With his sister's remains in front of him, Jiang Wei's hands began to tremble. He feared the spade's sharp edg…
With his sister's remains in front of him, Jiang Wei's hands began to tremble. He feared the spade's sharp edge might harm her bones. But at least he still had his hands.
"Easy now. Don't hurt yourself," came a soft voice beside him. A cool palm covered his, threading a rare warmth into the rain-soaked night.
Jiang Wei paused, then turned.
The woman beside him was someone he had rescued not long ago from a ghost marriage. For years, he had disguised himself as a bride to infiltrate such dark rites, saving women from the clutches of the Ghost Matchmakers, searching always for the one behind his sister's death. This woman... her brows and eyes bore a faint resemblance to his sister's. So when she offered to come with him, Jiang Wei did not refuse. Turns out, it was much-needed company for him.
Along the way, she had held the umbrella for him against the rain, halted his reckless strides through blizzards, listened quietly as he recounted his past, and calmed him down when rage threatened to consume him. Without her, his fraying mind might have already shattered.
"Thank you... for everything you've done for me along the way." Jiang Wei scooped another handful of earth. "Once I bring my sister to the sea, I'll see you safely home."
As he dug, pale bones came into view. Jiang Wei froze, a half-smile tugging at his lips, half joy, half grief.
"The freedom my sister longed for... This time, I'll give it to her."
But no answer came. The oil-paper umbrella slipped from his shoulder and fell to the ground. Jiang Wei turned around, there was nothing but silence behind him.
Pain ripped through him. Memories flashed before his eyes, then shattered into dust. There had never been anyone. On this long, twisted, bloodstained road, he had always walked alone.
Jiang Wei curled up beside his sister's bones, staring up at the rain pouring from the heavens.
If all the warmth, all the companionship he believed in was but a lie. Then what in this world was ever real?
The people he had saved. The ones he had killed. Everything he had seen, everything he had endured, was it all just a dream spun out of his own madness?
Jiang Wei closed his eyes. After a few shallow breaths, he let out a faint, broken laugh.