Chapter 1

Warning: Descriptions of abuse

It was said that a war god made the Chitang village rise from ashes. He was also the one who named this village in the loving memory of his woman....

The snow fell heavily on her small button nose. Her eyes clear of any stain, wandered on the sky's infinite stretch. She reached out her frail arms and she released a sigh accompanied with a soft smoke. The girl was currently kneeling in front of a god's statue. Her hair and irises were the same shade of the darkest night. She clasped her hands together and muttered a small prayer, ignoring the cold that continued to seep through her clothes. She quivered as the wind blew and she bit her bottom lip.

"Please hear this lowly one's wish, oh great God of War", she prayed earnestly.

...

"Please give me a lot of money!", she yelled and slammed her head hard on the snow-filled ground.

The girl then got up and bowed one more time before running away with flushed cheeks. Each of her steps left a soft crunch, a sound similar when she used to step on the dead leaves when autumn comes by. A sound she rarely heard as she grew up and reached the peak of nineteen.

"Lily!", a familiar angry voice yelled her name.

She flinched and sped up her pace as she tried to stop herself from going to the other direction. Lily looked up and saw the unruly figure of her father. The man was short and had layers of fat hanging around his body. His hair was thinning and his skin was flushed due to the constant drinking. Baihe braced herself and thought about which punishment he would inflict on her. As she was a meter away from the man, he swung his right arm and he threw a bottle at her face. The force that collided with her head brought a searing pain as blood flowed down her face. Lily blinked back the tears and took a sharp breath. She refused to even attempt to stop the bleeding.

"You whore! Your filthy ass should be in the house cooking dinner right now!", his rancid breath was accompanied by small cloud as he screamed at her.

Lily's lips quivered and she whispered a small apology before another hit came from the back of her head as she walked past her father. The drunk man leered at her and licked his dry lips. Then, he went off to another direction to quench his thirst. Lily gripped her rough skirt as she felt the man's momentary gaze. When she felt that she was far enough, she let out a sigh of relief. Her heart was set at ease as she neared the town. The statue was in between the circle of houses and the place where it stood was far away from any houses as most of them had forgotten the said god.

"Look at her shaking her hips like the slut she is", a woman spitefully said loud enough for her to hear.

"I heard she went to that old statue again, is she pregnant?"

"She's acting like somebody just because the town head's son is showing interest on her"

The others chimed in on the slandering and Lily dipped her head lower and lower as the foul words became louder. Her tears burned her eyes and threatened to pour down like the rain. But she kept in in, maintained what dignity she could muster and trampled on the snow on her way to her house. She couldn't even call it a home as the atmosphere sickened her to the core. Once the voices were gone, she raised her head and focused on the house at the distance. The house was decent, nothing fancy but it reeks of hostility that even beasts would not dare to approach it. She could see that the fire hasn't been lit despite the night slowly creeping in and she sighed. She opened the door and was greeted with a sharp slap.

"You slut! Going around, displaying that indecent body of yours like the whore you are! Do you know how that affects the image of the family?! And now I just heard that you don't want to marry the town head's son?! You should be grateful that he's willing to marry a bitch like you!", was what the mother first said to her daughter.

Her mother's battered down figure stood angrily before her. The pain on her cheek was tingling and shocked her that she wasn't able to answer. She once again fought back the tears and maintained a plain face as much as she could. She wouldn't let herself break down, not in front of her mother. The woman was wearing a fine maroon dress with a plunging neckline, which Lily thought was supposed to be sexy. Her face was heavily smoothened with cream, her eyebrows perfectly arched and her lips the color of roses. Her brown hair was pulled into a tight bun secured with accessories. She looked extravagant, Lily knew this and praised her mother inside her heart.

"Go and light up some fire you useless idiot! Begone!", her mother yelled while pulling out her fan.

"Yes, mother", Lily meekly replied.

The woman scoffed and went upstairs while she spat more insults that Lily ignored. What she cared right now was that her big brother would be home soon. He was the only reason why she always comes back here. She made her way to the kitchen and hoped that the fire would warm her broken and wounded heart even just a little bit. The blood on her head dried and was soon forgotten like her sorrows as she thought about her big brother.

'Everything will be fine as long as he is here'