Once upon a time, in a world where all things were alive, there was a Prince.

The Prince was popular, even more so than his father, the King.

When the Prince was little, the King, like all fathers, gave his son his shadow. The shadow was to forever follow the Prince and protect him.

Growing up, the Prince would try to play with his shadow, but his shadow would only silently watch, never playing. This caused discontent in the little Prince's heart, but when an assassin was stopped because of his shadow, the Prince became amazed by its power.

As he grew up, the Prince would become more handsome and tall, he would become filled with arrogance and selfishness. Meanwhile, the Prince's shadow stayed the same, only growing enough to fill the space behind the prince's back.

One day, the Kingdom was in great trouble. Barbarians destroyed village after village and were now outside the city gates banging on the Kingdom's doorstep.

They became even angrier and they broke the gate down. As a result, the city was lost in chaos, and in the castle, the Prince was distraught. He was hiding, escaping from the throne room while his father valiantly fought alongside his shadow until the end.

"Why! Why!" The Prince cried while tugging at his shadow.

"You are so strong, but you do nothing while barbarians take our home!"

Suddenly, the Shadow removed the Prince's hands from his collar and spoke for the first time.

He uttered, "My Prince, I cannot save the Kingdome, I am only a Shadow. My only job is to protect you, my reach only going as far as you're own. I am strong because I see the potential you fail to harness, I am courageous because I know there is courage in your heart. 

"If you wish to save the Kingdom, you should have fought instead of coming here to hide. I am but a shadow, I can only be as great as you can be."

The Prince lost his voice, he was shaken.

Unlike his shadow, the Prince wasn't limited to a space to fill, but in the end, he never increased his reach, remaining the same and even becoming drunk on his status. The Prince fell to his knees, realizing his folly.

If he had strengthened his heart instead of his appearance, maybe he could have done something, if only he treated his body as a temple and didn't drown himself in debauchery, if only he didn't believe his shadow to be all-powerful, if only he didn't have a shadow!

At that moment, the Prince was filled with rage and attacked his Shadow. But the Shadow was quick and light, the Prince couldn't touch his shadow, it danced around, always remaining at his back.

Suddenly, barbarians flooded the hall. The Prince was frightened and closed his eyes.

Steel clashed and nothing happened. Slowly, the Prince opened his eyes, and all around him were the bodies of barbarians.

His shadow stood there, unmoved. Even now, as the Prince descended into filth, his Shadow shined so brightly. This was the latent potential the Prince could have had, but his shadow could only show a fraction of it.

"Even though I grew with you, I do not have a soul like you, I cannot change beyond my duty. This is the strongest and weakest weapon of a shadow, I am unlike you, forever untouchable, only ever filling the space you leave for me, unable to become truly real.

"I am a husk that wraps around another, a tool used by you to make you feel safe. I move with you, always by your side, but you are never by mine."

The Prince was silent. Fires burned and screams rang in his ears outside.

Suddenly, he came to a realization. He spoke, almost whispering, "Shadow, then how about you leave my side? We will escape the Kingdom and return here let's say thirty years from now. Let us see if I need you then!" His teeth gritted.

The shadow, for the first time, laughed.

"Yes, my Prince, let's see if a Master can exist without their Shadow!"

The two escaped the flaming city, leaving it behind. Each went in separate directions, traveling to distant lands. They traveled for thirty years, only returning after the designated time passed.

...

A once grand city was no more, flames long took it. The barbarians that razed the city to the ground had no more enemies to take from and they died out not a decade later.

Now, no one lived in these lands. Many called it a land of curses, a land of dark clouds.

Just outside the city, there was a camp with a fire burning. In the distance, a cloaked figure rode a horse down the road, reaching the camp and sitting down beside the man who made it. Both of them seemed raggedy and weak, age was apparent even with cloth covering them.

"Hehe, and so the Shadow proved it could not exist without its master." The old Prince chuckled as he coughed, over the years he always moved about, constantly getting colds, and his health worsened as a result. 

The old Prince gained paranoia in these years, always looking behind his back. He suspected those around him coveted the wealth he escaped the Kingdom with. Because of this, the Prince never stayed anywhere for more than a month, even during winter, moving through rough terrain and wearing down his body. He never reached the potential his shadow showed him. 

"Say's the old man who won't live another winter. I may look worn but that's because I'm your shadow, as you move slower so do I. I can only ever copy you, even if I am free from you." The haggard shadow pouted.

Even though it was free, it was still a shadow. Wherever it went it needed to hide behind people or things. But in a world of people, they all had shadows as well, and so the Shadow was without an owner. Its life was hard, moving from crevice to crevice trying to live in a world it didn't belong.

Although it was somewhat strong, in a world where everything was alive, it was against everyone. It was the only one alone and without someone to attach to. 

The Prince and Shadow didn't speak anymore, they only sat in silence as the fire burned. Time passed and they let the embers lose their brightness.

As the fire began to die, the Prince spoke up.

"I won't kid myself, without you I have never felt safe...."

The Shadow croaked, "Well without you I could never find a place to belong."

Lifting their heads, the two looked at each other, deep meaning was held in both of their stares. Wobbling up, the Shadow walked over to the Prince and returned to his back, laying against it.

The Prince was surprised, "Why now?" He questioned.

"Although we are two different beings, we cannot exist without the other, otherwise we will feel loss. Fate rules all living things, a shadow can never cover his Master but all shadows need a master, and vice versa." The Shadow explained.

Once more, the two fell silent. Thirty years they spent to learn this truth, but many others would spend many more, or even die before learning as they did.

The embers died and the fire was extinguished. The Prince and his Shadow were overtaken by darkness, finally together as one once more, in the ruins of their home.

The End.

...

Cain finished recalling the story, he looked over to Xiaowen only to find the child was sound asleep.

'Was it too boring?' Cain didn't have children, he didn't know if he did a good job. But relying on Zhu Huan's emotions he was confident he at least did what he was supposed to.

"Sleep tight." He kissed his son's forehead and left.

'One more day I should be able to accomplish it...'

Cain didn't come here for no reason. The letter he received from Tao Meili helped him remember an important event that would coincidently happen tomorrow. The day would go down in history and even became a celebratory day for the Righteous path.

It was the day the Three Great Evil Sects were all single-handedly dealt with by the Beast Master Sect, the day the Beast Master Sect Truly became number one in the world.