novelraw Chapter 30 : The Birth of the Candle Dragon
Chapter 30 : The Birth of the Candle Dragon
Chapter 30: The Birth of the Candle Dragon
“Die!”
“I am going to die.”
“The blood is going to drain dry, I am really going to die.”
Zhu Yin was cut in half by Little Roc, dragging his broken body as he turned into a ghostly shadow, fleeing across grasslands, forests, and mountain ridges.
He felt death so close, just one step away.
He had killed countless people of the Ximu Clan, held one after another of human-sacrifice rituals for the Candle Dragon, and seemed already accustomed to life and death.
But at this moment, he seemed to rediscover that fear of death. Back when he had been tied to the wood as an offering, had he felt the same way?
“I cannot die!”
“I do not want to die…”
Suddenly, he realized something. Though he had not remembered anything, that obscure feeling seemed to give him some key information.
“Could it be that when I was sacrificed to the Candle Dragon, my obsession with not wanting to die was especially strong, so I turned into this form?”
“No, it cannot be just that. Who in this world does not fear death? If it were only that, it would not be enough.”
“What else?”
He escaped to Mount Zhangwei, the old land of the One-Eyed Clan. To the One-Eyed Clan, this was their Kunlun.
Zhu Yin lifted his head and saw the towering mountains. It was here that he had become this neither-human-nor-ghost form, and it was also here that he had lost his memories of the past.
In that instant, Zhu Yin gazed at the great mountain and the eternal darkness at its foot, and blurted out:
“One must also willingly sacrifice oneself.”
“To use one’s entirety in exchange for the power of immortality.”
Having understood something, Zhu Yin plunged into the eternal darkness beneath the mountains.
He did not dare to return to human form, and could only move as a distorted shadow through the dark, fearing that once he regained human form, he would immediately die.
A crushing defeat seemed to have awakened Zhu Yin completely.
He now understood the strength of the Emperor, and also understood what he truly wanted.
“I do not want to die. Only the Candle Dragon can save me. Only the Candle Dragon can let me live again.”
Soon after, more and more people fled to the foot of Mount Zhangwei.
Most of those who returned were people of the main One-Eyed Clan, while the tribes that once depended on them had nearly all scattered.
These people fled back in terror and despair, and upon seeing Zhu Yin still alive, they wailed loudly, then burst into cheers.
As long as the Shaman was not dead, they still had hope.
But at this moment, Little Roc appeared again above Mount Zhangwei, circling and searching for the One-Eyed Clan and Zhu Yin. This frightened both Zhu Yin and the clansmen.
They hid on the shaded side of the rolling mountains, in valleys, forests, and caves at the foot of the mountains, trembling as they peered outside, terrified that the “big bird” might find them.
Yet the appearance of Little Roc also meant something even more dreadful for the One-Eyed Clan and Zhu Yin.
The Ximu Clan had not given up. They would pursue them here to utterly annihilate them.
Inside a cave.
Firelight flickered. Zhu Yin’s shadow appeared high upon the edge of a cavern. His head slowly emerged from the shadow, looking down at the trembling clansmen below.
“The people of the Ximu Clan are coming.”
“Little Roc has already flown here; the people of the Ximu Clan must be right behind.”
“What do they want, are they going to kill us all?”
“They will surely seek revenge.”
The clansmen were already terrified by the previous battle. Zhu Yin had been gravely injured, and now even the Little Roc possessing the Shaman’s power of the Ximu Clan had chased them here. It was only a matter of time before the Ximu pursuers arrived.
By then, they would either die, or become slaves.
Zhu Yin leaned his head out from above: “Do you want to die?”
Everyone knelt to the ground: “We do not want to die.”
Zhu Yin asked again: “Or would you rather bow down as slaves?”
Someone among the crowd shouted angrily: “We of the One-Eyed Clan worship the Candle Dragon! How can we be enslaved by the Ximu Clan? We would rather die unyielding.”
These words were exactly what Zhu Yin wanted: “I have another way.”
The one who had shouted earlier was the first to speak again: “Shaman, speak. We will all listen to you.”
The others followed quickly: “Zhu Yin, tell us what to do, and we will do it.”
Zhu Yin blinked, his eyes seeming to burn with fire. When he opened his mouth, a fire-seed seemed to flicker within.
This miraculous scene, this display of power, made all present even more awed and submissive.
Zhu Yin: “It is not I who ask this of you, but the Candle Dragon who asks this of you.”
At once, everyone responded obediently: “Whatever the Shaman says, so it shall be.”
Finally, Zhu Yin spoke: “As long as you sacrifice your bodies to the Candle Dragon, the Candle Dragon will transform you into Candle Souls. Thus, the Ximu Clan will never be able to destroy the One-Eyed Clan, and you will not die.”
At that moment, the firelight in the cave flickered.
In the firelight, a shadow slowly appeared beside Zhu Yin—it was the Candle Soul he had recently created with his own hands.
