The Pathway 52 Gloomvale

Total darkness, extending for miles without end, was the scene that was displayed before him. Ju Feng watched in apprehension as the ma.s.sive doors slowly closed behind him. The darkness was soul disturbing in its complex entirety. Only the vicinity where he was standing, which was of a few yards, had some sort of light. After the small region of the light, was the complete darkness.

As he watched the darkness and listened closely, he decided to use his spiritual sight to have more grasp of the situation. Within seconds, Ju Feng quickly backed up towards the closed doors as he gasped in primal fear. The complete darkness was not the source of that fear, but what he could faintly detect that resided in the darkness. He couldn't see or hear the source of his fear but he could sense a powerful force in the darkness.

There was definitely a colossal raging shadow in the darkness. There was no way in this reeling existence, he would enter this darkness. He knew he would simply die the moment the darkness enveloped him. He might think he was on a sojourn to acquire an artefact, but rather, he would find himself on a sojourn into the light of Radia. Straight into reincarnation. Not an ideal path to take at any moment in time.

Ju Feng was still contemplating on the disturbing scene before him when a soft voice sounded beside him.

"The Soul-Phantoms."

"Uh?"

Ju Feng swirled to his right side in the direction of the voice. A small figure, dressed in luminance white robe was floating in the air, right beside him. He took a few steps back as he cautiously examined this new ent.i.ty. How did he even get beside him without his knowledge? And that solemnly ancient face. Ju Feng could already sense a dreadful alarm radiating from the ent.i.ty. Upon closer observation, Ju Feng saw a faint mark in the shape of a full-lunar circle on the ent.i.ty's forehead. He swallowed hard as comprehension dawned on him.

A Rakshasan G.o.d!

The lunar circle was the symbol of the Rakshasans. As demiG.o.ds, they were born with the half lunar circle's symbol on their foreheads. This symbol would later turn into full circle after their ascension into the heavenly realms. Rakshasans were renown for their wildly erratic mentality. And here was one, hovering silently in the mid-air, not too far away from him. Caution! His attention s.h.i.+fted back to the eyes of the Rakshasan G.o.d. Pitiless, solemn and refractive. These were the eyes of a silent but extremely deadly ent.i.ty.

There was something about the figure that made Ju Feng felt like digging a hole and buried himself inside it.

Despite appearing in his demiG.o.d form and masking his aura, the feel of the energy coming from the figure was exceedingly frightful. Necessity was laid upon him to bow in the face of such enormousness.

"Greetings, senior."

Ju Feng cupped his hand and bowed low. Though, he had no idea who the ent.i.ty was, he had to be careful. His life could depend on it. He had to wait for the Rakshasan G.o.d to acknowledge him before he would raise his head.

"Hmm."

The Rakshasan G.o.d nodded his head as he continued to examine Ju Feng, closely.

"The Soul-Phantoms, that's what's inside the darkness. They are the manifestations of Sammar, one of the guardians of the Rembulum realm on the cosmic plane. A shadow ent.i.ty that fell during the great wars. So sad. As long as you have no reason to take the path, you need not fear."

With a soft sigh, he gave Ju Feng a solemn smile.

"Enough with that already. Coming here, is a dangerous path to take, young one. A dangerous errand for a mortal who just started the path of immortality to embark. I guess you agreed to a bargain. Is that right?"

Receiving Ju Feng's nod as a confirmation, he continued.

"To make a bargain blindly, not wise, young one. Not wise. Yet, little you could have done in a face of a power far greater than yours. How fortunate of you to still be alive. Truly fortunate. Anyway, I could smell the scent of the others on you the moment you appear in this world. I guess that means they are still alive. Ah, so long, indeed."

The G.o.d slowly shook his head before gazing into the past beyond the darkness. After a moment of silence, he turned to Ju Feng and asked.

"Well, what do you have for me, young one?"

"Please forgive this young one, senior. I'm to ask you where to go if I find myself in the dark and who to ask for."
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"You can only go to the Emberless grove and ask for Regallash."

"Thank you senior for your patience with me. I'm to show you this scroll."

"En."

After reading the scroll of sentience and had it returned to Ju Feng, he turned his attention back towards the direction of the total darkness ahead. His gaze was fixed on them for a long time before his voice sounded in a soft but firm tone.

"Several millions of years ago, there were four demiG.o.ds. The Frost-Dreamer. A Yakshasan who was adept in manipulating the energies of ice and dream and illusion. The Plane-Drifter. A Lakshasan who could conjure the energies of air and shadow. The Dawn-Gazer. An Asura who was a master of fire and light energies. And a certain Soul-Carver."

There was a soft sigh followed by a short pause that seemed eternity.

"Yes. The Soul-Carver is myself."

He took an expressionless glance at Jufeng before focusing on the scene ahead.

"They called us geniuses of the martial and mystical arts. It didn't take us long to pa.s.s the trials of the demiG.o.ds. Though we were new lowG.o.ds on the heavenly plane, we could survive most highG.o.ds and could even match some of them in power."

Turning around, he faced Jufeng with a shake of his head.

"Young one, open your ears. For an unchecked mind, power brings out its full ignorance. With that comes the dangers, both intentional and unintentional. You see, knowing our power levels, we were defiant of the heavenly ways. We abandoned the universal laws and made our own ways. Lost in time, dangerous intentions crept into our hearts. Many were the havoc we wrecked. And indeed, souls died due to our actions. "

He nodded his head, non-nonchalantly, as he glanced towards Ju-Feng.

