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"Ten Thousand Blades play a myriad knives, resounding in symphony

The night wind on the other shore, the night wind on the other shore

The black wind blows through... the gale runs rampant."

Fu Hua/Chi Yuan's character song, "Thousand Feathers." Those who had not heard it could give it a listen.

The melodious singing circled over the little hillside, drifting farther and farther away.

"Rin!"

Yae Sakura suddenly hugged Yae Rin from behind as she sat atop a large rock singing, and the lovely song came to an abrupt stop.

"Big Sister?" Yae Rin did not even need to guess to know who was hugging her.

"Rin, your health is really getting better and better. It looks like it will not be long before you can practice swordsmanship with me." Yae Sakura spoke happily, though she had forgotten that she and her little sister had already studied swordsmanship together on many nights.

The two sisters were nearly fifteen now. Thirteen years had passed since the day their mother was sacrificed in the Blood Sacrifice, and nine years had passed since they met Xu Yanwu.

"Mhm."

"Oh, right, Rin, what was that song you were singing just now? It sounded so nice. And it felt strangely familiar."

Yae Sakura asked curiously.

The song Yae Rin had just sung gave Yae Sakura the familiar feeling that she had heard it somewhere before. And it seemed... as though there was a story behind it?

Yae Rin's eyes lit up. "Big Sister, do you remember this song?"

Yae Sakura waved her hand, thinking Yae Rin was asking whether she had learned the song after hearing it once. "No, I do not learn that quickly..."

"Oh..."

Yae Rin looked a little disappointed, but she still told Yae Sakura where the song came from.

"Big Sister, this song was taught to me by a god... by an older brother."

"An older brother? Rin, where did you meet him?" Yae Sakura became wary. Yae Rin had always been in poor health and had basically never left Yae Village. How could she have met an outsider?

"No, Big Sister..."

Yae Rin was somewhat helpless and could only tell a small lie. "That older brother... after teaching me this song and telling me its story, he left. He did not stay in the village."

"Really?" Yae Sakura was doubtful.

"Really!" Yae Rin declared solemnly.

"Then there is nothing we can do about it." Yae Sakura happily pounced on Rin. "Rin, tell me that story. I want to hear it too."

"Mhm! Okay!"

After agreeing to Yae Sakura, Yae Rin sat shoulder to shoulder with her on that rock and began speaking slowly.

"This song is called 'Thousand Feathers.' The god... that older brother said it was a song praising a guardian named Chi Yuan..."

Inside Yae Shrine, where Xu Yanwu's body lay.

Xu Yanwu sat cross-legged before his own body. On the altar before him lay the Kite Bird that Yae Sakura and Yae Rin's mother had left behind all those years ago.

"A full ten years..."

"You little lunatic, Rin's illness is nearly cured... She has even been studying swordsmanship with Sakura and me, and Rin is very gifted as a Miko."

"Sakura... Although her spiritual senses are not as strong as Rin's, her talent for swordsmanship is the greatest I have ever seen. Her swordsmanship is no worse than yours was back then..."

"The two of them are fifteen already. They are about to become beautiful young ladies."

"Sometimes, when I look at them, I truly have this feeling... this illusion that I have not lost my heart yet. It feels so comforting... so... warm."

Xu Yanwu reached for the Kite Bird, but grabbed only air. His fingers passed straight through it—

and sank into the altar.

"Do you remember the Chi Yuan I told you about? I entrusted my heart to her for safekeeping. I had thought she would find my body and revive me... but..."

Xu Yanwu shook his head. "Now that someone has brought me to another country, how could Chi Yuan, as the guardian of the Land of Shenzhou, possibly spare the attention to search for me..."

"I may really have messed this up... I truly do not know when my heart will return to my body. Living without emotions... is rather painful."

Xu Yanwu sighed, withdrew his hand, and looked through the window at the sky outside.

"It has been... a long time since it rained."

--Before Yae Shrine--

"God Master! It has not rained for two months!" an old woman said. "Please hold a Sacrifice Ritual!"

Yae God Master remained silent and did not answer immediately.

Only after a long while did he speak. "But there are no suitable virgins left in the village to serve as sacrifices..."

"Even if she is not a virgin, it is fine! If this drought continues, all the crops in the fields will wither!"

"This... very well."

At that moment, Xu Yanwu stood at a distance atop Yae Shrine, watching those ignorant villagers prepare to push another innocent girl into the Sacrifice Ritual.

"...No... Something is wrong... No... Sakura and Rin cannot stay in this village any longer... Blood Sacrifice... No, they must leave..."

Xu Yanwu's head began to ache. It seemed he remembered something, yet it was hazy and indistinct. Still, those vague memories alone gave him a terrible premonition.

"What? You wish to stop them now? My dear... Divine Lord?"

A hollow, hoarse voice inexplicably appeared beside Xu Yanwu, though he had no idea where it came from.

"Who?!"

Xu Yanwu was startled. Without noticing anything at all, who had discovered him?

"Oh my... Divine Lord, that attitude truly breaks our hearts..."

This time, Xu Yanwu clearly heard where the voice was coming from.

That hollow voice... came from... his chest?!

The instant Xu Yanwu discovered its source, the hollow voice changed into a seductive woman's voice. "So the Divine Lord's expression can change too... How surprising."

"..."

Xu Yanwu said nothing. He merely untied the clothes covering his upper body and looked down at his chest.

At Xu Yanwu's chest, a mass of black mist had condensed into a sphere, floating exactly where his heart should have been.

"Honestly, why is the Divine Lord in such a hurry? This servant is coming out now."

A pale hand caressed Xu Yanwu's face, and that voice whispered softly into his ear, "See? Is this servant not right here now..."