A heavy silence cloaked the house like fog after a storm—thick, suffocating, and tense with unspoken emotions. Ling Mei sat motionless on the low wooden bench, her face pale, her arms scratched and bruised. Her breathing was shallow, like someone drowning in guilt.
Across the room, Lan moved quietly, her hands trembling slightly as she dabbed antiseptic onto her daughter's wounds. The warm scent of herbal salve lingered in the air, but it could not cover the ache between them.
No words. Only silence.
Until finally, Li Wei, leaning against the doorway with a blanket over his frail shoulders, broke it with a voice roughened by emotion.
"Why, Ling Mei?" he asked softly with a sense of worry. "Why did you deceive us?"
She looked up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Her throat constricted, but she forced the words out.
"I'm sorry… truly. I know I was wrong. I—I didn't know what else to do.Nothing can justify my actions at all" Her voice cracked, barely a whisper. "I was desperate. The medicine you needed… we couldn't afford it. I couldn't just sit and watch you die, I didn't want to lose you dad. I thought… I thought if I could earn enough, quickly—"
Her words dissolved into sobs.
Lan dropped to her knees and gathered Ling Mei into her arms, clutching her so tightly it hurt. It was a passionate hug as tears streamed down her She didn't want her daughter to disappear again from her presence for even a moment.
"I nearly had an heart attack, I'm surprised I'm still surviving," she whispered, her voice thick. "Do you know the kind of torment I endured, watching you out there… fighting… bleeding… maybe dying? I couldn't imagine losing you. "
"I'm sorry, Mother…" Ling Mei cried.
Lan pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. "Don't ever risk your life like that again. Do you hear me? Nothing in this world is worth losing you. Nothing. We love you and cherish you."
Li Wei approached slowly, his steps weak but steady. He knelt beside them, resting a hand on Ling Mei's head. "You made a choice no child should ever have to make," he said with a faint smile. "And yet, you did it for me. My brave girl… I'm proud of you.We are proud of you.But no more secrets?"
" Yes dad. I'll never hide anything from you and mom ever again"
He gave her a reassuring nod.
Tears spilled freely now—from all three of them. They embraced themselves tightly not willing to break the bond shared. For a moment, the silence returned, but this time it was warm, full of understanding.Li wei was super proud of his daughter. She exceeded his expectations. He was just glad she survived and he never wanted to undergo the experience of even losing her for a second. He didn't know she would sacrifice everything to see him on his feet again. The risk was too much.
In the days that followed, the rare ingredients for Li Wei's medicine were finally secured. Lan brewed the potent decoction herself, her skilled hands mixing herbs and roots passed down through generations. As Li Wei took each dose, color slowly returned to his cheeks, and strength to his limbs. His laughter returned, and with it, the light in their home.
To celebrate his recovery, they planned a quiet but joyous feast. The house was swept, the furniture arranged neatly, and silk lanterns were strung across the wooden beams. Lan wore a rose-colored robe embroidered with cranes, and Li Wei, though still recovering, dressed proudly in his ceremonial blue. The smell of dumplings and candied lotus roots wafted through the air.
That morning, Ling Mei was sent to the market to fetch the last of the ingredients. She walked with a spring in her step, a smile tugging at her lips. For the first time in years, her heart felt light. Whole.
But when she returned—
Everything shattered.
The moment she stepped past the threshold, her senses screamed. The scent of blood hit her first—metallic and raw. Her eyes darted around the room in disbelief.
The decorations were torn. Furniture lay in disarray. The flowers had been overturned and smashed beyond repair. Her mother's favorite vase was shattered in the corner, its pieces stained red.
This couldn't be happening right now! Who was responsible for this? Why did they want to scatter her happy life? She could not bear to face this again. Rage and pain coursed through her. Tears welled in her eyes flowing continuously without stopping. She was shivering all over.
And there, in the center of the room, lay Lan. Her mother.
Her robes were soaked in blood. Her eyes—those kind, ever-gentle eyes—stared at nothing.
Ling Mei dropped her basket. The porcelain bowls inside exploded against the floor with a deafening crash.
