I Don’t Want To Court Death!

 

Nighttime. A brilliant moon in the sky. 

 

At the very center of Spring Village was the village square. The hundreds of villagers that made up the Spring Tribe were gathered around a a meter-tall totem while chanting and dancing. Atop that totem was the new chieftain of the tribe who gazed down with supremacy and power. He was seated cross-legged with his arms stretched forward and the back of his hands rested on his knees. His thumbs and forefingers were connected while the other fingers were extended. 

 

The tribesmen wore robes of silk and wool, sandals of bamboo and leather, and accessories made from bones and animal teeth. Each member had painted tattoos all over their body, depicting myths and legends in vivid colors and wonderful details. 

 

Three priests and the Seer of Heaven and Earth bowed toward the totem, their spines aligned with the four directions of north, east, south and west. Suddenly, with a cry from the Seer of Heaven and Earth, the tribesmen stopped chanting and dancing. They went on their knees and kneeled with their foreheads touching the ground. 

 

One priest stood up and tossed dirt at the totem, dirtying the totem and the chieftain. Another stood up and waved a fan, blowing away the dirt. The last one stood up and lit a fire, burning the totem. When it began to burn, the chieftain stood up and danced on the heated head of the totem. 

 

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Yang Yang thought. 

 

Although he was in pain, a constant flow of faith was entering his body. Unfortunately, he could not use it as a mortal. He could not even directly absorb it. As he expected, this faith was virtual. However, faith could only be generated from entities with consciousness so it proved that this was the past, a lifetime that once existed. 

 

“However... did this lifetime belonged to me, or someone else?” Yang Yang could only speculate. 

 

Eventually, the totem burned down and Yang Yang stepped onto the frigid ground. The clash of heat and cool numbed the pain his body felt. The ceremony proceeded. 

 

He knelt on the ground and waited for the Seer of Heaven and Earth to give him the chieftain’s crown. Silence pervaded. As the crown of leaves and thorns lowered to his head, the sharp wail of something metallic flew through the air. The crown dropped onto the ground and fresh blood splattered all over Yang Yang’s head. 

 

Thud! 

 

The body of the Seer of Heaven and Earth fell to the ground with a mighty slam. An arrow was lodged in his head, his face still in tranquility and frigidity, never realizing that he died instantaneously. Before the Spring Tribe could even react, several shadowy figures emerged from the woods and attacked the villagers. 

 

“E-Enemy attack!” 

 

“Treachery! Treach- AYYYEEEEE!!!” 

 

“Summer Tribe! Autumn Tribe! The Winter Tribe has- kaput!” 

 

The invaders were on horseback as they carried swords and spears that slashed and stabbed through the Spring Tribe. However, these invaders were meticulous in who they targeted. Beside women and children, everyone else was a target of slaughter. 

 

One invaders had his trampled a villager before stabbing his spear into the latter. As the villager screamed in agony, the spear twisted and churned, delivering more pain to the villager. Moreover, that spear would stab and twist at many places from the abdomen, to the chest, to the thighs, and even the groin. That villager died a sadistic death before the invader targeted another man. 

 

Another invader used his sword to cut the skins of the women and children. He had no intent to kill any of them, but used his sword and slashes as intimidation. He barked at them to stand to the side to avoid the direct conflict. While his intentions appeared good, his hungry eyes stared at the young women were like a wolf staring at sheep herd. 

 

Cries filled the night and blood dyed the ground. 

 

“Good God, what is this all about!?” Yang Yang’s body grabbed a nearby stick as an invader charged at him. He suppressed his fear and waited for the horse to arrive. The invader slashed his sword down, aiming to cut off Yang Yang’s right arm.

 

However, Yang Yang bend his knees and ducked as low as possible. He swung the stick with both arms and struck the hind leg of the horse with such power that it tripped the horse. The invader flew into the air and slammed down into the burning pile that was once the totem. 

 

“AHHHHH!!!” He cried.

 

Yang Yang had taken the sword and decapitated the man. A head of pain and hatred rolled down. 

 

Many more invaders tried to subdue him, but he easily bested them in a combat and killed them. Whichever person Yang Yang had occupied was a martial genius. In fact, when he observed the combat abilities of the other men and compared it to his body, he understood how, and why, the new chieftain would be so arrogant. He was a very powerful warrior by ancient standard. 

 

“Die! Die! Die!” Yang Yang screamed. Though, in his head, he said a prayer for each of them. 

 

Unfortunately, his heroic achievement would not last long. In the distance, a warrior of long white hair rode on a horse that was darker and larger than the rest. It almost looked like an elephant rather than a horse.

 

The white-haired warrior jumped off the horse and screamed as she smashed a club down at Yang Yang’s head. Without any time to move at all, Yang Yang used his sword to block the club, but it shattered under the weight. The bones in his arms also cracked. Before he could even yell, the wooden club knocked on his head. 

 

As his consciousness drifted, the voice of the white-haired warrior echoed in his ears. “Women... children... take... Men... kill... This one... he is... my war trophy....” 

 

“Shit... not again...” 

 

It was at this instance when the entire world darken. His mind drifted in an empty black void. A voice, neither warm nor cold, nor liked a man’s or a woman’s, but very much immemorial and ancient, spoke to him in an unknown language. It was unlike any language he had ever heard, but he understood it word for word, as if it engraved in the deepest depth of his soul. 

 

“Wisdom King Trial’s Heart-Devil Calamity; Magical Law: Life; Nemesis Law: Death; Objective: Survive.”