The twelve bronze lamps on the contract stand suddenly burst into green flames at the same time, and Su Ye's white hair stood up in the turbulent energy. The Snow Shadow Wolf that he held with his right palm was undergoing a terrifying change - the originally silver hair faded to pale white, and the wolf star pattern on its forehead was wriggling like a living thing, twisting the surrounding lights into a strange vortex, and the bulletproof glass of the viewing seats was covered with spider web-like cracks.
"Alert! The ancient jade pollution index has exceeded 300%!" When the mechanical sound pierced the red light of the alarm, the blue animal pupils of the Snow Shadow Wolf were covered with a layer of turbid gray. Lin Xiaoman's treasure-hunting mouse curled up in the corner of the iron cage, and the copper coin pendant jingled: "The blood purity of this wolf exceeds S level, and it is devouring the energy of the ancient jade!"
The sharp pain shot from the palm of his hand to the top of his head. Su Ye saw that his blood was outlining an inverted pentagram on the contract. The neat contract text on the page was being tampered with by some force, and dense star patterns appeared on the yellowed edge. There was a sudden burning sensation in his left eye. When he stumbled back, the cracks in the bulletproof glass reflected his left pupil - the star pattern spread like thorns in the depths of the pupil.
The Snow Shadow Wolf let out a deafening howl, and the sound waves shattered the tempered glass of the viewing seats into powder. Vice President Zhou Mubai stood up suddenly, and the light-winged unicorn behind him suddenly raised its front hoof. The eyes of the snow-white holy beast were red, and the lightning wrapped around its spiral horn was actually stained with ink.
"Quickly terminate the ceremony!" Lin Xiaoman's scream was drowned in the energy storm. Su Ye felt the bones in his right arm wailing under the heavy load, and the fangs of the Snow Shadow Wolf had pierced his palm. The contract suddenly ignited, and the ashes condensed into a bloody wolf totem in the air, sinking directly into the back of his bloody hand.
The severe pain made Su Ye kneel on the ground, and the scarlet number that appeared under the skin on the back of his hand made him feel cold all over: 5 years of remaining life. The runaway Snow Shadow Wolf suddenly froze, and a wolf star pattern wrapped in gray mist appeared on its forehead. The mist was eroding Su Ye's blood vessels in the opposite direction along the contract pattern - that was the core mark of the ancient jade pollution.
"Is this... the inheritance mark of the Star Beast Alliance?" Zhou Mubai's voice was trembling. His unicorn was completely out of control, and the lightning struck a charred gully on the contract table. Su Ye saw an illusion in the severe pain: in the burning ruins, his mother stuffed the blood-stained ancient jade into the swaddling clothes, and his father used a broken sword to carve a star pattern array on the ground.
Lin Xiaoman's treasure-hunting rat suddenly jumped onto the iron cage, and the copper coin pendant drew a golden track in the air: "Deputy Dean! You'd better explain why the soul-devouring curse is hidden in the contract array!"
Zhou Mubai's wings of light suddenly spread out, but were covered by frost in the next second. The cub-like Snow Shadow Wolf arched its body, and the low roar rolling in its throat actually carried the pressure of a dragon's roar. The countdown on the back of Su Ye's hand suddenly began to flash, and the moment the number changed from 5 to 4, the entire contract platform suddenly sank three inches.
"Don't move." The muffled sound of the wine gourd breaking through the air made time seem to stand still. Ye Wuhen's upside-down figure was reflected on the dome glass, and blue light seeped out of the cracks in the bronze mask, which resonated strangely with the star pattern on Su Ye's left eye. The lightning of the unicorn was annihilated the moment it touched his tattered cloak, as if it was swallowed by some invisible thing.
Su Ye was about to speak when his temple suddenly exploded with a sharp pain like a needle. Twelve figures pierced by chains flashed in his vision. Each prisoner's spine was embedded with black ancient jade, and those fragments were eating away their flesh and blood. The prisoner in the front raised his head - the face covered with star patterns was exactly the same as the pocket watch photo left by his father.
"Take this." Ye Wuhen threw the bronze box engraved with the emblem of the Beast Alliance to shatter the illusion. The moment the box lid opened, Su Ye saw half a beating ancient jade, and the star pattern on its surface perfectly matched the engraving on the back of his hand. The monitor suddenly made a shrill sound, and he realized that his heartbeat frequency was synchronizing with the ancient jade.
"Twenty years ago, your father led the Twelve Star Emblem Envoys into the Ancient Jade Abyss." Ye Wuhen's mechanical prosthetic eye swept across the bronze box, "They exchanged their lives for three pieces of pure jade, but unfortunately..." He suddenly lifted his cloak, revealing the white bones of his left arm, "The last piece was contaminated."
Su Ye struggled to get up, and the Snow Shadow Wolf cub was curled up at his feet, chewing on ice crystals. The countdown on the back of his hand suddenly accelerated when it touched the bronze box, and the words 4 years and 11 months made his throat tighten: "So this string of numbers..."
"It's a curse, but also a key." Ye Wuhen smashed the attacking surveillance drone with a flick of his finger. "When the countdown reaches zero, the ancient jade energy in your body will completely run away. But if you can collect three pieces of pure jade before the lunar eclipse..." The single eye under his mask suddenly lit up, "you can restart the Starry Sky Array and reverse your fate."
