Lan Yuyan
She ran into her home with one breath. Xi Guang was in bed coughing who was originally weak and became dying after he had been targeted by a group of assassins.
“Father,” said Xi Xia with concerns while holding his aged hands after she rushed into the room and lay prone on the bedside.
“Xia’er, you come back?” Seemed to catch sight of hope, Xi Guang sat up faintly. “Get me my compass.”
“Father, you can’t augur since you’re so sick.”
“No. Your Majesty is still waiting for my result, and I have to rush to the Imperial Palace.”
“Not until you’re well.” Xi Xia came over with the compass in her hands. “I’ll do it,” said she.
“You?” Xi Guang said thoughtfully, “All right. Since you’ve grown up, I’ll pass my responsibilities to you one day. You do it this time.”
Having unfolded the compass, she raised her hand and drew a golden Revelation Rune in the midair that glistered with the dazzling light above the compass.
“Open!” shouted she aloud. The golden rune suddenly fell down onto the compass and incorporated into it.
The theodolites of the compass started rotating with a sound of the ice cover fracturing. As the golden light came out of the compass abruptly, Xi Xia put her head into it without a second thought.
As time was gone, the golden light faded away instantly. She knocked her head on the compass and got her forehead swollen up.
Instead of screaming in pain as usual, “I must’ve made a mistake,” said she unbelievably to Xi Guang.
After looking at the revelation presented on the compass, the latter closed his eyes for a long time before saying, “Go and close the door.”
The room was covered in darkness in a blink of an eye.
“Xia’er, there are some things I need to warn you lest...”
“Father, slow down, and I’m here listening to you,” said Xi Xia.
“You can’t tell those things to the others, including your cousin, Xi Tu.”
Each word of what he had said hurt her heart like the needles. She even didn’t know how she got out of her father’s room.
The red sun passed the wall of the yard and shone at her face, which made her subconsciously block it with her hand on her forehead.
“Xia, you are also at home.” One person came forward from afar.
“Cousin?” She was in a daze with what her father had said popping up in his head.
“I come to see my uncle. I’ve heard something happened.” Xi Tu gasped like he had run a long way.
“Ah, it’s all right,” said she blankly. Never had she felt the sunshine was as bright as now.
The Valley of Summer-
The sole valley on the whole snowland where it was summer all the year around.
The magma hailing from the earth’s core melted the ice and snow in the streams, thus, forming a rainbow-colored waterfall that had nursed the people living here. They were endowed with a unique strength by the Source of the Earth from the earth’s core.
They were billed as elves by the other clans on the snowland, but they regarded themselves as the Son of Summer God.
According to the clansmen, you could hear the voice of the deceased in the Future-Life Corridor, which turned out a romantic speaking. It was merely a frontal wind caused by the hot air out of the earth’s core meeting the cold current that passed through the valley.
However, she still held the faith that the voice of the deceased could be heard here. In her childhood, she talked with her elders about her experiences more than once, and she got an answer: it was her previous and future lives of countless reincarnations that summoned her. However, she was told an indifferently realistic answer when she grew up: it was her foolish thoughts.
She still believed in the theory of reincarnations passed down from generation to generation by the Elf Clan and believed that she would meet the one someday who had appeared in her dreams countless times.
Now, she stood at the entrance of the corridor. Somehow, she heard a voice coming from the depth of the corridor like summoning her, saying that he had long waited for her.
“Yuyan, you come here in a daze alone again.” From the high cliff came the voice of blaming, instantly bringing her to reality.
A teenager at her age stood on it with his androgynous face like an expression of a brother next door. The underage boys of the Elf Clan seemed to possess only one kind of face compared with the girls of the clan who were born with different faces as beautiful as summer flowers.
“The elders always talk endlessly,” said the girl disapprovingly and was about to go inside.
“You can’t go in there.” The teenager jumped off the cliff and stopped her. “You’ll enter the Tree of Life very soon, so before that, you can’t go inside.”
“I threw my stuff inside.” She pointed to the front direction.
“What is it? I’ll ask some to pick up for you.” He held her hands and walked toward the square.
