Su Yun stood quietly before the brushwood gate. Beyond the town, Flower Fox had bumped his head full of lumps trying to catch ground squirrels. Foxes appeared and vanished like ghosts in the snow, hopping about, while the cooing from the trees came from Linyi Village's villagers, who were huddled together discussing whether to catch a fox to eat.
Su Yun slowly withdrew his gaze. He saw Tianmen Town, the little town where he had lived for nearly fourteen years, becoming illusory, like a mirage in the mist, trembling with the winter wind.
He saw Tianmen Town's residents. Their figures in the mist were powerful and inconceivable, yet had no substance.
Thump, thump.
The Qiang Drum sounded in the town, an instrument unique to the Northern Frontier.
"...Dynasties rise and fall through the generations, yet they are but the waxing and waning moon's shadow! Thump thump!"
Following the sound, Su Yun's gaze passed Baozi Zhang, who was selling buns; Uncle Xu, drinking himself into a stupor; Grandpa Le and Grandma Le, sitting beneath the eaves hand in hand, their legs pressed together; the Yan Feiling Couple in the first flush of marriage; Sister Fang'er...
These familiar people became hazy and insubstantial. As his gaze passed over them, he saw their familiar forms twist and swell in the gloom, turning savage and grotesque.
Their familiar faces became strange, like the Ghosts and Gods in a temple!
They were each and every one a Ghost or God, standing amid Tianmen Town's mist.
The unique accent of the Northern Frontier came from the steadily thickening fog, carrying the vast desolation of yellow earth and the towering grandeur of mountains, chanting alongside the Qiang Drum: "A mountain man piles books and paintings upon his desk, thump thump! Pines hang by the window, while bracken carpets the ground. Thump thump!"
Hot tears welled in Su Yun's eyes. The Ghosts and Gods in the mist turned their heads, and each pair of eyes gave him a familiar feeling.
They had long since died.
Every resident of Tianmen Town had died in that catastrophe six years ago.
They had remained here, creating the illusion of Tianmen Town, all to care for him!
"Why seek an audience at lofty gates? Thump thump! White clouds alone can bring delight! And now, the affairs of this world are hard to tell!"
Su Yun looked toward the voice. Uncle Qu sat atop Heaven Gate, his face wrinkled, his old eyes clouded. The Qiang Drum rested on his knees as he beat it with his hand.
The Northern Frontier's weighty vastness and towering grandeur in his voice suddenly became incomparably intense!
"Between heaven and earth, not one hero can be seen—, not one great man! Thump thump!"
Those final two drumbeats sent Su Yun's blood and qi boiling. His blood and qi erupted almost beyond his control, releasing a long dragon's roar. Surging blood and qi poured from his body like a tide, transforming into a crimson Flood Dragon that coiled twice around him.
The dragon's head stretched out from behind his right shoulder, its whiskers streaming in the wind.
"Roooar—"
The Flood Dragon roared, resisting the pressure of the drumbeats.
"You little brat, you've grown up!"
Uncle Qu threw back his head and laughed atop Heaven Gate. He rose to his feet and slung the Qiang Drum over his back.
His body immediately became incomparably majestic. He was a many-armed Ghost or God, the Spiritual Nature left behind by a powerful person after death!
In Tianmen Town's mist, the Ghosts and Gods all fixed their eyes on Su Yun's face, their expressions filled with gratification.
"After we died, we had all kinds of wishes, unfulfilled last wishes, and so Heavenly Market entrusted us with tasks. But we shared one wish: to see you grow up safe and sound."
Uncle Qu's body seemed like that of a war god, growing ever taller—tall and illusory, dim and hazy, seeming as though he might scatter and vanish at any moment.
Tianmen Town's houses were stretched long and longer, becoming like dream bubbles and fleeting shadows.
"This wish was given to us by Old Cen. Old Cen is gone, and now you have grown up too. It is time for you to leave."
The Ghosts and Gods in the mist all said, "Once you leave, there will be one less burden weighing us down, one less unfulfilled wish pressing on our hearts. Little brat, go!"
Whoosh—
The north wind howled. Tianmen Town became grand and illusory. Su Yun raised his hand, as though trying to seize them, seize Tianmen Town, seize the memories of his childhood.
Yet Tianmen Town vanished.
In its place stood patches of desolate graves. The grass atop them was withered yellow, mud spattered the tombstones, and the ruined rubble all around showed that this had once been a bustling, prosperous town.
No one came here to make offerings, and no one tended the place. Among the graves stood only a thatched cottage compound—the room where Su Yun had lived.
"Uncle Qu, Aunt Luo... Where did you go? You're still nearby, aren't you..."
Su Yun's steps were heavy as he walked through Tianmen Town's graveyard.
Tomb of General Li Xiaoyi of Yuanshuo.
He stood before a tombstone. The words engraved upon it drew him into memories. The name Li Xiaoyi was unfamiliar, but he knew Muzi, the handsome young man Sister Fang'er had secretly loved.
Tomb of Daoist Xu of Tiandao Academy, Yuanshuo.
He did not know Daoist Xu either. He only knew Drunkard Xu.
Tomb of the Master of Leiyin Pavilion, Yuanshuo.
He did not know the Master of Leiyin Pavilion, but he knew Lai the Monk, who often appeared out of nowhere in town to beg for alms.
Tomb of Zhang Fentao, known as Zhang Huozhu, of Yuanshuo.
Was Zhang Fentao Baozi Zhang?
