[center][color=7FFFD4][h2]Meng Wu[/h2][/color][sup]Tagging: [@Eklispe][/sup][/center][hider=Summary]We see Meng Wu finally reaching the clearing just before the last 6000 steps. He takes in the scenery and remembers back to the time when his master decided to make the pilgrimage to Mount Wua Sho and the reaction from the sect. After two years passed and his master didn't return, the sect arranged for a five-man team to go search for him.

Unfortunately, Meng Wu was the only one to have survived out of the five people. Once on the clearing, he sees a man, but decides not to disturb him. He finds a boulder to sit on and calms himself down with meditation. After that, he speaks to the man, asking him if he is climbing the mountain or waiting for someone else to come down.[/hider]
Breathe in... One more step...

Breathe out... One more step...

Meng Wu had fallen into some strange trance since the day he started climbing the stairs up Mount Wua Sho, coming out of it only to eat and drink enough to allow him to continue, but not enough to fully satisfy his stomach. It is a known and true fact, in the end, that satiety dulls the senses; Meng Wu would not be so careless as to give himself unneeded trouble when climbing the mountain.

When he finally reached the end of the stairs, Meng Wu stood there motionless for a couple of minutes. The blank look in his eyes slowly returned to normal, a sign that he was coming out of trance once again.

[color=7FFFD4][b]"...Huh?"[/b][/color] Meng Wu said absentmindedly. As he looked at the scenery surrounding him, his eyes slowly widened, only now realizing that he had reached a stop. In front of him was a clearing of gray stone tiles. Rocks of various sizes were scattered around the area, with ornamental poles standing tall between them and which held paper lanterns, their flames flickering and unsteady. All that, along with a tall, open gate that stood a couple hundred feet opposite of Meng Wu, gave the whole clearing's atmosphere a special feeling of ancientness that only ruins of the Gods had.

Meng Wu's master, Siu Ren, had briefly talked about the Gods to his disciple, but Meng Wu's mind could not comprehend the scale of power a being would have in order to be called a God. What he had understood, however, was that some unknown time, long ago, the Gods simply disappeared from the face of Waidi. Their City of Jade, full of splendor and magnificence, had been abandoned, left behind to be ravaged by the passage of time and the wrath of the elements.

The knowledge that such a city of legends existed, however, would cause Meng Wu to sometimes daydream about all the wondrous opportunities and treasures that were sure to be hidden away there. However, his master made sure that any thoughts not related to practice and training would be taken care of. Thus, you can understand how surprised Meng Wu was when his master told him out of blue one day, that he was making the pilgrimage to the top of Mount Wua Sho. Even more surprised where the rest of the disciple body of Sect Cloudspire. A Pavillion Master was leaving for an extended period of time, with no guarantee of coming back soon! The news spread like wildfire amongst the Inner and Outer sect disciples.

When the time had finally come for Siu Ren to leave, the whole Sect gathered to bid him goodbye and a safe return. Even the Sect Master, a man so old that could be called ancient himself, came out of secluded cultivation and silently watched as Siu Ren left.

At the start, everyone was optimistic about Siu Ren's journey, thinking that he would be back in two months - at most four if he encountered rough terrain or weather. When one year passed since his departure, everyone started worrying that something must have gone wrong, but their trust in Siu Ren's prowess kept them from sending people to search for him.

Only when the second year came to pass did the Sect realize that the gravity of the situation was out of the scope of their imagination. The Sect Elders convened and a search party of five people was created, of which one was Meng Wu himself. After careful preparation, they left for Mount Wua Sho.

It took the party roughly a month to reach the base of the mountain. Taking in the sheer size of Mount Wua Sho, the five people decided to split up, with each person taking a different path to the top. After splitting up the supplies, the five people took off, each picking a path of their own.

They quickly came to know, however, that the mountain was not to be underestimated. One died of a landslide, another died of starvation because he refused to eat the pink fruit that grew on the mountain's ridges, another was robbed and killed by bandits, and another was mauled to death by a huge bear while he was resting. Unknowingly to him, Meng Wu, by some kind of twisted luck, strength, will of heart to see his master once more, or a combination of those things had been the only one that survived long enough to reach the clearing.

And now he was standing there, gazing that the area in front of him silently. His gaze then fell over a man sitting on top of a boulder, a couple of feet away from the wrought iron door. The man was definitely not a person of Meng Wu's sect, that much was certain from his attire.

Meng Wu stared at the back of the man for a couple of seconds before walking over and sitting cross-legged on a boulder of his own. Without talking, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, revolving his cultivation base and feeling a wisp of spiritual essence flowing through his body's meridians. He immediately felt his fatigue lessening, and the last remnants of fog disappeared from his mind.

After a couple of moments, he opened his eyes once more and looked at the man again. He coughed slightly, to get the man's attention, and talked out loud.

[color=7FFFD4][b]"Hello there. If you don't mind me asking, are you climbing up the mountain? Or waiting for someone else here?"[/b][/color]