[Transmigration] Die Gemahlin des Kriegsgottes

Kapitel 12

This is the Wuzhang of fifteen years ago, this is the scene that the powerful and noble fox spirit before us can never erase from its memory, this is the indelible scar that humanity left on this ancient clan...

Even as we gazed repeatedly at the desolate otherworld, even as we heard the desperate cries of the undead, Icefin and I were rendered powerless by the scene before us. Even as we watched Master Fanliu resolutely brush aside Master Longshu's arm that tried to stop us, and slowly walk past us toward the demon fox, we were powerless to stop him. The raging foxfire whipped his chestnut-brown hair as Master Fanliu approached the demon fox, enveloped in blue flames. Gradually, a thin layer of pale blue mist enveloped his tall figure, making his face appear as ethereal and serene as the moonlit night. It was a sign that his soul was being extracted from his body. Foxfire directly scorched the spirit; even if it wasn't as unapproachable as a spirit without a physical form, a human couldn't endure being bathed in such flames for long…

“How could this happen… I promised it I would bring you happiness…” Extending his fingers, scorched by the wildfire, Teacher Fanliu gently removed the fox demon’s left hand from his face, a sobbing whisper escaping his throat, “…Whether you die immediately or are separated from your family…what I can’t bear is that I’ve caused you so much pain, that you’ve lived in hatred for the past fifteen years…”

Space twisted again—a long, peacock-like tail, fiery red fur leaping from the raging flames, across the spark-filled forest path, across the low bushes reduced to skeletons, it was a beautiful adult fox, as if fleeing for its life, running towards the cabin at the other end of the forest. The moment the wooden door opened, the young face of Teacher Fanliu from fifteen years ago was painted with intense colors by the flames; the side facing the firelight was a vibrant orange-red, the side facing away from the firelight a somber deep blue. His expression of disbelief was coldly sliced open…

The fox stopped Mr. Hanyu, who was about to rush towards the burning mountain, and placed what it was carrying in its mouth in front of him. It was a fox cub that had not been born for long. Even though it was still as soft and cute as a fragile fur-filled toy, you could see its luxurious fan-shaped tail, which marked its status as a natural aristocrat.

Gazing intently at the humans before him—humans who were companions to those who had set fire to their home—the noble ancient kin revealed a final, poignant expression. Then, as if mocking the astonished expressions of those before him who had grasped the purpose of his actions, the Nine-Tailed King of Spirits turned haughtily and fled into the infernal, desolate forest…

That must be one of the foxes that Teacher Fanliu once released. Perhaps it was because its injured partner couldn't escape the ever-present wildfires, or perhaps it wanted to protect their beautiful home, so even knowing that the road ahead only led to death, it still rushed towards it...

But it entrusted the only thing it couldn't let go of—the continuation of its own life—to humankind...

A tiny fox, lying in the hands of the one who once saved it—can that person truly be sure their child will be happy? The powerful demon spirit, summoning the fox's wildfire, gambles its entire life, using forgiveness as a bargaining chip, betting its final trust…

The fiery moon still hung in the sky, and the rain poured down as if drenching someone's life...

The image of Master Fanliu's youthful face overlapped with his current one, both bearing that same almost sorrowful, melancholic smile. This smile was reflected like a mirror onto the young fox demon's face: "You knew from the beginning that I wasn't Su Fang, didn't you? Why were you still so gentle? You humans... are so cunning..." The fox demon extended its distinctive, long claws, tracing the outline of Master Fanliu's expression, "So I will... kill you all!"

"You're wrong! You didn't want to kill anyone!" A calm voice swept past my ears like the wind. Icefin bypassed me, who was leaning against the samurai, and slowly walked into the wildfire as if it didn't matter. "If you really wanted to kill them, why did you leave them unconscious?"

"That's right!" I quickly stood up, gestured for the samurai to sit still, and chased after Icefin into the wildfire. I tried my best to convey my feelings, suppressing the burning exhaustion in my soul. "Back then, under the cherry blossom tree, you were the one who greeted us with a smile! You are clearly a... gentle person!"

