1 Liu Shi Meng

"Cheng Mu, come! I feel the baby moving again!" Sitting on a wooden chair in a small cottage was a heavily pregnant woman rubbing her stomach gently. This woman is Liu Ling Hua, a daughter of a farmer who married to the village carpenter Liu Cheng Mu a year and a half ago. Liu Cheng Mu who was in the kitchen cooking congee for his wife immediately rushed over. Placing a bowl of congee on the table beside her, he bends down to rub his wife's stomach before saying "My love, we are finally going to have a child of our own..."

Liu Ling Hua and Liu Cheng Mu shared a silent moment filled with love for their unborn child before Liu Ling Hua spoke. "Cheng Mu... I had a dream last night about our child. Did you know that it's a boy?"

Amused at his wife's sudden silliness, Liu Cheng Mu grinned "Oh? So I'm going to have a son?"

Liu Ling Hua runs her fingers through her husband's hair, pulling it playfully. "I saw myself holding him, he has your hair and my eyes. Liu Shi Meng. Cheng Mu, that's our child's name. Xiao Meng Meng!"

The couple kept on talking excitedly about their soon to be child. Liu Ling Hua spoke of how she wants to feed him delicious foods and dress him up while Liu Cheng Mu wants to teach Shi Meng his craft. They talk until the sky starts to darken and Liu Ling Hua fell asleep.

After moving his wife onto the bed, Liu Cheng Mu lit up a candle illuminating the cottage in soft light. Reaching inside his robe, Liu Cheng Mu took out a tiny pair of jade bracelets wrapped in cotton cloth. When Liu Cheng Mu found out about his wife's pregnancy, he had secretly bought them from a vendor when he was in the city selling his crafts. Although it wasn't of the highest quality, Liu Cheng Mu had worked hard to buy them. Working in the candlelight Liu Cheng Mu carefully engrave the characters of his child's name onto both bracelets.

'Liu Shi Meng huh?' Admiring his work, Liu Cheng Mu wrap the bracelets back up and tuck it inside his clothes. 'Your father can't wait to meet you.'

[A Month Later]

"A little more! You're almost there! I can see the head!"

Liu Ling Hua lay on the bed panting while the midwife encourages her.

"Ha...ha..ha..." It has been seven hours since she went into labor. A sheen of sweat layered her forehead and her face was ghostly pale. Another wave of cutting pain hits her causing her to cry out helplessly. As Liu Ling Hua miserably think that her labor would go on forever, she heard the sound of a newborn crying.

The midwife offered her congratulation as she cleaned and wrapped the baby. Giving the baby to Liu Ling Hua, the midwife went outside to inform Liu Cheng Mu of the news.

Liu Cheng Mu rushed into the house and saw his wife softly cradling their child. Seeing both his wife and child are fine Liu Cheng Mu finally shed tears of happiness.

"Ling Hua, my child, you both had me worried to death!" If anything had happened to his wife...he pales at the thought.

Seeing her husband acting like this Liu Ling Hua felt her heart melt a little. "My dear husband, I'm fine. Look, say hello to our boy."

Squirming and crying Liu Shi Meng only calmed down when Liu Ling Hua starts to feed him.

"My son..." Looking at his son Liu Cheng Mu knew that he'll do anything to protect him and ensure him a good life. Remembering his gift, he quickly brought out the bracelets that he had prepared. Liu Ling Hua looks at him curiously " Cheng Mu what is that?"

"This is something that I bought for Shi Meng when I was in the city. I personally carved his name on the jades when you told me his name. You were right Ling Hua, it is a son."

" Hmph, of course, it's my son after all!"

The two continued to admire their son when suddenly part of the roof collapsed bursting into flames. Outside screams could be heard.

" Run! Demons have come! Quickly run!" The village cottages burn and collapsed as rains of fire fell relentlessly from the sky.

"Someone help! My mother is in there!"

Villagers ran fled frantically but before one can run too far, the rains of fire burn them away completely with nothing left but ashes.

