A Blade of Despair

Mu Xi’s gaze was locked on Zhang Xiaocha, who lay in a deep slumber on the stone bed nearby. Her eyes, bloodshot and swollen, seemed ablaze with a fierce, consuming fire.

Within her grasp, spiritual energy, like a surging undercurrent, began to circulate wildly within her palms. A pale blue radiance pulsed and throbbed there, and after a faint sizzling sound, it coalesced into a spiritual blade, emanating an icy, bone-chilling aura.

Inside the dim, oppressive stone cavern, the flickering candlelight seemed to cling to life, casting Mu Xi’s distorted silhouette long and eerie upon the rough stone wall.

Her fingers clenched tightly around the spiritual blade, her knuckles gleamed white with strain, and a subtle tremor ran through her arm.

“You damned temptress!” Mu Xi’s voice was low and raspy, imbued with boundless venom, as if torn from the depths of her throat.

“You, you ruined everything between Luo Bingning and me!”

She drew closer to the stone bed, one slow step at a time. Each deliberate step resonated with fierce resolve and cold malice, as a tempest of spiritual energy surged around her, forming invisible currents that made the already wavering candlelight within the cavern dance even more wildly.

On the stone bed, Zhang Xiaocha slept soundly, utterly oblivious to the impending peril.

Mu Xi’s gaze, sharp as a hawk’s, scoured Zhang Xiaocha’s face. That serene sleeping face, in this moment, was an unbearable affront to her.

“By what right? By what right do you claim her love!” Her voice abruptly rose, laced with a sob, and the spiritual blade in her hand gave a violent tremor, its light intensifying.

Memories of the past, like a surging tide, crashed relentlessly upon Mu Xi’s heart.

“Mmm~”

“Xiaocha can’t sleep alone, Big Sister, won’t you sleep with Xiaocha~”

“Mmm~”

“It’s thundering, I’m so scared! Big Sister, please stay with Xiaocha~”

“Second Sister, you wouldn’t mind, would you~”

Those words were like countless daggers, plunging deep into Mu Xi’s heart, fueling her hatred to an even fiercer intensity.

“You damned temptress, today, I swear I will make you pay for your transgressions!”

Mu Xi raised the spiritual blade high, spiritual energy surging wildly within it.

In the air, illuminated by the candlelight, the blade shimmered with a terrifying, ominous glow.

Shwaaa!

The blade descended with brutal force, aiming directly for the heart of the still-unconscious Zhang Xiaocha.

Yet, just as the blade was poised to pierce Zhang Xiaocha’s heart, Mu Xi’s hand abruptly froze in mid-air, as if struck by a lightning bolt, her body momentarily stiffening.

Before her eyes, Luo Bingning’s form, her voice, her smile—all reappeared.

That gentle gaze, that faint, captivating smile…

Luo Bingning turned her head, her long, waterfall-like hair sweeping a perfect arc through the air as she moved.

“Xi Xi, why are you crying? Did someone bully you? I’ll beat them up for you!”

“Xi Xi, what’s wrong? Come here quickly!”

“Ah! Xi Xi, you’re bullying me again!”

“Luo Bingning…” Mu Xi cried out, her voice breaking, as her gaze met the increasingly illusory, gradually receding figure in the air. Tears burst forth from her eyes, rolling down incessantly, staining the ground with patch after patch of moisture.

“Don’t… don’t leave me…” Her steps uncontrollably quickened, her fair wrist stretched out in the air, desperate to grasp the fading figure, but she tripped over the stone bed.

Thump!

She collapsed onto Zhang Xiaocha’s body.

Crushed by the sudden weight, Zhang Xiaocha let out a muffled groan, “Mmm~”

“Xi Xi, be happy…” A gentle blessing echoed in Mu Xi’s ear. She instinctively looked up, only to see that familiar, beautiful figure dissolve into countless specks of starlight, scattering into the air.

