Jin Mu: THUNDER UNLEASHED

Chapter 1

The morning mist clung to the rice fields like thin silk curling around Jin Mu’s legs as he trudged through the paddies. His bare feet sank into the cool mud every step felt heavier The ox pulling his cart gave a lazy grunt steam rising from its nostrils.

“Come on, old friend,” Jin Mu muttered patting its flank. “If we finish before noon Elder Ruo might still have a hot meal for us.”

The beast snorted unimpressed Jin Mu smiled anyway Talking to animals was easier than talking to people People asked questions why a man with no Qi veins wandered from village to village why his pendant never left his neck even when he slept,He’d been on the road for five years doing what small work he could repairing fences, carting harvests, driving off wild dogs. Enough to eat His father’s pendant hung against his chest, dull silver etched with a pattern no craftsman could name It was all he had left of a life burned away long ago.

By midday he reached the next village a clutch of huts ringed by half dead bamboo. Children ran barefoot through the dust and the village looked peaceful for a place so close to the border He’d heard rumors on the road bandits gathering in the hills, strange lights in the forest at night, caravans vanishing without a scream But rumors were the coin of travelers cheap and plentiful.

He handed the cart to a farmer and spent the afternoon patching roofs. Sweat darkened his rough shirt the sun carving shadows into his lean face. When the village bell rang for supper he sat apart near the well, eating rice cakes gone hard with age

Then he noticed the wind It came from the north, sharp smelling faintly of iron the ox lowed uneasily. Clouds crawled over the sun though dusk was hours away.

From the hills came a shout a human voice with command then another voice and a piercing screaming began.

Jin Mu was on his feet before he realized it. Bandits spilled from the trees at least a dozen their faces wrapped in cloth The farmers scattered children ran into the huts His instinct said run His legs didn’t move.

He grabbed a hoe from the ground and ran toward the nearest house where a woman fought to drag her child free from the doorway He swung catching a raider across the jaw the man dropped Another one came from behind and Jin Mu turned blocking with the hoe’s handle driving his knee forward Pain shot up his leg but the bandit went down.

“Get inside!” he shouted to the woman she obeyed without looking back.

The fight blurred into chaos Blades flashed, smoke stung his eyes Someone screamed his name he didn’t know who A sword caught his side heat spread under his ribs. He drove his hoe into another attacker’s throat.

he stumbled into the square half the village was already burning The bell tower collapsed scattering sparks into the storm dark sky the thunder rolled

He fell to his knees vision narrowing to the dirt beneath him Rain began to fall drops that hissed against the fire.

His father’s pendant slipped from his collar and struck the ground beside him and it’s cracked.

A sound like shattering glass filled the air and from the fracture poured light black shot through with silver, swirling like a storm caught in a mirror The earth trembled. Thunder ripped open the clouds and a bolt of lightning speared down striking Jin Mu in the chest.

Voices whispered around him too many to count one of them said “You’re not done.

When the smoke cleared An old man emerged from the fog cloaked in black his beard silver as the lightning that had struck His eyes held the color of dying embers.

“So,” the man said quietly, “the pendant chose you after all.”

Jin Mu tried to speak but no world came the old man raised a hand and suddenly Jin Mu could feel his heartbeat slow echoing twice with every pulse.

“Your life ends here,” the stranger continued, “but your fate does not You stand between Heaven’s judgment and the Nether’s call I am Gensuo once an Immortal of Death and Reincarnation My power sleeps within you You may let it fade… or you may claim it.”

He stepped closer, and Jin Mu saw that the man’s body flickered like smoke.

“Claim it?” Jin Mu rasped, voice thin as ash. “And what then?

“Then you walk a path Heaven forbids.”

Thunder rolled overhead Jin Mu thought of the burning village the terrified faces and the lives he couldn’t save. He looked at his trembling hands and made his choice.

“I don’t want to die,” he whispered.

Gensuo’s mouth curved into a faint smile “Then live, Jin Mu But remember all gifts demand a price.”

A hand of shadow pressed against his heart and the world flared white.

He gasped lungs searing as air rushed in Rain pounded his face thunder echoing across the valley His wound was gone and His skin was pale

He rose slowly Lightning flickered and Somewhere far off a child cried the bell tolled

Jin Mu looked up he felt the thunder inside him now steady and waiting the old man’s voice whispered in his mind calm and distant

“Welcome back to the world, Death Flame.”

The rain answered with another peal of thunder.

And so began the legend of Jin Mu.