The foxfire suddenly surged, its intense heat reaching our very souls, forcing Icefin and me to halt, emitting uncontrollable groans. Beyond the flames, Teacher Fanliu's clear, unperturbed smile seemed oblivious to the pain, an expression imbued with a resignation to death.

The fox spirit, who had completely taken control of the situation, seemed helpless, uttering mad words that contradicted her elegant, sorrowful expression: "Gentle people? How could you understand—such pain, it's impossible to bear this kind of pain without hating someone..."

Is this the logic of the fox spirit—hating humans just to alleviate suffering?

Teacher Fanliu remained calm, his smile still masking his sorrow. "I know... so, killing me will bring you relief..."

Unable to control herself, the fox demon grabbed Fanliu's hair and pulled him closer, but his expression was terrifyingly calm: "There's no way to escape! Every single night, I dream of that fire again and again. I can only fall asleep by fantasizing about extinguishing the flames with your blood, but what will I do when you're all gone? What will I do if I dream of the fire again?" Unable to withstand the Foxfire, Fanliu could no longer maintain his standing position and slowly collapsed to the ground. At this moment, as if collapsing, the fox demon couldn't help but hug Fanliu tightly through the flames: "I came to kill you... but why are your hands... always so warm..."

I finally understand that the fox spirit's pain does not stem from hatred for humans, but rather from the guilt caused by its inability to hate humans!

"You two idiots!" Longshu, who had somehow ended up in the wildfire, shoved me and Bingqi aside. The searing pain in his soul made him shout, "Damn it!" Meaninglessly driving away the incorporeal blue flames, he stormed over to Fanliu and the fox spirit. Unexpectedly, he slammed his fist on the heads of the two who had fallen to the ground, using his usual motion: "Fools! Don't you understand? Even a little fox like you is this powerful. Your parents could easily take those people's lives! They just don't want this hatred to continue, they don't want you to live in hatred!" Completely disregarding the consequences of angering the fox spirit, he roughly pulled up the ancient clansman's robe. "So what if you dreamt of a wildfire? Are you going to spend your whole life worrying about the past? If you can't take it anymore, just cry! Cry until dawn! No one will stop you, because you must throw everything away by dawn, because you must be happy!"

In an instant, the painful smile receded from the fox demon's face like a receding tide. He opened his thin, blue eyes wide in disbelief: "So, back then, I... really wanted to cry..." The fox-wildfire flickered, and the souls of everyone within its flames directly felt the scorching waves. For fifteen years, the torment this beautiful, powerful demon spirit had endured on every night of nightmares, the torment of not being able to define or convey her inner feelings, must have been far more agonizing than this...

Putting aside the fox demon, Teacher Longshu shook the weak Teacher Fanliu's shoulder, making no attempt to correct his harsh tone: "And you! It's because you've always put on this meaningless, forced smile in front of the child that he's developed this awkward personality! This child hasn't learned any useful ways to express emotions from you! Be frank! You incompetent father! The one who's always wanting to cry is clearly you!"

I don't know when I wandered into the fox-infested wilderness. A samurai, slowly passing by me, gently shook his body, his coarse, short fur brushing against my fingertips. The majestic, steady wolfhound slowly approached the father and son, who were not related by blood, and with an awkward tenderness that belied its rugged appearance, it gently licked their faces. It must have been using its warm, rough tongue to lick away fifteen years of tears…

Suddenly, the heavy feeling that seemed to bind the body like chains disappeared. Like the gentle breeze that rustles the leaves in early spring, a tender and sweet scent swept over the scorching foxfire, and cool mist drifted away. Once again, the rain enveloped the world...

