The Ghost of Fog
Chapter 8. The Heaven's Wall Mountains

Lin Tian finally woke up when it started to twilight. As he tried to get his whole body up from head to toe it hurt all, yet he did not complain and gave up. Lin Tian then took out the sword that belonged to the swordsman he had killed earlier to serve as a weapon because Zhang An's given sword had already been broken during the last fight.

Back Lin Tian continued his journey towards his original destination, heading south.

It didn't feel like night had come, but this kid never intended to stop his steps in the slightest. Lin Tian made a torch to serve as the night's illumination, he also picked up some fruit and leaves that were worth eating as supplies on the way. Even when eating Lin Tian did so while continuing to walk.

The next day early in the morning, Lin Tian collapsed under the slope of a mountain. These mountains are commonly referred to by people as the 'Mountains of the Wall of Heaven'.

They named this mountain range as the Mountain of Heaven's Wall because the height of the mountains within these mountains was very high and most of the mountain peaks were high until they pierced through the clouds.

Another reason is because this mountain range is shaped like a giant wall that separates the two land areas. The Heaven's Wall Mountains stretched from the Southeast end to the Northwest end, separating the Northern and Southern regions.

There is even a fairy tale that comes from the villagers around the mountains. They said that every night of the turn of the year, the gods would descend to the peaks of the Mountains of Heaven's Wall to see firsthand the human condition on earth.

There are also those who say if every night the full moon, the angels of heaven will descend to the highest peak of the Heaven Wall Mountains to bathe in a well that is there. But all that is nothing more than a bedtime story from the villagers who until now have not been proven the truth.

The purpose of Lin Tian and Zhang Qiaofeng on the trip this time was to go across the Heaven Wall Mountains which was the Southern region.

The Southern region was ruled by a large empire called the Chu Empire whose territory covered the entire Southern region all the way to the Western mainland. As for the Northern region which was the birthplace of Lin Tian as well as the establishment of the Zhang family, it was controlled by the Song Empire whose territory covered the entire North to the East mainland.

The two empires have always kept the peace and never clashed, because it was also between the Northern and Southern regions always on good terms with each other.

Then why did this Miss and her bodyguard go to escape to the Southern region that became the territory of the Chu Empire? The answer was easy, because even though it was just an ordinary noble family, the Zhang family was already quite famous in this Northern region. And if those enemies were planning to incite other families or even slander the Zhang family with a non-existent accusation, then it would be woe to Zhang Qiaofeng and his bodyguards.

*******

When the sunlight started to sting, Lin Tian woke up from his stupor and went straight to the river not far from him to bathe and wash his dirty clothes.

Finished bathing and cleaning his clothes, Lin Tian then ate the fruits he gathered during the journey while sitting pensively in front of the campfire.

He looked far ahead with a blank look. Right now somehow Lin Tian felt homesick with his young Miss, it was true that from the start he wanted to always be next to Zhang Qiaofeng as a loyal personal bodyguard, but circumstances force him to separate from Nonanya in order to save the life of the girl which is of course much more important than his own life which is only a bodyguard.

Lin Tian involuntarily clenched his hands until the fruit he was in his grasp shattered. He felt ashamed of himself who was still so weak that the Zhang family became like this, he thought if only he were a little stronger, then, it was possible that the lives of Zhang Qiaofeng's two parents could still be saved or at least the Zhang family would not have been as shattered as it was now.

Lin Tian continued to blame himself, feeling that he was a useless swordsman who was merely pretending to be the personal bodyguard of a young Miss. Though unbeknownst to Lin Tian himself, there was not a single person in the Zhang family who blamed himself for all these disasters, including his young Miss Zhang Qiaofeng.

This showed just how much loyalty Lin Tian had to the Zhang family had made this nine-year-old child extremely depressed and frustrated.

Lin Tian then stood up and walked towards the large stone not far from him, then he banged his head many times towards the stone until it bled and made his eyes twitch.

"Just wait Miss, when we meet later I will really be a protective figure loyal to you, I will be a sword as well as a shield for you Miss. Sorry Miss, for now I really do not have the face to meet you, so I hope you stay safe until our next meeting." Lin Tian shouted loudly with blazing eyes imagining a burning spirit as he looked up at the sky.