When he wasn’t careful, she ripped a string of bells from his waist and threw them inside.
“Why are you doing this?” He got angry and rushed to pick them up.
“Hahaha, you’re so screwed.” She laughed with great pride upon seeing that the teenager was lured into the forbidden zone by herself.
“That’s because of you.” He was scared with a livid face and rushed back like lightning.
“See? Nothing happens even if we get inside.” She laughed so badly that she couldn’t straighten her waist.
“It’s because I just stood on the entrance instead of getting inside.” His shoulders quivered with terror, and the string of bells in his hand gave off a clear and melodious sound.
“I’ve gone inside, actually,” said she mysteriously.
“What?” He was so frightened that he couldn’t help taking a few steps back and sat back on a piece of stone. “You’ll be haunted by nightmares.”
“What are you talking about? Nothing has happened,” said she disdainfully, but deep down, she felt a little fearful. She had been awakened up with a start from her nightmares at midnight more than once. In her nightmares, she was swirled into the midair and took a bird’s eye-view of the whole snowland like a snowhawk. She saw a fierce battlefield where her clansmen put up a desperate fight against the intruders from the outside world. She felt outrageous, but a sense of unspeakable sadness appeared in her heart as if she seemed to lose something.
“Hey, You father often tells my father that you dream at night. Is it true?” said he with concerns.
“No, it’s not.” She denied immediately. “But, your father often tells my father that you’re timid. Each time you see an Ice Bear, you totally forget the chants you’ve mastered.”
“As one of the Yellow Family, how can I forget the chants?” He got his face blushed. “But, as a member of the Blue Family, you’d better not mix Stealth Runes with Manifestation Runes. Otherwise, you’ll be scolded by the First Elder next time.”
They were stuck in a verbal fight and then heard a trumpet sounding.
“Our fathers come back.” The teenager stood on his tiptoe and looked out.
She ran outside right away.
The clansmen gathered up on the square from all directions. On the back of a tall mammoth lay a man covered in blood.
“Father.” She recognized that the man was her father by seeing the orchid bracelet around his wrist. She then pushed through the crowd and rushed toward him.
“What happened?” Her mother came here, too.
“We were raided by a group of bandits of the Giant Clan when we were on a hunt,” said one hunter in the same hunting trip while wiping the blood off his forehead.
“Mother, let’s get father home first,” said she to her mother who was at a loss.
The blood of the Elf Clan was warm and didn’t coagulate for a short time when it flowed outside of the body. Not until the owner was dead did the blood was instantly coagulated into the crystal. To the Elf Clan, blood was holy and couldn’t be blasphemed at all. However, it turned out an exotic commodity to barter and sell for the other clans on the snowland. In that case, the Elf Clan only lived within the Valley of Summer. However, there was a tribe of the Giant Clan outside of the valley who had disturbed the peace of them multiple times.
The House of Elders immediately called up the elders of the seven families to discuss this accident.
Situated at a high tower, the House of Elders had seven entrances, each of which could only be accessed by the people of a particular family. It would be ultra vires if the people of other families getting access at their will, which would cause troubles between the families.
The First Elder was elected by seven elders respectively on behalf of their families. The sitting First Elder hailed from the Green Family that used the Defense Skill as their main skill.
The Elder of the Blue Family wasn’t present for his accidental injury, so his spot remained vacant.
After a whole day of discussion, the other six elders still disagreed with each other.
“Here comes the candidate of the Elder of the Blue Family,” said a servant coming in.
Instantly, the elders stopped arguing and fixed their eyes on Lan Yuyan in unison who was stepping inside quietly.
“She is too young and immature,” said the Elder of the Orange Family.
“She hasn’t been baptized by the Tree of Life. Can we wait until she passes her Rite of Passage?” asked the Elder of the Yellow Family.
“Aren’t there anyone in the Blue Family?” asked the Elder of the Purple Family.
“Elders.” Lan Yuyan paid tribute to them, stepped on the blue carpet belonging to her family, and walked toward the elder seat. The wide seat was so unfit for a girl like her who hadn’t been baptized by the Tree of Life.
