The sun spread widely over the horizon. The blue orchids that grew next to Bai Lake looked extremely extravagant with the refraction of the sun's rays. Their dewy petals moved with the howling of the wind sending forth a burst of light, heavenly fragrance.
Besides the lake was a forest full of tall jacarandas which were also in bloom. The purple flowers floated with the wind and onto the surface of the water. Mixed with the blue orchids, the scenery was heavenly.
Behind the trees was a door made of fine wood. The door was slightly ajar yet the bright light from outside did not fleet inside not even from the slight open space. Following the door, the inside was quite bright yet there was no single light from outside, it was as if something else was illuminating the place.
Inside the house-like cave, there was nothing to see but a single coffin. The coffin was slightly wide and long. Its surface was made entirely of ice and bright spiritual energy engulfed its whole body, this was what was lighting the cave. The ice coffin was quite transparent and from the spaces, one could see an even colder body resting inside. The person was dressed in fine red robes and the person's head was covered in a light blue veil.
Even through the veil, one could tell that the person was a man but only if you looked extremely closely. The man was lying so peaceful you would think he was just in a deep slumber yet the place at his chest just where the heart was, there was no movement. If you looked closely once again, the fabric that passed by that place was dipped in slightly.
Was he dead? One would easily ask that question after witnessing the state the man was in yet in the next second the man who was supposedly dead rose sharply and threw away the pale blue veil that was covering his face. A handsome face came into view.
His phoenix eyes were slightly upturned leaving traces of a smile yet his thin, pale lips were downturned in a visible frown. He seemed to be mad at the veil he had just thrown off his face. His eyes stared murderously at the innocent thing lying on the floor. He mouthed something like a cuss but because his voice was slightly raspy, whatever he said was not heard.
Yi Chang was momentarily surprised when he woke up. He looked around the place he was lying in and registered it as a coffin that was made out of ice. He got up and got out of the coffin. His feet had just landed down when he tripped and fell. He cursed loudly as he stood up to survey where he was. On his body were robes made of fine silk but the color of the robes threw him off, they were maple red yet with the design they were not wedding clothes as he had initially thought but burial robes.
On the sides of the coffin he had just fallen off from were yellow talismans and the coffin's body was covered in bright spiritual light which continued to circulate even after he had gotten off of it. He plucked one off and stared at the black strokes at the center. The strokes were likely drawn by blood but their color had changed over the years, it was a protection talisman.
The rest of the cave was simple, nothing out of the ordinary.
Yi Chang did not know how long he had been dead but he felt that it must have been a long time. The events leading to his death were still clear as day in his mind as though they had happened just yesterday. At the thought of those events, his stiff hands found their way to the place where his heart was.
As expected, there was no heartbeat and it was because there was no heart in the first place. That place was shallow as if the heart had been carved out by something sinister yet from his recollection, the sword that had carved out his heart back then belonged to the person described as the purest amongst the pure and also sometimes holiest amongst the holy. He still remembered clearly how the crystalline blade of that person found its way through his heart and carved it out in four perfect pieces.
Back then there was nothing he could do, every event that happened that day he had been told before that it was predestined, there was nothing that could stop what happened from happening, and if asked he could not explain either just how he could not explain why he had just risen from the depths of death.
When Yi Chang died, he did not know he had died. He only felt as though he was falling down a dark abyss and sometimes walking down a narrow path with no light. Once or twice he would see a flicker of light ahead. The light was dim and pale blue yet when he run to it, it disappeared as soon as it showed, he felt as if he was having illusions.
Yi Chang stood up and walked through the slightly ajar door and out of the ominous place. His feet still felt stiff but he could still take slow steps to the door. The sun almost blinded his eyes when he stepped out. He instinctively covered his face with his hands. Once the intensity had down he let them down and took in the scenery in front of his eyes.
There were tall jacarandas everywhere and purple petals had fallen creating a beautiful scene on the path he was walking on. This scene should make anyone who saw it happy yet Yi Chang felt the opposite. For some reason, he linked it to a bridal procession where the bride's path is filled with flowers during her wedding day.
Coupled with the red robes he was wearing and the strange veil that covered his face which he had thrown away earlier, he felt that his thoughts were indeed right and therefore another worrying thought sneaked in his head, 'Don't tell me the person who buried me wanted to marry me as soon as I woke up.'
That thought made the hairs on his body stand but before he could mule over the thought further, a lake came into his view. Just like the paths back there, the surface of the lake was also filled with purple and blue petals, the scene was perfect indeed.
"So it is spring."
Yi Chang told himself as he made his way to the lake for a swim.
