Heaven’s Shadow

The grass stem reflects in his pupils which are dominated by the black flames. Lu Chen growls deeply before rushing quickly to the only wooden bed in the cottage and lies on it.

The wooden bed looks simple, but neat. There is bedding stacked at the top of the bed. It isn’t very clear where Lu Chen touched the bed at but the entire bed flips over after a low rumble, sending him down beneath the bed. In an instant, this straw cottage plunges into silence. In the emptiness, not a single sound is made.

While he is still tumbling in midair, Lu Chen who is already in excruciating pain from the black flames couldn’t help but roar deeply. Complete darkness appears before him. As his body continues to fall downwards uncontrollably, he suddenly strikes his heart violently with his right hand.

No sound and no motion. There doesn’t seem to be a single ripple in the darkness. However, the figure that was falling downwards in the darkness with black flames scorching his flesh suddenly disappears.

Just like that, disappearing in midair!

※※※

In the next instant, a gray light illuminates Lu Chen’s sight. A moment later, his body crashes heavily onto the floor and a muffled thump could be heard.

The black flame is still burning heartlessly on his body of blood and flesh. Every single inch of his body is charred black and he is already on the verge of being reduced to a pile of ashes. In this instant, his surrounding has turned into a mysterious chamber which barely had the length and width of six meters and a height of three meters.

The surroundings look like an incredibly thick log which is connected together as one. The log is mottled and the ancientness of it is apparent, as though it has passed through countless eons. At the same time, enveloped by a green mist, the wooden walls look slightly blurry. This location seem to be a hollow of an ancient tree.

In this ‘hollow’, there is barely two meters or so of empty space. In the middle, there is a puddle of water which takes up half of the space while the rest of it is solid land. In the puddle of water, there is a glint of emerald in the clear water. The water is still, not moving in the slightest. It is difficult to gauge its depth with just a single sight. The water looks reminiscent of a crystal clear jasper stone. Just that, an incredibly intense and refreshing aura of vitality seems to be emitting from the puddle of clear water.

At this moment, the land Lu Chen falls on isn’t too far away from the puddle. After being incinerated by black flames, he doesn’t even possess the strength to stand up at this instant. Even so, lying on the floor, he struggles with all his might and rolls his body. Turning two rounds, huala, his entire body falls into the water.

“Hu!”

That is a very peculiar sound which suddenly sounds by his ear, as though isolating him from the rest of the world, as though there is no one but him left in the world. Faint ripples were created by currents of the water. Countless transparent air bubbles of different sizes floats up before his gaze. A refreshing sensation nestles up to his body, gradually suppressing that fearsome and intense burning sensation.

This water puddle is much deeper than expected. However, its size is exactly as it looks. Lu Chen couldn’t even straighten his body. He huddles his body together, just like a frightened child hiding in this incomparably silent water, allowing the flow of water to wash his body. The seemingly gentle hands seem to be consoling his wounded soul.

Even in the water, the black flames on Lu Chen’s body didn’t extinguish. The black flames still continue to burn. However, as though subdued by the mystical vitality of this pond of water, the black flames begin to wither before slowly retracting back into Lu Chen’s skin. It gradually diminishes and weakens, until all of it disappears without a trace into his body.

The water waves embrace him and at a pace visible to the eyes, the glaring wounds on Lu Chen’s body which were left behind by the black flames start to recover back to its original form. Very quickly, it seems as though nothing had happened, except for the overwhelming exhausted man.

He huddles his body together tightly as he hides in this pool of water, not revealing his head for a very long period of time. In the silent water, his lips seem to be trembling slightly.

He grinds his teeth and his expression warps, revealing a face of sorrow and pain. Under the glimpse of light through the water, he seems to be on the verge of tears, yet forcibly bearing it, suppressing his voice back in.

He slowly raises his head. Looking upwards through the light distorted by the ripples of the water from the bottom of the puddle, there is another world, blurred, as though it would forever remain so, and the ends of it couldn’t be seen.

※※※

The morning of the next day.

The moon sets and the sun rises. When the rays of the morning sun falls upon this quiet village again, just like always, the village seems to suddenly wake up and bustle into commotion.

Lu Chen yawns as he walks out from his straw cottage. He carefully shuts the wooden door before walking towards the village at the bottom of the mountain.

Old Yu is sitting beneath the big chinese scholar tree yet again, fishing his big fishes that he seemed to have no possibility of catching. The crowds passing by walks in groups of two to three as they chatter and laugh loudly. Most of them discussed about the matter of the Thousand Autumn Sects sending personnel over to collect Spirit Tea Leaves and Spirit Grains. There are also some passing remarks about the slaughter which occurred yesterday by the village.

After listening to those for a moment, Lu Chen found it boring. His stomach also starts to grumble, so he habitually walks towards the tavern.

Although he came slightly later than he did yesterday, Old Ma still didn’t seem to be starting business soon. The door to the tavern is shut. However, to Lu Chen, this isn’t a problem. He walks to the door, peng peng, he knocks twice before laughing, “Old Ma, time to open up for business.”

After a short moment, footsteps resound in the room as someone walks to the back of the door. Then, with a creaking sound, the door opens. Old Ma’s slightly plump body reveals from within.

Lu Chen smiles as he pats Old Ma’s shoulders. He says, “I am hungry. Cook something for me.” After which, he walks past him. However, from behind, Old Ma coughs lightly.

Lu Chen’s gaze solidifies as he scans the tavern. Then, he spots another figure sitting by another table in front in this early morning.

From his appearance, he seems to be an elder in his fifties. His hair is dyed white and there is a warm smile on his face. He even nods his head upon catching sight of Lu Chen.

Old Ma closes the door from his back and latches the bolt. Then, he walks to Lu Chen’s side and softly speaks, “Sentinel Liu only arrived here this morning.”

Lu Chen nods his head. He walks over to the elder and grins. From the looks of it, their relationship seems to be quite close. He even pats the elder’s shoulders and says, “Old Liu, I thought you would only come once a year. I remember it has only been half a year since you last came. Why, do you miss me?”

“Hahahaha…” This old man surnamed Liu seems very amiable. He smiles towards Lu Chen and says, “Little Lu, you sure know how to joke. However, I am here to conduct an inspection under the orders of Hall Master Xue, so I took this opportunity to come by and meet the both of you.”

…

For me, although it sounds weird, the author used 丈 -> 3.33meters.

For area, it should have been .

But since he used length instead of area, I will stick with the author’s usage of words.

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