Orphan of the Snowfield

The blue-white passageway's radiance shattered and dissipated like broken glass. The violent tearing sensation caused by the dimensional descent finally stopped.

Huo Yuhao crashed heavily onto the frozen ground, clutching the still-sleeping infant tightly in his arms. The biting cold instantly pierced his tattered divine robe—they had landed upon an endless snowfield. Heavy snow drifted through the air, visibility was less than a hundred meters, and the outlines of a mountain range could vaguely be seen in the distance.

"Cough, cough..." Huo Yuhao coughed up a mouthful of Dark Gold clotted blood. The blood landed on the snow with a sizzling, corrosive sound. He lowered his head to inspect Tang Wulin in his arms—the infant's little face had been reddened by the cold, but protected by the faint warmth emitted by the Divine Core, his breathing remained steady. Along the edge of the swaddling cloth, fine Dark Gold patterns could faintly be seen slowly seeping into the infant's skin. The damaged Golden Dragon King's God Core was instinctively searching for a host to merge with.

Huo Yuhao tried to circulate his divine power to ward off the cold, but all he felt was a tearing pain deep within his soul. The sealing of his Divine Godhood had been fully completed. He now possessed only a god's memories and knowledge; within his body remained merely a wisp of divine origin and meridians riddled with damage. At the Dark Gold wound on his chest, fragments of the Dragon God's will still struggled. Every pulse blurred his consciousness a little further.

"Can't... fall here." He gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, using his last strength to erect a frail spiritual barrier around himself. At least it could block some of the wind, snow, and his aura.

Just then, muffled voices accompanied by the crunching sound of footsteps in snow came from beyond the blizzard.

"...Ziran, are you sure it's this way? This blizzard is getting worse!" A gentle female voice spoke anxiously.

"The map says there should be an abandoned hunter's cabin nearby. Let's take shelter first," a steady male voice replied. "Hold on, Lang Yue. I think I can see something ahead... Wait, what is that?"

The footsteps noticeably quickened.

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes instinctively activated—even with all his divine power gone, the insight of these eyes still far surpassed that of ordinary people. Through the snowstorm, he "saw" the newcomers clearly: a couple in their thirties. The man was sturdily built with an honest-looking face, carrying a large pack on his back; the woman was wrapped in thick cotton clothes, her brows and eyes gentle. They were both ordinary people, without the slightest fluctuation of Soul Power.

They were heading straight toward him.

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Huo Yuhao's mind. His appearance was far too strange—silver hair, mismatched eyes, wounds all over his body, and a writhing Dark Gold curse on his chest. If they saw him, it would inevitably cause panic and might even draw unwanted attention. And Wulin in his arms... this child needed a safe, ordinary environment in which to grow up, far from the conflicts of the Divine Realm—at least until the Golden Dragon King's God Core awakened again.

He made his decision.

Enduring the agonizing pain, Huo Yuhao quickly and carefully placed the infant on the snow. He lowered his head and gazed at the child's sleeping face, his eyes finally falling upon the white inner robe wrapped around him—it was casual attire from the Emotion Temple, neither silk nor cotton, with a name embroidered upon it in faint golden thread.

Tang Wulin.

Those three characters had been inscribed from afar by his father-in-law, Tang San, with divine power at the final moment before the passage opened. He had said, "This name will stay with him. It may temporarily calm the dragon soul, and it is both my blessing and my shackle for him."

Huo Yuhao's fingers brushed over the name. It felt faintly warm. He knew he could not take away anything directly connected to the Divine Realm that might reveal the child's extraordinary origins. But could he truly hand over a child with no protection at all?

He looked at the snow filling the sky, and a thought flashed through his mind.

He extended his trembling right hand, palm facing upward. The last wisp of pure Emotion Divine Power remaining within him—mixed with his boundless reluctance to part with the child, his determination to Guard him, and a blessing as cold and pure as ice and snow—began to gather with difficulty. Specks of icy-blue light peeled away from the air, swirling and condensing in his palm.

The process drained the last of his strength, cold sweat beading on his brow. Yet his gaze remained focused.

The light particles finally solidified into an exquisitely delicate six-pointed snowflake. It was not physical, but more like a creation woven from the laws of light and ice. At its center, a faint blue-gold radiance slowly pulsed, emitting constant, gentle warmth and an aura that calmed the mind.

"Let this snow bear witness..." Huo Yuhao murmured softly, placing the snowflake formed from his final divine power inside the swaddling cloth, against the infant's chest. The instant the snowflake touched the infant's skin, its glow dimmed slightly, becoming like the finest ice-crystal ornament. Yet its constant warmth spread outward, protecting the child's vital channels.

After doing all this, he hesitated no longer. He carefully wrapped Tang Wulin in the white robe, then gently placed him in a hollow in a snowdrift sheltered from the wind, ensuring that snowflakes would not fall directly onto his face.

The voices were now only a few dozen meters away.

Huo Yuhao staggered to his feet and looked deeply at the snowdrift, as well as the faintly visible words "Tang Wulin" on the white robe. Then, resolutely, he turned and disappeared into the blizzard in the opposite direction. He deliberately left a shallow trail of footprints leading away, drawing the distance between his aura and that snowdrift farther apart.

When Tang Ziran and Lang Yue arrived, the first things they saw were a string of strange footprints and several shocking drops of Dark Gold "blood" on the snow.

"Is that... blood?" Lang Yue covered her mouth.

Tang Ziran crouched down to inspect it, frowning. "The color is wrong, and these traces... don't look like they came from a person or an ordinary beast. Be careful. We should leave this place quickly..."

Before he could finish, a weak yet distinct baby's cry came from behind the nearby snowdrift.

The two froze at the same time.

