1 Death and Rebirth

"FATHER, DON'T DO THIS!!!" Being tied up next to a large wooden pillar, a man of about 25 years old shouted with fury on his face "I GIVE MY BEST FOR THE WHOLE CULT, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?"

"Don't be scared my son, you will soon be in the arms of the heavenly mother!" Standing in front of the man, another man in his 50's with graying hair smiled broadly as his eyes sparkled at the sight of his bound son "There is no nobler position than the one you are in!"

"TO HELL WITH THE HEAVENLY MOTHER!!!" Flailing frantically, the man shouted "DAMN DEMENTED OLD MAN, YOU AND I KNOW THAT ALL THIS CULT SHIT IS NOTHING BUT SHIT!!!"

Instantly, numerous indignant exclamations surrounded the place, while numerous people wearing long white robes frowned slightly.

Noticing the commotion around him, the old man smiled kindly and spoke softly "Do not worry my faithful lambs, what you hear is nothing more than the inner demons of my precious son. This is a stage he has to experience to be truly pure in body and soul, all to reach the arms of the heavenly mother!"

'Damn fox' Gritting his teeth as despair washed over him, the man continued to flail frantically as he cursed his fate.

Why did he have to be born into this damn family?

Why didn't he have the fucking guts to just run away?

Why didn't he see this shit coming?

For as long as this man can remember, his whole life has been about lies and more lies.

His father, in the beginning, was a simple pastor of a small community that worshipped a certain Heavenly Mother. As time went by, the community grew and like every religious sect, it certainly wasn't all flowers and fronds.

Just to say that his father has more than 9 wives, says a lot.

For as long as he can remember, his father always made his whole life revolve around the community, not even getting a chance to go to school or have friendships outside of these crazy fanatics.

But while now his father is about to burn him alive, their relationship wasn't always bad.

In the beginning, his father always told him that all this was really a big fallacy and often took hours and hours to instruct him in the art of manipulation so that he could control the believers in the future.

At one point it was even thought that he would be his heir.

But who would have thought that everything would change from one moment to the next?

It all started when his father suddenly made the decision to move away from the 'mundane' world and ended up buying a large piece of land on a mountain.

At first it seemed nice, but everything became hellish when his father made the decision that they would all live there and cut off all communication with civilization.

Grow their own food, raise their own animals, harvest their own medicines, even make their own clothes and soaps.

It may sound simple to say, but only this man knows how much he suffered for over 7 years to make the whole cult work properly.

From researching something as simple as soap making, to learning about numerous medicinal plants.

Even researching how to raise a pig was a bloody headache. After all, his father didn't invest any money because he didn't trust the professionals on the 'outside'.

After 7 years of suffering and sleeplessness, he could finally say that the cult was self-sustaining and he could finally sit back and relax and could even marry a couple of wives to enjoy.

But who knew that this old dog would suddenly suffer a bout of jealousy and decide to burn his son?

It turns out that, after 7 years of hard work, it is impossible for the people of the cult not to appreciate the young leader, after all he was practically the one who managed even the clothes they wore, causing his appreciation among the believers to become greater and greater, to the point of comparing himself to his father.

Without even saying anything beforehand, the old man sent directly to drug and put his son to sleep, then sprayed him with fuel and woke him up in the middle of a ritual.

"HEAVENLY MOTHER, YOUR BELIEVERS BOW BEFORE YOU!!!" Seeing that all was well, the old man looked up at the dark sky above him and shouted with reverence in his voice, while hundreds of people around him knelt on the cold earth "PLEASE ACCEPT MY HUMBLE SON AND GUIDE HIM UNDER YOUR MAGNIFICENT EXISTENCE!!!"

Raising his hands exaggeratedly, the old man looked sideways at a man in the distance and shouted "BRING THE DIVINE FLAME!!!"

"OLD MAN, STOP!!!" Looking in horror at a man coming towards him with a torch in his hands, the man shouted "I MADE THAT DAMN FIRE, DON'T PLAY WITH ME!!!"

How not to know the supposed divine flame?

In a talk with his father, he ended up with the mission to create an object that could look divine in the eyes of fools, so after much thought and research, he simply used potassium chloride and created beautiful purple flames, a color that happens to be the representative color of the church.

"Fear not my son!" Smiling from ear to ear, the old man continued "The divine flame seeks only to purify your mortal soul and refine it to be fit for the precious love of our heavenly mother!"

Stretching out his hand, the old man took the torch from the man beside him and stared at his bound son, then smiled kindly and tossed the torch over him.

