Kraken was using his cards to read Yue Shi’s fortune. He shuffled them first, his movements slow and deliberate.
The deck flipped back and forth in his hands, producing a rhythmic rustling sound.
Yue Shi sat there rubbing the snow leopard, his gaze fixed on the flying cards.
The snow leopard was also quite focused, its eyes locked on Kraken’s hands and its ears twitching occasionally.
“Alright.”
Kraken placed the shuffled deck on the table, cut it three times, and then looked up at Yue Shi.
“Please, pick any card.”
Yue Shi reached out, his finger hesitating over the cards for a moment before drawing one.
The King of Hearts.
Kraken took it, glanced at it, and placed it to his left before shuffling again.
“Pick another.”
Yue Shi drew another.
The Three of Diamonds.
Kraken placed the two cards side-by-side in front of him, staring at them for a few seconds before shuffling again.
“One more time.”
Yue Shi raised an eyebrow and continued to draw.
The Seven of Spades.
Kraken’s expression changed slightly.
He took the card directly from Yue Shi’s hand and placed it alongside the two cards on his left.
Three cards.
The King of Hearts, the Three of Diamonds, and the Seven of Spades.
Kraken stared at them, his eyes unmoving.
The snow leopard yawned and buried its head in the crook of Yue Shi’s arm, seemingly losing interest in this boring game.
“Is there a problem?” Yue Shi asked.
Kraken didn’t answer immediately, looking as if he had calculated an impossible reading.
He reached out to scramble the order of the cards, reshuffled them, and then spoke again.
“Draw once more.”
This time, Yue Shi drew the Ace of Clubs.
Kraken shuffled again.
Yue Shi drew the Five of Hearts.
Shuffle.
The Queen of Spades.
Shuffle.
The Nine of Diamonds.
Shuffle.
The Two of Clubs.
He performed over a dozen readings in a row, and every single one was different. Every bizarre combination imaginable had appeared.
Cold sweat began to bead on Kraken’s forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Yue Shi’s voice was flat.
Kraken didn’t answer.
Biting his lower lip, he gathered all the cards and reshuffled them.
This time, he shuffled for a long time, his movements growing faster and faster until they were nothing but a blur.
Then he fanned the cards out, took a deep breath, and slowly moved his finger over the cards as if sensing something.
His finger stopped over one card.
He flipped it over.
The Big Joker.
The face of the colorful clown stared directly at him, grinning widely.
Kraken froze.
He stared blankly at the Big Joker card, his lips trembling slightly.
“Impossible... how could it be the Big Joker...”
Yue Shi watched him quietly.
Kraken looked up, his gaze landing on Yue Shi’s face, his pupils shaking with shock.
The readings he had just performed for Yue Shi were all different—sometimes it was the Fiend Star of Solitude, sometimes it was a Lucky Koi Fate, and other times it was an Imperial Star.
His destiny was changing every single second.
Kraken thought Yue Shi might have something on him that interfered with the divination, so he switched to reading his own fortune, intending to glimpse Yue Shi’s destiny indirectly by looking at his own.
And then he had drawn the Big Joker.
He lowered his head, put the Big Joker back, and shuffled again.
He drew again.
The Little Joker.
Shuffle.
The Big Joker.
Shuffle.
The Little Joker.
Shuffle.
The Big Joker.
No matter how he shuffled, he always drew the clown.
Just like his fate, it was all a joke.
Kraken’s breathing grew rapid, and his fingers began to shake.
“No, this isn’t right. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Yue Shi watched his performance with interest.
Kraken shuffled once more.
This time, his movements had lost all form. Cards slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor.
He picked them up, shuffled again, and drew again.
Still the Big Joker.
Kraken looked up at Yue Shi, his face deathly pale.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood sprayed onto the table, staining the scattered playing cards red.
Kraken’s body swayed as he braced his hands against the edge of the table. His lips were bloodless, and streaks of red seeped from the corners of his eyes.
Yue Shi gently rubbed the snow leopard’s ears. “It seems my fortune isn’t very easy to read.”
Kraken opened his mouth to say something, but a surge of metallic sweetness rose in his throat, causing him to choke and cough.
He had suffered a backlash.
Just then...
“Oh my, there’s a fire over there.”
A commotion drifted in from outside the window.
Kraken turned his head to look through the restaurant window.
Toward the west side of the island, the night sky was stained red by flames.
The fire reached toward the heavens.
Wasn't that... the direction of the Sect of All Spirits?
Even from such a distance, one could see that the fire was incredibly fierce.
