Trials
1563 Words
INSIDE ZHOU CHEN’S HOME
The air inside Zhou Chen’s small home was heavy with tension. Zhou Chen paced back and forth, his hands clenched into tight fists.
“What’s the situation on the battlefield right now?” he asked at last, his voice low and strained.
“Nothing yet,” replied Ling Mai from where she sat, her slender fingers twisting in her lap. “The battle has been raging for three whole days… and that’s all I know.” She looked helpless, her emerald-green eyes clouded with worry. this was because everyone had realised the whole war was as a result of her absence from home.
“We have to get you home quickly,” Zhou Chen muttered. “The longer you stay here, the higher the risk.”
“But the borders are blocked. We can’t get out.” Ling Mai's tone carried quiet frustration.
From the kitchen area, Zhou Chen’s mother suddenly spoke, her voice calm but firm. “I know a way out.”
Both Zhou Chen and Ling Mai turned toward her in surprise.
“Really? How?” Zhou Chen asked, his brows furrowing.
“Come closer first,” his mother said, motioning for them to sit. “We need to make a plan. This will be risky, but if we do this right, we can get her out before anyone notices.”
---
OUTSIDE THE CITY
The sky was overcast, painting the forest in a dim, gray light. Zhou Chen kept glancing at Ling Mai as they moved along the narrow dirt path, his hand never straying too far from the hilt of his dagger.
“Are we there yet?” Ling Mai asked, her tone half playful, half impatient.
“No, but we’re close,” Zhou Chen replied, scanning the horizon.
It had been another three days since they left the city. To Zhou Chen’s surprise, the journey had been… not unpleasant. Despite being from the Demon Tribe, Ling Mai was unexpectedly easy to talk to. She found his clumsy understanding of demon beasts amusing, often laughing softly at his misconceptions. Zhou Chen had learned more about demons in those three days than from any record book.
Even his mother had teased him in private, urging him to “go for what he wants.” Zhou Chen had been left red-faced, torn between laughing and crying.
“There!” Ling Mai suddenly exclaimed, pointing ahead. “That’s the border!”
“Good. Let’s move,” Zhou Chen said, gripping her wrist and pulling her along as they broke into a run, heading straight for the demon territory. Zhou Chen knew that this was their only chance and that Ling Mai was the key to ending the war.
“Faster!” Zhou Chen urged.
“I’m not as fast as you!” Ling protested, her breath coming in quick gasps.
“Then you should work harder on your cultivation,” Zhou Chen teased, though his tone was serious.
Ling Mai shot him a sharp look before softening her gaze. “Don’t worry,” she said quietly, her voice holding a rare gentleness. “…I will. For you.”
Zhou Chen smiled despite himself, not realizing how much those words meant to him yet.
But before either of them could say anything more.
Fuuuuuuu!
A powerful gust of wind surged from nowhere, sweeping both of them off their feet. When Zhou Chen’s vision cleared, they were no longer in the forest.
Before them stood a woman with long, flowing black hair, a graceful figure, and dazzling green eyes that seemed to see straight into Zhou Chen’s soul. Her presence was overwhelming yet strangely comforting.
Zhou Chen barely had time to react before Ling Mai broke free from his grasp and ran straight into the woman’s arms.
“Mother!” she cried, her voice filled with relief.
The woman embraced her daughter tightly before turning her gaze to Zhou Chen. Ling Mai quickly recounted everything that had happened.
When the woman finally spoke, her voice was soft and melodious, like the sound of a zither. “Thank you,” she said, bowing her head slightly.
Zhou Chen was stunned, caught off guard by how soothing her voice was. After a brief pause, he returned the gesture with a respectful bow.
“It was nothing, senior. I’m just glad she’s safe.”
With a wave of her hand, a small glowing seal appeared in midair and floated toward Zhou Chen, embedding itself between his brows.
“My gift to you,” the woman said gently. Then, with another wave, Zhou Chen was enveloped in light and sent back to the outskirts of the Dragon Imperial City.
