Into The Sea

Ji Lingyue raised her eyes, watching the figure walking ahead of her.

In the forest, under the moonlight, the gentle murmur of the stream flowed by her ears. With each step, fireflies were startled into flight, their faint green glow drifting through the silent wilderness, illuminating the beautiful profile of the person in front.

It seemed as if they were the only two people left in this world.

Ji Lingyue glanced at their intertwined hands, not asking where she was being taken, nor what they were going to do. She simply followed, step by step.

Lan Wu was wearing a white robe, her smooth black hair braided into small pigtails that curled behind her ears. When they reached a patch of deep purple night-blooming flowers, she finally stopped. She turned to look at Ji Lingyue with a smile on her face. “We’re here.”

Ji Lingyue instinctively stood beside her. “What are we doing here?”

Lan Wu raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a hint of confusion. “Of course, it’s to make up for your birthday gift.” She leaned closer to Ji Lingyue, speaking earnestly. “A few days ago, I was punished by the Elder to copy scriptures again, and I missed your twenty-first birthday. It was my fault. I know you’re angry, and I apologize. Please forgive me, okay?”

Twenty-first birthday?

Ji Lingyue vaguely felt that something was wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. The person in front of her had already moved closer, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back into the flowers. She found herself lying under the starry sky, surrounded by fireflies, staring at Lan Wu’s bright and lively face as it slowly grew closer.

Their black hair tangled together, and the girl gently kissed her.

Ji Lingyue’s fingers curled slightly. She struggled internally for a long time before finally giving in and wrapping her arms around the person above her, returning the kiss.

Lan Wu’s eyes only reflected her. Each kiss was like a sacred vow. Ji Lingyue’s heart gradually filled with a sense of contentment. She let out a soft moan, closing her eyes and intertwining her tongue with hers. She wanted to wrap her arms around her neck, but her wrists were pinned to the ground.

The soft body suddenly withdrew. Ji Lingyue opened her eyes in confusion, her dark pupils clouded with a misty haze. Lan Wu looked down at her for a moment, then released her and turned away, as if she was going to do something.

Ji Lingyue instinctively grabbed her hem. “Where are you going?”

Lan Wu’s voice suddenly turned cold, as if coming from far away. “I’m going home.”

Ji Lingyue froze, her face instantly turning pale.

She whispered, “Don’t…”

Lan Wu coldly pried off her hands and walked away. Ji Lingyue scrambled up in panic, stumbling after her, her clothes still disheveled. She tightly embraced Lan Wu from behind, speaking incoherently. “Don’t go, don’t leave me… Lan Wu, Lan Wu…”

Lan Wu remained silent. Ji Lingyue looked up at her, but she noticed that the person’s black hair had turned silver, a demonic aura radiating from her. She was beautiful and extravagant. She turned to look at Ji Lingyue, her blue eyes gradually filling with malice.

“Lan Wu…”

Ji Lingyue’s face was pale. She wanted to get closer, but a sharp pain suddenly pierced her chest. She looked down in shock and saw a pair of claws piercing through her chest, tightly gripping her beating heart.

Lan Wu’s mouth split into a grin that grew wider as she made sounds of pleasure. “To think you would fall in love with a demon. You’re so pathetic! Hahaha, hahahaha!”

Ji Lingyue’s eyes widened as she was pushed backward, losing balance, but the expected pain never came. After the dizziness passed, she instinctively looked up to find herself in endless wind and snow.

She was stunned for a while before realizing that she was on the Cliff of Contemplation.

A voice behind her said, “Senior Sister Ji, it’s time to go down the mountain.”

Ji Lingyue frowned, vaguely remembering that today was indeed the day her three years of punishment ended.

She made an acknowledging sound and walked down the mountain in a daze.

As she walked out of the Leng Peak and onto the mountain path, she encountered many disciples, some familiar, some strangers. When Ji Lingyue looked at them, they all avoided her gaze. But after they passed, she could feel their prying eyes on her back.

She frowned, suddenly stopping to look back.

The person hurriedly turned away, walking quickly.

Ji Lingyue was silent for a moment before lowering her gaze and continuing toward Jinling Peak.

“Ah! Watch out!”

A girl carrying books stumbled and fell towards her. Ji Lingyue instinctively reached out to steady her, and she also neatly stacked the books that had flown out, placing them back in the girl’s hands.

The girl sighed in relief and looked up with a smile. She was about to thank her, but suddenly froze, taking two steps back in fear.

Ji Lingyue frowned. “You…”

“Stay away from me!” she said in a panic. “Don’t touch me!”

