High up in the Longshu Region Mountain Range on top of the highest peak, Mount Kaiyang, the sound of swords clashing could be heard. Two brothers trained together in the night. It was getting cooler as the night grew later as one of the boys shivered and sheathed his sword. The other frowned, still holding tightly to his hilt.
"What are you doing? We're not done!" the younger of the two cried out. His brother yawned, placing his hand to his mouth.
"We haven't had dinner yet," the other said, looking towards the sky with furrowed brows. "It's dark out, and it has been for quite a while. We should call it a night."
"No, I don't want to," the younger boy said, using one hand to wipe sweat out of his eyes. The older glared at him, crossing his arms. His gaze was icy, causing the other to shiver slightly. His brother, Liuwan, rarely gave him looks like this. Liuwan was always soft spoken and super kind.
"Jiang Haoshan. Training is over," the older boy said, coldly. "It is time to go inside."
"I don't want to go inside. I want to keep training," Haoshan mumbled, sheathing his own sword and stomping his foot stubbornly.
The two brothers were Jiang Liuwan and Jiang Haoshan, the only two of their clan, aside from their mother. They were a solo cultivation clan living deep within the mountains, separated from the rest of the cultivation world. No one knew they even existed, except for their mother's childhood friend and a couple other boys they met whenever they went to the city.
Their mother kept them on a very strict training schedule, barely letting them do anything else aside from training. And if they weren't training, they were going on night hunts and helping people. Liuwan was so exhausted, because they've been up since the crack of dawn that morning. On top of that, they had just returned from a night hunt the night before. And unfortunately, Liuwan was the one that pulled all the weight. He deserved some sleep. He hated when his brother wanted to keep pushing him. It really wasn't something he could tolerate for much longer.
"Haoshan, how come you want to keep going now but never want to keep up with training on other days? You're starting to become very unreliable,," Liuwan said, picking up his water jug and heading out of the training grounds. Liuwan was pretty short, probably standing 170 centimeters. He was also petite. His robes hung loosely around his shoulders.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Haoshan asked him with an offended huff, stomping behind Liuwan with a pout on his lips.. Haoshan was about the same build as his brother. They had very similar features, but the only difference was that Haoshan had dimples. And Haoshan's hair was red, while Liuwan kept his hair color his natural dark brunette.
"You have been incredibly lazy, causing me to overwhelm myself," Liuwan said as they walked up a large hill. "Not only that, I have had only a wink of sleep in the last few days. We have been training the entire day. I am exhausted. I am hungry. And I am desperately in need of a bath. My body is aching everywhere."
"I have not been lazy!" Haoshan cried out, defiantly. Liuwan frowned lightly at him. "Aren't I the one who just said to train longer?!"
"Yeah, the one time where you don't actually have to work is the time you want to work," Liuwan said as they passed a large boulder, passing through a curtain of bamboo trees. "You were sitting for half the day, messing with your sword and writing in the dirt. You are really lucky mom hasn't been around to see your behavior. You'd be in so much trouble!"
"Oh? And are you going to tell her just how lazy I've been?" Haoshan asked. The younger boy was getting angrier by the second.
Liuwan didn't answer as they finished making their way up the hill. The trees thinned the more they walked, until it was just a huge open valley. It was silent between the both of them as the two brothers made it to their house. Haoshan ended up brushing past Liuwan and storming to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
Liuwan sighed and walked into the kitchen, looking for something to heat up. They were on their own for the next few days, and Liuwan was half tempted to take the next day off. He needed to relax his muscles. The only thing that was stopping him was the chance that their mother might come home early. He really didn't need a hundred hits from her whip on top of all the pain he was already feeling.
He sighed and heated up the small oven with a match before heading over to check the messages the carrier pigeons had dropped off earlier in the day. They used pigeons to send messages back and forth within Meixia. Pigeon's were fast and swift. It only took a couple of days to deliver the letter to the other side of the world.
The two boys didn't go to school, but they had friends that they have known since they were children when they lived in a big city. They both never lost contact with the friends that they had. Liuwan loved visiting his friends any moment he could get, which was rare. So at least he had the option to send them messages. It was fun being able to stay in contact and keep up with their daily lives. It put a smile on his face whenever he saw a letter from them.
He found a letter his friend Jiayuan wrote to him. He laughed slightly as he read his friend Jiayuan's rant about flying pigs. Jiayuan was slightly younger than Liuwan. They met when they were about five years old. Jiayuan had an infectious personality. He always had the best stories to tell, which were also super outlandish. Like his flying pigs. Jiayuan was positive he saw a flying pig by the lake the other day.
"Does he ever talk about something serious? Like how his day is going?" Liuwan asked out loud with a laugh, shaking his head lightly. He stared at the name Jiayuan addressed him as. Kentaro. Kentaro was his birth name, something from his father's culture his mother wanted him to keep. He had to go by Liuwan at home, but he most definitely preferred being called Kentaro. There was something special about that name. At least for him.
