The village of Xiangli was a place suspended in time, hidden away from the rest of the world, surrounded by thick forests that whispered forgotten tales. The air was dense with the weight of ancient secrets, and the moon, when it rose in the sky, painted the night in a haunting crimson hue.
The villagers spoke of the omen—the blood-red moon—whenever it graced the sky. It was said that a child born under such a moon would carry within them an evil that could not be contained. But those were just stories, myths whispered around campfires… until that night.
---
A heavy silence hung over the small, dimly lit house where Li Xue was giving birth. The moonlight filtered through the window, bathing the room in an eerie red glow. Her labor had been long and painful, but nothing could have prepared her for the moment she looked down at her child, born under the crimson moon.
The baby's skin was pale, unnaturally so. His eyes, when they opened, were pools of pitch-black darkness, swallowing the light. They locked onto her with an intensity that felt like a curse. As the child took his first breath, the room seemed to darken further, and the air grew colder.
In that instant, Li Xue's heart pounded in her chest, a creeping dread crawling over her skin. She could feel it—the power radiating from him. The child wasn't human… not entirely.
The baby's cry was not the sweet wail of a newborn but a hollow, guttural sound that echoed through the stillness of the night. It was unnatural, as if it carried the weight of something ancient and evil.
As Li Xue cradled her son, she heard an almost imperceptible whisper, like a distant voice coming from the depths of her soul.
His name is Hei An.
The moment she heard it, she knew. She didn't understand why, but deep in her bones, she felt the truth of it. This child was the manifestation of darkness itself, a force that would consume everything in its path.
---
The years passed, and as Hei An grew, the signs of his dark nature became impossible to ignore. At first, his parents tried to raise him like any other child, with love and care, but the strange occurrences soon began to unravel their peace.
At four years old, Hei An never smiled. He didn't cry, either. He simply existed—observing. While other children laughed and played, Hei An would sit alone, his eyes fixed on the shadows, as if listening to a conversation only he could hear.
It wasn't long before strange things began to happen. Toys vanished, only to reappear in odd places. The air in his room would grow colder, and sometimes, when the wind howled outside, his eyes would turn to pools of black, as if he were seeing beyond the world.
But the true horror came when Hei An turned six.
---
It was evening, and the family sat down to eat. The room was filled with the warm glow of candlelight, and the soft hum of quiet conversation between Li Xue and Chen Wei, Hei An's father. But Hei An sat silently at the table, his dark eyes fixed on his parents. His hands, always too still, rested on the table.
Without warning, the bowl of rice in front of Li Xue tipped over on its own, spilling its contents across the floor. The strange silence in the room made Li Xue's breath catch in her throat. The shadows seemed to grow longer, stretching unnaturally toward the boy.
"Mother," Hei An's voice was low and distant, like a dark wind. "Father."
Li Xue froze. His voice didn't sound like a child's anymore—there was something unnatural in it, something otherworldly.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the words froze on her tongue as Hei An's eyes locked onto hers. She felt a wave of cold wash over her, like a blade pressed against her chest. It was suffocating. The air felt thick, as if the room itself was closing in.
"Do not touch me," Hei An whispered, his voice a twisted echo. "You are weak."
Before either parent could react, the shadows in the room surged, coiling around Chen Wei's legs, pulling him to the floor with a force that seemed beyond reason. The candles flickered wildly, their flames dancing erratically in the unnatural wind.
Li Xue rushed to her husband's aid, but Hei An's gaze remained unbroken. He was calm, detached, as if he were observing something far removed from this world.
"You… You are not worthy," Hei An murmured, the shadows retreating as if to obey him.
Chen Wei struggled to his feet, his face pale, eyes wide with shock. He reached for Li Xue, but she could only stare at their son. Her heart hammered in her chest, a cold dread settling deep within her bones.
This… this wasn't normal. This wasn't her son anymore.
---
That night, as the crimson moon hung low in the sky, casting an ominous light over the village, Li Xue and Chen Wei lay awake, fear creeping into their thoughts. Their son was no longer just a child. He was a vessel of darkness, and with each passing day, the power inside him would only grow.
The evil that had been born in Hei An's soul had only just begun to awaken. And as the blood-red moon rose again in the sky, the villagers would soon learn the true meaning of the prophecy.
