The morning sun spilled over the valley, gilding the mist in a golden hue. Luo Tian sat cross-legged on a weathered boulder, his breathing steady, his heart quiet for the first time since the ceremony that had shattered his fate. The faint shimmer of silver threads still flickered within his chest — the fragments of destiny he had seized at the cost of his banishment.
Before him, Ling Xi crouched in the dew-kissed grass, gathering herbs. The sunlight caught in her raven hair, making it glisten like strands of ink. Her delicate fingers brushed against a petal, releasing a faint fragrance that calmed even the restless qi swirling in Luo Tian's veins.
For a moment, he simply watched her, the childhood friend who had chosen to follow him into exile. He felt the tug of invisible strands between them, threads no loom could sever.
"Xi'er," Luo Tian finally said, his voice hoarse from the long night of meditation. "Do you… regret this?"
She turned, smiling softly. "Regret? Following you?" Her eyes were pools of spring water, clear and unwavering. "Tian ge, when your fate collapsed, mine would have shattered as well if I had stayed behind. I chose to step onto this path. Whatever storms await, I will weave them with you."
Her words sank deep, warming the cold hollowness in his chest. But even as comfort settled over him, the faint whisper of a new thread entered his perception. It was jagged, dark, carrying with it the metallic tang of death.
Luo Tian stiffened. He had not yet mastered his broken soul threads, but fragments of destiny still lingered, granting him glimpses into the unseen.
"Someone is coming," he murmured.
---
The forest stirred. Leaves rustled though no wind blew, and the birds fell silent. From the shadows between ancient pines, a figure emerged — tall, cloaked in black, her presence like a blade hidden in silk.
Ling Xi gasped, instinctively drawing closer to Luo Tian.
The stranger's hood fell back, revealing a face carved from ice. Her eyes were twin abysses, rimmed with faint crimson, and around her wrist shimmered faint black threads that writhed like serpents.
"A Threadbearer," Luo Tian whispered. His instincts screamed at him — this woman carried the thread of death itself.
She halted a dozen paces away, lips curving in a smile that was neither cruel nor kind, merely inevitable.
"Luo Tian," she said, her voice low and melodic, yet filled with an unsettling finality. "The sect has declared you an anomaly. A failed weaver who should have died when fate rejected him. I am here to cut the last remnant of your existence."
Ling Xi's face paled. "They sent an assassin? Already?"
Luo Tian rose, the silver threads within him trembling violently. "If destiny has truly cast me aside, why bother sending someone? Unless…" His gaze locked on her, unflinching. "…unless they fear what I've become."
The assassin tilted her head, amused. "Sharp. You are right — the elders are not blind. They sensed that the fragments you stole from fate were not extinguished. A danger to the established loom must be severed before it unravels the whole tapestry."
Her hand rose, black threads unfurling like the wings of a raven.
Ling Xi stepped forward, placing herself before Luo Tian. "If you want to reach him, you'll have to go through me!"
The assassin paused, studying her. For the faintest instant, a flicker of emotion passed through her abyssal eyes — annoyance, perhaps pity. But then it was gone.
"Child of life," she murmured. "How ironic that the thread of life stands before the bearer of death."
Her words struck Luo Tian like lightning. Life and death threads… two sides of the same loom.
He clenched his fists, summoning the fractured threads within his chest. Silver light burst forth, though weak, forming strands that whipped about him like broken cords in a storm.
The assassin's lips parted in surprise. "So you can already summon them, even in your ruined state… no wonder they fear you."
---
The clash began.
Her black threads shot forward like serpents, aiming for his throat. Luo Tian swung his arm, silver strands intercepting them with a shower of sparks. The collision of life and death threads sent a shockwave rippling through the forest, uprooting trees and shattering stone.
Ling Xi cried out, thrown back by the force, but Luo Tian's threads curled around her waist, pulling her to safety.
The assassin's eyes narrowed. "You protect her even as you die? Foolish."
She extended both arms, releasing a storm of deathly silk that darkened the very sky. Each strand hummed with lethal intent, eager to sever the fragile cords of life itself.
Luo Tian roared, his soul trembling as he pushed his broken destiny threads to their limit. The silver strands blazed brighter, knitting together to form a protective cocoon around him and Ling Xi.
For a heartbeat, life and death collided, neither yielding.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Ling Xi pressed her palm to Luo Tian's back, her qi flowing into him. Her life essence merged with his broken threads, mending them, strengthening them. A faint green light shimmered within the silver, vibrant and full of vitality.
The assassin staggered back, shock breaking her icy mask. "Impossible… how can she…?"
Luo Tian's eyes glowed, no longer only silver, but threaded with emerald fire. "You said I was a failed weaver, abandoned by destiny. But destiny has no right to dictate my path. If fate seeks to sever me…" His voice thundered with newfound resolve. "…then I will weave my own threads!"
---
Power surged. The silver-green threads lashed out, cutting through the assassin's deathly storm. Black silk unraveled into nothingness, dissipating like smoke in sunlight.
The assassin tried to retreat, but Luo Tian's threads coiled around her arm, severing the black cords that bound her wrist. She gasped, falling to one knee as pain lanced through her body.
Her abyssal eyes flickered, confusion warring with fury. "You… cut my thread of death?"
Luo Tian stood tall, his aura blazing despite the blood that dripped from his lips. "No one's destiny is unbreakable. Not even yours."
For the first time, the assassin's composure cracked. Her breathing grew ragged, her gaze wavering. She looked up at him, not with hatred, but something far more dangerous — curiosity.
"…Who are you really, Luo Tian?" she whispered.
He smiled grimly. "The one who will tear apart the old loom and weave a new tapestry of eternity."
The assassin stared at him for a long moment. Then, to Ling Xi's shock, she laughed softly — a sound like bells echoing in a graveyard.
"Interesting. Perhaps… I was wrong to come here as your executioner." Her black threads receded, vanishing into her skin. She rose to her feet, still weakened, but her poise returning. "My name is Mei Yue. If you truly believe you can defy destiny, then one day… prove it. And if you fail, I will cut you down myself."
With that, she vanished into the shadows, leaving only the faint scent of blood and midnight lilies in her wake.
---
Silence fell once more. Luo Tian collapsed to his knees, panting heavily, his vision swimming. Ling Xi rushed to him, her hands trembling as she pressed against his wounds.
"Tian ge! Don't push yourself like that again — you nearly tore your soul apart!"
But despite his exhaustion, Luo Tian smiled faintly, staring up at the threads of light that danced across the sky.
"Life and death… two sides of the same loom," he murmured. "If I can master both, then perhaps… perhaps the tapestry of fate can truly be rewritten."
Ling Xi clutched his hand tightly, tears glistening in her eyes. "Then I'll stay by your side, no matter what. Together, we'll weave that new world."
And far away, in the shadowed halls of the sect, unseen elders stirred as the echo of Luo Tian's defiance reached them. For the first time in centuries, the Loom of Destiny trembled.