Tomb of Sicheng, known as Yueshui Zhu, of Yuanshuo.
Yue was pronounced the same as Le. So was Yueshui Zhu Grandma Le or Grandpa Le?
Without realizing it, he reached the first row of graves in the Tianmen Town ruins. The tombstone bore the words: Tomb of Qu Jin, Grand Tutor Qu of Yuanshuo. Was this Qu Jin, this Grand Tutor Qu, Uncle Qu?
In the snow, Su Yun kowtowed before Uncle Qu's tombstone. Then he went to Aunt Luo's grave and kowtowed again.
That winter, he bid farewell to Tianmen Town's residents one by one, thanking them for the kindness of raising and caring for him over the past six or seven years.
He returned to the thatched cottage to pack. It was mainly some new clothes, the Five Zhu Coins he had accumulated over recent days, and several volumes of Ancient Sage's Ultimate Skill that Mister Wild Fox had given him.
Once he had finished packing, he walked out of the hometown that had existed only in his imagination. He had been blind for six years, and had imagined for six years; Tianmen Town had existed in his imagination for six years as well.
Flower Fox and the three little foxes sat quietly outside the graveyard, waiting for him as though they had long known this day would come.
Su Yun looked back. Heaven Gate still stood there, worn down and ruined, with no one to repair it.
That gate was the one Uncle Qu had never managed to mend over the past six years.
Su Yun withdrew his gaze, took off four small bundles, and tossed them over. "Second Brother Hua, there are clothes and shoes for you inside. I don't know whether they fit. Put them on. We're going to Tianshiyuan Station to prepare to enter the city."
The fox demons accepted the bundles and immediately turned, plunging into the snow. Four bulges rose beneath the snowdrifts, followed by rustling sounds.
After a while, a short, chubby little child emerged from the snow with a beaming face. He wore a dog-ear hat, a red padded jacket lined with fur, dark red corduroy padded trousers, and tiger-head shoes.
He hopped out of the snow, but because he was too short, he fell back in, leaving only his dog-ear hat exposed.
Su Yun reached out and lifted him free, examining him several times before asking doubtfully, "Xiao Fan? Or Bu Ping?"
"I'm your second brother!"
The little child snapped angrily, then pulled off his hat. "Look, look! My hair is multicolored!"
Su Yun nodded repeatedly and apologized. "Second Brother, you don't even reach my waist. I thought you were Bu Ping..."
"I developed late! I'm built solid, what business is that of yours?" the little brat with multicolored hair said indignantly.
Su Yun rubbed his head. Flower Fox bared his teeth at him threateningly, showing two pairs of tiny tiger fangs.
Su Yun pressed him back into the snow, and Flower Fox was left with only his hat sticking out again.
Li Xiaofan and Hu Buping crawled out as well, both a little shorter than Flower Fox.
The two little fox demons seemed to have grown symmetrically. Their clothes were identical too: plaid padded jackets sewn with cheap fur for warmth, slightly oversized floral cotton trousers, and dog-ear hats just like Flower Fox's.
The two little fox demons stood to the left and right, staring suspiciously at Su Yun.
Su Yun's expression did not change. After letting them stare at him for a while, he finally said, "Your clothes were bought together, so of course they look somewhat alike. But they're sturdy and cheap. They really do look good on you two brothers..."
Flower Fox poked his head out of the snow, baring his little tiger fangs. "My clothes were bought from the same stall too, weren't they?"
"Yes. The stall owner said there would be a discount if I bought more."
Su Yun said mournfully, "Second Brother, you have to understand, I'm blind. I can't tell what's pretty and what isn't..."
Something burrowed beneath the snow. A little girl wearing a white rabbit-ear hat lined with suede crawled out. The hat's two rabbit ears could move, twitching now and then.
Li Xiaofan and Hu Buping's eyes turned red with jealousy. They stared fixedly at the twitching rabbit ears, then turned to Su Yun in perfect unison.
"Girls have to be dressed a little more adorably."
Su Yun said without changing expression, "That's what the stall owner told me."
Beneath the rabbit ears were two blue-black braids, combed from the back of her head down to her chest.
Qingqiu Yue struggled out of the snow. She wore a pure white cloak-like robe tied at the waist with a red sash. The fluffy robe was very warm and trailed all the way to her ankles.
On her feet were green fox shoes with wooden soles and fur lining, embroidered with fox-head patterns.
Flower Fox pulled himself out of the snow, stared at the tiger-head shoes on his own feet, then looked at Qingqiu Yue's green fox shoes. His eyes reddened too. "Little sister, your shoes..."
"They're so comfortable!"
Qingqiu Yue was delighted, her two braids swaying as the snow-white clothes made them especially conspicuous. "And they're pretty! Look, the ears inside the hat are hollow, so I can hide my own ears inside the rabbit ears. When I move my ears, the rabbit ears move too..."
Flower Fox turned his reddened eyes on Su Yun.
"The stall owner in Huangji Town picked them out."
Su Yun said awkwardly, "What I'm wearing isn't very good-looking either. We don't have much money... All right, all right, it's time to get going!"
The four adorable little demon children followed him along the snowy road, stumbling high and low with every step. As they walked, one of them would suddenly disappear. Whenever that happened, Su Yun stopped, reached out, and lifted the little demon child from the snow pit.
"Second Brother, don't run around everywhere," Su Yun instructed.
Flower Fox looked utterly wronged. "I didn't..."
Before you continue