The stream running through the snow hadn't frozen over. It flowed slowly along.
Its water was clear, reflecting the moonlight.
The trees nearby had sparse branches and had shed all their leaves. With nothing to obstruct it, the moonlight spilled straight down from the sky. Yet only the stream reflected it; the surrounding snow remained dim, tinged with a lifeless pallor.
Han Ji stood by the stream and slowly crouched down.
The cat leaped out of her arms, landed on the snow, and silently watched Han Ji.
A look of terror appeared on Han Ji's face. Her body slowly bent forward against her will.
Her face hovered above the stream. There was no reflection of her in the water, nor was there any shadow.
She seemed not to exist at all. The moonlight passed straight through her head and continued down to the water's surface.
There was no reflection of the moon in the stream, either.
The eerie sight made Han Ji even more terrified.
She could feel that something monstrous was lurking beneath the narrow stream.
I sensed a massive amount of yin energy coming from the water.
The entire stream seemed like the body of a ghost.
Han Ji's body continued to bend forward until her face touched the water, where she felt its icy chill.
The water was colder than the snowflakes falling from the sky.
The snowflakes seemed to deliberately avoid the stream. Not a single one ever fell into the water.
With a soft splash, Han Ji's face sank beneath the surface.
She sank slowly, submerging her face completely in the stream.
Her eyes were still open, stretched wide as she stared straight down at the streambed.
The bottom was pitch-black, like the deep sea, and its depths were impossible to see.
The current brushed