They exchanged a glance and cautiously walked around it. There, they found an infant wrapped tightly in a strange white fabric, lying in a nest of snow. His little face was slightly red from the cold, but he was not wailing, only whimpering softly. The material was extraordinary, cool and soft to the touch. Even more surprisingly, three characters they did not recognize, yet whose structure was unusually intricate and beautiful, were embroidered over the chest.

"Heavens! How could there be a child here?!" Lang Yue's maternal instinct instantly overwhelmed all fear and doubt. She rushed over at once, lifted the infant into her arms, and wrapped him in her warm cotton coat. "In weather this cold, he'll freeze to death!"

Tang Ziran hurried over as well, vigilantly scanning the surroundings. Other than the wind, snow, and the retreating trail of footprints, there was nothing else. "Who would abandon a child in a place like this? And leave behind a name?"

He carefully examined the three characters. Their script was ancient and full of charm, certainly not the common writing used across the continent today. "These characters... I've never seen them before. But this fabric and embroidery are not things an ordinary family could possess."

Wrapped in the warmth of Lang Yue's embrace, and seemingly sensing the constant warmth released by the snowflake within his swaddling cloth, the infant gradually stopped crying. He opened a pair of clear blue eyes and looked curiously at Lang Yue.

Lang Yue's heart melted at once. She gently patted the swaddling cloth, then suddenly gave a soft sound of surprise. "Ziran, there seems to be something in this child's clothes... It's warm."

Tang Ziran carefully lifted one corner of the swaddling cloth and saw the ice-crystal-like six-pointed snowflake. It lay quietly against the infant's chest, radiating a soft halo and warmth that drove away some of the surrounding cold. The blue-gold light at the snowflake's center flickered faintly as though it were alive.

"This..." Tang Ziran was completely stunned. "This is certainly not something of the mortal world! And this fabric, this name... this child's origins may be beyond anything we can imagine."

"No matter where he came from, we can't leave him here!" Lang Yue held the child tighter, her tone incomparably resolute. "He'll freeze to death! Look at him—he's so good, so beautiful... This snowflake is protecting him. Perhaps this is fate. We... we've always hoped for a child, haven't we? This is Heaven's gift to us!"

Tang Ziran looked at the long-lost vitality and love shining in his wife's eyes, then at the quiet infant in her arms, protected by that miraculous snowflake. The softest part of his heart was thoroughly moved. He looked once more over the snow-filled wilderness, empty of all human traces. Even that strange trail of footprints had long since been covered by fresh snow.

Perhaps this truly was fate.

"You're right." He finally sighed, his expression becoming gentle yet firm. "No matter who he is, where he came from, or what secrets he carries, he needs parents and a home right now. We... should take him home. This snowflake and this name are clues to his origins. We'll keep them safe for him and tell him when he grows up."

"Yes!" Lang Yue nodded vigorously, tears of joy sliding down her cheeks. "We'll raise him with all our love and let him grow up safe and happy. Since there's a name on this fabric... let's call him Wulin. Tang Wulin."

"Tang Wulin... Good." Tang Ziran softly repeated the name. He reached out and carefully touched the miraculous snowflake, feeling the pure warmth and blessing within it. "Little Wulin, welcome to our family."

The couple wrapped the infant again in their thickest clothing. Tang Ziran hoisted his pack, while Lang Yue held their newly found child tightly. They carefully made their way back along the path they had come from, filled with hope and reverence. Their figures gradually vanished into the boundless curtain of snow. Within the swaddling cloth, the six-pointed snowflake silently emitted a faint glow, like a wordless vow of protection.

About three hundred meters away, within a crevice in the rocks half-buried by wind and snow.

Huo Yuhao leaned against the freezing stone, taking in everything with his "eyes." The view through his Spirit Eyes gradually blurred. The backlash from his utterly exhausted divine power and the assault of the Dragon God's will had reached their critical point. But when he saw the couple's expressions turn from shock to tenderness, heard their words, and watched them accept the snowflake and the name before leaving carefully and joyfully with Wulin, the string stretched taut in his heart finally loosened slightly.

"Tang Ziran... Lang Yue... thank you." He remembered those two names, and he had also seen them accept the name "Tang Wulin."

The searing pain struck again. Huo Yuhao let out a muffled groan, darkness rolling over his vision. He knew he had to tend to his injuries at once and hide himself completely. Though the Golden Dragon King's God Core had left with Wulin, the cursed wound on his chest and the fragments of will within his divine soul remained enormous hidden dangers.

He cast one final glance toward the direction where the family of three had disappeared, then spoke in an almost inaudible voice, as if speaking to the wind and snow, and also to the child who had gone far away:

"The snowflake will Guard you in my stead until I return... Grow up well, Wulin. May you have a warm, ordinary childhood. This is the first, and the best, gift I can give you."

After saying that, he dragged his heavily wounded body toward the deeper reaches of the more desolate snow mountains, away from the village. Every step left bloody footprints in the snow, only for them to be swiftly erased by the next wave of blizzard.

Meanwhile, in the core region of the distant Star Dou Great Forest, the sleeping Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, Di Tian, seemed to sense something at that very instant. His massive body stirred slightly, and his enormous golden dragon eyes slowly opened a narrow slit as he looked toward the far northern horizon. A trace of profound confusion and unease flashed through his eyes, as though he had sensed an aura of the same origin yet utterly different—powerful, yet shattered. Then his eyes slowly closed again.

The wind and snow continued, burying every trace and every secret.

Only the infant named Tang Wulin slept deeply in the warm embrace of his adoptive parents, protected by the faint glow of the Eternal Snowflake. He had no idea what astonishing existence slumbered within his body, that the true name from the Divine Realm was inscribed upon his clothes, or that he had not seen the lonely, resolute figure disappearing into the wind and snow.