Ashes Of The War God

Chapter 3: The First Awakening

Chen Feng backed into the small room. Three guards blocked the doorway. Their swords gleamed in the moonlight coming through the window.

"Wait," Chen Feng said. "The patriarch gave me until morning. He promised fifty silver coins."

Liu Han laughed. "My father is too soft. He would actually let you walk out of here alive. But I am not so foolish."

"I have done nothing wrong."

"You exist. That is wrong enough." Liu Han nodded to the guards. "Make it quick. Throw his body in the river when you are done."

The first guard lunged forward. His sword aimed straight for Chen Feng's heart.

Time seemed to slow down.

Chen Feng's body moved on its own. He stepped sideways. The sword missed him by inches. His hand shot out and grabbed the guard's wrist. He twisted hard.

The guard screamed. His wrist snapped with a crack. The sword fell from his hand.

Chen Feng caught the sword before it hit the ground.

Everyone froze. Even Chen Feng stared at the weapon in his hand. How did he do that? His body had never moved so fast before.

"What are you waiting for?" Liu Han shouted. "He is still just a cripple! Kill him!"

The other two guards attacked together. One slashed high, one slashed low.

Again, Chen Feng's body knew what to do. He jumped backward, landed on the windowsill, then pushed off. He flipped over both guards and landed behind them.

The stolen sword moved in his hands. One strike. Two strikes. Both guards fell, blood pouring from cuts on their legs. They would live, but they could not fight anymore.

Chen Feng stood there, breathing hard. The sword felt right in his hand. Natural. Like he had held it a thousand times before.

No. Like he had held it ten thousand times.

Liu Han's face went pale. "Impossible. You cannot cultivate. You cannot even walk properly. How..."

"I do not know." Chen Feng looked at his own hands. They were steady. Strong. Nothing like the weak, shaking hands he had known for three years. "Something is changing."

The jade pendant around his neck grew warm again. Not burning like before, but pleasant. Comfortable. Like it was feeding energy into his body.

Liu Han stumbled backward. "Guards! More guards! Someone help!"

His shouts echoed through the mansion. Footsteps pounded toward them. Many footsteps.

Chen Feng made a choice. He could not fight an entire mansion full of guards. Not yet. Whatever was happening to him, it was not complete.

He turned and jumped out the window.

The drop was two stories high. The old Chen Feng would have broken both legs. But his body rolled when he hit the ground, spreading out the impact. He came up running.

"Stop him!" Liu Han screamed from the window. "Do not let him escape!"

Chen Feng ran toward the outer wall. His legs pumped harder than they ever had. His lungs burned but they did not give out. The weakness that had plagued him for three years was fading like morning mist.

Guards poured out of the mansion behind him. Their torches created dancing shadows across the courtyard.

The outer wall was fifteen feet tall. No gates on this side. Chen Feng did not slow down. He jumped, pushing off with all his strength.

His fingers caught the top of the wall. He pulled himself up and over. Behind him, guards shouted in confusion.

"How did he jump so high?"

"That cripple just climbed a fifteen foot wall!"

"What is happening?"

Chen Feng dropped to the other side and kept running. The streets of White Creek City were empty at night. Most people stayed indoors after dark. The city was not safe.

He ran for ten minutes before his body finally started to weaken. The sudden burst of strength was fading. His legs began to shake. His chest hurt.

Chen Feng ducked into an alley and collapsed against the wall. His breath came in gasps. The sword slipped from his hand and clattered on the stones.

What just happened?

He had moved like a trained warrior. His body had known techniques he never learned. And that strength, that speed, where did it come from?

The jade pendant had gone cold again.

Chen Feng pulled it out and stared at it. "What are you? What are you doing to me?"

The pendant did not answer. It just hung there, ordinary green jade with strange markings.

Footsteps approached the alley entrance. Chen Feng tensed, grabbing the sword again.

Uncle Bo appeared, carrying a lantern. The old man was breathing hard from running.

"Uncle Bo? How did you find me?"

"I heard the commotion. I saw you jump that wall." Uncle Bo looked at Chen Feng with wide eyes. "That should not be possible. Not for someone who could barely walk this morning."

"I know. I do not understand it either."

Uncle Bo glanced back toward the main street. "The Liu family will search everywhere. Liu Han is telling everyone you attacked them. He is calling you a demon in disguise."

"I only defended myself."

"The truth does not matter. They have power. You do not." Uncle Bo pulled out a small pouch and pressed it into Chen Feng's hand. "This is everything I have saved. Thirty silver coins. Take it. Go south like I said. Do not stop until you reach Mountain Vale Village."

"Uncle Bo, I cannot take your savings."

"You can and you will." The old man's voice was firm. "Something is happening to you. Something big. You need time to figure out what. The Liu family will not give you that time if they catch you."

Bells began ringing across the city. The alarm bells. The Liu family must have contacted the City Guard.

"Go now," Uncle Bo said. "Before they lock down all the gates."

Chen Feng stood up. His legs wobbled but held. "Thank you. I will repay you for this."

"Just survive. That will be enough." Uncle Bo turned to leave, then stopped. "One more thing. That diviner who came tonight? I heard him talking to the patriarch. He said your seal is breaking. He said when it fully breaks, you will remember who you really are."

"Who am I?"

Uncle Bo's face was serious in the lantern light. "He said you are someone the heavens themselves tried to erase. Someone so dangerous they had to make the whole world forget your name."

The old man walked away, leaving Chen Feng alone in the dark alley.

The bells kept ringing. Somewhere in the distance, dogs barked.

Chen Feng picked up the sword and started moving south.