Although Zhu Yin had not yet discovered the secret of his own resurrection, he had indeed uncovered part of the Candle Dragon’s secret.
By borrowing the firelight, using the Candle Dragon’s power, one could become a Candle Soul.
This success greatly excited Zhu Yin. He believed that as long as he created more Candle Souls, he would uncover more secrets of the Candle Dragon.
The appearance of the Candle Soul also thrilled the others present. To them, this was clearly another Zhu Yin.
And from Zhu Yin’s words, it seemed he intended to turn many more into Shamans like him.
Zhu Yin did not explain fully. He did not reveal that these Candle Souls were merely products influenced by the Candle Dragon’s power, and entirely different from Shamans like himself. Seeing the excitement on most faces, he had already achieved his purpose.
“Has it truly succeeded?”
“Zhu Yin borrowed power from the Candle Dragon, igniting more people.”
“We too can become another Zhu Yin.”
Some fell into fanaticism, while naturally others remained partially rational.
At this moment, someone asked: “Zhu Yin, how many people are you planning to sacrifice to the Candle Dragon?”
Zhu Yin said: “All.”
Shocked voices erupted: “All, regardless of women, children, or the elderly?”
Zhu Yin repeated: “All.”
Someone questioned: “Then how will the One-Eyed Clan be passed on? Will not our clan soon be completely extinguished?”
Zhu Yin then said: “When you and I all become immortal Candle Souls, what need have we for descendants to carry on? Those present today are the entire One-Eyed Clan.”
After speaking, Zhu Yin’s voice grew cold: “Or is it that you are unwilling to offer your bodies to the Candle Dragon?”
“Or do you only wish for your own immortality, while abandoning your clansmen?”
Through half-deceit and half-threat, Zhu Yin pushed all the people of the One-Eyed Clan into his plan for that sacrificial ritual to the Candle Dragon.
That day.
The sunset bled like fire.
At the foot of Mount Zhangwei, more and more of the One-Eyed Clan gathered at the base of the mountain, where a vast ritual ground had been built.
One by one, people mounted the wooden platform woven from grass and branches. Primitive-clothed tribesmen stood densely upon it, gazing downward, waiting for something.
Women, children, and elders were all there. Hundreds of faces, each with different eyes, each carrying a different spirit.
Some muttered with excitement, some clung in fear to those beside them, while others knelt with hands raised to the sky.
At that moment, a great black serpent slithered out from the shadows at the foot of the mountain. It opened its mouth, and within, it seemed to hold a bright flaming candle.
“Zhu Yin has come!”
“Zhu Yin has come!”
“Zhu Yin… Zhu Yin…”
Everyone cried out Zhu Yin’s name, as if he were a god, and the candle in his mouth was the path to light and to the future.
Before long, Zhu Yin arrived at the ritual ground.
Wherever he passed, flames suddenly surged forth, spreading quickly in all directions, and in no time, the entire ritual ground was set ablaze.
“Ah!”
Various screams came from within the flames, as they struggled in the inferno.
But their shadows were cast by the flames upon the distant rock wall, and gradually their bodies ceased to move, while those shadows seemed to each “come alive.”
Zhu Yin slithered along the ground, lifting his head toward the western sunset, watching as the distant sun slowly disappeared beyond the horizon.
Zhu Yin had a face with sharp contours, clearly different from the other tribesmen of the One-Eyed Clan.
At this moment.
His face was covered in grime and the black ashes left by burning embers drifting in the air. His eyes, gazing at the setting sun at the edge of the sky, seemed captivated by the scene of the Great Sun descending.
The screams behind him, and the distorted shadows of the Candle Souls, could not stir any change in his expression. But this very moment, as the Great Sun sank, seemed to make him recall something.
Behind Zhu Yin, the gathering shadows grew denser. Countless Candle Souls came forth one by one toward the “human-headed, dragon-bodied” Zhu Yin, arranging themselves behind him.
Zhu Yin still did not turn his head, as if unaware of what was happening behind.
Gradually, as the Great Sun completely sank beyond the horizon, the flames of the sacrificial ground behind him were also extinguished.
Night fully descended.
In a silence that made the skin crawl.
Suddenly, behind Zhu Yin and the countless Candle Souls, a brilliant light flared up. The light burst forth abruptly, swelling and expanding in an instant.
Zhu Yin and all the Candle Souls turned their heads together, and saw a massive eye appear in the heavens, releasing ten-thousand rays of light.
In a single moment, heaven and earth regained brightness, as though day had returned.
“Candle Dragon!”
“The Candle Dragon has awakened.”
So said Zhu Yin. But more accurately, the Candle Dragon had truly been born.
Then, Zhu Yin saw the great mountain behind erupt with pillars of flame, the fire spewing up from the deepest depths of the earth, surging toward the firmament.
And that “eye” was bathed in fire, staring at the human world with no trace of emotion.
The sight of the volcano was already shocking enough.
