Plunder is a natural instinct that lurks within the blood of all ambitious, covetous creatures, even humans, just waiting for the day of outbreak.
Under the setting sun a thousand years ago, the River of Colorful Shadows that had meandered for thousands of years in the Bright Rainbow Realm, was now covered in crimson which hid its original color. The towering and majestic evergreen mountains, once pristine, were now marred by devastation, and a foul-smelling smoke blanketed the land that had been completely destroyed by powerful attacks.
"Run! Run quickly!" Father's bleeding face was lost in the rapidly approaching flames and the shouts of invaders. His older brother held their young sister in one hand and dragged Ku Yue with the other, madly dashing through the dense forest. Their pursuers chased after relentlessly.
They ran all the way to Knowing Cold Valley, which was the lowest point in the Bright Rainbow Realm. His brother pointed to the bottom of the valley, where a seemingly bottomless black pool lay, and firmly grasped Ku Yue's shoulder: "After sunset, once you see the water turn white in a flash, immediately jump into the pool with your little sister, hold your breath, and sink to the deepest part of the pool. There's a secret passage to the human realm there. Once you reach the human realm, you'll be safe! Remember, you must take good care of your little sister!"
"What about you, big brother?" Ku Yue, who was still a teenager, grabbed his brother who was about to turn back.
"I have to go back. The royal capital is besieged, and those filthy spider demons and their human allies definitely won't spare the king, the queen, and the little princess." His brother wiped away the blood dripping from his forehead and looked fixedly at Ku Yue. "Little Yue, remember my words! We, the Night Butterfly Clan, are born to fight and defending our home is our bounden duty."
In the pitch-black darkness deep within the mountain cave, Ku Yue held his sister with one arm and tightly gripped the protruding rocks in the underground river with the other. Both of them were submerged in the icy river water. The underground river was far from the cave entrance, and he couldn't see what was happening outside, but the sounds of intense fighting were clearly audible, echoing through every twist and turn of the cave.
His little sister kept trembling in his arms. She was still a child, and even the butterfly wings on her back were not yet fully developed. Ku Yue held her even tighter.
The gurgling water of the underground river flowed by, and the commotion outside gradually subsided. Ku Yue's heart was in turmoil, and he didn't know how long he had been waiting. He only knew that the hand clutching the rocks had gone numb with cold. He asked his sister to stay by the river and stealthily made his way to the cave entrance.
In his mind, his father and brother were the bravest and most skilled Night Butterfly warriors. Over the years, they, together with the entire Night Butterfly clan, had defended the Bright Rainbow Realm under the rule of the Snow Butterfly King. However, the invaders this time were more formidable than any before. The spider demons, who had been dormant in the gloomy wetlands for years on end, had slowly amassed great power. They not only launched a full-scale attack but also formed an alliance with the sinister warlocks of the human realm. The two factions had joined forces with the goal of conquering the Bright Rainbow Realm.
Although Ku Yue was not yet qualified to be a true Night Butterfly warrior and carry out the duties of his clan like his father and brother, despite also being aware that this war was unlike any previous one, he still firmly believed that the Night Butterflies would not lose to these vile invaders. However, this time, he was wrong.
Long-suppressed desires, once they find an opportunity to erupt, are bound to give birth to something even more terrifying than the most fiendish devils. Those spider demons who refused to live humbly on their own cramped territory, and the warlocks of the human realm who coveted the Snow Butterfly Demon Blade and aimed to conquer the Demon Realm before taking control of the human world, finally had the chance to realize their "dreams." And this opportunity was given to them by none other than the Snow Butterfly King's own younger brother. He had always lived in a refined and gentlemanly manner in the eyes of everyone, with all seeing his aloofness from worldly affairs but none able to perceive his deepest desires for the throne, his envy and hatred of his brother. He quietly unraveled the defensive barriers the Snow Butterfly King had set up around the Bright Rainbow Realm, opening a door for the enemies that would bring calamity upon the Butterfly Clan.
Of course, all of this was beyond the understanding of the young Ku Yue.
At this moment, he stood blankly outside the deserted mountain cave, staring at the bright bloodstains on the ground, speckled with faint traces of dark blue light. This was phosphorescence from the Night Butterfly wings.
The ground bore the signs of intense combat, with sword marks, large holes from venomous attacks, and incomplete talismans scattered about. The air carried a fishy and heated odor.
The trail of blood left by his brother extended in the other direction. Big Brother[1] must have been taken away. Ku Yue's mind went blank.
"Second Brother..." Tears glistened on his sister's face as she timidly peeked out of the mountain cave. Ku Yue looked up at the horizon, where only a thin golden line of the setting sun remained. In the black water pool, strange bubbles occasionally surfaced.
"Go back into the cave!" Ku Yue yelled at her.
"No! I want to find Eldest Brother, find Dad!" His little sister vehemently shook her head.
"Go back!" He rushed over and pushed her back into the cave.
"No!" This little girl stubbornly clung to the edge of the cave, her fingernails oozing blood. "Mom told us before she slept that the family must never separate!"
Ku Yue was stunned. Indeed, three years ago, before their mother's passing, she had held their hands, his, his siblings', and their father's, and said those very words. He steeled his resolve, lifted his sister onto his back, and sprinted in the direction of the blood trail.