It was only a brief farewell, yet the long-awaited hazy full moon, casting a warm glow, moved through the ink-wash-like clouds. The air was thick with the scent of earth and grass; the fine rain felt like cool, gentle fingertips. Like incredible magic, the wildfire scattered the moment it touched the raindrops, transforming into countless tiny orbs of light, fluttering lightly like pale blue fireflies. Facing the falling silver rain, strings of blue fireflies rose ever higher into the sky, only to fall again with the raindrops. The fox spirit, the human, and even the samurai nestled beside them were all enveloped in a curtain of silver threads adorned with blue glass beads…

"So, it's okay to cry in times like that..." Icefin murmured softly beside him, almost to himself. Raindrops, gradually dampening his hair, clung to his eyelashes and slid down his delicate cheeks, easily mistaken for glistening tears. But I knew this guy wasn't crying at all! Because such a frank smile was actually on his face.

Instead, I didn't know what expression to give, so I could only tilt my head back and gaze at the ever-gentle, vast, and distant sky...

Strange Alley

When I was little, I never dared to go through that alley near my house called Shi Lane—back then, I didn't know what it was like for others: the transparent figures lingering at the crossroads, the strange animals that walked upright like humans, the alien spirits sitting quietly in the shade; even though I could see the ice fins, when we told them all, my father would get angry, my uncles would laugh at us, my mother and aunts would say that children shouldn't lie, and my friends would say how annoying they were, and then they would never talk to us again. Only my grandfather was different. He would tell us: it's not strange, one day you will understand—they are the same as us.

When we were four years old, our grandfather passed away.

My cousin, Hyo-tsubo, who is a month younger than me, and I never attended kindergarten; we were always homeschooled. Every week, we would go to learn Go from a teacher at the Kagawa City Go Academy, a friend of my grandfather. My grandmother always felt bad about troubling others and using their things, so she always made us bring our own Go stones. The Go board was impossible for two small children to carry, so we used white paper with grids instead. Even so, carrying two boxes of Go stones left my five- or six-year-old brother and me breathless. But my father and uncle, who had been drinking a couple of cups of wine, were completely unsympathetic. Because we passed a tavern on the way home, they always made us buy some wine on the way back—a gourd was their entire week's worth of alcohol.

Carrying such heavy things, we could have covered more than half the distance by taking Shixiang Alley, but Bingqi and I always chose the longer route because that alley was inexplicably annoying; however, one afternoon in mid-spring, we had no choice but to stand at the entrance of this alley.

To be honest, this is inextricably linked to the "She Ri Fire". My grandmother told me that the first Wu day of mid-spring is the Spring She Day in Kagawa Castle. A few years ago, for a long period of time starting from She Day, fires kept breaking out here and there in the city. These strange little fires, which were called "She Ri Fire", could never be found to have a cause, but they never caused any casualties or losses, so people got used to it. However, the fire department could not sit idly by, so for a while, the sound of fire trucks always echoed in the city.

Today's She Ri fire happened on my way home with Icefin. Icefin, who had just bought some wine, was carrying a small bag filled with gourds, and I, carrying a chess set, watched the commotion together. Everyone was pointing and discussing the fire, unable to understand why it was burning on the roof. Icefin and I exchanged a glance—couldn't anyone see it? Clearly, a pair of black bird shadows were flying across the sky, and from their wings, beautiful, burning black feathers, like New Year's Eve fireworks, kept falling. I even caught a fleeting glimpse of their beautiful golden eyes.

The small fire was quickly extinguished, and people were scattering noisily when Icefin suddenly grabbed me: "Firewing! Quick, check if the wine bottle is broken! It's so light!" I quickly went behind him, and there wasn't a trace of water on his crimson Tang suit or the dark crimson brocade backpack made from our childhood clothes. I hurriedly took out the wine gourd—the red paper seal on the lid was firmly affixed, and there wasn't even a scratch on the bottle, but... where did the wine we just bought go? I shook the gourd vigorously, but its light weight told me—it was empty!

A whole jug of wine has vanished from its sealed container! Who... stole our wine without even opening the bottle?

