Even now, Yun Shi couldn’t swallow this cruel truth.
The girl “sleeping” before her would never open her eyes again.
She knew it, yet her heart balked like a trapped bird.
An hour ago, that girl vowed to return, leaving a smile like a spring blossom.
But now, every promise fell to ash.
Mia’s body held no warmth, a winter-still shell slick with fresh blood.
“Mia, Mia…”
No matter what, the river had already flowed one way.
Pain flooded Yun Shi, raw and crushing, like a torn bellows.
It was her first taste of parting between life and death.
Her heart choked for air, pain ripping heart and lung till breath failed.
Her tears fell, bead-bright and relentless, sadness spilling like rain.
Mia’s bond with Yun Shi ran deep, not only a servant but one of her few friends, a lantern in a narrow night.
Only now did Yun Shi accept it—they were friends.
The word settled on her heart like a lone leaf on still water.
“You promised. You said you’d come back. Why lie to me…”
She struck that breathless body, grief crashing like waves against stone.
“Liar, liar, you liar! Wake up, do you hear me! Mia!”
“Enough!”
Eil’s shout hauled her back like a rope from a cliff.
She stared, dazed, at Eil—Mia’s brother.
He wore tear tracks as well, but his grit held like steel under frost.
“Mia… Mia was kind. No matter what, she wouldn’t deceive anyone.”
As Eil spoke, his tears wouldn’t stop; the wound of losing his sister was still bleeding.
“If you ask why she chose this, it must have been for someone…”
“She was always like this, so…”
“Mia wouldn’t want to see you like this. Please, pull yourself together. Don’t let her effort be wasted.”
To speak so now was greatness; he blamed no one, carrying Mia’s intent like a lamp in storm.
Yun Shi steadied, frost settling over fire.
Chaos would doom escape.
To honor Mia, she had no time to grieve; she had to rise like a reed in wind.
Otherwise, she would wrong the dead Mia.
“There’s someone there!”
“Quick, go check!”
Harsh, wolfish voices rose from afar, and Yun Shi understood—the pursuers had come.
“They’re coming this way. What do we do…”
“We have to move, or they’ll catch us.”
“But Mia…”
She looked at the body slumped beneath the tree and wanted to carry it, roots gripping her ankles.
Time was a cruel blade; just as she chose to stand, it demanded she abandon Mia’s remains.
“Let’s go…”
Eil only shook his head; the weight was a stone they couldn’t lift.
They were just teenagers; even walking was heavy, and with a body it would be mud dragging their feet.
And the hunters could arrive any moment; their time was sand slipping fast.
“Eil, what are you saying! She’s your sister, your only kin. How can you leave her body?”
Yun Shi couldn’t let go; even a body was the last ember of proof.
She only wanted to return Mia to earth, nothing more.
“I understand everything you’ve said…”
Eil’s voice was drained, like a spent tide.
“But do you think Mia would agree?”
“What do you mean…”
“Mia died for you; her wish was for you to live. If you carry her, you drag everyone into the grave.”
“But leaving her like this—this isn’t a reason!”
“Don’t be willful, Miss. I know what I’m doing. Mia’s gone; I grieve more than anyone. That’s why I’ll guard her will—don’t let her blood fall for nothing.”
Eil couldn’t be unmoved; he was neither heartless nor cowardly, a stone with fire inside.
He sought to fulfill his sister’s wish; everything Mia did was for Yun Shi.
For Mia’s sake, Yun Shi had to live, carrying her flame forward.
Even if cursed, it didn’t matter; his life was a small coin tossed to fate.
Footsteps swelled, a drumbeat through the brush.
Eil knew their riders were near; time thinned.
“Move, Miss!”
“No! I’m taking Mia!”
“It’s impossible. Waste one more moment, and you won’t escape. Do you want Mia’s effort to bleed into dirt?”
“I won’t!”
“Go. For Mia’s sake, you must.”
Eil pulled her away, crying, yet in his sight stayed the breathless girl under the tree, face quiet as the moon.
That face, that stillness, and… her final expression, etched like jade.
Even if ahead was hell, choice left no retreat.
After sacrifice, they had to keep walking.
To keep blood from spilling for nothing, they would tread through blood, even spill more.
All for a thin path through the dark.
“Mia!!”
To leave behind is to preserve more.
Eil dragged Yun Shi, ignoring her struggle.
The girl behind them would remain there forever.
“Waaah—!”
He could only keep moving.
