Yun Zhe was very curious about how these refugees would celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival during this time of war and chaos.
Yun Zhe had no memory of the Winter Solstice Festival, but fortunately, there were some fragments in his diary, so that Yun Zhe was at least not too unfamiliar with the Winter Solstice Festival.
Solstice is arguably the most important festival in Gransei, and the only statutory holiday besides the King's Birthday and Coronation Day. On the last day of January each year, a grand procession is held to celebrate the passing of the coldest day of the year, wishing for increasingly warmer days to come. On this day, families prepare a sumptuous dinner and, after the procession, stay by the fire until dawn, praying that the worst days of the year are over and good things are to come.
Unlike the Spring Festival, which is celebrated in Yun Zhe's world, the Winter Solstice Festival in this country carries a more symbolic meaning of overcoming hardship and achieving happiness.
This festival may not be the most grand, but it is the most important.
But Yun Zhe knew that next year might be another year of war.
Yun Zhe understood all too well the oppressive feeling of a war dragging on for over a year with no end in sight. So, on the Winter Solstice Festival, Yun Zhe's smile was forced. He led Gao and the others to inspect the wells and some important places, watching the refugees prepare torches and various drawing boards and straw figures for the evening parade. The joyful laughter and children running around with windmills finally lifted Yun Zhe's spirits.
“Gao, we still need to strengthen the guard on the wells, especially the wells in the military camp.” Yun Zhe paused for a moment. “After the parade, we’ll go and inspect them again. Tonight, we still need to have people on guard duty at some key locations.”
"Sir, it's a holiday today, can't you make an exception?" Gao knew that people were in a state of unrest today, and he figured no one would be willing to guard the well or the gate. So he asked this question on purpose.
Yun Zhe sighed, "Gao, it's precisely because of holidays that some people want to take advantage of the situation to cause trouble. Does that mean you can skip your post just because it's a holiday?"
"But the soldiers all want to go home and reunite with their families. Even if we force them to, there's no guarantee they won't desert and go home..."
Yun Zhe stopped in his tracks. "I heard that many soldiers have no relatives left. Where have you arranged for them?"
"Ah, sir, they are all in the military camp. I have already sent people to deliver food, drink and celebratory items, so you don't need to worry about that."
"I'll go check on them; they can take over the duty tonight," Yun Zhe said as he walked towards the military camp.
Gao sighed inwardly. Even he felt this decision was a bit excessive, but he really didn't know what Yun Zhe was thinking, so he could only silently follow along.
Allie watched the three girls quietly making scarecrows and torches, decorating the room with colorful ribbons and paper flowers. Her heart was filled with happiness. The only flaw was that the three girls were all too quiet, with the peculiar tendency to remain silent whenever possible. However, considering their backgrounds, Allie could somewhat understand their silence.
"Alright, girls, once you've finished making the scarecrows, put them in the yard. When Yunzhe comes back, we'll go burn them together," Ellie said, composing herself and urging the children to carry the scarecrows to the square in the center of the castle with a smile.
It was called a plaza, but it was really just a small open space in the center of the castle's inner fortress. Ellie looked out the window and saw three small figures slowly piling up a string of straw figures in the center of the open space, and a wave of tenderness washed over her. Then, Ellie thought of her fate as a vampire, and a soft spot in her heart felt as if it had been stabbed, a sharp pain shooting through her.
Lost in thought, Ellie was suddenly struck by the terrified screams of the girls outside the window. She grabbed her bow and arrows and dashed out of the house, only to find five men trying to capture the three girls in the small square. The youngest, Juno, had already been grabbed and was struggling desperately, while Hayley was running around a pile of scarecrows with another man, trying to escape their pursuit. Usa, however, was much calmer; she had a short sword in hand and had clearly already wounded one of the attackers. Facing the combined attack of the other two, Usa retreated while moving towards Hayley.
Although one of them had been stabbed, and the three girls were putting up a fierce fight, the men were certain that capturing them would only take a moment.
Ellie fired an arrow, striking the wounded man squarely in the head. The sudden attack stunned everyone present, then the attacker spotted Ellie high above. Immediately afterward, a second, then a third arrow rained down. The attacker didn't even utter a sound before he collapsed to the ground, riddled with arrows in the head.
Ellie didn't care about anything else and jumped to the ground to hug the three children who were still in a daze. Then Ellie realized that something was wrong with the situation.
It was unusually quiet.
Ellie looked at the two entrances to the left and right, where the four guards lay dead on the ground. Further down the street, the area was deserted.
A cold wind blew, and Ellie sensed a strong killing intent that drifted across the entire square.
"You all go back quickly and lock the doors, hurry!" Ellie said as she drew an arrow, nocked it on her bow, and looked warily at the two entrances.
Usa wanted to stay and use magic to help Ellie, but she held back and grabbed the other two girls, running back into the house in a flash.
Seeing that the children were safe, Ellie carefully retreated back to the doorway.
Suddenly the temperature dropped by tens of degrees, and the small square turned pale. The moisture in the air condensed into thin, sharp blades, which were blown onto Ellie by a strong gust of wind.
Ellie quickly developed more than a dozen wounds on her body. But ignoring the cold wind cutting her face like knives, she cautiously looked around before slowly retreating back to the stairwell.
Ellie's wounds on her face and body had healed. Just as Ellie breathed a sigh of relief, a soft laugh came from the air. Then a flirtatious female voice rang out, "So you're a vampire."
The sound wasn't loud, but it struck Ellie's chest like a heavy hammer, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
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