Dark Moon Era

A yellow moon?

The moment Tang Ling saw the moon, many thoughts arose in his mind. The thoughts that popped up calmed him down, so he no longer fought back and allowed the middle-aged man to drag him by the arm to a house in the town.

Will I be able to witness history? That was the first thought that came when Tang Ling entered the house. Until now, he still had no idea how the Purple Moon came to be or how the old civilization had been wiped out. Was it a long process or something that happened overnight?

History was concealed, but based on rumors from many sources, Tang Ling was able to come to a conclusion: the Purple Moon era came abruptly.

While Tang Ling was thinking about all that, he was also listening to the people in the house scolding and mocking him. From the moment he stepped into the house, it never stopped.

Judging from what they said, he was able to figure out that his current name was Joshua and that he was a young boy in a foster home. The man who had dragged him back home was his uncle and the one who scolded him ceaselessly was his aunt. The two other girls who mocked him must be his cousin sisters.

Why the terrible attitude though?

Four months ago, Joshua’s parents disappeared and stopped sending living expenses over. As a result, Joshua became a freeloader, so the terrible response from his uncle and aunt was understandable.

The reason why his uncle dragged him back was not for his safety but because Joshua must help one of his cousin sisters to complete some important homework.

“Get the hell up! You won’t get dinner tonight for running off yourself,” his uncle berated.

“If you simply do my homework, you’ll know the consequences,” his red-haired cousin sister, who looked a little ugly, threatened.

“Let’s just stop talking to him, Emily. Do you think the purple mist will appear again tonight? My gosh, will it ruin my date with Zorwen tonight?” the other cousin sister interrupted Emily and feigned surprise.

“Blanky, stop vexing me. Who cares about your date with Zorwen?! But the purple mist is really unsettling. I’m still thinking if I really saw a stray dog yesterday night, or was it something else?”

“I think you’re seeing things. There are no stray dogs as hulking as you described. Are you feeling a little dry after not having anyone for a while? Are you hallucinating?”

“Blanky, do you want to die?”

“Hahaha…”

Tang Ling turned around and went upstairs while the trivial conversations echoed in his ears. He had somehow become Joshua and was living in a small room in the attic of his house.

The attic was shaped like a triangle. At the lowest spot, one could not even stand straight up. At the highest spot, one must also walk stooping with his head down.

“What an interesting scenario! Am I Harry Potter now?” Tang Ling joked as he explored the attic. The name Harry Potter came from an influential book from the old civilization. Back in the Hope Barrier, Christina always mentioned the name since she loved the literary works from the old civilization.

Truth be told, Christina did not tell the story to Tang Ling but to Vian instead. Tang Ling had just been listening all along.

A wizard? In a foster home? Isn’t this a similar scenario?

Tang Ling could not help but furrow his brows when he thought of Vian. His heart stung. After he took a deep breath to calm his thoughts, he found a black book stuck under the drawer with transparent tape beside the bed.

“I always said that there must be clues lying around.” Tang Ling smiled and flipped the black book open. It was Joshua’s diary and it recorded the trivial daily routines of the boy.

With Tang Ling’s astounding memory, he finished reading the thick diary in less than half an hour. The diary mentioned that Joshua’s parents were a mystery even to the boy. They were always busy though the reason behind it was not mentioned.

When Joshua was six, his parents had sent him to stay with his uncle in this little town. Joshua loved the town, it was peaceful and quiet, it had decent scenery and some friendly people too.

More importantly, there was a girl in town named Darcy. She was Joshua’s childhood friend and they met the first day Joshua moved to this little town.

As time flew by, all the trivial, beautiful and unhappy matters became the foundation for Joshua and Darcy’s relationship, so they fell in love. Despite them not being of age, since both of them were only 16 at that time, the relationship was pure and beautiful. Even if their future was muddled, they were not shy to promise each other their lives.

As a matter of fact, life in the town was decent. If Joshua’s parents did not stop sending him living expenses, he would have wanted to live here forever. Despite his uncle and aunt confiscating a portion of his substantial living expenses as their own daily expenses, Joshua did not care.

Unfortunately, ever since his parents stopped sending money, his life changed for the worse. He had to stop school and work several jobs, yet it was still not enough to feed himself. He had to live with his uncle and aunt which made him worse than a servant.

He got busy, so busy that he barely had any time for Darcy.

That night at the little square, he had promised Darcy to meet for an hour, but maybe because of the wind or something else, she did not show up. His uncle then came out and dragged him back.

That was what the diary was mostly about.

Tang Ling was able to figure out two key points.

Firstly, Darcy.

Secondly, the diary mentioned a drastic change in the weather which had happened around five days ago. The drastic weather included strong wind, huge storms that did not match the season, and even several mini quakes.

Tang Ling wanted to read some international news about the anomaly, but Joshua did not seem to care about the world, so there was nothing related to the outside world in his room. The room did not even have a newspaper, let alone a computer.

Must I go down and ask the resentful family? Tang Ling was unsure of it.

Then, he made out a third key point from the diary: the purple mist which had appeared two days ago. They were thicker than clouds and felt real. Touching it felt like water flowing through one’s fingers.