I shoved the gourd of wine back into Icefin's backpack, almost bursting into tears: "It must have been those guys again! Even if I told the truth, Dad wouldn't believe me! He'd definitely say we spent the money for wine!" Looking around, the guys strolled around leisurely, occasionally casting gloating glances our way. Icefin wasn't too panicked this time, just mimicking an adult's exclamation: "Firewing, how much money is left in your piggy bank?" This wasn't the first time; those coins weren't meant for this! Although reluctant, I told them the amount of all my savings, which, combined with Icefin's savings, was roughly enough for today's wine. But the most crucial thing was, it was already late. Having wasted time watching the commotion, how were we going to get another gourd of wine before Dad and Uncle returned?

"There's no other way!" Icefin nodded as if encouraging himself. "Let's take the shortcut through History Alley!"

Although the suggestion gave me goosebumps, I really couldn't object to it at the moment. And so, Icefin and I stood at the alleyway flanked by high brick walls…

Shixiang Alley is a short alley with only one house's door from beginning to end. Even that house seems uninhabited; the paint on the wooden door is peeling, and the door panel is crooked. Wild grass grows rampantly from the cracks, obscuring the stone pavement, while nameless vines brazenly occupy the entire brick wall. Icefin and I wouldn't be afraid of this alone. What bothered us most was that this place, which should be a passageway for those creatures, was avoided even by the most active, miasma-eating sprites that constantly flutter in the air.

Icefin tugged at the hem of my willow-colored Tang suit, urging me to make a decision quickly. We nodded to each other as if encouraging one another, gritted our teeth, closed our eyes, and rushed hand in hand into the alley. The alley was straight and short; we'd reach the end soon, right? But things didn't go as planned. I hadn't run more than a few steps when I bumped into something soft. Instinctively opening my eyes, I was met with a burst of vibrant color that filled my entire field of vision…

"Whose child is this! Running around like a headless chicken!" With a playful scolding, I was grabbed by the arm before I could even react.

"A ghost!" I screamed immediately, my voice trembling with tears, but Icefin pinched my hand hard. "You can't say that! Firewing, didn't Grandpa say that if you call its name, it will haunt you?"

"How dare you two talk like that!" A strange woman's sweet voice came from above, but the speaker was quite fierce. "I want to see how your parents raise their children!"

My gaze followed the vibrant colors upwards: it was a dark green brocade cheongsam woven with many rose-colored flowers, the cuffs and collar adorned with tassels the same color as the flowers; jade bracelets clinked crisply between her slightly exposed wrists, and a silk folding fan with rose blossoms was held between her plump fingers; my gaze finally settled between her fair chin and the intricate rose-colored buttons on the collar, and I dared not move it any further upwards.

Then, the hand that was holding my arm loosened, and then started pinching my and Icefin's faces again. I had to look up: a beautiful young woman's face, unusually elegant with her curly hair, appeared before my timid eyes. I was too young then to know that the light red rouge applied near the cheekbones exuded a vintage charm; I just thought: This person's clothes are so strange! I hadn't seen a single person just now, so when did she appear in this deserted alley...?

Did she pinch us to see if we tasted good?

I shook my head forcefully to get rid of her hand, but the beautiful woman laughed loudly: "How cute! You look like a pair of birds with different plumage! I'd like to keep you as pets too! What are your names? Would you like to come to my house?"

Because my grandfather always talked about many strange rules, Icefin and I were raised in accordance with the old customs of Kagawa, hiding our genders. My grandfather made us wear Tang suits that few people wore, and asked us to call each other by the nicknames he gave us, "Firewing" and "Icefin".

Grandfather had his reasons for doing this. For example, when dealing with these guys of unknown origin, we should just ignore them no matter what they say, and they will most likely know to leave. If we still can't get rid of them, we can loudly announce the nicknames of these two powerful mythical beasts.

