Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: Ice-Blue Flames and Echoes of a Rainy Night

# Chapter 6: Ice-Blue Flames and Echoes of a Rainy Night When the morning light sliced through the stone window for the third time, Lin Ge was sitting cross-legged on the cold stone floor. The totem pole lay across his knees, and the fresh "F" brand on its surface glowed with a steady, breath-like faint light in the dim dawn. His eyes were closed, his consciousness sinking into the subtle currents of his internal mana circuits, as he tried to "touch" the stable frequency hidden deep within the brand with the softest thread of spiritual power. The images of yesterday's battle still played on a loop in his mind—the cold data attacks of the Purifier Prototypes, the golden light patterns flowing over the mutated Fissure, and the fleeting shock in Lina's eyes when her flames were refracted and amplified. When he focused his consciousness on the F brand, a **gentle yet dense surge of energy** emanated from its depths, like a second heart beating within the stone pillar. This pulse was not perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of his own heartbeat, yet it strangely formed a **complementary, more stable composite rhythm**, slowly untangling the mana flow that had grown slightly disordered from yesterday's fierce battle. The status bar at the edge of his vision glowed silently: ``` Anomaly Level: 0.42% (Stable) Surveillance Status: Priority Observation (Commander's Authorized Observation Period / Disciplinarian: Sven - Daily Deep Scan Active) Status: [Established Connection with Sunken Grove Node F] - Weak resonance ongoing New: [System Surveillance Intensity: Slightly Increased] - Detected 15% rise in shallow scan frequency for target area ``` The last line was a new prompt that had appeared that morning. The system had undoubtedly noticed the energy burst in the Sunken Grove yesterday. Just as he tried to further understand the constant weak resonance between the F brand and the rock face node, footsteps sounded outside the door. Not Kunkka's lazy stride, accompanied by the clink of his wine flask, nor Sven's clockwork-precise steps. These footsteps were light, stopping outside the door. After a full four or five seconds of silence, an extremely faint, almost hesitant knock came—three raps, unevenly spaced. Lin Ge opened his eyes, stood, and pulled the door open. Lina stood outside. She was not wearing her scarlet-gold light armor, only a plain deep red cloth robe. Her scarlet hair cascaded loosely over her shoulders, the tips still damp with morning mist. Tired shadows still lingered under her eyes, but the usual furious crimson in her irises had faded considerably, replaced by a **repressed, almost fragile curiosity**. Her gaze did not meet Lin Ge's directly, instead falling to the ground behind him. Her left hand unconsciously rubbed her right wrist repeatedly—and there, the ring of dark red data scar glowed with an **extremely faint icy blue aura swirling slowly** this morning, like cold fire trapped in amber. "That melody from yesterday," she said, her voice a little hoarse, stripped of its usual sharpness. "Hum it again." Lin Ge froze. "Not here." Lina finally lifted her eyes, her golden pupils swirling with complex emotions. "Find a… 'quiet' place. My fire…" She paused, seemingly struggling to find the words, before finally whispering, "There's something in it. I want to 'see' it clearly. After yesterday, it's… not the same. And this." She raised her wrist, the icy blue aura rippling slightly with the movement. "It's burning, but not with pain. It's… 'singing.'" Lin Ge's heart tightened slightly. He thought of Carl's hint about "listening to the wind," and of the chain reactions his father's sheet music might trigger. But his more immediate concern was the heightened system surveillance—Lina's state was clearly abnormal, and performing unconventional frequency manipulation again would be extremely risky. He was about to open his mouth to decline gently when a warm vibration suddenly came from his arms. It was the encrypted communication runestone Carl had left him, for emergency contact. He closed his hand around it imperceptibly, sending a wisp of faint spiritual power into it. Carl's warm, tired voice echoed directly in his consciousness, laced with the empty, distant reverberation unique to worn memories: "Child, if she comes to you, agree." Lin Ge's heart jolted. "I have temporarily shielded the shallow surveillance of the Silence Chamber for this time period," Carl's voice continued, calm and unwavering. "Cost: Consumption of 'memories of breakfast three days