Wearing plain white clothes stiff with dried sweat, a woman leaned against her house door. A little boy rested in her arms.
Her eyes were a little red from crying. She was Nuwa, Zi Fan's mother. She was staring at the road.
From time to time, people passed by in a hurry. When they saw her, they wanted to have some chats, but when their eyes fell on the baby, they looked at her with pity.
They hurried away, as if staying any longer would bring misfortune.
The sun drifted west, its golden light slowly turning red.
A little bit of red sunlight fell on Nuwa's worried face. Her heart ached with pain.
"Why doesn't my husband come back?" she murmured. Her eyes went to the road, then to the baby.
She never left that place, standing in silence, waiting for her husband.
On a nearby dark and lifeless forest road, a young man with golden and silver eyes was walking toward a big mountain.
The thick, large trees blocked the setting sunlight, and the long, three-foot-high grass made his journey very difficult.
Tap, tap.
Now and then, he heard footsteps. He froze, his breathing turning shallow. Not far from him, a tiger slowly passed by.
His hand grabbed the black Tang Dao tightly—the blade was long, slightly curved, and dark as shadow. Its surface absorbed light, with only a thin sharp edge glinting faintly like silver. The simple hilt felt firm in his grip, and the weapon carried a cold, silent killing elegance.
After some moments, he began to walk again.
"Should I go back and come tomorrow? No, no. The monster's cave is nearby, and I have night vision."
Looking at the red setting sun, he thought to himself,
"No, no, I need to kill it today."
Soon,
His figure reached the front of that big mountain. He scanned the surroundings. Not far from him…
In front of the cave were many baby skeletons. From that cave, two glowing black-red eyes watched him silently.
Step by step, he approached the cave in silence. With a flash, a shadow went inside.
Boom!
A black claw fell toward his head.
His body reacted quickly; his Tang Dao blocked the attack. A metal-striking-metal sound rang out.
"Bang!" His body crashed against the cave wall before falling to the ground.
Bone-breaking sounds came from his body, and blood filled his mouth. His back was lined with countless spikes.
"Ahh, it hurts so bad! This monster is too strong; I cannot take any hits from it, otherwise I will be finished," his mind analyzed the situation.
"I have to use my speed to defeat it."
But before he could stand up and act, a dark claw fell toward his chest.
He sensed the danger and moved aside.
The claw landed on the ground.
Boom! A large hole formed.
Looking at the large hole, cold sweat fell from his forehead. "I definitely cannot take that hit, definitely not," he thought bitterly.
With a thought, his Tang Dao landed on the claw. A loud crashing sound echoed with a heavy thud.
The claw was fine, but the Tang Dao was damaged.
Suddenly, a tail lashed out and hit his abdomen like a whip. The skin of his abdomen split open, blood began to pour out, and one of his ribs broke through.
A low, pained groan escaped from his mouth.
His injury was severe, but he did not feel any pain. It should be because his brain could not process all the information.
He staggered back, then forced distance between them.
In front of him was a human-like creature; its body was covered in black hair. The claws on each finger ended in knife-like points. Its black tail was soaked in blood.
The most horrifying part was its face, which resembled that of a human baby smiling, but it had black teeth, some of which were outside its mouth. Its body was similar to a monkey, but its face was baby-like.
This was an Umbryss—a Tier One Dark Beast.
A creature known for hunting human infants.
If this type of monster came near any human village, it would not attack adult humans; it only targeted their babies.
"It looks like it's already a Tier One Dark Beast. I can't beat this thing… What should I do? Should I run away?" he thought to himself.
Before he could make a decision, the Umbryss attacked again, and this time it was brutal. Claws—ten, a hundred—fell toward his body like raindrops.
He quickly began to defend himself with the dark katana, but how many attacks could a mortal weapon endure?
After some attacks, the dark Tang Dao became totally useless.
Many claws landed on his body; half of his bones were broken, and the injuries were so severe that his nervous system stopped working. For some time, his brain stopped reacting to pain.
"It's impossible to fight anymore with this body. It looks like I am going to die," his mind thought.
His eyes began to blur; he could not see anything anymore. At that moment, his mind recalled a beautiful woman's face and a baby.
"They should be waiting for me. But it looks like I can't go home. Nuwa and Zi Fan, my son, I think your father cannot protect you."
His lips moved, and he murmured, "No, I have to kill it; otherwise, my son will die soon."
His whisper turned firm.
On the other side…
Nuwa, who had been standing for a whole day and half of the night, could not take it anymore and collapsed, her back hitting the ground.
However, she did not let Zi Fan fall from her arms. Zi Fan was now resting on her chest and was held tightly even as she lost consciousness.
It was not very surprising that her body had not recovered from giving birth to Zi Fan, and after standing for a long time, her body finally gave up.
Her mind was only focused on her husband's safe return, so she did not feel anything.
Zi Fan, who had fallen asleep after waiting the whole day, was awakened by his mother's fall.
Understanding the situation, he felt panic.
"Mom, hey mother, what happened? Wake up!"
The silver-golden moon hung high in the western sky; its moonlight fell gently upon the land.
It was midnight, and all mortal beings were in deep sleep.
From time to time, the cries of fierce beasts and birds echoed.
The night was beautiful, but the roars were terrifying.
At a house door,
A beautiful woman was lying down.
Her clothes had become grimy with the dust from the ground below.
She was unconscious, but her arm held something tightly; it was a little baby whose face was full of worry.
Those two were Nuwa and her little child, Zi Fan.
Not far from them, a dark shadow was coming toward them slowly.
Its figure was human-like, but it was not human; more like a monkey. Its whole body was covered in black hair, and its claws were like daggers.
Its face was baby-like, but it was sinister. It was another Umbryss, but a little smaller.
"I feel a dangerous presence coming toward me."
Zi Fan, who was panicking, suddenly felt something dangerous.
Zi Fan moved his tiny head; his eyes wanted to look ahead, but his mother's face was blocking his view, and his body could not even move to see from another angle.
"Did that monster come again? What happened to my dad?"
Drop, drop.
Tears were falling onto Nuwa's clothes.
Unbeknownst to him, tears started to fall from his eyes.
"I need to wake up my mom; otherwise, that monster will hurt her!"
His mind was panicked.
His tiny hand moved and tried to wake his mother, but it was no use.
"Wake up, wake up! Wah wah!"
From Zi Fan's mouth, a baby voice came.
It was heart-touching; his brain did not even think about himself. He was a helpless little kid, and before the monster could kill or hurt his mother, it would eat him, but he did not care.
His mind now only cared about his mother's safety.
"Why, why? What did I do to deserve this? I do not remember doing anything wrong in my past. Then why is this happening to me?
In my past lives, I never felt loved by my family. Finally, I found one, but now that is also going to be lost.
Why do I have to suffer every time?"
He did not do anything wrong, but he forgot that being weak is also a crime.
If he had power in this life or the previous one, then he would never suffer.
Tears fell from his eyes nonstop. The emotion was too overwhelming; his little baby brain could not take it anymore, and he passed out.
Now the woman and the baby were both unconscious.
To be continued…