One Shots (Wangxian)

One Shot 4: Orphan

Life on the streets are not easy, especially when it comes to a child. They suffer from malnutrition and lack of education, and so much more. In the cultivation world, it is just as difficult. There was a little boy, about the age of six, and his parents had recently passed away. The little boy had to learn to defend himself. He always kept his mother's words and teachings in mind. He was always thinking about the possibilities and how he could make it through this.

He had his family's money pouch, and it was enough to last him for a little while. He spent it wisely, only on medication if he needed it. The little boy soon found a little cabin that was located in the woods beside a riverfront. So the little boy learn to live on his own. He learned to scavenge for seeds to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs. He taught himself how to make makeshift spears out of sticks, twine, and stone. He even taught himself how to craft a bow and arrows.

He created a small target area for him to practice, learn to shoot the bow and throw the spear. He spent years learning how to survive on his own. When he reached the age of nine, during one of his training sessions, he began to feel a warmth inside his chest. He remembered his parents teaching him how to meditate when he was feeling stressed, or if he needed to think. If he needed to focus on his breathing and his body. He sat there on the ground and did what he remembered his parents teaching him. He found that meditation was really nice and it helped that warmth inside his chest grow. He didn't know what this feeling was, but he liked it.

At the age of thirteen, the boy started selling some of his produce and herbs that he grew in his garden. The money he raised from it, he spent on books and clothes. Some of the books were on meditation, some on cultivating, and some on night hunting. He even found a couple on music theory and music cultivation and how to craft your own spiritual instrument. He even found a book on foraging weapons.

This boy, who was learning to live by himself, was named Wei Wuxian. Even if he lived on his own, he did not feel that lonely. He was not sad or unhappy, he was fairly happy most of the time. From the books he read, he started to train more. He even started working out so he could make proper weapons for himself. He would jog on the trail by his home for a few hours every morning. He would be up by five and then he would be in bed by nine.

After his jog, he would bathe and have a healthy breakfast, which involved a protein like beans or mean, a starch, and some vegetables. There was a tree outside his cabin that had a branch hanging just right, and he would practice pull-ups, and then he would hang upside down from the branch and do sit-ups.

The one problem with his isolation, however, and his lack of communication and education, was that he could not speak. He could read and write, but he never learned proper verbal skills. His customers were not swayed by it though as they saw that Wuxian had a sweet smile and was very polite and kind.

One very late night, Wei Wuxian was sound asleep. His sleep was interrupted when he started to smell smoke. He quickly got out of bed and put on his robes before going outside to see that his cabin had started to burn. Not only that, but there were people dressed in delicately embroidered hanfu that display a magnificent white peony on their chests – their crest symbol, the Sparks-Amidst-Snow. They also wore a vermilion mark between their eyes.

Wei Wuxian couldn't speak or shout, and saw that those people were the ones burning his cabin. Everything he worked for was destroyed. He was then bound by binding robes that had a strong spiritual energy to them. No matter how strong the cultivator, they could not break the binds. Without protest, Wei Wuxian just let them take him. He was then tossed into a dungeon.

He had a disciple by the name of Jin Zixun, interrogate him often, asking questions that Wei Wuxian not only did not know answers to, but could not also talk. Because he was not speaking, he was tortured, whipped by a discipline whip, scolded by a hot iron, and was even water boarded a few times. They even sealed his spiritual powers.