In the evening, An Fei finally received a clue regarding her unreasonable fear. It came not from an external source in the form of an attack, nor was it a drastic drop in temperature.
She received the hint at sunset, and additional clues at midnight.
Yip!
As the golden ball of fire hovering in the sky neared the conclusive moments of its daily departure, the small fox in her arms pawed at An Fei’s chest in hunger.
The little raven glared at the small, insufferable brat, and the young girl merely squeezed her arms in a gentle assurance.
She wished to witness the sunset from the plains for the first time, as though to cement the picturesque depiction of absolute calm and peace within her memory.
An Fei had the unconscious urge that if she dared miss such a moment, a large secret would be hidden from her gaze.
Thus, the young girl stood in silence, accompanied by a little raven and a small fox.
She stood in the midst of a large plains that stretched to unimaginable lengths on either side of her vision, and a massive forest guarding her back.
The young girl stood in the middle of the plains of tranquility with a soft smile on her lips, the pair of scarlet irises carefully observing the downfall of the sun.
Her eyes possessed a lingering trace of spiritual essence, protecting her vision from harm as she dared to glare directly at the surface of the ball of golden flame.
As An Fei stared, the golden ball sank into the horizon, morphing the azure skies into a dazzling mixture of yellow, gold and scarlet.
The dull golden rays spanning across the surface of the sky seemed to pulsate with an intention of resurrection, as though revealing its determination of persevering to the final conclusion, then withstanding its aftermath.
The azure sea suspended in the air quivered as the golden rays pierced through the expansive and resentful wall of the night, erupting into a final stand against the moon.
The yellow mass of the sun burned the ground of the horizon, and An Fei could perceive horrendous fires spanning across the black line representing the ultimate rift of the earth that sheltered the sun for the night.
The fires razed through the barriers the earth had construed, striking deep into the ground without mercy.
And the halos of scarlet… the sun bled each day, to achieve its sacrifice of sunset. The scarlet rivers dyed the horizon with a pink flush, and the fires surged to unimaginable heights, the pillars of flame screaming with the intent of self-immolation and consecration.
A divine legion of immortal soldiers that attempted to complete their final task of sanctifying and burying their fallen general, but the enemy sought to prevent their advance at every available junction. Immortal lives were reaped, and the world was cleaved into numerous fragments from the thrusts of the heavenly spears.
“What…” An Fei gasped, her mouth gaping at the sight.
The sun and the earth killed each other at two instances each day.
The sun cremated the earth each evening, and the earth sundered a deep wound into the golden ball of flame as the payment for sunset.
Then at dusk, the sun shattered the horizon to escape into the sky, the golden fire seething with an urge to seek vindication.
Only, why did the sun and earth fight each other?
Were they not part of a single –
[Do not fall to the temptations of mortal enlightenment].A peal of melodious bells rang within the young girl’s mind, thoroughly eradicating the scene of the battle between the sun and the earth.
The abrupt collapse of the mental projection caused An Fei’s consciousness to reel backwards in fright, hissing in pain from the brusque intervention of the bells.
The ancient battlefield of the divine legion and the obscure shadows vanished from the young girl’s vision, and all that remained was the darkened sky beyond twilight.
The austere sky of black divided into its respective hues caused a confused expression to arise across An Fei’s countenance, her brows furrowing into a delicate frown.
“Do not fall to the temptations of mortal enlightenment…” the young girl whispered, the fingers of her right hand clenching into a tight fist to rest above her heavily beating heart.
The small fox nestled below whined in complaint, but was quickly assuaged by another gentle squeeze. The young girl glanced at the earth that served as the horizon just prior, before raising her gaze to the sky.
“This world… what exactly is it?”
An Fei pondered in silence, unaware that her movements were under the careful surveillance of the little raven.
Furthermore, the raven’s eyes were nearly bulging in shock, barely restraining the shade of violet from overtaking the pair of crimson beads.
At the same time, Dongfang Yu surged to his feet within the infinite corridor of sky-blue crystal, his heart pounding with fear and shock.
“J-just how does she know?” the youth whispered, his fingers digging deeply into his chest.
“Who… who is this mortal girl, to know such a secret of the Realm…”
–
Yip!
Having recognized the passing of the astounding event of witnessing the first sunset within an expansive plains, the small fox curled against the young girl’s bosom, pawing An Fei’s chest as it’s stomach growled in hunger.
The pitiful little creature even waved its seven tails in desperation, tears nearly pouring from the pair of hazel eyes.
“Ah…” An Fei palpitated, her right hand anxiously flashing to rest atop the small fox’s fur, gently caressing the heavenly fur as though to calm the creature’s mood.
“Right, you need to eat as well…”
The young girl recognized the underly gravity of her circumstances, especially regarding their food and water supply.
In a plains as large as this and devoid of trees, their first goal was to escape it as fast as possible.
Each pressing day was equivalent to a day that lacerated their remaining supply of nutrition, and would eventually lead to death.
The little raven could rely on the gingko nuts she had harvested from the Wu Ji Forest before encountering the unpleasant guardian beast; An Fei was certain that should the little creature not partake in a mania-infested binge, its food supply could be sustained for a month.
She could retreat within the Sanctum for her meals if necessary, and necessary they probably were…
“…but what do foxes eat?” the young girl blurted, her gaze unfocused and restless.
“Are they carnivores? Or are they capable of consuming herbal nutrition? Can they accept a diverse range of supplements, or is it confined to a strict category?”
A slew of questions barraged the silent and unresponsive twilight atmosphere, and the young girl’s mood plummeted by a margin with each question.
The little raven and the small fox’s heads drooped at the downhearted expression of An Fei, but compared to the mildly depressed aura exuding from her body, the young girl was pondering over a more drastic question.
Could she feed the small fox vegetables from the Sanctum?
“It won’t explode… probably?” the young girl murmured, causing the little raven’s beak to soar to the sky.
Caw?
What will explode?
The little raven tilted its head in puzzlement, only to have its crimson eyes bulge in absolute horror and a tinge of schadenfreude the next moment.
The little creature watched in awe as the young girl decisively plucked several strands of lush grass, presenting it to the small fox with an apologetic sigh.
Yip!?
The small fox’s ears bared, the seven tails flaring behind its body in a defensive posture the instant it saw the strands of grass.
“I know, ah…” An Fei consoled the startled and terrified small fox with a gentle rub.
“But I don’t have anything for you to eat at the moment… and I once heard foxes are capable of consuming grass as part of their diet, so please… bear with it?”
Yip!?!?
Under the young girl’s benign coercion, the small fox pawed the strands of grass with absolute reluctance, eventually picking up a strand and tentatively placing it into its mouth.
Under the expectant eyes of An Fei and a little raven, the pitiful little creature attempted its best not to vomit as it consumed what would be the first meal of a temporary hell.
Unable to restrain a wry smile from blossoming on her countenance at the small fox’s expression of wishing for death, An Fei wrapped the creature into her bosom with a peal of laughter.
The young girl directed an arbitrary glance towards the darkened sky, but her pair of scarlet irises widened with surprise the next moment.
There were no stars within the night sky.
The sea of scattered lights she had spectated from the residence in Jiang’an each night, was not present in the backdrop of the sky before her.
The sky instead presented a murky sheet of black, a completely different midnight than what she was accustomed to.
