A sea of inferno swamped the village---rolling waves of flames that stretched out beyond the horizon. Fires spread as rampant as a pestilence, hearing neither the pleading cries of townspeople and cultivators alike. The bane of their existence refused to be extinguished no matter how loud, and it was as if the 9 suns Hou Yi shot down seized the thrones reigning the ethers once more.
Where was the heavens when such a cataclysm occured? They seemed to have turned a blind eye to the razing conflagration capable of engulfing even their thrones if it were to be let loose in their realm. "The great Heaven would not favor anyone, it only helps those who are virtuous;" what significance does such a proverb hold when they created another to forbid immortals from involving themselves in worldly affairs? When they regard mortals as beings that could not equal nor surpass them?
Thou shall not slander celestials---the irony this unspoken rule hides was clearer than waters as they insulted cultivators just by watching. For it was the case, was it not, as they simply stood by while those who had yet to become one of them endeavor? It could be found in plain sight, when flame, like a candle's, sparked yet another and another despite only shedding little life from themselves.
It seemed that hundreds who shared such grievous fate, also possessed inauspicious omens in their Shí Èr Gōng. Because if that was not the case, then why, one by one, did almost all perish under the merciless heat?
The answer depended on what luck they had left.
Two children remained an exception of mere tenths. Perhaps, they were spared due to the presences of certain stars in their Zi Wei Dou Shu Chart. But there was no time to thank what heavenly bodies they were born beneath, simply too preoccupied trying to depart from this tribulation alive.
The both were a pair of siblings---brother and sister. Seeking shelter under the wreckage of their demolished house, they relied only in each others' warmth to keep each other calm.
Bai Xuan, the eldest of the two, held his sister close to him. "Don't worry, Gege will keep you safe."
The air was pungent with blood and smoke that simultaneously cremated bodies to ashes. Sounds of blades clanging and striking did little to no help in quelling the two's constant fearful flinches. It was supposed to be a sign of hope, an answer from the heavens, but ought the common people be grateful for it? The strongest cultivators present could not extirpate this catastrophe, so how could they thank something that had yet to eventuate result?
Bai Xuyi tightened the arms wrapped around her brother's waist as she buried her head upon his tattered robes for comfort.
Her lungs had long felt suffocated, throat strangled, as if a snake encircled her torso and threatened to asphyxiate her until she was wrinkly and emaciated. They swelled up with polluted gas, not air, burning with such ferocity---all she wanted to was rip them apart. The small wounds scattered in her entire body stung, too.
For a moment, the thought of a Jiangshi sucking her life force was plausible. But she had yet died. And though, in her sight, the world seemed darker than ever---she's sure it's not the case for those qi absorbers. She did not know their competence in differentiating nights and days. Having done it for centuries, they must have been puzzled to wake up to a world where the sun did not set. As the folklore stands, surely, before she is doomed to her grave, these pests would leave her be?
They may have been led astray by the ablaze sky, but for Bai Xuyi, she could never have lost her way.
For her, the sun took the form of a smiling boy---the one whose body curled to act as a fortress. It flared even brighter as he smiled softly down at her with a reassuring expression, becoming clearer so when he forced himself to appear stronger at his weakest, "You're okay---we're okay, everything's going to be just fine. We're going to get out of this alive, alright? I'll make sure of that."
That seemingly never-ending eventide would soon be known as "The Hellfire", a conflagration which lasted for 4 days and 4 nights. No one knew why it came to be, and no one knew why fiends infiltrated the place. What they knew was how thousands met their end, how it was possibly a calamity sent from above, and how it was natural order restoration.
But they knew not of how two youths survived.
Standing in a height of more than 5 chi, the younger out of the two owns a resting cantankerous face with well-defined features. She's titled a "natural scowler". Her eyebrows are naturally slanted and furrowed, only further accentuated by her sharp, phoenix eyes. She wears her hair in a ponytail, and sports the official robes of her sect.
The Guihuo Manor---whence she hails from, is a place housing cultivators from various backgrounds which resides in the North, located between the Ying'an Mountain and Wangzhou river. Famous for producing renowned cultivators for generations, it is too apart of the The Quadrivial alliance, where the Four Great Sects (established in the four cardinal points) unite for one common objective---to uphold justice and balance.
How she ended up vowing to devote her life to cultivation? Well, Bai Xuyi, along with her brother, were found survivors amongst the ruins of her village. As for the individual that discovered them, his identity was that of The Guihuo Manor's Master---Shui Mengshao. Seeing that the two had lost everything, the Master took them under his wing, bestowing them a stable life in exchange for loyalty.
