Arc 3

The small inn room was dimly lit. Lila sat beside the bed, carefully wringing out a damp cloth before pressing it against Ye Jin's forehead.

The woman's complexion was frighteningly pale. Her breath was shallow, her body drenched in sweat.

Lila pursed her lips.

She could still faintly remember that place. The cold, the darkness. The heavy chains that bound her wrists. The way her blood had been drained little by little, the sharp sting of a blade slicing into her skin. That time, she would feel a searing pain in her abdomen, like something was moving inside her, twisting and writhing like a parasite.

Then came the voice.

A low, crazed muttering.

Saying things she couldn't understand or comprehend.

And then, nothing.

The next thing she knew, she had woken up in this inn, her body extremely weak but she was free. Beside her had been a woman, unconscious, with blood pooling beneath her.