Faded snow

Author: Shen Yingying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: For Yan Ge, memory began even before she was born. For Yan Ge, memory began even before she was born. She was different, and she knew it; the Taoist priest knew it too. Her difference isolated her from the world, like a white deer flying across snow, aimlessly waiting for the day she turned white—until his appearance. There was no earth-shattering reunion; they just met again. There were no vows of eternal love; he had to marry someone else after leaving, and he had someone else in his heart. So, she was just gambling, gambling that in life or death, he would choose who? Who he would take with him. Ah, she didn’t know when it started, but she just wanted to hold onto that tiny bit of warmth. If he didn’t take her, she had a way to leave too. But when she learned the truth, she just couldn’t bring herself to leave. In the end, she could only return to the beginning. The Rebirth Pool gave her a rebirth, and with a flick of her transformation, she became the stunningly talented and brilliant leader of Jinghong Palace. Her afterlife was a life of demons and monsters.
She finally lowered her head, touching her pale lips. Cold as two snowflakes, they instantly melted against his lips, and then her body, like a snowflake, gently floated up, weightless. He lowered her down and noticed a trace of a smile still lingering on her face. She had always smiled, but those smiles were always tinged with a hint of cruelty. Only this last smile was pure, like fresh snow that had not yet landed, like a life just touching the mortal world. A fleeting joy, it seemed to freeze in an instant.
Snap—Snap—Snap—
The vast snowfield was tranquil and boundless. Only the dull sound of a sharp tool striking snowflakes fell one by one, melting into the pale, blood-stained ground. The standing ice pillars formed a natural fence at the entrance of the cave, refracting dazzling and magnificent light under the setting sun. He Guanqing squinted his eyes, peering out from the gaps between the ice pillars, motionless for a long time. For a moment, the light on the ice pillars trembled slightly. He instinctively shifted his position, settled back into his cross-legged meditation, and waved his hand as if to brush off the fresh snow that had just fallen on his shoulder. By then, the snow had already stopped. The sun was dimming, and the southern slope of Dagu Mountain, where the Filled-with-Sorrow Sea lay, was shrouded in a desolate snowlight.
The disciples of the Kongtong Sect lay huddled in this small cave, leaning to the east and west, occasionally groaning in pain. He Guanqing glanced back at these injured young men and sighed deeply. It was almost dark, and the slope outside was still empty. The disciples who had gone out to gather news had not returned yet. The martial arts companions from the Shaolin, Emei, Mount Hua, and Wudang sects who had come with him were also unknown to what had happened to them. Only a figure in a blue robe danced, tirelessly wielding a long sword.
Ice chunks rained down from the cliff walls, revealing a fierce "moon" character. He Guanqing stared at the "moon" character, feeling an indescribable sense of shock. The fierce battle of the previous night had been both the pale white of snow and the crimson red of blood. He Guanqing was sixty-three this year, and he had led the Kongtong Sect for twenty-three years, having seen countless storms in the martial world. He had long cultivated a heart as calm as still water. But this battle had almost shattered his years of confidence. The martial arts elites of Central China had gathered to attack the Moon-Capturing City deep in the Filled-with-Sorrow Sea of Dagu Mountain, only to be defeated overnight and scattered in defeat. If it weren’t for his young disciple discovering this secluded cave in time, none of the twenty or so disciples of the Kongtong Sect would have survived.