ago.' Do not worry—those memories were already fuzzy, little more than the hardness of bread and the warmth of porridge." "Remember, you are only a 'bridge of resonance,' not a 'digger.' Her memories have the barbs of a Purge Protocol; to touch them forcefully would harm you both. Take her to a place 'where the wind's voice can drown out all others.' Guide her to 'listen' on her own to the echoes loosened by your melody, and nothing more." The communication ended, and the runestone turned cold once more. Lin Ge lifted his head, meeting Lina's gaze—wavering, with a hint of unnoticeable tension. He took a deep breath: "I know a place. Windranger found it." *** The cave lay about a mile northeast of yesterday's battlefield, hidden at the base of a cliff draped in glowing data vines. The entrance was narrow, requiring them to step through sideways, but the interior was unexpectedly spacious—about half the size of the Silence Chamber, with a flat stone floor and dark gray, uniformly textured rock walls etched with natural, wave-like patterns. The most wondrous feature was the ceiling: it was not sealed, but riddled with countless tiny, capillary-like fissures, through which simulated daylight filtered down, casting swaying, hazy beams of light. "This place is perfect." Windranger had led them to the entrance and then left, saying as she went, "The wind says the 'echoes' here are special—outside noise gets scattered and swallowed when it comes in. And…" Her emerald eyes flicked to Lina's wrist, "the stone here is kind to 'cold fire.'" Now, only Lin Ge and Lina remained in the cave. Lina walked to the center of the cave on her own, sitting cross-legged with her hands resting flat on her knees. The flames around her had retreated to their absolute limit, leaving only a thin, almost transparent layer of crimson-gold aura clinging to her skin, like a soft inner lining. She closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths, and when she opened them again, golden runes swirled slowly in her irises, her emotions forced into a near-vacuum of calm. "Begin," she said, her voice echoing slightly in the cave. Lin Ge followed the steps Carl had guided him through remotely. First, he stood the totem pole between them, and the F brand flared slightly the moment the pillar touched the ground. He pressed his palm to the brand, channeling his spiritual power slowly to stir the constant resonance with the Sunken Grove node deep within it. *Hum…* The totem pole let out a low, deep hum, like a boulder sinking into still water. Golden light flowed down from the brand, like living liquid metal, spreading outward from where the pillar met the ground and inscribing a roughly three-meter-diameter **simple buffer barrier** of complex geometric light patterns on the cave floor. The barrier glowed softly, its energy directed primarily at the walls and ceiling, designed to **suppress the outward spread of frequency fluctuations from within**, rather than amplify effects inside. "The barrier's up," Lin Ge said quietly, sitting down opposite her. "Now, I'll hum a… variation of the melody from yesterday. Slower, flatter. You don't need to do anything—just listen. If memories or your fire stir, don't resist them, but don't chase them either. Just 'watch' them, and tell me what you see." Lina nodded, her left hand drifting unconsciously to her wrist again. The icy blue aura on the data scar seemed to sense the barrier's energy, its swirl speeding up slightly. Lin Ge closed his eyes, banishing all distractions. He recalled the "F - Stable Resonance" melody chart from his father's sheet music, but deliberately slowed the rhythm and simplified the ornaments, keeping only the core skeletal notes. Then he began to hum softly. The totem pole's hum responded in harmony the moment the first syllable left his lips. At the second syllable, the air inside the barrier seemed to grow "denser," and the motes of dust floating in the light beams slowed, their movements becoming ordered. At the third syllable, Lina's body trembled slightly. The thin crimson-gold aura on her skin began to shift, as if blended by an invisible brush, gradually turning to a warmer, brighter **golden-red**, then fading further into a pale, dawn-like **light gold**. The energy field around her, once always furious and outward-radiating, grew **inward and steady**. "Rain…" Lina whispered suddenly, her voice dreamlike, "City rain… not virtual raindrop data… real… hitting stone pavements… splashing water… neon colors melting into it…" Her eyes were closed, her brow furrowed as if struggling to make out the images in her mind. Lin Ge kept humming, his