Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
I curled up beneath the blood cherry tree in my grandfather's courtyard, counting the thirty-second piece of Liuli Tile that had cracked from the frost.
"Xiao Yao—" Grandfather came around from the Corridor holding a medicine bowl, the tip of his Rosewood Cane tapping sharply on the blue bricks, startling the icicles hanging from the eaves. "That boy from the Xuan family has sent another message through the jade slip."
The Sheep Fat Jade Pendant on the stone table trembled, scattering fine Frost Flowers. I stared at the swirling cloud patterns of "Xuanjie Ancestor Worship Ceremony" above it, sprinkling stardust powder from my Palm into the medicine bowl. This was originally a secret recipe from Yang Lin for regulating spiritual veins, but now it served as a remedy to mask the smell of blood.
"Tell him I'm in seclusion." I scooped up a spoonful of shimmering soup, watching as reflections of the soul-calling bell danced in three overlapping shadows—an item that Xuanjade had personally hung up a month ago, claiming it could calm the restless spiritual energy outside my Lingdie Garden.
Suddenly, Grandfather covered the faint glow of the jade pendant with a tortoise shell, his withered fingers pointing at a spot on the sandalwood Chessboard: "The flaw you left is too obvious." As he sat across from me, half of a burnt phoenix feather fell from his sleeve—exactly what I had buried beneath the plum tree that night.
I paused for a moment, holding onto Darkspot.
The icicles hanging under the eaves suddenly shattered in unison, and a figure wrapped in a Xuan Colored Cloak stepped forward, crushing the scattered Frost Flowers beneath their feet. The mark of Rouge on Xuanjade's neck pierced through the wind and snow, even more dazzling than on our wedding night.
"Grandfather seems to have found some peace." He spoke as his eyes flicked over to my steaming medicine bowl, adorned with hidden patterns of hehua flowers entwined with Ice Shard on his Xuan color robe.
Floating in that bowl was a phoenix tail feather, which I had specifically retrieved from the ruins of the east wing this morning.
Grandfather suddenly broke into a violent cough, and I took the opportunity to pour some Ice Soul spiritual liquid onto the Chessboard.
Amidst the rising cold air, intricate carvings on the treasured Chessboard, which had trapped me for over a month, suddenly revealed themselves—the location of Han Tan three miles northwest reflected at a dead-end position.
"Xiao Yao has been complaining about her heart hurting this past half month." Grandfather's cane struck against an ice crack near Xuanjade's boot. "I heard that the snow spirit mushroom at Duanqing Cliff..."
"The soul-calling bell in Lingdie Garden needs to be replaced." Xuanjade interrupted him, forming Xuan Bing with his fingertips and freezing my medicine bowl into amber.
As he bent down to pick up a piece from the board, a silver chain slipped out from his collar, adorned with Wang Xuan's earrings still dusted with ashes from phoenix feathers.
I crushed stardust powder hidden in my sleeve and let it mix with the ice crystals scattered around.
When Xuanjade's spiritual energy touched the stardust tainted with Yang Lin's essence, suddenly, the entire blood cherry tree burst forth with an out-of-season crimson bloom.
"My husband is still so impatient." I rearranged pieces on the Chessboard, standing up while deliberately stepping on a White Piece that carried warmth from guardian sand.
Three days ago, I found a scale of Xuan Bing by Han Tan, and now it was burning hot in my sleeve—clearly marked by scratches from an Ink Qilin sword.
As night winds blew through and crashed open the jade slip against the Window Lattice, I pressed down my last piece of Darkspot onto one of the tortoise shell's carvings.
The book "Records of Mountains and Rivers" left by Grandfather beside his pillow suddenly opened by itself without wind, stopping at annotations on Duanqing Cliff: In winter of Guihai year, Xuanjie Immortal entered seclusion; Ice Soul appeared in this world.
"When will you hide any longer?" The voice of Xuanjade, wrapped in spiritual power, shattered the window paper. I gazed at a half-fallen phoenix feather drifting in through the window and suddenly recalled what I had seen this morning in Grandfather's pharmacy—the Ice Soul Cauldron that should have been enshrined at the Xuanjie altar was currently refining bloody snow spirit mushrooms within its furnace.
I adjusted my hairpin adorned with a Frost Flower before a bronze mirror; suddenly, mist seeped out from within my reflected Ice Spirit Bottle.
That was last night’s concoction made from phoenix feather ashes mixed with stardust powder from Yang Lin, now silently wrapping around the sheath of Xuanjade's sword through cracks in the jade slip.
"Grandfather said that tomorrow morning's Snow Phoenix Egg will hatch." I reached out to catch a blood-colored Frost Flower, watching it melt into liquid form resembling Ice Soul, "If my husband has time..."
