10 miles north of the Xiao Cottage, past forests, a few marshes and a large expanse of long reeds, lies a large village. It was comparable to a town but not quite one yet.
A fence of three metre tall golden reed poles were embedded into the ground side by side leaving no gap between each reed pole, this acted as an outer wall for the village where reed thatched houses abounded. People bustled about steadily in the streets going about doing their own tasks in the brightly lit morning air. Wares were arranged to show and vendors shouted out their offers to entice customers. Cattle and other livestock were herded out to the pastures to be fed. Little children ran around playing and spreading merry mischief.
From the dirt road that led to the village came three cloaked figures and a wooden cart which was being pulled by a water buffalo, the cart had been covered with a large piece of cloth and secured using ropes. From the statures of the three, it could be seen that two were adults and the other was a child.
As the three figures reached the gate of the village, one of the figures stopped and a pair of fair hands reached out of the cloak, and pulled down the figure's hood. Wavy, silky black hair tumbled down and a fair face with sapphire eyes came into view capturing the attention of the two guards stationed outside.
"What are you doing? Pull down your hoods! You don't want to look like robbers, do you?!" Xiao Ai frowned at the grinning Father Son duo that thought it would be funny to spook the guards. She could certainly say that ling'er was his Father's Son.
Still grinning, both of them complied and removed their hoods as well.
The tense postures of the guards relaxed at that and they saluted at Xiao Ai when the three entered inside, ignoring the other two since the guards had heard the previous conversation.
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Xiao Boling patted Xiao Moomoo's side as said water buffalo entered the village alongside him and his parents.
Through Reed Village.
That was what the village was called, Xiao Boling remembered because he had had a few visits here before.
Xiao Boling supposed that the name made sense. The reason for that was because of the literal forest of reeds surrounding the village from all sides.
Long golden rods that even reached up to four metres sprouting brilliant green leaves and clusters of flowers. The reeds swayed with the wind as if one being.
These reeds were called Goldenrod Reeds and were different compared to common reeds as they absorb some Metal-elemental energy from the soil alongside the Wood-elemental energy that all plants have. And for that very reason they were used to make the outer wall of the village. Normal swords and other weapons couldn't even leave a scratch on the reed poles.
Together the Xiao family walked towards the market section.
The colourful market section dazzled Xiao Boling's eyes.
Brightly coloured fabric was spread up above like a canopy providing shade and colouring everything below with a beautiful glow as the sunlight swept over the canopy. People of different ages milled about pushing and squeezing into spaces.
Walking past the vegetables and fruits stands, the Xiao family headed towards the fish vendors.
The distinct smell of fish and blood entered Xiao Boling's senses as they went near, different types of fish hung above strung with rope, smoked fish fillets laid out under the sun to dry and even some live fish was seen by Xiao Boling as they walked towards the usual vendor they sold fish to.
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A Herald's Heir
Fantasy*ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!* When the world was formed, along it came into being what we now know as magic. Magic was raw and powerful, thus a balance was needed. Fifteen beings were born out of magic, each with a different piece of magic inside. These pi...
