Li Yun's heart felt like it was being split in two. The boy she had grown so close to, the mysterious blond youth who had fallen from the Darkness, was leaving. He had recovered enough strength to continue his journey, and no matter how tightly she held onto his hand, he gently pulled away.
"I'll come back for you," he said softly. "But if I don't… then find me. I'll be waiting."
She felt as though the world was tilting beneath her feet. "How?" she whispered. "How am I supposed to reach you when even stepping outside this village at night is a death sentence?"
The boy reached into his pocket and placed a gleaming pearl into her hand. It was faintly warm, glowing with a soft white light.
"This pearl is a beacon," he said. "When you awaken your Glyph, it will activate. It can guide you through the Dark Fog and reveal safe paths." He taught her its functions carefully, repeating the details until she memorized them. He even handed her several small items, a knife etched with symbols, herbs, and a protective charm. "These are farewell gifts. Keep them hidden."
Li Yun held them close, afraid to let go. They kissed one last time And then… he walked into the darkness and vanished.
Li Yun stood in the empty temple long after he was gone, her fingers trembling around the pearl. She felt as though a part of her had been taken away. But she also felt something else , purpose. A goal. A future beyond this suffocating village.
She returned home and continued her relationship with Lei as if nothing had happened. She laughed with him, walked with him, held his hand. But her heart was divided. While Lei devoted himself entirely to her, Li Yun carried a secret promise, a hidden dream.
But despair soon crept in again.
Li Yun had failed her natural awakening. The age window had passed. She watched others manifest their glowing Glyphs while her skin remained plain and unchanged. And now Lei, who is sweet, kind, foolish, was reaching his final chance at natural awakening while she had none left.
The thought of staying here forever trapped in this village, marrying Lei, living the same life her father, mother and grandmother had lived suffocated her. She felt caged. Like a bird meant for the sky forced to rot inside a wooden box.
But one day, Lei told her something that changed everything.
"My parents left a natural treasure," he said. "One that can force a Glyph awakening."
Her world stopped.
A treasure that could awaken a Glyph.
Glyph could activate the pearl.
The pearl that could take her to him.
In that moment, Li Yun remembered the lesson she had learned long ago, the day she pushed her brother into the darkness.
If you want something, you must be willing to do anything to get it. Without regret.
That evening, just before Lei planned to use the treasure, Li Yun approached him. She smiled, touched his arm, and asked for a moment alone. Lei agreed, thinking she simply wanted to spend time with him before the awakening.
She kissed him. Not a sweet, shy kiss like before, but deeper, more intense because it was the only way to hide the small vial she broke between her teeth. The antidote she swallowed. And the faint bitter powder she slipped into his mouth.
Lei staggered. "Li… Yun…?"
She gently pressed a finger to his lips. "Just relax."
The dizziness overtook him as the dream-inducing powder sank in. Lei reached out weakly, gripping her sleeve.
"Why…?" he asked, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "Why are you doing this…?"
Li Yun turned away. "Because I already havea boy I like. Someone who showed me the world is bigger than this place."
Lei shook his head desperately. "But… we could go together. I planned to go to the town. We could work… build a new life…"
She let out a small, pitying laugh.
"Lei… you have no idea how wide this world is. Towns, cities, nobles, royals… they're all trapped too. Just bigger cages." Her eyes hardened. "I want to fly beyond all that. And to do that, I need power."
She reached for the Black Smoky Rose with golden tints, the treasure that could awaken a Glyph.
Lei collapsed to his knees, vision blurring. "Please… don't take it… Without it, I… I won't awaken anything… I won't even get a job…"
She didn't look back.
"I'm sorry, Lei. Truly." She held the rose close to her chest. "But if you see an opportunity… you take it. With no hesitation."
Lei's consciousness dimmed, his tears falling silently.
Li Yun's final words reached him like fading echoes.
"If doing one evil allows you to live a life full of happiness, Then do it without hesitation."
Darkness swallowed his senses completely.
---
When Li Yun stepped out, she found Lan waiting just outside, sitting on the floor with puffed cheeks.
"Don't disturb your brother," Li Yun said with a smile. "I'll be back later."
