He listened to the melodies rippling through the streets while looking up into the distance.
His quiet gaze seemed to pierce through the reveling crowds, looking toward the oppressive dark silhouettes of the mountains outside the city, or perhaps the vast expanse of the sky even further beyond.
Like two solitary stars flickering in an endless, cold night.
A few scattered strands of hair fell, brushing across his well-defined forehead, adding a touch of brooding beauty.
He actually wore little expression; his sharp, thin lips were slightly pursed, making it impossible to tell if he was about to smile, show anger, or speak.
Su Cheng heard her own heartbeat once again.
She wasn't sure why the God of Joy had only appeared for a brief moment before leaving, but looking at the current situation, there could be many answers.
Time froze in this moment.
The wild dancing and laughter all around, the deafening drums and music, the bursting fireworks and smoke—all seemed isolated by an invisible barrier, turning into a blurred, distorted background.
She couldn't help but squeeze her way out of the crowd, walking toward the man standing under the eaves.
Su Cheng had only taken two steps when he turned his head to look at her.
She also stopped in her tracks.
The dark-haired man showed no signs of wariness or disgust, nor did he display any guardedness or rejection; he merely watched her quietly.
There was no emotion in those soul-stirring eyes of his.
The surrounding crowd noticed nothing unusual and continued to laugh and cheer. A man wearing a wild bull mask stumbled and bumped into her back.
Su Cheng didn't budge an inch.
The man let out a cry of surprise and swayed, nearly falling over, but without checking his surroundings, he steadied himself and resumed dancing.
The surging crowd closed back up like water. She finally squeezed out completely and stepped into the clearing in front of the shop.
The dark-haired man quietly watched her.
Su Cheng wanted to say something but didn't know how to begin. She saw that the nearby crowd was about to draw close, perhaps even swarming the man.
In the moment right before they were engulfed, as if driven by some unseen force, she raised her arm and grabbed his wrist.
...She actually touched him.
Her movement wasn't particularly fast; she believed that if he truly wanted to avoid her, he easily could have dodged.
But he made no move.
Even after her fingers brushed against his skin, he remained entirely still.
He wore a slightly cropped dark trench coat that revealed a glimpse of his lean, narrow waist. His cuffs were rolled up, meeting pitch-black leather gloves below.
In between was exposed a section of snow-white, slightly bony wrist.
All the noise faded into nothingness.
She could feel the cold, hard joints beneath her fingertips. The faint chill made her shiver, and it took a few seconds before she felt a slight tremor.
Like a swan resting by a lake, caught off guard by the thorny vines on the shore snagging its wings.
Light flickered in those night-sky black eyes as his gaze withdrew from the distant void, turning abruptly to her with a touch of astonishment and the bewilderment of someone newly awakened.
That single second felt as long as a millennium.
Su Cheng heard her clamoring heartbeat pounding against her chest. "So—"
Her voice was drowned out by the music and footsteps.
The artery beneath her fingertips held no warmth or heat; she couldn't even feel the pulse of flowing blood, as if he were merely an exquisite doll.
She suddenly realized that after passing the Dragon Clan's trial, her own body temperature was lower than that of an ordinary person.
If his body was even colder—
Never mind, that wasn't important.
In her circle of friends, true humans seemed to be the minority anyway.
"...Let's go dance!" Su Cheng shouted loudly. "It's rare to have a day like this!"
A moment later, she remembered that she was technically a foreigner here. To the people around them, or rather to the clerics of the secret cult, this probably wasn't a rare occurrence at all.
If they lived for hundreds of years, they would have seen it hundreds of times.
The dark-haired man remained silent, but the tense muscles in his wrist relaxed slightly, and his tight lip line softened like melting snow.
Hidden behind her mask, Su Cheng couldn't help but smile.
This was probably a silent agreement that spoke louder than words, right?
Otherwise, he could have at least shaken her off.
Gripping the man's wrist, she turned and plunged into the crowd, like an ice cube dropping into a boiling tide. The stream of people instantly enveloped them like thick syrup.