Along the way, the bodies of their fellow clansmen were strewn about and village homes lay in ruins. The horrifying scenes were hard to bear. Ku Yue followed the trail to an altar near the royal capital, where he was overwhelmed by the thick stench characteristic of the spider demons. Amid the clamor, he stopped and hid in the dense forest near the altar, spying on the scene nervously.
A few humans in strange robes were conspiring with the Ghost-faced Spider Demon King, who had led countless subordinates. In front of the towering altar behind them, a giant spider web emitted an eerie glow, tightly ensnaring several desperately struggling individuals. Ku Yue saw his father and brother in the cobweb. His sister, who was in his arms, couldn't help but want to call out for them but he quickly covered her mouth.
"These Night Butterfly warriors are the Snow Butterfly King's watchdogs at best and serve little purpose," sneered the Ghost-faced Spider Demon King, waving his grotesque limbs as he pointed to the captives in the web. He then let out an eerie, muffled laugh, "But your charms are indeed formidable. If it weren't for your assistance, this king probably wouldn't have defeated this pack of lackeys so easily. So, their vitality will be gifted to all you Daoist priests to boost your powers." As soon as he finished speaking, the Ghost-faced Spider Demon King spit a white silk strand from his mouth. It snaked through the web and wrapped around one of the Night Butterfly warriors. With a toss of his head, he yanked the warrior out of the web and threw him before the group of humans.
One of the humans pulled a yellow paper talisman from his sleeve, deftly tossing it at the Night Butterfly warrior. The burly young man let out a pained grunt, his body shrinking into a small ball, transforming into his butterfly shape, and then rapidly disintegrating into a lump of ash. The human flicked his sleeves, and the black ashes scattered in the wind, leaving only a thumb-sized, round ball of light that slowly rose from the ground. The human opened his mouth and inhaled, and the ball of light obediently entered his mouth.
The sight sent chills down Ku Yue's spine. His sister struggled desperately in his arms, crying out in muffled distress. For the first time in his life, Ku Yue encountered real enemies in the truest sense, and their power and cruelty surpassed all his imagination.
His father and brother were right in front of him, their lives hanging by a thread. Cold sweat trickled down Ku Yue's forehead. The unprecedented conflict between the desire to save them and the overwhelming fear clashed within him, who had never before weathered any storms.
One, two, three…the Night Butterfly warriors gradually turned to ashes under the hands of the so-called Daoist priests. Only a faint glimmer remained in the sky.
"Our family must never be separated!" "Run! Run quickly!" "You must take good care of our sister!" The words of his mother, father, and brother echoed in Ku Yue's mind. He looked at his father and elder brother, who were on the brink of death within the spider web. Gritting his teeth, he hugged his sister and turned to flee.
His sister desperately kicked her legs in his arms, but he paid no attention, focusing only on flying towards Knowing Cold Valley. He couldn't think about anything else, nor did he have the courage to do so. He only wanted to escape quickly, to flee to the human realm. Perhaps, chasing back earlier had been a mistake... Suddenly, his palm experienced intense pain, and he instinctively released his grip. There was a row of bloody tooth marks on his palm. The little sister in his arms, turned around at an age-defying speed and began to run madly back. She'd barely run a few steps, when he heard two whirring sounds. The silly girl actually forcibly opened her butterfly wings that had not yet fully grown and flew quickly towards the altar.
Ku Yue leaped, but his hand grabbed empty air. He tried to chase after her, but he was still in the forest in front of the altar, as if he'd been hit by an immobilizing spell. He couldn't take that step forward.
He saw his young sister ramming her frail body fiercely into the spider demons guarding both sides of the web. The phosphorescent light from her wings fluttering in the air was exceptionally beautiful. He also witnessed the Ghost-faced Spider Demon King penetrating his sister's chest with the white strand in his mouth without the slightest hesitation. He even saw the agony distorting the faces of his father and brother within the web and heard their dying cries. As for the humans, they merely wore scornful smiles as they used talismans and silenced all sounds.
Ku Yue didn't know how he returned to Knowing Cold Valley. It wasn't until he saw the pool of water turning moon-white in the night that he realized his hands had been covering his ears all along, so hard that it felt like he was about to crush his own head.
He gasped for air and looked forward, only to see a man in white standing by the edge of the pool, holding a little girl tightly. The scent in the air told him that they were from his own race. Before he could speak, the man had already dragged the little girl to leap into the pool. Ku Yue didn't even see their appearances clearly, but he noticed that the man's hair was silvery-white like moonlight.
There was danger behind him again, and the edge of the pool began to revert to black as well. Ku Yue pinched his nose and, with a plop, jumped into the deep pool. The bewildering bubbles and sounds of water enveloped his entire body.
Everything had been left behind, the Snow Butterfly Royal Family, the Night Butterfly warriors, the once-beautiful and tranquil Bright Rainbow Realm, his loved ones, his homeland. From this moment on, they were completely cut off from him.
He was in the water, sinking deeper and deeper...
[1] For readers new to CN: gege is older brother; dage is eldest brother, and er ge is second eldest brother.
Translator:
Happy New Year!
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