I stood on the high city wall of Ren Xue Cheng when the strong wind was blowing at my face. My Phoenix illusion robe making cotton-tearing sound in the wind.
I looked down at the black territory land, that thick and deep earth; I saw countless of ice sorcerers and fire elves fighting above it; the red and white colours intertwined one another. The red and white blood and desperate cryings were mixed together with the strong blood stench, shooting up the sky and amidst this was the cryings of unicorns and snow sleet birds as well.
Suddenly I thought of my siblings that died several hundreds years ago, their unicorns had also died during that holy war and then several hundreds years later, their younger brother had become the new king, he was the only one in the history that led the entire kingdom to its doom.
My heart was like a desolate setting sun with warm sunlight of despair but it would soon sink into forever darkness.
I let all these dreams float around me and cried when I saw the glow around these glowing b.a.l.l.s.
Ying Kong Shi, Jian Tong, Li Jing, Huang Tuo, Yue Shen, Chao Ya, Die Che, plus all those who died - Pian Feng, Xing Gui, Liao Jian, and those who left me - granny, Xing Jiu and my parents. The moment when I looked up, I saw their faces appearing in the night sky and disappeared like smoke.
Thunder sound could be heard from the horizon line like rapid drum beat hitting on the entire Ice Kingdom.
I saw the white sorcerers’ robe being burnt into pieces and the fire was spreading rapidly to Ren Xue Cheng; I saw the people running all over the places within the city walls; I heard the children crying and women screaming.
And hen I saw the thousand-year-old Ren Xue Cheng collapsed before my eyes. That moment when the thick black city walls collapsed, I heard my heart shattered at the same time.
I closed my eyes and the tear slid down because I saw my father’s face. He didn’t say anything; he just looked at me disappointedly.
I have never thought that Ren Xue Cheng would be destroyed in my hands.
I saw Li Tian Jin on the black chariot charging towards the city wall, his red hair was like red flames. I saw his smile and it reminded me of my younger brother. I looked towards the sky, calling out. “Shi!”
I heard footsteps behind me and I knew it belonged to Li Tian Jin.
I chanted a spell, curling up my ring finger and then countless of ice swords pierced through my chest. I saw my own blood running down the sharp blades, dripping onto the black city wall drop after drop.
At that moment I heard Liao Jian’s sad singing voice; it was those songs that the soldiers would sing at the battlefield. The wind brought the song here so that everyone could hear it - those young children in the snow fog forest, those people trying to escape out of the city, those powerful people from the snow mountain, those beautiful mermaids from the deep-sea palace. The singing voice was like smooth and dedicate silk, flying high up in the night sky.
My vision started to get blurry; I didn’t know if by ending my life was right or wrong, I just knew that I have to give myself the freedom at the last one moment of my life. I have to do according to my own will and maybe because I lived my life with too many burdens, so this was why I felt like I was being imprisoned. But now that the important people in my life were all gone, I did not see the need to live one anymore. I thought about the beautiful legend of souls living in the clouds. I thought I may be able to see Shi again.
I fell and just before I hit the ground, I saw Li Tian Jin. I saw his red eyes started to get clearer until they became bright like fire. After that this pair of eyes were filled with tear and the expression was a kind of sorrow that I had never seen before.
And then I heard his sorrowful voice. “Ge, why did you leave me? Why did you leave me…”
I’ve finally understood everything but I have no more strength. I fell to the ground and held my hand out to the brother that I missed the most but my fingers didn’t even have the strength to grab his hand anymore. I should have known that other than Shi, no one would have such evil yet sweet smile of a child.
The surrounding darkened in an instance and I slipped into an eternal dream of darkness.
My body felt warm all of a sudden as there were countless of red lotuses blooming around me.
“Shi, forgive me for not waiting for you.”
—
Nightmare . Li Tian Jin . Shatter
I’m Li Tian Jin, youngest Prince of the Fire Tribe. But my spiritual power had surpa.s.sed any one of my siblings.
Every time they saw me, they would hide far far away from me because they were afraid of dying unknowingly in my hands. Because I’d never felt that life has something that I should respect at all. Life was just a fragile dream. As long as I’m happy, I could crush it anytime I want.
My father doted on me a lot and I could get whatever I want within the Fire Kingdom. My father always told me that to be a successful person, you shouldn’t be bothered with all those nitty gritty stuff in life. Hence I have grown up to become a rebellious man.
I was the most handsome man within the Fire Tribe and there’s no one in the tribe that have such delicate look of mine. My father had always seen me as his biggest pride and he always told me this. “Jin, you will become the greatest king of the Fire Tribe.”
My father loves bringing me to the highest mountain situated at the border of our kingdom to overlook at the land below us. He told me this would be my kingdom in future. When I saw the black land giving off a orange fire glow, my heart felt empty and desolate. I turned to him. “This isn’t my dream. This is a piece of barren land. Father, did you see the other side of the Ice Sea? Did you see the white land and palace? I will mark that piece of land with our Fire Tribe sign.”
My father gave me an awe-inspiring look. “You are just like me when I was young. So wild and rebellious.”
