The rain in Lei Prefecture fell like icicles, both sharp and cold as it turned mud to chains beneath the feet of villagers. Thunder roared loudly behind the clouds, as if the gods were mad at the world.
A young, androgynous boy, by the name of Yun Mu, squatted beneath a broken shrine, coatless in the rain as he chewed on the last corner of a steamed bun that tasted like old leather and poverty. He could feel his ribs ache, and his knuckles were split, but thankfully, he still had both of his eyes open, and his fists could work perfectly fine.
That at least counted for something, given his upbringing.
Eating on his steamed bun, there was a statue above him, and it looked like it belonged to a proud war god, though it had no head, as if it had been chopped off. It had probably been like that for as long as he could remember.
Someone had tried to chisel a new face into the stone, but they failed miserably and the statue rotted over time. "Fitting," Yun muttered, tossing the rest of the bun to a rat. "Even gods rot out here." The young boy looked down the alley toward the main street as a group of people caught his eye.
They were the Karmic Enforcers.
These people were a divine bureaucratic force that served the Celestial Court, and their job was to track, judge, and punish karmic imbalance in the mortal realm, especially among low-level cultivators and commoners.
Walking with an arrogant stride, their cloaks billowed in the wind as one of them was dragging a little girl by the wrist.
"Hm? What are they up to now?"
She was thin, starving, and dressed in mud. Her age? Maybe seven.
Yun watched her scream as she was being pulled against her will until a crowd eventually gathered, hunching under their straw hats to let the enforcers pass.
"Damnit..." This was stupid, thought Yun. He'd promised himself no more fighting for strangers. No more broken fingers. And no more getting into trouble, and that promise had lasted for four whole days. "No one's doing anything... what a bunch of cowards." Yun sighed under his breath before stepping onto the road.
"Let her go," he shouted with a low and steady voice, facing the group of Karmic Enforcers
"Hm?" The lead enforcer stopped in his tracks before turning his head.
His face was hidden behind a silver mask etched with celestial runes; the same mask all of them wore.
"You dare interfere with karmic balancing, child?" His voice was imposing and authoritative. "This child's bloodline owes—"
"She's a kid," Yun said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "You want balance? Beat her parents. If they're even alive."
The enforcer tilted his head, curious.
"Your tone is disrespectful. You wear no sect badge. Are you licensed by the Celestial Court?"
In this world, sects were cultivation institutions, primarily clans, schools, temples, or martial orders that were dedicated to teaching cultivation techniques, spreading doctrines, protecting territory, and preserving lineage, but some of them served as Celestial vassals, and were subordinates to the Celestial Court, bound by divine law, and often complicit in its oppression.
They're the middlemen between mortals and the gods, licensed to teach cultivation only in ways the Celestial Court deems "lawful."
"Why does it matter? Who gives a damn about what sect I'm in."
"You are unregistered. Unranked. Unprotected."
He tightened his grip on the girl's wrist before facing the other way, leaving him be.
"Stay out of Karmic Balance, and return to your abode at once."
It all happened so fast. One second the enforcer was pulling the crying girl with him, and the next, Yun's fist was in his face, cracking his mask with a devastating punch that caught the nearby villagers off guard.
The enforcer staggered back, clutching his jaw before he fell on his butt. The little girl he carried was free from his grip and scrambled forward, hiding behind Yun's legs.
"You foolish boy, do you have any idea what you've done? Your punishment will be death!" The second enforcer lunged forward, holding a Jian in his hand.
He swung it with a deadly force, causing Yun to step out of the way, but he remembered the child was behind him.
"Shit!" The man's blade sliced across his chest, and Qi burned through him like fire. "Aaagh!" Yun stepped to the side to evade the child behind him, and hit the ground with a deadly thud, feeling his wound spurt blood.
"To defy the Karmic Enforcers is to defy the Celestial Court. You are not worthy of living."The enforcer stood over him, lifting his blade into the air, but Yun felt something deep inside of him.
It was not his bones, or his beating heart, but something more primal.
It was like a heat, as his golden-brown eyes pulsed with a defiant stare.
The enforcer's Jian lowered—
He widened his eyes, witnessing the deadly stare of the young cultivator.
It felt as if he was staring into the eyes of a war veteran who's been into the deepest layer of hell. He couldn't describe it, but there was this overwhelming fear encroaching on his heart.
Yun stood up at blinding speeds as he threw his hand forward, slamming into the enforcer's abdomen. The strike sounded like thunder that exploded underwater.
