act31side

The cries of fowlbeasts waft through the window of the farmhouse along with the rays of the rising sun. A mother opens her sleepy eyes, the child in her arms tightly grasping at the hem of her clothes.

She lets out a sigh and sits up, thinking of the events of the previous day, as well as the cries of her frightened child throughout the night.

The young child rouses from his sleep when he notices his mother's departure. His nose twitches, and tears soon flow down his chubby cheeks. The father adroitly picks up the child and stands next to the window, patting his back and lulling him back to sleep.

'Hush, hush, there's no need to cry. Look out the window – there's nothing there at all.'

'Look at the flowers, and look at our fields. Everything's fine, so there's no need to cry...'

However, the child bawls even louder, even stretching his arm to point out the window. The mother and father follow his gesture and look outside, where they see a strange, pale beast standing at the farmland's edge.

It stares back, through the window of the family of three.

The silent lumberjack picks up his axe, and a wisp of tattered red cloth floats by. He rubs that coarse gash, as if remembering something.

A pair of strong, calloused hands – not quite bleached, but with distinct joints, coalesces with blood and mud. The hands tied a strand of red silk to his arm, before they fell lifelessly to the ground.

Those hands once lifted a heavy weapon. They once stroked his face. They once held a crying child.

The hand's master has slightly darkened skin, and when she smiles, she reveals her white teeth and shallow dimples.

He stands before the woods along the riverbank. Among the tree trunks are tied strips of red silk, wooden placards engraved with blurry names dangling from them.

A gust of wind blows, the branches sway, and the wooden placards make crisp sounds.

Nngh...

A strange braying sound floats by, and the lumberjack half-opens his cloudy eyes.

(Howls)

They've returned.

They shouldn't be here.

What's wrong? An earthquake?

I thought the plate hadn't been completed yet?

Wh-What's going on then?!

Watch out!

That was a close one... My head...

What's happening... All the Sky Poles are out of control?!

The Sky Poles seem affected by some disturbance, passing over the people's heads in swarms, blotting out the sky in a manner reminiscent of an insect plague not seen in ages.

Look at that!

What's with the color of the sun...?

The people lift their heads and see that the sun has suddenly dipped down into the west, illuminating half the sky blood-red.

Everyone is stricken with a sense of fear.

A primordial fear that has existed within human hearts since ancient times.

Catastrophe, pestilence, disease, famine...

This realm is no longer the home they have known.

(Unsettling braying noises)

What are these things? Pests?

How can this be?! They're popping out of thin air, straight out of the ground... They're everywhere!

What's going on...? Why are these animals not listening?

(Eerie cry)

Are you okay?!

Um...

I've never seen animals like these before. They almost look like... they're not even <i>animals?</i>

They're more like the monsters from popular operas than pestilence beasts... They're even popping out of the ground?

Let's give this a try...

A gust of wind suddenly rises, and the monster's body is torn into fine threads. However, it snaps right back to its original form in an instant and continues to crawl forward.

More and more monsters begin to rise from the soil. Wherever they go, crops wither and the land dries up.

It didn't do anything?!

(Piercing wail)

Watch out—!

Zuo Le! What are these things?

Get back... This isn't something I can explain in a sentence or two.

Zuo Le plucks a strand of silk with his longsword, but before he can raise it to eye level, the silk thread disappears on the wind.

Are they the same...?

Yes.

The Candleholder looks up toward the center of the city. A tower of white jade stands there, emitting an ominous light.

'The Skybound White Jade Capital, of Twelve Pagodas and Five Cities.'

The ancients once envisioned a city that reached the heavens, but now, it has become a source of calamity.

He did it, in the end...

How much do you really know?

There's no time to explain... He Sheng, do me a favor and rescue all the people here.

Go gather all the farmers and have them stick together as much as possible... No, whatever you do, don't leave anyone alone.

Remember, don't be afraid of them. Even if you have to force yourself, do not feel fear.

What about you? What are you going to do?

I'm going to shut down that device...

You're doing this on your own again?

This is my duty... even if I have to put my life on the line...

What kind of talk is that?

Did anyone ask for your life? Why are you always up on your own pedestal, acting as if everyone's looking to you to save them?

Well—

Xiaohe is right. This isn't a problem you can solve on your own.

It's you...

What should we be doing now?

This is happening because of the contamination on the north bank of the river. The flood allowed them to penetrate Dahuang's defenses.

Don't panic, the Tianshis from the Chamber of Heaven's Designs is on the way. But first, we need to organize everyone together. Strength in numbers: that's how we'll look after one another.

Come together, and protect those in need.

Let's get going, Grain Buds.

Rong Wanqing... Qianbei.

I have seen your name on the Sui Regulator's roster.

I hung up those robes a long time ago.

You suppressed the Shanhaizhong, and traced the criminal's master plan. You were the Sui Regulator's most storied Candleholder of the last century.

Forty years ago, you left the Sui Regulator to became a magistrate in Dahuang, and you've stayed here ever since... Why?

My duty is to keep an eye on anything that might threaten Yan. However, Shu is not one of those things.

Shu... Used her own life to cleanse the demonic contamination beneath Dahuang?

She did.

But by some unknown means, Ji forcibly powered up the core city with demon fragments, resulting in the strange monsters we see now.

I failed to detect a criminal plan, a clear dereliction of duty...

But I've heard that the Chamber's defensive line along the northern bank is imperiled. How can we allocate the manpower to defend Dahuang?

You've got the situation right. At the moment, we can only rely on ourselves.

These creations come from the power of that proxy, and are also shadows of the demons fueled by fear... This struggle is also one of courage and the human heart itself.

How do we stop these monsters though...?

The heart can't move without its limbs. The Tumu Tianshis have already gone to sever the connections between the various plates and the core city. Our job is to protect the people here.

...I'll see it done.

A Candleholder's duty is to carry the fire that drives out the shadows of the Feranmut. However, the shadows that loom over the people do not come solely from Feranmuts.

Light the lamp, and let it remain lit. Do not forget that.

I'll stop him, I will.

This is the debt that you must collect...

Would it be right to say... long time no see?

You shouldn't have come back.

At least you weren't the one who directly ordered my arrest.

For Shu's sake.

I can allow you to see her. But after that, begone.

Any further transgressions, however, and you'll have only yourself to blame for any lingering sentiments being set aside.