But today, this trump card failed. After hearing our names, the beauty actually picked up Icefin even more aggressively: "The young master is definitely cuter!" Not only did it not deter her, but it also made her identity obvious without her even realizing it. Now, even Icefin was so anxious he was almost in tears. Seeing his increasingly reddened eyes, the beauty laughed: "Look how anxious you are! I know what you're worried about! It's just a small matter like getting some wine! I'll give you a gourd back, okay?" She deftly took a wine gourd from Icefin's backpack and stuffed it into his arms.

In an instant, disbelief crossed Icefin's face. He shook the gourd, and from his clumsy movements, it was clear the once light container was now heavy again. The wine in the bottle had vanished into thin air—we had confirmed this strange occurrence—but now it had returned out of nowhere. Wasn't that equally bizarre? Overjoyed, Icefin didn't think much of it. He simply bent down from the beauty's arms, trying to hand the gourd to me: "Firewing, look! The wine's back!"

Because of Icefin's change in posture, the face of the beauty he had previously concealed came into view once more—a smile with an ethereal, flower-like quality emerged from the powdered face of the person behind Icefin, followed by the beauty's soft voice: "Now that you have nothing to worry about, play with me a little longer!" At that moment, like the rising sun dispelling the thin shadows of the night, starting with the gourd handed to me, the color and texture gradually faded from Icefin's body; this fading trend indiscriminately spread to the beauty, as if a raging fire had evaporated the water stains on a thin silk. Icefin and the beauty simply vanished before my eyes!

The alley was deserted, without a soul in sight, and nothing seemed amiss. Touching the wormwood and vines, I felt the same gentle spring breeze as elsewhere. But just moments ago, two people had vanished before my eyes! I turned around in a panic, and behind me stood the only door in the entire alley…

Although I couldn't see anything sinister, I still couldn't bring myself to approach the door—the vines hanging from the eaves maliciously blocked my view, and the moss-covered cracks on the dilapidated door looked like greedy mouths, giving me the illusion that the Ice Fins had been swallowed up by it! Thinking of this, I couldn't help but take a step forward and forcefully push open the half-closed door.

Perhaps due to years of disrepair, the heavy door unexpectedly toppled backward when I pushed it. Before I could even process the creaking of the hinges and the terrifying sound of the door crashing to the ground, two dark figures darted out from behind the door with incredible speed, passing right in front of me. If I hadn't dodged quickly, they might have even injured my eyes.

Those must have been a pair of birds, because I can still hear the sound of their wings flapping in my ears.

"This kid's pretty nimble! I almost snatched his eyes!" A chilling voice rang out, uttering words that sent a cold sweat down my spine. I, who was about to open my eyes, quickly clenched my fists to cover my face.

"Brother, we can't see him at all now!" Another voice, though sounding a bit childish, was anything but friendly. And most importantly, they were determining my location by my eyes—most of the guys in the other world could only see my eyes.

"Originally there were two of them, but the Queen intercepted one of them halfway, so we can only each get one eyeball!" The first one spoke was seriously calculating his options, which made me even more convinced that Icefin was in grave danger. But now I didn't even dare to cry, afraid that they would find my eye hidden there through my tears.

My ears were filled with the sound of wings... But just then, at my wit's end, I suddenly smelled a familiar scent. It wasn't a pleasant smell, but it unexpectedly made me feel at ease. It was the scent of the wine that Icefin and I had bought from the tavern! In the evenings, when my father and uncle had a drink, they often carried this faint smell of wine on them!

The smell of alcohol was much stronger than on my dad and the others, which meant someone was approaching me! Even though I couldn't see them, I could feel it!

"What are you doing! Get away from her!" Sure enough, it was a third person's voice!

"Mind your own business, Lord She! My brother is starving!" The stern voice held a hint of respect, but more so of displeasure. "Isn't it rare for food to be delivered to our door?" The flapping of wings in my ears grew louder, and I shrank back in fear.

"You won't starve to death even if you do!" The man called the community leader seemed to be getting angry. "Try getting any closer to her!"

“Brother! I’m not hungry at all! Don’t talk back to the village head!” The second person, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke timidly, and a brief silence followed. “You are an incompetent fool!” Finally, the chilling voice uttered this ambiguous sentence, and then the sound of flapping wings gradually stretched into the boundless distance.

