Confronting A New Reality

[It is time] The voice was eerie, ominous, and at the same time frightening.

"Time for what?" He frowned.

[To confront your fate in the multiverse of madness]

"The hell are you talking about? Who the fuck are you?" He had no idea the voice was in his head.

[Your creator] The voice rang out once more.

"Who's this person bluffing?" Wang Lui was snarky and unafraid even though this voice seemed to be powerful and potentially dangerous.

[Pexxasux might be right, Toxicverse would've been appropriate for you but I opted against it.]

"Pexxa..what? Who's behind this strained rough voice that sounds like they have a sore throat and need popsicles to numb the pain? Secretary Huan Lee?"

[You're in the multiverse where you have been reborn as Kai]

"Enough with the shit show, and turn on the damn lights. I can't see any fucking thing."

[Twenty-eight hours ago, I planted you in Oraura's womb and when she delivered you, I made you develop into a full-fledged man within ten hours.]

"You know what, Huan Lee, I was starting to think you were unwell but now I can see that you've in fact gone mad."

[ENOUGH!] Dhamdax reacted with frustration inside Wang Lui's head and Wang Lui went completely still, but only for a few seconds.

"I swear on my balls that I'll kill you once I'm out of here. For utilizing my time in this manner."

When the god didn't respond, Wang Lui continued.

"Father and I never got along, therefore he always looked for ways to kick me out of the company because of our strained relationship. I could consider letting you retain your position as my secretary, but only if you convince my father to let me stay. He listens to you more than me, even though you are not his son." Wang Lui tried to negotiate his way out of the situation, thinking it was still Huan Lee.

[This reporter isn't your first murder. Remember Yung Ping, the fish-cake vendor you bludgeoned to death because he taunted you? Sunan, whose head you submerged into the toilet bowl full of his shit. You murdered him because he had an affair with your girlfriend. Let's not bring up Ling Hua, the basketball player you mutilated after using heavy narcotics.]

To say Wang Lui was stunned was an understatement. He knew Huan Lee didn't know most of his killings. How was it possible that this person had knowledge of his dark past and crimes? It was perilous.

"Who really are you?"

[I am your father, your creator, your god. I could end your existence at the snap of my fingers, but I need you alive] Dhamdax manipulated Wang Lui's heart, pumping excessive blood to the extent that Wang Lui had no control over it.

"What on earth have you done to me?" Wang Lui was afraid.

[I've been watching you for two centuries, waiting for the appropriate time to claim you. You were completely terrible in each of your previous lives because my brothers took turns making you the way they saw fit. Now, as your creator in the multiverse, I've cursed you with blindness so you can confront the repercussions of your past acts.] Dhamdax purposefully omitted the god part. He wanted Wang Lui to figure it out for himself.

Wang Lui was completely bewildered. And when Dhamdax flicked his fingers, Wang Lui was jolted back to reality.

And all of his memories from his previous life were so fresh in his mind that he had no notion he had died and been reincarnated.

He assumed it was a nightmare.

The explosive package that blew him up.

Was that even true?

Worse, he had just realized he was chained and caged.

Wang Lui attempted to rise up but ended up banging his entire bent upper body against the cage.

As the pain shot through his back, a faint groan rolled from the back of his throat, but it only lasted a few seconds before it was gone.

Wang Lui could tell that the cage was too short to allow anyone to stand at their full height. They had to sit or stay on all fours like a wild panther trapped.

His nose detected the stench of ancient, cobweb-clogged books that needed dusting in the air, followed by mud, wet shoes, and a cock. Wang Lui felt as if he was imprisoned in a cage where chicks were raised. Then a realization hit him, indicating that he wasn't the only person in the cage.

It was strange, the pain subsided way too quickly.

"What's going on, where in the seven hells is this place? Am I truly blind?" He asked no one in particular.

"You, prisoner, have been soliloquizing for the past fifteen minutes. I can understand how the hollow skull skeleton pirates could capture a nutcase like you." The person grated.

"What?" Wang Lui's rage erupted.

"The skeleton pirates, you were long confined as their prisoner before I was caught, bundled, and thrown in here, and then birdboy was lured with a goldfish," the same voice clattered. Wang Lui could tell it wasn't a human talking.