'Kentaro' glanced over to the stove, seeing that it was ready to start cooking something. He walked over and took out a plan, placing it over the stove. He then took out the noodles he had made the other night and placed them in the pan to heat up. After making sure that the food was actually heating up, he returned to reading the letters sent by his friends.
The next letter was from his friends Liu Chuan and Haru. They lived together, from what Kentaro understood. They always wrote letters together, and then sent them to their friends. Usually everyone sent a letter to Kentaro and then Kentaro would respond to both letters and make a copy of each so they would have more of a group conversation. It's been like this for a few years, and the friends never thought anything should change.
Liu Chuan and Haru were telling him about a trip they took to the Mi Region- the region of the elves. They talked about how there was snow everywhere and that they got to visit the penguins. It made Kentaro just a little jealous. He's always wanted to see the penguins in person. Usually only the Mi people got to. It was pretty cool that his friends got to. He knew that Jiayuan was probably going to be super jealous.
After reading the letter, Kentaro got up again and moved his food onto a plate. He then relinquished the fire on the stove and cleaned up before making his way up to his room. He walked over to his small desk and sat down, taking out some paper and a pen to write with. He was going to write out responses to his friends while he ate.
"Liuwan!" a voice shouted as his bedroom door was thrown open. Kentaro glanced behind him to find Haoshan standing in the doorway. "Gege! I need you to do something for me?"
"And what is that?" Kentaro asked. Haoshan came into his room and sat down on his bed, crossing his legs. He stared at his brother with wide eyes.
"I need you to cook for me," Haoshan told him. "I'm hungry!"
"Cook for yourself," Kentaro said with a sigh. "There's enough leftovers. You just need to heat it up."
"You're supposed to take care of me!" Haoshan cried out with a whine, bouncing slightly on the bed with a look of frustration.
"You're 15. You can take care of yourself," Kentaro told him, looking down at the paper in front of him.. "I'm exhausted and am about to sleep. We have to be up early tomorrow."
"You do. Not me," Haoshan said, getting off the bed and leaving the room. Kentaro frowned and stood up, following behind his brother.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kentaro asked.
"Nothing. Just that I'm going out tonight," Haoshan said, shrugging his shoulders and making his way to the kitchen.
"No you're not. Mom specifically said we need to stay here when we get back. We're not supposed to leave the house," Kentaro told him.
"I can leave whenever I'd like to leave," Haoshan said, glancing at his brother with a slight frown. "You can't make those decisions for me! And mom isn't even here!"
"She could come back any day," Kentaro told him, reaching out to grab his shoulder. "I can't just let you leave like that!"
"Just cover for me! It's not a big deal," Haoshan said, shrugging his hand off his shoulder and opening the fridge in search of food.
"Mom would have our heads," Kentaro said, shaking his head.
"Then figure it out, Liuwan. I'm going!" Haoshan cried out, grabbing something out of the fridge, not even caring to warm it up. He stormed out of the kitchen, grabbing his bag he had sitting on the table and making his way out of the house. Kentaro could see that he was hiding something, but he didn't know what it could possibly be.
"Haoshan!" Kentaro cried out, but stood back. He had the power and strength to stop him, but he vowed to never lay a hand on his brother, especially with his cultivation. He bit his lip and turned back towards his room. He let out a deep sigh before making his way back inside.
After a few moments, he glanced down at the letters again, thinking over what to say. He took a hold of his pen and started writing
"To my friends,
Hey guys. I know it's been a while since I've last talked to you guys. I was on a trip with my brother, so I only just got the letters you all had sent. I really wish I could go down the mountain and see all of you in person. I feel a little lonely up here. Longshu isn't really that spectacular of a Region, either. Even the big city I went to with my brother, Qi Yang, wasn't that spectacular. It's all just swampy and very wet grass areas with lots of mosquitoes. I don't think any of you would even like Longshu. My mountain is the only pretty place out here.
Jiayuan, I wish I could see your flying pigs. Sounds like that would be a pretty cool adventure. I hope to hear more about your fun adventures like that. But next time tell us what you're doing for fun. I would rather hear about how you're doing on top of your little piggies.
Haru and Liu Chuan, I'm so jealous! I want to see the penguins. Next time we should meet up and go together.
I have to make this letter short, because my brother ran out and I'm not sure what to do. I'll update you guys once I know. Love you all! I hope to talk soon.
-Kentaro
Kentaro smiled and finished up the letter. He then took out another piece of paper and copied his response. Once he was finished, he took a hold of his chopsticks and started eating the noodles. He was very wary of Haoshan and what he could be doing. If his brother didn't come back before their mother did, they would be in trouble. That thought scared him more than anything.
When he finished his food, he took his plate and his letters and made his way back to the kitchen. He washed his dishes thoroughly, making sure everything was off the plate and the kitchen looked spotless.
Outside the kitchen window sat his family's carrier pigeon. He called it over, tying Liu Chuan and Haru's letter with one of the copies to one leg, and Jiayuan's letter and the other copy to the other leg.
"You know what to do," Kentaro said softly, scratching under the pigeon's beak and handing it a treat they kept on the window sill. He smiled and backed away, letting the pigeon fly off into the night sky. "I'll see you later."