The night was cold.
Moonlight covered the lonely mountain peak.
The city below was filled with lights, but up here there was only silence.
Xiao Chen knelt on the ground.
His hands dug desperately through the dirt.
Again.
Again.
Again.
He did not have a shovel.
He did not have tools.
All he had were his bare hands.
His fingers tore through the hard earth until dirt filled his nails and blood stained his skin.
Tears kept falling from his eyes and landing on the ground beneath him.
But Xiao Chen did not stop.
He continued digging.
He had to keep digging.
Xiao Mei was only five years old.
Her body was small.
Thin.
Fragile.
The hole did not need to be large.
But even then, Xiao Chen still struggled.
His arms trembled from exhaustion.
His fingers cramped so badly that he could barely move them anymore.
At last, he finally stopped.
He stared down at his hands.
They were bloody.
The skin had split open in several places.
Dirt and blood covered his fingers.
His hands no longer looked like the hands of an eleven-year-old boy.
They looked like the hands of someone who had already suffered through a lifetime.
Xiao Chen wiped the tears from his face.
Then, with shaking hands, he removed the old cloth that he had always used to carry Xiao Mei on his back.
He slowly unwrapped her small body.
She looked so peaceful.
As if she was only asleep.
Xiao Chen bit his lip so hard that blood began to drip down his chin.
"Xiao Mei..."
His voice broke.
"I am sorry."
He lowered his head.
"This is not the place where I should bury you."
The graveyard inside the city needed money.
Without money, they would not even allow a dead child through the gates.
Xiao Chen had nothing.
Not a single coin.
He could not bury her in the wilderness either.
Wild animals would dig up her body.
This lonely mountain peak was the only place he could think of.
At least here, Xiao Mei could rest in peace.
Xiao Chen carefully placed her body inside the small grave.
For a long time, he just stared at her.
He did not want to let go.
He did not want to bury her.
Once he covered her with dirt, she would truly be gone.
Forever.
His body trembled violently.
Then, slowly, he picked up handfuls of dirt and dropped them into the grave.
One handful.
Then another.
Then another.
By the time the grave was fully covered, Xiao Chen's face was soaked with tears.
He sat in front of the small mound of dirt for a long time.
The cold wind blew against his body.
But he did not move.
At last, Xiao Chen slowly raised his head and looked toward the dark heavens above.
His eyes were red.
Filled with grief.
Filled with hatred.
"I do not care if I suffer," Xiao Chen shouted.
"I do not care if my entire life is filled with pain and sorrow."
His fists clenched tightly.
"But Xiao Mei... she was innocent!"
"She was only five years old!"
"She never hurt anyone!"
"She never even got the chance to live!"
Tears rolled endlessly down his face.
"People say the heavens are fair."
"Then where is your fairness in my life?"
"Because I cannot see it!"
His voice echoed across the silent mountain.
The heavens above remained cold and silent.
Xiao Chen laughed bitterly.
"You are not fair."
"You are not righteous."
"You are nothing but a cruel and evil thing that enjoys watching weak people suffer."
He looked toward the heavens with hatred burning in his eyes.
"You like to watch people kneel and beg at your feet."
"You like to watch them cry for mercy."
"But I will never bow my head to you again."
The heavens remained silent.
As if they did not even consider Xiao Chen worthy of an answer.
As if they did not even consider him a threat.
Xiao Chen slowly stood up.
His small body trembled in the cold wind.
He raised his head proudly.
"If one day I am given power great enough..."
"Then I will cleanse this world of you."
"I will tear apart the heavens themselves."
"And all of your worshippers will follow you into destruction."
He gave a cold laugh.
"That is... if I do not die first."
The moment those words left his mouth—
BOOM!
A deafening sound exploded across the sky.
Xiao Chen's eyes widened.
A golden and black light shot down from the heavens at terrifying speed.
It tore through the clouds like a falling star.
The entire mountain shook violently.
Xiao Chen could not even react.
The golden-black object slammed into the ground beside him.
BOOOOM!
A terrifying shockwave exploded outward.
Rocks shattered.
Trees broke apart.
The ground cracked beneath Xiao Chen's feet.
His body was thrown backward.
His vision blurred.
The last thing Xiao Chen saw before falling unconscious was a strange golden and black object lying beside Xiao Mei's grave.
Then everything went dark..