Kraken stared blankly at the flames, momentarily forgetting the taste of blood in his mouth.
The Sect of All Spirits?
He slowly turned his head toward Yue Shi.
Yue Shi was also looking at the fire outside the window, as if admiring something interesting.
The snow leopard yawned, showing no interest in the spectacle outside.
...
“Fire!”
Screams erupted from all corners of the Sect of All Spirits church.
The chanting priests were the first to rush out. When they saw the thick smoke and fire pouring from the storage room, their faces turned white.
Some ran for fire extinguishers, some ran to call for help, and some knelt on the ground kowtowing toward the statues, muttering prayers under their breaths.
But the fire was too large—unnaturally large—and it spread at an incredible speed. It burned from the storage room to the corridors, and from the corridors to the main hall.
Tongues of fire licked the twisted statues, making a loud crackling sound.
“Put out the fire, quickly!”
“The statues! The statues are still inside!”
In the chaos, someone suddenly shouted, “There’s someone there!”
Everyone looked in the direction the person was pointing.
At the entrance of the burning storage room, through the gaps in the rolling smoke, a figure could be faintly seen.
It was that girl.
She stood in the center of the flames, her body surrounded by fire, her expression flickering in the light.
She was smiling, the corners of her mouth pulled wide and her eyes shining with an alarming intensity.
“Your god will not save you.”
As her words fell, the flames surged higher, swallowing her figure.
“No!!!”
Some followers roared and tried to rush in, only to be forced back by the intense heat.
The fire grew even larger.
The church was burning. Thick smoke billowed, and flames poured from the cracks in the doors and windows, mingling with the panicked cries of the believers into a chaotic din.
A team of priests arrived quickly, wearing black robes and carrying buckets and fire extinguishers.
Leading them was a middle-aged man with a lean build, protruding cheekbones, and bloodshot eyes.
As a deacon who had been with the Sect of All Spirits for many years, he had never seen a scene like this.
“Quick, the fire in the rear hall is the largest! Go there first!” He directed the other priests to charge inside.
Unfortunately, as soon as they rushed through the side door of the church, they stopped.
In the direction of the rear hall, the fire had already burned through the ceiling. Large chunks of burning wood fell from above, slamming into the ground and sending sparks flying.
A heatwave hit them full in the face, scorching their skin and making it difficult to breathe.
“Water! Throw water, quickly!” Several followers lifted their buckets and threw water at the nearest source of fire.
The water drew an arc in the air and landed on the flames.
Sizzle.
White smoke rose, the flames flickered for a moment, and then... they burned even brighter.
“What’s going on?”
The middle-aged priest’s eyes widened.
He saw with his own eyes that when the water hit the fire, it didn't extinguish it. Instead, it was as if they had poured oil on it, causing the flames to surge significantly higher.
“Again!”
Another bucket of water.
Another surge of even fiercer flames.
“No, this isn’t right.”
The middle-aged priest took a step back, his face pale. He turned and roared at the people behind him, “Spells! Use spells to put it out! Stop using water!”
Several followers who knew techniques immediately stepped forward and began to chant.
These were the followers of the Sect of All Spirits who had been fortunate enough to hear the Divine Voice and had gained some mysterious knowledge from it. They knew a bit of magic.
They muttered incantations, and pale blue light surged from their palms, covering the flames.
The blue light touched the fire.
And vanished.
As if swallowed by something, the magical light dissipated in mid-air before it could even touch the edge of the fire.
“What?”
The followers were stunned.
They looked at each other and tried again.
More blue light surged out, forming solid beams of light that slammed into the fire.
The flames didn't budge.
The blue light shattered upon contact and disappeared without a trace.
“This is impossible.”
A young follower murmured, his face white. The spell he used seemed to have a side effect; large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and tentacles sprouted from the corners of his mouth before quickly retracting.
The fire in front of them showed no sign of weakening; instead, it grew fiercer. The burning wood crackled, and the rhythm of the dancing flames was strangely regular, as if they were performing a dance to some invisible cadence.
The crowd of followers stared at the flames, and one thought occurred to all of them.
The church of the Sect of All Spirits was no ordinary building. The wood used in its construction had been specially treated and soaked in fireproof liquid. Runes were also carved into the walls. Even if a fire did break out, those protective measures should have been enough to contain it locally until they could arrive to put it out.
But now, those fireproof measures seemed completely nonexistent.
The fire burned through everything without resistance, leaving nothing behind.
This fire...
“Someone is behind this!” the leading deacon snarled.
He turned to the other believers, his eyes bloodshot.
