With a tight heart beating in counted pulses, Ting observed the situation. Everything seemed so strange, the cave, that old man, everything. A bad feeling invaded her core whenever she dared even consider looking more closely at that dark hole that exuded a strong and putrid stench.

  She didn’t want to move; she couldn’t. This time, she preferred to trust Noah and wait until the situation resolved itself. After all, she simply couldn’t do otherwise.

  — Listen, boy, the beasts will keep their distance just because Noah is here. So, let's use this chance and move a little further. If not—

  Xiao Yun stood up, leaving her stunned. He had other plans, needed to be fast and reach that destination. He couldn’t wait; he had to be sure his sister was alive.

  Se'er...

  The feeling that the entrance gave him only made the doubt deeper and more painful.

  — No, boy! Wait! — Ting exclaimed, not even realizing her body had already started running toward the cave. — What do you think you’re doing? I said we would wait—!

  Both froze after a few steps.

  The air was putrid and cold. Heavy with old and dense grudges, as if choked voices and muffled screams wandered through the walls. They felt the touches with every silent step, they were like fingers and hands, sometimes nails. It was as if they wanted to drag them away and blame them for their horrible ends.

  — Stay close to me, — Ting whispered, for her voice failed her.

  The smell of blood reached them with an intense and revolting purity. Or perhaps it had always been there and only now was noticed.

  Ting choked and had to stop. Nausea rose in waves, shaking her mind. That was when she saw, up ahead, the first severed limb, an arm still partly cloaked in thin, brittle fabric, like the ashes of a leaf long burned.

  A dismembered body was what welcomed them.

  They advanced. Every step was more difficult than the last. The walls were scarred. Exposed bones. Skins stuck, eyes wide open in despair. The pain of the dead seemed to hang in the air, to be touched by their fingers and felt in their breaths. That’s why Ting stopped breathing in. It was too hard. She wanted to leave that place.

  Xiao Yun said nothing. But his eyes were wet. The fear of finding his sister among the bodies was unbearable. At every dark corner, every shadow he thought he saw, his heart shrank.

  Then, suddenly, he stopped. He knelt down beside one of the bodies and gritted his teeth.

  Seeing him crouch near one of the bodies, Ting couldn't help but ask, — Is that...? — Or at least try, for the words would not leave her lips, and those that did went nowhere.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  — Miss Ying Yue...— his voice cracked, — She was my nanny.

  With trembling hands, he gently closed her eyes. But they were so fragile that they dissolved at the slightest touch. The pain in his chest mingled with relief. As cruel as it was, he had not yet found his sister among the dead. There was still a chance, small or large, he didn’t know, but there was a chance.

  At the end of the cave, the image looked like a painting of hell. A pile of bodies, limbs, dried blood. All to intensify their despair.

  Xiao Yun ran. He plunged into the mountain of bones, turning over bodies with hands dirty with blood. He touched cold flesh. Rigid muscles. Broken bones. But the girl he had sworn to protect... was not there. His eyes were empty. His heartbeat muffled by confusion. Ting had to force herself to shout to snap him out of his collapse — Boy, help me! These people are still alive!

  He ran.

  Maybe...

  Maybe there was still time!

  — Hey, you—!

  Ting fell silent upon seeing the reason for his haste.

  In Xiao Yun's arms rested a small, frail girl. Pale, eyes closed and breathing weak. His tears didn't stop. She would not wake up.

  Without a word, they left the cave. Ting carried two wounded. Xiao Yun, his sister. In silence. Without looking back. They longed to forget that image and, preferably, never return to that place.

  However, before leaving completely, Xiao Yun stopped. He returned a few steps and picked up Ying Yue's body.

  She deserved a proper burial.

  As they neared the exit, the bluish light of the moon awaited them. But Ting felt something strange, a calmness that was too serene. And then, she saw the sky, stained with a supernatural blue.

  The pressure struck them like a punch to the chest, pushing them to the ground.

  — No, boy! Come back!

  A blade of energy descended from the sky like a comet.

  In a mix of fear and reflex, for which she would curse herself for doing, but which would not change anything, Ting threw the wounded behind her and leapt. Her shoulder throbbed, reminding her of the bites. She grabbed Xiao Yun by his shirt and threw him with his sister. However, Ying Yue was left behind. She stretched out her hand. Ran to reach her. But the sword was already there. Her palm was pierced through. It burned inside, and the blood was dried by the heat of the wound.

  Nothing remained of Ying Yue's body.

  — Watch out!

  Xiao Yun tried to run to her, but there was no time.

  The storm began. Small blades in the form of rain fell from the sky, sharp, blind, and invincible.

  Ting fell back, but the blades pursued her. The heel. The left arm. The flank. Always bringing more pain. She fell. Her legs did not respond. Her arm was useless. Each new drop of blood that neared her wounds evaporated, incinerated.

  Xiao Yun rushed to her, pulling her back, where strangely the blades did not enter — Are you okay?!

  She coughed. Blood stained the ground.

  — Stop yelling stupid questions, boy... My head already hurts enough without that.

  With blurry vision, Ting turned to the entrance. Finally, the rain of blades had ceased. But that wasn't what made her smile. She felt darkness emerge, dense, warm, and now familiar. It was her safety. Black flames took the sky. They made her tremble, but now, they brought relief.

  Ting smiled.

  — I'm alright...

  Then she saw a shadow running towards them. It was Noah. Even from a distance, even blurred and with her vision darkening, even without seeing his face, she knew. She knew he was worried, perhaps enraged, not at, but for her.

  And then, the pain won.

  Consciousness gave way.

  Something beneath the dark sky cracked.