The jade slip suddenly burst forth with Xuan Bing, freezing my trailing words mid-air; there was a burnt scent mixed into his usual hehua flower incense.
I looked outside at the soul-calling bell beginning to frost over when I suddenly heard a crisp sound from the east wing—the sound of shattered jadeite echoed exactly like that night when he broke his inkstone.
As midnight's drumbeat mixed with vibrations from locking spirit bracelets reached me, I sat beneath a white plum tree draped in bridal attire.
The blood-stained hem brushed across the icy surface, reflecting shadows of an ink-colored Qilin Shade circling above in northwest skies over Han Tan.
The mysterious turtle shell hidden in my sleeve suddenly grew hot, causing the swapped White Piece to reveal the Cinnabar annotation of the Ancestor Worship Ceremony.
"Tomorrow..." As I buried the Ice Spirit Bottle in the Plum Tree Root, my Fingertip brushed against the lingering warmth of the gecko powder.
Crimson snow fell onto the wedding gown, forming the phoenix flower adornment that Wang Xuan loved to paint.
The ethereal energy from the jade tablet scorched my Palm, producing wisps of blue smoke. I took the opportunity to adjust my hair, dusting stardust behind my ear.
The Xuanjade's transmission carried the unique echo of Han Tan: "The Ancestor Worship Ceremony requires the family head to be present."
"The Ice Soul formation in Lingdie Garden cracked yesterday." I flicked away the Frost Flower that had crystallized at my sleeve's cuff, watching it land on the turtle shell's engraved markings on the stone table.
That spot was supposed to be where the dead door lay, but now it reflected the protective talisman patterns carved by Yang Lin for me years ago.
Grandfather's Rosewood Cane suddenly struck the edge of the Chessboard, causing the Darkspot to shift half an inch.
Feigning to pour tea, the old man's sleeve swept over just as that misaligned chess piece pressed down on the spiritual pattern of the transmission jade tablet. "The Snow Phoenix in the back mountain shattered the soul-calling bell this morning."
Xuanjade's cold laughter wrapped around Ice Shard, piercing through the barrier as dark scales suddenly crawled across the Window Lattice in the east wing.
I gazed at one of those reverse scales on the Star Map and suddenly recalled how that night, gecko powder had seeped blood from his neck—just like the phoenix feather on Wang Xuan's earrings.
"Tomorrow at the hour of the Rabbit." The Xuan Bing formed a hehuan flower totem on the surface of the jade tablet as I raised my hand to caress the hidden spiritual butterfly embroidered on my wedding gown, allowing Ice Soul's spiritual liquid to soak into the concealed turtle shell in my sleeve.
When the sword energy of Ink Qilin pierced through the barrier, a crisp sound of snow spirit fungus breaking ground came from Han Tan in the northwest direction.
Grandfather suddenly began to cough violently, yet his Withered fingers precisely pressed down on my attempted move of a chess piece.
The old man's murky eyes reflected outside where frost began to form on the blood cherry tree; an out-of-season Flower Bud was oozing Light Pink Juice—matching the Phantom Fragrance I concocted this morning.
"Guests from Xuanjie should drink Ice Spirit Tea." The tip of his cane poked into a crack in the blue bricks, and a hidden compartment popped open with a jade pot filled with spiritual liquid containing Ice Shard.
I caught a whiff mixed with Wang Xuan's usual phoenix Flower Nectar; my Nail unconsciously dug into an old wound on my Palm—the scar from where Ink Qilin's sword had cut me began to bleed again.
The transmission jade tablet suddenly exploded with icy mist, and Xuanjade's phantom solidified within it.
His Xuan color brocade robe bore hehuan dark patterns entwined with several strands of silver hair—exactly what I had intentionally left by Han Tan last night.
As the phantom reached out to touch a medicine cup, stardust powder in my sleeve ignited unexpectedly, turning Ice Soul's spiritual liquid into mist carrying Yang Lin's essence.
"Your gecko powder has become increasingly splendid." I smiled as I lifted my teacup, watching how dark scales reflected on its surface danced around the phantom's neck.
That spot was supposed to be where Xuanjie Immortal Lord’s life gate lay; now it revealed a seal shaped like a phoenix feather.
Grandfather's turtle shell suddenly emitted a sound like Goldstone clashing together; an extra White Piece appeared inexplicably on the chessboard’s exquisite layout.
I looked at where that piece had landed and noticed a newly opened living door; I suddenly heard fluttering sounds from the spiritual butterfly on my wedding gown—the Ice Spirit Bottle buried under the plum tree three days ago was now resonating underground.
