The eerie odor of rotting flesh mixed with ambergris steams through the dungeon. Arya was suspended from the torture rack by chains, and the beads of blood oozing from her wrist wounds crashed into the copper basin below, tracing the tattered Vermilion Bird totem on the surface of the water. It was the ninth hour of her captivity, and Raymond's interrogation was very different from the rumors - instead of using a branding iron, he ordered the Snow Wolf Banner to be soaked in hemlock and hung three inches from the tip of her nose.
"Before your father died, the flagpole was plunged three inches into his throat." Raymond twirled the bronze trigger between his fingers, firelight streaming across his basalt mask, "Want to know how the last monarch of Silver Snow City wailed like a wild dog?"
Arya suddenly shook the chain, her bloodstained hair sweeping across the snow wolf flag. The hemlock staining the flag dripped onto her collarbone, searing out green smoke, "Then you should ask your own sword - when you beheaded my father twelve years ago, did you ever hear the blade cry?"
Ramon's pupils contracted suddenly. He tore open the collar of his brocade robe, and the snow wolf totem at his heart glowed a ghostly blue in the firelight - the same mark as the one under Arya's collarbone. Frost suddenly seeped from the stone walls of the dungeon, and the hanging instruments of torture began to chime without wind.
"It seems the Bronze Box is enjoying its new master." Arya stared at the new bird-emblazoned jade jewel he wore around his waist. When she escaped from the canal three days ago, she deliberately hid the box in his cloak, and right now the jade jad was absorbing the cold air from the dungeon, "Every night at midnight, can you hear the baby in the box calling for your father?"
The mask suddenly smashed against the stone wall, and in the sparks, Lei Meng grabbed her by the neck and pressed her into the copper basin. The blood and water reflection distorted into a snowy night scene: a twelve year old holding a blood dripping longsword, at his feet lay the woman in fancy dress, the snow wolf tattoo on the woman's chest was seeping blood.
"This is not ..." Arya's silver hairpin suddenly burned, and the prophetic words cinna, the mirror breaks, the dream shatters emerged from the sapphire.
Ramon stabbed his soldering iron into the charcoal pot, the red-hot crimson flame crest illuminating the goldfinch tattoo on the side of his neck, "You think the secret scrolls really contain the secret art of restoration?" He tore away her long broken veil, the branding iron hanging three inches above the snow wolf totem, "What your father exchanged for with twenty years of his life is a curse that makes his own flesh and blood fight each other."
The boom of a bronze chime bell suddenly sounded from outside the dungeon.
Nine black-robed witches and wizards entered the dungeon carrying an ice coffin, in which lay a teenager with the same face as Lei Meng! Arya's silver hairpin trembled violently, and the sapphire reflected a frightening image - the ice coffin teenager had half of a snow wolf flag stuck in his heart, and at the end of the flagpole was clearly the hilt of Ramon's bronze sword.
"Is the heart of my twin brother still to the taste of the Silver Snow Fox?" Lei Meng suddenly pressed the branding iron to his left arm, and the smell of charred flesh, the red flame crest covered the original goldfinch tattoo. The chain between Arya's wrists snapped in response, and she knocked over the copper basin as she fell, the blood and water pooling on the brick floor to form a complete Vermilion Bird star map.
The ice coffin suddenly burst, and the fingertips of the teenage corpse pointed at Arya. Twelve bronze beetles bore out of the corpse's eye sockets and formed the layout of her infant chambers in the air. As the seventh beetle rested on the bearing representing the throne, the howl of a snow wolf came from the depths of the dungeon.
"It seems the old thing even lied to his son." Arya suddenly laughed softly, her bloodstained fingertips tracing over Raymond's newly branded scar, "Do you know why the Red Flame City has hunted the Silver Snow Kings for generations?" She tugged at the tattered fabric on her shoulder, and tiny goldfinch patterns emerged under the snow wolf totem - identical to the tattoo on the side of Ramon's neck.
Lei Meng's bronze sword suddenly came out of his hand and nailed itself into the stone wall, its body revealing the blood-colored inscription Twin Born Allies, Vermilion Bird Sobbing for Blood. The dungeon began to tremble violently, and the black robes of the Witch Wardens burned without fire, revealing the Snow Wolf Moon Eater tattoo on their backs.
"The hour is up." Arya licked the bloodstain on her wrist as specks of light shot from her sapphire pin spelled out star maps on the ice coffin shards. As the third shard fell into place, the bronze box at Ramon's waist suddenly opened, and the sound of a baby crying shattered all the torches.
Cold lips pressed against Arya's earlobe in the darkness, "You thought I was looking for the secret scrolls?" For the first time, Ramon's voice breathed exhaustion, "I'm looking for the burial scroll that will put my brother to rest." His palm covered her heart, and a blinding blue light erupted where their totems met.
Levitating bronze beetles suddenly swooped down on the ice-casket corpse, gnawing out the dense sheet music. Arya saw visions in her dizziness: twelve years ago on a snowy night, the sword of the teenager Ramon pierced through was actually a mirror image of himself, and the real murderer wore the mask of the Lord of Red Flame City!
"Ah!"
Raymond suddenly screamed miserably. The newly branded Red Flame Crest on his arm was peeling off, revealing the golden lark flower totem that was sealed underneath. Arya took the opportunity to bite the tip of her tongue and sprayed blood onto the surface of the bronze casket. Mist rose from the casket and condensed into the shadow of a young woman holding two babies - that was actually the Red Flame City Lord's wife who died in childbirth as recorded in the history books!
The dungeon dome collapsed, and moonlight pierced through the darkness like a silver needle. The bodies of the witches and wizards transformed into bronze beetles under the moonlight and flew into the night sky with the fragments of the ice coffins in their mouths. Arya picked up Ramon's bronze sword, and the hidden compartment in the hilt popped out a blood jade jewel - the same texture as her mother's earrings.
"So we're all sacrifices." She pressed the jade jewel into a fissure in the stone wall, and the dungeon suddenly flipped over, revealing an underground altar. Seventy-two human skin lanterns lit up one by one, illuminating the bronze mirror in the center, which actually reflected Ramon and Arya embracing each other!
Ramon suddenly hugged her from behind, his bloodstained fingers stroked the bronze mirror: "Father used our bloodline to cast the same life spell." A snowy night scene appeared on the mirror: the Red Flame City Lord put the twin children into the altar, and the dagger pierced through the hearts of both infants at the same time, "The only way to break the spell is to ..."
His palm suddenly penetrates Arya's chest without touching the heart. Twelve bronze beetles flew out from her wounds, holding beads of blood and landing on the mirror surface, painting a complete totem of goldfinch flowers. As the altar began to sink and the water from the underground river came up, Arya heard her own voice coming from the bronze casket, "Kill him, before the eclipse ends."
Ramon's lips suddenly pressed against her carotid artery, and the moment his fangs pierced the skin, the bloody light of the Vermilion Bird's starry night illuminated the altar. As Arya gripped the silver hairpin and stabbed him in the back of the heart, she realized that the sapphire at the head of the hairpin was melting, revealing the miniaturized Snow Wolf Banner inside - on the flagpole were small letters as thin as a mosquito's foot engraved with the words Three Years of Eternal Harmony, Twin Lives for Life.