"If You Don't Want to Die..."

Lightning coiled in the sky like dragons, roaring thunderously, bringing forth another sense of fear towards anything that could hear it. 

Heavy rain continued to pour down.

In a small rural village, a hut covered in straw pitifully caved in against the pressure of the rain. Water came rushing inside, and the people inside it were abruptly awakened. 

"Quick, find a basin!" 

A thin, frail-looking woman shouted from the hut. 

"Where would I find that here? Besides, it won't be of use!" a rough voice of a man replied. 

Whoosh!

A strong wind gushed through the curtained entrance of the hut, making the two people inside shiver in the cold. 

In another smaller hut, lying on the cold, wet ground, was a young girl. She appeared to be between seventeen and eighteen years old. With only skin and bones, she was in a more desperate and pitiful state than the two people in the other hut. 

At first glance, it looked like she had passed on. Despite the rain and cold weather, she remained in that fetal position without movement. 

Just then, as the lightning crackled across the sky, the girl's eyes suddenly opened. It revealed a striking pair of beautiful brown eyes, framed by a cat-shaped eye.

Hot. So hot.

Tears pooled in the girl's eyes as she stared up at the sky. 

Her body was burning. Her throat was parched, like dry sand. 

She tried to make a sound, but the only thing she could utter was a painful whine.

The girl stayed like that for a while. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she moved her fingers and tried to get up. But, for some reason, no matter how much strength she exerted in her arms, she continued to fail and ended up lying on her side. 

After struggling, Ruan Yifei no longer got up. She was so tired. 

A moment later, she bitterly smiled and closed her eyes. If this was the Afterlife, then let her rot there forever. Why did she still have to struggle even after death?

"-Fei!"

"A'Fei!" 

From a near distance, she could hear her name being called. 

She slightly pried her eyes open out of curiosity. Who was calling her? From the tiny horizontal slit that she allowed herself to see, Ruan Yifei saw her mother running towards her. 

The rain outside soaked her mother's entire body and her hair clung to her face like seaweed. 

Ruan Yifei looked somewhat confused at her mother's figure slowly closing in. 

Why was she here? Ruan Yifei pondered. If she remembered correctly, after giving her back to the Marquis family, her mother from the rural village lived a comfortable life after remarrying a low-ranking officer.

And the last time they've seen each other… Wasn't it over ten years ago?

So, why? Why are you here?

Her questions were not answered as the mother she hadn't seen for a decade came closer. The older woman crouched on the ground and amidst the sound of heavy rain, she said, "A'Fei, the roof on our house caved in. Come quickly and help me!"

Before Ruan Yifei could respond, the older woman had already pulled her off the ground, dragging her across the road, and entered a slightly larger house. Although its size wasn't even comparable to the size of the kitchen of the Marquis' residence, it was still a comfortable place to live in.

And right now, that house was without a roof.

"Stop dallying, A'Fei, help mother and find a way to keep the rain from getting inside the house!" the older woman ordered.

But as if she didn't hear her, Ruan Yifei dazedly stared at the interior of the house. No one noticed that her body was trembling as her icy-cold fingers clenched tightly until they drew blood from her palms.

It was the same. It's all the same! Nothing changed from the decorations that were inside the house, her mother's face was not aged, the storm that took down their homes, and the day she almost died.

As if it wasn't enough, she even saw the man that her mother had taken home as her lover. He also looked the same despite not seeing each other for so long.

'Pa!'

Ruan Yifei's head turned slightly to the side as the pain from her mother's slap woke her up.

Without needing her brain to order her to move, her hand shot out to grab her mother's hand. And before the older woman could react, Ruan Yifei started pulling her out of the house. She didn't stop even when the rainwater soaked their entire body.

"What's wrong with you, Yifei?!" the older woman scolded her. "I told you to help me with the house, not drag me out of there! Let go, you silly child!"

But Ruan Yifei didn't let go. She continued to trek the wet muddy ground of the road toward the plain area of their village.

Feng Lin, Ruan Yifei's adoptive mother, frowned as she was dragged by her daughter. She couldn't understand what was going on with Ruan Yifei, who looked like she was possessed by a spirit as she braved the rain and continued despite their feet completely covered in mud. She didn't know that her daughter could have so much strength in her body that she could even pull her around the village.

Although she was embarrassed, a grown adult woman, being dragged around by her daughter, Feng Lin wanted to know what was going on with Ruan Yifei.

Finally, they stopped walking. But what was in front of them shocked Feng Lin.

"This…why did you take me here?" she asked with her voice quivering a little from the cold weather.

Ruan Yifei looked at the raised wooden platform in the center of the village market. It was an execution platform for the criminals who were sentenced to death.

She didn't reply to her mother and instead said, "Let's go up."

At her daughter's response, Feng Lin was in disbelief. "What?"

"I said let's go up." This time, Ruan Yifei used an authoritative tone that even made Feng Lin subconsciously want to follow.

Feng Lin looked at Ruan Yifei with a complex look in her eyes. She saw her daughter walking up the wooden stairs of the raised platform. Even though it was a place used to behead and hang criminals in the village, the girl didn't show fear or disgust. One should know that touching anything that has been stained by death and criminals might curse people. So, everyone avoided it as much as they could.

Yet, Ruan Yifei actually dared!

What's even more ominous was the words that she uttered as soon as she stood at the center of the platform.

"Mother, if you don't want to die… come up here."