"What happened?" he whispered, "What... what was that...?"

Suddenly the creaking of an old rocking chair caused his heart to skip a beat. He turned around with cold blood to see a man sitting on the chair with a smirk. Xiao Yu felt paralysed and he felt his heart stop beating due to wave of fear that washed over him.

"That, my boy, was a vision of the fragments of dream and reality."


Xiao Yu gulped upon seeing Yu Yan's father. "Scared?" The man asked the boy in front of him.
Xiao Yu looked at the man before him, not recognising him and unable to reply due to the fear building up in him. He felt a sudden wave of dizziness at his presence and he fell back down onto the floor.
The man smiled, "My, my... am I affecting you that much?" he chuckled before extending his hand down towards him, "Need some help?"
Xiao Yu shook his head, forcing himself to sit up. "Who are you...?" he whispered with a cold glare.
The man stood up and walked over to the fire, "Your worst nightmare..." he replied.
"My worst nightmare?" Xiao Yu repeated feeling weak.
The man then turned around to look at him, "In other words... we are enemies..." he continued, "You may hold a personal grudge against me but I hold one against you too."
Xiao Yu looked at him intently, "I don't understand..." he mumbled, feeling his eyes begin to droop heavily over his eyes.

The man the approached him. He held up his index finger that was surrounded by white wisps of light. "Maybe this will enlighten you," he said, pressing his finger against Xiao Yu's forehead. In that moment, Xiao Yu fell to the floor and was thrown into a vision of the past.

[Flashback to 10 Years Ago - Seen By Xiao Yu Through Yu Yan's Father's Eyes]

Xiao Yu saw his father, Ding Yu Long, in front of him. Dad? He thought, feeling his heart beat, How does he know my Dad? Is this from the past? he wondered before a conversation began.

"It's been a while Yu Long."
"Don't act as though you are familiar with me," Yu Long snapped.
"Then why did you look for me? As far as I know, you as a dimensional guard aren't allowed to have outside contact with a criminal like me - especially in such an open and public place like a park."
"You know why I asked to meet you," Yu Long replied firmly.
"I'm a busy man Ding Yu Long and you know that. Get straight to the point."
"I don't trust you," Yu Long announced before a small boy came running up to him.
"Daddy! I lost my toy car!" he cried sadly.

Xiao Yu suddenly a jolt or awareness at the sight of the little boy, that’s me!

The man tilted his head at the small 8 year old boy, "Your son? He's grown since the last time I saw him."
Ding Yu Long glared threateningly at him before crouching down before his son and patting his head softly, "Xiao Yu, why don't you ask the other kids to help you look for it?" he suggested in a warm and fatherly tone, "I'm a bit busy now. If you can't find it, Daddy will help you look for it or I can buy you a new one, okay?"
The little Xiao Yu nodded sadly before running off to the playground.

"It's because of that boy right? That's why you called me here."
Ding Yu Long nodded, "I know you're up to no good given that you're living in a foreign dimension illegally and I have somewhat of an idea of what you are trying to do. On top of that I know you have your eyes set on my son so please stay away from him," Yu Long explained.
He laughed. "Then you should train your son so that he won't be defeated by me. You're lucky you have some time before my presence starts affecting him."
"If one day, you fall down an even darker road and I can't stop you then it will be my son who will take you down," Yu Long responded.
He laughed again, "I look forward to that day Yu Long."

Yu Long glared at him angrily, "You should stop with your magic. You're defying with the laws of nature by tampering with lost arts of yi neng."
"Instead of trying to bring me back to the light, why don't you just hand your son over to me? He will be a great use to me and he can play and grow up with my daughter. I won’t hurt him; I will even treat him like my own son."
"Wipe that smirk off your face!" Yu Long barked at him, "You won't ever get your hands on Xiao Yu. I will protect him with my life. I will protect him from that horrific fate your daughter has. No that girl isn't your daughter; she's an innocent soul that has fallen into your hands to be experimented on!"
He turned around to look away from him, "Ding Yu Long, you yourself said we were not on familiar terms so why do you speak as though you know my family business? That makes you a hypocrite, no?"

---- [Skip to 7 Years Later]----

A drunk Ding Yu Long wandered through the empty streets during a typhoon. He walked through the wind and was being watched by that man. Xiao Yu watched him. Dad! Don't come any closer! Please!

Ding Yu Long hobbled over to an empty park bench and stood on top of it. He then began to play piano in the air, "T-This is my...my last concert!" he hiccupped, with reddish cheeks from all his alcohol consumption.
Ding Yu Long played to his heart’s content and Xiao Yu was washed over by sadness because he knew what day it was. Although Yu Long wasn't really playing any instruments, Xiao Yu could hear the beautiful music pouring out of his fingers and that just devastated him even more. He didn't want to see the rest of this vision. He wasn't ready to witness how his father came to an end.

