They knocked on the door for a while but got no response. Miyin even put his ear against the door. It was so quiet inside that it was as if no one lived there. But the lights were indeed on in the house, and the square firelight was projected on the snow outside the window, slightly distorted. The snow illuminated by the light glows golden, as if there are countless golden sands hidden under the snow. It's just that the warm color of this square is uneven, with some impurities, making these regular diamond shapes look like solidified ripples.
What surprised Miyin the most was the structure of the house. At first, she thought the house was painted white or made of white bricks. In fact, this is not the case. All the materials in the house are only one thing - snow. She knocked on the door and gently rubbed her hand on the wall. She felt a chill, but it was not as cold as her hands. This wall is like building a snowman or having a snowball fight in winter, compacting the loose snow, cutting out the shape, and building the house in front of you. This made her feel very incredible. Even the triangular roof is made of snow. How is it connected to the walls? Are there nails connected internally, or a special mortise and tenon structure, or... are they simply directly bonded with snow? Don't you feel cold if you still live in a house like this?
Amiao kicked her legs, and she had to retract her arms to hold up its hind legs. Then, Xue Miyin slowly walked to the window, wanting to see what was going on in the room. This house looks small from a distance, but it's quite big up close. It's more than enough room for at least two or three people. She was surprised to find that even the windows of this house were made of ice. No wonder the light coming out is strange, because the ice is not smooth and pure enough. Although it is square and inlaid in the wall made of snow, it is not uniform enough, so the light it emits is also blurry. Through such windows, the scene inside the house cannot be seen clearly.
"Hello, excuse me..." Miaomiao asked tentatively at the door, "We sisters are coming from a very far away place, can you stay overnight? We don't bring any weapons and we won't hurt you. Just now. It was our cat that ran over and may have scared your pet. But it has no malicious intent and we apologize to you on its behalf. It is too cold outside, so please be merciful and let us in."
Xue Miyin frowned slightly by the window. If she were alone, she would never say this. It is extremely dangerous for a person to walk around the world alone. Whether he is a man or a woman, if the other person knows that he really has no weapons, something will probably happen. How could their condition be exposed like this? But Miyin then thought about it, Miaomiao probably didn't know about this kind of thing. Probably even if there was any accident, she thought she could handle it. Even though she thought so, she still felt a little uneasy. However, since it was getting dark, she did feel a little cold.
At this time, a figure passed by the window, which startled her. She quickly ran to the front door and stood side by side with her friend. The door opened slowly, and warm light poured out from the crack. The one who poked her head out was a young girl with long white hair. Xue Miyin couldn't help holding her breath. Sure enough, to be able to live in such a place and build such a special house can only be described as a monster by friends. Among human beings, how could there be such a young woman with white hair if she was not ill?
After confirming that there were only two of them standing in the snow, and a cat in his hand, the owner of the house opened the door and let them in. Only then did Miyin see clearly that in addition to her white hair, she also had a pair of furry ears, like fox ears. His friend walked in the door unsuspectingly, followed closely by Miyin. The house is clean and bright, and the furniture inside is all ordinary wood, but they are all white, maybe birch or something like that. But in this spacious room, Miyin didn't see any trace of small animal activity. She put Amiao on the ground, and the kitten immediately ran to the feet of the owner of the house who had just closed the door, sniffing curiously. The owner seemed a little afraid of it and took a step back. She observed the cat for a long time, and after confirming that it really meant no harm, she bent down and lifted it high. Amiao was rarely honest, and only occasionally flicked her fluffy tail.
The friend was already sitting aside, and Xue Miyin took the opportunity to quietly look at the owner of the house. She must be a monster, as a friend said, a fox monster. She has thin eyebrows and big eyes, and she looks so pitiful that anyone who sees her will feel pity for her. Judging from her appearance, she should be the same age as Miyin, or even older. However, there is a childish temperament about her, as if she has never heard of the world. No wonder, living in such an isolated place, you might not have seen much of the world. But it's still too early to draw conclusions now. Fox demons are all cunning by nature and are best at charming others. Miyin really felt that her appearance was not natural enough, and she seemed to be seductive out of thin air. But so far, she hasn't sensed any malicious intent.
This fox sister's dress is also different from the ordinary world. She even wears clothes that should not be worn in this environment. It's not yet time to add clothes, but Miyin has already put on a blouse. This white fox demon even wears pure white clothes. She was only wearing long cloth boots, with a section of her legs exposed between the thin dress, and she looked a little cold. Although the sleeves of the dress are long, they are slit, revealing her fair and slender arms. The cuffs are very fluffy, made with wide ruffles, and sewn with gold thread. The only part of her body that seemed warmer was a tuft of fluff on her left chest, with a sky-blue ribbon hanging on her side shoulder.
