Xinjiang Province

Lord Yong and his disciples had finally reached Xinjiang province. The Xinjiang province was built on the banks of a large natural harbour and was truly an extraordinary sight once. Its elegance was matched by the backdrop of lush fields of grass. But the frequent sandstorms had destroyed the beauty of the province and made the fertile soil of Xinjiang sandy.

The province was a desert where greenery was nowhere to be seen. The place that was once fortunate and affluent many years ago now looks miserable and hapless. Many families eloped the place while looking for a better opportunity of survival.

Very few houses could be seen there.

Lord Yong and others headed to the town.

On their way an old man approached them.

"It seems you are from another province," the old man said. He studied them from head to toe.

"We are from Noam."

One could see the number of heads that turned towards them when the words left their mouth. With this in a fraction of second the town folks had surrounded Lord Yong's group.

The Noam people went astray looking at the chaotic atmosphere.

"The prophecy of the Dark Lord has become true. They are our saviour", said one man from the crowd. Folks were looking at them like a thirsty man looking at a pond.

Sensing the awkwardness, the old man requested them to take some rest at his home as it was getting dark and asked the crowd to go back to their homes.

Lord Yong and his disciples decided to accept the offer of the old man as the surrounding seemed to be bizarre.

In that desert like territory, the days are hot whilst nights are quite chilly.

The old man asked his daughter to treat them with a tasty meal. After having dinner Lord Yong asked the old man about the crowd.

"Earlier why did the people surround us after knowing that we were from Noam ? There was an uproar about some Prophecy too. What is the Prophecy about ?"

Pessimism followed in the old man's eyes and he then started to narrate the story.

"A very long time ago, Xinjiang province was known to be the land of prosperity and happiness but a single mistake washed it all away. The whole story revolves around the Devil's book. The Devil's book has the world's knowledge of dark arts, cure for every curse and everything a man could ever want to know."

"It was stolen by a man in order to satisfy his selfish needs. It is said that with the help of that book, he did something awful to a girl whom he used to love. He always used the knowledge of the book to harm people. As a result, one day people caught him red handed amidst performing rituals to charm a girl and attacked him, he ran for his life with the book and immediately hid the book. He saved the book but couldn't save himself from the rabidness of the people. With his last breath he cursed the whole town and the people who lived there to die with a strong gust of storm."

"He had been practicing the dark arts for a long time. Hence his curse worked and the whole town was destroyed in that matter of a few moments. The lively and prosperous town had become the graveyard of thousands of innocent lives."

"Unfortunately, the demolition didn't stop there, the storm of the desert continued to swallow lots of other habitats near it like Xinjiang. Only some of them survived the storm but lost its prosperity and at present suffering from drought and famine."

"One day the Dark Lord from North visited the province in order to find the devil's book so that the nearby habitats could be saved by its destruction. He didn't want to see that book in the wrong hands. Misuse of knowledge can only attract evil as it already did."

"It is said that the monk who had written that book by selling his soul to the devil, had cast a spell on the book so that it could never be discovered by dark arts preachers. He thought that those who practice dark arts would surely use this book to harm people as compared to other folks. Therefore, he made this book out of their reach by casting a spell."

"Despite being a dark art preacher, the Dark Lord of North never used his arts to harm anyone instead he always used his powers for reformation of people in distress. That's why he was hated by other groups of shamans because of his glory as a result they together casted a strong spell on him to make him suffer."

"Even with all his powers he couldn't find the book as a result of the spell. He wanted to know, if not him then who would be the one who can find the book therefore, he conducted a ritual to discover the people who were to find the book. Then he learned that people of Noam were the only ones who could find the book."

"Since then we have been waiting for you, to set us free from that curse,'' said the old man beseeching.

"We are also in desperate search of that book. We'll put our best to find that book," Lord Yong, ensures the old man.

"It is not easy to come alive from the sea of the dead. Lots of hurdles would be waiting for you once you enter the desert. You might have to face sand swamps, storms, cadres and many other unexpected things too," said the old man.

"Yes, this won't be easy but this is our last hope," said Lord Yong thoughtfully. Si-ri's blooming face flashed before his eyes. A single teardrop made its way out from his eyes to lessen the pain of his heart. He walked out of the discussion to hide his tears. He took out a piece of cloth woven by Si-ri to wipe his tears.

Looking at the sky, Lord Yong implored the almighty to shower blessings on his innocent daughter.