I peeked through my fingers and saw a tall, stout middle-aged man smiling down at me. He must be the village head: a round face with a red nose, he looked rather confused, but he seemed like a very kind person. Seeing that I didn't move my fingers away, he said somewhat hesitantly, "Young lady, could you give me that thing in your backpack?"

Huh? What's that in my backpack? Aren't those two boxes of Go stones? What does he need them for?

Because I remained silent, the village head began to get anxious, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead: "You have no use for my things! Give them back to me!"

"I didn't take your things!" I immediately retorted, indignant. "It's me who had my things taken!"

An awkward expression appeared on the village head's face. Then, he kept forcing a smile and said, "It was wrong of me to steal your wine. I apologize, okay? Please give it back to me!"

So he's the one who drank our stuff! He caused Icefin to go missing, got me entangled with some strange thing, and almost lost my eyesight—he's the culprit behind all of this, and now he's blaming me for taking his things! I almost punched him: "Who cares about your things? I'm carrying my family's Go stones!"

"Huh?" The village head's previously excited face immediately darkened, but he still pressed on, unwilling to give up, "Could I have seen wrong? Is it really a chess piece, or a wine gourd?"

Indeed, the two stacked chess bowls, when viewed through the backpack, clearly resembled gourds! He must have thought I had the wine gourd to deter the person trying to eat my eyes! I secretly glanced at the village elder, who was pacing anxiously, loudly complaining, his already red nose becoming even more prominent: "That woman is so unreasonable! I've always been accommodating to her! So what if she stole a child's wine? She doesn't have to give away my secret stash! So, the wine is with another child..."

Hearing this, I grabbed the hem of the She Gong's robe—I had pretty much figured out what had happened. The beautiful woman who took Icefin was the "Empress" those guys who wanted to eat my eyes had mentioned. She was furious that the She Gong, who was a heavy drinker, had stolen our wine, so she gave us his treasured secret wine. To prevent the She Gong from finding it, she hid Icefin, who carried the wine gourd! Now, the only one who could find that beautiful woman was the She Gong!

"It's no use pulling me, don't waste my time!" The community worker sighed heavily as I tugged at his clothes, rubbing his red nose.

"I know where Icefin is!" I said, my voice at least twice as loud as usual, because I felt guilty for lying. "I'll take you there!"

"Really?" It seemed the village head had mistaken my loud voice for his own righteousness. He laboriously squatted down closer to me. "You won't even open your eyes. How are you going to take me there?"

"But... I'm afraid those two people will come and eat my eyes..." I was still a little scared.

"That's true..." The community leader pondered for a moment, then suddenly reached out and opened my backpack. After a series of clattering sounds from the chess pieces, the community leader suddenly covered my eyes with one hand. At this moment, his voice became unusually authoritative: "Zuo Yan, You Yan!"

The sound of flapping wings rose again, growing louder as it approached. A familiar, chilling voice slowly drifted over: "What are your orders, Lord?"

"Take it and eat it!" the village head said seriously. The two men named Zuo Yan and You Yan seemed a little confused, so the village head hurriedly explained, "I said I'd take her to see her brother, but the price is her eyes in exchange!" My eyes? They're still perfectly fine on my face!

"Huh?" The childish voice let out a small exclamation, followed by a slight sob in his voice, "Brother... do you think I can eat something like that?"

"Don't be shy!" the village elder said as if he were the one treating, but the childish voice was unusually firm: "Villager, I absolutely will not eat it!"

"Youyan!" The man called out his younger brother's name in a stern voice, but the brother's attitude seemed even more resolute. The village elder laughed heartily, as if watching a good show, but his voice held a hint of severity: "I'm offering you food, but you won't eat it. If I see you bothering her again later, you'll be in for a world of hurt!"

