In the great kingdom of Jin, within the borders of Yanfeng County in Tan Prefecture, there lay a verdant hill.
Due to its winding terrain, resembling a buffalo lying down from afar, it was named "Buffalo Hill" by the locals.
At this moment, it was the rainy season of midsummer, and the entire range of mountains was enveloped in a continuous misty rain, akin to a watercolor painting rendered by immersion, where the heavens and earth merged into a hazy unity.
In a broad valley below Buffalo Hill, a stream, about three feet wide, flowed out of the mountains in a serpentine manner. Due to continuous rainfall, the water level had risen significantly compared to usual, and the stream appeared somewhat muddy.
More than ten thousand people, wearing straw raincoats and covered in mud, were slowly making their way upstream along the mountain path beside the stream, with exhaustion etched on every face.
Among the crowd were numerous cattle, sheep, and other livestock, stopping and starting as they went, occasionally lowering their heads to nibble on roadside wild grass and drink from puddles, oblivious to the anxiety and fatigue of their owners.
Alongside this immense procession, at regular intervals, there were also some soldiers armed with weapons, guarding the safety of the people on one hand and urging them to move faster on the other, occasionally helping to chase stray chickens and ducks back into the formation.
At the forefront of the procession, there was a troop of cavalry clad in black armor, each figure tall and upright, appearing very robust and powerful.
One of them carried a large flag with a prominent character "Iron" written on it.
As they approached a dense forest, the tallest man among the black-armored cavalry raised an arm and clenched his fist, signaling the procession to halt and take a rest.
The long-exhausted people quickly gathered together and sought refuge in the thick woods.
An old widower, dressed in a straw raincoat, drove his five sheep under an ancient Chinese scholartree and squeezed into the midst of the flock, shivering and attempting to borrow some warmth.
Unexpectedly, as he leaned in, one of the sheep let out a bleat and waddled deep into the woods.
The old man cursed, rising to his feet and hastily chasing after it.
He saw the sheep pause and bleat incessantly before an ancient tree emitting a multicolored glow.
"Oh! The gods are revealing themselves..."
The old man was startled, then trembled forward, fell to his knees with a thud, and cried out loudly.
The surrounding villagers, hearing the commotion, turned to look and, upon realizing the situation, quickly gathered around, kneeling in circles and shouting aloud.
At that moment, clusters of multicolored light illuminated the dense forest, enclosing all the villagers.
Seeing this, the tall man at the forefront, his face filled with shock and suspicion, hurriedly instructed a messenger beside him,
"Something's wrong. Immediately order everyone to leave this place!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred in the forest!
"Whoosh..."
A strange, fierce wind suddenly swept in from afar, flipping over large patches of trees, and countless shattered branches and rocks flew everywhere, battering the unsuspecting villagers in the forest, turning them into a bloody mess and causing them to scream in agony.
Chaos ensued in the dense forest as broken trees, branches, sand, dust, and soil were churned together, obscuring everything around.
"Quick, go save people..." the tall man roared against the fierce wind.
His black-armored cavalry immediately dismounted and struggled to rush into the forest despite the wind.
At this moment, the multicolored lights in the dense forest suddenly flashed and transformed into a crimson glow, enveloping the entire forest.
Under the crimson glow, the flesh and blood of everyone could be seen separating at a visible speed and merging into the light, leaving only white, barren bones that, under the sweep of the fierce wind, turned into dust.
The tall man, slightly farther from the center of the forest, felt a chill down his spine as he witnessed the crimson glow descending, his eyes bulging.
The silver-white long sword hanging at his side suddenly emitted tremulous chimes, emitting a snowy glow that barely protected him, blocking the crimson light.
However, in the next instant, with a "bang," the sword suddenly trembled and broke.
The man felt his qi and blood churning, and his consciousness became somewhat blurred. Despite the protection of the sword's white glow, his skin spontaneously tore open with dozens of wounds, and blood gushed out continuously, turning his face ashen white in an instant.
In panic, he quickly spurred his horse's sides, urging the steed beneath him to gallop away in the direction he came, leaving a trail of blood mist behind.
A moment later, the fierce wind in the forest subsided, the crimson glow vanished, and the ground was left in a mess.
However, all the cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, and other livestock were unharmed, wandering aimlessly in place.
It was just their owners, those tens of thousands of villagers and black-armored cavalry, who had all vanished without a trace.