"Aurora," she replied calmly. "You should have died. Why are you still here?"
"I'm not willing!" the voice sobbed. "I hate this! I hate Sun Xiao! She ruined me… she took everything…"
The crying filled her head, heavy with resentment, sharp with pain.
Aurora fell silent.
She did not speak again. She simply listened.
The grief, the anger, the hatred poured into her like a tide. Her chest tightened. A burning emotion rose in her heart, fierce and unfamiliar, yet impossible to ignore.
It did not belong to her.
But now, it was inside her.
And it refused to fade.
"Stop crying," Aurora said, frowning slightly. "Listen to me."
If she had not needed to understand this strange situation and the soul tangled with hers, she would have left long ago. She had no habit of sitting still and listening to someone cry inside her head.
The sobbing paused.
Then the voice spoke again, slower now, clearer, as if gathering what little strength it had left.
"I am already dead," Lin Xue said quietly. "This body belongs to you now. I only ask two things."
Her voice sharpened, hatred leaking through every word.
"First. Sun Xiao must suffer a fate worse than death. Killing her is not enough. It will never calm the hatred in my heart. Only when she lives in misery, lower than the dead, will my resentment be eased."
The bitterness was so strong it almost felt tangible.
Aurora raised an eyebrow but said nothing. A faint, unreadable smile touched her lips.
As if sensing her silence, Lin Xue continued.
"I don't know who you were before, or where you came from," she said softly. "But from the way you moved just now, from how calmly you killed him… I know you are not an ordinary person. At least, you are not foolish like me, fooled and destroyed by someone I trusted with my life."
Aurora's eyes flickered. The smile at the corner of her mouth deepened.
"And the second?" she asked.
The moment the question was asked, Lin Xue knew the answer had already been given.
Her voice grew gentler, carrying sadness and longing.
"My family… they treated me very well. My grandfather, my father… they held me like a treasure in their hands." Her voice trembled slightly. "I hope you can take my place and care for them. Don't let them know that I'm gone. Let them believe… that I am still alive."
Aurora's fingers tapped lightly against the table. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Each sound struck Lin Xue's heart.
"I will give you all my memories," Lin Xue said quickly, afraid of refusal. "Everything. So you will know who they are, what they like, and what I have lived through. Auro... Miss Aurora… you must help me. You must. Please..."
The words had barely fallen when a sharp pain exploded in Aurora's head.
Her brows knitted together. She closed her eyes as something fierce and unfamiliar surged into her mind, as if countless fragments were being forced into her all at once.
Faces. Voices. Warmth. Betrayal.
She endured it in silence.
When she opened her eyes again, they were colder, deeper.
Memories that did not belong to her now lay clearly in her mind.
The General's Mansion. A smiling grandfather. A strict but loving father. Shared laughter. Shared tears. And then, the blade cutting into flesh, the pain of her face being ruined, the despair of being betrayed.
For a brief moment, Aurora felt it too.
The pain was so real that it made her fingers tighten.
"Sun Xiao?" she murmured. "Interesting."
She stood and walked to the corpse on the floor. Without hesitation, she searched his body and took everything of value. Coins. A dagger. Anything useful.
Her own clothes were torn and stained. She ripped the inner lining of her skirt and wrapped it around her face, covering the scars. That face was far too eye-catching.
There were no spare clothes in the room. The dead man's garments were filthy. She would rather go naked than wear them.
This was a pleasure house.
She tore away part of her sleeves, leaving her arms bare, and adjusted her dress into something simpler, bolder. Her gaze fell on the veil by the bed. She picked it up, wrapped it around her head, and moved toward the back window.
She slipped out smoothly and landed on the ground without a sound.
Ahead lay a narrow path. Women moved in the courtyard, laughing, chatting, coming and going.
Aurora lowered her head and blended in.
Just as she reached the outer edge—A scream pierced the air.
"Ah! Murder!"
Run.
That was Aurora's first thought.
Her body moved before her mind finished the command. She turned and ran with the crowd, footsteps chaotic, breaths sharp. Shouts rose behind her, panic spreading like fire.
Then—
Cold light flashed.
The air suddenly filled with the thick scent of blood.
A murderous aura crashed down like a blade, heavy and suffocating.
Aurora's pupils shrank. She dropped to the ground almost instinctively, clutching her head as a sharp whistle cut through the air.
"Swish!"
"Ah—!"
Screams exploded all around her. People were knocked aside, bodies thrown like broken dolls. When she lifted her head again, her breath caught.
The ground around her was empty.
No, not empty.
It was filled with corpses.
Men and women lay scattered in a wide circle, blood pooling beneath them. Their eyes were open, frozen in shock. The screams had stopped too suddenly.
She was alive.
Barely.
A shadow stepped into her view.
Black boots stopped inches from her fingers.
Aurora slowly looked up.
A man in black stood before her. His face was covered, but his eyes shone with a poisonous, cold light. In his hand was a sword, its tip resting against the ground, blood dripping from the blade. Each drop bloomed red against the stone like a cruel flower.
Her heart tightened.
"D-don't…" she whispered, her voice trembling.
As her body shook, the veil slipped from her shoulder, revealing pale skin like snow. She covered her face hurriedly, eyes filling with tears. Her figure looked fragile, pitiful, as if she would collapse with a single breath.
The man's gaze flickered briefly over the exposed skin.
But only for a moment.
Then his attention shifted past her, scanning the retreating crowd. His grip on the sword tightened. Anyone who came too close would die.
The killing intent thickened.
Fear rose in Aurora's chest. She cried out softly, "Please… don't kill me…"
She staggered to her feet.
At that instant, her fingers brushed against her thigh.
The dagger.
Her eyes sharpened at once.
She moved. And the dagger flashed, striking straight for his wrist.
"Clang!"
Blood sprayed.
*Ugh*
The man grunted in shock. He had not sensed killing intent from her at all. His sword slipped from his hand as pain shot up his arm. Almost instinctively, he kicked out.
The kick carried fierce force, dark energy swirling around it. If it landed, bones would shatter.
But it missed.
Aurora twisted aside, her body bending unnaturally fast. Before he could recover, she rushed in, dagger aimed at his chest.
The man reacted quickly, raising his arm to block.
Too late.
The attack was a feint.
Her leg snapped upward, locking tightly between his legs.
"Ugh—!"
A sound ripped from his throat as pain exploded. His body stiffened, balance breaking.
That moment was enough.
Aurora surged forward. Her arm wrapped around his neck from behind, dagger pressed cold against his throat.
One clean motion.
*Slash