Then Lin Tian kicked the bonfire to extinguish it and directly ran up one of the mountain peaks. Lin Tian intended to improve his silat science first before returning to continue his journey in search of Zhang Qiaofeng.

*******

Lin Tian had reached the peak when it was already dark. He then approached a cave that was there and looked inside. This cave is very good, he thought, not too deep and also warm, very suitable for teaching a house.

From that night, Lin Tian made the cave a resting place and the next day, this boy began his training.

Every morning Lin Tian would run around the mountain and practice lifting large stones until noon, then proceed by hitting the tree trunk until the afternoon. Then when the afternoon Lin Tian went to the river to cleanse himself and practiced silat based on the teachings of the books that were inside his room bookshelf.

All that Lin Tian did every day until he had unknowingly lived for seven years at the peak.

*******

"Haaa...Haaa...Hiaaa"

There were shouts from a man who was practicing silat at the top of the mountain. This man had a tall stout posture and a handsome face, his eyes were sharp like a sword blade, his hair was dangling furiously to his back, his clothes were made from the thick fur of a wild bear.

This man was none other than Lin Tian, a loyal bodyguard of the young Miss of the Zhang family. Currently he was already a sixteen year old young man who had a handsome face and capable silat cleverness.

Living on a cold mountain top, he made the bear suit to warm himself and it was indeed the only outfit he had, whereas the clothes that Lin Tian had used when doing the escape with his young Miss would naturally not fit.

During this peak, his silat intelligence had increased dramatically, even Lin Tian was able to create his own creation from the combination of all the books on his room bookshelf. This science he named 'Silat Halimun Sakti Science'.

Because with every night he meditated under the waterfall, unconsciously making his inner energy contain Yin (Cold element). For this reason his science of creation he named 'Halimun' or commonly referred to as fog that is always airy.

Then Lin Tian was also able to create his own swordsmanship by merging the teachings of his teacher's swordsmanship and the teachings of his late father's martial arts, hence the birth of the swordsmanship which he named as the 'Science of the Celestial Painter'.

Lin Tian gave the name 'Heaven Painter' because he created this science on top of the mountain peak where he lived which was indeed high up to piercing through the clouds.

That afternoon, Lin Tian was in front of the cave where he lived to train and mature every movement of his creation.

"Hiaaatt!!" Lin Tian snapped loudly while stomping his hands forward. His hand let out a cold white light and he pointed towards the large rock which was about five meters in front of him.

"Bruck!!!"

The huge rock broke up into the ground. Incredibly this punch, capable of smashing a boulder as tall as an adult human in just one punch.

"Huuuhhh....." Lin Tian let out a long sigh to end his training.

He then looked at one of the mountain peaks whose height was not playing, the peak he was occupying right now was already very high but the peak he was looking at this time was much higher.

From where he stood, Lin Tian could see the top of the mountain. Far away there it was covered by very thick snow imagining a very extraordinary cold.

Lin Tian had indeed intended to go to that peak to meditate and increase the coldness of his inner energy. Lin Tian thought, if he meditated there surely his science of creation would be one step closer to perfect.

This young man then sat on a flat stone in front of the cave, then began to pensively think about his past.

If the Zhang family is destroyed, there are three people who are likely still alive to this day. The first was young Miss Zhang Qiaofeng, the second was Zhang Qiaofeng's grandfather named Zhang Hongli, this grandfather is said to be the most powerful person in the Zhang family even including a figure who is respected by white warriors, but he suddenly disappeared somewhere the day after Zhang Anming's appointment as the leader of the family.

And the third...Zhang Heng!! He left from the Zhang family three days before the Zhang family tragedy happened, he was what Lin Tian had suspected the most all along. Recalling this Lin Tian gnashed his teeth restraining the already cresting anger.

Then he shook his head quickly to dispel any disturbing bad thoughts.

After that Lin Tian took out a small book from behind his clothes, the book that had been a friend to Lin Tian when he was at this peak to relieve his loneliness.

Yes, the book was titled 'Inner Remembrance', a book that besides being a friend figure was also one that always made Lin Tian feel stressed because to this day the young man still could not understand its meaning.

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