A thick mist blanketed Mount Bai Village that morning, like a delicate veil from another world slowly descending upon the earth. The sky was gray and gloomy, and the wind carried the scent of damp earth mixed with the chill of mountain dew. Amidst the fog covering the stony path, hurried footsteps echoed.
"If I'm late again, Granny Li will throw her wooden spoon at me." muttered a young man, panting as he ran down the trail with a bamboo basket strapped to his back.
His name was Liang Feng, eighteen years old, an orphan raised by the kind yet strict villagers. His hair was jet black, and his sharp eyes always alert, though they held the weight of unhealed sorrow. In his basket were various mushrooms, fragrant roots, and rare medicinal herbs he had gathered since dawn.
When he reached a steep cliff overlooking the valley, Liang Feng paused to catch his breath. The fog below was so dense it seemed to swallow the entire world. Something felt different that morning. The air was colder, and the silence carried a strange tension.
Then, a faint voice drifted with the wind.
"...help… me…"
Liang Feng turned sharply. The voice was too real to be his imagination. He pushed aside shrubs and wild grass off the trail, following the sound until he found something that made his breath hitch.
Between the roots of an old tree and moss-covered stones lay a small figure. It looked like a young girl, but her body was covered in fine silver fur. She had pointed ears, a long white tail, and a delicate face drenched in cold sweat and fresh blood. Her pale kimono was stained red, and her body glowed faintly, as if lit from within the mist.
"A spirit…" Liang Feng whispered. He remembered the old tales of the White Fox Spirit, the guardian of Mount Bai spoken of in Granny Li's bedtime stories.
Doubt tugged at him. The village elders had always warned him never to approach spirit beings especially those from deep within the forest. But this one… she didn't seem dangerous. She looked deeply wounded.
Carefully, Liang Feng knelt beside her. "Don't worry… I won't hurt you."
He tore a strip from his sleeve and gently began to clean her wounds. But as his skin brushed her soft fur, a flash of red light burst from his right arm. A pattern resembling dragon scales appeared, pulsing warmly.
"What… is this?" he murmured, stunned.
The spirit opened her eyes slowly. Her irises shimmered silver, like moonlight.
"You… you are the one…" she whispered before falling unconscious again.
Liang Feng sat back, heart pounding. The glowing mark slowly faded, leaving behind a heavy silence. Then, the ground rumbled slightly. From the mountain's peak came a howling wind like the cry of an ancient beast. In the distance, the sound of an old bell echoed… even though the ancient temple atop Mount Bai had long been in ruins.
Without a second thought, Liang Feng lifted the spirit girl onto his back. He didn't know who she was or what her words meant, but he couldn't leave her there.
As he returned to the village, the morning mist still clung thick around him, hiding him from his neighbors' eyes. He hurried to the small wooden house he shared with Granny Li, the village healer who had raised him.
Inside the hut, he laid the fox spirit on a straw mat. Her small body was cold and trembling. Liang Feng went to work, grinding leaves, boiling roots into bitter tonic, and patiently cleaning her wounds with the herbs he had gathered.
Time passed slowly. Dusk began to settle over the village. Only then did the old wooden door creak open.
"What have you brought home this time, boy?" came Granny Li's raspy voice from the doorway.
Liang Feng froze. "Granny, wait—"
Her old eyes instantly caught sight of the spirit lying on the mat. Her steps faltered, and her body stiffened.
"...Great heavens…" she whispered. She approached the girl slowly and knelt beside her, gently brushing the fur on her shoulder.
"You know who she is?" Liang Feng asked softly.
Granny Li nodded, her expression grave. "A white fox spirit… extremely rare and sacred. She must be hunted."
"Hunted by who?"
Granny Li didn't answer right away. Her eyes turned sharply toward Liang Feng.
"Did you touch her directly?"
"I had to treat her wounds, Granny. She was dying…"
Granny Li let out a long sigh. "Then it has begun…"
Liang Feng swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"
"Show me your arm." she said.
Trembling, Liang Feng rolled up his sleeve. The dragon-scale mark still lingered faintly, but it was clearly visible. Granny Li's eyes narrowed.
"…The prophecy… it's true." she whispered.
"What prophecy, Granny?"
Without replying, she walked to an old shelf in the corner. She pulled out a dusty scroll and unrolled it. Inside was a painting of a young man with a glowing mark on his arm, standing beside a white fox spirit, with Mount Bai burning in the background.
"The Mark of Tianlong." Granny Li said softly. "Every thousand years, when the boundary between worlds begins to weaken, the mountain's guardian spirit chooses a human to preserve balance. The mark… appears as a dragon scale."
Liang Feng stared at the painting in shock. "So I…?"
Granny Li nodded. "And if the sky has turned purple, it means the Spirit Gate is starting to open."
"The Spirit Gate?"
"A portal between the human realm and the spirit realm. If it opens fully… beings from that world will pour in, and our world will fall into chaos."
Liang Feng glanced at the fox spirit, whose breathing had steadied. "Before she fainted, she said something… she said I was 'the one.'"
Granny Li exhaled slowly. "Spirits see destiny more clearly than we do. She knows who you are."
Suddenly, the fox spirit stirred. Her eyes fluttered open, and she slowly rose. Her gaze shifted between Liang Feng and Granny Li.
"You saved me…" her voice was gentle, echoing like wind rustling leaves.
"I couldn't leave you to die out there." Liang Feng replied honestly.
She looked at him for a moment, then bowed her head.
"My name is Bai Xue." she said. "And you… are the one destined to guard the boundary of this world."
Liang Feng shook his head. "I'm just a mushroom gatherer."
"You bear the Mark of Tianlong." Bai Xue said quietly. "That mark will awaken power within you. And you will need it…"
"For what?"
Bai Xue turned toward the window. Outside, the sky was far darker than usual, tinged with a deep violet like a bruised wound. A great shadow passed over the hut, followed by a distant, haunting howl.
"Because something ancient is awakening." she said. "And it wants this world… for itself."