As for the mist, Joshua’s diary mentioned something about it, which was rare. ‘The news said the mist is the result of humankind’s destruction of nature. I remain doubtful. Something isn’t right with the mist. My body seems to be very sensitive to it and the mist is somehow changing me.’

Tang Ling stood by the window as he searched his body and found half a pack of cigarettes. Nothing on him changed although that family looked at him in a different image.

He lit the cigarette and looked at the yellow moon outside the window. It was beautiful and peaceful to look at, and somehow he felt warm as he was sheltered by the night. It was unlike the Purple Moon which was always strange and cold with a tinge of mystery.

“Will the purple mist appear tonight?” Many guesses sprang up in his mind and he was looking forward to experiencing the purple mist.

At that moment, Tang Ling looked down from the window and noticed a figure eyeing his window. The raging wind had somehow stopped and the eerie weeping noise disappeared altogether.

When he saw the figure, he signaled it to hold on before he climbed out of the window nimbly. Although part of his basic abilities was gone, he still had his Precise Instinct and his body reflexes, thus climbing out the window was a piece of cake for him.

After he got to the yard, he dragged the figure behind a big tree.

“Darcy, why are you here?”

The figure in the yard was none other than Darcy. There were several pictures of Darcy in Joshua’s diary which had been taken when she was young. Thanks to Joshua’s habit, Tang Ling was able to recognize the girl.

Darcy’s eyes were misty as she leaned on Tang Ling’s chest. He was reluctant to be this intimate with a girl that he just met, but he had a feeling that Darcy was a key character in all this, so he had to put up with it.

“I’m worried about you. I heard people say that your uncle took you back. The wind was strong and my parents didn’t allow me to come out,” Darcy wiped her tears as she explained. She then nervously searched for a roll of money from her pocket and stuffed it into Tang Ling’s hands. “I snuck out here to meet you, but I can’t be caught by my parents. Take the money. Don’t give it to your uncle. I have to go back right away.”

“Darcy.” Tang Ling held her back. He had many questions in his heart, but judging from how nervous she was, she would not be able to answer Tang Ling’s question. He said in a hurry, “Come with me. Let’s leave tonight. I’ve had it with my uncle and aunt. Let’s go somewhere else and start over.”

“Joshua, are you out of your mind? You said that when you turn 18 and are officially an adult, you’ll go to L’Arvi City and be a mechanic. You told me to wait for you…why now?” Darcy was confused and nervous. It had been a while since she snuck out, so she was afraid that her parents might find out.

“Maybe it’s because of the purple mist,” Tang Ling simply said.

“Stop joking. The whole world is flooded with the mist now. My dear Joshua, I know it’s hard for you to stay with your uncle, but I think you should bear with it until you come up with a better idea.” Darcy then kissed Tang Ling on the cheeks and said, “Trust me. I’ll be waiting for you.”

After hugging him tightly, she then jogged away. Just before she disappeared, she turned around under the moonlight, flashing an alluring smile. “I think you’ve gotten better. Maybe the days for you to be free from your uncle are near.” She then ran away in a hurry, disappearing into the night.

Tang Ling gazed at the direction Darcy disappeared in and sighed softly. “Isn’t that what I am doing right now?” He then quickly climbed back to the attic.

It seemed like there was no shortcut to deciphering this formation, or maybe this whole story was an unskippable prologue.

Tang Ling would never help Emily with her homework, so after he went back to Joshua’s room, he waited.

It was 9.21 p.m. The night had turned darker and the yellow, warm moon disappeared behind the clouds as the purple mist came from all directions and blanketed the little town in an instant.

“Can the moon disappear?” Tang Ling smiled in curiosity. In the Purple Moon era, it was not like this. No matter the weather or the clouds, the Purple Moon would always hang in the sky, and not even the clouds could dim its purple moonlight.

Nevertheless, that was not the point for now. The important thing was the purple mist.

Tang Ling was intoxicated when he inhaled some of the purple mist. It was actually high-intensity energy that reminded him of the training room back in the Tower. No, even the energy in the training room was not as intense as the mist and a lot lower in purity.

Is this the reason that the era changed? No, that’s not it! The answer that everyone assumed is the Purple Moon! The Purple Moon isn’t here, so this shouldn’t be the end of this era yet! Then, is this a prologue or something?

While Tang Ling was guessing what happened in history, he opened the window and sprang up to the roof. Joshua’s diary mentioned that whenever he was sad or faced difficulties, he would go up to the roof and gaze into the sky.

Joshua had been sad for a few months now, and since he had become Joshua, why would he stop the habit?

As Tang Ling sat down on the roof, he had a thought in his mind that he wished to verify. He started cultivating the Thousand Satin Skill in the dense mist.

As expected, his body did not change. The vortex that he formed using the Thousand Satin Skill was still in his dantian. Unfortunately, the vortex was not complete. It was only a little stronger than the last time in the training room.

It’s been more than a month now…

Tang Ling sighed. If it was not for the blue energy that stopped his cultivation, he would have shaped the vortex a long time ago. Nevertheless, it did not matter. As long as the vortex existed in his dantian, he could cultivate the Thousand Satin Skill, so why not test it out in an environment filled with high-intensity energy?

Tang Ling closed his eyes and started cultivating.

A minute later, he opened his eyes all of a sudden and muttered, “Joshua, are you an admirer of Kun?”