The Fire of the Dao

“Ghost King, that fire of yours can burn everyone else, so why can’t it burn me!”

A mass of flames, red and white, white and colorless, blazed fiercely. The air within a dozen or so zhang warped under the unbearable heat. Yet from within the fire, a voice rang out, perfectly clear, laughing as it said:

“I am the aspect of fire, the spirit of fire, its stillness and its rising. I let you burn me. What can your puny fire possibly do to me?”

As the voice spoke, a figure strode out of the flames, clothes perfectly intact, not even slightly burned!

A pair of restless, shifting eyes gazed steadily ahead. In the area engulfed by the blaze, only one pair of dark eyes seemed entirely untouched by the flames. They looked compassionate, astonished, and filled with endless things left unsaid…

“Ah…”

A sudden shout shattered the stillness of the dark night.

Du Yu jolted upright, gasping for breath. Still shaken, he sat staring blankly at the covers.

The story begins with this dream…