frequency hearing wide open. He "heard" Lina's consciousness frequency, like a once-raging river filled with hidden reefs, slowly flowing into a wide, calm channel under the melody's guidance. Within the water, certain "things" long buried under silt were beginning to stir, their outlines peeking from the loosened riverbed. "Someone… holding an umbrella," Lina's voice was even softer, laced with a distant tenderness, "A black umbrella… big. The rain was blocked out… only… the sound of him humming… left…" Lin Ge's humming faltered slightly—he had caught the frequency of that "him humming" fragment in Lina's memory echo. Extremely blurry, fragmented, but the core notes… bore a **roughly 30% similarity** to the chorus of one of his father's early études. It was not a coincidence of similar melody, but **an alignment in the underlying logic of interval relationships and harmonic progression**. Just then, the icy blue aura on Lina's wrist scar **flickered violently**, without warning! "Lab…" Lina's eyes flew open, light golden flames flickering in the depths of her pupils, reflecting a confused terror, "White… everything white… machines beeping… the frequency… the same as what you're humming now…" Her words began to fragment, her speed quickening: "Man with glasses… gray hair at his temples… adjusting equipment… a woman beside him… face blurry… the machine's light… soft… but the sound… the sound burrowed in…" *Hum—!* The icy blue aura on the scar **exploded suddenly**! No longer a gentle swirl, but a burst of **bone-chilling cold energy filled with the will of "negation" and "erasure"**! It was the **agony echo** left by the System Purge Protocol in the 899th Cycle, a trauma barb embedded deep in the foundation of her data existence—now violently triggered by the dual resonance of her lab memories and Lin Ge's melody! The pale golden flames around Lina were swallowed and transformed by the icy blue light in a thousandth of a second! **Bone-chilling ice-blue flames** erupted from every pore of her body, no longer warm energy, but radiating **absolute zero cold**! The temperature inside the cave plummeted, thick hoarfrost forming instantly on the light patterns at the barrier's edge. The wave-like textures on the rock walls were covered in ice, letting out a faint *crack* sound. Wherever the ice-blue flames touched, the air seemed to "freeze" into a semi-transparent, cracked crystalline state. "Delete…" Lina's voice warped, laced with the cold echo of a system prompt, her eyes hollow, "Error… must be purged… Anomaly #007 derivative… emotional module overload… purge… purge…" The ice-blue flames merged with the Purge Protocol's echo, twisting and projecting fragmented **memory illusions** within the barrier: - A male figure with gray pupils and a blurry face (Leonard), pierced and bound by countless data chains flowing with error code, his body fading to transparency. - Lina herself, kneeling on the ground, her crimson flames being forcibly torn from her body, suppressed, shredded by an invisible force. - A massive shadow woven from countless flowing rule edicts (an early execution form of Obelisk) looming over everything, faceless, with only a cold eye made of binary runes. The illusions were fragmented, yet carried a shock of pain so real it was suffocating. Lina herself had slipped into a semi-conscious state, her body trembling violently, her jaw clamped tight, repeating unconsciously: "No… don't… Leonard… rain… the tune… NO!!" At the edge of Lin Ge's vision, scarlet warnings flashed madly: ``` Warning! High-intensity grief anomaly frequency burst detected! Source: Lina Inverse (Anomaly #007 Incarnation) Associated Event: Purge Protocol historical residue activation (899th Cycle) Energy Type: Emotionally Inverted Ice Flame + System Forced Purge Echo Recommendation: Immediate disengagement! Danger Level: High! Anomaly Level: 0.42% → 0.47% (Rising rapidly) ``` Cold air slammed into Lin Ge's face, his skin stinging as if pricked by needles, his mana flow growing sluggish. The barrier shook violently under the ice-blue flames' assault, its light patterns flickering on and off. In this split second of crisis, the communication runestone in his arms grew hot again, and Carl's voice rang out, rare urgency in his tone: "Do not fight the blue flame! It is 'expressing'! Expressing her grief, and the 'negation' forced upon her by the System! Use your melody to 'listen' and 'contain,' not 'correct'! Guide the frequency of emotion in her flames, do not suppress the energy itself! Hurry!" Lin Ge felt as if struck by lightning. Fight? Correct? No… the blank spaces in his father's sheet music, the "listening" Carl had emphasized repeatedly, and the key to his accidental success yesterday—it was not about forcing change, but finding a resonance point! He cut off the original "stable variation" mid-hum. The ice-blue flames seemed to rage even more fiercely, surging toward him at the interruption of his melody. But Lin Ge did not retreat. He closed his eyes, opening his frequency hearing to its absolute limit. No longer trying to "analyze" or "evaluate," he simply "listened"—listening to the **frequency fluctuations** contained in every scream of the ice-blue flames. And he heard them. Grief twisted by the System's force, anger at losing a loved one yet being denied even the right to grieve, despair at being told repeatedly across countless cycles that "your existence is an error," these emotions fermented into cold, venomous fire after being forcibly suppressed by the Purge Protocol. Every frequency fluctuation was a cry trapped in ice. Lin Ge took a deep breath of the cold air, so frigid it threatened to tear his lungs apart. Then he hummed again. No longer any pre-written melody from the sheet music. But an **impromptu response, crafted entirely from the crying frequencies he "heard"**. His hum was soft, slow, making extensive use of the "rest" and "fermata" techniques his father had marked in the sheet music. The melody no longer sought to build anything; instead, it spread like **a soft, resilient net, gently catching and wrapping those sharp ice-blue frequencies**. He no longer thought of "tuning" or "stabilizing," only humming a note of "acceptance" and "I am listening," one that matched the frequency of each ice-blue flame's peak fluctuation. At the same time, he pressed both hands to the totem pole, channeling his spiritual power not into the F brand to activate the "Stabilization Field," but to guide the brand's energy to construct a larger, invisible **"Resonance Vessel"** inside the barrier—a hollow bowl that did not seek to change its contents, but merely provided a space for all sounds to reverberate. When Lin Ge's impromptu melody entered into **precise resonance** with one of the strongest, sharpest ice-blue frequencies, a strange transformation occurred. The scream of that wisp of ice-blue flame, as if colliding with a **soft wall of understanding**, did not rebound or cancel out, but was **accepted, absorbed, and then transformed into a long, trembling sigh of relief**. In an instant, more and more ice-blue frequencies began to resonate with Lin Ge's melody. No longer a chaotic clash of noise inside the barrier, a **painful yet truly flowing "conversation"** gradually took shape. The ice-blue flames' advance halted abruptly. At the center of the flames, a faint yet unyielding spark of **warm gold** slowly emerged from Lina's chest, like a shoot breaking through ice. Then came more, thinner streaks of **pale gold aura**, like dawn piercing thick ice clouds, seeping out thread by thread. The ice-blue flames did not disappear, but their rampaging momentum ebbed, receding like a tide until most of them contracted back into Lina's body. Only a small ring of slowly swirling icy blue aura remained on the data scar of her wrist, no longer radiating bone-chilling cold. In its place, a layer of **almost transparent, warm aura** enveloped her, like sunlight refracted through the purest crystal. Lina's trembling body gradually stilled. She opened her eyes slowly. The embers of ice blue had not fully faded from her golden pupils, but at their center, Lin Ge's face was clearly reflected. Her gaze was impossibly complex—dazed with relief, confused by the collision of memories, ashamed at having her most vulnerable self seen—but deep down, there was a **shocked, disbelieving realization**. "You…" her voice was terribly hoarse, "you didn't force it out." Lin Ge only then noticed his back was soaked with cold sweat, his throat burning from the intense concentration of humming. He shook his head with difficulty, pointing to his ears, then to his chest, signaling that he had only "listened." Lina lowered her head, staring at the lingering icy blue aura on her wrist, and the strange, warm transparent aura around her. She held out a finger, touching the edge of the transparent aura lightly, and it rippled outward, soft and stable. "I 'saw' it clearly," she said suddenly, her voice quiet but unnaturally clear. "Leonard… the last moment before he vanished. He smiled at me, and then…" She mouthed a word, no sound escaping, but Lin Ge, through his frequency hearing, "caught" the extremely faint syllable frequency corresponding to that mouth shape—it was exactly the opening note of a