章 3: The battle plan and all such matters are my favorite
The afternoon sun gently illuminated the grass hut beside the waterfall, where a verdant meadow lay in front. A man named Xiao Mu Yu sat cross-legged quietly by the waterfall.
A somewhat dilapidated sword rested on his knee, as occasional splashes from the water dampened his pale strands of hair. With his eyes partially closed, his expressionless face bore the weariness not befitting a youth of his age. A small white creature lay comfortably on the grass beside him, basking in the rare winter sun.
Although the winter sunlight offered no warmth compared to early summer, the creature still squinted its eyes contentedly, savoring the fleeting tranquility. Its snowy tail swayed unconsciously behind it, as if merely being by the side of this indifferent man was enough.
However, the serene atmosphere was soon shattered.
A blue bird flew in from the northwest, adorned with a tuft of pure white feathers on its head, its blood-red eyes eliciting an instinctive sense of fear.
The blue bird circled above Xiao Mu Yu's head several times, emitting a clear call.
"Is there something you need?" Xiao Mu Yu opened his eyes and asked indifferently.
The bird tucked its wings and landed on the man's shoulder, a flicker of red light flashing in its eyes.
An intangible thought entered the man's mind, and images flickered before him.
"Ah, is that so? So they are searching for the Great Stone?" The man squinted slightly, as if grasping the entirety of the situation. Despite the surprise in his question, his tone remained calm and cold.
"It seems the Great Stone is not merely a talking, moving rock."
The blue bird flapped its wings violently, seemingly intimidated by the man's icy aura, before hastily fleeing after completing its task.
"Let's go meet our guests," the man said nonchalantly, turning towards the northwest. "They... seem to have grown a bit presumptuous; do not mistake my tolerance for weakness."
"Awji?" The little fox blinked in confusion, unable to comprehend the man's meaning, yet it promptly hopped after him as he left.
"Awooo…" A haunting wolf howl resonated, and the surrounding beasts gradually retreated, preparing for their next assault. The girl named Lux could not help but sigh in relief. "Honestly, this pack of monsters suddenly going mad is quite troublesome."
This place was a dilapidated and desolate temple ruin. From the ancient crumbling walls, one could vaguely infer its former grandeur, but now, under the erosion of time, it had gradually decayed, appearing broken, withered, desolate, and lonely.
The girl and her subordinates had managed to fend off wave after wave of the suddenly enraged beasts using these crumbling walls as their defense. The ground, once sacred, was now smeared with the mixed blood of fierce monsters, ordinary beasts, and humans, as various dismembered corpses lay strewn among the shattered structures.
The soldiers formed a formation around a slightly more intact, ruined temple, where through the scattered, severely weathered buildings and the broken door, one could glimpse the incomplete statue within the temple hall, alongside a "object" bound before it.
It was a towering humanoid figure, exuding a deep yellow akin to earth, approximately three meters tall, with numerous blue patterns intricately carved upon its body. These patterns occasionally flickered with a watery blue light, as if alive, flowing along the "statue's" form.
"Could it be because of this?" gazing at the enormous "statue" immobilized by specially crafted magical ropes, Lux pondered. "But ancient golems are utterly ineffective against the beasts; this is truly strange."
"Awooo…" Another piercing wolf howl echoed, signaling the next wave of the beast onslaught was imminent.
"Ugh, why ponder so much? The priority now is to repel the beasts' assault, and then to break through their encirclement before nightfall. Otherwise, it will be disastrous once darkness falls." The girl sighed, standing up and raising her wand.
Nightfall is the domain of the beasts; once engulfed in darkness, the already struggling army, unfamiliar with the terrain, would inevitably face dire consequences, potentially resulting in total annihilation.
Under the afternoon sun, amid the cold, dry winds that swept across the land, the raging pack of beasts surged forth like a breaching dam, a soul-stirring momentum that would cause any ordinary person to crumble under its weight. Yet, these soldiers were clearly not mere commoners. Even when confronted with such a terrifying spectacle, none turned pale; instead, they gripped their weapons tightly, ready to face the enemy.
However, as the beasts drew closer and closer, the warriors within mere yards could see the savage teeth of the creatures. Suddenly, a sound reminiscent of a newly born beast's whimper echoed across the battlefield.
Though the voice was tender, it possessed a mysterious penetrative quality that reverberated throughout the field.
In the next moment, as if time had come to a halt, the once raging onslaught of beasts came to a sudden stop, halting just a few yards away, glaring hungrily at the humans.
The contrast between the extreme motion and sudden stillness was disquieting, the synchrony of their movements astonishing, making it seem as if they were not bloodthirsty beasts but rather a highly disciplined army!
"This…" The crowd paused, unsure of the situation but too apprehensive to act rashly, resulting in an eerie stillness between humans and beasts.
"Such charisma; could the Lord of Winter's Embrace have arrived?" Lux furrowed her beautifully shaped brows, appearing somewhat perplexed. "But such a tender voice; I've never heard of any high-level beast producing a sound akin to a young creature."
"Tap… tap… tap…" The faint sound of footsteps resonated in the now somewhat hushed battlefield. As the footsteps grew nearer, the soldiers observed the beast horde slowly lowering their bodies, seemingly in reverence to the arrival of their king. In the next moment, a figure appeared at the edge of the battlefield.
"Humans?" The girl named Lux trembled slightly, disbelief flickering in her watery gaze. How could this be? Could he be the Lord of Winter's Embrace? Yet how could a human become the master of beasts in the Winter's Embrace forest?
Ignoring the girl's astonishment, the indifferent man slowly advanced to the front of the beast horde, his tall figure unapologetically revealing himself to everyone.
He was a young man, but his mixed gray and white hair made him appear somewhat disheveled. He bore an ancient, equally battered sword on his back, emanating an aura as cold and unyielding as ice and snow, mercilessly piercing the eyes of all present.
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