Chapter Fifty-Five: My Mother

"Mother, why are you beating me like this? It hurts so much!"

"Don’t be afraid. These marks are beautiful."

"Mother, why are you pricking me with needles and thread?"

"Don’t be afraid. I’ll sew you up, and then you won’t feel cold anymore."

"Mother, it hurts, it burns, why are you pouring boiling water on me?"

"Don’t be afraid. Bear with it, and it will pass. Just bear with it, and it will be over soon."

"Mother, do you love me?"

"Yes, I love you."

"That’s wonderful. Mother loves me."

Yes, that’s right—Mother loves me.

She loves me. She needs me. She can’t live without me!

Blackness, utter darkness.

Ah!!!

Aaaaaaah!!

Yes, it’s laughable. My scars never came from that man; it was always that woman who left them on me.

Screaming until my voice is shredded, sobbing until there are no more tears, until exhaustion claims me and I cannot make a sound.

"Why are you crying? Why are you screaming?"

"Lin He, this world has never been fair."

"From the moment I arrived in this town, from the first time I saw you, I began to notice you."

"You’re different. You’re not like the others. You don’t belong to this town; you deserve a broader sky!"

"Lin He, will you come with me?"

"They don’t need you. They despise you. That’s their stupidity."

"I need you."

"I need someone who can stand before me."

"And you are my best choice."

"I can grant your every wish; I can give you everything I have."

"Lin He, stop hesitating! Come with me!"

The man in the black robe held out his hand to Lin He, his eyes fixed on him through the dark mask.

"Go? Go! I’ll go with you!"

"I’ll go with you! And then! I’ll kill them!"

Lin He lay on the ground, roaring with all his might!

"Yes, kill them."

"It’s all their fault! They all deserve to die, every one of them!"

"None will escape—they’ll all die by your hand."

"I don’t know who I am! Then so be it—I am no one!"

"Yes, you no longer need to force yourself. You are you."

"Even if I become a demon! Even if I give everything to the devil! I will kill them all!"

"Even if there’s no redemption?"

"Even if there’s no redemption!"

"Even if you’re shattered to pieces?"

"Even if I’m shattered to pieces!"

"Even if you lose everything?"

"I have nothing left!"

In the darkness of night, Lin He opened his bloodshot eyes and slowly stood up, every movement stubborn and deliberate.

"Yes, that’s it, Lin He. Don’t cry anymore. That comes from your weakness, your frailty. Come with me, and you will grow stronger!"

The man in the black robe gently stroked Lin He’s face.

So gentle.

"I will follow you, but I won’t go with you. I want to see them with my own eyes as they all fall into the abyss!"

"I want to see the Lin family utterly destroyed! Not a single one of them will escape!"

"As you wish. When you see a wider sky, you may change your mind," the man in the black robe said as he slowly walked away, turning back to look at Lin He. "And remember my name. Others simply call me Mr. Mo."

"Now, go do what you want to do. Do it without holding back—you are mine, so..."

"So?" Lin He raised his head, watching as Mr. Mo disappeared into the distance.

"I will remove every obstacle for you. I will pave the path you wish to walk. Leave your worries behind."

"Lin He, whether a person succeeds or not never depends on the journey. Only the result matters!"

"I will come to find you again."

The voice faded, growing indistinct, then vanished altogether.

The black robe disappeared.

The street remained as silent as ever.

Blood from Lin He stained his white robe—the robe he once cherished most was white no longer.

A person can change beyond recognition, become a stranger to themselves.

He had made his choice.

Unsteady, still like a walking corpse, but his eyes now held unprecedented resolve.

And a chilling coldness.

When was it? Yes, it was from this moment that he began to love black robes. Black—the color that needed no other. It was the only one!

It was the very opposite of white.

White snow—so filthy.

Step by step, he no longer felt the pain, staggering toward the Lin residence.

The Lin residence was vast—so vast that several banquets could be held at once without overlap, so vast that my absence would go unnoticed.

But why? Why, in such a vast house, was there no space for me?

The Lin residence—the place from which he first began to flee.

Lin He stood at the door. Inside, all noise had ceased—only the sound of snoring drifted out. It was over. They had destroyed her again.

He stepped forward. Even if ahead lay a bottomless abyss, he would not regret it.

Even if, once more, he were to be shattered to pieces.

Creak—the door opened, heavy and loud.

He saw his mother on the bed at a glance—disheveled, her hair loose, clothes in disarray, delicate skin exposed.

Her face still showed no life, no anger—only numbness, only emptiness.

The air was thick with an indescribable scent, a stench of decay.

Four naked men lay on the bed and floor, seemingly dead drunk, sprawled in every direction.

Behind him was his so-called father, who seemed to have truly fallen asleep.

"You’re here? Are you disappointed?"

"I don’t know."

"Then why are you here?"

"To do what I want to do."

"Can you go through with it?"

"I have already made my choice."

"Is that so? Good."

"You are my mother—once, you were."

Lin He gazed quietly at the woman on the bed.

"Heh, no, not for a single moment."

"I was only a pitiful woman taken by that man. I was only a tool, a vessel for their desires."

"It was he who destroyed everything I had, who ruined my entire family."

"Do you know why, even enduring such humiliation, I kept living?"

"Because I was waiting. I was waiting for you."

"Waiting for the moment you made your decision."

"Now, I have waited long enough."

"From the very beginning, it was you—no, it was all of you—who pushed me down."

"Do you know how much I used to yearn for love? How many times I endured, how many times I forced myself, only to be rewarded with despair," Lin He whispered softly.

"So?"

"So, I gave up. I gave up trying to crawl out of that abyss."

"That place is cold, so dark—but it suits me well."

"He’er, do it."

"You have no right to call me by that name."

A knife—a sharp knife had appeared in Lin He’s hand without anyone noticing.

Strangely, no one else in the room awoke; even as cultivators, it was as if they were dead drunk.

"After you kill me, go find my brother. He will protect you. You need someone to help you."

"He will be your uncle."

A flash of the blade—clean, decisive.

Without the slightest hesitation.

And in his world, the snow stopped.

That lily, stained by fresh blood, demonic and bewitching,

Withered.

"I will clear all obstacles for you."

That was what the man in the black robe once said.

Gazing at the woman before him, her body growing colder, Lin He felt an unexplainable peace.

He took a deep breath, and smiled.

Blood on the blade—he looked at his own reflection in the steel. He felt he had found his direction in the abyss.

"I will find that so-called uncle of mine, and I’ll help you fulfill your wishes."

"But not now. I don’t want them to end it so easily. It’s not enough, not nearly enough."

"You can take your time down there. Watch me well. Watch as I tread over their bones and, at last, avenge you."

"There’s someone who said he would help me. He says he needs me, so now, I have someone to rely on."

Six-year-old Lin He looked at the corpse—it was still beautiful, but now, truly lifeless.

She lay with her eyes closed, the corners of her lips raised ever so slightly, as if she were smiling.

"Watch closely, Mother. My mother."

Lin He whispered softly.

Beneath the bloodstained robe, the crane embroidered there seemed almost alive, brought to life by a few simple strokes.

What must a person endure to change so completely?

Not much—just a single moment is enough.