thematic phrase in his father's sheet music. "He said: 'Remember the temperature of the rain… and that tune.'" Lina lifted her head, her gaze passing through the hazy light beams of the cave, as if staring into a distant past. "And that tune… the sound of the equipment you were calibrating in the lab memory, the things your father wrote in the sheet music…" She paused, her golden pupils locking onto Lin Ge's deeply, "they come from the same source." She braced herself on the ground, standing slowly. The transparent aura flowed with her movements, like a second skin. The cold left by the ice-blue flames had dissipated completely, and the temperature inside the cave rose. "Help me," Lina said, looking directly at Lin Ge—not a plea, but a **calm, clear statement of equality**. "Not to dig through those damned memory fragments. To figure out…" She raised her hand, staring at a small cluster of stable crimson-gold flames dancing in her palm, and the faint, transparent glow hidden at their core, "what this fire really is. Where I came from. Why I have these things." She gestured to her wrist scar and the transparent aura. "In exchange," she lowered her hand, her tone regaining a hint of its usual crispness, but without the rage, only earnestness, "I'll help you deal with the System. Teach you real combat—not the child's play in the training ground, but how to use your 'tuning' to stay alive when you're dying, or take an enemy down with you." A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at her lips. "Besides, I know a few blind spots in Sven's scanning tricks. Kunkka knows too, but he just plays dumb." Lin Ge looked at the Lina before him—strange, yet infinitely real—and nodded. "Okay. But we have to be careful. Under Carl's guidance." "That sage covered in cracks?" Lina raised an eyebrow. "Fine. He… seems to know a lot." The barrier faded slowly. The two left the cave one after the other. On the walk back to the camp, Lina remained silent, but her steps were much steadier. The flames around her had returned to their normal crimson, but occasionally, when the light shifted, one could catch a glimpse of that extremely thin, warm transparent glow deep within the fire's core. At the edge of Lin Ge's vision, the prompts updated once more: ``` Ability Evolution: Frequency Stabilization Field (Novice) → Frequency Resonance Vessel (Initiate) Effect: Can actively construct a low-intensity resonance field to guide and contain emotional/energy frequency fluctuations within range, prompting their natural settling or transformation. Reduced antagonism, increased inclusivity. New: Emotional Frequency Perception (Weak) - Can vaguely perceive basic frequency characteristics corresponding to intense emotions (e.g., grief, anger, joy). Anomaly Level: 0.47% → 0.45% (Slight system evaluation callback due to successful stabilization of high-intensity abnormal emotional burst event) Note: Detected establishment of deep frequency coordination link with Target "Lina Inverse." ``` The camp's east gate came into view. Lin Ge adjusted his breathing instinctively, braced for Sven's routine scan. Yet the scan did not come at the gate. It was not until they crossed the training ground, approaching the residential area, that the familiar figure stepped out from the shadows of the armory. Sven's gaze was as cold as ever, sweeping over the two of them. The silver rune eye in his palm rotated slowly, and a probing light shroud descended. Lin Ge immediately activated Carl's cognitive defense techniques to their full extent, constructing his Cognitive Shell and loading Frequency Misdirection. Almost simultaneously, he felt the frequency of Lina's flames shift into an exquisitely **coordinated disguise**. She adjusted the energy fluctuations of her crimson flames to a pattern of "tired but stable after high-intensity training," and this fluctuation spread like an invisible veil around Lin Ge, helping to neutralize the faint spiritual ripples he had emitted from the strain of the resonance. The probing light shroud swept over them, deepened, touched the shell, and lingered. After about fifteen seconds, Sven retracted the rune. His data pad flickered, he glanced at it, and his voice was flat and emotionless: "Mana circuit status: Stable. Spiritual power consumption: Moderate (consistent with post-training characteristics). No abnormal energy residue. Cleared." He stepped aside to let them pass, his silver-gray pupils lingering on Lina for half a second longer, but he said nothing. The two walked in silence back to the residential area. At a fork in the path, Lina stopped, not turning around, only whispering: "Tomorrow