More than 1000 years ago, the buildings in the Heian period were basically made of wood, and most of the things in the house were on fire, which was very easy to catch fire.

But even if she had never experienced a real fire, she knew that the speed of the fire spread was almost weird.

The sky suddenly darkened, billowing thick smoke covered the brilliance of the sun, and the turbulent flames burned a corner of the sky red and black. Even though she was some distance away from the center of the sea of ​​flames, she felt the power that seemed to melt human bones in an instant. Terrible heat.

The people in the palace screamed and fled in all directions. The sound of the sea of ​​flames was already deafening enough, but now it was mixed with the hysterical screams of the people. The surrounding chaos was like the doomsday. trampled places.

She hadn't made up her mind on how to act, but the sudden incident made her forget to react. The way to escape outside the palace was quickly congested by the crowd, and the pillars engulfed in flames collapsed, splashing countless sparks.

This was less an accidental fire than a recurring nightmare.

Everyone in the palace was plunged into the scorching flames at the same time. The arrogant people lost all manners and rushed towards the only escape port like livestock with a broken fence.

Maybe it was because she was afraid of being trampled by the crowd, but it should be because she had no choice, everyone was running in the opposite direction. She went up against the irrational crowd and ran towards the courtyard.

Suddenly there was an exclamation from the crowd, and everyone's voices gathered at that moment into straws overwhelmed by the strong wind, a mass of scorched and intense fire, wrapped in a raging hurricane, swooping towards this side like a carnivorous strange bird .

The maid next to her - she didn't know when the other party squeezed into her side - uttered a whimper of fear and despair.

At that moment she thought nothing of it.

When she reacted, she had already flung herself to the side, covering her shivering and thin body with the wide sleeves of her hunting clothes. The next moment, the hot and hot stream of fire whizzed past them, and she clearly felt that she was being crushed by something. He bumped into it, as if caught by a bird's sharp claws, he staggered forward suddenly.

When she fell to the ground, a scorching sound erupted in the sky, and the hot stream of fire hit the translucent barrier. The huge barrier covered the sky above the palace, trapping the twisted and struggling black shadow in the upside-down knot. below the bounds.

The scorched black fire suddenly expanded, opened its monster-like body, turned around and rushed towards the direction it came from.

Over there is the court courtyard.It is the starting point and center of the sea of ​​fire, and it is also the place where Ma Cang Ye Wang and the others are located.

She quickly got up from the ground. At this time, her body was shielded from the pain, and the surrounding flames intensified. There was only a small gap in the sky, and the world only had two colors, black and red.

When they rushed into the courtyard, the high-ranking officials in court uniforms were already frightened and fell to the ground. Someone was shouting "Protect!"

"...Ye Wang—!" The voices of those people were almost shrill, like cursing or praying, and their lips and tongues were distorted by fear.

"Help, King Ye!!!"

She opened her mouth in shock, almost unconsciously said:

"……Be careful!!"

The figure in the center of the sea of ​​flames raised its hand, without seals or chanting mantras, the howling fire surged in, the scorched shadow screamed and screamed, and suddenly hit the opened pentagram barrier and burst into flames. Dazzling streamer.

The raging fire rose wildly at that moment, the thick black smoke fluttered wildly, the scorching heat melted the air, and made a terrible chirping sound. It burst open with a bang.

For a moment, the raging fire that hit the pentagram barrier seemed to shatter like stars, and scorching hurricanes rose up from the ground, overwhelming mountains and seas in all directions, and everyone was crushed to the ground by the huge impact, unable to open their eyes at all.

Immediately, the pressure on the body suddenly disappeared, and the terrible high temperature and appalling sense of oppression miraculously dissipated in an instant.

When she opened her eyes, the surrounding scenery had returned to normal.

The sea of ​​flames disappeared, the thick smoke disappeared, and everything that happened just now seemed to be just a short nightmare.The sky shone with light again, and the gravel ground in front of the courtyard was empty, only a group of people were left sitting on the ground with horrified faces. If you look closely, there are still many people twitching and trembling slightly like convulsions.

The sleeves rolled up by the wind slowly floated down, King Ma Cang Ye withdrew his hand, turned his head slightly to look at the crowd hiding behind him.

Looking at it from her point of view—it should be the same from his point of view—those people shrank back like a conditioned reflex, their pale faces were extremely frightened.

What they were afraid of just now was the monster in the sea of ​​fire, but now they are afraid of King Ma Cang Ye standing in front of them.

And the terrifying power he possesses, even ghosts and gods will fall down and tremble in front of him.

The figure in hunting clothes looked back, the expression on his face was always flat, even the indifferent eyes never wavered.

"...No... As expected of the Great Onmyoji Master Ma Cang Ye Wang!" Someone made up with a slightly trembling voice, and the others quickly followed suit.

……

... At a time like this, I should thank you first, right?

The figure who seemed to be surrounded by the crowd suddenly looked over.

The eyes of the two met in the air.