When Ding Yu Long finished his performance, he bowed to his imaginary fans. He looked up when he heard slow claps.
"Bravo, Yu Long."
"W-Wu... Wu... in?" he slurred.
"I didn't know you were so drunk. Look at you; you can't even say my name correctly! But that name does not belong to me anymore so it doesn't bother me."
"What... what do you... want?!" Yu Long growled, jumping off the bench, "Looking... for a-another beating?!"
He laughed.
"Yes I am but the one being beaten isn't going to be me but you."
Suddenly, a large bucket of water was poured over Yu Long's head, causing him to jump out of his drunken state.

Another man then approached the two men and he threw the bucket down to the floor.
"Hei Long?!" Yu Long exclaimed, wiping his face.
Hei Long smirked at him.
"How does it feel to have your own teammate turn on you?"
"What is the meaning of this?!" Yu Long barked before turning to Hei Long, "Hei Long! What are you doing?!"
"This fella put up a pretty good offer, I couldn't refuse him," Hei Long shrugged.
"Ding Yu Long, you caused me so many problems. Since the beginning you were on my tail and bothering me. I spent so many years suffering in the darkness and now is the day I will pay you back all the beatings you have given me and I will take your son away from you!"
"So this is our final battle?!" Yu Long spat at him.
"Your final battle!"

Yu Long growled and got into a battle stance, "How could you do this Hei Long?!" he spat at his friend, "I don't want to fight against you!"
Hei Long smirked at him, "Well you don't have a choice if you want to save Ding Xiao Yu!"
Yu Long's eyes widened, "What do you mean?! What have you done with my son?!" he exclaimed.
"Hei Long has been my partner for so long already; he was never on your side Ding Yu Long. He has always been working on ways to destroy your son and now that he's no longer under your wing, he's in more danger the longer we speak!" He laughed menacingly.
"Speak! Where is my son!" Yu Long yelled at them.
Hei Long laughed, "He's with our beloved Meng Zhu!"
"Tian Hong Guang?!" Yu Long asked, "But he was killed in an accident a couple of weeks ago!"
"He's alive. I've turned him into my Wu Shi and now he's a trained assassin," Hei Long explained.

Yu Long's eyes widened, "No... you defeated Meng Zhu...?" he stuttered in disbelief, "Then my son..."
"Exactly. So fight now and rescue your son or die here right now with your son."
"My Wu Shi is outside your house this very moment and as soon as I give the order, he will slaughter your wife and son!" Hei Long added, laughing.
"You bastards!" Yu Long barked, "I will defeat both of you right here and now! I will protect my son from the likes of you!"
"Not in your drunken state you won't!"

Xiao Yu felt his heart beat quicken as he watched his father get into a tense battle with Hei Long. He wanted to shut his eyes and not see the terrible sight but these weren't his eyes that he was looking through. He had no choice but to watch. His father was easily overwhelmed by Hei Long especially because of his intoxicated body.

Hei Long shot an energy beam through Yu Long's chest and he fell to the floor with blood shooting out of his mouth. Yu Long's weakened body hit the ground with a thud and he struggled to get up.

"What did you say before? That you were going to protect your son?" he laughed mockingly.

Yu Long forced himself to sit up.

"Look at you! You've destroyed your body with all that alcohol and now you're a failure of a father!"

No... no Dad! Get up! Please don't let them defeat you here! Xiao Yu begged.

"Yes... I'm a failure... of a father..." Yu Long spluttered, "I couldn't protect... my family... and I destroyed myself... but... I know.... that my son will be... even stronger... than me... and will defeat you! He will... never fall into your... hands!"

Xiao Yu then watched his father's body being thrown into a lake and he watched his father gasp for air. His heart agonised him and he wanted to wake up from this horrible memory. He watched his father helplessly struggle in the water with his severely injured body and eventually... drown... The moment Xiao Yu saw his father's body dip beneath the surface of the water and saw the water go still, he woke up.

----

Xiao Yu felt fresh tears run down his face as he got onto all fours and cried his heart out. There was no sign of that man and he found himself back in the forest but at that moment, he didn't care about anything around him. He just cried and cried. He sobbed helplessly. "I was the reason... my father was killed..." he whispered resting his head on the ground. He clenched his fists and banged them against the ground with tears trickling down from his cheeks onto his fists. He remained in that position with warm tear drops flooding his eyes. He couldn't stop them from pooling within his eyes; his heart was in so much pain. His heart ached so much that it was like he was being crushed.

"My dad died because of me..." he wept, "I need to avenge him.... I will defeat that man in place of my father!" he clenched his teeth as he broke down even more into a waterfall of tears. Because of him... because of that man... I lost my father... my mother... Yu Yan left me... I will never forgive him...