Bai Xuyi was appointed second disciple of the sect, and consequently, she often traveled hither and tither to investigate reports relayed around the Northern area.
However, today, she and a few others journeyed to the South, to Kuangong City---one of the more populated district in The Dingyan Palace's territory. She knew not why her Master (indirectly) informed her to meddle in another sect's regional duties, but out of filial piety, she dared not question him.
That was how she found herself escaping the crowded streets to practice archery, and hours after, almost piercing one of her junior with an arrow.
In Bai Xuyi's defence, it was not her fault, because why would he sneak up on her and startle her?
"Senior!" said shidi exclaimed in alarm as he just barely dodge the incoming dart.
Zhao Yihai, a boy of younger age than Bai Xuyi that stood at only a little less than her height. He ties the entirety of his hair in an bun, and also dons the manor's uniform. His looks could pass on as 'cold as ice' or 'clean as jade', but those who knew him described him as a 'spoiled young master'. Of course, he was not so, but he should be aware that one's behavior influences one's image.
Perhaps he would change what people view him as, but that was another story.
Bai Xuyi's knitted eyebrows visibly relaxed when she heard the familiar voice. "Ah, Yihai, what are you doing here?"
"A-Jiao told me to look for you," Zhao Yihai explained. His irked expression somewhat faded, but its traces could still be seen.
Bai Xuyi snorted. "You'd do anything A-Jiao asks you to," she said as she put away her bow and arrow. "Even when I explicitly informed you to leave me alone unless you find something amiss."
The junior neither denied nor conceded this accusation. The only indication of him heeding it was the slight twitch of his eyes.
"What is it this time?"
"She said you should return to the square to taste the Mid-Autumn Festival's cuisines. It will put a smile on your face, so that 'your always glowering face will be uplifted and not grow old.'"
"What, she said those exact words?" The nerve of that girl, truly---quoting proverbs to insult her?
Zhao Yihai nodded.
Bai Xuyi quizzed, testing, "And if I object?"
The boy deadpanned. That meant; you really think she's going to give up? I'm not your courier, if you make me go back and forth to exert unnecessary effort, I will charge you.
His senior sighed. "Lead me to her. I'll show that brat---if she thinks I'm old, then I'll punch her for not respecting her elders."
Zhao Yihai shot her a deadly glare.
"Alright, alright. Relax, I won't do anything. You really think I would?"
They both knew the answer was 'no'.
Bai Xuyi soon joined Zhao Yihai's side.
Then, with a lifted eyebrow and a seemingly nonchalant gaze, the former prodded along the way, "Also, for the greater good, please consider taking the initiative instead of admiring her from afar like a lovesick maiden."
The older disciple had to swerve her body to evade when a sword swung towards her. She bursted into cackles upon more multiple failed attempts thereafter. The two began walking back to town, still in each other's -throat, earning questioning looks from nearby pedestrians.
◤─────•~❉᯽❉~•─────◥
Bai Xuyi and Zhao Yihai found the other two, whom were dispatched in the same group as them, in a street vendor's stand.
"There you are."
Qiu Jiao---the youngest and shortest out of all four, snapped her head to the direction of the familiar voice with her big, round eyes which were clear as limpid autumn water. Her long hair flowed behind her, mimicking the way her sect's robes billowed as she ran up to meet Bai Xuyi halfway. "Senior sister!"
However, before the grin could spread across Qiu Jiao's lips, a yelp came out of her mouth. Apologies began spilling from it, too, upon registering that her martial sister had pinched her ear.
Then the scolding began, "We're here to investigate a report of a ghoul, not to slack off. Yet here you are, eating tanghulu and enjoying yourself? You really do have some courage, huh? Let's see how much you'll have left once I tell your father."
"But senior sister, it's the Mid-Autumn Festival! You're the one who needs to-"
"A-Yi," a new person cuts in.
Bai Xuyi halted in her tracks.
"A-Jiao's right, it will do you some good to enjoy life a little." That soft smiling face belonged to none other than her brother, Bai Xuan. His eyes are sloped down to create a gentle and amiable exterior, in contrast to his sister's fierceness. He dresses in a moderately alternated version of The Guihuo's Manor's uniform, and keeps half of his hair knotted up while the other half remains down, reaching his stomach. Rummaging his sleeves, he proceeded to pull out a treat and presented it to his sister. "Here," he said. "I know you have a sweet tooth. Southern mooncakes aren't as sweet as they would be in the east, but I heard it is at least sweeter than northern snacks."
