众神之子 在许久以前的传奇纪元,强大的万仙行走于大地上。他们回应上天的敕令,建造宏伟的城市,抗击强大的神兽。群山随其欢乐微笑,天空随其悲伤哭泣。他们是神仙,象征奇迹。
万仙的爱恋一样暴风骤雨,他们和自己守护的凡人结合,产下子嗣。有时这些神嗣也会通过玉皇大帝的考验,成为神仙中的一员。有时则保持凡身,但仍有着神性火花。他们就是金童,立于人和神之间。
神嗣死去 在第三纪元的黄昏,万仙为自身荣耀而放纵堕落,遗忘了自己的使命。金童直面他们腐化的父母,以期扭转大局。圣山的诸仙饶有兴致地听着这些襁褓婴儿讲述纪元的更迭、窃取世界之气的恶果和万仙的职责(
译注:圣山是万仙的总部)。最终,在一场鲜血与盛怒的狂欢中,他们屠杀了聚集的金童。神嗣的尖叫和父母的大笑交织。但孩子们是对的,万仙堕落了,纪元更迭,世界哀嚎。
亡魂和亡徒 金童的被杀最令朱后愤怒。他们是生命与激情的结晶,是她给予万仙的馈赠。但不像玉皇大帝,她并未完全背弃诸仙。相反,她创造了一种方法,用以警醒万仙自身那最可怕的罪行和受诅的缘由,而工具便是金童。
朱后不顾巨大风险踏进阴冥两界,收集神嗣的亡魂,然后将其编织为阳,以生育能力祝福(或诅咒)堕落万仙(如今是万鬼)。每个半鬼人都带着一个金童的亡魂出生,作为对第三纪元的警醒。生育冲动则确保阳亢万鬼总会生下半受诅者。
但并非所有神嗣都死在了圣山,一些拒绝对峙他们的父母——怯懦、不盲目忠诚或意识到了注定的失败。他们远走高飞,躲过了玉帝诅咒的倾泻。虽并非父母那样真正不朽,却仍有以千年计的寿命。幸免于难的他们活着目睹了周遭世界的崩塌。屠杀后只有一小撮金童活着,而第四、五纪元的艰难又带走了绝大多数——一些选择自尽,而非目睹世界死去;其他则在遥远的异界寻得了宁静。目前可能有三或四位金童仍在中原边界活跃,但他们有个计划。
纪元更迭 金童相信,猩皇于其同胞,有着比警醒过往罪孽更大的计划。半鬼人是勇敢的金童,看到纪元更迭,极力警告父母。他们失败了一次,但幸存者坚信仍有第二次机会。
第六纪元,即万物轮回中最糟的阶段,即将到来。万鬼以独有方式愤怒于此等命运,他们争相寻求庇护或力量。半受诅者则要引领斗争,扭转哀伤纪元或减缓将至伤痛。因此金童致力于组织他们,展示更远的目标。其中狄冯最为活跃,他已向影行者(
译注:半鬼人别称)金凯威透露了身份,后者便把他那恶名昭彰的信件传给了弟兄(详情请看第33-36页)。他目前定居于香港。其他金孩则正在半受诅者聚集的新加坡等地协作。
原文:
剧透 - :
Children of the Gods
Eons ago, in the Age of Legends, the mighty Ten Thousand lmmortals walked the lands. Answering the mandate of Heaven, they built great cities and fought mighty beasts. The mountains laughed with their joy and the skies cried with their sadness. They were the Wan Xian, and they were wondrous indeed.
The Immortals loved with the passion of the storms, and children were born of their unions with the mortals whom they guarded. At times, these children became Wan Xian themselves - guided through the tests left by the August Personage for this very purpose. At other times, these offspring remained mortal but still had a spark of the divine. These were the Golden Children, standing between man and god - the Jin Hai.
Death of the Children
In the twilight of the Third Age, the Wan Xian indulged in depraved acts for their own glory and forgot their duties. The Golden Children confronted their debased parents in the hopes of reversing the damage. The Immortals of Meru listened with amusement as mere babes talked of the turning of the Ages, the dire consequences of stealing Chi from the world and the responsibilities of the Wan Xian. They slaughtered the assembled Jin Hai in an orgy of blood and outrage. The screams of the Children mingled with the laughter of their parents. But the Jin Hai were right. The Wan Xian fell from grace, the Age turned and the world cried out in pain.
Souls and Survivors
The slaughter of the Golden Children offended the Scarlet Queen most of all. Products of life and passion, the Jin Hai had been her gift to the Wan Xian. Unlike the August Personage, she did no completely turn her back on the Immortals. Instead, she created a way to remind Immortals of their most terrible crimes and the reasons for their curse. Her instrument was the Golden Children.
The Scarlet Queen ventured into the realms of Yin and Yomi - at great risk to herself - and collected the souls of the murdered Children. She then wove them into the pattern of Yang, blessing (or cursing) the fallen Immortals (now the Wan Kuei) with the ability to have children. Each dhampyr was born with the soul of a Golden Child, a reminder of the crimes of the Third Age. The urge to procreate ensured that Yang-addled Wan Kuei always produced some half-damned reminders.
But not all the Jin Hai died at Meru. A few refused to confront their parents - through misplaced loyalty, cowardice or the realization that such a plan was doomed. They hid in distant lands and were spared the brunt of the August Personage's curse, Never truly immortal like their parents, they still had life spans measured in millennia; baring injury, they could survive to see the world crumble around them. Only a handful of Jin Hai remained after the slaughter, and the hardships of the Fourth and Fifth Ages have claimed most of those survivors. Some committed suicide rather than watch the world die, and others have found peace in distant realms. There are maybe three or four Jin Hai still remotely active in the Middle Kingdom. But they have a plan.
The Turning Age
The Golden Children believe that the Scarlet Queen had greater plans for their siblings than to be simple reminders of past crimes. Dhampyrs are the brave Jin Hai who saw the turning of the Ages coming and tried to warn their parents. They failed once, but the surviving Jin Hai believe they have a second chance.
The Sixth Age, worst of all the stops of the Great Wheel, is on the horizon. The Kuei-Jin rage against this fate in typical fashion, by scrambling for shelter or power. It is up to the half-damned to lead the struggle to either avert the Age of Sorrow or lessen the suffering to come. So the Jin Hai try to organize the half-damned and show them their higher purpose. The Golden Child Ti Feng is the most active, having revealed himself to the Shade Walker Jin Kai Wai who then sent his infamous letter to his brethren (see pages 33-36). He currently makes his home in Hong Kong. Other Jin Hai are operating in Singapore and anywhere else the half damned congregate.