"Cheng Mu, what is going on? We need to get out of here!" Liu Ling Hua holds Liu Shi Meng closer to her as she watches her home burn around her. "Cheng Mu" Liu Ling Hua knew she was too weakened from childbirth to run. "Cheng Mu take our child and run!" Tears streak down her face as she shakingly pushes Liu Shi Meng to Liu Cheng Mu.

The ceiling above the bed crumbled down, falling on top of Liu Ling Hua. With one last weak "Go" Liu Ling Hua's body abrupt into flames.

"L-Liu Hua..." Sunken into despair Liu Cheng Mu could only watch as the last of his wife turn to dust. Liu Shi Meng lets out a cry, disturbed from the commotions around him. Without knowing, Liu Cheng Mu had gotten on to his feet and start running, protecting Liu Shi Meng firmly in his arms.

'Must protect my son, must protect my son, mu-' A unbearable pain starts to spread across his body from his shoulder. At a ruthless speed, the flames engulf him entirely. "Ah-Ah-ahhhhh!"

Falling onto the ground, Liu Cheng Mu threw Liu Shi Meng away from him.

"No, no, no! Shi Meng! SHI MENG!" Liu Cheng Mu tries to get up but his vision already sees nothing but a flickering red and eventually there was only darkness.

[Three Days Later In Golden Gate city]

Golden Gate city was filled with life, the streets are busy with activities. Vendors shout to sell their wares while street actors put on shows for tips.

"Hey, have you heard about what recently happened to a village?" Inside a restaurant, a group of friends was leisurely talking and drinking good wine.

"You mean the "Hell Fallen Village"? I heard it was horrible! Fire rained down for two nights straight. Not one of the poor saps survived I heard."

"My cousin who is a cultivator went by there recently. I heard from him that a crazy amount of demons attacked the village!"

"Sigh- poor people, all killed without mercy."

A young man in his early twenties was sitting on the table next to this group. His long black hair was tied into a tight ponytail and his features are extremely sharp and commanding. Another man around the same age sat beside him. A portion of his hair was braided while the rest were let down. Compared to the other man, he had features that made him look playful and boyish. Both of them wore the same white robe, excluding the air of cultivators.

"UWAH-wah!" A loud cry sounded from the basket placed between the two men.

"Ah! Feng mo! This kid is crying again!" The playful looking youth panicked and tries to appease the child by giving it some sunflower seed from the table.

"He doesn't have any teeth. He'll choke." Feng mo glared disapprovingly at Kong Lin while slapping his hands away.

Feng Mo and Kong Lin are both disciples of the Seven Color Treasure Sect. There are seven major sects that control the continent.

Tranquil Blooming Plum Sect of the north, Seven Color Treasure Sect of the north, Piercing Snow Sect of the east, Water Beast Sect of the east, Hundred Morrow Sect of the south, Blessing of the Goddess Sect of the south and finally Temple of Xi Sect that's located in the western mountains.

Feng Mo and Kong Lin are part of the Seven Color Treasure Sect that's stationed in Golden Gate city. They were sent by their elders to investigate what happened to "Hell fallen Village". Three days ago, a small village on the outskirts of Golden Gate City was burned to the ground. Anything within a mile radius of the village was utterly destroyed by a rain of fire that lasted for two days. When Feng Mo and Kong Lin arrived at the village, there were traces of demonic aura which meant that it was most likely a demon attack. While searching through the debris for leads on the demons, they found a newborn just laying there. And what's stranger is that the baby was not harmed whatsoever. Even the blanket that was wrapped around him remained in perfect condition.

Seeing that the child was alive Feng Mo and Kong Lin had immediately picked him up. They even found a nanny in the city to breastfeed the child. After drinking, the baby was soon filled with vigor crying and squirming about. In fear of dropping him or harming him a fruit basket was acquired to hold the child.

Patting the crying child to calm him, Kong Lin sighed "Feng Mo, should I say this little guy has good luck or bad? Both of his parents probably perished in the fire but he's not harmed at all! Also, the fire rained for two whole days. Even if he's lucky there's no way all that fire could've all missed him right?"

Feng Mo is curious about that too. Placing a few coins on the table to pay for their tea he said "Let's go back to the sect first and report to the elders about the village. Then we can ask what to do about this child."