Dipping inside the lake to swim was just to put it mildly, he wanted to cultivate as well. Due to a special constitution, he got from his mother, second lady Chen, Yi Chang was surprisingly able to cultivate well underwater than any other place. The lake he had stumbled on after he had awoken he realized had pure energy that was suitable for cultivation. Even though it was spring, the surface of the lake was covered in dense, pure fog, and underwater was even hazier. The fog gave out a channel of dense energy which flowed into his spiritual path like water going down a waterfall, it was seamless.
His body was as rigid as a stone, if he wanted to move around without any problem, this step was not to be missed yet he soon encountered a problem, he was missing a heart. His spiritual channels were connected to his heart before he died. His core was still there but the amount of energy it could receive was minimal. In all honesty, Yi Chang did not even understand how he was alive in the first place yet he had seemingly awoken in these early days of spring. If he were to tell someone 'look I am alive without a heart' he was sure many would take him for mad and lock him up yet this was the very situation he was in, this matter needed investigation.
Yi Chang cultivated the energy that he could and left the lake feeling much better. By the time he left, nighttime had crept. He especially liked the way the orchid petals on the surface of the lake clung to his body and without much thought picked one and brought it directly to his nose. His head was bent down slightly as his eyes focused solely on the small, blue petal on his palm. Under the dim moonlight, he looked heavenly in this countenance. On his body was a thin robe that clung tightly to his thin frame. The wind was howling slightly sending forth a burst of coldness, he sneezed slightly, and the flower on his hand blew away back to the water and as though he felt cold, he rushed back to the shore and put on some clothes, careful not to drape the outer red robe.
Yi Chang did not know where to go. With slow, steady steps, he followed the bleak moon.
For a long time, Yi Chang did not encounter anything else apart from the vegetation, not even a single human. On his path, the air was heavy with the scent of flowers. The spring of this year seemed much more beautiful than any other he remembered. The heavy scent assaulting his nose took him back to his mother's peach garden back in Yi Manor.
With this train of thought, his face filled with a sudden melancholy but before the jar of sad thoughts opened fully, he suppressed them back with all his might. It was not that he did not want to think of such things, he was afraid of the pain they would bring, and besides, in front of him his eyes seemed to catch something, it was a village and this village seemed to be involved in some festivities because the festive lights were lit up along making it look as though it was daytime.
Yi Chang moved closer and indeed people were moving to and fro in the space. The people he saw had smiles on their faces as they conversed with each other and up ahead a tavern came into view, his steps took him there. When he was alive, Yi Chang appreciated two things; good food and good wine. He would even forfeit sleep to meet up with his friends for a drinking rendezvous. The tavern had two stories and the upper one had an open-air deck.
Yi chang sat in one of the seats as he stared outside at the bustling streets. The air at this place was slightly warm and combined with the occasional giggles of the people downstairs and the light music that sounded, Yi Chang felt extremely relaxed.
A waitress came to take his order. She wore thin robes of simple fabric. Her face was slightly flushed from the occasional movement and thin droplets of sweat had formed on her brow. He wanted to ask her something but was stopped after seeing the sign on her chin yet the surprise did not show on his face. He ordered and the maiden came back with the two jars of alcohol. Before she stood up to tend to other customers, Yi Chang was reminded of what he wanted to ask.
"Lady please wait a bit, I have a question I was hoping you'd help clear my mind from." His tone was light yet the people who heard it would be filled with an unknown curiosity and as if she was affected by the tone, she did sit back down to listen to his question.
At first, the waitress was pensive yet she still sat down.
"Although I have not been here for long, I would still like to know your question to gauge whether I can answer it or not." Her thin red lips moved.
"I am also quite new here and I have seen some festivities going on which I don't understand, could the lady please enlighten me." Yi Chang talked as he gazed at the festive crowd.
The lady's eyes also traveled to the crown, a glint passing by her eyes.
"It's just the celebrations for the early spring. The spring season this year started a bit early. Normally these celebrations would have been held a month from now."
Yi Chang pondered over the words after she had left. If spring had begun a month early it was right to say that it was early February. Such a phenomenon had never once occurred before. He had heard of late spring and not once of early spring.
He thought about his next steps. Since there was nowhere definite to go, he came to the conclusion that he would roam the world as that was once his plan years ago but he died before he could accomplish this dream of his. He downed his alcohol one jar after the other and his mind became relaxed. Before he could relax fully, however, another foreign scent assaulted his body. It was strange because amid the mingling flower fragrances you could tell it apart.
It was a demon's scent.
He knew this because he had once fought with these kinds of beings. Right now they were in the middle of a mortal village. The people innocently walking around could not notice this sort of smell because they were not spiritually inclined yet the smell seemed to follow him even after he had changed sitting positions three times. He had wanted to ignore it all together but after it became the sole thing he could smell, the alcohol was not as enjoyable as before, he could not sit still any longer.
He walked briskly down the steps as he followed the scent but before he could reach the gate a hand held him back, followed by a light voice
"Sire, you have not paid."