The Witch at Midnight

Ye Yan was a little surprised.

He rubbed his eyes, and the rose before him returned to normal. But when he stared at the Color-Changing Rose for a long time, he could still see the abnormalities hidden beneath its outward appearance.

How had he suddenly become able to see strange things?

Ye Yan suddenly remembered the Soul Essence, Lantern, he had obtained earlier. He hadn't felt anything special when he first got it, but now its effect was becoming apparent.

His perception of the mysterious had grown more sensitive.

"Not bad..." Ye Yan murmured, pulling a specially made glass bottle from his pocket.

Sunlight passed through the glass, illuminating the liquid inside with an eerie emerald hue.

It was a special yeast starter he had carefully prepared.

It could make a Curio flower undergo a crimson transformation during fermentation, ultimately producing a Blood Spirit Wine known as Sinking Red Wisdom.

To make this joyous yeast starter, Ye Yan had spent quite a few materials related to the Principle of Cup. He had failed more than a dozen times before finally producing this tiny bottle.

The scissors snipped the black-and-white rose in his hand with precision.

The instant the flower detached from its stem, its petals faded to gray before his eyes. Ye Yan quickly stored it in his Consciousness Space.

[Color-Changing Rose (Transforming)]

[Category: First-Tier Material (Harvestable)]

[People's hearts may change, but the rose's fragrance endures.]

[Aspect: Honey, Cup → Moth]

"Hm?"

Ye Yan's expression changed abruptly as he looked at the information about the Color-Changing Rose.

He clearly remembered that its previous description hadn't looked like this. Not only had the conspicuous words "Transforming" appeared, but its Aspect had changed from Cup to a state that was transforming into Moth.

Could it be because he had summoned the Shadow Maiden here?

That incident had not only changed the Color-Changing Rose's appearance; even its essential Aspect had begun to mutate.

But how could a Principle change?

Just as Ye Yan was utterly baffled, a flash of insight struck him.

Didn't the Flower Country's time-honored theory of the five elements—how metal, wood, water, fire, and earth generated and overcame one another—resonate with what he was seeing?

Perhaps the power of Principles in this world also followed some hidden connections.

Although he still didn't understand how the other Principles were connected, the rose transforming before him had already proved one thing:

The Principle of Cup could indeed be twisted into the Principle of Moth.

Ye Yan gently rubbed his chin, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.

Lamp, Forge, Honey, Guidance, Moon...

Were there mysterious connections between these Principles, too?

The discovery made Ye Yan's heart race.

He gazed at the patch of Color-Changing Roses before him, realizing their value might far exceed his imagination.

They were not only precious alchemical materials; they might also become the key to verifying his bold hypothesis.

"Looks like I'll need to submit an application to get enough roses for research."

Ye Yan murmured, then carefully placed the rose, whose transformation had paused, into the glass bottle.

The gray petals slowly unfurled in the emerald liquid. The moment they touched the wine, wisps of gray-white threads seeped from their edges and spread through it.

The threads writhed like living things, intertwining with the luminescent substances in the wine.

Ye Yan noticed the black patterns on the petals fading before his eyes as the white threads appeared, as if the liquid were dissolving them.

He gently shook the bottle, setting the liquid swirling.

The liquid sloshed against the glass with an eerie sound. It was like autumn leaves brushing together in the wind, yet also like some insect beating its wings with a low hum.

It was a sign that the yeast starter had begun to work.

Ye Yan sealed the bottle completely.

Tiny bubbles began to rise in the liquid, as if countless microscopic lives were awakening.

As he left the Rose Garden, the guard's gaze swept over him.

Ye Yan calmly raised the glass bottle to show it to him. Seeing the rose inside, the guard simply nodded and let him pass.

The carriage jolted along the muddy road as Ye Yan watched the town lights recede through the window.

The laboratory stood alone deep in the woods, surrounded by towering ancient trees whose shadows swayed like living things. He opened the laboratory door with practiced ease. Inside, the air was filled with the mingled scents of herbs and flowers.

He had specifically requested this laboratory from the Research Institute.

Ye Yan knelt on one knee and tapped the floor three times with his fingertips. A hidden compartment opened silently.

He took the glass bottle from his coat. By now, the rose petals had grown translucent, like a thin veil suspended in the wine. The dissolved black patterns had settled at the bottom of the bottle as a fine layer of black crystals.

Ye Yan nodded in satisfaction.

He could feel the energy in the bottle undergoing a subtle change, exactly as the process described in the recipe had predicted.

"Looks like it's ready for the second step."

Ye Yan carefully placed the glass bottle inside, then laid gray-white cicada shells over its top, one by one.

When the final shell had been put in place, they all began to tremble at once, emitting a fine buzzing sound. Ye Yan saw the dark-red threads in the wine begin to swim faster, converging inside the bottle into a beating heart.

This was how Blood Spirit Wine had to be stored. Only then could it become true Sinking Red Wisdom.

[Discovered a recordable coordinate. Store it?]

"Yes."

Ye Yan marked the not-yet-finished Sinking Red Wisdom on the Luck Compass, in case anything went wrong during the brewing process.

Having done everything, he let out a long breath.

"Success. Time to go home."

The night on the way back was thick as ink.

On the forest path, even the insects had fallen silent. The only sound was his boots crunching through dead leaves.

Suddenly, a bone-chilling cold swept across his back.

Clang—

A bell rang without warning, deep and hollow.

There shouldn't have been a bell nearby.

Ye Yan stopped abruptly, his fingers already resting on the revolver at his waist. The surroundings seemed terrifyingly still; only his heartbeat thundered in his ears.

At some point, mist had begun to spread.

Beneath the moonlight, a slender figure slowly appeared.

A wide-brimmed pointed hat shaded her face with black lace like a spiderweb, revealing her pale chin and a flash of crimson lips. She wore a dark purple gown embroidered with stars and moons. Its hem stirred without a breeze, offering glimpses of silver garters beneath.

The mysterious woman walked toward him slowly.

With each step she took, the silver chains at her waist swayed.

The strange ornaments dangling from them—a dried bat's claw, an openwork pocket watch, and glass eyeballs—clinked together, forming an oddly entrancing rhythm.

"Would you care for a romantic encounter, lost traveler?" Her voice was like honey wrapped around a blade, sweet yet cold.

Then, without waiting for Ye Yan to answer,

the woman slowly raised her hand and gently touched a fingertip to her full lips. Their crimson color contrasted eerily with her black fingernails.

"Or would you like me to show you the way?"