---
BATTLE ZONE
Far away, General Long Bai of the Demon Clan suddenly felt a pulse of energy. His lips curled into a knowing smile. The princess has been found.
“You dare get distracted while fighting me?!” Yu San, the Dragon Clan’s general, roared as he used a strange movement technique to close the distance. His blade left a deep cut along Long Bai’s arm.
But Long Bai only smiled, the pain not even registering. With deliberate steps, he turned and walked away from the battlefield.
Yu San hesitated but did not pursue. Something about Long Bai’s departure unsettled him.
---
INSIDE THE CITY
“The war is over!” shouted the city guards, their voices ringing out like a great chorus. Relief spread through the city like wildfire. Cheers erupted in the streets people rejoiced, embracing one another, grateful that their defenders had forced the enemy to retreat.
---
Zhou Chen Residence
Zhou Chen returned home, exhausted but relieved. But as soon as he stepped through the doorway, his heart stopped.
“Mom?!”
His mother lay on the floor, drenched in blood. Her breaths were shallow, her once lively eyes dimming with each passing second.
“No… no, no, no!” Zhou Chen fell to his knees beside her, cradling her trembling hand.
“Mom! What happened?!”
Her lips moved weakly. “Run… far away… They know… they’re looking for you… You must… leave…”
Those were her last words. Her chest rose and fell one final time before going still.
Zhou Chen’s tears fell freely, landing on her bloodstained robe.
“Mom!” he wailed, his cry tearing through the night.
Boom!
Shouts rang out outside the house.
“There he is! The traitor! Kill him! Burn it all!”
Zhou Chen’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. Rage and grief collided in his chest.
No… I won’t die here. I won’t let them take me!
He bolted out the back, blood pounding in his ears.
“They’ll pay,” he whispered, his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached. “Every single one of them will pay!”
And with that vow, Zhou Chen disappeared into the night, running toward the desert.
---
Royal Palace
In a shadowy chamber filled with cursed artifacts that radiated violent energy, a middle-aged man sat calmly, unbothered by the suffocating aura.
“Did you retrieve what I asked for?” he said without turning.
“Yes,” replied the cloaked shadow kneeling behind him. “The last one was easiest. It came from a poor woman in the slums.”
“Good. Did you clear all traces?”
“Yes. The Demon eye is ours. Soon, we can rebel against the faction leader. And we have the Space Guardian’s daughter locked under an array in the ruins.”
The man did not respond. His silence stretched, heavy and cold.
“You cleared all traces?” he asked again, his tone like ice.
“There’s just the boy,” the shadow admitted. “But my men are taking care of him as we speak.”
The man’s killing intent surged. “Make sure of it. Or you’ll be the next one I kill.”
The shadow bowed deeply before vanishing, leaving the man alone as he closed his eyes.
---
Forbidden Northern Region
Zhou Chen stumbled through the desert, his body weak from exhaustion. He had been running for seven days, surviving only by roasting beasts he caught along the way. in that short time he had been attacked countless times by people from the city. From some secret conversations he had recorded, a particular one made him realise the people after him were not just ordinary people, but people from the white tiger claw clan. Something absolutely strange to him, he wondered what connection his interaction with Long Mai had to do with the death of his mother and the chase ordered by the white tiger claw clan.
right now he was far deep into the desert that he had even lost all sense of direction and he could even sense exhaustion and death threatening to win over him
Just as despair threatened to consume him as well, he suddenly saw an ancient pagoda standing tall and solitary in the barren wasteland.
in excitement he quickly rushed towards it in hopes of getting a place to rest and even find some water, just as he approached, he realized it had no entrance.
“Huh?” Zhou Chen placed his hand on the wall.
In an instant, a powerful suction force pulled him inside while the pagoda vanished behind him.
“The Seven Trials of Hell begins now,” a cold, emotionless voice announced."
- Writer
