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Guzi was allowed to leave as he pleased as long as Xuan ji was there to watch after him. Living in a temporary lair located in a cave wasn’t a very fun place to be when you’re 4 years old and Xuan ji never let him explore more than 10 ft away, so guzi decided that he’d sneak away to play in the forest then return by supper time. A wonderful plan right?
Sneaking out was easy considering none of qi rongs minions gave a shit about the child’s well-being and just watched the little boy scurry off into the woods. Guzi immediately began his great adventure and had a wonderful time exploring his surroundings. He’d found cool bugs under a big rock and a large straight stick he pretended was a sword. After venturing a bit further the little boy noticed the sun had gotten quite a bit lower in the sky and turned around to head back. All he saw was unfamiliar bushes, shrubs, and trees surrounding him making guzi immediately feel a wave of anxiety suddenly hit.
The child’s pace picked up as he searched around for any sign of familiarity in the area but their was none. Suddenly guzi felt a wet drop hit his head from above. “Rain?” Guzi questioned out loud the looked up. His large innocent eyes widened upon seeing the disturbing sight above him. Tons of corpses were strung up in the trees. Many of them were mutilated and dried up but some were also fresh creating a crimson rain. The off brand version at least.
Guzi was too frightened to make a noise. He’d seen corpses many times including half eaten ones, but with no one around his sense of security vanished. There was no one there to protect him and if the boy was attacked there’s no way he could fight back. Guzi knew this so he looked for the next best option for survival. Upon close inspection one of the larger trees was hollow at the bottom and a perfect safe spot for someone his size. Guzi crawled inside and finally felt a bit more relaxed. Relaxed enough to realize how hungry he was as his stomach growled loudly. Fatigue was also weighing him down due to missing his afternoon nap.
It was now night and the air was cold and bitter. All the noises outside made the child paranoid and frightened, longing to be back in that boring stuffy cave which he had so desperately wanted to leave. Crunching leaves and breaking twigs made guzi feel like a monster was surly out there eat him. The child gathered all his courage and peaked out seeing a green flickering light in the distance.
An eerie looking figure walked at a steady pace through the darkened forest illuminating the area with each step. Suddenly the figure spoke in a very familiar voice. “Where the fuck did that ungrateful cheap son of mine run off too! That shitty brat is going to pay for making me waste my time like this!” Despite barley being able to hear, it was a most welcoming sound to guzi who was terrified and freezing cold.
“DADDY! GUZIS HERE!” Guzi called out for his father as loud as he could.
Qi rongs bright emerald eyes peered to the left and he looked extremely pissed off as he marched over, so guzi decided to stay in the tree feeling a familiar anxiety swirl around in his chest. His former father always punished him with a harsh beating til the poor child was a bloody bruised mess all curled up on the ground. He had no mother to comfort him and no siblings to rely on. Guzi was always alone in his pain and despair.
The green light of the lantern illuminated the area as qi rong got closer and now he could clearly see little guzi curled up in the hollow tree looking terrified. “I-I’m sorry daddy I-I’m really sorry, guzi won’t be a bad son anymore” Guzi teared up catching qi rong completely off guard.
Guzi had never seemed afraid of qi rong before yet in this moment he could see the raw fear in the child’s large tear filled eyes. It felt to qi rong like he was looking in a mirror seeing his younger self; a time when he was guzis age with no one to protect him from his drunken fathers brutal beatings. Even after 800 years, those painful memories still remained in his mind like a festering wound that refused to heal.
Qi rong knelt down and spoke in a cold curt tone. “Come out of there. Now.”
The little one did as he was told and crawled out dusting the dirt off his dull beige hanfu standing in front of qi rong with his eyes closed tightly awaiting the painful impact of a punch, but Instead he felt a soft warmth envelop him. Guzis eyes shot open to discover what was going on. Qi rong had wrapped his fur cloak around guzi to keep him warm. Guzi was caught off guard and even more so when the green ghost picked him up. That feeling of safety he felt around this new father quickly returned and guzi finally felt fully at ease. Now that he was all cozy and bundled up guzi realized just how tired he was and shut his eyes resting his head on his fathers shoulder and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
The night touring green lantern certainly lived up to his name as he made his way out of the forest with his glowing green lantern lighting the way.