After leaving old he's shop dai Yaun, moved quickly along the crowd coming to exist the village, before he started sprinting off towards his cottage.
"bang" pushing the door forcefully aside dai Yaun went underneath his sleeping mat as he pulled out a leather pouch and turned the contents inside on hard cold floor.
"clank! clank!! clank!!!"
The sound of coins falling on the floor fill the air as the contents of the bag falls out landing on the floor, throwing the pouch to the side, bringing the rest of the coins out of his pocket.
"one..two…three…." dai Yaun quietly count the number of copper teals laying on the floor.
"54teals of copper" rising his head up, dai Yaun stared silently at the amount of copper in his front while doing a mental calculations of what he had gotten so far.
Lost in his thought, dai Yaun only come backed to reality after about 30 minutes has passed away.
"well… this should be enough to that" dai Yaun muttered while carefully placing the copper coins from the floor back into the thrown leather pouch on the floor.
"today is going to be my last day here" looking at the small space where he had lived and survived for the past few days, dai Yaun felt surreal.
Patting the pouch on his shoulder, dai Yaun turned back making his way towards the village again as he jogged on.
Unbeknown to him after he left the premises of the cottage to young looking youth in black cloth and mask sneaked into his cottage, shortly after which they two come out and on of them made a motion of following after dai Yaun to the other before turning around and going in the opposite direction without waiting for the other to respond, he quickly disappear into the bush.
As dai yuan rushed back into the town, before heading towards a rundown looking shop at the far corner close to the west town gate, where the clanking sound of metal hitting metal occasionally sounded in. On reaching the store entrance, dai Yaun entered without any hesitation. While his unknown stalker, no covered in green cape with and ordinary looking face, the look of a exhaustion all over the stalkers face as he blended into the crowd of people while staring at the smithy, which dai Yaun entered.
An hour of waiting, dai Yaun still not coming out caused the stalker to panic, afraid to lose him the stalker begin walking closer toward the entrance, before suddenly coming to a halt. At the sight of dai Yaun, coming out with a large piece of cloth wrapping something in his left hand.
As dai Yaun hurried away, the stalker watched as he made his way out of the village entrance, without wasting time he went after dai Yaun, both walking towards the cottage outside the village, where dai Yaun uses as an abode.
By now the faint reddish glow of the dusk has began covering the horizon, and crowd of people returning from the day hunting, or other activities come in one after the other in their groups.
The next day, as dawn approaches and the sound of the morning cock calling everyone to wake up from there bed, dai Yaun was already up arranging his belongings into a bag skin back pack which he bought five days ago, when merchant come into town to sell his stock.
Alongside buying the bag, dai Yaun also bought a piece of brown leather cape, which now hung over his shoulder, all the while covering his body and the bag. Stepping out of the cottage.
As dawn bring it welcoming rays from the creek of the eastern grounds, dai Yaun stood on the ridge overlooking Blackscale village. Mist rolled over the valley below, veiling the rooftops and the faint glimmer of the Wu compound in the distance.
The place that had scorned him, sheltered him, and finally cast him out now seemed small, not more than a memory.
He adjusted the straps of his bag. Inside were a few strips of dried meat, a water skin, a change of clothes, and short war axe made of wooden handle and a reddish brown steel. Around his wrist hung the wooden talisman, worn smooth by touch.
He took one last look at the city, then turned toward the north. Walking on the unpaved and winding road, leading into the black wood plain which shimmered faintly beneath the morning mist.
Beyond that which lays the true forbidden region, the Blackscale forest, despite the blackwood plain being an outer region of the black scale forest, it is a forest in it own truest sense, only belonging to those type of jungle filled with straight coniferous tress and sparse vegetation, with very few wildlife.
By noon, dai Yaun have already stepped into the blackwood plains, whose trees had swallowed the road. The air smelled of wet leaves and old bark. Sunlight pierced through the canopy in thin, golden threads, catching on the drifting motes of dust.
Dai Yaun moved carefully and cautiously, following faint tracks left by hunters and herb gatherers. He knew these parts well enough from his days of foraging, though having never come far beyond this point and beyond the second ridge, even he had never gone.
Walking all alone, dai Yaun found himself bored having nothing to do or talk to except what would is going to be and endless walk, after quite sometime walking through the forest, dai Yaun thoughts began wandering back to the ritual thoughts, during yesterday's dream a new section appeared of the ritual chants and just like the ritual process itself the ritual chants is also filled solemnity and tense vibes, but despite the number of times he had dream or had memory invasion of these ritual, dai Yaun still doesn't know what it should or would be used for.
".....shamanic beast refining ritual..."
Amid st dai Yaun's slumbering breath beneath an overhang of rock, lost in his dream a scared and mighty voice boomed across the dark night and suddenly scenes of people hugely built carrying out rituals and writing in pains as the blood rituals began climbing and moving up their body like creepy crawlers.
"Ahhhh" dai Yaun suddenly screamed, as a sudden burst of pains washed all over his body start from his foot, the pains crawled all the way to the top of his head, moving in such a striking resemblance to the blood ritual in his dream.
"ooouch!!" clutching his head tightly as the pain invaded, dai Yaun staggered as he gets up and squat on the sand with while banging his aching head on the floor.
Damn It!" dai Yaun cursed as the pain resided after few minute, leaving his head throbbing and traumatized from the invasive pain.
"what the hell is this shamanic blood ritual?" cursing loudly dai yuan squinted his eyes from the glare of the morning sun passing through the thicket under the overhang, tiding up his things dai yuan brought out a satchel of skin bottle containing water.
After washing his face and taking gulps of water, dai Yaun proceed to eat some dried ration of meat as he recall the details of the dream and which he filled the sudden pain.
"damn it!!" dai Yaun cursed while robbing his throbbing head
"why cant the meaning of this blood ritual be made clear"
As he was mumbling to himself, Somewhere far away, the cry of a spirit eagle echoed over the black wood plains a sound so distant and pure it made his heart stir.
Dai Yaun lifted his gaze toward the sound, his eyes becoming calm and determined while a sharp glint flashed across his eyes.
Patting his bag, dai Yaun stood up and resumed his journey north marking his second day trail across the large plain of the black wood forest. As he walked forward dai Yaun thought stared into the distances..
He looked north. Far beyond the black trunks and silver mist, faint hills stretched endlessly, hidden by distance. Somewhere far beyond them lay the Northern Mainland. It felt impossibly far.
On the third day, rain swept through the Black Wind woods, turning the paths into streams of mud. Hiding inside a cave where he passed his night. Dai Yaun watched as the rain drops turned the forest world into soft mud.
Watching the rain drops falling, dai yuan found his thoughts going back to all the happy moment of his life staying in the Wu clan residence, but things happen and life most go on.
By dusk, the rain stopped. He remained hidden inside his cave as the day went by dailaying him, He built a small fire using dry roots, roasting a strip of meat as he watched the flames. Steam rose from his clothes as he warmed his hand.
The light flickered across his face, casting deep shadows in his tired eyes.
Closing his eyes dai Yaun quickly drift way into sleep.