The pure white snow that blanketed the ground was slowly dyed crimson. Blood flowed like an endless river and countless bodies fell like leaves from an ancient tree.
A woman, dressed in white, flashed like a reaper, expertly wielding a celestial blade, leaving dead bodies and a trail of blood on her wake.
The commander of the opposing army watched in admiration as the woman blazed past. To him, she was most beautiful when she had the Celestial Ice Sword in her hand, reaping lives like a ghost with killing intent burning in her beautiful eyes.
The woman was born to topple worlds. She was not meant to submit to anyone. But though this truth is an unchangeable fact and universally known, it was not enough to deter selfish mortals from trying to tame the untamable goddess.
Isn’t that why he’s here? He, like the others before him, simply couldn’t leave her alone.
The commander eyed the battlefield with detached scrutiny. Half of the army’s fighting force was gone while the other half was barely holding on. Who would believe that a woman, along with four guardian beasts, was enough to cripple and destroy an army of hundred thousands?
“It’s time.” The commander turned to the red-clad woman guarding by his side.
“Finally!” The woman maliciously smiled as she raised her jade-like hands to give the awaited signal.
In no time, the sound of a war horn echoed through the field. The soldiers fighting in the frontlines uniformly moved and the army slowly withdrew.
The number of losses within the army’s ranks were more substantial than anticipated. But the army’s depletion was within the commander’s calculations. They had the advantage in number, squandering a few lives does not matter. In a battle of attrition, necessary steps have to be taken in order to seize the initiative. Sacrifices are inevitable.
When the second horn blared, thousands of experts, armed with magic tools and spiritual weapons, appeared in battle formation, replacing the common soldiers for the second wave of the attack.
The woman dressed in white scanned the field of battle; her face pale and her eyes red.
So many dead bodies, so many lives lost...
Endless regret filled her heart. If it weren’t for her such a bloody war wouldn’t have happened. If she did not trust the wrong person, these unfortunate souls wouldn’t have unjustly died.
“Lian’er, watch out!” A terrified shout rang out.
The woman was unceremoniously shoved aside and she watched in horror as one of her companions received a deadly blow that was meant to take her life.
Blood splattered from the fatal wound on the man’s chest, staining the woman’s once pristine white robes and pale cheeks. The other guardians moved to support but it was too late. Before the man’s body fell on the woman’s embrace, he was already dead.
One moment of inattention, a breath of distraction in a cruel battlefield, costs a life…
“JIANG BING!”
Xue Xian sat up from the bed drenched in cold sweat. Her anguished scream echoed through the quiet courtyard. Slowly, she retracted the hand that was blindly reaching for the phantom she’d been dreaming about for days.
Xue Xian stared at her shaking hands, trying hard to regulate her erratic breathing. The feeling of anguish and despair were too real to be denied. Her heart felt like it had been stabbed and ripped out from her chest.
How many times has it been?
Since her soul avatar awakened, Xue Xian has been plagued by nightmares. Multiple visions of the woman dressed in white and her faithful companions. Different scenes shown from various angles, like an endless reel it goes on and on. Repeatedly. Tirelessly.
Sometimes, Xue Xian would feel as if she’s part of the dreams, acting out a part and living in the moment. Other times, she’s merely a spectator. A mute witness to a tragic story.
Each vision was different, in course and nature, but curiously connected. It was as if the dreams were fragments of something. An elaborate puzzle that, for now, Xue Xian could not decipher.
The characters in Xue Xian’s dreams were unknown to her. But she’d seen them so often and felt their surging emotions that Xue Xian began to feel an intimate connection with them. She tried to search for clues as to who the people were. But no matter how many records she read or how hard she tried, Xue Xian’s efforts did not bear fruit. Her meticulous search always comes up empty.
Lately, Xue Xian had been dreaming about the death of the man called Jiang Bing. One of the four guardians of the woman dressed in white. Her first protector. But this is the only time she’d uttered his name out loud and the first time the woman in white’s name was spoken in her dreams.
Xue Xian’s heart was still beating uncontrollably fast. Jiang Bing’s death felt too real. The warm blood that drenched his clothes and the feel of his skin as his life broke, Xue Xian felt them all as if she was really there.
“Young Master, is everything all right?” a sleepy voice sounded from outside of the room. Successfully pulling Xue Xian from her macabre thoughts.
Xue Xian breathed in deeply and ruthlessly reined in her turbulent emotions. “Go back to bed, Xiao Li.”. She replied calmly. “Everything is fine. I am all right.”
The person on the other side of the door hesitated for a moment before walking away. Once the sound of footsteps faded towards the side room, Xue Xian sighed in relief. She then got off the bed, dressed and silently walked out of the room. Sleep would not come, especially after having such unpleasant dreams.
Xue Xian vaguely wondered if she’d ever know the reason why she kept having these tormenting visions or at least know who those people were. There has to be an explanation as to why she was plagued by their existence.
With practiced movements, Xue Xian climbed the mountain behind the residence and sat on a ledge overlooking the valley. She breathed in deeply, calmed her thoughts and meditated in silence.
A few hours later, Xue Xian slowly opened her eyes and watched as the first light of dawn leisurely crawled to illuminate the houses below. She sighed with emotion at the wondrous sight. And at that moment, Xue Xian could swear that if she could stay in the valley for the rest of her life, she would be content. But Xue Xian knew, in the near future, she would have to leave.