“Yuyan, how is your father doing?” asked the First Elder of the Green Family.
“My father is no longer in danger, but his spiritual soul is damaged so badly.” As she spoke, she wanted to cry. However, her standing at this time didn’t allow her to capriciously cry at the House of Elders.
“Ha! The Elder of the Blue Family, who is good at the medical skill, can’t heal himself,” said the Elder of the Red Family with a disdainful sneer.
Seemed to have words to say, Lan Yuyan held back herself eventually.
“Here is the deal. We’ll hold you a Rite of Passage in the Tree of Life in three days. Then, you’ll succeed your father to enter the House of Elders,” said the First Elder.
“Yes.” She replied obediently. She seemed to be a bystander during the following agenda.
“Is this my fate?” She thought to herself multiple times.
As a matter of fact, she was not the only one in the Blue Family who was qualified to be the elder. There were more people who were either older or more experienced than her. However, she was the chosen one. She couldn’t understand why her people looked at her with indifferent eyes as if her father had disgraced the family, so she had to take this responsibility by herself alone.
“Your father was wounded for saving my father, so I want to make an alliance with you.” She instantly was astounded when Huang Bo stopped her at the gate of the House of Elders and spoke those out loud.
Making an alliance was a proposal ceremonial of the Elf Clan, an event always considered the most solemn.
“No.” Without a second thought, she denied the teenager who had grown up with and played with her.
Just now, they squabbled with each other at the gate of the Future-Life Corridor. But now, he stood in front of her and said those, which really caught her off guard.
“I mean it,” said Huang Bo with his face full of seriousness.
“I’m serious, too. I’ll attend my Rite of Passage held in the Tree of Life soon. I’ll enter the House of Elders, and I don’t want to make an alliance with anyone.”
She headed for her home without even looking back.
“I’ll be here waiting for you!” shouted Huang Bo behind her. He didn’t chase after her, for what he said had already drawn the attention of many passers-by. He, who used to be easily shy, couldn’t tolerate being glanced up and down by so many eyes and rushed toward a corner with a blushing face.
Lan Yuyan
She ran into her home with one breath. Xi Guang was in bed coughing who was originally weak and became dying after he had been targeted by a group of assassins.
“Father,” said Xi Xia with concerns while holding his aged hands after she rushed into the room and lay prone on the bedside.
“Xia’er, you come back?” Seemed to catch sight of hope, Xi Guang sat up faintly. “Get me my compass.”
“Father, you can’t augur since you’re so sick.”
“No. Your Majesty is still waiting for my result, and I have to rush to the Imperial Palace.”
“Not until you’re well.” Xi Xia came over with the compass in her hands. “I’ll do it,” said she.
“You?” Xi Guang said thoughtfully, “All right. Since you’ve grown up, I’ll pass my responsibilities to you one day. You do it this time.”
Having unfolded the compass, she raised her hand and drew a golden Revelation Rune in the midair that glistered with the dazzling light above the compass.
“Open!” shouted she aloud. The golden rune suddenly fell down onto the compass and incorporated into it.
The theodolites of the compass started rotating with a sound of the ice cover fracturing. As the golden light came out of the compass abruptly, Xi Xia put her head into it without a second thought.
As time was gone, the golden light faded away instantly. She knocked her head on the compass and got her forehead swollen up.
Instead of screaming in pain as usual, “I must’ve made a mistake,” said she unbelievably to Xi Guang.
After looking at the revelation presented on the compass, the latter closed his eyes for a long time before saying, “Go and close the door.”
The room was covered in darkness in a blink of an eye.
“Xia’er, there are some things I need to warn you lest...”
“Father, slow down, and I’m here listening to you,” said Xi Xia.
“You can’t tell those things to the others, including your cousin, Xi Tu.”
Each word of what he had said hurt her heart like the needles. She even didn’t know how she got out of her father’s room.
The red sun passed the wall of the yard and shone at her face, which made her subconsciously block it with her hand on her forehead.
“Xia, you are also at home.” One person came forward from afar.
“Cousin?” She was in a daze with what her father had said popping up in his head.