The night passed in oppressive silence. The wind outside howled, carrying with it a strange, unshakable chill that seeped into every crack and crevice of the house. Li Xue lay awake beside her husband, her thoughts swirling in a vortex of dread.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw her son's dark, abyssal gaze, a stare that pierced through her soul. It felt as though Hei An was no longer just her child; he had become something else—something far more dangerous. The warmth of the room seemed to fade in his presence, replaced by an unnatural cold, an emptiness that gnawed at the edges of her mind.
The crimson moon outside illuminated the room, casting long, twisted shadows on the walls. Li Xue turned to Chen Wei, his face pale, eyes wide with fear.
"Chen Wei," she whispered, her voice shaking. "Do you think… could it be true? The prophecy?"
Chen Wei didn't answer right away. His hands were trembling, his eyes darting toward the corner of the room where Hei An had stood just hours before. The shadows seemed to linger there, stretching and crawling as though alive.
"I don't know, Li Xue," he said, his voice thick with dread. "But I've never seen anything like this before. He... he's not just a child anymore."
Just then, a soft, almost imperceptible sound echoed through the house—a faint whisper, like a breath on the wind. Li Xue froze, her pulse quickening. The air around them seemed to thicken, as if something were watching from the darkness.
"I can hear it again," she said, barely able to form the words. "The whispering… like a voice calling out from the shadows."
Chen Wei stood up quickly, his face filled with alarm. "No… no, it's not real. It can't be."
But Li Xue's eyes were locked on the darkness that enveloped the room. "It's not just a whisper. It's... it's him. He's calling us."
At that moment, the shadows in the corner of the room seemed to swell, stretching like a living thing. And then, from the darkness, Hei An appeared. He stood in the doorway, his figure bathed in the eerie glow of the red moon. His eyes glowed faintly, like twin voids, black and endless.
Li Xue's heart lurched in her chest. "Hei An!" she called out, her voice strained. "What are you doing up at this hour?"
But Hei An didn't respond. Instead, he slowly stepped into the room, his feet making no sound as they touched the floor. The temperature in the room dropped even further, the cold becoming unbearable.
"You… you shouldn't be here," Li Xue whispered, almost pleading. But her words were swallowed by the oppressive silence that filled the air.
Hei An walked past them, his eyes never leaving their faces. His gaze was empty—cold, distant. As he passed by, the shadows seemed to writhe and pulse, following his every movement like a dark tide.
"You are not worthy," Hei An repeated, his voice low and hollow, devoid of any warmth. "You are weak."
Li Xue's throat constricted as the words hit her like a physical blow. She wanted to reach out to him, to shake him, but something held her back—something deep within her told her that touching him would be a mistake. The child she had birthed, the son she had loved, was no more.
He had become something else. Something terrifying.
Suddenly, the door to their room slammed shut, as if a great force had thrown it closed. The room grew even darker, the shadows pressing in, suffocating. The only light now was the faint glow of Hei An's eyes, burning with an unnatural fire.
Chen Wei stepped forward, his voice shaking with fear and authority. "Hei An, stop this! You're our son! We… we can help you! We can save you!"
For a moment, Hei An's expression flickered. His eyes seemed to soften, just a fraction—enough to make Li Xue's heart skip a beat. Could it be that he still had some of his humanity left?
But then, the faint light in his eyes was replaced by an unholy blackness, and the room seemed to shudder with the force of his power.
"You cannot save me," Hei An said, his voice now cold and final. "There is no salvation for me. I am the darkness."
The words echoed in the room, each one like a nail driven deep into their hearts.
Before they could react, the shadows surged forward, crawling along the floor like tendrils, reaching for them. Li Xue screamed, stumbling backward, but the darkness was faster—stronger.
Hei An stood still, watching as the shadows encircled his parents, holding them in place, their limbs frozen as if they were trapped in the grip of an invisible force. The air itself seemed to vibrate with power, the walls of the room groaning under the pressure of the dark energy emanating from him.
Li Xue's breath came in ragged gasps as she tried to break free. "Please, Hei An… don't do this…"
But the child she had once loved—who had once smiled in her arms—was gone.
Instead, she faced a creature born of the shadows, a being of pure malevolence.
"You are not my parents," Hei An said, his tone final, unyielding. "You are only vessels. I will consume you."
The shadows tightened around them, and for a moment, Li Xue thought they might be crushed under their weight. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she realized with horror that there was nothing she could do. Hei An's power was beyond anything they could fight. They had brought this upon themselves, and now there would be no escaping it.
The shadows that clung to Hei An's every step seemed to pulse with life as he turned away from his parents, the faint glow of his eyes illuminating the darkness around him.