Mu Xi’s vision blurred with tears, several damp strands of hair clinging miserably to her cheeks. She lay sprawled over Zhang Xiaocha, sobbing uncontrollably, “Luo Bingning…”

She reached out an arm,
Desperate to grasp something ephemeral. “Luo Bingning…”

“Don’t… don’t…”

“Please, just speak to me again… I promise I’ll never bully you again…”

“Even if it’s just one word,”

“Even that would be enough…” She gazed at the empty air, her arms falling limply. A single, crimson tear overflowed from her eye, carving a shocking red streak down her cheek.

Outside the stone cavern,

Luo Bingning sat on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, her face buried deep between her knees. Her smooth back pressed tightly against the uneven stone wall, the rough surface scoring tiny, unnoticed blood marks into her skin.

‘Xi Xi, you…’
‘Must…’
‘Be…’
‘Happy…’

A long moment passed.

Luo Bingning abruptly rose. A gentle breeze swept through, causing her skirt to dance wildly, carrying her tear-dampened sideburns to flutter freely behind her.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes half-closed. A single, crystalline tear slipped down her cheek, catching the silver moonlight and flashing with a dazzling brilliance before diffusing into a faint shimmer in the air.

Her figure gradually vanished from the spot…

Inside the stone cavern,

As her gaze fell upon the unconscious Zhang Xiaocha beside her,

A wrenching pain seized Mu Xi’s heart, as hatred and love clashed fiercely within her. “If I kill her, Luo Bingning will…”

Her arm trembled more violently, and the spiritual blade, formed from her energy, began to waver, its light flickering erratically.

“She would surely be heartbroken…”

She averted her head,
Her eyes hollow, she stared at the ‘Luo Bingning’ that had vanished into thin air. “Luo Bingning…”

She murmured to herself, her voice hoarse and weak.

Blood-tinged tears trailed down her pale cheek, dripping into the air.

A gentle breeze stirred, altering the trajectory of the blood tear, guiding it to land precisely upon the spiritual blade.

The blade’s light flared once, then the spiritual energy swiftly dispersed, like a fleeting stream of light,
Vanishing with the wind…

“You,”
“Must you truly leave?”

Mu Xi’s head rested weakly on Zhang Xiaocha’s body, blood mingled with tears silently streaming from her eyes, staining the bedding with spreading patches of moisture.

Her gaze, numb and hollow, fixed on the flickering candlelight dancing on the stone wall ahead.

The recent intimate memories of Luo Bingning and Zhang Xiaocha on the stone bed burst forth uncontrollably before her eyes.

“Mmm~”

“Mm-hmm~”

“Xiaocha, you’re incredible! I’m all flushed there!”

She lowered her head, staring blankly, then slowly raised a hand to her chest.

Thump-thump-thump—

Her heart beat powerfully.

Her face was ashen as she struggled to rise, then averted her head. Her eyes hollow, she gazed at the spot where ‘Luo Bingning’ had vanished, and spoke in a daze: “Luo Bingning, this time…”

“I… it seems I truly have no heart left…”

“Hehehehe… Luo Bingning…” She chuckled foolishly, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes, mixed with blood, rolling down and leaving clear crimson streaks on her face.

Suddenly!

A familiar fragrance wafted gently into her nostrils. “Luo Bingning…”

She instinctively turned her head, only to see ‘Luo Bingning’ lying peacefully on the stone bed, deeply asleep.

A faint smile involuntarily curved Mu Xi’s lips. She embraced ‘Luo Bingning’, pressing her delicate face against ‘Luo Bingning’s’ cheek, rubbing it greedily. “Luo Bingning, I’ve missed you so much…”

Her voice held a slight tremor.

“I had a dream, a dream where you pushed me away, saying you didn’t want me anymore…”

“Do you know? I was so scared… so scared… I was truly terrified…” Her words were filled with fear and unease, yet also a hint of relief. “Thankfully, the dream ended…”

“Thankfully, you’re still here…”

She buried her face deep into ‘Luo Bingning’s’ neck, greedily inhaling the familiar scent…

“Mmm~” she murmured dreamily. “Luo Bingning, I like you so much…”

Her voice carried a trace of shyness and longing.

Her clothes gradually slipped away, slowly sliding into the bedding, and she pressed her lips against those crimson ones. “Mmm~”

“Luo Bingning…”

Her breathing grew rapid and ragged.

On the stone bed, a scene of tender intimacy unfolded.