The time for the moon had ended and the sky was preparing for the coming of a new day.
His skin laid bare for the cool air of the morning to penetrated it, sending a cold sensation each time he moved forward. As usual, Li Kong jogged following his usual route while waiting for his training to commence.
Each breaths he took in filled his lungs with refreshing scent, further energizing him as he continued his jog before a loud scream rang through the village.
"No!!!"
Li Kong jolted for a second and immediately traced back the source of the sound and it was coming from the farm's direction.
Without any hesitations, Li Kong rushed to the farm as quickly as he could, many familiar faces poking out from houses that Li Kong passed by.
Finally arrived at the farm, Li Kong heard a loud sobbing coming from the other side of the fences and jumped off the fences and there kneeled a figure of a man in front of what looked like a broken wooden fences. It was like something charged through the fences, broking it as the result.
Li Kong quickly got onto his uncle's side and shook him repeatedly before asking, "What happened, uncle? Why are you crying?"
Wang Lan's eyes regained its clarity and he realized someone was calling him as he turned his head to the person who had been calling him.
"L-Li Kong?" Wang Lan said, out of breath.
"Yes uncle! It's me Li Kong!" Li Kong tapped his chest before questioning him, "What happened uncle? Why the fences wrecked?"
"Man..." Wang Lan muttered.
Li Kong focused his attention to Wang Lan.
"Manman... Manman! She was gone! She's gone with the others, Li Kong!" Tears jerking out from the corner of his eyelids.
"Li Kong, Li Kong!" Wang Lan grasped Li Kong's shoulders tightly, the sharp sensation of the nails biting in, creeping through Li Kong's skin.
"What, what should I do Li Kong? What should I do Li Kong!" Wang Lan screamed out his heart before his head dropped low.
Li Kong's mouth opened slightly. The hand that grasped his shoulders felt the slightest tremble coming from it but it quickly subsided as Li Kong bit down his lips and slapped himself across his own face.
Pa!!!
Hearing the crisp sound, Wang Lan slowly lifted his chin up only to found the youth's cheek had turned red.
Bewildered by the youth's action, Wang Lan was about to open his mouth to ask what's going on that was before he was interrupted by the youth's unwavering eyes staring directly into the depth of his mind.
"Uncle." His voice shook for a moment before becoming clearer. "Can you tell me what had just happened from the start?"
Faced by the youth's determined gaze, Wang Lan swallowed his fear whole and explained the whole situation.
Li Kong attentively listened his uncle's story and asking a few questions along the way until his uncle finished.
Wang Lan gazed at the Li Kong who was sitting on top of the fences while pinching his chin seemingly deep into contemplation.
"So let me repeat it again, uncle." Li Kong's serious voice entered his ears.
"You heard some weird sounds in the midnight which woke you up but after that, you went back to sleep thinking it was Manman's usual doing and then this morning, you went to the farm and Manman and the other cows already gone and the fences already broken. Am I right?"
Wang Lan nodded at Li Kong's recount which prompted Li Kong back into thinking.
'Why did the cows broke through the fences and most importantly, where are they going to?'
At that moment, something clicked inside of his mind and he quickly jumped off the fences and shifted his attention to the ground outside of the broken fences and there were multiple footsteps on the ground.
Not wasting a single moment, Li Kong immediately traced the footsteps direction and the cows seemingly were heading to the west?
But why west? Li Kong mused before colors slowly fading from his expression as he abruptly turned his body back and sprinted.
When he arrived back at the farm, many peoples had gathered around the farm looking from outside of the fences and some even had standing besides of Wang Lan and started to comforting him while asking him what had happened.
After that, someone from the crowd noticed him passing and called for him, shouting, "Li Kong! When did you get here? Did you know something about this?"
Unfortunately for the person asking, Li Kong couldn't spare more thoughts at his question and continued to run away from the vicinity, leaving only his back to be seen gradually fading away.
"Uh... Why is that child in such hurry?" The person felt awkward being left on without any responses but after that, he quickly shrugged it off and blended back to the crowd.
On the other side of the farm, a single bulky figure stood out from rest of the crowd and walked through the broken fences.
The figure scanned through the scenes and found the numerous animal footsteps laid bare on the ground. Then, the figure traced the direction the footsteps was heading and a sharp, focused gaze emitted from his eyes.
After that, the figure slowly backed down and blended into the dark before disappearing as if he was never there.
...
A loud footsteps was heard coming from the hallway and suddenly Li Kong barged into the bedroom, slamming the door out of this way, and ran into the piece of clothing laid on top of his bedside.
He snatched the white bead from the center of the clothing and began to shook it.
"White, white! Hurry wake up!"
After a few shakes, a light voice entered his ears. saying, "What do you think you are doing right now?" The voice radiated irritation from each of the words.
Fear came biting down Li Kong's body when he heard the tone of the voice but he gulped down his fear and stayed steadfast.
"White, please. Listen to me for a second." Li Kong sincerely pleaded.
The bead stayed silent for a moment as if weighing the situation before a sigh full of resignation caught by his ears and shortly after, a light voice followed, saying, "You better have a good reasons or else you're going to get spanked today." The voice still sounding slightly irritated.
