The biting north wind was like a mad beast, carrying tiny snowflakes, like a sharp blade, fiercely scraping across the Jin army camp. In the camp, the twelve black battle flags had long been frozen hard by the bone-chilling cold, losing their former dancing posture with the wind. A thick layer of ice ridges condensed on the wolf-tooth flag tassels at the top of the flagpole, emitting a cold light under the cold moonlight, as if silently telling the repressive and tense atmosphere in the camp. Wang Ergou huddled in the small cowhide tent, his whole body shrank into a ball due to the cold, his teeth trembling uncontrollably, making a clattering sound. He took great effort to stuff half a piece of highland barley cake that was as hard as a stone and hurt his teeth into his mouth, trying to get a little warmth from this dry food. In the distance, the shrill neighing of war horses could be heard from time to time. The tail end of the sound was ruthlessly crushed by the howling wind and snow, and intertwined with the smell of the boiling horse meat soup in the iron pot, which exuded a fishy smell. It went straight into Wang Ergou's nasal cavity, making his stomach churn and he couldn't help feeling nauseous.
"Damn it, this weather is so bad that it's killing me!" Zhang Tieniu, an old soldier in the same tent, cursed in a low voice while adding a piece of frozen cow dung to the dying fire. As soon as the cow dung came into contact with the weak sparks, a few scattered sparks instantly flew up, but before these sparks could bloom more light, they were quickly swallowed up by the cold air and extinguished without a trace on the frozen armor. At this moment, a sharp and piercing cry was like a sharp sword, instantly piercing the barrier of wind and snow. The sound sounded like the miserable cry of a helpless child, and like the strange sneer of a gloomy old woman, revealing unspeakable weirdness and horror. Wang Ergou trembled with fear, and the pottery bowl in his hand fell to the ground with a "clang". The boiling soup in the bowl splashed on the frozen ground, and instantly steamed up a hazy white mist, as if adding a bit of mystery to this terrifying scene.
"It's a fox cry!" Zhang Tieniu reacted very quickly, and suddenly stretched out his hand to grab the long knife at his waist. Because of the excessive force, his knuckles turned pale as paper. His voice was also trembling slightly due to extreme fear. "Last month, the scout reported that the foxes in this area are very strange, and they actually have three eyes." His voice was still echoing in the tent, and the creepy fox cry became more and more dense, as if countless foxes hidden in the darkness were quickly surrounding from all directions and surrounding the entire camp. The soldiers were frightened by this sudden change and panicked. They rushed out of the tent in a hurry, waving their spears and scimitars in the wind and snow, trying to find the source of the strange cry. However, when they looked around, all they saw was a vast expanse of white snow. The fox footprints should have been left on the snow, but the moment they appeared, they were completely covered up by the rapidly falling snow, as if the foxes had never appeared. Everything seemed like a terrible illusion.
Lin Feng stood quietly outside the central army tent, wrapped in a slightly worn grey cloth cloak. His fingertips unconsciously gently stroked the bronze mirror fragment engraved with mysterious runes in his arms. Ever since the earth-shaking incident in Qingtian Village, this fragment was like a red-hot iron, emitting a scorching temperature in his arms from time to time, as if reminding him of that unforgettable memory. At this moment, the bronze compass in his hand, the ancient Bagua pattern on the surface was faintly glowing, and the pendulum on the compass was shaking violently and uncontrollably, as if eagerly sensing some powerful and mysterious power. Lin Feng raised his head and looked at the snowflakes flying all over the sky, and his thoughts involuntarily drifted back to three years ago. At that time, he was still an innocent boy, full of curiosity and longing for everything in the world. However, the strong smell of blood he smelled outside the ancestral hall in Qingtian Village, the cloudy and lifeless pupils of the hunter Lao Zhou, and the dazzling white light that suddenly flashed before his eyes when he touched the green smoke, were like thorns deeply rooted in his heart, becoming a mystery in his heart that could never be solved, tormenting him day and night.
