Chapter 1: The Higanbana in the Desert

A lone column of smoke rises straight from the vast desert; a round sun sets over the long river.

The boundless desert, vast and distant, grand and majestic. As the crimson sun sinks in the west, painting the horizon a deep red, a sense of desolation mingles with its grandeur.

The ancient beacon fires have long faded with time, and though the ancient path of the Yellow River has changed course many times, it endures.

Chu Feng was traveling alone and felt very tired. He lay on the yellow sand, watching the blood-red sunset, unsure how much longer it would take to leave the desert.

He had graduated a few days prior, also saying goodbye to the campus goddess. Perhaps he would never see her again, as he had been gently told that they would go their separate ways and it was time to break up.

After leaving the academy, he began his journey.

The setting sun was a deep red, hanging at the desert's edge, exuding a serene beauty in the vast emptiness.

Chu Feng sat up and drank some water, feeling his energy considerably restored. His body was lean and strong, in excellent condition, and his fatigue gradually faded.

Standing up to scan the horizon, he felt he was nearing the desert's edge. He thought that a little further, he might see nomads' tents, so he decided to continue moving forward.

Heading west, he left a long, distant trail of footprints across the vast desert.

Silently, a fog began to rise, a phenomenon very rare in the desert.

Chu Feng was surprised; the fog was, astonishingly, blue, and in this late autumn season, it carried a chill.

Imperceptibly, the mist grew thicker, its blue tendrils swirling hazily, enveloping the entire desert.

At the desert's edge, the setting sun now appeared somewhat eerie, gradually transforming into a blue sun with a bewitching beauty. Even the fiery clouds were stained blue.

Chu Feng frowned. While he knew desert weather was highly changeable, what was happening before him was far from normal.

In the profound silence, he stopped.

Before entering the desert, he had heard old local nomads say that when walking alone, one might sometimes hear strange sounds or see bizarre things, and should be extra cautious.

At the time, he hadn't paid it much mind.

It remained quiet. Apart from the added layer of hazy blue fog, nothing else had changed in the desert. Chu Feng quickened his pace, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible.

At the desert's edge, the sun was an eerie blue, staining the western sky, but it was finally about to disappear below the horizon.

Chu Feng's pace quickened, and he began to run. He didn't want to stay in such an eerie, uncertain place.

In the desert, phenomena like mirages usually occurred under the blazing sun. This current situation didn't fit; it didn't seem like a mirage.

Suddenly, soft, dense sounds came from ahead, one after another, as if something was breaking through the sand.

Chu Feng abruptly stopped and stared at the desert. The ground ahead was dotted with shimmering blue light, like scattered, translucent blue diamonds, sparkling in the afterglow of the setting sun.

They were tiny seedlings, less than an inch tall, sprouting from the desert sand. They emanated a beautiful, translucent, and eerie glow, appearing everywhere.

After a brief pause, a rustling sound spread across the area, sparkling with blue. All the tiny seedlings rapidly shot up, growing instantly.

On the horizon, the blue sun was sinking, about to disappear, as fog permeated the air. The vast desert seemed to be draped in a strange, blue veil.

Pop!

A soft popping sound emanated as flowers bloomed, and the desert turned a brilliant blue. At the very moment the sun was about to vanish, these plants began to burst into vast patches of flowers.

Masses of sparkling blue flowers, like a dream, somewhat intoxicating, bloomed everywhere in the desert, creating an incredibly unreal scene.

These plants were over a foot tall, their entire forms translucent like blue coral, with individual petals, vibrant and captivating. They seemed to bloom in another realm, possessing a bewitching quality that captivated the mind.

Chu Feng stepped back; however, behind him, the same plants now filled the space, their blue light shimmering and stretching as far as the eye could see.

He was astonished, carefully observing and trying to identify them. They greatly resembled the equinox flower, with individual petals unfurling and bending backward, extraordinarily beautiful.

However, equinox flowers are vividly red, but these were blue. He had never heard of blue equinox flowers.

Equinox flowers truly exist and carry strong religious connotations, with many legends surrounding them. But Chu Feng didn't believe in such things; he was simply astonished by the sight before him.

The desert was dry and lacking water, with only extremely rare drought-resistant plants occasionally seen, scattered sparsely. Equinox flowers, however, preferred dark, damp environments. They should by no means appear here, let alone be so vibrantly enchanting.

Here, they covered the ground as far as the eye could see.

The vast desert, with thin fog staining the setting sun blue and permeating the horizon, had sprouted blue equinox flowers across its entire boundless expanse. It was indescribably strange and mysterious!

A faint fragrance wafted through the air, intoxicating him.

Chu Feng shook his head vigorously, carefully stepping to avoid the flowers. He discovered only one area devoid of these plants: the ancient Yellow River path.

Having changed course and been diverted many times over the centuries, it cut through this desert, now nearly dry. Blue equinox flowers bloomed on both its banks, embracing it.

Flowers bloomed on both banks, visible to each other across the distance.

Finally, the sun sank, and it was at this very moment that these plants fully blossomed, reaching their peak and transforming into a shimmering, iridescent blue ocean.

Although twilight had fallen, a dazzlingly bright and extraordinarily vibrant blue luminescence enveloped the area.

Chu Feng stood on the ancient Yellow River path, his heart far from calm, but he didn't stop, instead moving quickly along the riverbed.

The sky grew darker, and the last afterglow of the sunset had vanished.

The blue desert shimmered with dots of light. Then suddenly, with a muffled thud, all the blue equinox flowers, having reached full bloom, withered simultaneously in an instant.

The vibrant petals withered, then the entire plants began to dry up. They lost their color, their life force depleted, rapidly turning yellow, then crumbling, as if decades had passed in a single moment.

Thump!

In the final moment, the withered blue equinox flowers everywhere broke into tiny pieces, turning into powder.

This eerie sight was difficult to explain.

They were like fireworks, briefly dazzling and beautiful to the extreme, then withering and becoming ash.

The withered yellow powder fell onto the sand, difficult to distinguish in the twilight. By this time, the blue fog had already vanished, and the desert returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened, quiet once more.

Chu Feng didn't linger; he strode forward. In the twilight, he crossed many sand dunes, finally seeing the silhouettes of mountains on the horizon, about to leave the desert behind.

The sky grew darker, and he finally emerged, clearly seeing the mountainous terrain and faintly discerning the nomads' tents at the foot of the mountains.

When he looked back, the vast desert behind him was silent, no different from any other day.

Ahead, in the mountainous area, lights flickered. Even from a distance before reaching the foothills, he heard some commotion. It wasn't peaceful; it seemed something was happening.

Furthermore, there were the frightened cries of cattle, sheep, and other livestock, as well as the dull growls of Tibetan mastiffs.

Was something unusual happening? Chu Feng quickened his pace, hurrying to the foot of the mountains, approaching the nomads' settlement.