A silver-golden moon hung high in the western sky. Its pale light bled into the sky in fractured argent-gold streams, as if the moon were leaking cold fire.
As the silver washed across the heavens, a bone-chilling cold spread; even the air froze, but the golden light neutralized it.
Below it was a quiet lake, its water rippling softly.
The reflection shattered like dying glass and shimmered, turning into trembling silver and gold lines that danced across the surface. It looked like liquid light. Somewhere beyond the lake's reflection, a black creature moved without sound.
At the lake's shore, white roses danced, their scent spreading with the wind, drifting toward the faint presence of a four-year-old child nearby.
Following the smell on unsteady steps, the kid ran toward it. The woman nearby hesitated for a moment; she didn't know why, but something deep inside her was telling her not to let her child go there. She called, "Come back, don't run around..." Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes widened and her pupils shrank. She cried out in horror, "No! My child!" running desperately to save her baby boy.
The kid tried to look behind, not understanding why his mother was suddenly screaming.
But from the dark, a human-like creature with black hair all over its body opened its bloody mouth, and its jaws closed—and half the child vanished in an instant. Blood scattered; some of it fell onto its fur, making it blood-red.
The woman froze, collapsing beside the lake. The lake fell silent again—but that silence did not last.
Far from the lake, the silence had turned into screams. Many villagers came out after hearing the shout. Seeing the scene, "Ahhh! Monster! Monster!" they screamed and ran with their families.
But they couldn't run for long. Soon many Umbryss caught them and began their grand feast.
After eating and killing every single one of them, the army did not stop. It moved like a tide, sweeping across broken land and burning villages into silence.
Hours passed, and the land behind them became nothing but ruin.
But soon they bumped into a barrier. They looked at each other in confusion. If they could speak, then they would have said, "There is nothing ahead—so why can't we move forward?"
"You useless fools, why did you stop?" From the army, covered with red fur and twice as big as the black Umbryss, one came before the invisible barrier.
It touched the unseen wall and began to examine it. "Hmm, this thing... I saw it before. Oh yeah, I remember." Then with its full force, it hit the barrier. The shockwave destroyed the surrounding land and broke all the trees within ten kilometres. Many Umbryss were blown away.
But the barrier didn't break; it only became visible for a moment.
"Oh, this barrier is strong, but it looks like its time is up. It's weakening… not long now," the red-haired Umbryss murmured.
The red-haired Umbryss turned back and froze. 'What happened… who destroyed this area—and where is my army?'
The barrier did not just block entry—it separated two worlds entirely.
Inside the barrier, in Qinming Village,
In a solitary wooden house,
"Zi Fan, ahh, open your mouth," a beautiful woman holding a bowl and chopsticks asked softly.
Before her, a twenty-year-old young man with snow-white skin and long black hair was sitting on a chair. She was trying to feed the youth.
But it seemed her child didn't want to. Zi Fan jumped and moved aside, saying, "Mommy, Mommy, I am full, I'm full," and he began to happily suck on his finger like a child.
"Zi Fan, come here and sit," she glared at him with anger and ordered.
Zi Fan lowered his head and shuffled back to the chair, obedient and silent. A moment later, he slipped his finger into his mouth, his eyes wandering aimlessly.
Seeing this, she had complex feelings in her heart. She felt happy because her child obeyed her, but she was also sad. She watched him, her chest tightening. Twenty years had passed, but her child was not mentally more than a four-year-old.
"Mommy, don't get angry at me, it's just..." he stopped and covered his mouth with his hand.
She frowned, then softened her expression. "It's just what, Zi Fan?" she asked gently with a smile.
Zi Fan looked up, meeting her eyes, and said, "If I eat too much… you'll abandon me, right?"
Nuwa's facial expression immediately turned furious. She knew her child very well; he could never think that complexly. So, it was clear somebody had told him.
Taking a deep breath with tenderness, she comforted her child. "Zi Fan, my child, did you ever see us get mad because you eat too much?"
Zi Fan shook his head, saying, "No."
Nuwa asked again, "Didn't we get happy about that?" Zi Fan nodded. She added, "Then tell me, why would we leave you?"
"Yes, yes, that's right," with a serious look, he nodded and added with a little anger, "That means those people were lying. They are bad people."
Nuwa smiled faintly and nodded, agreeing with her child. She gently stroked his hair with affection. "Next time, don't listen to them," she muttered.
"Okay, Mommy," Zi Fan said in a serious tone.
"Okay then, open your mouth." And Zi Fan opened it, but not for eating—he screamed, "Ahhh, my head," grabbing his head in pain.
The chopsticks and bowl of noodles fell from Nuwa's hand, and she rushed toward Zi Fan. "What happened?" she asked with an anxious expression, but Zi Fan didn't answer.
He closed his eyes and fell silent. Many familiar and unfamiliar memories rushed to his mind. Now he remembered all his past life, the transmigration, and his sacrifice to a goddess. Seeing Zi Fan silent, Nuwa grew worried.
A sharp wind flashed through the room as someone stepped in from the courtyard.
"What happened, Nuwa? Why is Zi Fan like this all of a sudden?" A middle-aged man with golden and silver eyes, bare-chested, suddenly appeared beside Nuwa and Zi Fan like a shadow.
In his hand was a Tang Dao, and he was sweating all over. It seemed like he had come from intense training.
"Nothing, Father, it was just a little headache," Zi Fan opened his eyes and answered.
"Oh..." Zi Fan's father froze, then looked at Zi Fan and opened his mouth to speak but couldn't say anything in excitement.
Seeing the reaction, Zi Fan said with a smile, "Father, I'm fine now." Nuwa looked at them with confusion.
Zi Fan looked at her and said, "Mother, I'm fine now."
"Okay," she murmured, and she glanced at her husband with a big question mark.
Zi Fan's father's eyes met his wife's eyes, and seeing the confusion, he answered her with joy, "Didn't you understand? Our son has become normal." She froze, then looked at Zi Fan.
And Zi Fan nodded at her.
Tears fell from her eyes.
However, before the family could become happy, a thunderous glass-breaking noise came to their ears. The protective barrier was finally gone.
Outside the barrier, the red-haired Umbryss ordered his army, "Advance, kill every single human."
To be continued....