Chapter 76

  Upon the World (I)

  I was terrified in equal measures of being excited, to be honest.

  Standing at the sect's arched and gated entrance, a distantly familiar memory and sensation crawled into my headspace, back when I was 22.

  I'd just graduated not a month earlier with a bachelor's, and, as a reward, I decided to treat myself to my first cross-Atlantic trip: a full two weeks in Germany for Oktoberfest. The feeling of right now is awfully similar to the one I felt while standing in line to board the airplane.

  It was about stepping out into the unknown; not only did I have no experience with the world past these mountains, but neither did Lu Qi. As far as both of us were concerned, the borders of the sect were the borders of the world.

  I didn't let any of this show, however, as I had a whole assortment of kids and monsters by my side--there was nobody left behind, in fact.

  Long Tao was there, yawning; Dai Xiu and Hua were excitedly chattering about something (well, she was...), Xi Zhao appeared anxious and restless, and Light... well, she was right by my side, eyeing me frequently.

  The only thing--well, person--we were waiting for was Elder Qin, and he showed up just about ten minutes past dawn. He wasn't alone either, with two kids in tow--one was a young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties. She was rather beautiful, I must admit, yet had an odd coldness to her that made the looking... prickly.

  I expected something more from the Creator's Eyes, but she was actually rather ordinary. No special physique or bloodline or talent, and the only thing I could glean from the system's description of her was that the cause of her coldness was some form of trauma. What? I had no idea.

  Besides her, there was the little boy, just about a year or two older than Light, it seemed. He was a bit... round, you could say, and was snacking away at some fried potatoes already.

  Similarly, there wasn't anything particularly unique about him--ordinary as ordinary gets.

  "You ready?" Before I could question why he brought them, Elder Qin asked, passed me, and left the sect.

  ... was I ready? Why ask if you're just gonna assume 'Yes'?

  Nonetheless, I took my first step out into the world with the weight of the cosmos. Okay, I am being a bit melodramatic and facetious, but in my defense, I haven't really travelled anywhere in almost ten years. It was mostly just trips between the apartment and pharmacy and occasionally stopping by the bar near my apartment complex to wet my throat a bit.

  The walls receded and the world unfolded--thick mountains still flanked slightly, and we were situated on top of a hillside with steepish falloff, green pines arising everywhere around us.

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  I'd wondered what our mode of transportation would be (it wasn't going to be feet, I'd hoped), and as soon as I saw the horses, I flinched. Believe it or not, I actually did learn a bit of horseback riding back in college, but, well, it's been twenty years. And these weren't your everyday horses.

  Their hair was white, while their manes were almost crimson-colored, their legs as thick as logs, while their tails seemed not made out of hair but rather ethereal strands of energy that pulsed infrequently like sine waves.

  There were five of them, so the math didn't exactly add up, as there were nine of us.

  "We'll ride in pairs," Elder Qin said as he quickly mounted one without an issue. "Well, you'll ride in pairs." he added with a faint grin as I silently grunted.

  His two kids, Cao Qiu and Hou He, were one pair; Light and I were another pair; Dai Xiu and Hua were the third, and Long Tao and Xi Zhao were the last. Long Tao seemed rather mad at the distribution, especially as he mounted the horse only for Xi Zhao to snuggle tightly against him and wrap his arms around the former's waist equally tightly. He'd never ridden before, and it seemed he was even a bit scared, so the old monster seemed to let it go... for now.

  Poor Xi Zhao.

  I walked up to mine and swallowed.

  The beast seemed rather... calm, quietly grazing, its eyes almost beady and as red as its mane. I first hoisted up Light, feeling the faint ache and pressure in my lower back (and realizing how much better it felt than it used to, sadly...), before heaving up myself.

  The horse was quite tall, at least half the height extra of the ones I rode back at college, but despite there being no saddles to, you know, cushion things, it was actually quite comfortable.

  Hell, it was far more comfortable than any chair or bench I'd sat on in this world, so, comparatively, it was like a five-star hotel.

  "We'll ride down south for about three hours," Elder Qin called out. "There's a village there where the Spirit Horses can take a break and we can have lunch. Don't stray or fall behind. Giddy-up!"

  Off we went.

  Within the first few gallops, the girl that was behind me wormed her way to the front and sat in front of me, seeming entirely unbothered as the wind whipped her hair back in my face.

  All the while, I realized there were no reins to hold onto, so I had to grab the first thing I could--which was the mane. I almost had a heart-stopper there, but it didn't seem that the beast minded, and a quick glance around told me everyone else was doing it, too.

  As the anxiety and fear of it all began to seep out, I could finally... see. The world unfolded like a carpet, curtains slowly being pulled up off the stage that was the creation--and it was breathtaking.

  The valley opened up to a vast plain with a brilliant, wide river cutting through, curving in and out, its banks steep and tall.

  The sun had just risen beyond the distant horizon, its shape hazy and blurry, warm colors washing across the green fields. It was... beautiful. The time itself seemed to slow down as I took it all in--the swaying branches of the lush trees, the blades of grass rising knee-high flanking the main, winding road, the mountains on the side slowly peeling back and revealing more and more of the vast landscape beyond it...

  There were other times in my life when I only felt pure awe at the beauty of something that left me speechless. However, not once had I felt so at a loss for words as I did today. It was one of those moments in my life I hated the fact I had about as much talent with the brush and canvas as Lu Qi had with cultivating.

  I know it sounds silly and stupid and like something the pretentious me from high school or college would have said, but I swear... it was as though nature spoke to me, telling me all would be okay.

  "There are places more beautiful than this." Light's voice jostled me out of my trance; glancing down, I saw that she was part pouting and part... sad.

  "Maybe you can show them to me one day, eh?"

  "Hm," she nodded, her lips almost curling up into a smile. "One day."