A young body kneeling on the ground, weak as if starved for many months with the remnants of countless dried tears in face while eyes were like out of vitality.
In front of the young body was a lump of ashes.
This day, the sun rose as it rises every day, the wind moved through the trees as it always had, the animals yawning were sounding as always.
The only matter irregular was that a young boy in his house didn't open his eyes feeling the warm and soft hands of his mother running in his hair.
The boy opened his eyes through the sound of falling objects, loud yelling sound of people and sharp crying voice of his mother.
The young boy immediately sensed the severity of situation and ran towards his mother.
"Mother why are you crying." The young boy asked, standing a few steps away.
Looking at the child before her, she wanted to cry more but this would show her weak state instead she hugged the young boy."Wu zian they are accusing your father of being a theif."
Wu zian looked at the crowd of people surrounding his house.
His father was stopping all of the people singlehandedly, but some of them were making the situation worse.
His father became helpless in front of the crowd.
His father kneeled on the ground before a person."Village head, my whole life I lived in this village, you have seen my whole childhood, my marriage was held in your garden, I am like your son tell them that I am not the theif."
The Village head had an old appearance with a fat body.
Village head kicked Wu Mon in the chest, sending him rolling on the ground. and said."Wu Mon, you were like my son in the past, but after I saw you yesterday stealing silver coins from my room, now you are the traitor of this village."
Wu Mon frowned, touching his chest. He was totally shocked.
Wu Mon had spent his whole life since birth in the village. he had hunted beasts for the village, he had cultivated crops for the village and now the village head treated him like a stranger.
Wu Mon's heart cried in this situation."Village head, you are misunderstanding something. Yesterday, I was hunting beasts with my son; you can ask him."
"Firstly, Wu Mon don't you feel shame dragging your child into your crime and secondly, now you are going to teach me what is right and what is wrong." The village head slapped Wu Mon so hard that it left a red mark on his face.
Wu zian and his mother could see everything that was happening outside but couldn't hear a thing.
Wu zian glared furiously, but his mother held his clenched fist.
Village head pressed Wu Mon's face on the ground with his fat feet."I treated you like my son, and in return, you steal my silver coins. there is no forgiveness for this crime. I sentence the punishment of death to your whole family."
"Village head, I don't know why you are behaving like this, but please at least think about my son." Wu Mon had already lost his hopes.
"Wu Mon, does this mean you are accepting your crime." village head pulled Wu Mon by grabbing his hair and whispered in a low voice."If you accept your crime then I can let your son live."
Wu Mon, as a clever person, understood village head was planning something mischievous and he could do nothing about it.
He looked at his wife's eyes desperately, but he didn't findthe courage to look at Wu zian.
Closed his eyes and thought inwardly."It's hard but I have to do it. atleast one of us should survive." Wu Mon looked at village head and whispered in a low voice."I admit I am the one who stole those silver coins, I just couldn't stop myself from stealing it."
One after another, people started to speak.
"This traitor confessed to his crime."
"This village provided him food and shelter, and this is how he repays truly unforgetful."
Village head coughed and spoke, "Wu Mon, I never expected you to do this. Now I am feeling disgusted looking at you."
"Villagers, don't worry this Wu Mon will surely die, but I think we should let his child live."
"Village head a child learn from his father Wu Mon's child would also surely harm our village in the future he should also die."
"Wu Mon's child is not even 18 years old, and I believe no person deserves to die at a young age."
"But village head that child can cause harm to our village what about that."
The village head gave a dissatisfied look to that person."Then we will destroy this house and expel Wu Mon's child from the village."
The crowd of people started to act as the village head ordered some of them to start to destroy the house while some entered the house.
The group of people who entered the house reached Wu zian and his mother.
Wu zian yelled."Why are you people entering my house?"
Wu zian's mother had already understood the situation when her husband looked at her eyes. she was already prepared for this but a expression of fear still lingered on her face.This fear was not for herself but the child who was standing a few steps away from her.
From the group, a person walked forward. Wu zian didn't felt good about this situation so he tried to stop the person.