The voices of those officials disappeared.

She felt that it was very inappropriate for her to appear, but it was already here, so she could only bite the bullet and walk over.

...Oops, are they wondering where she came from as a suspicious person, but there happened to be a weird fire in the palace, and someone like her who appeared suddenly would definitely be the first to be suspected.

But she has not forgotten why she is here.

Even if she was going to be put in jail, that would be discussed later, if it wasn't for the person in front of her, she might not have survived the first day of crossing.

She looked up:

"Are you ok?"

"..."

Somehow, she thought of the look he had suddenly looked at her just now, his calm expression hadn't changed, but it made people feel like he was seeing her for the first time.

"Before caring about me," Ma Cang Ye Wang lowered his eyes slightly, "you should look at your own arm first."

"...?" She froze for a moment, "What happened to my arm?"

Immediately, she followed King Ma Cangye's line of sight, and belatedly realized that part of the sleeve of her hunting clothes had been burned off by the fire.

The surrounding buildings and people were not substantially harmed. The strange sea of ​​flames was like a dream, menacing and fast-moving, but only her arm was burned by the fire, leaving a scorched black mark.

It is estimated that it is a scar left before.She protected the frightened maid, and was scratched by the rushing fire.

It was okay when I didn't notice it, but after I realized it, the place burned by the fire immediately burned.

She hissed softly, and King Ma Cang Ye seemed to sigh.He stretched out his hand and stroked her burnt sleeve with his fingers, just like a person would do when smoothing letter paper. When his fingertips left the edge of the paper, most of the burning pain had miraculously dissipated.

Upon closer inspection, the burn on her arm gradually faded and finally disappeared.

She opened her mouth wide, looked at King Ma Cang Ye, realized that she was in the palace now, and quickly closed her mouth again.

Thinking that she became like this just after being rubbed by that strange fire, she couldn't help but look at King Ma Cangye's hand again.

His hands were slender and white, and his hunting clothes were clean and tidy. Among all the people present, he was the only one who didn't look embarrassed at all, as if he just went out for a walk.

No injuries.

She was just worrying in vain.

Thinking of this, she relaxed.

After the weird fire just now, all the officials in the court had no intention of continuing to work, and the man in the palace was probably too frightened, so he readily approved everyone to leave work early and go home.

So in less than a morning, she and King Ma Cang Ye returned to the same bullock cart.

It was already dawn, and there were busy sounds of pedestrians on the street outside the palace. She raised the curtain and looked at it for a while, then retreated back into the carriage.

"What was it just now?"

Ma Cangye Wang leaned against the wall of the car, as if he was listening to the lively voices outside, and seemed to be resting with his eyes closed.

"It's a wraith." He replied quietly, "a wraith who was burned to death."

"... Already," she organized her words, "disappeared?"

King Ma Cang Ye raised his eyes: "No, it escaped."

She was silent for a while, not knowing how to continue the topic.

"Why are you back?" Ma Cang Ye Wang's voice was very calm.

She pushed back the broken hair on her cheek, and said casually: "I didn't go back."

It is impossible to say that she is not disappointed, but the sudden and strange fire interrupted her emotions. Now she is sitting in the rickety and bumpy bullock cart, listening to the people outside who are busy starting their day, feeling a little at a loss for a while.

"Really." Ma Cang Ye Wang's answer was short.

She was grateful that he didn't say "I'm sorry" or anything like that.

"What are you going to do next?"

The other party's question made her think.

Then, she remembered that night, the huge full moon behind the five-storied pagoda.

"Perhaps," she said, "perhaps I have missed some important qualification."

Her tone was quicker: "Maybe I have to wait until the next full moon to try again, then I might be able to go back."

"Before then," Ma Cang Ye Wang seemed to have a faint smile on his lips, "you may need a place to stay."

"...Yes, where to stay." She then smiled.

"It's better to have a bigger mansion. If there are cats, it will be more perfect."

After a pause, she said, "Do you know where these conditions are met?"

"Maybe."

"Why maybe?"

King Ma Cang Ye looked at her for a while: "You have to learn to treat your name more carefully."

She found that she was often asking why recently.

"The name is both a curse and a blessing." King Ma Cangye said calmly, "Aren't you curious why you are the only one who got burned?"

She thought for a moment: "Is it related to my name?"

"exactly."

King Ma Cang Ye said: "Crossing means that this shore leads to the other shore. Your name gives you the ability to cross boundaries."

Time and space are boundaries, and there are boundaries between the living and the dead.

"This is a very powerful, but also very dangerous spell."

She stared at him blankly.

At that moment, the bullock cart just turned the corner of the street, and the shadow of the verdant trees shrouded it, casting a dark color on the opponent's face.

"You have to be careful," he said finally, "be careful not to be swallowed by your own abilities."

The author has something to say:

Crossing: through, from here to there.

English translation [I don’t know if it’s a spoiler]: tocrossabodyofwater, I like it too.

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