"Tell me, what is the difference between a dybbuk and a lost soul? Yes, you may answer."

The disciple stood up and bowed respectfully to his teacher, who stood tall before him in imperial blue robes.

"Teacher, a dybbuk is a malevolent wandering spirit of a dead person that enters and possesses the body of a living person. A lost soul, on the other hand, is the soul of a living person who is in a coma or severely injured, which has somehow escaped from the body."

"Open-air classes in the Li Sect do our dumb brains a lot of good," one of the students whispered, inhaling deeply.
The girl who was being spoken to nodded and looked around at the lush, rich landscape enveloping them.

The hills were a patchwork of green made even more varied by the shadows of passing clouds. They wore every hue from new spring grass to deep forest pools. Some were more shallow than the others, but most had steep paths that took you from one side of their summit down to the next valley below.

"....Can someone else tell me about their varied intentions?"

An eager hand shot up.

"Yes."

"Teacher, a dybbuk's only intention is parasitism. It adheres to a live host, and the longer it continues to possess the body, the more energy it continues to siphon out. It might also end up feeding on the person's soul. A lost soul, that is the person's soul, has no such hidden intention since it has not been cast out of its body of its own will. It doesn't even remember its own identity."

"Excellent. Please continue to elaborate on how to deal with them."

"Yes, Master. A Dybbuk can only be eliminated by properly executed exorcism. The performer of the ritual must be careful so as not to damage the possessed person. A lost soul must be assisted to find its body. Once that is done..."

"Li Shing!!"

The man who was addressed, held up his hand, gesturing his pupil to sit down. His keen charcoal orbs looked in the direction from where the voice came from. It was an elderly maid hobbling up the path towards the tree, beneath which they were resting after a long walk.

Li Shing quickly made his way towards the woman and caught her just in time before she tripped over a stray rock. "Aunt Qing!"

"Oh good, you still remember the name of your nanny, Sect Leader. Where were you?? I was looking for you all over the royal quarters!"

"Aiya, Aunt Qing-"

"Don't answer that," Aunt Qing lowered her voice to a whisper. "Go back to your bed-chamber right now."

"Huh? Why? Aunt, I am teaching.."

"GO! Ehuang..."

"Ehuang? What happened to her??"

"Go, right now. I don't know what happened, but she's not doing well," the old woman pushed him down the way she had come. "Now go, go!"

******

A lady sat in front of the mirror, dressed in the traditional azure robes of the Li Sect, meticulously braiding her hair. She hummed, as she attached a fancy hairpin, and gazed out of the window.

The hills changed their clothes with the season just like fashion-conscious folk.
In the spring, they were clad lightly in the softest of greens and they shone in a light that promised more warmth to come.
By summer, they were in their thickest coat, deep rich greens to absorb the intense rays and provide cool shelter to any creatures that pass.
By fall, they were all scarlets and golds, more beautiful than exquisite, imperial robes. Leaves tumbled to the undergrowth, blanketing the ground with their brilliant hues and letting shafts of white penetrate the canopy.
During winter, however, the naked trees shivered in the bitter blasts. They were no more fancy than sticks and offered protection to nothing. Upon their boughs lay a smattering of snow and because of that, the hills were still calm, and serenely beautiful.

A golden hawk, whose glow was strangely fluctuating, fluttered onto the window sill. It perched there, letting out one last, exhausted screech, before collapsing into an open scroll of parchment.

Shing,

I'm writing this accursed letter, in vain hope for some forgiveness.
Please pardon your incapable father.

I could not keep your son safe...

"Ehuang??" She heard the concerned voice of her husband, but it seemed to be coming from miles away.

She turned to face him, her petite figure trembling like a leaf in the storm.

....On the way to the Sect Leader Ruan's royal mansion, in the middle of a huge, overly crowded market square, Renshu...

She felt strangely light-headed and looked questioningly at Shing's wavering figure and his horrified gaze before her vision turned bleary and dark.

Shing quickly gathered Ehuang into his arms and placed her on the bed. He quickly brought in a bowl of water and started sprinkling the water on her forehead. He sensed quickly dissipating spiritual energy, and soon enough, his eyes fell on something on the floor, where Ehuang had been standing a few moments back.

"Ehuang, please get up... Please wake up. Why do you look so scared?? What happened here?"

He reached down and picked up the object from the floor.
"A letter??"

' Who could it be... Father?!?! Ehuang fainted on reading Father's letter??'

The first thing that he realised was the letter was dated two days back, which sent warning bells ringing in his head.

' Two days... Was Father's spiritual power low?? But how is this possible. how. Ren... Oh god... What could have happened??'

....I am sorry, Shing. Your unworthy father begs for pardon. I could not protect your son, as I had always vowed to.....

His head began to spin as well.
In shock.
Dismay.
Wrath.

....Renshu was abducted and...

Despair.

Bitter, unforgiving pain. It felt too heavy and sluggishly flowed through his veins like poisonous lead.

He heard a sob, and his tearful eyes shifted to his wife's shaking form. Ehuang had curled up into a ball, and her face shone with tears and perspiration. He shakily sat down on the side of the bed and helped her sit up.
As soon as her eyes landed on the crushed roll of parchment, she pulled her knees up to her bosom.

