Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 1011 On the Anvil

Flower of Ashes? Chapter 5: Stargrass Sprouting Newly. Morning dew fell on the petals of the stargrass as Elena repaired the castle's corridors. Vines clung to fine threads in her palms, piecing together the broken stone sculptures—a statue of a Northern Di royal family standing side by side with the Morning Star Ancestor. When the pro-war faction toppled it, the fragments of the sword tassel had been lodged in the cracks of the base. "Sister, look!" Leo ran over, holding a glowing scale, his flaxen hair still stained with grass. The boy's boots treaded the corridor's stone slabs, kicking up morning dew that condensed into tiny rainbows in the sunlight. "Ella said these are shed feathers from a giant eagle, good for arrow fletching." The scales shimmered like mother-of-pearl in Elena's palms, the patterns along their edges vaguely matching the totems on the murals of the Northern Di Holy Land. She remembered her mother, Mizukage,'s words: Not all Northern Di were ambitious. Those who favored peace had once taken fragments of the Chaos Crystal into seclusion. Perhaps these scales were a sign from them. Karen's footsteps came from the end of the corridor. His Paladin uniform had been washed to a pale white, but it was ironed straight. He held a leather-bound book in his hands, with a piece of flattened star grass between the pages. "The ancient books in the library mentioned that the peace-loving faction of the Northern Di had a custom of using giant eagle feathers to deliver peace messages." Leo suddenly pointed to the illustration in the book, which showed a girl wearing a silver crown. The jade pendant around her waist had the same blue light as the Chaos Crystal in Elena's palm. "This is the Northern Di Princess of Peace! My mother's diary said that three hundred years ago, in order to prevent war, she voluntarily married the Morning Star Ancestor as a hostage." The annotation next to the illustration was written in ancient Northern Chinese characters. Diwen wrote, and Ella took a long time to decipher before translating: "Princess Peace left a prophecy—when the star grass blooms in the Northern Di Holy Land, the scattered crystal fragments will automatically return to their places." The barbarian girl's fingertips traced the star map in the corner of the illustration, where seven flickering points of light were marked. "This is where the fragments are buried. The last one is under the city-state's clock tower." Elena's vines suddenly tensed. She remembered the bone fragments brought back from the Northern Di Holy Land. They shimmered in the moonlight last night, forming a strange resonance with the blue light of the star grass. Perhaps the bishop's death was not the end. Those scattered crystal fragments were waiting for the moment to be awakened. "We have to go to the city-state." Elena put the scales into Leo's doll. The doll's knight suit had been nourished by magic and had returned to its original royal blue color. "There may be clues left by the peace faction under the bell tower. Maybe we can find the remnants of the Northern Di people." Karen took out a city-state map from his bag, on which the buildings near the bell tower were circled with a red pen: "The old members of the Holy Knights have sent news that a group of merchants wearing silver ornaments have been active near the bell tower recently. They are exchanging star grass for Northern Di herbs - this kind of herb is only grown by the peace faction." Before leaving, Ella stuffed a short arrow tempered with star grass juice into Leo's quiver: "The shaman said that the remnants of the Northern Di pro-war faction are afraid of this." The shadow of the giant eagle was reflected in the brown pupils of the barbarian girl, and the new feathers on its wings were stretching in the morning light. "I asked the tribesmen to set up sentry posts outside the city-state, and they will release signal eagles if they find any abnormalities." When the drawbridge of the castle was lowered, Elena looked back at the tower. My mother's crystal ball sat on the top-floor windowsill. After the mist cleared, the city's streets could be clearly seen from within the sphere. The old flower seller's peony stall had moved to the base of the clock tower, his baskets of star grass interlaced with the peonies, a harmonious painting. As the giant eagle descended upon the city's slums, Leo suddenly pointed toward a distant blacksmith's shop, where a string of silver wind chimes hung, each engraved with a rose. "That's the symbol of the Morning Star family! Dad said only craftsmen approved by the family can use it!" The wooden door of the blacksmith's shop creaked, and an elderly man in reading glasses poked his head out, his apron still gleaming with sparks. When he saw the rose mark on Elena's collarbone, he suddenly dropped his hammer, tears welling in his cloudy eyes. "The old master's bloodline... has finally returned." On the anvil in the shop lay a silver ingot, awaiting forging, the outline of the Northern Di totem barely beginning to form. The old man trembled as he stroked the silver ingot. "My grandfather was a silversmith from the peace-loving Northern Di faction. He fled to the city-state with his craft. Before his death, he said he would wait for the girl bearing the Mark of the Rose and give her this." The silver ingot suddenly glowed under the light of the Chaos Crystal, revealing hidden patterns—a complete map of Northern Di. Seven buried locations of crystal fragments were marked with golden lines. The last, gleaming red, lay in the dungeon of the city-state's imperial palace, perfectly matching the record in his mother's diary. "The remnants of the pro-war faction are hiding in the dungeon," Elena said as her vines wrapped around the anvil, a blue light spreading along the lines. "They hope to use the last fragment to resurrect the bishop's ancestor. The blood vines there have grown into a cage." She thought of the Bone Mountain in the Northern Di Holy Land. The tender sprouts of star grass beneath the black moss might be the hope sown by the peace-loving faction. Leo suddenly tugged at her sleeve, and the young man pointed toward the corner outside the shop, where a little girl in a coarse dress was peeking out, a withered star grass tucked into her hair. When she saw the rose mark on Leo's hand, she suddenly pulled a piece of silver from her pocket, engraved with half a silver crown depicting Princess Peace. "She's leaving us a signal," Karen said, gripping the longsword at his waist. A rose handkerchief peeked out from the collar of his paladin uniform. "Ancient texts say that Northern Di children would use silver ornaments to convey urgent messages. The notch on this piece of silver should correspond to a secret passage in the dungeon." The old man suddenly pulled a stone slab from beneath the anvil, revealing a hidden compartment underneath. "This is the dungeon key my grandfather hid. He said it could open the secret chamber of the remaining Northern Di forces." The pattern on the key handle perfectly matched the totem on the silver blank, clearly crafted by the same craftsman. As they left the blacksmith's shop, the old flower vendor's peony stall was crowded with people. Elena noticed that the stargrass in his basket leaned toward the palace, its petals gleaming faintly red—a sign the stargrass senses danger, the same color the blood vines of the Northern Di Holy Land display before they wither. "There's movement in the direction of the clock tower," Ella suddenly drew her bow and arrow, pointing the arrow at the spire in the city's center. "The signal eagle is circling; it must have spotted the blood vines." The barbarian girl whistled, and the giant eagle perched on the rooftop immediately took flight. As its wings swept over the clock tower's spire, its scattered feathers shone like silver rain in the sunlight. Leo suddenly pointed at the clock tower's wall, where a dark red stain was spreading, a shape reminiscent of the blood vines of the Northern Di Holy Land. "They're absorbing the city's vitality!" The young man raised the cross, twirling the silver chain in his palm. Wherever the red light passed, the stains temporarily receded, revealing the bluish-gray masonry beneath. Elena's vines climbed along the clock tower's outer wall, blue light condensing in the cracks between the bricks into a protective net. She could feel the blood vine's roots had already penetrated the dungeon's foundation, like countless greedy snakes, extending towards the last crystal fragment. Karen's sword suddenly made a slight sound.