"MOTHERFUC-!!!" Without even having time to finish his insult, the fire quickly engulfed the man, while miserable screams and the smell of roasting meat began to surround the entire area.

"THAT'S IT MY SON, BECOME PURE!!!" With a crazed look on his face, the old man shouted happily.

Only a few seconds later and having his whole body on fire, the man closed his eyes as his whole life flashed before his eyes.

'My life was so... boring' Smiling bitterly as the fire continued to consume him, the man thought 'My whole life revolved around the cult... I had no friends, I had no girlfriend, I never played video games, I never even tasted wine...'

'If only I had another chance... I would give my all to live to the fullest.'

Sigh

***

"My lady, please push gently, babies are very delicate and I'm afraid I might crush it" With a totally sweaty face, an old man of about 55 years old spoke quickly.

"..." Frowning slightly, a beautiful woman lay lazily on a rustic bed, while numerous people surrounded her with worry on their faces.

"M-my lady-"

"Hush" With a cold voice, the woman stared at her bulging stomach and remained silent for a few seconds, then closed her eyes and continued "The baby will be out in a few seconds."

"P-please be careful..."

Snorting, the woman inhaled deeply and as instructed, began to push slowly.

"I-it's coming out!" looking between the woman's legs, the old man stammered nervously, staring as little by little a small leg peeked out "So far so good..."

Showing no sign of pain or fatigue whatsoever, the woman continued to breathe calmly as the baby continued to emerge centimeter by centimeter.

Only a few seconds later, the old man waved his hand to his sides and received a wet cloth from the helpers, then stretched his hands forward and gently took the baby that was now fully emerged.

"Knife" Taking the baby as if it were the most delicate gem, the old man slowly drew it to him and stared at the tiny baby in his hands "Cut the cord".

Instantly ignoring the cleaning work of the attendants at his sides, the old man frowned slightly and stared at the infant in his hands, then brought it close to his face and murmured "It shows no reaction..."

"..." Hearing the old man's words, the woman frowned deeply and asked "Did I make a mistake?"

"No, the baby is not hurt, it also seems to be breathing" Carefully bringing her finger close to the baby's nose, the old man shook his head and murmured, then brought two of his fingers to the baby's fragile wrist and closed his eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, the old man's face crumpled and he murmured, "Pure Yang body."

Squinting her eyes with understanding in her gaze, the woman remained silent for a few seconds and asked "Any indication?"

"He won't be able to go out to sunbathe until he can eat...you will have to take him out during the nights and let him absorb the moonlight to absorb yin energy to balance his Yang energy...when he can already eat, you will have to give him pills or herbs that have a high concentration of Yin energy."

"What happens if I can't balance him?"

"He will die... although he has a special physique, his Yang energy overflows, causing a serious imbalance within him" Sighing while shaking his head, the old man continued "But if you manage to balance the Yang energy, he will have a very resilient physique and will no doubt be a talent for martial arts."

"I see..." Nodding, the woman stared at the child already wrapped in a blanket, then sighed and stretched out her arms "Hand him over to me."

Nodding, the old man approached the woman and handed him to her slowly, then walked away from the bed and stood at a distance in silence.

"..." Bringing the baby close to her face, the woman observed the weak baby in silence, then looked up at the old man in the distance and murmured indifferently "You know what to do".

"Yes my lady" With reverence in his voice, the old man looked sideways and nodded towards his attendants, then pulled a knife out of his robes and exclaimed "Long live the Heavenly Demon, long live the Heavenly Cult!"

After his shout, his assistants followed in his footsteps and without hesitation, took the knives to their throats and slit it, then dropped to the ground and closed their eyes with smiles on their faces as blood dripped onto the ground.

"..." Watching the believers bleed out in front of her, the woman slowly sat down on the bed and muttered "Clean this up and have my sister lead the cult while I'm gone, I'll seclude myself for a couple of years."

"Also prepare five servants for my son, only men no older than 30" Rising slowly from the bed, the woman totally ignored her nakedness and stretched her neck as she yawned "I will be in the heavenly cave"

"At your command my lady."

Without showing her body, a female voice was heard from behind the woman's back.

"Shadow" Turning her gaze to her right and staring into nothingness, the woman continued "Castrate the servants and gouge out their eyes... also gouge out the eyes of these corpses and burn them"

"..."

"Did you hear me?" frowning deeply, the woman narrowed her eyes and asked coldly.

"Y-yes my lady."

"Good" Snorting, the woman looked down at the baby in her arms and was silent for a few seconds, then smiled slightly and murmured "My baby... how amusing."