Heaven’s Shadow

In the forest not far from Liuxiang Garden.

The black dog, Ah Tu, hid in the dense bushes, cautiously watching ahead through the gaps in the branches and leaves. Today, the green ox came here again, looking at Liuxiang Garden from a distance with a strange expression of longing and intoxication.

These days, Ah Tu came here almost every day to wait. Then, it discovered that the green ox indeed did not come here by chance. About every two or three days, the green ox would come and stay for half a day, looking at the distant herb garden with a drooling expression, or perhaps indulging in the scent of the herbs.

Ah Tu vaguely felt that the green ox was very interested in something in Liuxiang Garden, not just the scent of these spiritual herbs. However, even though its dog nose was also very sensitive, it still couldn’t distinguish what special things were in the fragrant air.

So it could only wait here. In fact, it wanted to go to the green ox’s side, but its last encounter on Doghead Mountain made it understand the gap between them, so it didn’t dare to take the risk. However, Ah Tu was a smarter dog than it looked, even though its owner often called it “stupid dog” or “dumb dog.”

Ah Tu thought the green ox was a very powerful beast and felt it would be safer to stay near it.

So, Ah Tu decided to seize this opportunity.

Gathering its courage, it took a step towards the green ox. The green ox didn’t react. Ah Tu hesitated for a moment, then took a few more steps. Suddenly, the green ox raised its head sharply.

Ah Tu’s heart skipped a beat, almost kneeling down, but then it realized the green ox wasn’t looking at it but was looking up at the sky.

In the open forest, a few mountain sparrows flew overhead, flapping their wings frantically. One of them, seemingly exhausted, was flying with difficulty, lagging behind the others. In its panic, it couldn’t dodge in time and crashed into a thick branch, causing a rustling noise. Then it fell from the sky with a “thud,” landing precisely between the green ox’s huge horns, then rolling down to the ground.

Ah Tu watched the bird, seeing it twitch a few times on the ground before slowly becoming still, curling up into a ball and falling silent.

The green ox, as tall as a small mountain, slowly lowered its head to look at the small, lifeless body on the ground. Its giant eyes, like copper bells, glowed faintly, its thoughts unknown.

After a while, it lowered its head closer to the sparrow’s body and sniffed. It seemed startled, as if it had detected something.

The green ox stood there for a moment, then let out a low call and turned to leave. It moved with large strides, much faster than usual, disappearing into the forest in no time.

Ah Tu wanted to follow, but after a few steps, it realized it couldn’t catch up no matter what.

Ah Tu stopped in a daze. After a while, it walked over to the dead sparrow, sniffing around for a long time but finding no clues, still looking puzzled.

Ah Tu glanced at the direction where the green ox had gone, hesitated for a while, then turned and walked down the mountain forest towards the house it shared with Lu Chen.

※※※

Lu Chen returned at dusk.

That day, he met Su Qingjun and Yi Xin in the “Herb Garden.” To his surprise, these two women seemed to have become friends. However, they obviously didn’t know about each other’s relationship with Lu Chen, so when they discovered they had come to the Herb Garden for the same reason, they were very surprised.

One came to find someone, the other to see the spiritual plant Red Amber Ginseng. Although their purposes were slightly different, it was still an amazing coincidence. The two women, after their initial surprise, became happy, feeling a strange closeness between them, chatting more cheerfully and leaving Lu Chen aside.

But Lu Chen wasn’t really involved with them. He could be considered friends with Yi Xin, but not even friends with Su Qingjun, so he didn’t find anything wrong with it. After some chatting, he returned home, and in the dim light, saw Ah Tu lying by the door. He greeted it, and Ah Tu came up affectionately.

Everything seemed as usual.

Before entering the house, Lu Chen looked at the evening glow in the sky, seeing the western sky lit up with a fiery red, as if the entire sky was burning.

※※※

Under the same sky, many others also saw the unusually beautiful evening glow.

Su Qingjun stood in front of her master Mu Yuan’s cave dwelling, gazing out.

Yi Xin leaned against the window of her house on Shipan Mountain.

On a high peak amidst the clouds, in an icy and snowy world, a girl as beautiful as an immortal also raised her head, the evening glow reflected in her eyes like burning flames, contrasting sharply with the whistling wind and snow behind her.

