Yu Xiao looked at the young boy and, having nothing else to do, hugged him tightly.
"I'm sorry!" She cried painfully.
After a minute, Yu Xiao calmed herself. She took a deep breath and gently laid the lifeless young boy, Bao Wen, on the ground. She brushed his hair and touched his face one last time.
"My wish, in your next life. You will be born as a healthy young boy, grow well with your loving family." She smiled faintly. "The best thing that happened between us today is the moment I found you. I took good care of you, even in just a brief moment, and I never imagined I could have a little brother who called me 'sister'. Unfortunately, you leave me. I'm sorry!"
After she wished, she pressed her eyes shut and wiped her cheeks with her trembling hands—hands that had just held a dying child, hands that had failed to save him.
Momentarily, a sudden faint glow bloomed across Bao Wen's body and gradually turned into dazzling ash that joined the air and disappeared.
Yu Xiao slowly stood up, stunned and speechless. Her little brother—gone. Not even a body left to bury. Nothing to prove he'd ever existed except the ghost of his weight still in her arms.
Unexpectedly, a familiar voice cut through her shock. When she turned around, she realized the chaos still raged around her—she'd forgotten the world while cradling death. And there, spinning flatly through the air toward her, came a wild blade.
She froze.
Too numb to move. Too hollow to care.
Fortunately, the woman she'd met recently—the kind stranger who'd given her a pair of love locks for free—darted in front of her, and they both crashed to the ground. The sharp blade dug deep into the cobblestone pillar near where they lay tangled together.
The woman gripped Yu Xiao's shoulders and shook her hard.
"This isn't the time to mourn! Get yourself together. Get out of this place now!" The woman's face was fierce, desperate.
Yu Xiao's eyes widened, seeing the woman's fear—fear for her. A stranger willing to die for her.
"Quick! You can't die!"
Before Yu Xiao could respond, the woman was yanked up by a subordinate cultivator who spun her around. A sword flashed—then pierced through the woman's stomach and burst out her back, the tip stopping just inches from Yu Xiao's face.
Time fractured.
The woman's eyes went wide. Her mouth opened in a soundless gasp. Blood—hot and copper-sweet—splattered across Yu Xiao's face, her lips, her eyes.
The man who'd stabbed her twisted the blade mercilessly and ripped it free. The woman crumpled forward, falling across Yu Xiao's lap like Bao Wen had—another body, another person she couldn't save.
Yu Xiao's hands shook violently as she slowly touched her face. When she pulled her fingers away, they were painted red.
Two people. Two deaths. Both because of her.
The woman's blood was still warm on her skin. Still wet. Still real.
And she'd done nothing. Again.
She heard a few steps toward her and slowly lifted her face.
The subordinate cultivator who stabbed the woman yanked her up, abducting her, but she tried to refuse.
Someone familiar yelled nearby.
"Don't hurt her!
Yu Xiao turned her head and saw the old man still kneeling with the rope binding his hands and body. The old man, whom she had purchased with various items. The one good thing she'd done today.
"Old man." Her voice cracked on the words. But the cultivator's grip tightened on her arms, fingers digging into bruises, into bone.
"You're hurting me!" Rage flooded through her grief—hot and clarifying. "Umm!" She drove her elbow hard into his jaw and followed with a high kick to his chest. He flew backward, hitting the ground with a hard thud.
Some of the cultivators' companions rushed to help the man stand, clutching his chest where her kick had landed.
"Senior, are you okay?" His companion asked, but he spat blood onto the cobblestones. His gaze fixed on Yu Xiao, burning with humiliation and fury. He steadied himself, breathing hard.
"Don't underestimate this girl. She has good skills in martial arts." His voice trembled with anger. "Kill her."
Yu Xiao's blood went cold. She heard his order and turned to run, but before she could take two steps, a surge of energy slammed into her back like a hammer to her spine.
Pain—white-hot and all-consuming—exploded through her body. She collapsed forward, falling to her knees directly in front of the old man. Blood erupted from her mouth, splashing onto the ground between them—mixing with the woman's blood still on her face, with the space where Bao Wen had dissolved into ash.
The old man's eyes widened in horror, filling with tears. He struggled against his bonds, desperate, helpless.
"Young Lady!" His voice broke. "Save your strength. Don't let them gain merit. Dying in their arms isn't worth it!"
Through the unbearable pain radiating from her spine, through the copper taste flooding her mouth, Yu Xiao caught the meaning behind his words. He was trying to save her—even now, bound and beaten, he was trying to protect her.
