Outside, the sky was getting dark, and the minute hand of the wall clock on the wall moved around and around until the time pointed to half past eight. The set alarm clock rang on time, successfully waking Fang Li up.
Fang Li reached out and turned off the alarm clock with a burst of energy, then rubbed his eyes, stretched greatly, and then sat up from the sofa.
Because there were no lights on in the house, only the soft moonlight came in through the window lattice, and everything seemed very quiet and beautiful. He opened the door, walked outside, looked towards Daoyuan Lake, and was immediately stunned.
The hazy moonlight enveloped the world like a veil, and the entire Daoyuan Lake was covered by the moonlight. The water surface looked sparkling. The moonlight near the water surface was refracted by the light mist, making it particularly bright. The distant mountains and the lake light blend into one, fully displaying the uncanny beauty of nature. There are thousands of mountains, the sky and the earth are vast, there are lakes and mountains, and the bright moon is in the sky, but that's it.
"Daoyuan Lake at night is really beautiful." Fang Li couldn't help but admired and walked through the dormitory area towards the shore of Daoyuan Lake.
When he arrived at Daoyuan Lake, he was surprised to find that there was already a person by the lake - Tantai Yiling had arrived first and was sitting on the swing by the lake, staring blankly at Daoyuan Lake. I don't know what I was thinking, and I didn't notice Fang Li's arrival at all.
"Yiling." After a moment, Fang Li had to call her, and she suddenly came back to her senses.
"Ah! Fang Li, why are you here so early?" Tantai Yiling immediately jumped off the swing and asked.
"You came right after you woke up. Aren't you early?" Fang Li smiled and said, "Is there anything you have to tell secretly at night?"
Tantai Yiling's eyes suddenly flickered, and she seemed a little hesitant. After a few seconds, she seemed to have made up her mind. She dragged Fang Li to sit down, stared at him very seriously, and said, "I want to tell you something." A story, but this story may be long, and it may cause trouble if you know it. Are you willing to listen?"
Fang Li met Tantai Yiling's serious gaze, and he probably already guessed what she was going to say, something Tantai Gu didn't want to talk about. As for trouble, am I ever afraid of trouble? He smiled and said: "Tonight is long, can't I finish talking in one night? And I am not a person who is afraid of trouble. You can tell me."
Tantai Yiling smiled, and there was a hint of intimacy in her eyes. Then, the first sentence that followed surprised Fang Li, who wanted to take back a certain long sentence he said. But slowly, he seemed to be immersed in the story and listened very carefully.
······
The story I want to tell begins a thousand years ago.
At that time, the Tantai family had not yet taken charge of Panyan Valley. It's just that as a family of generals inherited by the imperial court, they shoulder the mission left by the imperial court, which is to guard the overlap between the two realms of life and death - the Yin and Yang realm and the river of life. Living things are not allowed to enter the realm of death, and dead souls are not allowed to enter the realm of life.
At that time, Tantaigu was just sticking to his responsibilities. Even though the Tantai family was very powerful in the Southern Wilderness, he did not participate in the pursuit of fame and fortune by all parties. It wasn't until his wife, Ling Ruochen, gave birth to a baby girl for him that everything quietly began to change.
The baby girl has shown a rare yin and yang constitution since she was born, and is the best candidate to inherit the path of life and death. If nothing else happens, she should be the next head of the Tantai family. Therefore, she has been cared for and nurtured by Tantaigu since she was a child.
But perhaps due to the influence of his two brothers who returned from Panyan Valley, Tantaigu, who had always shown a neutral image, began to attend various dinner parties and seemed to have fallen into a deep pit of power. But his care for his family was still meticulous. Until the year when the little girl turned eight.
"Mom! Mom!" The little girl was running in the huge manor, seemingly following her mother, and then accidentally bumped into a servant.
"Ouch!"
"Miss! Are you okay?" The servant hurriedly helped the little girl up to see if she was injured.
"It's okay, it's okay, have you seen my mother?" the little girl said with wide eyes.
"Mrs. Aya went out in the morning." the servant said.
"What about my dad?"
The master of the family went to prepare a banquet. I heard that it was to welcome the distinguished guests from the Heavenly Clan. "
"Okay then! Should I go back to the room?" The little girl suddenly pouted, feeling a little unhappy, and walked back to the room by herself.
After a while, a man in black armor ran in, holding an envelope in his hand. When he saw the servant, he shouted: "Old Chen! Do you know where the lady is?"
"The lady has gone back to her room, eh, Lao Li? Why are you here if you don't keep an eye on the door?" the servant replied casually. When he turned around, he found that it was an acquaintance and couldn't help but wonder.
"Someone sent a letter, saying it was for the group, and there was Madam's stamp on the letter. I didn't dare to neglect, so I sent it myself." The armored man said.
"Then go and deliver it quickly, don't delay." The servant muttered, "The lady was looking for my wife just now."
The little girl was reading "Chronicles of the Human Race: The Soul of Anzi" in her room. Suddenly she heard a knock on the door, so she put down the book, got up and opened the door, "Grandpa Li? Are you okay?"
