The Fall Before the Storm
Duie was simply smiling at him, warmth glowing in his eyes.
Then suddenly, he plucked a white water lily from a nearby pond, took Su Nian's hand, and gently led him back toward his home.
They were both immensely happy....hearts light, spirits high.
But the moment they arrived at Duie's house, that joy was shattered.
Blood was flowing down the stairs.
Broken flower pots lay scattered across the floor.
And there.....shreds of pink cloth, torn and fluttering in the breeze.
The same cloth his sister had worn that very day.
The water lily slipped from Duie's hand.
His breath caught in his throat....
His body refused to move, as if his soul itself rejected the truth.
He didn't want to believe it.
Didn't want to see what this blood and those torn clothes were trying to tell him.
And then, with a cry that shook the sky, Duie rushed inside.
Inside…
His sister's lifeless body lay on the floor.
A sword pierced straight through her stomach, her eyes still wide open..
Gazing at the door.
Waiting for someone who never arrived.
Her soul had left.
Only an empty shell remained.
Not only her body… but with her, Duie's spirit was taken too.
He could not bear it.
He could not accept it.
It felt like a nightmare...one he was trying to wake up from.
But this was no dream.
It was a horrific reality, lying in front of him in the form of his dead sister.
Duie broke.
From the depths of his being, he screamed.
He collapsed...sobbing, howling, lost in the abyss of grief.
As if not just his sister, but half of his world had ended that day.
And perhaps… it had.
His life...his dreams...were destroyed.
He had wanted to tell his sister about his love for Su Nian today.
About wanting to marry him.
Now, none of that mattered.
---
Su Nian stood outside, frozen, having heard everything.
Duie's anguished cries tore through the silence.
And Su Nian understood...
He didn't need to go inside to know what waited within.
His body forgot to breathe.
His eyes refused to blink, refused to dry.
The pain was unbearable.
To lose someone dear… and that too, right after a moment of joy
was the cruelest kind of punishment fate could offer.
---
Suddenly, Su Nian sensed a scent ...faint, but familiar.
Someone was behind him.
Someone he knew.
He reached for his sword
But before he could turn, a poisoned blade was thrust into his back.
"Aghhh....!" Su Nian cried out in pain.
The attack...driven by pure hatred and venom...cut deep.
Duie heard his scream and came running.
But what he saw outside..
.. It broke him all over again.
Another mountain of pain crashed upon his soul.
His world… whatever was left of it…
was now completely shattered.
Su Nian had been attacked.
And the attacker?
His stepmother.
Su Nian lay collapsed on the ground.
Just for a moment
Time froze.
The world held its breath.
His soul… seemed to leave his body, piece by piece.
Duie rushed toward him
But it was already too late.
The poison had already spread through Su Nian's body.
---
Duie stood there, in shock.
The silence in his ears was deafening.
He couldn't hear anything...just the soundless collapse of his own universe.
Then, fury overtaking his grief, he drew his sword and struck toward the woman
But a broken heart can wound only itself.....not others.
Pain.
Sorrow.
Despair.
Shock.
They all blinded him, and his strikes landed nowhere.
Su Nian's stepmother held Duie back.....keeping him away from Su Nian even in death.
---
Just then, another figure emerged from the shadows, sword in hand.
In one swift, brutal motion
He plunged his blade through Duie's back, the tip tearing out through his stomach.
Duie, already drowning in pain, collapsed next to Su Nian.
The attacker?
Su Nian's stepbrother.
They both turned and left, their mission complete.
Before leaving, the woman sent a message:
A message for Queen Wui Guan.