Just like the woman had. Just like she'd failed to protect Bao Wen.
She looked into the old man's eyes and saw genuine concern there, determination blazing as he fought against his restraints. For her. A stranger who'd shown him one kindness.
Her hands shook violently as they pressed against the blood-soaked ground. Tears—she didn't know if they were from pain or grief or rage—fell and mixed with the blood pooling beneath her.
Everyone who tried to help her died. Everyone.
"What's going on?"
A new voice cut through the chaos—cold, authoritative. The lead cultivator who'd ordered this massacre approached the subordinate she'd struck.
"Why did you get hurt?"
"This woman has no ordinary skills. I thought she was weak." The subordinate clutched his ribs. "Chief, instead of taking her, we should kill her. People here died because of her. What's so special about her?"
The words hit harder than the energy blast. People here died because of her. Bao Wen. The kind woman. All the bodies littering the street. All because someone wanted her.
The lead cultivator considered this, then walked toward Yu Xiao with measured, deliberate steps.
"Pick her up." His tone was cool and deep, utterly devoid of mercy.
Two men obeyed immediately, gripping Yu Xiao's arms and hauling her to her feet. Pain screamed through her injured back, but she bit down on her tongue to keep from crying out.
The lead cultivator cupped her chin with deceptive gentleness and slowly lifted her face, forcing her to meet his gaze. His eyes were dead—a killer's eyes that had stopped counting bodies long ago.
But Yu Xiao didn't look away. She'd already seen death today. She'd held it in her arms.
"Look at you. Hurting my men will result in punishment." He sneered, clearly expecting her to beg.
Yu Xiao swallowed, tasting blood. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of her fear.
"Actually, I'm badly hurt already. If you want to punish me to death, go ahead." Her voice came out steady, almost calm. Empty.
"What did it matter anymore? Everyone around her died anyway."
"What are you talking about!" The old man's voice cracked with desperation. "You can't die! You can't die! I won't let you give up!"
His words pierced through her numbness. Here he was, bound and helpless, still fighting for her life while she surrendered it. Just like the woman who'd taken a blade meant for her. Just like Bao Wen, who'd trusted her to save him.
She'd failed them all. But the old man was still alive. Still fighting.
The lead cultivator's expression darkened. He turned his head toward the old man with cold irritation.
"Shut him up."
Immediately, one of his subordinates strode toward the old man and kicked him viciously in the ribs. The old man gasped and crumpled sideways, but his eyes never left Yu Xiao's face—still pleading with her not to give up.
Not again. She couldn't watch another person suffer because of her.
In front of her, the lead cultivator spoke up, folding his arms while watching the old man.
"Don't worry, you'll accompany them soon enough." His voice was flat, matter-of-fact. He tilted his head and gave a single, deliberate nod—a silent command to execute the old man.
These cultivators treated human lives like insects to be crushed underfoot. They slaughtered without hesitation, without remorse—taking what they wanted, destroying everything else.
But before the executioner could move, Yu Xiao let out a small, pained sound—something between a gasp and a grunt.
The lead cultivator's attention snapped to her. He crouched lower, studying her face with sudden interest.
"What's wrong?"
Yu Xiao didn't respond, but something was clearly wrong. Her face had gone pale, her breathing shallow and uneven. Whatever was happening to her, it wasn't just the injury.
He reached out and gripped her chin, forcing her face toward the light to see her more clearly.
"I never expected you to have such talent. Not only did you hurt my men, but you can act as well."
A sneer twisted his face as he pressed his thumb hard against Yu Xiao's cheek.
"However, I've changed my mind. Since you're so eager to join them, I'll grant your wish." He released her cheek with a dismissive shove. "Men! Kill her!"
One of his underlings stepped forward and immediately grabbed the hilt of his sword.
Another grunt escaped Yu Xiao's lips.
The lead cultivator's face darkened. "We haven't even started, and you're already pretending to be hurt?" His voice dripped with contempt.
But Yu Xiao felt heat surging through her nerves—an unbearable burning spreading from within.
And that wasn't the only reason.
Inside her mind, the nightmare flashed again—vivid and relentless.
"It hurts!" she gasped, her head dropping forward.
The pain came from deep within her skull as the vision replayed: a woman walking through a grand hall, draped in a red robe, a jade lotus ring gleaming on her finger.
The scene flashed through her mind, especially the execution. But the woman's face remained frustratingly blurred. She couldn't identify her. Who was she? Why did this nightmare keep returning?
Was it even a nightmare at all?