"Report!" An anxious shout broke the chaos in the camp. A messenger stumbled towards the central army tent. The blood seeping from the gaps in his armor had already frozen into ice in this extremely cold weather, flashing cold light under the moonlight. "A woman in red was found three miles northwest!" Upon hearing this news, Lin Feng's pupils shrank sharply in an instant, as if he was hit by something terrible. He subconsciously clenched his right hand under his cloak quietly. What he clenched in his hand was the talisman he brought from Qingtian Village. It was the only power he could rely on when facing unknown dangers. Wang Ergou also rushed towards the camp gate with the large army. The biting cold wind wrapped in snow particles hit his face like dense bullets, hurting him so much that it seemed to scrape his skin off. From afar, on a white snowy plain, there stood a bright red figure. Against the white background, the figure was particularly eye-catching, like a blood lotus blooming in the dark night, exuding a mysterious and dangerous atmosphere. The woman was barefoot, stepping lightly on the thick snow. Strangely, she did not leave any footprints where she walked, as if she was not a mortal at all, but a ghost from another world. The bright red skirt she wore rustled in the wind, dancing like a burning flame. And in her hair, two dragon horns flashed a faint blue light, adding a bit of weirdness to this snowy night.
"Shoot!" The centurion's roar rang out in the snow, shaking everyone's eardrums like a huge bell. In an instant, countless arrows flew towards the woman in red, like arrows shot from a bow, cutting through the sky, carrying the fear and anger of the soldiers. However, when the arrows were only three feet away from the woman, they seemed to hit an invisible wall, fell to the ground one after another, and then were shattered into powder by a mysterious force, turning into debris and floating in the snow. When Wang Ergou saw this scene, he felt his breathing stagnate instantly, and his heart seemed to stop beating. He widened his eyes and watched in horror as the woman slowly turned around. The woman's face was as pale as snow, without a trace of blood, like a cold statue, but her eyes were bright and terrifying, as if the cold air of the entire snowfield was condensed in them, making people afraid to look at them. The woman raised her hand and waved it casually. The fierce wind that was originally whistling towards the soldiers suddenly changed direction as if controlled by an invisible big hand, carrying the blizzard all over the sky and rolling back with a more ferocious momentum. Several soldiers who were unable to react were knocked to the ground by the sudden strong wind, and the weapons in their hands also fell out of their hands and slid a long way on the smooth ice, making a series of crisp collision sounds.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Lin Feng stared at the dragon horn on the woman's forehead, his heart beating uncontrollably, as if it was about to burst through his chest. The incense ash in the Qingtian Village ancestral hall was suspended in the air, as if telling a mysterious prophecy, and the dreamlike phantom emerging from the green smoke, at this moment overlapped with the thrilling scene in front of him, making him more convinced that there was an inextricable connection between him and this mysterious event. He hurriedly took out the bronze mirror fragment in his arms, and the moment his fingers touched the fragment, the fragment suddenly began to heat up like ignited gunpowder, and the temperature was getting higher and higher, as if it was echoing with the powerful aura emanating from the woman, conveying some mysterious information.
"She is not a human." Zhang Tieniu's voice was filled with tears and trembling violently. The long sword in his hand could not stop shaking, as if it would fall from his trembling hands in the next second. When the woman heard this, she suddenly laughed softly. Her laughter was ethereal and cold, as if it came from the underworld, making people's souls tremble. "Qingming appears in the world, and everything is silent. You insignificant mortals also dare to get involved in this heaven-defying secret?" Before she finished speaking, she flicked her fingertips lightly, and a faint blue flame flew out from her fingertips like a meteor and landed on the snow. As soon as the flame touched the snow, it spread at an astonishing speed and ignited a blazing green fire. Wherever the fire went, the thick snow instantly melted like ice and snow, and turned into pools of blood, which was particularly shocking in this icy and snowy land.