"Snow spirit fungus..." The phantom of Xuanjade abruptly closed in, freezing my Fingertip holding Darkspot.
A silver chain slipped from his collar and brushed against my Ear; surprisingly, Wang Xuan's earrings were made from feathers identical to those burned by Grandfather this morning.
Feigning a mishap, I knocked over a Chess Jar, sending stardust powder mixed with ice crystals flying toward the phantom’s Heart.
As Ink Qilin’s sword energy became tainted with Yang Lin’s essence, a Clear Cry from Snow Phoenix echoed from Han Tan in the northwest direction; blood-red array patterns suddenly emerged on Lake Surface reflecting Xuanjie’s altar.
Grandfather’s coughing rose sharply as his cane struck heavily against the transmission jade tablet.
Amidst splattered Ice Shard fragments, I caught sight of what should have guarded the altar—the phantom of Ice Soul Cauldron—its body entwined with silver chains clearly tied to Wang Xuan’s hair.
The formation of the Spirit Butterfly Garden requires the head of the family to maintain it with their spiritual power. The phantom of Xuan Yu began to dissipate, and the last trace of mysterious spiritual energy wrapped around the silver hairpin in my hair.
That was the hairpin he had personally inserted on our wedding night, and at this moment, the Ice Spirit Stone at its tip was seeping out a Blood Pearl that carried the essence of a maiden's blood. I removed the silver pin and threw it towards the chessboard, watching it pierce through the turtle shell markings and land at the position of the dead gate.
Suddenly, the Blood Cherry Tree shook off its branches filled with Frost Flowers, and within the out-of-season blooming Flower Buds, there lay a half-burnt phoenix tail feather.
"Xiao Yao needs to take her medicine," my grandfather trembled as he handed me a medicine cup, murky liquid floating with illusions formed from Ice Soul essence. I gazed at the intertwining shadows of Ink Qilin's sword and phoenix feathers within, when I suddenly heard a mournful crack from the spirit butterflies on my wedding dress.
Outside the window, the soul-calling bell exploded simultaneously, sending shards of ice wrapped around a transmitting jade slip flying into the inner chamber. I looked at the flickering cloud patterns of the Ancestor Worship Ceremony within and brushed my fingertip over the hidden Xuan Bing scales in my sleeve—scratches from Ink Qilin's sword perfectly matched with the new openings on my grandfather's chessboard.
The shadow of the Blood Cherry Tree slanted across the chessboard, casting my Darkspot piece in a realm between light and darkness. As my grandfather wiped down the turtle shell, stardust powder leaked from his sleeve and landed precisely on a critical position for contention.
I took advantage of brushing away fallen flowers from my skirt to hook my fingertip around the Ice Spirit Chess Piece hidden in my sleeve. "Look towards the southeast," I suddenly pointed at the corner of the corridor, "Xuan Yu's Ink Qilin sword tassel is hanging on Plum Branch!"
As my grandfather turned his head, three petals from the Blood Cherry fell into the medicine cup. The moment the Ice Spirit Chess Piece slid into place on the chessboard, a formation pattern taught to me by Yang Lin years ago suddenly emerged at the northwest dead gate.
The Frost Flowers crystallized on the chessboard emitted faint cracking sounds, reflecting my grandfather's pupils that briefly glimmered with golden Lustreflow. "Xiao Yao is more cunning than Wang Xuan," Xuan color's brocade robe swept over the stone table with Ice Shards, while Xuan Yu's fingertip coalesced mysterious spiritual energy into chains that bound my wrist.
The maiden's blood on his neck glowed with an eerie peach color, matching perfectly with the phoenix flower hairpin I had secretly hidden in my sleeve. My grandfather's cane suddenly interposed between us, shaking loose ice crystals mixed with stardust powder from a Chess Jar: "The Snow Phoenix Egg from Spirit Butterfly Garden..."
"My granddaughter-in-law should accompany me to try on auspicious garments for Ancestor Worship." As Xuan Yu pulled me to stand up, an embroidered pattern of hehuan flowers in his sleeve unexpectedly tightened around the edge of the chessboard.
The stolen Ice Spirit Chess Piece shattered upon command, revealing a half piece of Ink Qilin sword shard wrapped inside—exactly what I had found three days ago at Han Tan. I stumbled into his back, and my silver hairpin snagged on Xuan color's brocade robe's hidden pattern.
As Ice Soul essence seeped into my skin through his collar, Xuan Yu suddenly let out a muffled groan. The silver chain around his wrist snapped, and Wang Xuan's earring rolled right into my shoe tip embroidered with spirit butterflies.