Although I couldn't see her, the air around me was thick with a tense atmosphere. After a long while, that chilling voice rang out again: "Don't worry, since Youyan said no, I will never look at her again! But, Lord She, don't think you can hide what you've done from me!"

The sound of flapping wings rang out resolutely. When the sound disappeared beyond the clouds, the shaman released his hand from my eyes. Unable to adjust to the light again, I squinted. In my uncertain vision, countless black feathers burning with crimson flames hovered and danced among the gray alleys. The moment they touched the grass and vines, the fiery feathers burst into golden flames and then vanished without a trace...

"Huh? Aren't they the ones from She Ri Huo..." I couldn't help but exclaim. The She Ri Huo that Ice Fin and I saw on our way home was caused by these feathers!

The village elder laughed somewhat embarrassedly: "They are the people I order around. They haven't been fed for a long time, so it's understandable that they have a bit of a temper!" He stretched out his hand, and two black things lay on his hand. I curiously leaned closer to take a look, but was so frightened that I took three steps back—they were clearly a pair of pupils, and I couldn't figure out how they were separated from the whole eyeball!

The village headman burst into triumphant laughter: "Haha, you scared me, you scared me! Little girl, come and take another look!"

I dared not disobey him, so I cautiously leaned over and quickly peeked at him. But what I saw at that moment was just two ordinary black chess pieces—it turned out he was using the black chess pieces to make my eyes and trick Zuo Yan and You Yan! I couldn't help but laugh along with him.

Seeing that I was no longer afraid, the village elder casually put the chess piece into the chess box on my back: "Alright, take me to find the child with the gourd!"

Hearing this, I immediately deflated. Actually, I didn't know where Icefin was either! My stammering made the village head suspicious, and his expression grew increasingly grim. Having witnessed his power before, I dared not provoke him further, and could only whisper, "Icefin is with that lady!"

"That woman!" Upon hearing my words, the village head's anger erupted. "What does she want?! Taking my wine is one thing, but she's even going so far as to see other men behind my back! She's only five or six now, but things will be different in ten or eight years!" I didn't quite understand why he was angry, but the way he spoke made it seem like ten or eight years was as easy as tomorrow, something I could wake up in a dream. It made me laugh. After his outburst, the village head nodded forcefully, gritting his teeth, and said, "Fine, I'm going to see other people's young ladies too!"

"You dare!" With a coquettish voice, the old man's head involuntarily turned in one direction, and I broke out in a cold sweat again—there was nothing around, but a hand appeared out of nowhere and pinched the old man's ear hard! The old man's face contorted in pain, but he still tried to force a smile with his distorted face: "Don't take it seriously, old woman! I was just joking!"

"Who's an old woman! Even the young master says I'm a beauty!" The coquettish yet feisty tone was familiar to me—starting from the hand pinching the old man's ear, it was as if an invisible paintbrush was drawing a lifelike picture on the canvas of the air at an astonishing speed. The cheongsam cuffs with rose-colored patterns on a dark green background began to emerge vividly. In the blink of an eye, the old-fashioned beauty holding the ice fins reappeared in front of me.

"Firewing!" Icefin struggled in the arms of the beauty whom Zuo Yan and You Yan called "Empress." Afraid that he would fall, the Empress had no choice but to put him back on the ground. As soon as he was free, Icefin ran to me. His eyes were red and his voice was choked with sobs: "Firewing is the worst! He just disappeared like that!" Seeing his appearance, I immediately recalled my own experiences and burst into tears as well.

"You drunkard, look what you've done!" Completely forgetting her own great responsibility, the lady pointed at us and loudly reprimanded the village head. The village head smiled obsequiously and apologized in a low voice, but he still couldn't give up and kept stealing glances at the gourd in Icefin's hand, still thinking about his secret-reserved wine.

"I won't give it back to you!" Icefin said angrily to the community god while holding the gourd, and I nodded vigorously in agreement.

The village headman was so anxious he kept rubbing his hands: "That wine might taste a little better to us, but people absolutely cannot touch it..."