meters… all of it vanished beneath a bloodstained dome of darkness. Every man who entered never came out. We waited long… but it was useless."
A heavy silence fell over the hall, so deep that even the breaths of those present could be heard.
Then one of the soldiers interrupted, his voice shaking, but determined to add what he had seen:
—"My lord… we found traces of a brutal battle… it seemed as though Lord Lou Sui fought against Red Light Village."
Lord Lou Sa closed his eyes slowly and let out a long sigh, weighted with sorrow. It was as if a mountain of grief pressed upon his shoulders.
Both sides were dear to his heart—Lou Sui, his brother in blood, and Sai Mai, his close friend and kind companion of many years.
Why? Why would they fight?
Why would Sai Mai raise his sword against his brother? Why did this battle happen at all? Why were they all slaughtered? What in heaven's name had taken place there?
The question gnawed at Lord Lou Sa's heart, but no answer came. Everything was shrouded in mystery, as if a veil of fog had hidden the past and buried the truth.
The lord waited for days, then weeks, clinging to the hope that his brother or his friend—or at least some survivor—would return to explain what had happened. But hope bore no fruit. He chose silence, refraining from announcing the tragedy to the people. Yet silence did not stop the rumors from spreading.
Within a single week of the soldiers' return, rumors spread like wildfire.
Countless tales arose—every one of them glorified Lou Sui, painting him as a heroic figure, while casting Red Light Village and its chief in disgrace and accusation.
As a month passed, the lord sent adventurers and scouts to uncover the truth, but the result was always the same:
whoever entered the dome… never returned.
…
Far away from Fire Phoenix City… far from the vanished Red Light Village… deep within a desolate and shadowed forest, there lay a small abandoned cave.
From within, sounds echoed—blows, crashes, the violent impact of stone against stone. The noise reverberated through the forest like its mournful wail.
After a long while, a shadow limped out of the cave.
It was a small boy, leaning heavily on a wooden crutch, his tattered clothes barely clinging to his frail body. He lifted his head for a moment, gazing at the sky through the thick canopy above, but all he could see was darkness pierced by faint rays of light.
That boy was none other than Sai Mo.
After fleeing from Fire Phoenix City, after reaching Red Light Village and witnessing the catastrophe with his own eyes… he had made a fateful decision:
He would train.
He would grow stronger, no matter the cost.
He would have his revenge.
A full month had passed since he began his training.
He spent the first week helpless, immobile, tending only to the wound of his severed leg. When it finally healed and closed, he stood upon his crutch and resolved to start anew.
His trait was weak compared to others—it was the "Remote Weapon Control."
It sounded grand when spoken, yet in truth, it was not. He could not control any weapon unless he first bound it with his spirit, his blood, and his trait. Only then could he move it.
And so… he could control only a single small dagger.
He began his training, striving to master the dagger in combat and killing. But his limited experience and frailty prevented any real progress.
One day, he sat before the cave, exhausted. With a bitter sigh, he set his crutch aside.
He lifted his eyes to the vast forest stretching before him, the forest that had become his refuge, his shelter, and his source of sustenance.
He hunted small animals to survive, gathered herbs to heal his wounds—but his meager knowledge left him unable to distinguish the useful from the poisonous.
He had no money.
He had no teacher.
He had no support.
A boy of thirteen, who had lost everything, and owned nothing.
He remembered his father, Chief Sai Mai, seated among his books. His mind drifted back to an old memory…
—"Father, what are you doing?"
Sai Mai lifted his head, smiling at his son:
—"I'm learning, my son… why? Do you want to learn with me?"
Sai Mo answered in childish astonishment, with the innocence of youth:
—"Learning? Learning what? Don't you already know a lot? Why would you bother with things that aren't important? You only need to train and get stronger!"
He thumped his chest proudly, speaking as though he were already a warrior.
Sai Mai smiled, then picked up a small black pill from his plate and tossed it lightly into his son's mouth. Sai Mo swallowed it without resistance—but within seconds, his face turned blue, and he began to choke.
His father continued to smile calmly as he said:
—"Didn't you say strength is everything? Then why don't you cure yourself with all that great strength?"
Sai Mo choked violently, coughing and gasping, until his father placed another pill in his mouth. Slowly, the color returned to his face, and life flowed back into him.
Sai Mai sat before his son and spoke with firm resolve:
—"Listen carefully, my son. Strength is important, yes… but it is not everything. Intelligence and knowledge are just as vital. Without knowledge, a man is nothing but a beast with useless muscles. Look—this tiny pill nearly killed you, despite all your imagined strength. Learn, my son, what helps your body and what harms it. Do not rely on strength alone, for strength will not always save you."
He patted his son's head gently, while Sai Mo looked up at him with greater admiration than ever before. He sat beside his father, trying to read the book with him, but within minutes, drowsiness overcame him.
His father smiled tenderly, draped his cloak over the boy to shield him from the cold, and quietly returned to his reading.
…
Sai Mo returned from his memories, a sad smile playing upon his lips. He lifted a hand to his face, grief and longing surging in his chest, his tears threatening to fall—but he held them back.
Suddenly… the bushes ahead rustled.
He froze in place, then grabbed his crutch and quickly rose to his feet. He gripped his small dagger tightly, bracing himself for battle.
The rustling grew louder, the trees swaying.
And then, a massive shadow emerged from between the branches.
It was a hulking figure, its body muscular, its back slightly hunched, its features a grotesque blend of man and beast.
And when its form became clear, Sai Mo realized that what stood before him… was not human.
But a beast.
---
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