Its destructive force swept out in all directions, seeking to annihilate everything nearby, erasing every trace of the One-Eyed Clan’s existence.
At that moment, the “eye” in the heavens began to slowly close, drawing all surrounding light toward itself.
The sun, moon, and stars all lost their brilliance, let alone the small flames of the volcano.
The Candle Dragon’s power had come into the world.
Death into soul.
Volcano erupting.
Sun, moon, and stars losing their light.
At this time, Little Roc, sensing the disturbance, flew over, just in time to see this scene.
The visions that the Emperor had once shown her now unfolded before her eyes, giving her a feeling as though past events were being repeated again.
Seeing the devouring darkness expand endlessly across heaven and earth, Little Roc was struck with fear, and hurriedly flew into the distance.
This time, the one trembling and fleeing in terror was no longer Zhu Yin of the One-Eyed Clan, but her.
Little Roc lowered her head, glancing down at the mountain foot gradually swallowed by darkness. She saw countless shadows standing behind Zhu Yin. Around him, there was clearly not a single living person, yet the shadows cast upon the ground told her he was surrounded by multitudes.
At this moment, all those “people” also noticed Little Roc, and turned to look at her together.
The darkness conjured by the Candle Dragon gradually covered the mountain’s foot. The Great Roc finally saw clearly what those shadows were—for they each had transformed into the appearances they had held in life.
“Those are people?”
Only, though they bore human forms, their faces were expressionless, grim, and ghastly pale.
At a glance, the Great Roc instinctively felt they were not human.
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, flames erupted upon the bodies of those Candle Souls.
At their deaths they had burned in fire, and now flames gathered upon their faces, twisting their features until they transformed into clusters of burning candle-flames.
From above, they looked like a multitude of strange, glaring single eyes.
“These are not human.”
Even Little Roc could not help but gasp. Were it only one, she would not fear, but with so many, even she—wielding the power of the Shaman—did not know how to face them.
All the more, behind them was a Candle Dragon gradually being born.
Little Roc flew faster into the distance. And at that moment, a sound rose from below, vast and heavy.
As though countless horses and oxen were galloping upon the earth, or as though some great thing was roaring.
“Roar!”
Little Roc turned her head for a closer look. The earth was slowly bulging, and Mount Zhangwei grew ever taller.
Within the darkness, she saw that Mount Zhangwei was no longer a mountain. It seemed to be the Candle Dragon itself awakening.
“Candle Dragon!”
“This mountain is the Candle Dragon?”
She had fully witnessed what it meant for an existence equal to the Divine Peach Tree of old. Its awakening not only revealed inconceivable power, but also reshaped the surrounding lands for countless miles.
--------------------
Not far south of Mount Zhangwei.
The Ximu Clan had already arrived here with their allied tribes. With them came not only vast numbers of tribespeople, but also tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, and horses.
From above, the earth was full of moving shadows, and countless felt tents.
When Little Roc landed, even the people of the Ximu Clan sensed her urgency, for she immediately summoned the important members of the clan.
“Little Roc, what is it?”
“What has happened?”
“Did something happen with the One-Eyed Clan?”
All asked around her, but Little Roc was still thinking, silent for a long time.
When the darkness had pursued her, she had been deeply frightened. But later she had calmed somewhat, and began observing the many changes brought by the Candle Dragon.
From her observations, the Candle Dragon’s power would soon extend to their side as well.
Little Roc did not know how far the darkness would spread, but it was certain that reaching them would not be a problem.
She did not know what would happen once they were engulfed in that darkness. But within it, she had seen Zhu Yin and the Candle Souls of the One-Eyed Clan moving in their direction, and by midnight they would likely arrive before them.
After long deliberation, Little Roc told the others the situation.
At once, almost everyone turned pale.
Yet neither Little Roc nor the others knew that this manifestation of the Candle Dragon’s birth was far weaker than the true power it would reveal upon awakening in later ages.
Then, with its eyes opening and closing, it had covered the entire world, devouring light at unmatched speed—even in broad daylight.
But even so, what they witnessed now was terrifying enough.
Within the tent, the Ximu Clan alliance began to discuss a countermeasure.
“What should we do?”
“Run, we must flee now.”
“How can we run, with so many people, cattle, and sheep, and in the middle of the night?”
At this moment, Little Roc looked at the others.
“Running is impossible. We must find a way to face this.”
The others looked at her, understanding her meaning.
Little Roc stood. Though she was a woman, her body was gradually transforming with Shamanic power, and even the warriors present felt a tremendous pressure from her.
“First, divine with the feathers!”
“At the same time, summon the Blue Bird into the world.”
Fortunately, the altar they had built previously had been brought along.
Outside the tent.
The altar was quickly arranged. All knelt upon the ground. They were more fearful than Little Roc, and that fear made them devout and cautious.
Once again, Feather-Divination began. As Little Roc prepared to once again meet the Emperor, she was also preparing to fully borrow the power of the Blue Bird.