dawn, same place. Bring your pillar." Then she walked straight toward her barracks. Lin Ge returned to the Silence Chamber, the stone door closing behind him. He leaned against the door, sliding to the ground as exhaustion washed over him like a tide. The totem pole lay docile in his arms, but when his fingertips brushed the F brand, his body stiffened slightly. Beside the brand, a new mark had appeared unbidden: an **extremely faint light pattern in the shape of an ice-blue flame**. Not a physical form, but composed of tiny energy particles, it did not clash with the F brand's golden light, but instead **twined and wove with it, forming a strange, dynamic balance**. The golden light was stable and dense, the ice-blue fire pattern cool and agile, and at their intersection, faint, almost transparent energy ripples swayed slowly. Lin Ge touched the ice-blue fire pattern gently. A **faint chill, like distant raindrops falling on leaves**, spread from his fingertips, and at the same time, his frequency hearing picked up a **compressed, blurry echo**—within it, Lina's repressed sighs, the distant hum of lab equipment, and a wisp of… an almost indistinguishable fragment of a gentle male hum. He pulled his hand back, gazing out the window. The simulated night sky was a uniform deep blue, no stars, no moon, only the inorganic backdrop of data generation. In his ears, the frequency tremor of the ice-blue flames finally turning to sighs in the cave still lingered, along with Lina's whisper: *"Help me figure out what this fire really is."* The mystery of the flames was far from solved, but a new path, paved with trust and shared exploration, had quietly stretched out beneath their feet. At the edge of his vision, that number hovered stubbornly, a reminder of the cost: `Anomaly Level: 0.45%` And in the armory at the other end of the camp, the tactical data pad before Sven had dimmed. But he did not leave, instead pulling up an **encrypted, ancient-interface log system**. At the top, a code name was marked: `Dawn's Shadow`. His long, slender fingers tapped quickly on the virtual keyboard, updating the record: ``` Log Update: Cycle #99999 · Day #10 · Evening Target: Rigwarl Stonehoof Associated Event: Prolonged non-mission contact with Lina Inverse (approx. 2.7 hours), location suspected to be a concealed area on the periphery of the Sunken Grove. Post-Contact Observations: 1. Lina Inverse's core flame frequency fluctuation standard deviation decreased by approximately 15%, emotional frequency readings trending stable (abnormal). 2. New changes detected in the target's own abnormal frequency signature: added "Flexible Resonance" attribute, significantly different from the "Forced Stabilization" mode recorded in yesterday's battle data. Energy utilization efficiency increased. 3. Faint signs of coordinated frequency disguise detected upon the pair's return to camp (suspected active assistance from Lina Inverse). Comprehensive Assessment: Target's abilities demonstrate clear growth and environmental adaptability. Its frequency manipulation capability holds non-destructive intervention potential for high emotional load anomaly individuals (e.g., Lina Inverse). This characteristic… (Input paused for approx. 3 seconds) …may possess tactical utilization value. Disposal Recommendation Revision: Suspend execution of any Purge Protocol pre-plans. Maintain current observation level, but prioritize recording its interaction patterns with specific anomaly individuals and ability evolution trajectory. Supplementary Instruction: Secretly collect environmental frequency residue samples from the contact area between the target and Lina Inverse, analyze their resonance characteristics. ``` The record complete, the log interface closed. Sven turned, walking to the weapon rack and lifting his massive greatsword, *Judgment*. The silvery blade glowed with a cold sheen in the dim light. As usual, he picked up a soft cloth and began to polish the blade. His movements were slow, precise, every arc measured. Yet when his fingertips brushed a line of ancient rule inscriptions on the middle of the blade, his movements faltered, almost imperceptibly. In that unobserved corner of the inscription, **an extremely faint blur had appeared at the end of a stroke in the ancient rune for "Absolute Obedience"**—not from dust or wear, but as if an invisible, warm force had gently **polished away a sharp edge**, softening the overall outline of the character by just a fraction. Sven's silver-gray pupils stared at the subtle change, his face expressionless. Outside the window, the simulated night stretched on, unfathomably deep.