"I'm causing you trouble." Miaomiao said.
"Why are there humans here?"
The fox demon put Amiao down, then turned around to help them pour water. While speaking, her eyes swept over Xue Miyin's face, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Regardless of whether she recognized Miaomiao's identity or not, her identity was eventually exposed. Forget it, she didn't intend to hide it in the first place.
"Let's come find..."
"Let's find someone!" Miyin was interrupted, "Well, do you live here alone?"
"I'm not alone." The young fox demon shook his head, still wary, "I have many friends."
"You must have lived here for a long time, right?"
"It's okay." She said, placing the tray on the table.
On the plate are three cups of scented tea. When soaking in water, Miyin smelled a sweet smell. This scent was unlike any flower scent she had ever smelled, and it was probably a species unique to the snow-capped mountains.
"Then we want to ask, have you ever seen anyone else on this mountain?"
"After all these days, people have come and gone. I don't know when and who you want to ask."
"When was the last time you saw someone visiting here?"
The fox demon tilted his head and moved his ears twice. She raised the cup to her mouth and rolled her eyes, probably thinking about it.
"No one has visited this mountain for many years."
"Could it be that you know somewhere else?"
"There are people who have been to other mountains."
Xue Miyin also picked up the tea and listened quietly to the two people talking. Although she was cold and thirsty, she didn't rush to put the tea into her mouth. Hearing the fox demon say this, she asked curiously:
"Do you know anything about other mountains?"
"I told you, I have many friends."
Maybe it's the fox's friend, or another monster. Also, it is impossible for a person to live alone in the mountains, no matter how you think about it. Miaomiao wanted to ask something else, but the fox demon who took a sip of tea spoke in advance.
"I don't know your names yet."
The fox demon opens its bright and beautiful big eyes, and when it blinks, it looks like a fluttering butterfly.
"I am - I am Miaomiao, you can call me that." Then, she pointed to Miyin and said, "This is my friend, called Xue Miyin, and he is a human child."
Human children. It seems that here, she is the only one who is different. Xue Miyin couldn't help but sigh at this idea.
"Well... you can ask me to ask Yingying." She put down the cup and looked at the two of them again, "A snake demon and a human being together... you are really weird. I heard that people at the foot of the mountain don't like it. Even monsters are afraid of monsters. I didn’t expect that there are people who are friends with monsters.”
Snake demon...Xue Miyin silently turned to look at her friend. Indeed, this would explain the occasional outline of scales on her face and arms. But why a snake demon? She suddenly remembered that she had never asked. But Xue Miyin thought again, should she ask? Maybe she had the idea of asking a question, but she couldn't ask it for various reasons.
Her friend who was forced to mature prematurely laughed cheerfully: "The world has changed! Haven't you been down the mountain for a long time? In today's world, there are many monsters who can get along well with humans. Many monsters have already integrated into human beings. In life. As long as they don’t make trouble, humans can easily accept them.”
Hearing things related to the outside world, the fox demon who called herself Wenying seemed to be quite interested and leaned forward. But she immediately showed a sad look and asked:
"But, my brother said that human onmyojis will capture youkai and make them their own shikigami. If you become a shikigami, you will not be able to live freely and as you please."
"Well... let's divide it into people. Not all onmyojis are bad." Miaomiao's answer was pertinent, "If you can't agree with the human onmyoji from the bottom of your heart, the contractual relationship cannot be established. But... There are also bad people, very bad people. Those bad people do enslave monsters, that's true. But in today's world, there are very few such people. Because humans are too fragile, they worry about monsters harming themselves. People's attitude toward monsters Hostility often comes from the fear of the unknown. In fact, I have always felt that if the two races could have the opportunity to talk openly and put everyone's and every demon's ideas on the table, the world might be a lot better. Of course, this is impossible...it's just my wishful thinking."
Xue Miyin looked at Miaomiao seriously and felt that she had indeed grown up a lot. I'm afraid that a human-turned-monster like her is the one who has the most say in this regard. It's great that she has grown into what she is today, and Miyin is secretly happy. After hearing these words, Wenying nodded repeatedly. She was sitting more upright and her expression was softer. She should have almost completely let down her guard.
"I haven't gone down the mountain for many years. I have been living with my grandma... and some friends." She began to talk about herself. "I have a friend who knows everything. He said that not long ago, there was A very special person came to Wanren Mountain."
"What kind of person is that?" Miaomiao was very interested, "Why do you say he is special?"
Wenying scratched behind her ears, and her furry ears twitched. She recalled:
"Well, she's wearing a mask—a mask made of ice."