Who was she to decline? Bai Xuyi relented and thanked him as she accepted the pastry filling specially eaten during this lunar appreciation day.
"A-Jiao, Yihai, you two can go have fun. It's the Mid-Autumn Festival, use today to have a good time. After all, opportunities like this don't come by often, you know?"
Qiu Jiao's gaze sparkled, nodding vigorously. "See, senior sister, your older brother is reasonable---he's not strict, unlike you!" She stuck her tongue out. "No one's gonna find you attractive if you continue to be as grumpy as an old widow!"
"See if I care. Also, what was that? One more word out of you, and I'll-"
"Ah! Nothing!" Qiu Jiao grabbed Zhao Yihai's hand, shouting a "let's go" and immediately scampered off.
Bai Xuyi, who had watched the girl made haste until she was out of sight, finally took a bite of her gifted pastry. "She's never out of energy," she spoke after swallowing a mouthful of mooncake. "I wonder where she gets all that vigor from."
"Are you sure it's not just you? You haven't reached your prime age yet, and you already act like the elders who screams precepts at you."
Bai Xuyi stayed silent for a breath of time. Then, she heaved out air in a rather amused manner. "You pamper her too much, ge. It's a wonder how her cultivation still advances by leaps and bounds."
"Don't you spoil her, too?"
They both knew Bai Xuyi did, she just refused to admit it. No matter how much Bai Xuan batted those long lashes of his, his sister would not give him a straight response.
"Anyway---back to a more important note, excusing them was just a distraction because you have something to tell me, don't you?" Bai Xuyi asked.
His sister's perceptiveness will never fail to give him chills. "That's right." Bai Xuan's smile turned taut. "It's about the creatures we've been getting complaints about."
A pause.
"They're not just ghouls, A-Yi. Do you remember that fateful night when we were children? What they're calling now as The Hellfire? Where those beings appeared, looking like they just crawled out of the Yellow Springs?"
Bai Xuyi stiffened. Then, there it appeared---the expression that earned her the nickname of a "natural scowler".
"People who have seen them were petrified into living jade statues. It's uncanny; the sightings which were described matched perfectly to the vivid spectacles I've memorized a decade ago. I'm not sure just how dire this situation is, but we better report this soon to Master."
"No," she did not know what came over her, but the second disciple suddenly said this as to refute.
Her brother was stunned, eyes as wide as porcelain ceramics. "What?" He shook his head. "This is unlike you. Milder incidents after The Hellfire that shares characteristics to the preceding event, has happened all over the lands. Sure, it may not have caused just as much damage and quickly concealed to prevent public panic, but it's there. We can't just ignore it."
"I'm not suggesting we disregard it. It's just---Master is already at an old age, and hasn't yet achieved immortality nor retire from the martial world. So as his disciples, should we not enter this door by ourselves, since he has opened so many before for us?"
Bai Xuan sucked in a cold breath. "You're suggesting we go investigate this by ourselves?" he reconfirmed. "I... I don't want to say this, but I'm not sure we have the capability to do that. It's not as easy as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, we'll only be overestimating our knowledge, A-Yi."
"But..." But, she had no more room to protest, and so she sealed her lips shut. Her eyelids trembled. She sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "I suppose you're right. I'll listen to you---you're the older one for a reason."
A gentle smile bloomed on Bai Xuan's lips. "That's more like it. Listening to your older sibling is good, don't you know?" The two didn't strictly adhere to these rules, however. He just said these words to break the tense atmosphere. He added on, "Didn't A-Jiao remarked a rather... discourteous phrase towards you?"
"Ah." Bai Xuyi was instantly reminded. "'Each stroke of anger is getting old, every smile is a facelift,' is that not the one.'"
"Yes..."
"Don't bother trying to stifle your laughter. I don't know what it is with her obsession with telling me I'm going to get wrinkly before I turn 50."
Bai Xuan smiled. "I'm sure if you work on your cultivation, you'll certainly avoid that."
"Exactly. Have I not done enough of that?"
Her brother laughed. "Well, enough discussing about dismal subjects. This is the day where we should be moon watching for Chang'e's sake. How about we go join those two lovebirds?"
Bai Xuyi could not help the tug on the corners of her lips.
Thus, with no more needed idle chatter after a somber discourse between them, they rushed to catch up to their two juniors.