Distorted World

Soul

　　Tick-tock, tick-tock. The sundial’s every rotation, light or heavy, strikes the hearts of those who care about time. Fear and anxiety grow as life's measurements slip away with each clock's strike against the soul. In the end, it all seems like a grand illusion, this life but a fleeting dream. It's as if one is grasping at the hands of time and silver coins, turning all experiences into quantifiable tokens.

　　In Bailing Village, people did not pay much heed to time, allowing their lives to flow day after day between sunrise and sunset. Their expressions carried more softness and calmness; morning light would daily illuminate the dew on the wooden leaves. Young Luo Shui Chan would often fold blades of grass into toys and gently sway on the swing in front of her home. Until one day, demons shattered this tranquility. Led by centipede demons, these monstrous creatures emitted miasma, thick dark clouds pressing down, plunging the village into darkness.

　　From that moment on, the chief united the villagers to learn anti-demon spells. The Luo family was highly respected, and in times of disaster, they took the lead. Luo Shui Chan’s father was powerful, possessing great prestige, while young Shui Chan displayed astonishing magical talent from an early age, marked by compassion, composure, and diligence. At sixteen, when her father ventured out to hunt demons, he was betrayed by a descendant of his own clan. Facing monstrous spider webs ahead and the loved ones he needed to protect behind, the sound of the bowstring rang out, only for the arrow to pierce his back. Shui Chan remained silent, and in the years that followed, she became the main force against demons. With exceptional aptitude for cultivation, her human body proved formidable even to demons, and the power of her single arrow cleared enemies from all directions. Bailing Village regained its long-lost peace, and the villagers hailed her as a "Goddess."

　　At that time, she did not yet realize that being called a "Goddess" meant being venerated as a deity. As the years passed, Luo Shui Chan bore heavy responsibilities and often had to be vigilant even in the depths of night; demons were cunning, sometimes transforming into the appearance of loved ones. She had to remain on high alert, rational to the point of seeming unfeeling...

　　Romance, cosmetics, and dresses were things she never experienced; the youthful innocence and naivety of a young girl were erased from her long ago. Her eyes, deep as a still pond, were serene and unfathomable, holding within them all the joys and sorrows of the world without reflecting any of it. Each mission was undertaken at great risk, and gradually, life and death, personal joys and sorrows, became as light as fallen leaves.

　　When she was twenty, danger struck. While focusing on shooting an arrow at a fleeing Thousand-Faced Rabbit demon, she was unexpectedly bitten on the arm by a half-human venomous snake demon. The frailty of flesh allowed the poison to spread, and she knew her days were numbered. Before dying, she used her remaining magical power to set up a protective barrier, sealed away her longbow, and entered eternal rest underground.

　　In the years that followed, Bailing Village remained peaceful under the protection of the barrier, and slowly, people forgot about the Goddess. Praise rises high and falls heavily; to be forgotten is already a great fortune. People might forget, but the demons remembered.

　　She spent her entire life battling demons, never resting. Among them were those who coveted her magical talent, seeking her grave like hunters following a trail. Using some form of resurrection magic, they forcibly brought her back to life as one of the dead.

　　Returning to Bailing Village in a torrential rain, she found herself now branded as a demon, unwelcome by all. In their eyes, she read only one word: threat. Once a demon hunter, now a revenant, she faced villagers wielding shovels, raining dirt upon her as if at a funeral, reminiscent of her father’s burial day.

　　“At that time, I also came to a place much like this, an unnamed lake. I sat down and gazed at the water; no creature in the world welcomed me back.” All the meanings she once relied on were destroyed. Even the demon who resurrected her, seeing she could not be controlled and posed a threat, had long since abandoned her.

　　Where in the vast sky is there a fragrant mound?

　　Luo Shui Chan held a piece of softwood, carefully carving it stroke by stroke. A bonfire burned, casting flickering light on half her face. Mingxuan sat opposite her on a mat, listening to her recount her story.

　　“You think human lifespans are too short? Indeed they are. Demons live long lives unless they encounter me. But with this new identity, I suppose I will live for a very long time…” Luo Shui Chan chuckled lightly.

　　“You say you’re a fox spirit? I’ve encountered many demons but haven’t seen many fox spirits. According to what you say, I’ve only exterminated insignificant, foolish demons. I don’t want to meet a fox spirit in the future.”

　　“Where am I going? A thousand miles from Bailing Village lies Ailuoshan Mountain, the origin of the village’s demons. I intend to confront it.” She answered, swallowing the latter part of her sentence with her tea.

　　“Anger, perhaps. This might just be another form of living…” she murmured to herself, the night stretching endlessly like a sigh.

　　Mingxuan embraced her. The warmth and vitality of a living being flowed through Luo Shui Chan’s fingertips, both foreign and intense. She seemed to revert to the lone, burdened young girl once more. And Mingxuan, after arriving inexplicably in this strange world, felt his heart filled with trust and comfort for the first time.

　　Meeting strangers, why should we have met before?

　　The fire in the stove danced, spreading warmth throughout the room.

　　Mingxuan held her for a long time. He had lived through so many moments, yet in this instant, he wished time would stop.