A bright sunbeam landed on the flat golden leaf and revealed several dew drops resting on it. With the gentle breeze, they wobbled slightly back and forth, seemingly still being in a deep slumber. Every now and then, a shy chirping sound rung out in the serene forest, signalizing the beginning of a new day. A light vibration shook the golden leaf and let the clear dew drops roll swiftly to its edges. One after another, the dewdrops shone dazzlingly as they felt down through the air and landed in a big brown flask. A child’s giggle could be heard while a small hand was putting a lid on the flask. Quick steps resounded in the misty forest and the silhouette of a young child faded away.
“Grandpa, look how much dew I have collected today.”
A small boy dashed out from the forest towards a shabby wooden house next to a narrow river. He was only around five years old but incredibly quick. Splashing sounds came from the river and a man’s figure suddenly emerged from the under the water. He was very old with long white hair tied up in a ponytail. Even though his face was covered in deep wrinkles, his bare upper body revealed firm muscles like being carved out of stone.
The old man left the water and walked slowly towards the flat ground in front of the wooden house. He was not as nimble like he was in the water. His left leg seemed to be quite stiff. In his left hand, he was still tightly grabbing on a weird looking fish. It was glowing bright red and was almost as big as the boy. After throwing the fish on the ground the old man looked at the running child and let out a heartily laugh.
“Be careful Reli, don’t trip over anything.”
“Woa, grandpa. You caught a big fish again. You’re so awesome.”
The boy promptly put down the big flask from his back and crouched down next to the fish. He quickly rolled up both of his sleeves and clapped his tiny hands a few times together. Then he breathed in deeply. A flashing light flickered in his eyes and he abruptly grabbed the big fish with both arms. With all his strength he tried to lift it up. Looking at the boy’s puffed red cheeks and widened eyes, the old man smiled slightly and scanned its posture sharply with his eyes.
But the big fish was just too heavy for the young boy. After a while, he let loose of it and felt with his back on the soft green grasses.
“Hahah, your stand was much more stable today. I saw the head of the fish rose slightly from the ground this time.”
The old man cheered up the young boy and put down his cup of tea on the small wooden table in front of him.
“Really grandpa? Did you see that? I do feel I’m stronger today”
Still out of breath, the boy leapt up from the ground. He smiled widely and his eyes sparkled with joy.
“Now show me what you have brought back from the forest.”
The old man waved towards the boy, signalizing him to come closer.
“Oh right, I almost forget. Look, grandpa, the dew is especially clear today. I waited patiently under that huge golden tree for a long long time.”
The boy went back and picked up the big flask, before carrying it to the old man.
“Be careful. Slow down. You’re so strong, hahah. Let me see how the dew tastes like today.”
After standing up, the old man hastily walked towards to running boy and caught him on his way. He gently patted the young boy’s shoulder and opened the lid of the flask. An invigorating wave of energy entered his nose and gave his body and mind a refreshing feeling. This was the special dew, that existed only in this forest. The old man had found out its special quality after living here for a while.
“Reli, go make a fire. I will prepare the fish and cook some delicious dishes for us. As you know, your grandpa’s cooking skill is unrivalled in the whole wide world. Hahah.”
“Yay, grandpa dishes are the best.”
Both the old man and the young boy laughed out loud. High in the clear blue sky, a flock of birds was circling under the warm sunshine. Chirping sounds resounded in the air and mixed with the lazy howling of some beasts on the high mountain not far away from the river. It was a very odd-looking mountain. Like gigantic beast had bitten a huge chunk out of it.
The air behind the mountain flashed brightly every now and then. A closer look revealed that there was an enormous translucent barrier behind it. Actually, from the top of the mountain, one could see the barrier covered a huge circular area with the mountain at its middle. The forest inside the barrier is incredibly colourful. All the beasts and trees possessed different colours with the most dominant ones of them glowing golden.
The old man looked at the enormous barrier in the horizon and a troubled expression appeared on his face. He went into the wooden house, grabbed various herbs from a wooden chest and began mixing them with each other. A fragrant smell flowed out of the wooden house, attracting many wild beasts. A huge, black golden-paw bear crawled carefully towards the river. Its bright eyes scanned the riverside vigilantly for something. Upon seeing the young boy stacking dry branches together to make fire, it lay down on the green grass a bit far away from him and tucked its golden paw under its big belly. Of course, it looked like a huge furry ball from afar and caught the boy’s eyes. It seems the boy was familiar with this occurrence so he didn’t care about it. More and more beasts arrived but they all behaved like the bear and kept their distance from the wooden house.
Grabbing tightly on the dew flask, the old man sighed. He knew there wasn’t much time. Legend said this land was created by a mighty empress with unparallel power. But It was too long ago since someone had seen her. So long that none could be sure whether the legend was true or not. He only knew one for sure. The indestructible barrier, which had been protecting this land, couldn’t last longer. Normally only ordinary people with no cultivation energy inside them could enter this land and none could leave. Even people with special bloodlines were prevented from entering. But the barrier will disappear soon and chaos will descend upon this peaceful forest.
The old man’s hand moved in a mysterious pattern while he added the special dew to the herbal mix. In order to enter this land, he had to cripple himself and lost all his cultivation level. He was running from his enemies and had no other choice. He wasn’t even sure if the legend about this land was true. After receiving lethal injuries and fleeing for months, he finally found this forest and gambled for his life, hoping his enemy couldn’t follow him through the barrier. It was the right choice. He still remembered his enemies’ last hateful words for him, saying they would patrol this whole area till the day they see his corpse. He had no doubt they would do that. That bunch of psychos was insane. He wasn’t the only one seeking refuge in this place.
