A rainy night.
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.
In the dark night storm, the cabin was like a small boat on the verge of collapse.
Blowing through the gaps of the house into the dark room, the wind was bone-chilling. The rain was dripping down the old beams of the room, intensifying as time went by.
If one listened carefully amidst the noise and rain, there was a faint trembling sound coming from the straw mat in the bedroom of the wooden house.
"Sister… I'm… cold…"
An adult and a child, who might not even have the combined age of twenty, were huddled together in a corner of the bed.
It was the only place where rain could not leak onto.
Even so, the blankets covering their bodies were getting increasingly damp. The two of them could avoid the rain that fell from the roof, but they could not avoid the raindrops that were carried by the wind.
The temperature in the room was getting colder and the damp bedding made the situation worse.
The elder sister tried to hug her younger brother tightly and use their body heat to warm each other up, but the effect was not obvious. She could feel her younger brother's body trembling even more.
It was also possible that her body was also trembling.
They couldn't go on like this.
The older sister pursed her lips and gritted her teeth. She pulled her younger brother down from the bed quickly and they ran to the other bedroom in the house.
After quietly pulling open the door, the sister heaved a sigh of relief.
There was no one inside.
Their gambling and drinking father had indeed not returned yet.
The only reason she'd come here was that the only brazier in the house was in this room. The sister had found matches in a drawer, but they were difficult to light because they were damp. Plus, her fingers were frozen stiff from the cold.
After several attempts, the sister finally lit the brazier.
In an instant.
Scarlet flames lit up the dark room, flickering.
"So… warm… sister."
"Is it the fire… the fire god who came to help us…?"
"I'm so sleepy, sister…"
Her baby brother was pressed against her chest in her embrace. She could already hear his faint snores. She also started dozing off. The heat from the brazier kept the cold at bay and the precious warmth quickly made her fall asleep.
Unfortunately.
This happiness did not last long.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A quick knock on the door woke the sister.
"Open the door! Open the door, Vivian!" Outside the room, her father's anxious shout drowned out the sound of the rain. His voice was filled with panic, as if someone was chasing after him.
Oh no.
Not as if.
Dong!
Vivian had just left the bed and was about to open the door when the small wooden door was kicked open.
Immediately after, her father's bruised and swollen body was also kicked in.
"Run, run if you dare! If you don't pay up the money you owe me tonight, I'll burn your house down! Bring me the money!" A villager in a raincoat stood at the door. He had a ferocious look on his face and was shouting at her fallen father while grabbing him by the collar.
Even in the pouring rain, Vivian could still vaguely recognize the other party's face.
It was the village bully, Uncle Ji.
Maybe Vivian's gaze made Uncle Ji realize that there was someone else in the room. Or maybe it was the younger brother who had also been woken up and had left the bed to look for his older sister.
In any case, the burly villager revealed a malicious smile looking at the two children.
"You can't fork out the money, right? Then get your children to help you pay your debts!"
As Uncle Ji spoke with a sinister smile, he took a big step forward and rushed into the house. With one hand, he picked up the younger brother who was still sleepy and did not know what was happening.
"Let go! Let go of Andy!" Vivian screamed and tore at Uncle Ji's clothes when she saw that her brother was seized.
However, how could she, a frail little girl, compare to an adult man? Not only did Vivian fail to pull her brother back, but she was also forcefully dragged away from home by Uncle Ji.
Amidst the chaos and darkness, the anxious girl touched a sharp object hanging by the door.
It was what she usually used to cut grass…
A sickle.
Although the blade was already rusty and blunt, it was still more than enough to cut through a person's skin.
After all… human bodies are so fragile.
As long as she had a weapon, even a little girl who was only in her teens could kill an adult.
Drip drop…
Drip drop… drip drop…
The chaos stopped and only the sound of rain remained in the night. But this time, the rain that fell on Vivian turned blood red.
"Sis… sis… sister…"
"Vivian, you… you!"
Crack!
Lightning streaked across the late-night sky. In that moment of brightness, the images that flashed were of a dazed brother, a frightened father and the silent girl.
There was also the blood-stained sickle in the girl's hand, as well as Uncle Ji, who was lying in a pool of blood at her feet.
"Ha…"
"Hahaha…"
"What a useless old loser…"
The girl looked up. It was the same familiar face, the same familiar voice, but An Lu, who was Vivian's father, scrambled back into the corner as if he saw a monster.
"Viv… Vivian, what… what's wrong with you! No, wait, you… you're not Vivian, who… who are you!"
An Lu looked at his daughter in fear.
A completely different daughter.
"You dog, do you want to die?" Vivian brought the sickle still dripping with fresh blood to An Lu's neck. The girl, whose face was covered in blood, glared coldly at "her" father.
"If you don't want to die, move Uncle Ji's body to the top of the hill and push it off the cliff. Then… forget what happened tonight. Don't tell anyone about this. Do you understand?"
"Remember, Uncle Ji slipped and fell from the cliff because of the heavy rain. By morning, he would be divided among the wild beasts and would not leave behind a complete corpse. You would have luckily escaped from your gambling debts with no one to hound you for them anymore."
"Okay… okay! I, I'll move it right away!" An Lu trembled. It was unknown whether it was because he was afraid or because he was excited that he had cleared his debt.
After An Lu left with Uncle Ji's body, only the siblings were left in the cabin.
Vivian threw down the sickle and let the rain wash away the blood on it. Then, she looked at Andy, who seemed to be still in a daze. The girl frowned.
"Humph, another trash."
"What are you waiting for? Andy, come here!"
"You…" Looking at his completely unfamiliar sister, the young Andy was about to step back subconsciously when he tripped and bumped into the brazier on the ground, almost falling into the brazier.
"Idiot!" Vivian's expression changed as she cursed, but her body erupted with a power that didn't match her frail physique.
She lunged at Andy and they managed to avoid the brazier at the cost of rolling around on the floor.
"Does it hurt?" Vivian, who was half-squatting, lifted her brother's clothes and treated the wounds Andy had received from being tugged by Uncle Ji and the fall.
"Boohoo… Sister… Boohoo… I'm so scared…" At this moment, Andy seemed to have found the familiar figure of his sister in Vivian's body. The little boy threw himself into the girl's arms and burst into tears.
"Cry! You only know how to cry! Andy, remember this. You're a man. You can't wait for others to protect you in the future. You have to protect others, especially your sister. Do you understand?!"
"Boohoo… I… I understand, sister… Boohoo!"
"Alright! Don't cry anymore. Help me up. Your other sister is coming back. Remember to carry her to the bed!"
Just when Andy looked confused, unable to understand what his sister was saying…
The girl who was standing upright just now suddenly blacked out and fell to the ground.
"Sister!"
"Sister, what's wrong?"
"Sister…"
…
…
"Vivian?"
"Vivian, what's wrong?"
"Vivian!"
Dreadclaw Forest.
An unfamiliar voice called out to her. No, it didn't seem to be a voice, but a feeling that came from the depths of her heart.
Her consciousness was awakened.
Vivian opened her eyes.
All she could see was blood splattered everywhere and a headless corpse kneeling not far from her.
"Ha…"
"Hahaha…"
"This wimp. Is it my turn to clean up this mess again?"