Then she walked away.
Li Yun dragged her parents to the abandoned temple, the same place where everything had changed for her. Dust swirled around their feet as she stood before them and revealed the entire truth, about the boy from the darkness, about the pearl, and about Lei.
Her mother's face immediately twisted with disbelief and anger.
"What is wrong with you? That kid Lei is a good boy! Do you know how many times he helped us?" she shouted, voice trembling.
Before Li Yun could respond, her father's hand cracked across her mother's cheek, silencing her.
"Enough," he growled.
Li Yun watched calmly. It was almost amusing, her father's cruelty had passed to her brother, and perhaps to her as well. The resemblance was uncanny.
Her father turned to her with greedy eyes. "You said the boy is from a big city, right? Someone who can travel in the darkness… maybe he's a noble." His voice dripped with excitement. "If he takes us in, our lives will change forever."
Li Yun nodded with a practiced smile. "He also said he can awaken both of you."
Her father's eyes sharpened, filled with a hunger she knew all too well. It was the same look her brother had worn before he died. Her mother, meanwhile, stared at her daughter with a complex mix of fear and sorrow. Perhaps this was the first time she truly saw what Li Yun had become.
"Eat the treasure, daughter," her father urged. "We leave this village today."
Li Yun held the transparent Black Smoky Rose with golden tints, Lei's treasure. She placed it in her mouth and bit down. The petals turned instantly into a dark, shimmering liquid with golden sparks floating like tiny stars in night sky. She swallowed slowly, her father watching with suppressed greed.
But nothing happened. No flash of light. No sensation. No pain or warmth. Nothing.
Li Yun frowned and began checking her skin.
Her father stepped out of the chamber to stand guard while her mother helped examine her. When Li Yun removed her clothes to check her back, her mother gasped loudly.
"Li Yun… your back…"
A massive, intricate black phoenix pattern spread across her skin like rising flames frozen in ink. The feathers, etched like runes, shimmered faintly as though alive.
"A phoenix… is my power fire?" she murmured.
She recalled the boy's teachings.
"Visualize the pattern. Weave your power from it. The result depends entirely on your imagination. Two people with the same Glyph may gain different powers based on how they visualize it. But this method succeeds less than ten percent of the time."
Li Yun closed her eyes. Instead of flames, she focused on freedom, on wings, on flight, on escaping the cage of the village. The phoenix in her mind spread its wings.
A sudden pressure burst from her back.
Black wings, large, feathered, and powerful, unfolded behind her.
Li Yun exhaled sharply.
"Now… I'm a Weaver."
Her mother stepped back, astonished. "A… Weaver?" She had never heard the term.
"It's a new word," Li Yun said proudly as she dressed. "The outside world is far bigger than we know. And now I'll see it."
Her father rushed in moments later and nearly collapsed from joy when he saw the wings. Plans filled his eyes, plans of comfort, riches, and status.
They left the village that very night, before anyone discovered what had happened to Lei.
By the time angry villagers arrived at their door seeking justice for Lei and Lan, the entire Li family was already gone, riding away on an ox cart into the wilderness chasing a future built on ambition, lies and Betrayal.
---
"Just let me go already! Reincarnate me into that ox. I swear I'll ram that family of three so hard their ancestors will feel it," the man shouted, veins popping on his forehead as he watched the scene unfold.
"No," the Specter replied flatly. "You're taking Lei's body. Also, This scene has already happened, it cannot be changed.."
The man's expression froze. His anger gave way to a heavy sigh before another thought suddenly struck him.
"Wait… something doesn't add up." His eyes narrowed. "If visualizing a Glyph has less than a ten percent success rate… how did she succeed on her first try?"
The Specter paused.
"That," he said slowly, "is a very good observation. All I can tell you is this, her success has something to do with that temple ruin."
He offered no further explanation.
"Tsk… fine." The man crossed his arms but couldn't hide the eagerness burning in his eyes. "Then skip to the part where I transmigrate. I swear, I'm going to make them regret everything." He muttered under his breath, half frustration, half anticipation.
The Specter nodded, and the scene in bubble began to shift.