Wang Ergou was so frightened that his legs went limp, and he could no longer support his body, and fell to the ground. He looked at his companions around him in panic. Some of them had collapsed to the ground in fear, kneeling down and begging for mercy; some were stunned, as if they were cast under a spell, standing still, with fear and despair in their eyes. The clanking sound of weapons colliding with each other, mixed with the chattering sound of soldiers' teeth, intertwined in the howling wind and snow, playing a strange and terrifying movement that made people shudder. Lin Feng took advantage of the panic of the crowd and quietly went around to the flank. He carefully took out a handful of cinnabar from his arms, squatted down, and drew a complex and mysterious spell on the snow. Then, he closed his eyes, his lips trembled slightly, and whispered the spell he learned from the secret scroll at home. As he chanted, a dazzling red light instantly lit up on the talisman. The red light was like a burning torch, and it met the green light emanating from the woman's body in the air. In an instant, the light splashed in all directions, and exploded into a ball of extremely dazzling light, illuminating the entire snowfield like daylight.
"So you are the host of the Qingming Mirror." The woman's eyes were like a sharp sword, sweeping straight at Lin Feng, with a mocking sneer on her lips, "What a pity, you have this special identity, but you don't know how to control this powerful power." As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand and waved it, and an extremely powerful force instantly rushed towards Lin Feng. Lin Feng felt as if he was hit head-on by a mountain, and the whole person flew out uncontrollably and hit the gate heavily. With a "click", the compass that he had always regarded as a treasure in his arms shattered. The broken compass fragments were like sharp blades, deeply piercing his arm, and blood gushed out instantly. However, in this extremely cold weather, before the blood had time to flow, it had already formed ice beads on his arm, hanging on his arm, which was shocking.
At this critical moment, the sound of hurried horse hooves suddenly came from afar, and the sound became clearer and clearer as it approached from afar. The woman heard the sound of horse hooves, raised her head slightly, and looked to the south. The light of the dragon horn on her forehead suddenly became more dazzling, as if responding to some powerful force. "Qingming appears in the world, and fate has come." Her voice became lower and lower, gradually dissipating in the wind and snow. At the same time, her figure also slowly merged into the wind and snow like green smoke, disappearing without a trace. On the snow, the blood melted by the green flames quickly solidified, as if time was frozen at this moment. Only the green flame was still burning tenaciously, and on the frozen soil, the four big words "Qingming appears in the world" were deeply imprinted, as if announcing to the world that a huge disaster was about to come.
Wang Ergou trembled with his legs and finally climbed up from the ground. His eyes were full of fear and confusion. Looking at the messy camp in front of him, his heart was full of despair. Zhang Tieniu knelt on the ground, kowtowed in the direction where the woman disappeared, and muttered something in his mouth, as if praying for the protection of the gods. Lin Feng struggled to sit up from the ground. His face was as pale as paper and his lips were bloodless. He gently wiped the ground with his bloody finger, and then carefully put the fragment of Qingming Mirror back into his arms, as if it was the most important thing in his life. At this time, the wind and snow became more and more fierce, and large flakes of snow fell like goose feathers, as if to completely bury this strange encounter. However, the four words "Qingming appears in the world" were like a cold poisonous snake, deeply penetrating into the hearts of every soldier, making them toss and turn in this cold night and unable to fall asleep.
After returning to the tent, Wang Ergou wrapped himself tightly in the quilt and curled up into a ball, trying to get a little warmth from the thin quilt. However, his body was still shaking and he couldn't get warm. He always felt that the woman's cold eyes seemed to be staring at him tightly in the dark corner, and the creepy fox cry and the woman's ethereal sneer kept echoing in his ears, making him nervous and almost collapsed. Lin Feng sat alone in the corner of the tent, carefully looking at the complex and mysterious runes on the bronze mirror fragments in the flickering candlelight. His eyes revealed determination and persistence. He knew that the change in Qingtian Village was just the beginning, and as a person who had a mysterious connection with the Qingming Mirror, he had already been involved in this huge dispute concerning the fate of the world. No matter what was waiting for him ahead, he must go on bravely to unravel the truth hidden behind the fog and take on his mission.
The north wind was still howling, as if it would never stop. The soldiers in the Jin army camp were filled with fear and anxiety. They tossed and turned in their beds, unable to fall asleep. They didn't know that the strange fox cry that startled the camp was just a small prelude to a bigger conspiracy. The power of the Qingming Mirror was quietly awakening under the land, and the entire Central Plains was about to usher in an unprecedented catastrophe. A storm that could change the fate of countless people was slowly brewing and gathering.
