“All of the shops are closed at this time in the night. Where are you intending to go?”
Xilong’s soothing voice rang besides the young girl’s ear as she walked alone in the streets leading away from the Plum’s Grove. Hearing the concerned words gently break down at her pent-up fury and rage, An Fei couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Go? Go where?” the young girl clapped her hands in dismay.
“The borders of Great Yan are too far, and any territories close to Great Yong are embroiled in bitter war. Other than walking aimlessly along this street, what else can I do?”
“It will rain soon,” the heavenly dragon cautioned.
“Although we don’t know for certain, that young lass’ words were chilling enough, particularly when everyone else within the entire city – mortals and cultivators alike – share the same sentiments and thoughts. Should you be risking it, staying outside when its so late into the night?”
An Fei unconsciously gazed into the streets at Xilong’s words, and soundlessly laughed after realizing the absurdity of the scene before her eyes. The young girl then shook her head and continued her stroll, although it was at a slower pace than before.
The streets were completely devoid of human presence save for her lonely existence.
The streets that could easily accommodate the breadth of two large carriages at once had stowed away all human life into the depths of their homes, leaving behind uninhabited shops, stalls, and storehouses – all maintained in pristine condition.
An Fei had approximated the time to be no later than nine in the evening – far too early for any midnight patrol or ‘snacks’, but the citizens of Bei Tang had immediately tucked their tails and scurried underneath whatever shelter they could find. It was laughable, but worrying.
“Say, Xilong, what do you think of that accident back then?” An Fei shrugged the brief moment of discomfort away and glanced towards the translucent silhouette hovering above her head.
“Was that a means of allowing me to experience the better side of humanity, to broaden my understanding as well?”
The young girl had raised the question in the matter of picking an ashen bone with the heavenly dragon, but didn’t expect to receive a solemn response. Xilong’s incomparably sharp teeth clacked as the dragon lapsed into its memories.
“A means of broadening your experiences… no, that was rather an accident,” it mused with a concealed glare.
“On the surface, it might seem as an experience of the human soul regarding emotional distress predicated by emotional affection, however… I tasted foreign intervention. Someone, or something… is poking its head in underserved waters.”
“Foreign intervention was the underlying cause for the youth’s words and the subsequent situation. Somehow, it doesn’t seem to be possible –“
“Fate.”
Xilong cut An Fei’s sentence in the middle of her throat, and its voice gradually became hoarse. The heavenly dragon clawed a path through the air to coil around and gaze at the young girl, and twin suns illuminated the night sky.
“The mortals of this world believe that it is manifestation of Heaven’s Will, of the culminated destiny and achievement of their souls. Cultivators believe it to be the omnipotent guide of the world, presenting trials of fire in exchange for everlasting strength and longevity. However…”
“…the Fate they speak of, the beliefs within their hearts, are not true?” An Fei finished the sentence with a puzzled expression.
“Fate. If it is not the result of probability and chance, then is it a sentient being? If it is not the Heaven that these mortals believe in, then what truly is the Heaven for mortals?”
The heavenly dragon merely twitched its lips in reply, as though deigning not to belittle its status by replying. An Fei puffed her cheeks in exasperation, and shook her head as she tapped on her fingers.
“When people call out towards Heaven regarding their destiny, they instead call for Fate’s intervention. Events and objects of coincidence are manifestations of Fate’s intervention, although there must be naturally occurring events of sheer chance –“
Why must events of coincidence have natural causes?
An Fei’s words came to an abrupt halt, and her body followed suit. The young girl stood in silence as the solitary watcher of the night streets, trapped in her thoughts by the uneasy sensation brought by the single question in her heart.
Was there truly a natural cause for events that didn’t seem to have any justification save for coincidence?
Certainly, there should be – for her perspective of the world simply couldn’t account for its entirety. The world consisted of several billion humans, both in the modernized Earth and the Shattered Star Continent, and events that might appear coincidental to one perspective might simply be the result of another’s persistent effort over time.
“Is it then the arrangement in time? However perspectives and their bloomed fruits may vary, the sequential event in which the perspectives, the world, realizes events… how would anyone explain that?”
Somehow… the events just ‘clicked’ into place?
Either it was the ‘perfect’ discovery that lead to a physical, spiritual, or mental revolution of a person or group of people in general, or the audaciously timed ‘devastation’ that awaited behind the turn of every corner…
Where did such events and reasons manifest from?
Systematic rules? Laws of nature and the universe – the founding philosophical argument of physical determinism and reality? Indeed, the proceedings of fate closely resembled the process of requiring a set of fulfilled conditions prior to its manifestations, with prescribed effects to occur afterwards…
“No. Not rules, but a single entity,” An Fei gasped in fear.
“A single entity whose actions reflect a systemized collection of rules and prerogatives. Otherwise, it wouldn’t deliver preferential manifestations, judgements, or conclusions that generate resentment and fear.”
“Correct,” Xilong nodded its head in approval.
“Fate is an entity that stands beyond the erosion of time, and is one that holds the keys to the events stemming before and after the crevice of causation. Every action, every thought, every fluctuation of a soul is a direct, cumulative conclusion from its choice. Some call it a demon, others the manifestation of the Heavens, but it would be wiser to call it an ancient, terrifying beast.”
The young girl exhaled, feeling rather stumped at the meanings of the words that had planted themselves in her mind. An Fei glanced once more towards the night sky, and elected to speak only when she had recovered her calm.
“Immortals are also affected by Fate’s influences as well?”
“That is correct. We may notice it, we may prepare for its intervention, but oftentimes even we fail to realize that since the start, Fate has held an irrevocable Authority over our Constructs.”
“Why… why is that – I’m not going to bother asking.”
An Fei dismissed the remainder of her inquisitive thoughts as she had long since expected the reply of the heavenly dragon. Sparing herself from another lengthy sermon, the young girl directed her gaze towards her surroundings. Particularly, she thoroughly inspected the interesting arrangement of tarps and leather covers that stretched over and across the roofs of the buildings.
Soon, after a moment of thought, parted her lips to speak.
“It’s going to rain soon.”
The pressure in the air had dropped, causing the environment to plummet in temperature. In its stead, a slightly metallic and stale odor faintly had dispersed throughout her surroundings, and she could feel the humidity brush against her lips.
“Are you not going to seek cover?”
Xilong pondered from above the young girl’s head. The latter massaged her chin with her thumb, and nibbled at her lips in thought.
“Spiritual essence of this world is beneficial to the mortal inhabitants, and aversive towards me. Since this rain is aversive towards the mortal inhabitants of this world, could it be…”
Plink!
A droplet of rain shattered from the night sky and plummeted to the earth. Through sheer luck and intervention of an external party, the invincible tear of water slashed an unyielding wound into the sky, and splattered against the clothes of a certain young girl.
Soon, the faint hiss of active corrosion and burning whistled in a pitched keen of mourning.