Ji Lingyue stopped abruptly and stood still.

In the howling wind and snow, scrutinizing, contemptuous, disgusted, and curious gazes fell on her from all directions. Those who had left earlier reappeared at the edge of her vision, huddling together and whispering.

“She actually fell in love with a demon.”

“How disgusting.”

“How could Elder Qin have a disciple like her?”

“She has disgraced her master.”

“Has she helped the demon kill?”

“She should be expelled from Haochen Mountain.”

***

Ji Lingyue clenched her fists, her face gradually turning pale. She looked up at the blurry figures and said in a hoarse voice, “Lan Wu is not an evil demon.”

The crowd suddenly twisted, as if they were watercolors being blended into black ink. Night fell, and her throat burned. She couldn’t breathe, but she still staggered down the mountain.

The clouds slowly covered the crescent moon, and the last ray of light disappeared.

Ji Lingyue’s foot slipped, and before she could even cry out, she tumbled down the mountain. She instinctively held the person in her arms tightly. After finally stopping, her whole body felt like it was falling apart, aching terribly.

“Yun’er…”

She called out dazedly, turning over and reaching out to grab the hand of the girl who had tumbled down with her.

Her hand was ice cold, sticky liquid flowing down to wet Ji Lingyue’s palm.

Ji Lingyue shivered and crawled to her side, pulling her into her arms. “Yun’er, hold on a little longer,” she choked out. “We’ll be down the mountain soon. We’ll find a healer. The healer will save you…”

“Crack…”

A soft sound came from behind as a dry branch broke—something was slowly approaching.

Ji Lingyue trembled, turning back in fear to see blood-red eyes glowing in the darkness.

“You can’t save her.”

The voice was lazy. “Don’t worry, I gave her a quick death. She didn’t suffer much.”

“No, no,” Ji Lingyue retorted, her voice trembling. “She’s not dead…”

“Oh?” She laughed: “Why don’t you look down and see for yourself?”

Ji Lingyue froze. A gentle breeze blew, and the clouds gradually dispersed. The clear moonlight shone down again, and in an instant, the forest was as bright as day.

She lowered her head, bit by bit, like a rusty puppet.

The six year old child in her arms was pale, her cloudy eyes unable to close. Her black pupils had dilated. Her mouth was slightly open, and her round chin was stained with blood from her chest. There was a gaping hole where her heart should have been.

Her heart was gone.

In the deathly silence, the thin girl seemed to have stopped breathing. She raised her hand, her palm also covered in sticky blood. Ji Lingyue opened her mouth, letting out a few broken sobs, before suddenly screaming in anguish.

“Ah! Aaaaah!!”

Bloody tears fell as Ji Lingyue shook violently, crying in terror and despair, her voice hoarse almost to the point of coughing blood.

Crack

The creature hiding in the darkness slowly emerged. A slender black cat was revealed in the moonlight, its whiskers still stained with dried blood.

“Why…” She retched, clutching her chest as she choked out between sobs. “Why did you do this? I saved you… I saved you!”

“Saved me?” The black cat stopped in front of her, its red eyes looking at her tear-stained face with interest. “Yes, because you saved me, I came to like you. But you said you had a family and that’s why you couldn’t come with me.”

She licked the blood from her lips with a smile. “Now, they’re all dead. You can come with me now, right?”

Ji Lingyue’s face was pale. She shook her head in disbelief.

“Just for this, just for this, you killed them…”

“Is that not allowed?” The black cat widened its round eyes and tilted its head, looking innocent. “Demons killing humans. It’s just killing, do we need a reason?”

“You, you…” Ji Lingyue’s chest heaved. She suddenly cried out in anguish and pulled out the sword from her waist, lunging at it. “I’ll kill you!”

Her usually clear eyes were bloodshot, her black hair disheveled, face pale and twisted like a vengeful ghost as she grabbed the black cat’s throat and pinned it to the ground.

Just as the blade was about to fall, the black cat’s form suddenly stretched, becoming a slender, tall human figure. That person raised their head, revealing a familiar face.

Ji Lingyue froze, staring at her in horror.

“Kill me?” Lan Wu’s eyes curved in amusement as she said gleefully. “Yes, you should kill me. But can you do it? Ji Lingyue, if your innocent family who died tragically knew that you fell in love with a demon, what would they think?”

“Ah, surely, even in the depths of the underworld, they wouldn’t be able to rest in peace. Their eyes would remain wide open in death, their souls denied any chance of rebirth!”