One who cannot save themselves cannot save others. Zhu Yu had always thought it should be the other way around…
One who cannot save themselves cannot save others. Zhu Yu had always thought it should be the other way around. Those who cannot save others are the ones who truly cannot save themselves. Kaifeng's Zheng Manor was no longer a house of prestige, though still whispered about for its charity. They said the young heir often gave dry rations to passing beggars to fill their stomachs. Zhu Yu herself had once received a bundle of bread from his hand.
Before she left Silver Needle, her master often said kindness is the rarest virtue in a world torn by chaos. Back then, Zhu Yu hadn't fully understood. Only after her long journey to Kaifeng, after witnessing all she had witnessed, did she truly grasp it. Kindness was rare not because people were born wicked, but because, in troubled times, kindness struggled hardest to survive. Some kindnesses were slaughtered by violence. Far more perished under the weight of human hearts turning cruel. Sometimes, Zhu Yu could no longer tell. Was it the cruelty of the world that destroyed the goodness in people? Or the cruelty of people that destroyed the goodness of the world?
That child had survived the blades. But whether he could survive the malice in men's hearts, Zhu Yu did not know. The fire raged on, devouring the Zheng Family's century of splendor, along with countless restless souls. Amid the sea of flames, a thin figure knelt alone, his frail spine stubbornly straight. His gaze flickered in the leaping firelight, wavering, then slowly sank into shadow, like an Asura who finally made up a terrible resolve. Would this child survive the evil of the human heart?
"Waaah—"
Before Zhu Yu could ponder further, a newborn's cry pierced the ruins. Dawn had broken. The long-lost sunlight lit up a hidden bundle, a tiny swaddled baby and a rattling toy. It lit the bloodstains on Zhu Yu's sword. It lit the darkness clouding the child's eyes. Wiping the blood from her face, Zhu Yu sheathed her sword and reached out her hand.
"Zhu Yu of Qingxi."
"Zheng E... of Xingyang."