“Someone set this fire intentionally. Someone is sabotaging our defenses from the shadows.”
The other followers whispered among themselves.
“Who would dare?”
“Who else could it be! It must be the other sects on the island!” the deacon ground his teeth. “Those bastards have hated us for a long time!”
“It must be them. They want to destroy the foundation of the Sect of All Spirits.”
The expressions of the other followers shifted as anger, hatred, and various other emotions played across their faces. But there was nothing they could do.
Their spells were useless, their fire extinguishers were useless, and those who had rushed into the fire to try and save their belongings had already become well-done.
They could only watch as the church collapsed bit by bit in the flames. The statues they had personally worshiped shattered and melted in the high heat. Their faith was turning to ash.
“It’s over. It’s all over.”
Someone knelt on the ground and wailed.
More people stood there blankly, their faces filled with despair.
The deacon stood at the very front, staring fixedly at the fire. The flames danced in his pupils like an eternal nightmare.
“No matter who it is, I will find you.”
“I will make the blasphemer pay the price.”
...
The next day, the sky over Dusk Island was still somewhat gloomy.
Yue Shi wandered aimlessly around the island, carrying the snow leopard. Kraken had suffered a backlash from his divination and was currently resting in the inn to recover, providing Yue Shi with a rare moment of peace.
There were significantly more people on the streets than usual, gathered in groups of three or five, whispering to one another. Occasionally, voices drifted into his ears. The content was fragmented, but the core message was the same.
“Did you hear? The Sect of All Spirits’ church burned to the ground.”
“I specifically took a detour to see it this morning. There’s nothing left but a pile of blackened frames. All those statues collapsed and shattered into pieces.”
“Good heavens, how did it start...?”
Yue Shi walked past them without stopping.
The few islanders who were talking glanced at him unconsciously before quickly looking away and continuing their hushed conversation.
The snow leopard nestled in Yue Shi’s arms, its ears twitching.
Turning a corner, the crowd ahead grew even larger.
They weren't just gathered to gossip; they were lining up. A long queue stretched from the street corner all the way to the edge of his vision. Men, women, young and old—most of them were carrying things. Their faces all bore an indescribable expression: a mix of hope and a faint, underlying fear.
Yue Shi stopped and looked toward the front of the line.
At the end of the queue was the Sect of Deliverance Church.
It was larger than the Sect of All Spirits’ church, covering an area as wide as two football fields. The architectural style was similar to the other churches on the island, but the overall color scheme was not the common gray-white, but a deep purple.
Yue Shi remembered what Kraken had said.
“In a few days, it will be the Sect of Deliverance’s annual Resurrection Festival. Islanders can send their deceased relatives to the church for a resurrection ceremony.”
“The people who are resurrected are indeed a bit strange.”
He shifted his gaze from the building to the people in line.
In the queue, a middle-aged woman’s eyes were red and swollen, and her lips were pressed into a thin line as she stared at the church ahead, her gaze full of pleading. Beside her was a hunched old man, muttering something under his breath like a lunatic.
Further ahead, a young mother was holding a little girl’s hand. The girl looked to be about seven or eight years old, wearing a clean white dress with her hair neatly combed. But her face lacked the liveliness typical of that age; she just stood there quietly, her eyes vacant.
Yue Shi’s gaze lingered for a moment.
The girl’s face was far too pale, and her lips had no color. If her chest weren't still rising and falling, one might almost think she was dead.
“Mom, when can we see Dad again?” the girl suddenly asked, her voice very soft.
The young mother looked down at her, her eyes welling with tears.
“Soon, soon. When the Resurrection Festival comes, your father will be back. We’ll be a family of three again.”
The girl nodded and stopped talking.
Yue Shi withdrew his gaze and continued forward.
On either side of the queue, several people in long robes were walking back and forth. Their robes were embroidered with silver patterns that twisted and coiled like ancient symbols. Their eyes were exceptionally sharp, scanning the crowd from time to time.
One of them spotted Yue Shi as he passed. His gaze lingered on him for a few seconds before he looked away and continued walking as if nothing had happened.
The corners of Yue Shi’s mouth curved slightly.
Interesting.
He circled around the queue and headed toward the side of the church.
The scene here was even more bizarre.
There were several rows of temporary sheds where Sect of Deliverance followers sat behind tables laden with various items: incense burners, candle holders, talismans, cinnabar, and other strange things he couldn't name.
They were receiving the islanders from the queue, speaking to them in low voices and occasionally taking items handed over by the people and placing them into boxes beside them.
END
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