"Miss, this is a letter for you. It may be from Madam." The armored man said and handed the letter to the little girl.
"Mom gave it to you?" Upon hearing this, the little girl's big clear eyes immediately burst into joy. She immediately took the envelope and began to open it.
When the armored man saw this, he also smiled and left. After all, he still had to guard the door. If he left his post without permission for too long, he would be severely punished.
The little girl couldn't wait to open the envelope. There was only a piece of paper inside, and the handwriting on it was a bit unfamiliar: I want to find my mother. Come to the Guarding Forest tonight. Only the last seal the little girl recognized, it was her mother's seal!
Mom must want to play hide and seek with me! Humph, it’s still so mysterious. The little girl thought like this, with a faint smile on her face, "Mom, I will definitely catch you this time!"
Night gradually fell, and in the dark night sky, only a pale crescent moon shot down some light beams. The little girl took advantage of the darkness and used the secret method her father taught her to sneak out of the manor and went straight to the large forest behind the house, looking very excited.
This forest is called the Guarded Forest and has been designated as a restricted area by the Tantai family. Normal people cannot approach it because the depths of the forest are the realm of Yin and Yang. Due to the influence of the Yin and Yang Realm, the color of the entire forest is a single black tone, and the visibility is extremely low at night.
But the little girl still groped her way into the dark forest, humming softly along the way. The "Song of Flowing Water" taught by her mother. Such a small child was not too scared in this dark forest where she couldn't even see her fingers.
"Mom! Mom! Where are you?" the little girl shouted, groping forward.
As she walked, her eyes suddenly flashed. At that moment, the world in her eyes turned blood red, and then recovered instantly. She was so frightened that she sat down on the ground and began to tremble.
"Ah——! What... no... I want to find mom..."
The little girl became very frightened and stood up cautiously, her voice already filled with tears.
"Mom! Mom, where are you?! I don't want to play anymore, I want to go home!" In the darkness, the little girl couldn't figure out the direction at all, and couldn't remember the way she came, so she could only stumble forward.
Occasionally, there are a few beams of moonlight cast in places with sparse leaves, but when the little girl looked at the moon along the moonlight, she was shocked again, because the moon turned red!
"Woo, mom, where are you?"
Gradually, the little girl's eyes seemed to adapt to the darkness and she could see the general outline clearly. She moved little by little.
Not far away, there seemed to be the sound of running water. The little girl immediately pricked up her ears to listen, and at the same time tiptoed toward the water. It was a small stream, and the water flowed past it like a ring.
There is water! My mother said that if you walk along the water, there must be a path! The little girl remembered what her mother said and started walking along the stream.
As I walked, the world in front of me turned blood red again at a certain moment. The difference from last time was that this time the outline of a woman with disheveled hair appeared in the blood red. The little girl was so frightened that she fell into the water and started crying.
"Woo! Mom! I want to go home!"
The little girl cried, stood up again, and continued to move along the stream in the darkness while shedding tears. In a relatively open area, when she looked towards the stream, her little face turned pale again.
The blood-red water reflects the blood-red moon.
Although she was still frightened, the little girl's reaction was not so strong this time, and she continued to move forward. Finally, in front of her, in the dark forest, a faint light of fire appeared.
The little girl immediately ran towards the fire, stumbling towards it. There were eight or nine torches stuck on the ground. The torches formed a circle with a black cross in the center. A woman with disheveled hair was nailed to the cross with iron nails. Her body was already stained with blood, and the flesh near the nails had begun to turn black, and the whole person was beyond recognition.
"Mom!" But the little girl still recognized who this person was based on the aura of getting along day and night. She was so frightened that she sat on the ground, tears pouring out of her eyes.
The woman seemed to have heard the call of the child. She opened her swollen eyelids slightly, but she could no longer sigh. She gave blood warning twice in a row, but her child still came. Suddenly, her eyes widened and her throat moved, as if she wanted to say "No!", but no sound came out.
The little girl's vision went dark and she lost consciousness.
At almost the same time, the Tantai family manor.
"Oh no! The lady is missing!" A servant rushed into the room of the chief guard, his voice was very anxious.
"What?!" The chief of guards almost immediately shouted, "Call all the guards, quick!"
Soon, all the guards of the Tantai family arrived.
"There are so many people, and you can't even keep an eye on a little girl?" The head guard almost roared when he looked at the many people in front of him. Mr. President, please calm down. The young lady may have slipped out in the dark. The top priority is to find the young lady. "A guard came forward and said.
"That's a good point!" the chief guard said coldly: "All the guards are divided into five teams, one team is in the manor, one team is near the manor, one team goes to Tanghe City, I will lead two teams to guard. You must find Miss, otherwise, I will only ask you!"
"In addition, notify all affiliates outside to search for the whereabouts of the lady!"
"yes!"
The guards quickly dispatched, and the chief of guards also led two teams of guards into the guarding forest.
Four hours later.
The sky is getting brighter, and the white fish belly is exposed in the east, and the soft rays of sunlight shine on the Tantai family manor. But the atmosphere at this moment was frighteningly depressing.
