Green was standing on the roof of the tallest building on the property, looking towards a certain direction.
"You felt it too?" Red's voice came from behind. He didn't turn around, simply nodding in response.
"Something big is about to happen," he mumbled mindlessly.
"It's almost time. Soon we can have our revenge," Red added, patting Green on the shoulder.
Green turned around to look at him in the eye. Many things were going through his mind, more than what he could put into words.
"Do you ever think about the life we had before all this?" he asked with a downcast expression.
Red seemed like he had expected the question and smiled, "No. What use is thinking about a life we no longer remember? Those animals plucked us from our previous lives and sold us as lab rats. All those experiments, all those dead faces."
*Sigh*
"But we survived and found such a kind master. Why dwell on the past? What use is in that?"
Green didn't respond and simply looked away once again, peering towards a certain direction.
"But what if I still remember?" he whispered to himself.
***
Xu Qing sat in her darkroom, facing the window outside. There was a giant maple tree visible from there, shaking every now and then with a gust of cold winters wind.
It had been several hours since Hao Xuan's stream had ended. She thought about calling but didn't want to distract him in the middle of the fight. Even the slightest distraction could be fatal in a real battle.
So she sat in her room alone, waiting for his call. When she got bored and her mind wandered off to dark places, she would get up and clean the room and the surroundings by hand.
After cleaning the whole mansion twice, she started cooking. Making every type of dish she knew and using up almost a week's worth of ingredients.
Yun Wentian, Red, and Green ate as much as they physically could, but there was still a lot leftover. She gave the rest to the maids and the servants who were used to this behavior.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Quite often Xu Qing would stand in the kitchen and cook tons of dishes. Unfortunately, the person she cooked for was never there.
So she would then sit in the patio under the maple tree and hum different tunes, waiting for a call.
This time was the same well. She sat under the maple tree in the heavy rain and waited for a call. This had become a habit and she would not be able to rest easy until she heard his voice.
Green and Red were looking at her from a distance with different emotions. Green finally clenched his fist and started walking towards her but was stopped by Red.
"It's not our place. We are but servants, this is not something for us to meddle in," he said shaking his head.
Green sighed and moved back while mumbling to himself.
"Would things not be so much easier if everyone just talked to each other honestly every once in a while? Why are young people so stupid?"
***
The rain continued to fall and filled the crater where Galena once used to be to the brim. The blood-red lake quite ominous from afar but after several hours, a small beast the size of a goat timidly walked closer. It looked like a wild boar but had glistening scales on its back and a much longer snout.
Every few steps it would stop and look here and there, sniffing the ground and the air. There was the smell of a lot of different kinds of beasts but no sign of them which greatly confused it.
It slowly crept towards the lake, drawn in by the immense amount of spiritual energy.
Step by step it got closer, but nothing happened. Finally, it reached the edge and looked at its reflection in the bloody water. It dipped its mouth into the lake and drank a few mouthfuls before closing its eyes in ecstasy.
The bloody spiritual water entered its mouths and as it went down towards the stomach, a gurgling sound was made and it suddenly broke through to the next realm with a surge of Qi being released from its body.
Elated, it let out a few joyful noises and moved several steps back before charging straight into the water. With a splash, it fell straight into the water and sunk several metes due to its heavy weight.
But as it moved its fat little legs trying to swim back to the top, it turned around and saw a pair of eyes staring at it from the bottom of the late.
The pair of eyes became bigger and bigger until the face they belonged to was in front of it.
A colossal black serpent with a mouth that looked much like it belonged to a prehistoric creature stared at the little beast for a few seconds before swallowing it whole and swimming away like it was completely natural.
The black serpent swam straight down until it reached the bottom, where another identical white serpent was swimming around in circles.
Below the white serpent, a vague silhouette belonging to a human being was visible. This person was sitting at the very bottom of the lake with crossed legs. The surrounding waters seemed to be moving around him in circles, creating a mini whirlpool.
This person's body kept changing. Sometimes it would shrink, sometimes it would expand. The muscles seemed to be moving on their own and veins were visible through the skin. They moved around like like small worms and changed places along with the rest of the body.
From his hair to toes, every single thing seemed to be changing and moving around, trying to find its place according to some unknown force.
*BZZZT*
A shockwave spread out from his body as the surrounding water went into a frenzy.. It came alive and formed small strands that entered his body one by one.