And in Kunwu City, in a quiet alley, a fat man was drinking and smacking his lips, looking at the evening glow in the sky, and muttering, “What a weird thing, really ugly…”

※※※

After nightfall, the sky darkened, the darkness engulfing everything in the sky, covering the wildly burning clouds.

After entering the house and closing the door, there was a feeling of being cut off from the outside world. Lu Chen lit an oil lamp, and in the light, Ah Tu paced around the room.

For some reason, Ah Tu seemed suddenly uneasy.

Several times, Ah Tu went to the door, trying to nudge the latch, seemingly wanting to go out. Lu Chen called it back, saying, “It’s so late, don’t go out and play.”

Ah Tu looked back at him, hesitated, but not firmly certain about anything, so it returned and lay down at Lu Chen’s feet.

Lu Chen smiled, patted its head, and said, “It’s late, let’s sleep.”

He extinguished the lamp and lay down. After a moment, there was a movement beside him. Ah Tu had jumped up and snuggled close to him.

Lu Chen reached out and held its body, placing his hand on Ah Tu’s belly, feeling that Ah Tu was still somewhat anxious. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ah Tu barked softly a couple of times, seemingly nothing wrong, and then lay quietly.

In the darkness, there was no further movement.

After a while, Lu Chen’s breathing became long and steady, indicating he had fallen asleep. Meanwhile, two green light dots slowly lit up beside him, Ah Tu’s eyes opening in the dark, staring into the deep darkness as if waiting for something.

※※※

That night was originally very quiet.

The vast Kunlun Mountains, endless peaks, bathed in the darkness of night, just like countless past days.

The forest was silent, the mountain wind gentle. Occasionally, on the mountain paths deep in the night, a team of guarding disciples would pass by, the whole Kunlun Mountain looking like a quietly sleeping giant beast.

Until a light suddenly appeared.

It was in the deepest part of the Kunlun Mountains, in an area shrouded in clouds and mist, the first forbidden area where only the True Lords of the Kunlun Sect could enter. A light suddenly appeared.

It pierced through the mist, broke through the clouds, and shot up into the sky.

The clouds parted, and the sky seemed to have a wound, but quickly, the light faded away.

In this entire process, the light seemed earth-shattering but was silent.

Then, suddenly, everything in the Kunlun Mountains stopped. The sounds of the trees and wind, everything seemed frozen in that moment.

In a small house, Lu Chen suddenly opened his eyes and sat up sharply.

His eyes glowed in the dark, with flames burning deep in his pupils, black flames!

“Boom!”

A loud noise, like the sound of the world splitting open, came from deep within the earth. The entire land, the whole Kunlun Mountain range, began to tremble violently.

A strong wind arose, the forest howled, everything started shaking wildly, all the houses were creaking, wave after wave of tremors swept from the depths of the earth, toppling everything in their path.

Inside the small house, Ah Tu jumped up in panic, barking madly, but soon it fell silent, staring in terror at the man struggling on the bed.

Lu Chen curled up, his hoarse voice desperately suppressing himself, but he couldn’t control the agonizing cries coming from his throat. Every corner, every piece of skin on his body suddenly ignited with black flames.

The flames danced wildly in the darkness, like a demon’s laugh, long-awaited, rampant and unrestrained, watching the man struggle in despair.

His clothes remained unharmed, and bizarrely, this sudden black fire didn’t burn Lu Chen’s flesh either. But the pain, deep to the bone, seemed to drag him back to hell.

The black fire burned, scorching his soul.

In the endless pain, amidst the distant yet seemingly close barking of Ah Tu, Lu Chen suddenly felt something. He struggled to raise his head, at that moment his face also seemed to burn with black flames.

Following his gaze, all the black flames seemed to sway towards the distance simultaneously, as if something in the deep night commanded their reverence.

Lu Chen held onto the bed, slowly stood up, black flames dancing and burning on his body, yet he gradually calmed down.

He looked down at his unscathed skin under the black flames, then looked far away, towards the depths of the Kunlun Mountains.

After a moment, he suddenly smiled.

In the black flames, his smile appeared painful and hideous.

(The battle last night was quite intense. Thanks to “Xiao Yi!!” for the gold and silver support, also thanks to “Qiu Huaihan Meng” and “Oreo’s Dad” for their support, and especially to every reader who quietly supported Tian Ying last night. I’m not one for many words, but thank you to all my lovely readers. I’ll keep writing, hoping to satisfy everyone. Alright, let’s continue asking for monthly votes.) (To be continued.)

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