A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 80: A Warm Morning

The sun rays crept through the shattered roof, coloring the dust in gold. Mo Fei hadn’t slept too much; the spirits’ raw, restless voices gnawed at the edge of his mind, yet he’d learned to coexist with the noises.

Warm dawn light fell on Kiyori’s light, sun-kissed face. Mo Fei watched her silently with a neutral look.

Behind his head, the Serpent’s voice echoed. ”Great Master, would you want to return to the spirit world?”

”Why?” He murmured.

The Serpent took a break and hissed, its vast body intertwined with the throne. ”I have found a page’s location.”

Mo Fei’s sleepy state wavered, his ears perked from the words. ”Where?”

”In the possession of the Tree of Ages, the time spirit. It is in world six, but I couldn’t find the location.” The Serpent’s voice lowered in the Lightless realm.

Mo Fei pondered for a moment. ’Tree of Ages... I need to advance soon.”

Kiyori’s body shimmered, her eyes squeezed and opened slowly with a flicker. Her hair had been tangled and messed up. She rubbed her eyes, blinking a few times to get fully awake before her gaze landed on Mo Fei, who was already awake and staring out the doorway.

”You’re already awake?” Kiyori murmured, then sat up, immediately reaching for her bow and checking the pouch containing the Shikon shard. ”They aren’t stolen, yay.”

Mo Fei didn’t bother to point out that no demons had actually tried to attack during the night. He slowly stood up, stretching his stiff limbs, and slung his dual-bladed glaive over his shoulder with a small yawn. ”The Serpent had found a lead on something I needed.”

Her ears stood at the mention of the Serpent. ”It talks to you?”

”Obviously. There is a spirit called the Tree of Ages. Have you ever heard of it?”

Kiyori paused, her eyebrows squeezing together as she tried to fix her messy hair with her fingers. ”The Tree of Ages... I have heard from my grandmother about an ancient entity that controls the flow of seasons; she said that no one had ever convinced it, so no one returned to tell the location.”

Mo Fei looked at her, unimpressed by the answer; his mind couldn’t process her words clearly as he hid beneath the facade. ”In short, you don’t know.” He examined her messed-up hair with a judging look.

Kiyori noticed that and stared at him, her expression shifting to deadpan. ”I don’t have anything to fix them today; I know you are facing a monster right now.”

Mo Fei kept his judging look for a second longer before reaching his hand into the empty air. His half-hand disappeared; Kiyori watched with her mouth open. He pulled out a simple, clean wooden comb—a habit from his days in 1989 when keeping a tidy appearance was just standard discipline to him.

He tossed it lightly toward her. ”Take it, I don’t know if it’d be useful for you.” Mo Fei muttered, turning his back to her to look out the broken doorway.

Kiyori caught the comb, blinking in surprise at the smooth wood. ”How did you do it?”

”The Serpent gifted me these clothes and that comb; it is pretty caring when it comes to serving.”

Kiyori’s face slightly faltered in feigned jealousy. ”I wish I had a pet like that...”

”It is not a pet.” Mo Fei sighed, though the corner of his mouth twitched slightly upward, hidden from her view. The restless voices of the spirits in his mind seemed just a fraction quieter in the warm morning light.

Kiyori fixed her hair and put the comb in her sleeve’s pocket. ”That was tr-trubll–”

”Troublesome?” Mo Fei finished the word, then glanced back once and slowly stood up. She also stood up with him. ”Do you always face trouble in pronunciation or stutter?”

Kiyori nodded slowly and followed quietly, her face slightly embarrassed by her words and behavior. ”It’s like a natural thing... I never really talked so much to anyone because of travelling alone. So, my mouth can’t keep up with my mind.” She heaved a sigh before adjusting her bow.

Mo Fei turned and walked out of the hut, the morning light catching the edges of his silhouette.

The birds outside sang in the distance, and the dew clung to the trees. Mo Fei put one hand above his eyes, looking at the path ahead.

The Serpent whispered in his head. ”Great Master, the sun rose under your eternal gaze. Have a great journey, lord.”

”You could have said good morning instead.” Mo Fei muttered.

