Lin Xi POV
'It can't be...' I closed my eyes, and reopened it, praying that this moment was only a dream. The ground beneath me was a pool of blood. I breathed in cold air into my lungs, choking on the rush of air into my lungs.
Everything was gone...
My family, the people I loved were all dead.
I groaned heavily, kicking out the heavy stone crushing on my right legs. The pain was unbearable but I couldn't cry out. Not when Tang Li Dynasty was in ruins.
"Any---body?" I stuttered with my mouth spewing out blood as soon as the rock was away from my leg. "Fuck!" I screamed feeling the icy air brush against my wounded knee cruelly. I pulled myself carefully from the ground, gathering cuts of fabrics littered next to me. I had them wrapped around my knees downwards carefully, struggling to get up from the ground but hissed in pain as I fell down.
How had things gone wrong?
My mind flew to three hours ago, where everyone was jovial and happy. How could everything be ruined under three hours?
I should have known...i shouldn't have let my guards down. How could I have been oblivious to their plan of taking over the Tang Dynasty?
I couldn't stop the amount of blame running through my head while I got up, staggering forward to their bodies laid far away from me. I fell to the ground once I was able to get closer, my hand caressing their pale, bloody face.
"Look at me mom, look at me! You can't close your eyes. Don't you dare..." Unconsciously, my hands flew to the side of her neck, trailing a crooked line to find her pulse. Troubled, I crashed onto the ground, grappling her hands next to my chest.
No pulse, nothing at all!
I coughed out blood again, and sniffed in, rising from the ground.
"You've won! Isn't that what you want to hear?" Ragingly, I yelled. My feet taking the first step to the cloud of smokes in front of me. "They are all dead. You killed them!" I screamed but no response.
I could feel his presence, taste his raging breath from afar. Hell, did I know who was this powerful to orchestrate such a blow on the Tang Dynasty.
Thud!
My head fell backwards, my heart suddenly stopped beating as I felt something peirce through me from behind. My body stiffened as the sharp, icy pain spread throughout my body. I could feel my body pale instantly---rather run cold. I looked down, trembling weakly as blood profusely seeped through my armor, forming drops of the ground before me.
My face blanked, as I reached for where the sharp pain came from and found a silver blade in my abdomen.
"You..." I choked on my blood, wiping them off my lips. I turned my head slowly to see the figure behind me. A shadowed figure stood there, holding the onto the edge of the blade that had pierced me. His face was hidden by the dark smoke swirling around me, but his eyes... Those merciless eyes glowed with a cold light that froze me in place.
I could feel every bit of my last strength disappear as my whole body came crashing to the ground.
"How I do much love to see you defeated, Lin Xi. How about we celebrate?" His ruthless chuckles echoed in my ears, gripping out the sword mercilessly. That was the final blow I needed for my body not to get up.
"You bastard. How you wish!" I scoffed,groaning with my fist forming a clutch around the wound.
"Aiyoo, you really don't know when to give up, Lin Xi?" His laughter died down darkly and from his face, I could tell he wasn't happy with what I had said. He crouched down to my level, his embroidered robe flowing behind him. His emotionless eyes never left mine.
Every second that passed away, the air between the two of us grew colder. I grunted as he raised my chin up with his forefinger, his right hand reaching for my hair but stopped midway as he let out a pained smile.
"What a nice day to get along with you Lin Xi. I came by to drop Father Lin however I couldn't stand the sight of you all being so happy after you mercilessly killed me. Tsk, I guess this is truly the end."
I tried to focus on his words, but my mind was clouded by the pain and the growing numbness that spread through my limbs. His words, they didn't make sense. What was he talking about? I had never killed him, never betrayed him like he claimed.
He didn't make sense at all.
"Pathetic person. I wonder how you even knew my father..."
"Oh I know him, in fact we go a long way and same goes for you Lin Xi. We were really close until you decided to end my life. That moment you pierced your sword into my heart, I just knew what I wanted the most---revenge."
My ears rang with doubts of what he had just said. As much as I wanted to hope it wasn't who I thought it was, it could only be him.
Jin Yutian...
"The disgust lurking on your face tells me you remember me." He leaned in closer, that unsettling smile still stretched across his face, despite the mask he wore. His eyes gleamed with a cold malice that made my blood run even colder. He pulled the sword into
wiping it off with a clean handkerchief from his side, as if it were nothing more than a casual task. "Lin Xi, the once mighty princess, is now kneeling beneath me. A whole worthless servant."
"Jin Yutian?" I muttered, barely able to push the name past my cracked lips. I truly didn't like the sound of him somehow being alive after I had killed him decades ago.
My mind raced with pieces of the past building on each other like a puzzle awaiting to be fixed. Decades ago, I was standing in the courtyard, drenched in his blood with my sword stabbed in his chest multiple times.
And now here I was, reaping greatly.
"How could I forget you? When the stars align, it can never be wrong. I always had this feeling you would turn out to be this." I chuckled uncontrollably, some peace settling in my mind knowing that I made the right call. I didn't have to feel guilty killing Jin Yutian just because the divination says that on my father's eightieth birthday, the devil's bone will possess Jin Yutian and give the power for revenge.
He would make him go after the most sorted Marshal and have him beheaded.
That was the last line of the divination.
I forced my eyes to stay open recalling the world's of Zhan Bu Shi. If there was one thing that was clear, the last Marshal standing was my father.... Lin Xianfeng. My gaze darted around the smoky atmosphere, searching for my father, hoping—praying—that he was still alive somewhere in this nightmare.
"You're looking for him, aren't you?" Jin Yutian's mocking voice cut through the air like a blade. With a flick of his hand, the smoke parted, revealing a figure sprawled on the ground. My breath caught in my throat as I recognized the crimson robes of my father.
"No!" I cried out, dragging myself forward despite the pain shooting through my legs.
He stepped closer to my father, his two fingers raised as though he were a puppeteer controlling strings. My father's limp body suddenly rose from the ground, suspended in the air by an invisible force. His head hung to the side, unconscious or worse—I couldn't tell.
"Drop him, Jin Yutian! Please, I beg you," I screamed, my voice breaking. "If you want revenge, take it out on me! Don't hurt him! I was the one who killed you, I was the one who stabbed you."
Jin Yutian tilted his head, his lips curled up and his smile in his eyes. "Gone are the days I hid my powers, pretending to be someone worthy of your love, Lin Xi. Now, I have no need to pretend. You chose to destroy me, and for that, I'll destroy everyone you care about."
He raised his other hand, and the sword he had discarded moments ago rose from the ground, hovering around him in the air.
"No! Don't do this!" I pleaded, tears streaming down my face. If he struck my father then the whole world was going to be in ruins.
I would not only have killed Tang Dynasty, I released word damnation!
He turned to me, his eyes glowing with a sinister light. "Starting with him."
The sword shot forward with terrifying speed. My father's head fell before I could scream. Blood sprayed across the ground, his body hung hollow in the air. My cry was the last thing ever heard again lost as my body collapsed in despair.
Jin Yutian turned back to me, crouching down beside me. "Now, Lin Xi, tell me... how does it feel to lose everything?"