As death slowly embraced him, Su Qing's mind wandered to a memory he had tried to forget for years.
….
Twelve years ago
Su Qing was sitting at home drinking his tea when there came a knock on the door. It was bothersome and a bit of an inconvenience since he liked his tea to be enjoyed during his precious tea time. Nevertheless, he got up to see who it was, as he made his way to the door thinking about who it could be, and what they could possibly want. He was not interested in visitors, but nonetheless he opened the door curious as to who it was.
As he approached the door the heavy sound of rain could be heard, and it was pouring dangerously hard.
''Seriously, who had upset the ancestors this time?''
He approached the door and opened it. There was someone there holding a baby who was crying, and from what Su Qing assumed it was a woman. The woman said nothing as she handed the wailing child to Su Qing.
Su Qing was confused as to who the woman's identity was and lifted the robe that was covering her head revealing to his surprise, his former fiancé, the same woman who he believed had run off with another man because she did not see any value in him.
Why has she come to him all of a sudden?
The woman grasped his cheek before saying:
''Su Qing, I'm deeply sorry for leaving without a word. My regret is overwhelming, and I don't expect my forgiveness. All I can ask is that you please take care of our child, I'm counting on you to give him the love and care they need.''
Su Qing's eyes widened in shock.
''C-Child, what do you mean by that ? And what's with your breathing. It's almost like you're having a tough time inhaling air, it's getting worse by the second. What happened to you anyway?
The woman smiled and looked down.
Su Qing did the same thing and then she saw that she was holding onto what looked like a wound on her stomach.
The wound looked like a sword slash. This angered Su Qing as who could have done this to his former fiancé in the first place but was there any worth in getting angry?
She walked out on him, choosing to be alone all so she could marry some other guy and get her hands on more money than he had. He was lost in thought but his reverie was suddenly interrupted when the woman stepped into his personal space, her face inches from his, and gently pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss.
Su Qing was taken aback, her eyes were wide with surprise as she just stood there, frozen in shock.
''Shui, what are you...?''
Shui's voice was shaking as she begged Su Qing.
''Please, I'm begging you, take care of my….no our baby boy. Make sure he has a better life than we did. Don't let him end up like us.''
Tears streamed down her face as she thought about the future of their child. She wanted Su Qing to give him the opportunities they never had, to protect him from the struggles they faced.
''Give him a chance at a good life,'' she whispered, her eyes pleading with Su Qing to promise her that.
Su Qing had no words.
Shui felt happy with what she saw, it seemed like Su Qing didn't need to say anything because Shui knew her fiancé would go along with what she wanted. She just had a feeling that everything was going to be okay. And with that she just fell to the ground and died, instantly. Su Qing slowly turned his head at the dead corpse of his former fiancé and still had no words.
Even in death the memory still lived in his mind. Out of all of the things to recall, why that specific one.
''I made my promise….he grew up into a fine boy.''
The moment had passed and reality set back in, the comforting feeling of nostalgia was lost, leaving only a chilly sensation.
''M-Master..."
Sun Yunso dragged his body across the blood soaked floor. His vision was consumed by darkness. Blood streamed down the wounds across his eyes. He couldn't see but he refused to stop searching. His trembling hands reached again and again until his fingers touched someone.
"...!"
Sun Yunso hastily crawled closer, his hand desperately grasping the familiar form beside him, and managed to grab hold of Su Qing's shoulder.
"Master?"
No response.
He shook him.
"Master... wake up."
Su Qing's body was ice cold to the touch as his hands delicately brushed over him, the cold feeling of her skin sending a shiver down his spine.
Sun Yunso froze, his lips trembled.
"N-No..."
It hit him like a ton of bricks, a shock that cut deeper than any blade. His master, the man who had taught him how to wield a sword, the man who had taught him how to forge one, the man who had raised him like a son was....gone.
Sun Yunso's face was a mess of tears and blood, his cheeks stained a mixture of the two. As he tried to speak his voice broke due to the overwhelming sadness that had gripped him.
"Why? Why would anyone do this? What did my master ever do to you? He never hurt anyone. So why? WHY?!"
A loud scream echoed throughout the empty, damaged house and his hands, shaking violently, slowly balled into tight fists. Every tear, every drop of blood, and every ounce of pain turned into hatred. His voice dropped to a whisper.
"You can't escape me, no matter how hard you try to hide. I'll track down every single one of you, and when I finally catch up you'll face the consequences. I'll cut you all down."
That night, the boy who always dreamed of making swords ended up forging something quite different.
A vow of revenge.
….
A dull pain throbbed throughout Sun Yunso's head. His eye lids slowly fluttered open or at least that was what he thought they had.
Darkness, nothing but darkness.
He frowned.
"...?"
His mind was blank.
Where was he? What happened?
He tried to remember but pain shot through his head.
"Ah!"
He automatically reached up to touch his forehead but his fingers made contact with something that was tightly wrapped around his face.
