Revalations

Zen and his father, Huang Ho, sat down to discuss Zen's past. "Son, I'm not your biological father; I am your foster father," Huang Ho began. "My wife and I found you 15 years ago in the forests near the Wetian mountains."

"You were near a dead woman's body. Her body had been half eaten by animals, but strangely, no animals came near you. We were traveling through the forests to Lintiag when we discovered you."

"Our own son had gone missing, and our other child was very sickly, and we were traveling to Lintiag to find medicine for him. When we found you, your eyes were unlike anything we had ever seen. You radiated a strange energy that seemed to keep the animals away from you."

"We checked the dead woman's body and noticed that her clothes were made of pure and fine silk, which was very expensive. Nearby, we found several valuable items."

"Despite the tragic scene, it was clear that you were special. Your presence alone seemed to command authority. We took you in, raising you as our own, hoping to provide you with the love and care you deserved." Your heterochromia, being a unique and distinguishing trait, needed to be hidden to protect you from potential dangers and unwanted attention. The Veil of the Elemental Arts provided a means to conceal this trait, allowing you to blend in and avoid drawing suspicion or interest due to your unusual eye color. However, a really advanced elemental master can see through this veil and find out about it.

"Over the years, we watched you grow into the remarkable person you are today. We've always known there was something extraordinary about you, and now you know the truth about your past. We wanted you to understand where you came from and the unique circumstances that brought you into our lives. We believe that you overexerted yourself when fighting Taotei, and you used your eye ability subconciously."

Zen listened intently to Huang Ho's revelation, a mixture of emotions swirling within him.

"Father, I always felt different but never understood why. Now, hearing your words, I realize how much you and Mother sacrificed to raise me. Despite my past, you treated me as your own blood, your own son. Your love and care mean everything to me.

No matter where I come from, you and Mother will always be my true father and mother. I am grateful for the life you gave me and will honor it by continuing to be the person you've helped me become."

Huang Ho and his wife smiled with a lit face. Huang Ho said, "Zen, you are our son in every way that matters. We love you deeply and are proud of who you've become." His wife added, "No matter your origins, you will always be our cherished child. We are blessed to have you; it is the gods that bestowed you on us." We felt as if it were our duty to protect you.

Zen listened as his father, Huang Ho, continued to reveal the details of his mysterious past. The gravity of his words hung in the air, heavy and foreboding.

"Son," Huang Ho began, "when we took you with us, we noticed some people asking around if they had seen a woman or knew where she had gone. They described a woman carrying a baby, and those people checked up on every baby when we reached Lintiag. They were dressed all in black and looked like mercenaries. We hid you under the caravan. Those guys relentlessly looked for you."

Zen's heart pounded as he absorbed his father's words, the pieces of his unknown past slowly falling into place. Huang Ho continued, his voice tinged with a mixture of sorrow and resolve.

"They seemed to have found the dead woman's body in the forest, the one I told you about. Then, that night in Lintiag, a massacre took place where most babies were killed."

Zen's eyes widened in shock. "A massacre? Why were they after babies?"

Huang Ho sighed deeply, his face lined with the weight of the memories. "We never truly understood their motives, but we suspected it had something to do with the woman we found you near. She must have been fleeing from them, protecting you. Her clothes were made of pure, fine silk, and there were valuable items near her body. She was someone important, someone with secrets."

Zen felt a chill run down his spine. "What happened after that?"

Huang Ho nodded slowly. "Yes. The night of the massacre was chaotic. The mercenaries moved with precision and ruthlessness. They went from house to house, checking each baby and looking for something—or someone—in particular. We knew we had to act quickly to keep you safe."

"We hid you under the caravan, beneath the floorboards, wrapped in blankets to keep you quiet. The mercenaries stormed through Lintiag, leaving devastation in their wake. Many families lost their children that night. It was horrifying, but we managed to keep you hidden."