Countless swirling colorful scarves, trembling feathers, and splashing liquor came at them. They were like two drops of ink sinking into a river of heavy colors, swaying along with the reveling crowd.
It was simply too chaotic all around.
Even though they maintained their hand-holding, there were many times when she couldn't see his expression.
She could only vaguely see that he, too, was swaying to the drumbeats and the sound of the lute.
And those cold, star-like black eyes seemed to reveal a certain indulging focus.
Perhaps because she was pulling him along, Su Cheng was no longer completely swept away by the crowd. After a few songs ended, they had emerged from the busiest street.
Ahead was an ancient stone bridge with magical bonfires, where many people were also singing and drinking.
Beside the bridge was an old dock connected to a dilapidated shipyard. The winding stone walls blocked out the waves of sound, and due to the rugged terrain, there were fewer people here.
She smelled the damp mist and the scent of rotting wood, mixed with the aroma of roasted meat, which sobered her up a bit.
"...Sorry."
Su Cheng let go of the man.
They stood on the somewhat quiet dock, stepping in the cascading moonlight, while the dancing flames from the bridge cast their light down upon them.
The dark-haired man shook his head slightly. The magnificent flames reflected on his irises, only to be swallowed by the deep darkness within.
His deeply contoured and clearly defined face was sliced by the shadows of the stone bridge, his snow-white skin glowing with a pearl-like luster.
...Like some kind of spirit or fae stepping right out of a myth or legend.
Su Cheng couldn't help but be taken aback for a moment.
She thought she had seen plenty of beautiful men, yet she was still stunned by his appearance and aura.
The wooden boardwalk in the shipyard creaked, and the waves slapped against the stone walls in the night breeze. A subtle atmosphere began to spread.
Right after, the musicians playing by the bridge changed their style.
A slow, solemn, and penetrating violin melody drifted down melodiously from above. The tune was lingering and beautiful, brimming with a rich, intense emotion.
It wasn't a particularly cheerful melody, but beneath the stone bridge and the moonlight, it was quite fitting.
Su Cheng's eyes lit up.
With some inexplicable courage and impulse, she took a half-step back, bent her knees, opened her arms, and tentatively extended an invitation.
The dark-haired man slightly lowered his eyes. Like a feather falling into a still lake and stirring ripples, an emotion seemed to flash through his eyes before his gaze landed on the girl's outstretched arms.
Then, he leaned forward and bowed to her, returning the gesture.
As a long, plaintive violin melody soared upward, that distinctively jointed hand, encased in pitch-black leather, reached out forward.
Su Cheng took his hand.
Like a butterfly's antennae landing on a petal, their palms clasped together, and she stepped forward into his embrace.
The man raised his arm to loosely encircle her lower back. His movements were slightly unpracticed, yet they caught the rhythm perfectly.
They danced in the cool, clear moonlight.
On the pier shrouded in damp moisture, the distant fireworks had turned into out-of-focus halos of light, with only the sorrowful song of the violin echoing in the shadows.
The boatmen turned their heads one after another, the revelers on the bridge leaned out to look, and even the musicians could not help but be captivated by the scene.
The two of them stepped on the crushed-silver moonlight, constantly spinning, parting, and coming together to the sound of the violin. The layered hem of her dress was like a blooming lotus, and their flying black hair entangled with each other.
The moonlight and bonfire cast overlapping light, projecting their shadows onto the mottled stone-paved road, stretching and swaying with their dance steps.
The intertwined reflections carried an illusory intimacy, looking like a kissing couple when they drew close.
Suddenly, clusters of fireworks rose into the sky. Shouts and applause erupted from afar, surging over like ocean waves.
Their dance track came to a perfect end.
The sound was almost perfectly synchronized with the rest note. The two stopped their movements at the same time, their breathing equally steady.
Su Cheng subconsciously turned her head and saw the people on the bridge cheering and kissing. Friends and family kissed each other's cheeks, and couples, unsurprisingly, were locking lips.
Su Cheng: ...
Su Cheng silently turned back around. Would you believe me if I said I didn't know there was this kind of tradition?