“I come to see my uncle. I’ve heard something happened.” Xi Tu gasped like he had run a long way.
“Ah, it’s all right,” said she blankly. Never had she felt the sunshine was as bright as now.
The Valley of Summer-
The sole valley on the whole snowland where it was summer all the year around.
The magma hailing from the earth’s core melted the ice and snow in the streams, thus, forming a rainbow-colored waterfall that had nursed the people living here. They were endowed with a unique strength by the Source of the Earth from the earth’s core.
They were billed as elves by the other clans on the snowland, but they regarded themselves as the Son of Summer God.
According to the clansmen, you could hear the voice of the deceased in the Future-Life Corridor, which turned out a romantic speaking. It was merely a frontal wind caused by the hot air out of the earth’s core meeting the cold current that passed through the valley.
However, she still held the faith that the voice of the deceased could be heard here. In her childhood, she talked with her elders about her experiences more than once, and she got an answer: it was her previous and future lives of countless reincarnations that summoned her. However, she was told an indifferently realistic answer when she grew up: it was her foolish thoughts.
She still believed in the theory of reincarnations passed down from generation to generation by the Elf Clan and believed that she would meet the one someday who had appeared in her dreams countless times.
Now, she stood at the entrance of the corridor. Somehow, she heard a voice coming from the depth of the corridor like summoning her, saying that he had long waited for her.
“Yuyan, you come here in a daze alone again.” From the high cliff came the voice of blaming, instantly bringing her to reality.
A teenager at her age stood on it with his androgynous face like an expression of a brother next door. The underage boys of the Elf Clan seemed to possess only one kind of face compared with the girls of the clan who were born with different faces as beautiful as summer flowers.
“The elders always talk endlessly,” said the girl disapprovingly and was about to go inside.
“You can’t go in there.” The teenager jumped off the cliff and stopped her. “You’ll enter the Tree of Life very soon, so before that, you can’t go inside.”
“I threw my stuff inside.” She pointed to the front direction.
“What is it? I’ll ask some to pick up for you.” He held her hands and walked toward the square.
When he wasn’t careful, she ripped a string of bells from his waist and threw them inside.
“Why are you doing this?” He got angry and rushed to pick them up.
“Hahaha, you’re so screwed.” She laughed with great pride upon seeing that the teenager was lured into the forbidden zone by herself.
“That’s because of you.” He was scared with a livid face and rushed back like lightning.
“See? Nothing happens even if we get inside.” She laughed so badly that she couldn’t straighten her waist.
“It’s because I just stood on the entrance instead of getting inside.” His shoulders quivered with terror, and the string of bells in his hand gave off a clear and melodious sound.
“I’ve gone inside, actually,” said she mysteriously.
“What?” He was so frightened that he couldn’t help taking a few steps back and sat back on a piece of stone. “You’ll be haunted by nightmares.”
“What are you talking about? Nothing has happened,” said she disdainfully, but deep down, she felt a little fearful. She had been awakened up with a start from her nightmares at midnight more than once. In her nightmares, she was swirled into the midair and took a bird’s eye-view of the whole snowland like a snowhawk. She saw a fierce battlefield where her clansmen put up a desperate fight against the intruders from the outside world. She felt outrageous, but a sense of unspeakable sadness appeared in her heart as if she seemed to lose something.
“Hey, You father often tells my father that you dream at night. Is it true?” said he with concerns.
“No, it’s not.” She denied immediately. “But, your father often tells my father that you’re timid. Each time you see an Ice Bear, you totally forget the chants you’ve mastered.”
“As one of the Yellow Family, how can I forget the chants?” He got his face blushed. “But, as a member of the Blue Family, you’d better not mix Stealth Runes with Manifestation Runes. Otherwise, you’ll be scolded by the First Elder next time.”
They were stuck in a verbal fight and then heard a trumpet sounding.
“Our fathers come back.” The teenager stood on his tiptoe and looked out.
She ran outside right away.
The clansmen gathered up on the square from all directions. On the back of a tall mammoth lay a man covered in blood.
“Father.” She recognized that the man was her father by seeing the orchid bracelet around his wrist. She then pushed through the crowd and rushed toward him.