Li Xue trembled, her heart beating painfully in her chest. She couldn't tear her gaze away from her son. There was a coldness in the air, a suffocating force that seemed to press down on her from all directions. The shadows—the same shadows that had once been a part of her son's innocent childhood—were now something monstrous, something far beyond her comprehension.
Chen Wei struggled against the invisible force holding him in place. His muscles were locked, his breaths shallow, but his eyes burned with desperation. "Hei An," he gasped. "Please, fight it. Remember who you are. You are my son. Your mother—your family—we love you."
But Hei An remained motionless, the dark aura surrounding him like a cloak of terror. He didn't respond to their pleas. His gaze was distant, as if the very world around him no longer held any meaning.
Li Xue, her heart aching, reached out as much as the dark grip would allow her. "You don't have to do this, my son. We can help you, please—"
But Hei An's words cut through the air like a blade.
"You have no power over me anymore," he whispered, and his voice, though soft, was filled with an eerie authority that rattled Li Xue's very soul. "I have transcended your love. I have transcended your world."
The room seemed to tremble with his declaration, the shadows around them vibrating in response. The coldness grew until Li Xue thought her bones might shatter under the weight of it. The very walls seemed to close in, as if the house itself was aware of the darkness that had taken root in their child.
Her breath caught in her throat. "No. Please, don't…"
The words felt so weak, so powerless in the face of the evil her son had become. As much as she wanted to reach out, to stop this nightmare from unfolding, she could only watch helplessly. The love she had once felt for him, the tenderness of a mother's bond, now seemed like a distant memory—an illusion fading in the face of something far more terrifying.
Hei An's figure seemed to blur in and out of focus as the shadows gathered around him, swirling in dark, chaotic patterns. They shifted as if alive, wrapping around him like a cloak of malevolence.
Chen Wei, his face now pale and his voice cracking with emotion, cried out again, his body trembling in the vice-like grip of the shadows. "We can still save you, son! There is always a way back. We just need to fight together!"
But Hei An's lips curled into a cold, emotionless smile, his eyes gleaming with the depth of despair.
"You are fools," he muttered, his voice a low, haunting whisper. "I am not the boy you once knew. I am not your son anymore."
The shadows seemed to obey his words, tightening their grip on Li Xue and Chen Wei, dragging them further toward the floor. The air grew thick, suffocating, as if the world was slowly being drained of life. The room, once familiar and warm, was now a cold, oppressive cage, and they were trapped in it.
As the darkness closed in, something strange happened.
For a moment, Hei An faltered. His eyes, black as night, flickered with a brief flash of confusion. The shadows that clung to him seemed to hesitate, pulsing erratically as if they were uncertain of their own movements. The room seemed to hold its breath.
Li Xue, sensing the momentary hesitation, seized the opportunity. She pressed her hands to her chest, fighting the overwhelming chill that clung to her skin. "Hei An," she whispered, her voice trembling. "We love you. We never stopped loving you."
Her words seemed to cut through the suffocating darkness. For a fraction of a second, Hei An's expression softened. His dark eyes flickered with a fleeting moment of recognition. The love, the warmth that once existed between them—was it still there?
But just as quickly as it appeared, the moment vanished, replaced by the cold, emotionless void that had taken its place.
"You can't save me," Hei An repeated, his voice now a chilling finality. "I have already embraced what I am. I am the shadow. The darkness. And this world… is mine to consume."
Li Xue's heart shattered at his words. The son she had given birth to, the child she had raised with love, was lost to her forever. And there was no salvation.
The shadows surged forward in a final, brutal assault, pulling her and Chen Wei toward the ground, pinning them to the cold, hard floor. The weight of the darkness bore down on them, relentless, suffocating.
But as Hei An stood over them, the very air around him began to crackle with dark energy. A low, guttural sound emanated from his chest, an unearthly hum that seemed to echo in their bones. The power radiating from him was immense, and the house seemed to groan under its weight.
And then, in a flash of blackness, the shadows engulfed them completely.
---
As the first light of dawn broke over Xiangli, the village lay in an eerie stillness. The crimson moon, now hidden behind thick clouds, left behind only a lingering sense of dread. The sun rose slowly, its pale rays piercing through the mist, but it did little to lift the oppressive atmosphere that had settled over the village.
No one saw Hei An leave the house that morning.
No one saw the transformation that had begun within him.
As the villagers went about their day, unaware of the horror that had taken place in the house at the edge of town, a new darkness began to stir. A force that would soon consume everything it touched.