Wang Lui felt a presence approaching him. He even heard the fluttering of wings, and the air around him grew noticeably cooler.

He was surprised when he heard this critter croak. It was fluttering its wings directly in his face. Birdboy had a bird's face but was human from his neck down to his feet, and he had no arms but black huge wings like a crow.

"That's Birdie for you; it's his way. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak like us," Wang Lui received this stony remark from a hollow-eyed Stoneman.

"Who exactly are you people?" Wang Lui inquired, a large scowl on his face. He wished the show would end already, so he could confront his father, whom he had never had a good relationship with from the onset.

"Stoneman."

"Did my father hire you to do this?"

"Believe me when I say I have no idea who your father is, but he could be on the other side of the multiverse?"

"Multiverse?"

"Yes. I've never met someone with sparkling white hair like you. "Do you consider yourself a god or a monster?"

"My name is Wang Lui An, and I am the President of Weng..."

Wang Lui paused, coughed and he snapped his head to the other side when smoke hit his nostrils.

Stoneman was smoking something he rolled up in a piece of paper and at the same time observing this being whose skin was pale, with white hair 48 inches long.

"Stinks like overnight cow dung getting burnt," Wang Lui muttered and he heard the same person laugh.

"Cahuhu?"

"Cow dung," Wang Lui still wanted to believe he was being played, but his mind proved him wrong as he felt a force activating his body's float, before it stopped as quickly as it began, and pulled him down, leaving his chains dangling.

"Cahuhu is the god of elves," Stoneman explained, puffing out curling black smoke. He had a human figure, but his entire body was made of stones.

"How can you say he's burning when he's still alive? I sneaked into their castle and stole their grand queen's crown," When he tried to grin at Wang Lui, dust flew from his face.

"Don't tell me I have to educate you on what cow dung is? It's the shit from a cow's ass," Wang Lui snapped, "Cow, the animal that when slaughtered ultimately becomes beef."

"Oh, I see."

"What are you smoking? It's making me sick."

"Made from the raspberry plant."

"The hell whatever it is," Wang Lui grumbled, "how do you smoke? Aren't you chained like me?" He was curious.

"No, I'm free to use my hands. The skeletons know I'm of lesser value," Stoneman answered, "imagine a thousand of them wrapping nets around my stones, attempting to drag me into their ship. Over a hundred skeletons ended up with shattered bones." He finished with a chuckle.

Wang Lui assumed he was bluffing.

"Why am I chained?" he questioned.

"I have no idea; it could have been difficult to apprehend you, who knows?"

"Where exactly is this place?"

"We're on a ship, and the skeleton pirates are taking us to their king."

"A ship?"

"Sailing through the Meridian Sea."

Wang Lui struggled to remain quiet in order to listen because he had yet to use his own eyes. He wondered when the dark fog would ever lift from his vision, allowing him to use his eyes again. He didn't want anyone to assume he was completely blind.

It was torturous for him to rely his impressions on sounds and smell rather than sight.

Wang Lui's ears kicked in the splashing of water, and feet moved above them as he listened. Stoneman was correct; they were on a ship. The bottom, not the top. As captives, they were imprisoned in the cage.

Before Wang Lui could ask any more inquiries, he heard the door being pushed open and shut with a loud thud.

"Hush now, that's Plumo, the large-boned skeleton guard."

Wang Lui listened more, he was yet to know he had no sight since he was blindfolded, so his ears came in handy. Still, it was obvious the thing approaching them wasn't a person because its footsteps weren't heavy. It reminded Wang Lui of his father's aid stick. Except this one was repeatedly hitting against the wooden floor. Worse, the cracking of bones was more audible than the footsteps.

Stoneman meant no jokes when he said they were captured by Skeletons Pirates. Actual skeletons and not people.

"The fuck," Wang Lui cursed deeply and upon hearing this, the skeleton guard neared Wang Lui's side of the cage.

"Hush," Stoneman, who wanted to silence Wang Lui, ended up clattering. Still, his intention was to no avail.

"Is this even real? I'm blind, captured by Skelet…" Wang Lui was cut short by the ghouling, ear-piercing scream of the skeleton and as if that wasn't enough, the skeleton struck his face with the edge of its sword.