NOVEL WEB Chapter 28: So this was what happened
A thick silence hung in the air, heavier than storm clouds.
The Year of Misfortune Ritual had begun.
In the very heart of the ceremonial platform,
Yu Sui lay unconscious...surrounded by sacred markings and spiritual runes,
his tiny frame too still… too pure.
The chanting began.
Low…
Resonant…
Ancient.
From the lips of elders who never questioned…
---
Far away…
Queen Guzuie's eyes snapped open.
Sweat rolled down her temple.
Her instincts screamed something was terribly wrong.
She sat up, heart racing,
and in her arms
her newborn child, Mo Yan, stirred.
She looked around
Where was Yu Sui?
Where was Wan Yi?
She rushed down the echoing corridors of the Xuemo Sect's birthing halls,
her bare feet soaked in blood and panic.
And then she saw it
Wan Yi, unconscious…
But the other crib was empty.
---
With her baby in arms, Guzuie ran.
Through the palace doors,
past startled guards and dazed healers,
she ran faster than she ever had in her life.
By the time she reached the ritual site…
…it was too late.
---
The sky turned black.
The sacred seal had split.
The Gate of Black Heaven had opened
and Yu Sui's soul had been offered in sacrifice.
The earth trembled.
The pious Xuemo Sect, once revered for its purity,
was torn apart in mere moments.
Everything burned.
And from the far end of the sacred chamber,
Lin Chaoyuan stood against a crumbling wall
laughing.
Not just laughing....howling,
as if someone had whispered a joke into the void.
---
Guzuie's voice thundered like lightning:
"Lin Chaoyuan!"
"This was all your foul doing!
You changed the ritual chants, traitor!
You shamed your own blood...your own niece!
Did you feel no shame at all?"
But she had no time.
Tears flowing, Guzuie rushed toward Yu Sui's lifeless body
falling to her knees, trembling.
And then
She pulled the talisman from her forehead.
"Forgive me… my child…"
She gently placed it into Yu Sui's small hands,
binding it with a strand of her life force.
---
Lin Chaoyuan's eyes widened.
"No…!" he gasped.
He rushed forward,
but it was too late.
Guzuie's body slumped beside Yu Sui
her soul spent, her last breath gone.
---
In panic, Lin Chaoyuan ripped the talisman from Yu Sui's hands
grabbed baby Mo Yan,
and vanished into the smoke.
But behind him,
left on the scorched stone floor,
lay the talisman glowing faintly with a final inscription
---
"Yu Sui
as long as Mo Yan remains by your side,
no curse shall ever touch you."
"Mo Yan
as long as Yu Sui remains by your side,
you shall never feel the absence of my love."
— Guzuie