After asking those questions about Mu Jiu, Yan Sha didn't linger.
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Her tone was still gentle, but her expression had grown more cautious than in the past few days—
as if she were confirming something, or deliberately avoiding an answer.
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After dinner, she reminded Little Draft not to wander off, then left.
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Night fell slowly.
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Before nightfall, the areas where movement was allowed remained open. As usual, Little Draft walked along the outer paths once more. Yet no matter where she went, her gaze was always drawn back to the same place—
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7Y1z4B6rz
the bonfire grounds at the center.
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That was the heart of the tribe.
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And the site of the ritual.
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During the day, voices filled the air there.
Before night came, it was especially lively.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmthLWCJJZF
But once the final trace of dusk was swallowed, everyone left at the same moment.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnQB1AnOYH
No hesitation.
No goodbyes.
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As if an unseen signal had called them away all at once.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9F6AuGT5V
After nightfall, the bonfire grounds were completely empty.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTND9fw5nS
The fire was still burning.
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But the flames were almost pale—unnatural.
Not like ordinary fire, but more like something drawn out from deep within the mountain.
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Under the firelight, the ground was covered in markings that had been worn smooth over time. The lines must have once been sharp, but after endless footsteps, dragging, and overlapping, they had blurred into something indistinct.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcxtoOqswq
Little Draft stood at the edge, a thought forming in her mind.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6c19AaIhAd
This didn't feel like a place of prayer.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gXSbS22hr
It felt more like—
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the last place to stay, before being remembered.
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---
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Late at night.
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After the tribe fully closed off, Little Draft couldn't help but return to the bonfire.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZzK6SViqG
She sat down on the ground, hugging her knees, staring at the white flames.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiyXUqMDVr
Where were Xuanming and the others now?
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Had they been taken…
or erased?
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She didn't dare think further.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpXCkSk0xR
That was when she noticed something unnatural near the edge of the fire.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxXwq8eAHz
A patch of white.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZtfOhiMis
She moved closer.
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It was a small white fox cub.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5g5sOtt9PK
It was tiny. Its fur wasn't fluffy, and its shape felt incomplete—
like something that had been created halfway and suddenly stopped. Its outline looked stiff and awkward against reality.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPi6w5q9r1R
A draft left unfinished.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh97sZEY4Qi
The thought appeared in her mind without reason.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEIIkJwKzq
The cub curled up. Sensing her presence, it slowly lifted its head. Without making a sound, it bit gently onto the cloth at Little Draft's collar and tugged.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHwmvQZ2SE
Then it dragged the cloth toward the shadow cast by the bonfire.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjSXMUN51x
In that instant, Little Draft felt her shadow tremble.
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As if her position had been confirmed.
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From that day on, the little fox stayed with her.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHo7Z6b7Bgp
Strangely, no one in the tribe ever noticed it.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyWXGdHzp4
Whether during the crowded daytime or the night patrols, it always managed to hide before anyone looked its way.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1V5fd019u4
Little Draft wrapped it in a piece of cloth and carried it with her.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1snrRdMgP
During the day, when she observed the terrain near the mountain, the fox ran around her feet. After nightfall, it always returned to the bonfire, curling up at the spot closest to the mountain's core.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eOggRa7l9
One night, Little Draft looked at it and spoke softly.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17GmwjQe3d
"…I'll call you Xiao Bai."
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The fox froze.
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It lifted its head and stared at her, its eyes clearly showing dissatisfaction—as if protesting why the name sounded like something you'd give a dog.
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Little Draft pretended not to notice.
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From that day on, the name Xiao Bai stuck.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXFgDPhzPb
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---
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Days passed.
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Between Little Draft and Xiao Bai, a bond quietly formed.
Rather than her taking care of it, it felt more like the fox had chosen her.
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And during this time, Little Draft gradually pieced together the truth about the night.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMkxKHq5lq
The rule of night was not slaughter.