Yun's body proceeded to twist as if he were pulled by the wind god, lifting his arm while pivoting his feet through mud. To the enforcer's surprise, his fist came down—
Stonebreaker Strike!
The enforcer was sent flying ten feet into the air, crashing through the wall of a noodle shop as pots of boiling water toppled onto his body.
Everyone froze.
"Wha...?" Yun blinked, panting. His body was overwhelmed with energy he didn't quite understand.
Lightning flickered across his fingertips sporadically as his vision blurred, though in truth, it was the air around him warping. The little girl started to cry as the man in the crowd dropped his bowl.
Far above, and behind the clouds, thunder rumbled again, but it wasn't the kind that came before rain.
Something was watching him...
The last enforcer, primarily the one with the cracked mask, took one look at Yun's eyes, which were faintly glowing gold, ran, though Yun didn't chase him, he was too busy trying not to collapse.
"What the hell..." he whispered, staring at his shaking hands. "What did I just do?" Yun stumbled forward as people backed away, terrified by the young man's martial prowess.
The little girl behind him gripped the hem of his pants, trembling like a leaf in the wind. He could hear her trying not to cry as she sniffled through her nose.
Everyone stared, while others lowered their heads, whispering to one another.
No one dared come closer as they were afraid of the wrath of the gods, rightfully so.
"Don't just stand there," Yun snapped as he shouted in anger. "She was about to get taken, can you at least help her out?"
There was nothing but silence. The shopkeeper whose wall he'd shattered would peek out from behind a hanging curtain. He took one look at the shattered enforcer lying in a crater of wood before disappearing again, not wanting to be involved in this mess.
"What's wrong with all of you? Aren't you sick of how we are mistreated?" Yun frowned at their silence as he looked down at his own hand. It wasn't glowing anymore, but it still felt different, like something primal had awakened inside of him. He hated it, but for some reason, it felt familiar,
"All of you are cowards who do nothing but obey the Celestial Court... even if they're killing innocent children. I'm tired of all of this..."
He balled his fists and scowled at them with disappointment
"Lei Prefecture used to be a storm province... but now... only cracked statues and ruins remain. I understand that it used to be the heart of a divine cultivation route tied to Sun Wukong, but things have changed..."
"Take the girl with you, and leave! You do not belong here!" One of the civilians shouted as the others mustered the courage to respond.
"She is right, you will only cause more harm! Leave Lei Prefecture, and venture elsewhere! You do not belong here! The Gods will now curse us!"
"You cowards..." Yun stepped forward in anger, but the girl pulled on his pants again, stopping him in his tracks.
"Please don't hurt anybody..."
Yun turned to face her as she looked up at him with saddened eyes, on the verge of tears.
"..." He uncurled his hand and huffed a deep sigh, fully turning around to face the little girl. "I'm sorry I didn't ask, but what's your name?"
The small child got to her feet, her dress muddied as she gazed at him with hopeful eyes.
"My name is Xiao Mian... I'm homeless just like you!"
"Xian Mian? That's a pretty name, Mine is Yun Mu. If you don't mind me asking, why were those guys trying to take you away?"
In this world where karma is law and Heaven enforces it without mercy, there's always a cold, bureaucratic reason behind every so-called "righteous" act, even if it means taking a child away.
The child hesitated to respond, tensing up at his question, but yielded nonetheless.
"My family is burdened by ancestral karma... and they owe a spiritual debt passed down from previous generations."
Yun widened his eyes, tilting his head to the side.
"Ancestral karma? That's uncommon... but as the saying goes, 'The sins of rebellion taint the blood of their heirs, and the child bears the shadow of betrayal, thus, balance must be paid'!"
The child nodded with a saddened expression.
"Yes..."
"I find that quote to be a load of horseshit!"
Xian Mian widened her eyes at his next set of words, taken aback by his defiance.
"If Heaven wants balance, it can weigh my fists, and if the gods want obedience, they can come ask me nicely, after they crawl!
Yun Mu grinned as his defiant nature inspired the child before him.
"You know what the real problem is? Heaven's been sittin' up there for so long, that the Gods forgot what it's like to bleed! They send masked clowns down here to kidnap little girls and call it justice... well I'm not buying it, and that's why I'll follow my own path, away from the Celestial Court!"
"F-Follow your own path?" Asked the little girl, curious.
"Dang right, Xian Mian, I'm gonna follow the rebellious path."