faraway wanderers/Word Of Honor [ Oneshots ] -Wenzhou-

Arc One - The shrine

The shrine was slightly elevated, well-kept, and spacious, with a large statue of Madam Jiayi in the centre. It was intricately carved to look like a real person smiling at them.

There wasn't much inside that was confusing Zhang Chengling.
He looked at his senior and Shifu, who both had a strangely solemn expression on their faces.

"Shifu, there's no one."

"Kid, don't you feel anything strange?" Zhou Zishu inquired.
Zhang Chengling did nothing but shake his head.

"This shrine doesn't feel like an ordinary shrine. Something isn't right."

Wen Kexing took a step back and began inspecting the shrine, saying, "This shrine emits a strong, resentful energy."

"Resentful? From where?"

Wen Kexing looked at Zhou Zishu and said, "This whole shrine is emitting a resentful energy."

Zhou Zishu inspected the statue.He swept away the dust to get a better look.
"Did you find anything?" Wen Kexing asked, looking at him.

"Food."

"Huh?"

"Someone was eating something here. Look at the crumbs on the ground."

Hearing Zhang Chengling's stomach rumble loudly.

"Little Tyke, I must say that even in this situation, you know your priorities," Wen Kexing laughed.
Mei looked at Zhang Chengling and fished a steam bun from her clothes.
"Take it here."

Zhou Zishu was watching them when he felt chills run down his back, as if someone was standing right behind him, and their breath on his neck: "I'm taking you with me."

He froze, held his breath, and continued to stare at Mei, who only asked confusedly.
"What is it, brother Zhou?"

"Ah-xu?"

When Wen Kexing turned to him, the presence behind him vanished.
He shifted his gaze from Mei to Wen Kexing, whose voice brought him back.

"What is it?"

Zhou Zishu simply walked up to Wen Kexing, reached for his cheeks, and kissed him.

Wen kexing and mei were stunned; Zhang Chengling was stunned too, but for different reasons; it was his first time to see his shifu taking the lead. He ate the buns without blinking.

"Wha-what is it?"
When Wen Kexing asked this, an ear-piercing scream echoed throughout the shrine, and everyone covered their ears as the ground beneath them began to shake.

Zhou Zishu went over to Zhang Chengling and grabbed him by the clothes before throwing him at Wen Kexing and lifted Mei as they all fell down.
.
.
.
.
.

"Are you all right, kid?"
Zhang Chengling opened his eyes, when heard Wen Kexing's voice. He coughed slightly as he got up and adjusted his clothes.
"This place, Senior..."

He roved his gaze around the area. The area beneath the shrine was not a cave or a basement; it was more akin to a proper home, with walls covered in ghost summoning spells.

"They are wrong." Wen Kexing spoke in a whisper.

"Senior?"

"These spells are incorrect. It appears that someone was practising."

"Bodies! Senior look"

"grave diggers"

Wen Kexing went to investigate further. "This is a very old house... it appears to be a traditional ancient house."

"Is this Liu's house?" Zhang Chengling questioned.

Wen Kexing paused for a moment before turning to face him.
"Liu is around Little Tyke I gave you the talisman, right? You have it, don't you? I'll let you out of this shrine. Go to the tavern and wait."
Zhang Chengling ruffled his clothes and looked as if he wanted to cry.
"No, it appears to have been lost when we collapsed."
"Don't go anywhere" Wen Kexing said as he grabbed his hand.

"Senior, what about shifu and Mei? "
"Don't worry he's not weak he'll protect Mei."

'These spells can't be drawn with shallow knowledge. Madam Jiayi was a cultivator; she must have carried books. It looks like someone stole it. Is this truly done by grave diggers, or are villagers involved as well? We must leave immediately.'

He closed his eyes to concentrate on Zhou Zishu's footsteps. When he heard someone walking clumsily, he opened his eyes and ran towards it.

Zhou Zishu's clothes were dishevelled and dirty from falling upon seeing Wen Kexing, and his serious face relaxed a bit.
"Ah-xu, are you alright? Where's Mei?"

"Liu suddenly appeared, so I instructed her to hide," he mumbled, clutching his hair, "this place isn't good, let's get out of here."

Wen Kexing was walking behind him. After a while his breathing became heavy, and he began to emit a deadly aura. Like he was possessed, Rage continued to rise within him.

Zhang Chengling shivered, "Senior, what happe-" He couldn't complete his words as he saw Wen Kexing's expression totally change, like he'd kill anyone.

Zhou zishu, too, sensed something was wrong and turned around to see Wen kexing staring at him with a deadly stare.
Before he could say anything in a flash, Wen Kexing grabbed Zhou Zishu by the neck and lifted him up from the ground.

Zhang Chengling ran towards them, "SENI--," but soon he got suffocated by the aura Wen Kexing had emitted and fell to the ground.

"Se.. senior please stop."

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Hello everyone!

The year 2022 was such a ride; I hope the coming year brings us much love and happiness.

Happy New year in advance 🎆
Stay safe and be happy everyone

I'll be back with a new chapter soon..