The infirmary suddenly shook violently, and countless mechanical beetles poured out of the vents. The Snow Shadow Wolf let out a warning growl, and the cold air bursting from its young body instantly froze the entire room. Ye Wuhen's cloak formed an ice armor in the low temperature, and he raised his hand and pressed it on Su Ye's left eye: "Look carefully at those star patterns."
The severe pain came again, but this time Su Ye saw the details of the illusion clearly - twelve bronze coffins were arranged in the shape of the zodiac star map, and each coffin extended an energy chain, with a huge ancient jade at the end that sank into the void. His father's figure appeared in the center of the star map, and the broken sword in his hand was pointing to a constellation on the coffin.
"Sirius position." Ye Wuhen's voice seemed to come from a distant time and space, "The coordinates of the first piece of pure jade are what your parents sealed with their lives."
The monitor suddenly went black, and cracks appeared in the Snow Shadow Wolf's frozen domain. Ye Wuhen grabbed the wine gourd and took a sip. The amber liquid turned into a wall of fire as it hit the ground: "It's time to go, kid. The military hounds have smelled it."
The infirmary was filled with the smell of blood at midnight. When Su Ye was awakened by the Snow Shadow Wolf's licking, the moonlight was shining through the frost dome. The remains of the mechanical pigeon were scattered on the ground. In the charred photo, the twelve bronze coffins behind his parents made him feel like he was falling into an ice cave - the star pattern on the surface of each coffin was exactly the same as the pattern on his left eye.
When he trembled and touched the edge of the photo, the bronze box suddenly burst into strong light. The countdown on the back of his hand began to jump wildly, and finally stopped at 4 years, 11 months and 29 days. The Snow Shadow Wolf suddenly pounced on the ventilation duct, and the claws tore through the iron sheet to reveal half a page of the experimental log:
"Star Calendar 2035.9.13 Third Blood Fusion Experiment
Sample Code: Night Owl
Ancient Jade Contamination: 71%
Note: Destroy immediately after the Star Pattern awakens"
There was a sharp sound of nails scratching glass outside the window, and the moonlight cast a shadow on the ice wall. The red lotus pendant on the man's neck swayed slightly, exactly the same as the ornament worn by the black shadow in the corner of the photo. Su Ye held the bronze box tightly, and the ancient jade in the box suddenly resonated and trembled-the ice layer on the four walls of the ward burst, exposing the densely packed surveillance cameras in the inner layer of the wall.
"Found you." A hoarse female voice came from all directions, and the surveillance screen lit up with blood-red lotus at the same time. The hair of the Snow Shadow Wolf stood up, and the cub form began to swell in anger. The star pattern on Su Ye's left eye suddenly spread to half of his cheek, and he saw the shadow behind him in the reflection of the ice wall-it was a gray wolf wrapped in starlight, and the mark on its forehead was exactly the same as the totem on the bronze coffin.
The owner of the red lotus pendant finally showed up, and the flames dancing on her fingertips condensed into chains: "What a nostalgic star pattern, Su Ye." The flame chain suddenly penetrated the ice wall, "As beautiful as the light that your father shone before his death."
The roar of the Snow Shadow Wolf shattered all the monitoring screens. In the sky full of ice crystals, Su Ye saw that the ancient jade fragments in the bronze box were pointing to the northern starry sky - there, the light of Sirius suddenly surged, outlining the outline of a huge bronze coffin in the night.
The claws of the Snow Shadow Wolf scraped across the surface of the bronze bell in the bell tower, and ice crystals opened spider-web-like cracks on the rusty bronze. When Su Ye was thrown onto the gear set, his lower back hit the stuck transmission shaft, and the smell of blood immediately spread between his teeth. The 37-meter-high bell tower was tilting, and the roar of the earth's crust cracking came from the slums in the southeast. Twelve scarlet roots broke out of the ground, each of which was wrapped with a burning bronze chain.
"Karma Fire Red Lotus..." Ye Wuhen's mechanical prosthetic eye popped out a light blue data stream, and he pulled open the wine gourd with rare anxiety, "The one your father killed 20 years ago should be a juvenile." The amber wine was poured on the surface of the bronze box, and the lion head totem suddenly became alive, roaring like a glass shattering roar.
Su Ye's white hair was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye. When he grabbed the clock tower lightning rod to stabilize his body, the ends of his hair had turned star-blue, and the cold light of liquid metal flowed under the moonlight. Some kind of ancient rhythm awakened in his blood, and he saw that the countdown lines on the back of his left hand were splitting - below the originally scarlet "4 years and 11 months", silver retrograde marks quietly emerged.
"Hold on!" Ye Wuhen's tattered cloak suddenly swelled, and the nanofibers unfolded into a glider shape in the night sky. They swooped down, brushing against the roots of the red lotus. On the burning asphalt road, Su Ye's pupils shrank suddenly - the boy whose back was pierced by the roots had a lion head totem tattooed between his shoulder blades, the same as the bronze box. The ancient jade fragments inlaid in the right eye of the totem were resonating and vibrating with the bronze box in his arms.