Near a gutter some distance from DAV School, a boy lay unconscious. He wore ragged clothes, his hair messy and unkempt. His body was badly beaten. But if you looked closely, you'd see that he had a good face.
He was naturally Xiao Tian. After being beaten by Master Wen, his lackeys had thrown him there.
It was around 7 PM when he finally woke up.
"Ouch!" he groaned, pain radiating through his battered body. Of course, he was badly beaten. "Where am I…?" he murmured, looking around. The ground was littered with trash — he was lying in a dumping ground. Ugh, so dirty!
He struggled to stand but was hit by a pungent smell. He sniffed the air like a dog, trying to identify it.
Ignoring the stench, he started walking toward his school. It was late, so he decided to head home. Reaching into his pocket, he realized he had no money. Panic welled up, and tears formed.
"My money for Grandma's present… sniff, sniff," he whimpered like a crybaby.
Tomorrow was his grandmother's birthday. He had saved 200 rupees for her gift — but it was all gone. Desperate, he thought maybe there was some money left in his school bag. Trying to calm himself, he turned back toward the school.
As he walked, people on the street avoided him. At first, he ignored it, but it happened again and again. Feeling invisible and rejected, he approached a middle-aged man.
"Excuse me, mister!" he called out.
But the man just shooed him away, sneering, "Shoo! Dirty boy!"
Xiao Tian's heart ached. Nearby, a park caught his attention.
He entered and saw a public mirror in the park's center. Staring at his reflection, he cried out, "Eww! Eww!!" His clothes and body were covered in dog poop, crow droppings, cow dung, and more.
Without hesitation, he rushed to a nearby tap and cleaned himself as best as he could. It wasn't perfect, but now he looked decent enough to walk the streets.
He hurried back toward the school. Normally, the school closed around 8 PM, and it was already 7. He had been late because of cleaning himself and the slow walk.
He reached the school just as the guard was closing the gate.
"Uncle guard, please wait!" Xiao Tian called out, running toward the gate.
The guard turned, scowling when he saw it was Xiao Tian. "What do you want?" he asked disdainfully. He didn't like Xiao Tian — not because he was poor, but because he was always late.
"Uh, Uncle Guard… my bag… can I go in?" Xiao Tian tried to cover up the real reason. He couldn't mention Master Wen, or things would get worse.
"Okay, go in and come out quick!" the guard snapped.
Xiao Tian rushed inside, grabbed his bag, and hurried back out. The guard slammed the gate shut behind him.
He searched through his bag and found 50 rupees. It wasn't much, but it was enough for his grandma's birthday present.
A warm image of his grandmother — an elderly woman who had cared for him all his life — popped into his mind. Overwhelmed, tears rolled down his cheeks.
After wiping them away, he went to the local market, searching for cheap shops. He found a few, but the items were priced around 200 rupees — too expensive.
His mind went blank for a moment, and he quickly moved on.
After checking several shops, he arrived at a small, lonely store. The items were cheap — around 30 to 50 rupees — but none caught his eye.
Suddenly, a flash of white light flickered in his vision for a split second. For a moment, reality seemed to shift like a scene from a light novel. An old necklace fell in front of him.
Everything returned to normal.
He stared at the necklace lying on the table. His eyes locked onto it instantly.
He picked it up and tried it on, checking the size and quality. "Not bad," he thought. The necklace was old but elegant. It must be cheap.
Just as he was about to take it off, a sharp pain shot through his mind. He couldn't remove the necklace.
Two glowing, majestic words flashed in his mind:
...….. "Chaos Necklace". ...…
To be continued in Chapter 5…