"Many souls, to be sincere. Though, we didn't attract the attention of the divines or the celestials, the gathering of the G.o.ds noticed and got involved. The consequences? Either to be imprisoned or have death-fights. Fight would have been futile, we would just be killed in the end. Surrendering was the better option, none of us wants to face the sisters for reincarnation. Hence, where we are now. But we are still grateful that we are made guardians of different dominions. This was an easier way out for us, despite the fact that my soul is here and my body is chained somewhere else. Extreme danger I was, that, I acknowledged."

The nimbus light surrounding the Rakshasan G.o.d dimmed as he descended from the mid-air.

"As the guardian and gatekeeper of the Gloomvale, I've had enough time to reflect on the past deeds. My soul is much more enlightened and at peace now. Nonetheless, I have seen the content of the scroll and this I acknowledged. Now to you. What do you seek in return, young one?"

"Senior, this young one seek the Soul Banis.h.i.+ng scroll."

"That's an audience with the Worldly Oracle. Only from her can you get what you seek. Get ready to take the path through the darkness then."

The Rakshasan G.o.d floated a bit higher of the ground and his light flared as he flicked his fingers. A narrow path materialized out of the darkness. The path extended all the way to the other side.

"The Path Of Sorrow. This is yours to take if you want to, young one. Do you?"

"Yes, senior."

Ju Feng answered in a sad tone as he nodded his head. He looked at the darkness again, with a feeling that he couldn't stop himself from walking in the shadows of death. Deep down he knew death was always holding his hand.

Another bright flare from the G.o.d attracted his attention. He turned on time to see the G.o.d made a hand seal as a thread if light streaked out of him and into the hand of the G.o.d. The hand of the G.o.d continued to glow brightly as a light orb started to materialize. In an instant, a veined light orb had been formed and handed to Ju Feng.

"This is the Orb of Vale. The light indicates your life-force. Don't let it fizzle out. Many are the souls lost to the darkness. If you are ready, you may proceed."

Ju Feng was about to step onto the path when he was signalled to stop.

"Oh, by the way, take this bamboo strip and give it to Frost-Dreamer. That is, if you make it back to him. At least, you'll know that I repaid your effort even if you loose your life here. Don't beat yourself, young one, there's nothing you could have done otherwise. You may now proceed."

"Thank you senior."

Holding the orb of light, tightly in his hand, Jufeng stepped onto the narrow path.

"En."

The moment his feet touch the ground of the path, the voice of one of the manifestations sounded in his mind.

"Ju Feng! Or isn't that your name? Yes? Aha, let me introduce myself. I'm the Heckler. The manifestation that sits on the tip of your nose. Thank you for coming to my haven. I'm honoured. But that your name, Ju Feng, is a curse. You don't know that, do you? Just mentioning your name wants to make me rip my heart out. What kind of a soul would bare a cursed name like that? Ju Feng. Sounds more like a heavens curse. Are you a cursed soul? No? How do you know you are not a cursed soul? Even p.r.o.nouncing your name makes me want to cut my tongue out. Born cursed and given a cursed name. Totally cursed."

Ju Feng couldn't help but shook his head in grievance. He knew there was a curse about himself he couldn't name. To hear it now, but confirmed this realization.

"But, I don't blame you. I mean, look at your life. It's a cursed life. What? You have a say? Do tell me. Ah, this is worse than sadness. Your parents must have despised you to a great extent. To give you that name and added to your curse, they really hated you. No? Can't you see for yourself? Well, how can you see for yourself? You wake up in the morning, you do a little puny exercise, you eat some puny turtle meat, drink some puny goat milk and sleep as ignorantly cursed as you are. Have you forgotten how you were kept in isolation with no friend, living under a little hill? Now you know why. You are cursed. Your family understood that some curses do spread. They tried to keep others safe from you, yet, here you are. Trying to curse me too. Don't you agree with me that you should have killed yourself?"

The manifestation disappeared, bringing a much needed relief to Ju Feng as he felt like sitting down and be lost in thought. But he knew that if he stopped, he would never be able to carry on. As he was relis.h.i.+ng the brief respite, another voice sounded in his mind.

"Death-bringer! Surprised? Oh, I know who you are. If I may introduce myself, I'm the Soul-Taunter. So, let's talk, soul to soul. If I were you, death-bringer, I will gladly feed my soul to the wraiths and let it be done with. End to your wretched and miserable life. Do you even know how many death you have caused, knowingly and unknowingly? Directly and indirectly? Ah, you will cry as I'm crying for you right now, if you do. Xuanpu! Hundreds of people died because of your stupid ignorant self. Many innocent children were killed because of you, death-bringer. It doesn't matter if you were still in the womb or nor, it was because of you. Ankhora! Many are the numbers of the dead, also because of you."

"Nooo."

Ju Feng screamed out in pain. Despite hearing this before, the pain was still too much to bear.

"And if I mention those that have died without having any knowledge of you, you will jump into my hand and beg me to take your soul. How many souls are you willing to destroy? Not all of them even had the chance to reincarnate. They are on you. Your soul is tainted, death-bringer. Can you see the life you live? Won't you agree with me that you should have killed yourself?"

As the manifestation vanished, Ju feng stared at the light orb in his hand. Its light is getting dimmer as the time flew. The distance was still a long one . He knew he was in dire situation and could easily loose his life. Just as he was ruminating on this, he heard another voice.

"h.e.l.lo, Death-Walker. You can call me, Soul-Mocker. The eternal mocking shadow."

Sorrowful heavens.