Dawn crept slowly over the village, pushing back the night, extinguishing the stars one by one… as if the sky itself were preparing for a new trial of destiny. The first pale rays of light shimmered on dew-covered rooftops, and the leaves trembled gently in the cold morning breeze, carrying a quiet tension that made the world hold its breath.
Huo Feng followed her master, Wu Xin, along the winding paths, the village still cloaked in mist. Their eyes fell upon a house that stood apart from the others. Its garden showed no gleam of white, no vibrant flowers brimming with hope. Instead, the soil was covered in twisted black blooms, their edges streaked with dull yellow and gray—like a canvas painted with sins unashamed of being seen.
Wu Xin whispered, his gaze sharp and unwavering:"Here… you will witness the other face of this trial. The one unashamed of its darkness."
Huo Feng spoke cautiously, almost to herself:"These aren't just rotten seeds… they are dark souls."
A suffocating stench clung to the air, forcing her to step back, yet the earth seemed to grip her feet, forbidding escape. This was the home of the Liang family—wealthiest of the village, cruelest of them all. They monopolized the sacred spring that nourished the seeds, and the entire village bowed before them. Without flowers, intentions remained hidden… and without hidden intentions, blindness reigned.
Huo Feng muttered under her breath, her chest tightening with anger:"If they all stopped planting… their tyranny would crumble overnight."
Wu Xin gave a calm smile, concealing a bitter truth beneath it:"Abandoning evil is easy… but forsaking the compass that reveals it? Few dare pay that price."
As they watched, a child emerged from the Liang house. His eyes still held innocence, untainted by the darkness around him. He carried a small pot of water from the spring and crept through the shadows to a modest shack, where a slender, shy girl awaited—her presence almost whispered by the wind: Fu Ying, the Repeating Shade.
He handed her the water, and her face brightened with a small smile. She planted her seed, and as a drop touched it, a white flower bloomed, pure as the morning sun. But before admiration could settle, the flower split into two. A childish miracle… yet one with a profound secret: the power of duplication.
Huo Feng gasped, captivated, while the boy laughed in delight. But the moment was fleeting. Behind the fence, sharp eyes gleamed. Shushu.
Her jealousy flickered, betraying the shadow she had carried all along. She gripped her white thread tightly, as if it might be snatched away. Huo Feng noticed the shadow clinging to Shushu, a darkness she tried desperately to hide. Whispering to herself, she thought:"A pure child in a corrupted home… a girl who duplicates shadows… and another whose thread consumes hatred… what balance is this? What fate is being woven before me?"
The next morning, the Liang garden remained black, but a new story quietly began. The boy ventured out again, planting another white seed, joy lighting his face until fear crept in. If his parents saw… he would be punished. In this house, purity was treason.
His hand trembled as he reached to pull it out, but a smaller hand moved first. Shushu. She plucked the flower swiftly, hiding it behind her. Whispering in a voice only those who have tasted fear could understand:"Let me handle it. You don't know how to hide mistakes… but I… I know how to make them disappear completely."
The boy trusted her, believing she protected him. But she was feeding on the flower's light, consuming goodness as a starving wolf devours sweetness. Jealousy glimmered behind her eyes, and her white thread tightened in a silent oath never to let Fu Ying take this child from her.
Huo Feng's heart constricted as she watched:"Here… intentions clash. But which side will destiny favor?"
Wu Xin remained silent, knowing the trial was far from over. Then Huo Feng's voice trembled as the question she had long feared escaped:"Master… am I… Fu Ying?"
Wu Xin turned sharply, his gaze like twin blades:"No."
Her lips quivered, yet a childlike certainty tinged with madness emerged:"But I have duplication too!"
Wu Xin raised his head toward the stormy sky:"Fu Ying was born with it… it is both her curse and her essence."
He leaned closer, his voice heavy and deliberate:"But yours… your power is not from birth. It is the result of an ancient spell… cast into your soul inside the Sacred Heavenly Furnace."
Her breath caught."A spell…? You knew? Since when?"
Wu Xin closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, the weight of truth pressed down:"Since the Punishment Platform. I saw your soul hesitate… between incineration and rebirth. I saw the whole truth."
"Your reality… is greater than you think, Huo Feng. And this trial… is only the first step."
Huo Feng stood there, trembling under the words, caught between a past she could not comprehend and a future she might not survive, between a whiteness that kills and a darkness that saves.
Yet what happened that night was not a secret confined to a small circle. Far from prying eyes, soft footsteps recorded every detail in the shadows:
Huo Feng carried two hearts within her…The fire of annihilation that leaves nothing behind…And the light of life that restores all it touches.
Who will guard this secret?Who will wield it to ignite a war that spares neither world nor heaven?
The answer… had already begun to move.