The carriage rocked gently as it moved along the rough dirt road. Its wooden wheels creaked with every large stone or pothole it passed over. Pulled by two muscular brown horses, the wagon was simple — lined with dry straw and covered with a basic tarp roof. But for the three village boys who had never left their home, it already felt like a grand adventure.
Inside the carriage sat Li Yuan, Mu Yi, and Fan Tu, all on the same side, leaning on one another as the road grew bumpier. The wind slipped in through gaps in the tarp, carrying with it the scent of damp earth, forest, and adventure.
Mu Yi, who could never stay quiet for long, nudged Li Yuan lightly with his foot.
"Hey, Yuan… What do you think about all this?"
"We're leaving the village… heading to the city, to the academy!"
"Do you think... we could become great someday?"
Fan Tu joined in, his voice calmer.
"Do you think... we'll still be together once we're inside the academy?"
Li Yuan was silent for a moment. He gazed out through a slit in the curtain, watching the tall trees slowly pass by.
"I don't know," he said softly. "But… I want to see how far we can go."
The wind blew gently, and for a moment, a quiet stillness settled over the three of them.
Amid the silence of the journey, Li Yuan finally turned his gaze toward the front of the carriage, where a composed man sat — Yu Shan, the representative from Qinglong Academy, their escort.
Yu Shan's posture was firm, his clothes neat, his eyes sharp like a hawk's. But there was something more to him. When Li Yuan looked at him... it felt like staring into a deep ocean with no bottom.
Li Yuan's expression changed. His pale gray eyes locked onto Yu Shan with quiet intensity.
Slowly, Yu Shan turned his head, and their eyes met.
Time seemed to pause for a heartbeat.
Yu Shan narrowed his eyes. He could sense something in the boy — something that shouldn't exist in a mere child from a remote village.
"Do you have a question?" Yu Shan asked, his tone unchanged.
Li Yuan responded softly, but clearly.
"What's really happening out there?"
"And... who are you, really?"
Yu Shan stared at him for a long moment. A strong gust of wind blew through the gap in the tarp, making the fabric flutter. His face remained calm, but his eyes conveyed something deeper — a secret, or perhaps a warning.
"You will know... in time," he said.
"If your destiny is strong enough to uncover it."
After that, Yu Shan turned his gaze away, and silence returned. But in Li Yuan's chest, a feeling began to stir: curiosity… and a sense that the world was far bigger and more complicated than he had ever imagined.
The carriage kept moving…
Across open fields…
Through quiet forests…
Drawing closer to the gates of Wuyin City — where a new world awaited.