Kiyori’s voice followed. ”Good morning?”

”Not you.”

”Okay...?”

”So... what’s the path?”

Kiyori slightly nodded and walked past him. ”Why were you ahead when you don’t know the path?”

”Oh please, go ahead, priestess.” He murmured and followed her slowly. ”Do you know any way to find the tree?”

”Timeless river of eternal flow, it stood near that... But.” She paused, trying not to mispronounce a word. ”It’s said that the tree chooses you, and if it doesn’t, then you can’t find it. Those who forced it never returned.”

He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes squinting slightly. ”That is more useless advice than the Serpent’s advice.”

Behind his head the Serpent spoke softly. ”She is right, you cannot find the spirit; it invites you... at least eventually once in life.”

Mo Fei sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. His expression was already annoyed by the constant headache and the tainted corruption lingering inside his head. ”Great advice...”

Kiyori: ”How many times do you talk to that snake in your day?”

”Depends.” He answered.

”You didn’t give it a name?”

”Divine Serpent.”

”You named a snake a snake!?” She raised her brows and glanced at him.

”I didn’t name it.”

”Okay, I Will.”

”No you won’t.”

”Yes, I will.”

”No.”

”Yes.”

”I said no. That’s stupid.”

”Too late, I’m planning.”

Mo Fei closed his eyes and sighed once again at her stubborn choice of giving the snake a name.

~~~

By midday, their trek led them away from the ruined village and deep into the rocky northern foothills. Following the faint forest line, they eventually found the mouth of a massive, damp cavern stretching deep into the earth. Sweeping the cold air out, the cave was moisturized with frozen water.

Kiyori pointed inside while walking in. ”This cave leads to the next village. It’s a little maze type with grey-gr-geyser.” She clicked her tongue and quickly walked in.

Mo Fei entered behind her. Both of them took a turn forking in the trijunction. Kiyori stopped near a wall with a large cluster, looking at it.

Mo Fei walked slightly ahead and saw a wall made of crystal mirrors. He opened his Apprentice’s Eyes for a split second, checking his own reflection in the mirror to ensure his corruption was controlled, and ran a hand through his chin.

Behind him, Kiyori stopped right in front of a large fissure in the cave wall. She tilted her head, leaning in close to examine it. She noticed a page where it was written. ’Do not stay near it for more than a few minutes.’ She blinked confusedly. ”Huh?”

BOOM!

From the ancient stone ward, a violently pressurized torrent of freezing underground water erupted instantly from the fissure, slamming into Kiyori’s body. The sheer force launched her completely off her feet, sending her flying backward through the air into the darkness almost instantly.

Mo Fei, who was still starting to check his eyes, watched the entire sequence happen flawlessly in the reflection and saw her body vanish instantly. He stood perfectly still. First, he slowly tilted his head to the side, his deadpan expression unmoving as his brain tried to process the utter absurdity of what he had just witnessed. Then, in a sudden, sharp blur, he quickly snapped his head back to look at the empty space behind him. ”What the fuck... Kiyori?” He said, puzzled by what had happened.

A few meters away, Kiyori lay completely face-down in a large, muddy puddle. Her white robes were thoroughly drenched, her bow was slung awkwardly over her shoulder, and her hair... which she had just spent the morning fixing—was plastered flat against her face.

She groaned and rubbed her back. ”Ohw...my back.”

Mo Fei closed his eyes, his lips twitching, but managing to control his laughter, but his suppressed chuckle escaped as a short wheeze.

Kiyori glares at him, wheezing at her situation. ”Grr...”

Suddenly, the geyser rushed and hit his back, slamming him against the wall. His head hit the wall with a low thud as he fell slowly on the ground. ”Ohw... My... head.”

Mo Fei composed himself and stood again, dusting his clothes off. As he took the next step, the water beneath him slipped his feet, and he fell on the spot near her again. ”Tian na!”

He glanced at Kiyori, who watched him with a silent look. ”What? You won’t laugh.”

After a long silence.

”Ha-ha-ha-ha.” The cave echoed with her triumphant laughter.

Mo Fei sat in silence. His gaze was annoyed by seeing her feigning laughter.