Borrowed Fate

The girl knelt in the snow-dusted dirt, cradling two bloodied bodies. One was her mother, torn brutally in half, her lifeless form soaking the ground in red.

The other was a younger boy-her brother-whose feet were burned beyond recognition.

His eyes were wide open, and his mouth was agape, as if he had experienced unbearable pain before his life was taken.

"Why..." the girl's voice trembled as she stared up at the night sky, her breath forming clouds in the cold air. Snow fell steadily, indifferent to the carnage below.

"Why...? Why? WHY!" she screamed, her tear-streaked face twisting in rage as though pleading for the heavens to hear her.

The scene played out just steps away from Wang Zhu, dragging her unwillingly into a memory she had fought to bury.

Her breathing hitched, her chest tightening. The child's grief was not hers-yet it felt deeply, painfully familiar, as though their emotions were intertwined.

Wang Zhu clenched her fists, trying to steady herself. She refused to succumb to the raw anguish clawing at her heart.

But as the girl's cries grew louder, her rage and sorrow spilling into the air like poison, Wang Zhu's fragile control began to crack.

Her heart pounded furiously, and the screams around her faded into an eerie silence. All that remained was the girl's desperate sobbing and anguished cries.

"Stop..." Wang Zhu murmured, her voice trembling under the weight of her own suppressed emotions.

Tears blurred her vision as a suffocating heaviness settled in her chest.

She struck herself with a clenched fist, desperate to regain her composure.

But it was futile. Her breathing grew erratic, and her knees gave way, sending her crumpling to the ground.

She gasped for air, her lungs burning, while the girl's relentless cries tore through her resolve.

Wang Zhu squeezed her eyes shut, willing the haunting images and emotions to disappear. But the more she resisted, the stronger the torment became.

Then, as though a spark of clarity ignited within her, she opened her tear-soaked eyes. Her face hardened, her sorrow transforming into raw anger.

"ENOUGH!" she roared, her voice ringing out like a crack of thunder.

The scene shattered like glass, dissolving into nothingness. Before she could gather her senses, a hand emerged from the void, cold and unrelenting, clamping around her throat.

Wang Zhu's eyes widened in shock as she locked onto her attacker-and froze.

It was herself.

Dressed in midnight black, with crimson eyes glowing like embers and a smug, twisted smile curling her lips, her doppelganger loomed over her.

"Wha..." She managed a strangled gasp before the grip on her throat tightened, cutting her voice off entirely.

Tears streaked down her face as her vision blurred. Her cheeks burned, and the world seemed to constrict around her as she fought desperately for air.

Her limbs thrashed, her strength ebbing away until the suffocating pressure dragged her into darkness.

In the void of her unconsciousness, Zui's voice echoed faintly, trembling with fear.

"Help... please!" The desperation laced in his cry jolted something within her.

Wang Zhu's eyes shot open as she sat bolt upright, her fingers instinctively gripping the hilt of her sword.

Finally a familiar environment and room filled her vision.

Her heart still pounded relentlessly in her chest as her frantic gaze scanned the room, finally locking onto a figure.

Standing at six feet tall, he loomed like a shadow of death, his upper body engulfed in a swirling fog of dark, oppressive energy.

Zui was pinned against the wall, the man's clawed hand wrapped tightly around his throat.

It was a demon.

"Finally awake? Did you enjoy the gift?" the demon sneered, satisfaction dripping from his voice as his dark, menacing aura pressed down on the room.

"Help..." Zui choked, tears streaming from his wide, pleading cat-like eyes as he struggled against the demon's iron grip.

Wang Zhu didn't know what the demon meant, nor could she piece together what had just happened-but there was no time for questions.

In one swift motion, she unsheathed her swords, their blades catching the faint light in the room as she lunged at the demon.

But before her strike could land, the demon dissolved into the same void from which he had come, leaving no trace but the oppressive heaviness in the air.

A surge of anger and frustration gripped her. She wanted to run after it, but she chose to focus on Zui, who was now on the floor, coughing and gasping for breath.

She bent down to help him up, guiding him back to the bed and sitting him down next to her.

"Who is that demon?" she asked, her brows knitted with indignation and displeasure.

How dare he play with me.

Wang Zhu gritted her teeth internally, still feeling the unresolved urge to capture the demon who escaped.

"It was him," Zui managed to say between ragged breaths.

"The one who captured me." He wiped the tears from his eyes and continued.

"That stupid, corrupt demon fled as soon as you woke from his trap of subconsciousness. He must be afraid that the body he just took over will be harmed by you. He's weak when inside someone else's body."

Wang Zhu frowned at that.

Zui, the young entity, took a moment to fully calm himself before speaking thoroughly.

"He is a demon created by human inner reflection," he started.

"That's why, earlier, I warned you that he's difficult to deal with and that you might die if you face him. Because..."

He paused, meeting her gaze. He had second thoughts about continuing, but thinking of those cultivators who commit horrible acts against his peers; he decided not to hold back anymore.

"You are spiritually fragile; I could feel it the moment I saw you. The positive energy surrounding you is unstable, constantly clashing with your restless mind," he said.

"You carry a heavy burden of suppressed anger and an unquenched thirst for justice. If you choose to fight the demon formed by people's inner desires, you will become ensnared in an endless nightmare of torment and suffering. In the end, he will corrupt your mind and consume your soul bit by bit. You know what follows after that. You cultivators are smart, after all."