The night pressed in like a curse.
Yun Li clutched the Void Star Crystal, her fingers trembling as she studied the shifting runes inside it. It was warm. Alive. Throbbing faintly like a beast sleeping beneath her skin.
She lit a protective circle around her room using stolen incense and bits of crushed soul ore. She placed the crystal at the center of the circle, sat down cross-legged, and whispered the ancient chant she had memorized from her father's spellbook.
"By the blood of ghosts and the will of void, I seek the gate between worlds. Open…"
The crystal responded.
Its glow intensified—black and violet light pulsed outward, making her eyes sting. Runes lifted into the air, floating, spinning, screaming in a language that did not belong to this realm.
Her heart pounded.
It's working…
She poured more energy into the crystal—her weak cultivation trembling as she pushed herself further than ever before.
"Take me away—!"
But then—
Something snapped.
The light turned blood red.
Her body stiffened.
An icy shockwave exploded outward, shredding her protective circle in a violent burst. Yun Li screamed as a force slammed into her chest—like being hit by a mountain made of shadows.
"AGH!"
She was thrown across the room.
Her back struck the wall. She gasped, choking on blood. Her veins felt like they were burning from the inside, something crawling through them—an ancient curse, a remnant of her father's dark protection spell.
The crystal fell to the floor, cracked.
Still glowing.
Still laughing.
The backlash wrapped around her like chains. Her cultivation core flickered, nearly shattered. Her spirit ached. Her bones screamed.
She couldn't move.
"Wh…why…" she coughed, crawling toward the crystal. "I… I followed everything…"
But this artifact was no ordinary relic.
It had been marked by her father.
Anyone who tried to use it without his blessing would suffer a fate worse than death.
She lay there, broken, struggling to breathe.
Through blurred vision, she saw her mirror—and in it, her reflection was shifting. Not a girl, but a shadow, flickering. Almost as if something deep inside her was being… watched.
The backlash hadn't just hurt her.
It had awakened something.
A curse.
Or maybe… her bloodline.
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Would you like the next part to show her recovering with the help of a servant who finds her, or her attempting again and being caught—or something even darker awakening inside her?
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Yun Li's vision blurred.
Blood dripped from her mouth as she dragged herself upright, clutching the cracked Void Star Crystal. Her body trembled with every breath, her spirit flickering like a dying flame—but her will burned brighter.
One more time… just once more…
She knelt at the center of the broken circle, voice raw.
"Open the gate… I am of royal blood… Ghost King's blood… I don't need his permission."
The crystal pulsed—black and violet swallowing the room in a storm of shrieking winds and burning light.
This time, it didn't resist.
It welcomed her.
The magic burst forth like a scream, swallowing her in shadows.
Her body disintegrated into light.
Then—darkness.
An endless void.
No air.
No sound.
No pain.
Only... falling.
She thought she was dead.
...
Beep… beep… beep…
A slow rhythmic sound dragged her from the darkness.
She gasped—her lungs filled with cold air as her body seized in pain.
Where…?
She tried to sit up but couldn't.
Everything hurt.
Her arms, her ribs, her spine—bandaged, aching, stiff.
The room smelled of antiseptic. Cold light buzzed above her. Machines blinked and hummed beside her bed.
This is… not the Ghost Realm, she thought.
A voice choked beside her.
"Yona…?"
Yun Li turned her head with difficulty.
A woman sat beside her, face buried in her hands, weeping.
Hair disheveled. Hospital gown barely clinging to her shoulders. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"My baby... you're alive..."
Yun Li blinked.
Yona? Who's Yona?
She tried to speak but her voice cracked like dry bone.
A doctor entered, freezing at the sight.
"She's awake?! That's… impossible—her body was…" he glanced at the machines, baffled. "Vitals are stabilizing. It's a miracle."
Yun Li's heart raced.
She stared at her own hands—smaller, paler, unfamiliar.
She wasn't in her body anymore.
This isn't me…
Where is my spirit vessel? Why am I in this broken mortal shell?
The woman reached out, holding her gently.
"Yona, it's okay, mama's here…"
Mama…?
Yun Li's mind swirled.
Memories—not hers—flashed in the corners of her vision. Laughter. A bicycle. A blue backpack. Falling—screaming—car crash—
She's dead… I'm… inside her…
A sudden wave of guilt swept over her, this woman still thinks that I am her daughter, she thought.
The nurse came in, wide-eyed.
"She was declared brain-dead this morning—this… this doesn't make sense…"
Yun Li closed her eyes again, breathing slowly.
I made it… I escaped…
But at what cost?
Tears slipped down her cheeks before she even realized she was crying.
Yun Li bit down on her lip, trying not to sob, but the pain overwhelmed her—everywhere. Her chest burned, her limbs were stiff, her bones throbbed like they'd been shattered and glued back together.
I can't move... I can't even gather spirit energy...
She tried reaching into her core—only to gasp as a sharp bolt of pain tore through her stomach.
Her cultivation… was fractured.
More than half her spiritual essence was gone.
She wasn't even strong enough to defend herself from a weak mortal beast, much less her father.
What have I done…?
She wanted to scream. To curse. To call upon the winds of the Ghost Realm and demand her power back.
But she could only lie there—small, helpless, in a body that wasn't hers.
Her breathing turned ragged as her fingers clenched the sheets.
That was when the woman beside her pulled her gently into an embrace.
"It's alright, my little star…" she whispered, stroking Yun Li's tangled hair. "It's over. You're safe now…"
Yun Li stiffened.
She's… hugging me?
The scent of the woman's skin was warm, like soap and rain. Her hands were soft. Her voice was… gentle. Comforting.
Yun Li didn't understand it.
Safe? What does that mean? No one hugs you when you're weak. They beat you. They scream. They chain you to a training post until you collapse.
But this mortal woman… she was crying for her.
"I thought I lost you," the woman whispered. "Yona… please don't scare me like that again."
Yun Li's throat tightened. Her lips trembled.
She couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say. She wasn't Yona.
But this mother held her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
Yun Li stared at the wall, tears rolling silently down her cheeks, her pride cracking like porcelain.
Is this… what love feels like?
She wanted to push her away.
She wanted to fall into her arms.
She wanted to scream, I'm not your daughter.
But all she could whisper was—
"…It hurts."
The woman hugged her tighter.
"I know, sweetheart. I know."
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