"What's this?"
His breathing became uneven.
He blinked repeatedly and still couldn't see anything. Panic slowly crept its way onto his chest.
"...Why can't I see?"
Before he could think of anything else, a calm male voice broke through the silence.
"So, you're finally awake."
Sun Yunso flinched.
"W-Who's there?!"
His voice trembled as he instinctively backed away.
"I can't see you!"
The room was silent for a second before the stranger began talking again, his voice calm and soothing.
"Easy, I'm not your enemy. So... there's no need to be afraid."
Sun Yunso remained tense. His breathing refused to slow. As he attempted to ignore the stranger's comments, he made a move to push himself up from the bed but the minute he applied weight to his body, his strength betrayed him. He collapsed onto the wooden floor with a muffled thud, the sound echoing within the room.
"Ouch..."
The man let out a tired sigh.
"What exactly are you trying to do? I already told you...I'm not your enemy and yet you're still treating me like one."
Sun Yunso gritted his teeth.
"Am I wrong for doing that?"
The man let out a quiet chuckle.
"No, you're not."
He made his way over, his movements gentle, and then knelt down beside the boy. In silence he delicately picked Yunso back up onto the bed, his actions soft yet methodical.
"Your body hasn't recovered yet."
The man waited until Yunso was settled and comfortable before gently reaching out to touch the bandages that covered his face.
"I'm going to remove these now."
Sun Yunso tensed but did not resist. Layer after layer the bandages came undone. As the final strip of material fell away, sunlight poured through the window.
"...!"
Sun Yunso instinctively squeezed his eyes shut. The sudden brightness burned through days of endless darkness.
He raised a hand to shield his face.
"...It hurts."
The man gave a small smile.
"That's normal. You've been living in darkness for several days. Give your eyes a little time. Then you'll be able to see the world again."
Sun Yunso's hand finally came to rest after a brief pause.
The light no longer stung as much.
"...Thank you."
The man barely nodded, then reached for a simple wooden bowl filled with steaming hot porridge and a cup of cool water that was sitting on a nearby table, and gently placed them down by Yunso.
"You better eat, because your body needs strength."
Sun Yunso took the bowl, then turned to look at the man again.
"If it's not a bother, may I ask, Who are you?"
The man was quiet for a moment.
"I've known Su Qing for a long time, so just call me Anyu Feng.
"Anyu... Feng."
Sun Yunso quietly repeated the name to himself.
"Wait. I've heard that name before."
Anyu raised an eyebrow.
"You have?"
Sun Yunso nodded.
"Master mentioned you once. He said you were childhood friends and that the two of you traveled the world together."
A real smile graced Anyu's lips.
"He really said that, did he? Well, he didn't tell you the whole story, it seems. There were five of us, and we had a name for ourselves - Damnation. We traveled all over the world, taking on requests, solving problems, and getting into all sorts of trouble."
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"I never imagined he'd tell all those stories to his son. He must've become quite the storyteller."
Sun Yunso couldn't help but laugh.
"He did like telling stories."
The laughter faded and Yunso blinked after finally processing the exact word that Anyu had stated.
"...Son?"
Anyu Feng's smile vanished. He realized what he had just said. Yunso looked directly at him.
"What did you mean by that?"
Anyu Feng stayed silent and a heavy sigh escaped him. Instead of replying he gently pushed the bowl of porridge a little closer.
"Eat first. You need your strength."
The question remained unanswered and somehow that silence said more than any explanation ever could. Sun Yunso began eating his food, slowly taking his bites almost as if he was savouring his food so that it didn't go to waste quickly. Each bite was amazing, even though he was surprised by Anyu Feng's cooking.
"This is amazing Mr. Anyu."
Anyu Feng let out a small laugh
"Thanks, I had to learn how to cook since I live alone."
Sun Yunso took another bite whilst listening to Anyu Feng.
"That does make sense. Anyway I already know that Master Su Qing will love this meal. Don't you think so?" Sun Yunso asked with excitement in his voice.
He kept on eating and enjoying the meal without a care in the world. Anyu Feng couldn't bring himself to meet Sun Yunso's eyes. Sun Yunso saw this and was slightly confused.
"Mr Anyu, is something wrong?"
Anyu Feng heard Sun Yunso's empathetic voice but still couldn't bear to look Sun Yunso in the face.
"It's nothing, don't worry."
"Are you sure, your voice already says everything. It's filled with sadness and regret, so are you sure that there isn't anything wrong?"
Anyu was caught off guard. He slowly turned his direction to Sun Yunso, staring directly at him. His face was stiff as he was holding back his tears.
"Yunso, Su Qing….he's dead."
Sun Yunso dropped the chopsticks that he was eating with after he heard what Anyu Feng had just said.
"You're lying right? Please tell me this is just a joke, I was with him moments ago. Yes that's right I was with him nothing else so why....Why are you lying to me?"
"This is not a lie, Sun Yunso. Your master died.”