Chapter 1 : Prologue
1: Prologue
The night rain was coming, and a fierce wind howled through the purple bamboo grove.
The shadows of the trees twisted and writhed like monstrous claws. The darkness within the forest seemed to hide man-eating ghosts. Yet none of these things terrified Qin Wan as much as the sound of footsteps closing in behind her.
Qin Wan ran desperately, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She glanced back over her shoulder as she fled.
He was catching up! That man was catching up!
Her dark, bright eyes brimmed with tears. Holding up the hem of her skirt, she mustered all her strength and sprinted toward the grove’s exit. Cold sweat drenched her as her feet flew over the ground, but she never expected a fallen, brittle branch to lie in her path.
Her foot caught. She couldn't stop her forward momentum and pitched headlong to the earth.
A dull pain exploded in her knees, forcing the tears from her eyes. She dared not waste a moment. Gritting her teeth, she tried to scramble back up. Just as she was about to rise, a shadow suddenly fell over her from behind. Almost simultaneously, a pair of hands seized her ankle.
Qin Wan’s eyes flew wide open. A scream of pure terror tore from her throat. "No! Help!"
They were a man’s large, strong hands.
He gripped her slender, lotus-root-like ankle with brutal force and, without a word, began dragging her deeper into the heart of the bamboo forest.
Fear made Qin Wan’s teeth chatter. Sensing the murderous intent radiating from the person behind her, she kicked frantically and flailed her arms, trying to grab onto anything. But the ground offered only a chaotic litter of dead branches and withered leaves.
A sob of despair escaped her as she watched the exit grow farther and farther away.
The wild wind swirled around her. Soon, she was dragged deep into the grove’s interior.
Her terrified cries were swallowed by the gale. When the grip on her ankle finally released, the man seized her by the hair instead. With another violent yank, he flipped her onto her back. Qin Wan screamed with all her might. "Help! Somebody, ple—"
Her cry was cut off as the man’s hand closed around her throat.
He applied a vicious, crushing pressure. Darkness swam before Qin Wan’s eyes. She clawed desperately at the man, but all she saw was the ruthless glint in his gaze.
Qin Wan knew she could not escape. Guttural, choked sounds rattled in her throat. A plea bloomed in her eyes. She did not want to die.
Her breathing grew more and more labored; her consciousness grew dimmer and more blurred. She could not form words, but her lips shaped a silent entreaty. The man knew she was begging for mercy. He merely watched her, utterly unmoved, the pressure of his hand increasing relentlessly.
Qin Wan felt her neck was about to snap. She was going to die…
Just then, another set of footsteps sounded.
A spark of hope flared in Qin Wan’s eyes, but when she heard the newcomer’s voice, that fragile hope was utterly extinguished.
"You… you’re going to kill her?!"
The woman who approached spoke in a trembling voice. "She… she is, after all, the legitimate daughter of the Qin Family!"
The man’s hand remained cruel, but his voice was calm. "The Qin Family keeping her is just keeping a useless burden. Besides, she saw us. She cannot be allowed to live."
The woman still hesitated. "But… but she is…"
"There are no ‘buts.’ Keeping her means our deaths."
The darkness before Qin Wan’s eyes grew heavier. Large teardrops rolled from the corners of her eyes. Her brows knit in agony, her face flushed a deep red, her eyes bulging. The nails of both hands dug deeply into the flesh of the man’s hand.
The man remained eerily composed, quietly waiting for Qin Wan’s life to fade.
A few moments later, the strength left Qin Wan’s hands. The unwillingness, the fury, the disappointment, the terror, all of it faded from her eyes. Her gaze grew vacant, fixed on the pitch-black night sky. Her legs, which had been kicking violently against the muddy ground, gave one last jerk, then a second, then a third… and fell still.
"Is she… is she dead?" the woman asked fearfully. Without waiting for the man’s answer, she sobbed again. "What do we do with her? Here… someone might come… If she’s found, will they know it was us…"
The man stood up, looking down at Qin Wan’s lifeless, unseeing eyes with indifference.
"Just throw her in the lake."