“What happened?” Her mother came here, too.
“We were raided by a group of bandits of the Giant Clan when we were on a hunt,” said one hunter in the same hunting trip while wiping the blood off his forehead.
“Mother, let’s get father home first,” said she to her mother who was at a loss.
The blood of the Elf Clan was warm and didn’t coagulate for a short time when it flowed outside of the body. Not until the owner was dead did the blood was instantly coagulated into the crystal. To the Elf Clan, blood was holy and couldn’t be blasphemed at all. However, it turned out an exotic commodity to barter and sell for the other clans on the snowland. In that case, the Elf Clan only lived within the Valley of Summer. However, there was a tribe of the Giant Clan outside of the valley who had disturbed the peace of them multiple times.
The House of Elders immediately called up the elders of the seven families to discuss this accident.
Situated at a high tower, the House of Elders had seven entrances, each of which could only be accessed by the people of a particular family. It would be ultra vires if the people of other families getting access at their will, which would cause troubles between the families.
The First Elder was elected by seven elders respectively on behalf of their families. The sitting First Elder hailed from the Green Family that used the Defense Skill as their main skill.
The Elder of the Blue Family wasn’t present for his accidental injury, so his spot remained vacant.
After a whole day of discussion, the other six elders still disagreed with each other.
“Here comes the candidate of the Elder of the Blue Family,” said a servant coming in.
Instantly, the elders stopped arguing and fixed their eyes on Lan Yuyan in unison who was stepping inside quietly.
“She is too young and immature,” said the Elder of the Orange Family.
“She hasn’t been baptized by the Tree of Life. Can we wait until she passes her Rite of Passage?” asked the Elder of the Yellow Family.
“Aren’t there anyone in the Blue Family?” asked the Elder of the Purple Family.
“Elders.” Lan Yuyan paid tribute to them, stepped on the blue carpet belonging to her family, and walked toward the elder seat. The wide seat was so unfit for a girl like her who hadn’t been baptized by the Tree of Life.
“Yuyan, how is your father doing?” asked the First Elder of the Green Family.
“My father is no longer in danger, but his spiritual soul is damaged so badly.” As she spoke, she wanted to cry. However, her standing at this time didn’t allow her to capriciously cry at the House of Elders.
“Ha! The Elder of the Blue Family, who is good at the medical skill, can’t heal himself,” said the Elder of the Red Family with a disdainful sneer.
Seemed to have words to say, Lan Yuyan held back herself eventually.
“Here is the deal. We’ll hold you a Rite of Passage in the Tree of Life in three days. Then, you’ll succeed your father to enter the House of Elders,” said the First Elder.
“Yes.” She replied obediently. She seemed to be a bystander during the following agenda.
“Is this my fate?” She thought to herself multiple times.
As a matter of fact, she was not the only one in the Blue Family who was qualified to be the elder. There were more people who were either older or more experienced than her. However, she was the chosen one. She couldn’t understand why her people looked at her with indifferent eyes as if her father had disgraced the family, so she had to take this responsibility by herself alone.
“Your father was wounded for saving my father, so I want to make an alliance with you.” She instantly was astounded when Huang Bo stopped her at the gate of the House of Elders and spoke those out loud.
Making an alliance was a proposal ceremonial of the Elf Clan, an event always considered the most solemn.
“No.” Without a second thought, she denied the teenager who had grown up with and played with her.
Just now, they squabbled with each other at the gate of the Future-Life Corridor. But now, he stood in front of her and said those, which really caught her off guard.
“I mean it,” said Huang Bo with his face full of seriousness.
“I’m serious, too. I’ll attend my Rite of Passage held in the Tree of Life soon. I’ll enter the House of Elders, and I don’t want to make an alliance with anyone.”
She headed for her home without even looking back.
“I’ll be here waiting for you!” shouted Huang Bo behind her. He didn’t chase after her, for what he said had already drawn the attention of many passers-by. He, who used to be easily shy, couldn’t tolerate being glanced up and down by so many eyes and rushed toward a corner with a blushing face.
