Qiao Wei’s Death

The more one tries to avoid something, the faster it comes. In the blink of an eye, two days had passed. Qiao Wei, carrying the secret casket filled with arrows, arrived at the entrance of the small town accompanied by Luo Xuan, Luo Chen, and Rhine. The witch was already waiting for them there. As soon as she saw them approaching, she tossed a curt command over her shoulder and strode ahead: "Follow me."

Qiao Wei and her companions followed the witch to an altar, where they stopped. Upon the altar sat a tiny, empty cup. The witch gestured for Luo Chen and Luo Xuan to approach, then spoke: "The two of you, drop your blood into the cup."

They did as instructed, and then the witch signaled for them to step down. She herself descended and took Qiao Wei by the arm, leading her up to the altar. In a voice so low only the two of them could hear, she whispered, "How can you have a future if you no longer have a life?"

Qiao Wei looked at the witch in confusion, but the witch said no more. She merely commanded, "Place the secret casket on the altar. After your blood drips into the cup, do not move. I will begin the incantation."

Qiao Wei nodded and cut her finger. Her blood dripped into the cup, merging seamlessly with that of Luo Xuan and Luo Chen. The moon peered from behind the clouds, round and bright like a great disk. The witch glanced at the sky, then poured the blood from the cup onto the pendant at the center of the secret casket. The pendant absorbed all the blood, then began to glow with a crimson light. The witch gripped Qiao Wei's wrist with one hand and laid the other on the secret casket, closing her eyes as she began to chant.

A chill wind rose instantly, and a strange terror gripped Qiao Wei—she found herself unable to move. Suddenly, a wisp of smoke issued from the pendant on the casket, twisting and coalescing into human form.

It was Su Mo! Her long black hair whipped in the wind just like Qiao Wei's, and excitement sparked in her amber eyes.

Su Mo lifted her arm gracefully, resting it on Qiao Wei’s shoulder. Her red lips parted gently. "Return my soul to me."

Qiao Wei stared at the ghostly Su Mo in terror, desperate to cry out for help. Instinctively, she looked toward Luo Chen and Luo Xuan, only to despair when she saw neither made the slightest move to intervene. Even Rhine had turned her face away, biting her lower lip in silence.

Qiao Wei closed her eyes in utter hopelessness, her heart as bitter as a bowl of medicine spilled and dashed. She felt something vital being rapidly drawn from her body, unstoppable.

She opened her eyes and found she could speak again. Her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes were strangely bright. Her voice carried an aged weariness: "So this is how it is. Everything was planned from the start. Luo Chen always saw Qiao Wei as a sacrifice. Ha... Luo Xuan, you knew all along, didn't you? All that gentleness was just a facade. Even Rhine... so she was the same? I see now..."

A single tear slid down Qiao Wei's cheek. She felt her legs could no longer support her, and her heart seemed to fail. She collapsed to the ground, closed her eyes, and her heart ceased to beat.

Rain suddenly began to fall from the sky; the moon had long since vanished. Drop by drop, the rain struck Qiao Wei's body. Everyone stood motionless, as if attending a funeral.