She rushed to her mother, cradling her limp body, rocking it as if she could somehow shake life back into her. Her voice broke into a thousand pieces as she screamed her mother's name again and again.
"No… no, no, no… this can't be happening! It must be a dream!"
Reality stared back at her because her mother was unmoving.
Then a cough.
A weak, rattling gasp through laboured breath.
"Father?!"
She turned and saw him—Li Wei—barely clinging to life, slumped near the stairs. He was at death's door already.His chest rose and fell with agonizing slowness, and his mouth was stained with blood.
She crawled to him, clutching his hand not willing to let go.Her tears at the moment could fill a bucket. She looked so pitiful.
"I'm here, I'm here! Don't close your eyes—please! I can save you. I'll get help. Just hold on!" She said desperately.
Li Wei smiled faintly, his gaze fixed on hers. "My child… forgive me… for leaving this way…"
"No, don't say that!" she sobbed, shaking her head rigorously. "You're not leaving me too. Please, don't…"
Ling mei's body quaked as though she had been hit by lightning. She feared to imagine her dad dying. Her tears and condition at the moment could melt the hardest heart.
"Listen… to me," he wheezed, blood gurgling in his throat. "You must survive!Don't… seek revenge rashly… in anger. Live. Survive. Promise me… you'll survive at all co..st. Leave this village. Disappear. And when the time is right… strategize and strike." he coughed out blood again as his eyes dimmed.
He raised his trembling hand to touch her one last time but it never made it.His hand stopped midway as it fell limply to his side. He shut his eyes quietly and completely lifeless.
And just like that… her world ended again.
Ling mei let out a raw wail, so piercing that it seemed to shake everywhere.She was in severe pains. Her heart was in sorrows.
"Noooooooooooooooooooo!" the sound of her tears was heart rending. Whoever did this would surely pay. That person would never go unscathed. Just when she found happiness, that person crushed her joy.
Raindrops started falling. It was as if the sky weeped with her. They understood that some heroes had been lost.Her sobs echoed into the empty room, mingling with the thunder that rolled in the distance.
She buried her parents with trembling hands, placing them side by side beneath the plum tree where they once laughed as a family. The scent of blossoms mixed with the scent of sorrow.
And in the wreckage of their home, she found it.
A letter.
Written in blood.
The handwriting was jagged, chaotic—dripping with mockery.
"If you're reading this, then my rare gift has reached you. Lovely, isn't it? You are happy, right? LOL! I know your parents died well—though they were stubborn to the end. Don't cry yet. It's just a tip- the beginning.Your father surprised me. He resisted like a Lion. I had to bring in many top-tier assassins and martial artists to break him.They betrayed him.They both refused to disclose your location despite the brutal torture.Your mother refused to scream, even as she bled. Remarkable.I promise to find you.
I've just started. Do you remember what you did to me? You hurt my pride by gouging out my eye.My right eye—gone. You gave me this ugly scar. A one- eyed man with a hideous scar. You thought I'd forget?
It's not over.
This isn't revenge. This is a beautiful game.
Besides, I wrote this with your lovely mother's blood. It dried so quickly, I had to keep re-inking. Isn't that fascinating?
Don't come after me. Unless you have a death wish. Anyway, I don't mind fulfilling it.
I'm coming for you.
I know this is the best news ever! Hahaha!
Your best pal, Ming Hao."
Her fingers clenched around the parchment, crumpling it until the dried blood flaked like dust. Her breathing was ragged, her knuckles white.
She wanted to scream. To tear him apart piece by piece. To hunt him down and make him suffer.
But then she remembered her father's voice—his final words.
"Survive. Live. Strategize."
She couldn't die now. Not yet.
She needed time. She needed strength. She needed to disappear and become someone they could never predict.
Ling Mei packed what she could, wrapped her parents' keepsakes in silk, and stepped into the rain. She didn't look back.
Qianzhong Village would remember her as the girl who vanished in the storm.
But one day—when the skies were darkest, and the enemy least expected it—she would return.
Not as a daughter seeking justice.
But as the blade of vengeance itself.