Zen's mind raced with the implications of his father's story. The mysterious woman, the mercenaries, the massacre—it all pointed to a dark and dangerous secret linked to his origins. "What happened after that night?" he asked quietly.

Huang Ho looked at Zen with a heavy heart, the weight of his past actions clear in his eyes. He took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Zen, there is something you need to know about how we protected you from the mercenaries. We had our own sick son, who had a very small chance of surviving. When we found you, we knew the mercenaries would come looking for you. We had to make a heartbreaking decision."

"We used elemental arts to make our son's eyes glow, mimicking your unique heterochromia. We knew the mercenaries would recognize those eyes. We placed him near the tiger's den, hoping they would believe you had been killed by the wild animal."

Tears welled up in Huang Ho's eyes as he continued, "It was the hardest thing we've ever done. We whispered soothing words to him, held him close one last time, and then left him there. When the mercenaries found him, they assumed he was you. Convinced by what they saw, they stopped searching for you."

"We fed our son to the tiger, Zen. It was a sacrifice we made to protect you. It tore us apart, but we did it out of love for you. We wanted you to have a chance at life, free from the dangers that were hunting you."

Huang Ho's voice trembled with emotion. "You are our son, and we would do anything to keep you safe. I hope you can understand the depth of our love and the lengths we went to protect you. Your safety was worth everything to us, even the ultimate sacrifice."

Huang Ho's eyes softened as he looked at his son. "After the massacre, the mercenaries left as suddenly as they had appeared. The village was left to mourn and rebuild. We decided to leave Lintiag to protect you from any future danger. We traveled far, away from prying eyes, and settled here in the Wetian mountains. The incident in Lintiag was disguised as a disease outbreak, hiding the truth, and the government supported it.

I believe the mercenaries that were looking for you saw a dead child in the tiger's den, thought it was you, and left as they found out the child had been eaten by a tiger. 

Zen felt a surge of gratitude and love for the people who had saved him and raised him as their own. "You risked everything for me and even sacrificed your own child," he said, his voice filled with emotion. "You and Mother are the reason I'm alive today."

Huang Ho placed a comforting hand on Zen's shoulder. "You are our son, Zen. From the moment we found you, we knew we had to protect you, no matter the cost. We may not know your true origins, but you are a part of our family; you are our son."

Zen was swayed by emotions that teared up. Zen then asks Huang Ho, Father, what about your first son? How did he go missing?

Huang Ho was quite. Fang exchanged a glance with Huang Ho, who nodded encouragingly. Taking a deep breath, Fang began to speak, her voice gentle but firm.

Zen looked at his mother with concern and curiosity as she continued.

"One day, we were just doing our chores. Your father was handling his business ledgers, and I was researching herbs. Zhong Lu was playing with his toys outside, happy and carefree."

Fang's voice trembled slightly as she recalled the memory. "Suddenly, we heard an eerie sound coming from the forest. Our house is near the forest, and I often collect herbs there. There were rumors about children going missing near the forest, vanishing after hearing an eerie sound and following it. We had always dismissed those stories as mere tales."

She paused, her eyes filling with tears. "But that day, the eerie sound filled the air, and Zhong Lu was gone. I told your father immediately. It was around 2 PM. We were frantic, and we gathered the entire town to help search for him. As the hours passed and darkness fell, we continued our desperate search."

Huang Ho joined in, his voice steady but pained. "We called in officers from the prefecture to help us, but their efforts were half-hearted. We paid the villagers and hired additional people to assist in the search, but no one could find any trace of Zhong Lu. It was as if he had vanished into thin air."

Fang's hands trembled as she spoke. "We searched the forest, the riverbanks, every possible place he could have wandered off to. Days turned into weeks, and still, there was no sign of our son. The officers eventually gave up, but we never did. We kept looking, hoping against hope that we would find him."

Zen felt a deep sorrow for his parents' loss and the brother he never knew. "Mother, Father," he said softly, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

Fang squeezed his hand gently. "Zen, when we found you in the forest two years later, near the body of that woman who had protected you, we felt a glimmer of hope again. We took you in and raised you as our own, hoping to fill the void left by Zhong Lu's disappearance."