I wasn’t sure why did I have such strong urge to destroy that white palace. I just knew that majestic palace was just like a prison. I wasn’t sure what was being imprisoned in it, I just knew that I must break it.
I was born with super powerful spiritual power. No one in the Fire Tribe’s history was able to control such illusion skill. Even before I reached adulthood, I had already defeated all the people from my family, including my own father. The whole family was fearful towards my power except my father, who’s proud of me. I could still remember when I’d defeated him that time, he didn’t say anything and after some time later, he laughed all of a sudden. That laughter was so desolate and hoa.r.s.e. “You’re indeed my son.” He looked towards the sky and yelled. “My son is the greatest illusionist in the history of the Fire Tribe. Li Tian Jin.”
I never liked any of my family members; I would always stand in the wind alone with my long robe fluttering in the wind like flame. I like that lonely Zhuo Yan Niao; they would always fly individually and never seem to be with the other birds at all. It’s just that I always felt that this lonely huge bird was looking for something; it was able to stay lonely for hundreds of years just to look for the thing it wanted.
I liked this kind of bird because it could forgo everything for its own dream.
I would always hold my finger out at them so that their shadows could transform my finger, I saw the glows from my fingers and I knew I possessed the most powerful illusion skills and spiritual powers but I did not know what I really wanted.
I just felt that I must destroy the kingdom at the other side of the Ice Sea.
Hence when I reached adulthood, I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally stood on the snowy white land at the other side of the Ice Sea, lighting the entire sky with flame. Filling the whole black land with fire.
Killing those white-robed Ice sorcerers didn’t really need much of my strength; my spiritual power was hundreds times above theirs. I remembered killing two beautiful musicians and another two beautiful women; it seemed like they were the wives of the king of the Ice Tribe. One of them transformed into a mermaid after death, the sight looked so familiar to me like it had happened many years ago. A dead mermaid tearing and there’s a vague memory of falling cherry blossom flowers.
I raised my red sword and called all the fire elves to advance foward( I saw Ren Xue Cheng standing no faraway from me, I saw those high prison-liked walls and then there’s their king standing on the city wall.
My mouth tore open into a smile like a bright lotus flower.
I guessed my dream was coming true soon; I shall destroy the palace in no time.
I walked towards the city wall and saw the king of Ice Tribe but a moment of pain hit my chest like earthquake creating cracks to the ground. A beautiful and gorgeous nightmare flashed past my mind when all the memories came flashing past my eyes. I had regained all my memories. I was the second Prince of the Ice Tribe, Ying Kong Shi.
Before I died, I saw my brother’s sad face and I still couldn’t give him the freedom that he deserved. This city would definitely imprison him for life; he would never be able to live the life he always wanted.
So I thought if there were next life, I would want to become a person with strong spiritual power. I have to destroy Ren Xue Cheng, the jail cage that had imprisoned my older brother for several hundreds years. I wanted to see my brother’s carefree smile under the sun because I had seen that smile before while we were in the mortal world. That smile was so warm and handsome.
That could make me cry and it’s worth sacrificing my life to exchange for that smile.
I wanted my brother to hug me once again, walking on the street in the snow, killing the person who bullied me with his illusion skill because he told me I was his world.
I wanted to kiss his eyebrow because there’re always sorrows on his brows. I felt sad everytime I saw him like that.
My brother should be a dragon flying freely in the sky.
This life, I have become someone with the strongest spiritual power. I have become the youngest Prince of the Fire Tribe.
When I stood at the highest wall of Ren Xue Cheng, I saw my brother, Ka Suo. But I could believe the sight before my eyes, I saw a sharp ice blade pierced through his chest and I saw his blood flowing down the blade.
And then he fell to the ground.
The one and only G.o.d in my heart had fallen; it was as if I heard the collapsing of the whole world.
Just when he fell to the ground that time, I cried. “Ge, why did you leave me?”
His gaze was as warm and gentle like before, full of sympathy, and I knew( he has been missing me for the past several hundreds years. His lips moved but there wasn’t any sound coming from it except some blurred hissing sound. I knew he wanted to call my name, Shi.
I walked over to hug him in my arms; he was lying on my laps with his arm outstretched, wanting touch my face but it fell to the ground all of a sudden, and then I saw the glow disappearing from his eyes.
“Ge, why didn’t you give me a hug? Why did you leave me?”
I looked up and my brother’s bright smile appeared in the sky. That was the look when he attained adulthood in the mortal world; that morning when I woke up, I was lying in my brother’s arms; I was still a kid while Ka Suo had grown up into a handsome prince like our father. He looked at me with a smile and that was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.
I recalled the time when my brother killed a person because of me; recalled about the time when he carried me, walking on the street in the mortal world; recalled about the time when he held me in his robe so that I wouldn’t be cold in the snow; I saw how my brother saved me from the fire in Mirage Sky; I saw the sorrows on my brother’s face and also, I saw the countless of souls above the sky.
Pain came hitting me time after time and my chest felt like it had been torn apart, flaming red blood came gushing out my mouth, staining my brother’s and my robes red. At that instance, blood turned into red lotuses and the entire place felt warm like spring.
“Ge, you will never feel cold as long as I’m around.”
“Please be free and sing…”