To live in here was a blessing but also a curse. After entering this forest, many of his injuries were cured instantly but he would receive another mysterious illness instead. After meeting other people, he found out it happened to everyone. He remembered meeting Reli’s parents five years ago. The young couple just entered the barrier and the young woman was pregnant at that time. He didn’t want to get in touch with them but they were running after him, asking for help. He felt pity for the pregnant woman and told them everything they need to know in order to survive here. He also warned them about the mysterious illness and that the more people they have around them, the more grievous the illness would become. Seeing how expectant the young couple was for their soon to be born baby, he couldn’t bring it about the heart to tell them that no new-born could survive the first week after its birth in this forest.
One month after leaving the couple, he heard a baby’s helpless cry when he was hunting a beast. Following the cry, he reached a small brook and found a new-born, wrapped in a dirty scarf. He saw a woman’s silhouette moving next to the trees far ahead of him. He recognized her. It was the young woman he met not long ago, but the young man was now not with her. He wanted to call for her but suddenly she turned her head and looked shortly at the new-born. Her face was sickly pale. Her lips were dry and chapped. There was no motherly love in her gaze, only pure hatred. He halted his steps and sighed deeply. The woman disappeared shortly after that and he never saw her again. He slowly picked up the new-born and saw its tiny hands throwing in the air as if trying to grab something. He lay his bony index finger into its hand and let it hold on to it. Seeing the baby calmed down, he furrowed his white eyebrows and his breath got heavier.
What a pitiful faith for a child being born in this place. It was not its fault that its parent suffered endless pain. Why did this forest want its life? He was powerless in front of that invisible might. He couldn’t even heal his own curse. Stroking the baby’s pale cheek, he let out a sad smile. Since it only had a few days left to live, he would try to give it the love it deserved. Since that day, the silhouette of an old man carrying a baby could be seen everywhere in the colourful forest. He brought it to the most beautiful places he knew. Even though the baby hadn’t opened its eyes yet, he still wanted to let it witness the marvellous sights of nature. He collected the freshest morning dew and crushed the most delicious fruits to let the baby taste all the flavours, this forest had to offer. And when the night came, when the damn curses started to rampage again in the baby’s body, when its cry tore his heart apart, he stood at the top of the high mountain with the suffering baby in his arms and screamed with it through the night. This forest wanted the baby’s life so he let the baby ate its life essences. This cursed night sky didn’t want to give the baby peace so he let his scream destroy its tranquillity. At least his old bones could do that much.
Time flew by and one day he realized that it had been three weeks since he picked up the baby and it was still alive. Its health was getting even better and so was his own. After months of trials, he finally found out that the mysterious illness could be treated with a mixture of certain herbs, fruit and the morning dew. However, there was a catch: this herbal mixture was only effective for the baby and himself. He didn’t know why but other people’s condition would get worse after consuming it. He even got hunted down onetime cause people thought he fed them some vicious poisons. The old man woke up from his memory and shook his head. He rubbed the herbal mixture onto the sliced fish and carried it to the fireplace.
Reli and the huge black golden-paw bear were laying on their belly in front of each other. Reli rested his left elbow on the soft grass and held a small dry branch in his right hand. The bear’s dilated pupils closely followed the movement of the branch as Reli waved it gently back and forth. Suddenly he halted the branch and tapped on the bear’s soft nose with it. The bear looked at the branch on its nose, then at Reli’s bright eyes, then back to its nose again. Reli slowly removed the branch and tilted his head. He and the bear stared at each other for a while before Reli abruptly raised his branch again. This time the bear quickly covered its nose with both of its big golden paws and looked at the branch with widened eyes.
“Hahah, you sure are quick this time, fatty.”
Reli rolled on his back and laughed heartily. Then he saw his grandpa carrying the big fish and quickly leapt up from the ground.
“Woohoo, time to watch grandpa’s masterful cooking skill.”
He dashed towards the fire and crouched next to the big fish.
“Hahah, are you hungry yet? No worries, it will be quick.”
The old man stuck a pointed rod through the fish and placed it on the fire. He glanced at the beasts laying not far away from them and shook his head helplessly. Those beasts were pretty smart and had also discovered the effect of the herbal mixture. He didn’t mind share it with them since the beasts became much friendlier towards them because of it.
“The fish still need a bit more time. Let’s give the beasts something to drink, Reli.”
“Yes, grandpa. Let’s go.”
There was a big pit next to the fire. A lot of beasts had gathered there. Some flying beast even landed on top of other huge beasts on the ground but all of them were waiting peacefully. The old man collected the river waters in huge jugs and threw the herbal mixture into them before pouring them all into the big pit. The beasts howled in a low voice at the old man and Reli. After doing all this, the old went back to the fire and turned the fish. A fragrant smell spread through the air and a faint growling could be heard from Reli’s stomach.
“Hahah, here take this part, Reli. It’s done.”
The old man laughed kindly. He placed a generous portion of steaming fish flesh on a big green leaf and handed over to Reli.
“Thank you very much, grandpa. You should eat some too.”
The boy received it with both hands and the joyous smile on his face became even wider. Seeing the Reli happily gulping down the hot flesh, the old man smiled contently. He was sure Reli will be fully cured in just a few more days. During these five years, he had tried to teach Reli the most important knowledge he possessed. He even wrote down all his experience about his own road of cultivation. When that day came, they needed to be prepared for the worst scenario.
A cool wind blew over the calm forest, letting a few loose leaves fall down from the trees and landed on the steadily flowing river. Some fishes leapt out of the water to catch clueless, tiny beasts, flying over them. The noon sun shone brightly over the humid forest and the faint smell of wet cool earth rose up in the air. The old man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as he meticulously analysed the various smells of the forest, entering his nose. All of them were familiar to him.
Except for that one.