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It was erasure—
the removal of unrecorded existences.
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If there weren't enough intruders, the rules would demand sacrifices from those already recorded, to "feed" the hungry Mountain God.
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Little Draft realized something—
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She had been pulled into this world.
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She didn't belong to its original design, so the rules didn't recognize her.
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She was a loophole.
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A variable not written into the setting.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGHGo4fgbv
But in recent days, Yan Sha's supervision had grown tighter.
The area Little Draft was allowed to move in kept shrinking.
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At the same time, Xiao Bai's abnormalities became more obvious.
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It had appeared out of nowhere.
It reacted only to her.
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As if it were bound to her existence itself.
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On the night before the seventh day—
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The stone tablet by the bonfire was carved again.
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Standing at a distance, Little Draft saw the name clearly.
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This time was different.
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There was only one name on the stone.
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Little Draft.
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Xiao Bai's fur instantly stood on end. It tugged at her clothes, trying to pull her away.
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But Little Draft didn't move.
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She reached out and gently touched her name on the stone. The surface was cold beneath her fingers—yet unmistakably real.
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Back in her room, she took out the pencil she had long ignored.
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Xiao Bai tilted its head nearby, confused.
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Little Draft closed her eyes and focused on its presence once more.
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This time, she wasn't interrupted.
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When she opened her eyes, the pencil tip moved through the air, leaving behind clear, visible lines.
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She could control it now.
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Tomorrow was the day of sacrifice.
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Little Draft understood.
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She raised her hand and drew a crooked door on the wall. The lines were clumsy, the proportions off—like a child's scribble.
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But the door opened.
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Beyond it lay a path leading behind the mountain.
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Holding Xiao Bai, Little Draft stepped through. The door closed behind her, leaving only a drawing on the wall that looked like a joke.
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But the problem wasn't over.
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The sky was darkening.
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She couldn't gamble on whether the night would erase her.
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Either she left—
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or she became stronger.
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But how do you fight a rule?
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The monsters of night were invisible.
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As she hesitated, Xiao Bai tugged at her clothes, pointing toward a small cabin not far away.
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A decayed wooden hut.
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It wasn't large, yet showed no signs of being corroded by the night.
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On its door were carvings similar to those on the bonfire ground—
but untouched, unpolished.
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"This is… a place that hasn't been corrected."
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Inside were traces of a simple life.
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On the stone walls were carvings of mountains, human figures, and silhouettes dragged away into the night.
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And one shallow, messy line of words:
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Don't try to avoid the night.
It will remember you.
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The sky darkened completely.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfNTvvvH7T
This time, night arrived differently.
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Shadows seemed to dye the sky black.
Sound was slowly drained away.
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Xiao Bai curled tightly into itself.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SOwRBH0rX
Footsteps echoed outside.
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Little Draft couldn't see their source.
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The sound felt transparent.
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Frost formed in the air. Breathing turned cold.
A chill spread through her chest.
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As if something were sniffing.
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Not searching for people—
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but searching for
things that had been remembered.
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Suddenly, Little Draft understood.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DEs3FMHyA
These weren't monsters.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdT7AAONwZ5
They were the rules themselves.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJS49Io7rFA
What night erased were things the world had acknowledged—
but that should not exist.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUpRvdFyRv
Mu Jiu's group had been forcibly defined as intruders.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNud78ReLP
Her problem was different—
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jKGfvzq87
even her existence was vague.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ul07B1FIi
The world was beginning to define her.
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Realizing this, Little Draft raised the pencil.
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In the freezing air, she wrote a sentence.
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The lines hung there, unmoving.
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"At night, my position cannot be confirmed."
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeJXUo2JLZ
The air paused.
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The pale flames of the bonfire flickered gently.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AB2ImySqz
And for the first time—
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlTYzNL4fW
something unseen
lost its direction.
ns216.73.216.33da2
and then Add to home screen.