"Did your incense mix in snow lotus from Broken Heart Cliff?" I feigned adjusting my hair while pressing my stardust-covered fingertip against his palm. When mysterious spiritual energy collided with Yang Lin's aura, blood from Xuan Yu’s neck suddenly oozed out as a Blood Pearl fell onto my hand, leaving behind a red mark shaped like a phoenix flower.
Xuan Yu reversed his hand to grip my life gate; an illusion of an Ice Soul Cauldron surfaced in his dark pupils: "Last night at midnight, there were traces of stardust powder at the Star Map location of Ice Soul formation."
Suddenly, a sound of shattered jade artifacts came from around the corner of the corridor. Seizing this opportunity, I broke free from Zhi Guo and intentionally crushed that phoenix earring underfoot: "Perhaps Snow Phoenix pecked at ice crystals containing spirit powder." The hidden turtle shell in my sleeve suddenly grew hot, causing that precious game on the chessboard to reveal a Star Map of altar formations.
Grandfather's cough echoed at the right moment: "The back mountain..."
"The Soul-Calling Bell in the Spirit Butterfly Garden needs to be hung again." Suddenly, Xuan Yu wrapped his arm around my waist, and the chill of the Xuanling energy froze as I reached for the Chess Jar.
The bloodstains from his palm seeped into the fabric, creating patterns on my wedding gown reminiscent of Wang Xuan's floral adornments.
As we walked over the ground scattered with ice crystals, the blood cherry tree suddenly shed dozens of crimson petals.
I gazed at one that had stuck to Xuan Yu's shoulder and suddenly recalled the scene I had seen in the medicine chamber that morning—the Ice Soul Cauldron, which should have been placed on the altar, bore carvings identical to those of the dead gate on the Chessboard.
When the thorns of the rose wall snagged my sleeve, Xuan Yu abruptly pressed me against a Corridor Pillar entwined with Ice Soul Vines.
He formed a Xuan Bing with his fingertip, brushing against my neck and freezing that droplet of Blood Pearl that was about to fall: "Did you learn the hand technique for switching pieces from Yang Lin?"
"Didn't my husband burn his sword manual long ago?" I pushed against his waist where the Ink Qilin sword sheath was, stardust powder from my sleeve scattering into the flowers with the wind.
When the Ice Soul Vine sensed Yang Lin's aura, those thorny branches suddenly wrapped around the hem of Xuan Yu's brocade robe.
Xuan Yu let out a cold laugh, and his Xuan Colored Cloak shattered the ice crystals covering the wall.
The grip on my chin stopped perfectly at the edge of an old wound: "Did grandfather not tell you the price of switching the soul-guarding chess pieces?"
I tilted my head and bit down on the silver chain hanging from his wrist, tasting the unique metallic scent of the Ice Soul Cauldron: "Just like Wang Xuan didn't tell my husband that mixing phoenix feather ash with snow spirit mushrooms would corrode the soul-guarding sand?" Stardust powder hidden beneath my tongue sprayed onto his neck with my breath, revealing scratches from Ink Qilin's sword on that sealed spot.
The rose bushes suddenly rustled without wind, and several petals stained with Ice Shard drifted toward the northwest.
I watched one embed itself into Xuan Yu's collar pattern and suddenly heard Snow Phoenix breaking free from its shell in the direction of the Spirit Butterfly Garden—exactly at the hour grandfather had hinted at this morning.
"The Morrow Ancestor Worship Ceremony..." Xuan Yu's warning was abruptly interrupted by the sudden explosion of the Soul-Calling Bell.
Taking advantage of this, I broke free from Zhi Guo and stepped back, my embroidered shoes crunching on the shattered ice crystals.
The turtle shell hidden in my skirt suddenly grew hot, causing remnants of Ink Qilin and an Ice Spirit Chess Piece in my sleeve to resonate.
As the Midnight Drum vibrated along with the locking spirit bracelet, a flash of Xuan color's garment corner appeared behind the rose wall.
I looked at Xuan Yu's suddenly darkened expression and realized that pattern on that corner was not made by Xuanjie—it resembled something I had glimpsed that night by Han Tan...
"Some people should learn to behave." The final glance Xuan Yu cast toward the end of the Corridor was icy; Ink Qilin's sword energy sliced through half a wall of roses.
I touched the Blood Pearl congealed at my neck, watching it reflect a lilac juice color favored by Feng Fei under the moonlight.
As Ice Soul Vines behind me crackled softly, I suddenly remembered grandfather's sigh from noon.
While he wiped down the chessboard, a half piece of silver scale slipped from his sleeve... But at this moment, a sound of shattered porcelain from the east wing mixed with a familiar scent of hehua flower drew my thoughts deeper into a fog.
Comment 0 Comment Count