Wu zian found himself in a weak position; he was immediately pushed backwards, and his head struck the wall.
A person grabbed Wu zian's mother's hair and kicked at her lower body, she fell on the ground.
Wu zian rushed to save his mother, but he was again pushed backwards like an bug.
In front of Wu zian, his mother was attacked, but still, he could do nothing about it.
The person dragged Wu zian's mother by her hair to outside.
Wu zian's mother didn't scream in front of her child but Wu zian felt the pain in the silence"why… why are you doing this to my mother? We're neighbours, why are you treating us like this all of a sudden?"
After hitting the wall, Wu zian was already bleeding, he was effortlessly knocked unconscious with one strike.
After a while, Wu zian regained consciousness. he found himself at the centre of the village where people usually gathered to celebrate.
A large crowd had formed a circle in the centre two people were tied together; they had many marks of attack on their body.
The group of people were simultaneously throwing stones with fierce anger, attacking the tied people.
Wu zian slowly opened his eyes. The first thing that appeared in his vision was the figure of a fat person.
The fat person was the village head.
Wu zian felt angry the moment he saw the village head; he gritted his teeth tightly, calming his anger.
"Village head, why are you doing this to us, and where are my parents?"
The village head turned his gaze at the Wu zian."Son of Wu Mon, you have a weak body, unlike your strong father. It took you so long to wake up that your father and Mother are already dead."
Wu zian heartbeat increased. he choosed to not believe the words of village head."Village head, don't lie to me. You cannot fool me this easily."
Village head laughed loudly and pointed his finger at the centre."Look at the dead bodies of your parents and believe my words."
Wu zian turned and looked at the centre, he saw two motionless bodies.
This moment gave a mental attack to Wu zian, his parents were completely naked, in many parts the skin was peeled, burned marks disfigured their faces and chopped arm of his father on the ground.
Wu zian began to approach his dead parents.
Village head pulled Wu zian's hand."Don't rush the punishment of your parents. It is still incomplete."
Wu zian resisted and spoke in a weak voice."What do you mean, you want to punish a dead body?"
Village head ignored Wu zian."Fellow villagers, even though Wu Mon and his wife were sinners of this village, they were born here and raised by this village. this motionless dead body in front of us has enough rights to end in this village."
The village head was simply manipulating the people to follow his actions.
Wu zian was desperately trying to free his hand from village head head's grasp, struggling to just one last time be near his parents.
The Villagers approached the dead bodies of Wu Mon and his wife, lightning their body in fire.
This moment was enough for the village head to release Wu zian's hand from his grasp, and he did as well.
A 15-year-old boy, who had lost his parents in an instant, suffered from mental trauma, his body weakened by exhaustion. All he wanted was to feel his parent's warmth once more.
Wu zian stood in front of the fire, he had already lost his hopes in living from the deepest part of his heart; he wanted to jump in the fire. The only thing stopping him was the image of his lost sister whom he had never seen but had heard about from his father."
The fire gradually exhausted, all the villagers including the village head had already left the place, the only thing remained were the lump of ashes on the ground and helpless Wu zian.
Wu zian quietly kneeled before the lump of ashes, crying until his eyes stopped producing tears."Father, Mother, please forgive this useless son of yours."
Wu zian had already understood he couldn't continue living in this village, nor did he wanted to.
The only desire in Wu zian's heart right now was to find his sister and provide her a wonderful life.
"To fulfil this ambition, I Wu zian will do anything even with the cost of my life."
The village was surrounded by a huge wild forest, a home for many fierce beasts.
Wu zian needed to first survive in the forest inorder to leave the village, for that he required a weapon.
Wu zian remembered the dagger his father used to wear as locket.
Wu zian inserted his hand in the lump of ashes and began to search for the dagger.
Inside the lump of ashes he found the dagger but his fingers touched two unknown objects that were not bones.
Wu zian pulled his hand out, he opened his hands, The two unknown objects were revealed in his palm.
Their was a dagger and two rings in his palm.
"Whose rings are these? I don't remember Father or Mother wearing any rings."
The ring of Death.
The ring of Nothingness