....Renshu was abducted and...

"Ehuang," Shing placed his larger hands on her slender, little ones. Anguish, tears, and rage clogged up his throat, preventing him from speaking any further, no matter how much he gulped.

Streaming tears cleansed her red cheeks. Few droplets remained, forgetting their way as the path was swept from beneath them, consequently blurring Li Kang Ehuang's vision with waves of sadness only the broken encounter. The salty release flowed into her mouth so that she could taste her sorrow.

Li Shing gripped his flute so tightly that his hand began to tremble and his knuckles turned white. His left hand began to glow, and soon enough a glittering sword materialised.

"Whoever these scoundrels are, I swear, I will-"

"Shing?"

The fire in his hard, cold eyes quickly softened at the sound of her voice. The sword which had been shining a blinding white, slowly mellowed down to a bearable glare.

"Shing... Please... Tell me it's not true. It's a nightmare. It's a bad dream, isn't it? This can't be true, it could not have happened, I know it's a bad dream. Shing, it's a bad dream, don't worry, it's... Nothing has happened to our Ren, nothing, nothing..."

....Please ask Ehuang to try to forgive me...

Li Shing clenched his eyes closed, more tears cascading down, as he hugged the little, trembling figure of his wife tightly to his chest.

As she cried, her bottom lip quivered, the same as a baby pushed past endurance. Her eyes became glacier blue under the sheen of water, constant, yet allowing the tears to flow without pause. At that moment, on seeing her reflection in her husband's equally tearful eyes, she understood the depths of the pain that was settling beneath her skin.

The parchment had been reduced to an unrecognisable, crumpled ball in Shing's hands. He hurled it away, the mere sight of the damned sheet leaving searing burns on him, his shoulders shaking with his cries.

... I know I am worthless. I do not deserve it at all...

His heart was already shattered to smithereens and those broken bits burned with a fire that he hadn't known in a long while.

Ehuang cupped his face in her hands, her palms wet with both their tears.
"Shing, it's a bad dream, right? Right? I'm still in bed, right? Shing, I'll wake up, I'll wake up right away. It's just a bad dream right?"

"No, it isn't... It's real.." he uttered in a choked, pained voice.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, falling to the ground like raindrops.

Ehuang didn't seem to hear what he said. She started to remember. His smile. His voice. Memories of her darling boy flooded back into her head.

"Soon, Renshu will come running in through the door, oh no, how will he come? He's at the Ruan Sect. I know, he will write to me as soon as he reaches with Father, I know...."

"Ehuang, please listen to me, you're awake. It's true.. Renshu has been..."

"Aish, don't shake your head, I know I am right..."

"No Ehuang.. please look at me..."

"When he comes back, he will run in through the door, and he will hug me, and he will cover me with his sweet kisses, and.. and.. he will tell me how many friends he made there, how much fun he had there... Oh, I hope you told him to enjoy himself there. You know right, our boy is too shy... Doesn't matter if you haven't told Ren, I have told him to...."

"EHUANG, STOP!!"

Li Shing gripped her blue robe-clad arms tightly and shook her.
"Stop... please stop..." he sobbed.

Ehuang's azure eyes were wide in shock at the sudden outburst. Though her chapped, swollen lips opened and closed in gasps, she couldn't form any coherent words.

"Please stop, Ehuang," he pleaded, cursing his luck for the millionth time for allowing the letter to fall into his wife's hands first.

A black mist had settled upon them and refused to shift.

"Whatever you have read in the letter...all of it is true... please, Ehuang..."

"No. No."

"Renshu had been captured and.. and.. and.. defiled..."
As the lethal words poured out of his lips, he felt like hitting his forehead against the wall like a demented man, with cries of anguish, curses and lamentations.

"No. It can't be. It can't be. It's a joke. All of it. All of it."

"Ehuang, love, please, face the truth. Our son.. he needs us."

The world felt lost and neither of them knew of anything that would bring it back into focus.

"No. No..."

"Ehuang, please listen to me..."

"No... It's a cruel trick. Dirty prank..."

As Shing pulled Ehuang back into his arms, in an attempt to make her look at him, his heart felt like it was being butchered.

"No it isn't, Ehuang.. Look at me."

"No, it's a bad joke.. very bad dream."

"EHUANG, FACE THE TRUTH!"

"NO! I WON'T FACE IT! TELL ME IT'S A LIE! TELL ME IT'S A FUCKING GODDAMN LIE!!"

The grief drained through her rather than skating over her skin. It travelled through every cell to reach the ground.

ALL OF YOU... LIARS. LIARS... ALL OF YOU ARE LYING TO ME, WHY, ALL OF YOU...  RENSHU... REN... REN..." Ehuang began to wail, clutching wildly at the lapels of her husband's outer robes, till no words came out of her mouth. If not for Shing holding her, she would have collapsed to the ground already.

' Whoever they are, I will slaughter them, in the same way, they did to my family.'

Li Shing stood there, holding his weeping wife tightly to his sinewy chest. Heated tears of fury and torment flowed down his face, as he felt both their already broken hearts cracking repeatedly like glass, the pieces spreading throughout their bodies, and getting wedged between their soul and flesh.