The dark-haired man quietly looked down at her, a hint of relaxed amusement appearing in his eyes, softening his lonely melancholy.
...Yes, he nodded, but I knew.
Su Cheng was stunned again.
He gently raised his hand to take hers, lowering his head to brand a kiss on the back of the young woman's smooth hand.
His lips carried a slight chill, like winter snowflakes falling on her skin, quickly melting away by the warmth of her flesh.
Su Cheng took a deep breath.
The impact of this man making such a gesture was simply too powerful.
The next second, a burning sensation spread across her back.
Su Cheng: ......
This thing was really ruining the atmosphere.
The dark-haired man frowned slightly, revealing that worried look of being troubled by some thought again. ...I do not like this.
Su Cheng nodded in agreement. I don't like it eith—
Wait.
Su Cheng looked at him in shock. You can feel it too?
He did not answer, merely looking at her thoughtfully. Let it end.
Su Cheng blinked. If you have a way—
Before she could finish speaking, she felt incredibly sleepy and collapsed headfirst onto his shoulder.
An unknown amount of time passed before Su Cheng was awakened by a sudden chill.
She was lying on a large, soft couch. Ink-black down pillows were scattered nearby, their edges woven with dark silver embroidery threads. On the side table next to her sat exquisite pastries and fruits.
This was a spacious and empty palace. The vaulted ceiling was dizzyingly high, and obsidian ribs, like the bones of a giant beast, gathered from the sides toward the center.
Magic crystal lamps hung high above, like countless floating stars on a winter night. More stone pillars led deep into the hall, stretching almost endlessly out of sight.
She stood up and walked further inside. After walking for a while, she suddenly saw several incredibly massive crystal display cases.
They were clear and transparent, enveloping the items inside like cages, with stone tablets engraved with text beneath them.
Inside the crystal display case lay some slightly cyan bones pieced together in the shape of bird wings. They were just exceptionally large; merely the ulna and radius sections were over ten meters long.
And this wasn't even complete.
It was merely a small fraction.
Su Cheng tried to reconstruct its original size in her mind and was surprised to find that it might just burst through the roof of this palace.
She looked down.
The text was entirely in the Ancient Human language.
Su Cheng had already learned quite a few related words, so she could almost piece together the meaning.
—Lord of the Flowing Mist, Scythe of the Rending Sky, the Howling Calamity, Amatur of the Hurricane.
Su Cheng: ?
She took a few steps forward and examined another case. The exhibit inside was somewhat smaller. It looked like just a few segments of bone, but it was impossible to tell which part they belonged to.
The bones appeared to be white, yet from certain angles, they showed a strange golden-red hue.
—Lord of the Scorched Earth, Heart of the Furnace, Embers of Creation, Paelos of the Blazing Flames.
Su Cheng looked at the spelling of that name and suddenly felt something was not quite right.
She looked at the third display case.
Inside rested a sealed heart, although judging by its size, it was comparable to the body of an ordinary wyrm.
Beautiful cyan-blue blood vessels meandered across the heart, like countless frozen rivers.
—Lord of the Tides, Spirit of the Surging Waves, Murmurs of the Deep Sea, Osenster of the Raging Waters.
The fourth case held half a skull, which could be deduced from the hollow eye sockets.
That skull was also a behemoth.
Su Cheng had to tilt her head back to observe it, even taking a few steps backward.
—Lord of the Ley Lines, Spine of the Heavens, Cornerstone of Ten Thousand Mountains, Carniovon of the Solid Rock.
She had seen this name before.
Su Cheng still remembered that scene and a series of related memories. To be honest, she did not really want to recall them right now.
Thus, she looked toward the fifth case.
That case was likely the smallest in volume, only a little over the height of two people. Inside lay a few palm-sized bone fragments.
Influenced by some kind of power, they hovered in the air, even rotating slowly.
The bone fragments were pitch-black and smooth, spreading with fine patterns and gleaming with a cold, metallic light that looked somewhat familiar.
Su Cheng lowered her head.
—Lord of the Void, Cancer of All Realms, the Primordial Darkness, Whispers of the End, Caecilius of Chaos.
