But the chief not only didn’t release her but also lightly touched her belly. Malevolent energy surged like a tornado, enveloping the woman, but in the blink of an eye, it entered her body.
The black energy disappeared, and the chief released his hand. The woman’s body fell powerlessly.
“The vessel needed by the evil god will be born from Ayu. From today on, the Snow Wolf tribe will collect malevolent energy from all over the world to worship my lord.”
Only after the chief’s words did people in the crowd below begin to react.
“We cannot worship the evil god!”
“Chief!? Why?”
“We must not let the evil god return…”
Black energy swept over, extinguishing all voices.
My ears were once again filled with the howling wind. I still stared blankly ahead, unable to come back to my senses for a moment.
“Do you understand now?” The shape-shifter’s voice appeared in my ear. “Xie Zhuo. Nothing but a manufactured vessel.”
The howling wind pulled at me, and I seemed to become that snowflake again from the beginning.
I drifted, flying over the frozen lake, flying over the ice forest.
I finally landed on the shoulder of a small boy.
He had a large tail and two fluffy ears standing on his head.
“Mother…”
I saw him chasing after the footsteps of the woman ahead. I heard him stammer, with a slightly childish voice: “My… name, which character is it? Zhuo? Zhuó? Zhuò? They… they… won’t tell me…”
In front of the little boy, Ayu walked with her back to him, showing no intention of turning around.
The little boy persisted in chasing after her, his short, small hand reaching into the air, trying to grab the sleeve of the woman in front of him.
With a “slap,” the small hand was harshly brushed away, and the little boy fell, sitting on the ground.
He looked up. The woman in front of him was indeed Ayu, her face now weathered, her hair already white. The disgust and hatred in her expression couldn’t be hidden from her trembling voice.
“Get away!”
“Don’t come near me!”
“You are the child of filth!”
“Your name is Xie Zhuo!”
The voice seemed to still echo in my ears when I suddenly awakened.
Before me was a sea of fog, and in the distance stood the walls of the Undying City. On the walls, the never-extinguishing fires had been extinguished.
Dawn had broken…
I was sitting on a rafter. I turned my head to look to the side, and Xie Zhuo’s head was next to my neck.
I could feel his bite on my neck.
Seeming to sense that I was awake, he tried to lift his head.
Without a word, I raised my hand and pressed down on his head.
He seemed somewhat surprised, freezing against my shoulder.
I held him with one hand and reached out with the other, grasping his hand that had been supporting my shoulder.
I held his hand tightly.
“It’s all right. You can come close to me. You’re not just a vessel, nor are you an error, much less a child of filth.”
I said: “Your name is Xie Zhuo, you are my…”
I choked up; I couldn’t continue.
It was I who knocked Buzhou Mountain askew, cut the red string, and swore that we were divorced…