One step treads white across a thousand trees, one bridge, one umbrella opened in clear rain. One millet dream, one pot of wine; one suit of white clothes tailored for a lifetime.
——Prologue
Pouring out a trace of an encounter, gently embracing the romantic breezes and moonlight, writing the lingering feelings of lovesickness into time, and letting the past years blossom into ink...
"Hey, I must say you're really boring! I've said so much to you and you haven't uttered a single sound. You're really giving me zero face!" Alin rolled her eyes and jumped down from the ginkgo tree — so high and mighty, there's no need to bully people like this!
"I think you're the one who's sick in the head. Following me around all day long for what?" The woman in white finally broke her usual rule to reply, continuing deeper into the forest and ignoring the blue-clad girl chattering away behind her — nobody had ever dared follow her this closely before; did she have nothing better to do with her time?
"Aren't you bored being all by yourself? I just didn't want to see you all alone, that's why I started talking to you. Can't you at least make a sound?" Alin muttered as she shamelessly followed right behind, continuing her nagging, "You know, if your gaze is always so cold it could freeze someone to death, under your reflection, other people's hearts will turn to ice as well!"
What a strange woman. No matter how strong her spiritual power is, there's no need to be this aloof!
Destiny is truly miraculous. Not every encounter is earth-shattering, and not every acquaintance is deeply memorable. Perhaps it is just a coincidence, perhaps just brushing past one another, but as long as there is intent and your paths cross, all things become possible.
From that moment on, a you was added to my life — because we know each other, we cherish each other; because we understand, we tolerate.
Later on, that person said a single character like "Muyin" was too monotonous. Ancient times had the ci poetry title "River Chant at Dusk": "A patch of fading sunlight spreads across the water, half the river shimmering, half crimson red." Reading it makes one's heart surge with emotion; why not add it to become "Muyin"? It is simple yet grand, and rolls off the tongue easily...
Years later, two close friends sat chatting together, unable to suppress a smile whenever they recalled their first meeting. Alin complained to Muyin: "You didn't say a single word at first. I almost thought you were mute — I just couldn't figure out why all the beauties I meet hate to talk. Alan really can't speak, but you? What are you putting on such a profound air for? Am I really that annoying?"
Muyin only smiled helplessly: "Let's just say it's not your problem, all right? It's simply my natural disposition. Have you ever seen me take the initiative to talk to anyone else?"
"That's true. It's a good thing my skin is thick, otherwise it wouldn't be easy at all to become your friend!"
"Indeed, the two of us can be said to be total opposites on that score, completely contrary. I was also seeing someone as instantly familiar as you for the very first time. I didn't say a single word, yet you stubbornly chattered away at me all along the road!"
"Haha, that's why they say you need thick skin if you want to make friends!"
Alin was the first person to know Muyin's true identity. This woman, who seemed so devoid of presence, was actually the renowned Blood Spirit. If she wished, she could rescue people from the fires of misery, or she could kill people without a trace.
Her power used blood as its medium, which always inexplicably caused people to feel fear, ill omen, and uncanniness—and of course, an absurd level of strength. This doomed her to a withdrawn personality, or more accurately, an aloof pride.
Those who understood her knew that beneath Muyin's cold exterior beat a heart of similar indifference. She disliked stirring up trouble, let alone casually unleashing her spiritual power. Yet she was not so detached as to transcend the mortal world; on the contrary, she loved life. Although her tastes in certain areas were rather unique, it did not stop her from experiencing the world around her just like ordinary people.
How fortunate it is in life to find a confidante! Perhaps it was precisely because her true nature broke free from the shackles of her cold exterior that she and Alin became good sisters. Though the impressions their appearances gave people differed vastly, in essence they belonged to the same type.
Blood can carry a vast amount of information. Experts specializing in blood research can understand various data about a living organism through blood samples, and they can also investigate cases through bloodstain analysis, but an ordinary person's understanding and utilization of blood usually require the assistance of various instruments and equipment. Compared to a Blood Spirit, this was merely a drop in the ocean.
Alin had witnessed with her own eyes Muyin mobilizing her spiritual power to make the blood of someone who had lost too much and was on the brink of death instantly flow back into his body, leaving even his wounds vanished without a trace, no different from someone who had never been injured at all. She had also seen her, in a fit of anger, cause flowing blood to freeze into a lethal weapon of murder.
Muyin could manipulate visible blood at will, and what even Alin did not know was that she could also control the living blood within biological organisms, though Muyin rarely did so because it consumed far too much spiritual power.
Muyin was extremely lazy. Whenever a task was mentally taxing and time-consuming, she would avoid it if she could. Rather than rack her brains dealing with trouble, she preferred playing with cats and teasing dogs, finding all sorts of amusement to pass the time. These cats and dogs, by contrast, did not fear her power and were willing to grow close to her.
Of course, Muyin possessed other unknown abilities as well, such as casting a Blood Curse, which was her ultimate trump card. She only needed to obtain a single drop of the target's blood to cast a curse upon them.
Blood Curses were further divided into two types: one fatal, and one non-fatal.
Alin always told Muyin that she should wear all black to give people a truly formidable impression that suited her identity, instead of floating around in white clothes like a female ghost!
