The Dragon’s Gate - Chapter 2 A Stunning Beauty

The dawn’s light was falling on Shouwei village, the beginning of a new day which like always, was marked by the rooster crow waking up everyone, Xiao Yu included.

“Damned rooster!! Every morning he crows for no reason, such an evil creature, I am sure it takes pleasure in not letting us sleeping!!” Xiao Yu growled. His head sunk under his cover and he tried to continue his night’s rest.

Meanwhile in the village, a young girl had already gotten up, she was standing in front of her place, her captivating jade-green eyes were looking far ahead, her black hair blowing in the wind, the dawn’s light behind her emphasizing her perfect curves. The sight only would have been enough to captivate any man.

Her gaze stopped on a small house, the furthest of the village, she began to walk in this direction until she arrived only 10 meters away of the house. She went behind and get closer of a window closed by wooden shutters, she stopped there and shouted:

“Xiao Yu wake up!! Stop sleeping!!”

Not receiving any response she continued:

“Xiao Yu, you big sloth!! You promised me I could accompany you fishing today!! …”

Xiao Yu had been awake for a while by all these screams, but he was playing dead hoping the girl will leave him alone but it was forgetting the strong temperament of this young girl.

“What did I do to deserve this, everyone is shouting my name over and over.” thought Xiao Yu depressed. He opened the wooden shutters, the sun light preventing him to open his eyes he didn’t have time to see the clod coming at his face, he fell backward due more to the surprise effect than the force of the impact. He heard the same voice as he was cleaning the mud on his face:

“This is for making wait a lady!!” said the girl smiling, she was very happy that her throw hit its target.

Xiao Yu did not become angry, it could have been worse, and replied from his room: “A lady doesn’t put her hands in the soil, miss Mei Ling”

“I don’t care, I will do what I like.” answered Mei Ling sticking her tongue out.

Mei Ling had also just turned 16 years old some weeks ago, she was the only person with whom Xiao Yu could speak, because the other village’s youngsters of this age didn’t like Xiao Yu, who was not really talkative and whose father broke the main rule of the village, this was enough to make him the scapegoat of Shouwei. Xiao Yu was often leaving to fish or wander in the forest to avoid them.

On the opposite Mei Ling was the daughter of the village’s head, she was loved by everyone, but she didn’t have much free time because of her duties and the worst for her was that she had to behave herself in public. Sometimes she would avoid surveillance and follow Xiao Yu on his rides, who get used to it step by step, after all she didn’t disturb him more than necessary and it would be a lie to say a beauty like her would let him indifferent.

Xiao Yu put on his clothes nonchalantly, picked up his old fishing rod and before leaving, said goodbye to his mother whose face was harboring a strange smile. She was happy to see that a girl had some control over his lazy son.

Looking at Xiao Yu going out and his drowsy face, Mei Ling couldn’t help herself to reprimand him: “You could show more motivation, at least when you see me.”

“You had just woken me up, leave me time to adjust to day’s light please.” sheepishly said Xiao Yu. “I said I would let you accompany me today but I have never said it must have been at dawn. Well I guess a promise is a promise, let’s go.”

His fish rod behind his back, the young boy led the way followed just behind by Mei Ling, the small jumps she did from rock to rock revealing her good mood.

Shouwei village was lost in the mountains, surrounded by the huge trees of the Savage Forest, beyond this forest was visible the most culminating peak of the mountain relief, named the Misty Peak. From the village you could see the Shanguang cascade flew out from the peak, so much water crashing continuously on the rocks gave birth to a heavy fog recovering the mountain, hence its name. A significant amount of water continued its course forming a large river meandering through the Savage Forest and possessing a lot of rivers arms. Hopefully the village’s founder sealed the village up to the cascade, letting villagers access to the forest and cascade’s rivers for hunting and fishing.

Those different places were where Xiao Yu used to fish, and where he had planned to go with Mei Ling.

After going out of the village, Mei Ling asked: “By the way, you should have received the cultivation technique yesterday, I received it almost a month ago and I have the feeling to be on the verge of succeeding, maybe I will be able to surpass Shen Ming’s record of one month.” Seeing Xiao Yu didn’t answer she didn’t stop here and asked: “And you, did you start training on the technique?”

Xiao Yu answered her: “I have tried out of curiosity after reading the technique, but even so I am not interested in martial arts, I just want to travel the world, to explore the most extraordinary places, and why not fish the biggest fish of the world.” said Xiao Yu with a laugh.

Mei Ling remained pensive, she knew already Xiao Yu was not interested in martial arts but she just realized something: “I hope you don’t intend to break the village’s rule and cross the barrier like your father did? We didn’t even know if he is still alive.” All of a sudden Mei Ling saw Xiao Yu’s eyes darken, she quickly said: “Sorry, I didn’t want to say that, of course he should be alive somewhere.”

Xiao Yu knew everyone who crossed the barrier never returned, he smiled and answered “Don’t worry, after all I don’t really know him, he left before my birth, maybe he doesn’t even know he has a child.” Even knowing that Xiao Yu wanted to know his father, he wanted to make him proud of him. A certain uneasiness formed between the two.

Xiao Yu changed topics: “With the coming spring, we should be able to get a lot of nice fishes, maybe we would even have the chance to see a golden Scalefish”

“A golden Scalefish!! They are extremely rare, moreover they appear to be extremely fast and strong, it’s hard to have enough time to see them, but I still would like to see one!” exclaimed Mei Ling.

“Before that we must find worms to use as bait, we should find at least twenty. I know a good place in the forest, where the ground is soft and is filled with earthworms. Hopefully you like to put your hands in the soil, you will be able to help me.” said Xiao Yu laughing.

“Earthworms! It’s so disgusting!” answered Mei Ling making a face.

“Hahahah” The two lads continued on the track laughing and going deeper and deeper into the forest.