Huang Ho added, "We never stopped loving Zhong Lu, and we never stopped loving you. You are our son, Zen, and we would do anything to protect you."

Zen, overwhelmed by the revelation, felt a mixture of sorrow and gratitude. He looked at his parents, determination shining in his eyes. "We will find out what happened to Zhong Lu. And we will make sure no other child suffers the same fate."

Fang and Huang Ho smiled through their tears, pride and hope evident on their faces. "Together, we will," Fang said, her voice filled with resolve.

Fang added that we still haven't made a grave for our first child, Zong Lu. We still hope that he will return home one day. We always had this dream that our child would return. To the place he can call home, to the people he can call his parents.

Zen was really sad and headed to bed that night with a heart heavy with sorrow.

Fang and Huang Ho, however, felt a sense of lightness, having finally shared their burden. The sorrow they had carried for so long seemed to lift as they spoke, bringing a newfound sense of hope and connection.

Zen, while lying on his bed, raises his hands and says to himself, I need to be strong, strong enough to fight my future enemies. I'm too weak right now. Zen thinks of going back to school. Zen asks about his eye ability and what more it can do.

Meanwhile, Yun introduced Zong Ya and her sister to his father, Zhen, and mother, Mei, at their family inn, nestled in a quiet corner of the bustling city. The sisters stood timidly, their eyes downcast yet hopeful, as Yun recounted their heartbreaking backstory. Zhen and Mei listened attentively, their expressions softening with sympathy as they learned about the girls' struggles and the loss of their parents.

Moved by their plight and Yun's compassionate gesture, Zhen and Mei agreed without hesitation to Yun's proposal. They welcomed Zong Ya as a worker at their inn, offering her a steady job and a safe haven. Additionally, they promised to enroll Zong Ya's younger sister in school, ensuring she would receive the education she deserved.

As the evening progressed, Yun, conscious of his recent severe leg injury from the encounter with Leon, found himself unable to fully join in the physical labor of running the inn. Zhen, noticing his son's discomfort, suggested gently to Zong Ya that she assist Yun in nursing him back to health. The suggestion caught Zong Ya off guard, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment at the thought. Yun, equally flustered, managed a shy smile and nodded in agreement.

After showing Zong Ya and her sister to their modest room in the quietest corner of the inn, Yun bid them a good night. Zong Ya, still flustered and overwhelmed by the kindness shown to her, murmured a soft good-night in return. Alone in their room, her younger sister, curious about the encounter, asked Zong Ya what had happened. Blushing deeper, Zong Ya replied with a gentle smile, "When you grow up, you'll understand." Her younger sister, not fully comprehending, simply nodded and settled into bed.

Meanwhile, Yun sat quietly in his room, his thoughts consumed by introspection. Looking out the window into the night sky, he reflected on his recent battle with Leon. Despite his victory, Yun couldn't shake the feeling of vulnerability and weakness that had come with his injury. "I could only defeat Leon through sheer luck and his carelessness," he admitted quietly to himself. "I nearly died there."

The realization weighed heavily on Yun's mind. His injuries reminded him of his limitations, both physically and in skill. He felt a deep sense of responsibility, not just for his own safety but for the protection of those around him, including Zong Ya and her sister, now under their care. He realized his elemental skills in the wind were lacking and promised to be strong enough to protect all his loved ones.

Outside, the moonlight cast gentle shadows across the quiet inn. Yun resolved to recover fully, not just for himself but to become stronger and to protect those he cared about. With determination in his heart, he knew the path ahead would be challenging, but he was determined to rise above his perceived weaknesses and become a guardian worthy of the trust placed in him.

Yun notices a shadowy figure from his window and is curious to find out. He goes to check. 

Who is the shadowy figure and how do Zen and Yun get stronger??