Yet Muyin replied that she didn't like black clothes — she was neither an assassin nor a knight-errant of the night; why on earth should she wear black?Muyin liked wearing white because white was the cleanest color.
Alin rolled her eyes in silence. Muyin was a neat freak—a Blood Spirit that loved cleanliness always felt rather absurd to think about.
Yet Muyin never found anything strange about her preference for white, just as Alin favored blue. To each their own; there was no point fussing over such things.
Muyin never cast curses on others lightly, unless she was in a bad mood and some unlucky soul went looking for trouble. With someone like that, Muyin believed it would be her own fault not to teach them a lesson.
She was a spirit with personality, and having a personality naturally meant having a temper.
As for Muyin being the first and only Blood Spirit in heaven and on earth, her birth was not strange at all.
Wherever there were people, there was slaughter, and where there was slaughter, there was bloodshed. Muyin was born in the Blood River in the aftermath of the ancient wars, condensed from the blood essence of millions of fallen soldiers. After hundreds upon hundreds of years of arduous cultivation, she attained human form, and her cravings for war and blood gradually faded away during the process of her spiritual practice.
Much later, she made friends, found Abu, and cultivated all sorts of hobbies and interests.Muyin loved to dance, loved to bicker with Alin, and loved raising spirit pets above all else. She had once discussed with Alin that they simply had to go to the snowy plateau to get a snow leopard or a Snow Mastiff to raise—later on, this wish came true, but every time she went out she was dragged along by the Snow Mastiff, so she simply trained the Snow Mastiff, Abu, to be her mount.
Dressed entirely in white as she sat atop the imposing Snow Mastiff, she looked precisely like a female warrior god of ancient times.
Abu was a Snow Mastiff of pure lineage. When Alin and Muyin had carried him back, he was still just a tiny little thing, a mastiff cub who had only recently been weaned. He was completely white, as fluffy as a fuzzball, and loved to linger in Muyin and Alin's arms, licking their faces and hands all over with saliva.
For Alin and Muyin's first expedition, they had chosen the Snow Mountain. On their way back, they happened to stay overnight at Abu's owner's home. The owner's household had recently welcomed a new litter of mastiff cubs, and seeing how deeply fond the two girls were of them, the kindhearted owner gave Abu to them as a gift. Alin left her own jade bracelet with the family as a token of gratitude.
The following day, the two lasses happily cradled the mastiff cub and departed. Worried that the cub might not adapt, they even lingered on the mountainside for a few days. Fortunately, Abu ate well, slept well, and grew at a delightful pace, dispelling all their worries.
Ever since they got Abu, Muyin's spirits had been exceptionally high, and whenever she had free time she would take the little mastiff cub out for a stroll. Abu was also very obedient, so Muyin did not use a leash, letting him run freely and unleash his natural instincts. In any case, the place where they lived was rarely visited by humans, so there was no need to worry at all about Abu hurting anyone.A person born into this world cannot possibly live a lifetime without worries. Why should life shower you with endless pampering? As long as you live in this world for a single day, you are bound to experience some minor setbacks and hardships.
When young and naive, one does not fully understand the disturbances of the world. Yet through continuous experiences, one grows, developing into a person capable of bearing these trials alone. You face every frightening and brutal blow, passing through or stepping into the cramped, dark spaces.
When enduring the cruel trials of life alone, you might think: would you feel a bit better if you talked about it with someone else? In reality, no. The truth is that many people, just like you, are enduring blows. Some are already overwhelmed with their own troubles—how could they possibly listen to you recount your experiences?
Gradually, you come to realize that rather than confiding in others, it is better to bear things alone. Voicing your troubles only adds to the worries of those around you, while doing nothing to substantially improve your own life.
Love what you love, love what you persist in, love what you encounter, love what you grasp, love what you possess... Love all that you have, love all that you have yet to have, and love your dreams.
To truly follow your heart, to as you wished fall in love with the journey along the way, to march forward at the pace you once envisioned, to listen to the voice of your heart, to see through the troubles of the world, and to remain single-minded—this is the rarest and most difficult thing to seek in life.
To harmonize the intentions of daily life and existence, allowing every single minute and second to soar uninhibited and to live freely, is the greatest reward for the journey of one's life. Because you harbor no discontent, and every single thing you do has been discussed in advance with your own heart!
What kind of person is Alin?
Throughout her journey, with a singular destination in her heart, she has engraved the saying "Love what you love, do what you do, follow your heart, ask no questions of the east and west, and march forward fearlessly" into her very body and soul. Because of the dilemmas of reality, she has lived out this saying with even greater profoundness, every single word seeming to bear her reflection.
This is not an illusion, but a genuine, solid experience. She has expressed this saying to others and to herself through her words and deeds, making herself its most loyal believer. The saying offers a better interpretation of her, and because of her, the saying takes on an even greater human color. It is like a fusion and like a manifestation, silently and openly narrating how Alin has lived her life.
This saying is not so different from her own words: "Follow your heart's desire, live as your nature guides."
Even the birds soaring across the sky have moments of losing their way within their own lives. The word "eternity" only arrives at the very moment their lives end, which is why the heart's true desire of a soaring bird is the most courageous present moment!