Li Kong didn't waste anymore time and explained the courses of the story, from the point he jogged to the sudden scream, then Wang Lan kneeling, and the cows' footsteps heading west.
Hearing his student's explanation, White slowly realized the gravity of situation as he said, "Now is our time, Li Kong. Let's quickly depart! We might even catch the culprit this time."
Li Kong nodded and without anymore waiting, Li Kong breezed to the forest, armed with nothing else but his dear throwing knives.
While Li Kong was running, White observed Li Kong carefully and a smile couldn't help but cracked on the figure inside of the bead.
'The boy had grown up.' White recalled the moment he recklessly doing something without thinking it first like a few days ago where he rushed through the forest to check on the altar and didn't even to think to rest first before going in.
And other than that, White remembered the other day Li Kong thought he could use Wind Steps to jump from tree to tree. And the answer was yes, you could, in theory. But it required an incredible amount of mastery something Li Kong hadn't had yet and still without thinking or consulting with him, he climbed up a tree and tried to do it.
He cracked his bones on the landing which prompted him to make a medicine to aid his injuries.
After that, there were still many more stupid attempts Li Kong had done and sometimes it even made White wanted to grab on a wooden rod and decimated his bum until either his wooden rod or Li Kong's butt broke first.
But thinking about it now, White realized those moments was the reasons he was proud of him now.
White looked back at the youth again and from those eyes, permeated a resolute and wavering gaze.
'Always keep that eyes on, Li Kong.' White smiled inwardly.
After a period of time, their vision gradually filled with the dye of greens as light became scarcer because of the tall tree and not even a minute in the forest, Li Kong's face already twisted as a pungent smell hovered in the air.
"What is this smell?" Li Kong said muffled as a piece of clothing covered his nose and mouth while tears gradually formed on the corner of his eyes.
The smell was nothing like before. It was stronger, stickier, and even more disgusting than it already was.
Even though he already closed his nose tightly, the smell kept on knocking down on his sense of smell, sending him to nausea.
Li Kong gritted his teeth through it and forced his body to move forward.
"Is the smell really that bad?" White asked curiously which Li Kong could only replied by nodding.
"Careful, Li Kong. This might be different than the other." White reminded.
Li Kong nodded again and proceeded deeper into the forest but the smell only worsened as it felt like it pierced through Li Kong's protection and inhaled directly by his nose.
Li Kong forsook his nose and instead breathed through his mouth but even though he incapable of smelling anything, he sensed gaseous-like sensation silently sticking to the roof of his mouth and tongue, sending further chills throughout his body as he hastened his steps.
After a long torturing walk, Li Kong had arrived at what he thought to be the source of the smell and although faintly, he could already seen the silhouette of the altar.
The altar wasn't hidden behind a big bushes like the other. It was like the culprit wanted to told the one found this altar that he didn't care anymore whether someone found this altar or not.
Li Kong stepped in closer and there he saw the heads of a herd of cows laid bare on the ground.
Li Kong slowly shifted his gaze to a certain remain of a cattle and then, he dropped down and vomited.
Gastric juices surging up his throat and successfully escaped the confine of his mouth as acid came pouring down like a rain.
Li Kong's body convulsed as his stomach continued to eject everything that still remained in his body over and over again until there wasn't anything to be puked out any more.
Energy leaving his body as he tried his best to not fall on the puddle he had created.
Li Kong grabbed on the nearby ground, leaving a long mark on the ground.
"You will pay..." His lips parted a little.
The vomiting had caused Li Kong to greedily gasped on the air surrounding, making ways in for the pungent smell to infiltrated his nostrils but for some reasons, his body didn't convulsed like before.
"You will pay for this." He seethed through his teeth.
"You will pay for this!" The words resounded throughout the forest.
After that, he stood up and immediately burned down the entire altar with his flame.
As the fire danced throughout the feast it had received, Li Kong leaned his body against a tree before slowly sliding down and sobbing.
"Manman... Manman..." Slowly but surely, tears flowing down, leaving a trail on his cheek.
The heat of the flame slowly caressed the boy's cheek as the boy hugged his knees.
...
Watching the smoke rose, soaring to the sky, a figure of a man cladded in white happened to caught on it and looked somewhat surprised when he seen it but his lips quickly pursed up and twisting, revealing the usual smile he wore during the day.
"The little hunter had caught on, it seems." But the man didn't panicked and kept his eyes shut behind his smile.
"Well, whatever. Even though the little hunter had learn something from the outside world, the big and scary hunter still the one to be taken care of first." The man's face was a little troubled at the mention of the big and scary hunter as his eyebrows furrowed a little.
But it didn't take long for the man for the smile to come back on his face.
The man shook his head for a few times as if laughing at his own situation before he lifted his chin up to the burning sun and smiled, a wicked and twisted smile.
"Everything for the advent of my Lord." The man opened his eyes and cheerfully proclaimed. His whole expression filled with ecstasy and joy.
After that, the man scurried away with a glee on his face and hummed a cheerful tone as he walked.