Even skin torn, there was no turning back.
“Someone there—fire!”
“What if it’s the Miss?”
“Don’t worry. A lady wouldn’t be here!”
Bang bang bang!
Bullets stitched through the trees like needles through cloth.
Eil pulled Yun Shi, weaving through the forest.
With forces like this, the main road was death; they’d run into the Quadra Eye Family for sure.
They veered off, far beyond Quadra Eye territory, destination unknown, wild slopes yawning.
It was the only path left.
“Go!”
In the rain of bullets, Eil shielded Yun Shi.
His brow tightened, teeth clenched; inside, a bell rang an alarm.
He realized he’d been shot, but kept silent, so her worry wouldn’t bloom.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Suddenly, a swarm of arrows lifted from nowhere, locusts lunging toward them.
“Is this okay? Won’t we hit them wrong?”
“Relax. We won’t aim for vital spots. Just take their movement.”
An arrow struck; pain bit like a hot barb.
Eil yanked it free and pretended nothing had happened.
“Ah!”
A fire-wrapped arrow flew and drove into his back; Eil cried out.
“Eil!”
Yun Shi saw the shafts in him and stopped short.
“Don’t mind me! Run!”
“Are you kidding? You’re hurt!”
“It’s nothing. Don’t waste time on me!”
“Eil!”
“Danger!”
As Yun Shi flared, Eil shoved her aside.
She hit the ground hard, stone meeting earth.
Then a storm of arrows swept in from behind, and they sank into Eil like thorns.
“Eil!”
Eil spat blood; the crimson bloomed, a cruel flower.
Yet he wore no fear or despair; his eyes held hope, a lamp fixed on Yun Shi.
Those eyes said, Hurry… go…
The moon was smothered by black cloud; no more light entered that little sanctuary.
Voices throbbed in the trees, torch tongues flaring.
The ground ran with bright red.
Eil lay gasping; his back was a map of wounds, some drowned in crimson.
Yun Shi saw him and felt a thorn twist in her heart.
Eil was one of her few friends.
“Miss, don’t wear that face… Mia will cry…”
“But…”
“Sorry. From here… the road… you walk alone…”
Each word drove a nail of pain, yet he pushed them out.
“How can this be? Mia’s gone, and now… you too!”
“…No help for it. I never wanted this…”
“Liars. You’re both liars!”
“Yeah, we siblings are liars… but having only you live is enough… please, escape…”
Eil coughed blood; his mind blurred like a sandglass running dry.
Time was short.
In the end, the siblings met the same fate…
“Miss, you dropped something…”
Eil endured the pain, drew out a bracelet, and set it in Yun Shi’s hand, warmth fading from his palm.
Mia had woven it herself; Yun Shi lost it while fleeing, and Eil had picked it up, thread like a thin line of fate.
Seeing Yun Shi’s stunned look, Eil smiled, a winter thaw.
“Go now, Miss…”
“…”
“You said you’d fight your fate, and go beyond these walls… now is when you make it real…”
Yun Shi cried, not for a reason, just pain, like rain from a broken sky.
In one day, she lost two friends, two lamps blown out.
The light she had was gone, lantern snuffed.
Hopes turned to tears, a salt river.
Longing hardened into a lifelong thorn.
The road ahead held no light; she could only feel through the dark, hands raw on unseen stone.
No matter the pain, there was no retreat; the bridge behind was ash.
It was her own choice, carved into bone.
“Go!”
Seeing her still frozen, Eil spent his last spark to shout.
“Live for our share… live on…”
Eil’s head tilted and stilled; the wind inside him was gone.
No sound, only blood flowing, a red river; reality pressed cold as stone.
Yun Shi couldn’t hold back.
She clenched the bracelet and ran down the mountain, feet pounding like drums.
“Aaaaaaah!”
No one would feel her heart—loss, theft, a knife turned inward as she betrayed her home.
Only she could know it.
If she had known, she wouldn’t have brought Mia and Eil out.
If she had known, she wouldn’t have run.
She wouldn’t have left the Clan Head.
If she hadn’t chosen to leave the Clan Head, none of this would have happened.
She had killed Mia and Eil.
Her choice had killed them.
She was a devil, a shadow with claws.
She shouldn’t exist.
She was stained.
Yun Shi could only think so, ink spreading through her mind.
She didn’t know what to do; she only knew she had killed those precious to her.
Whether the road ahead held light, she didn’t know, but…
There, surely, would be no treasures left for her anymore.
