Ashes Of The War God

Chapter 6: Mountain Vale Village

Mountain Vale Village appeared as dawn broke. Small houses with thatched roofs lined a dirt road. Smoke rose from morning cooking fires. The village sat in a valley between two mountains, peaceful and quiet.

Chen Feng could barely walk now. Blood loss made his head spin. His wounded shoulder throbbed with every step.

Lin Yue caught his arm as he stumbled. "Almost there. My house is at the edge of the village."

"Why are you helping me?" Chen Feng asked. "You do not know me."

"True. But I know the Liu family." Her face hardened. "They own half the businesses in White Creek City. They squeeze every copper coin from the poor. My father owed them money once. When he could not pay, they took our house." She helped Chen Feng walk. "So if the Liu family wants you dead, you cannot be all bad."

They reached a small house surrounded by herb gardens. Lin Yue pushed open the door.

"Grandmother!" she called out. "I brought someone who needs help."

An old woman appeared from the back room. She was tiny, barely five feet tall, with white hair tied in a bun. But her eyes were sharp and alert.

"Lin Yue, what have you done now?" The old woman saw Chen Feng and frowned. "That is a Liu family sword. This boy is trouble."

"He is wounded, Grandmother. We cannot turn him away."

The old woman sighed. "Your soft heart will get us killed one day." She pointed to a chair. "Sit down, boy. Let me see that shoulder."

Chen Feng sat. The old woman cut away his bloody shirt and examined the wound. Her fingers were surprisingly strong as they pressed around the cut.

"Deep but clean. You are lucky. Another inch and it would have hit the bone." She turned to Lin Yue. "Get me the healing paste from the green jar. And hot water."

Lin Yue hurried to gather supplies.

The old woman looked into Chen Feng's eyes. "You have the look of someone running from something. Or running toward something. Which is it?"

"I do not know yet."

"Honest answer. I like that." She began cleaning the wound. Chen Feng winced but did not cry out. "You carry yourself like a warrior, but your body is weak. Strange combination."

"My body was sick for a long time. It is getting better now."

"Sick?" The old woman's eyes narrowed. "Or sealed?"

Chen Feng's head snapped up. "What did you say?"

"I was a physician in the capital once. Before I retired to this boring village." She applied paste to his wound. The medicine burned but immediately felt better. "I have seen seal marks before. You have them. Faint, but there. Someone very powerful locked away your strength."

"Can you remove the seal?"

"Me? No. I am just an old doctor." She began wrapping clean cloth around his shoulder. "Breaking seals requires a master cultivator. Or..." She looked at the jade pendant around his neck. "Or the right key."

Lin Yue returned with hot water. "Grandmother, should he stay here? The Liu family might come looking."

"Let them come. I am too old to fear spoiled rich boys." The old woman finished bandaging Chen Feng. "You will stay in the back room. Rest for three days. Eat my food. Then you leave and take your trouble somewhere else."

"Thank you," Chen Feng said. "I will repay your kindness."

"Just do not die in my house. Bad for the reputation."

Lin Yue helped Chen Feng to the back room. It was small but clean. A simple bed, a wooden table, and a window overlooking the mountains.

"Rest now," Lin Yue said. "I will bring you food later."

After she left, Chen Feng collapsed on the bed. Exhaustion hit him like a wave. His eyes closed almost immediately.

But sleep brought dreams again.

He saw a throne room. Golden pillars reached toward a painted ceiling. Hundreds of people knelt before him. Generals. Kings. Even immortal cultivators bowed their heads.

"God of War," they said in unison. "Your enemies have fallen. The demon army is destroyed. Heaven celebrates your victory."

But Chen Feng felt no joy in the dream. Only emptiness. Only loneliness.

A woman approached the throne. She was beautiful, with long black hair and eyes like stars. She smiled as she handed him a cup of wine.

"Drink, my lord. You have earned your rest."

He drank.

The poison worked fast. His strength vanished. His vision blurred. The woman's smile turned cruel.

"Did you really think we would let you keep all that power?" she whispered. "You terrified everyone. Gods, demons, humans. All of us feared what you might do."

Other figures appeared. His brother. His most trusted general. His closest friends. All of them holding glowing chains.

"We are sorry," his brother said. "But this is necessary. You are too dangerous to exist."

The chains wrapped around him. Each link burned with sealing symbols. His power, his memories, everything was ripped away.

"Where should we send him?" someone asked.

"The mortal world. Make him weak. Make him suffer. If he dies there, good. If he survives..." The woman smiled. "He will be too broken to matter."

Chen Feng woke up gasping. Sweat covered his body. His hands clenched into fists.

Not a dream. A memory. His memory.

He had been betrayed by everyone he trusted. They sealed him and threw him away like garbage.

Rage burned in his chest. The jade pendant grew warm, feeding on his anger.

A soft knock came at the door. Lin Yue entered with a bowl of soup.

"You were screaming in your sleep," she said. "Bad dreams?"

Chen Feng forced himself to calm down. The pendant cooled. "Just memories returning."

"Well, here. Eat this. Grandmother's special recipe. It will help you heal faster." She set the bowl on the table. "There is something else. A merchant came through the village an hour ago. He said the Liu family is offering a reward for you. Five hundred silver coins."

"That much?"

"They are calling you a dangerous criminal. A demon who attacked them without reason." Lin Yue sat on the edge of the table. "Five hundred silver is more than most people earn in five years. Someone will eventually try to collect."

"Then I should leave now."

"With that shoulder? You will collapse before you reach the next village." Lin Yue shook her head. "Stay the three days. Heal properly. Then run as far as you can."

Chen Feng picked up the soup and drank. It was good. Warm. The first kindness he had received without hidden motives in three years.

"Why do you trust me?" he asked. "The reward is real. You could be rich."

Lin Yue smiled. "Because I saw what you did at the South Gate. That golden sword energy. My grandmother says only someone with a pure heart can create that color." She stood and walked to the door. "Evil people make red or black energy. You might not remember who you are yet, but your soul remembers."

She left, closing the door quietly.

Chen Feng stared at the jade pendant. His soul remembers.

Maybe she was right. Maybe beneath the seal, beneath the betrayal and pain, he was still the same person.

Or maybe he would become something worse.