The Ning Clan was drenched in red.Lanterns swayed in the noon wind, plum petals drifted across the courtyards, and laughter spilled from the ancestral hall like overflowing wine. Wine jars were opened by the dozens, filling the air with the fragrance of celebration.
For the elders and youths of the clan, it was a day of glory—marriage ties to the Hua Clan promised wealth, prestige, and safety.
Carriages of jade rolled into the sect with banners streaming crimson, gifts piled high in Wooden chests. The Hua young master's reputation preceded him—disciples whispered fearfully of his cruelty, yet forced their lips into smiles. None dared speak truth.
Tomorrow was the day.The day Ningxue—now Ningyue—would be wed into the Hua Clan.
Servants hurried through the ancestral grounds, carrying bolts of silk, trays of incense, and jars of fine wine. The clan's younger generation filled the outer courtyard, boasting loudly, dancing and singing .
Musicians plucked their zithers, filling the night with festive songs. Clan youths raised their cups high, laughing drunkenly as they toasted to "Heaven's blessing."
"To Sister Yue!" they toasted."To Heaven's blessing upon the Ning Clan!"
Elders sat on carved seats, their faces brimming with Joy, while the great hall was filled with glittering treasures—boxes of jade, pearls, and gold—the first half of the Hua Clan's dowry.
Everywhere was joy.Everywhere was envy.
Among the revelers, none shone brighter than Ningyue's cousin. Once crushed under the shadow of Ningxue's brilliance, he now walked proudly, his chin raised, lips curling in mockery.
"Uncle's son is gone," he shouted into eager ears, "but Heaven gave him a daughter instead. Tomorrow, she'll become the Hua Clan's bride. As for the title of genius—ha! From now on, it belongs to me."
His words were carried by envious tongues until every youth's gaze burned with either bitterness or longing.
Elders who once looked at Ningxue with cold disdain now praised the heavens. Youths who had once envied him now gazed at Ningyue with lust in their eyes.
At the center of it all was Tianlei, his heart shattered into pieces. He had begged. He had roared. He had threatened. But in the end, he was powerless. His brothers, his peers, even the Patriarch—his own elder brother—had all turned against him.
Now, his daughter was to be dressed in bridal red, a lamb led into the slaughterhouse.
But within the bridal chamber, silence reigned.
Ningyue sat alone, robed in crimson, a veil of scarlet silk hiding her expression. The roar of celebration outside pressed against the doors, but inside only the crackle of incense filled the air.
Her pale fingers brushed against the rim of a jade cup, tracing the reflection of her own face distorted in the wine.
That night, Tianlei staggered into her chambers. His trembling hands gripped a dagger.
"If I end her life here," he thought bitterly, "at least she will not suffer humiliation. At least… I will have protected her once from Pain and torment."
But when he pushed open the door, his breath froze.
There she was—Ningyue— in bridal robes of red silk, her face veiled, sitting beneath the pale moonlight. Yet she was not crying. She was not sad.
In her former life, she had not been a trembling bird waiting for shelter. She was fierce. Ruthless when needed. A cultivator who dared bite into heaven's hand. But even blades… sometimes longed for warmth.
She remembered the one who had stood before her—unyielding, brilliant, a storm given human form. She had never once bowed her head to him, never confessed to him.
She had laughed with him. Quarreled with him. Tested his will with her own.
And though she had never said it, her heart had long chosen him.
She was dancing.
The drums outside beat like thunder,cheers rise like a tide,yet in this chamber, I see only you.
There—sitting in the chair.Your eyes closed, your long hair falling like a dark waterfall.Your chest rises with a calm breath,and even scarred, your face is beautiful—a kindness that melts me.
I reach for you.My hand trembles, combing through your hair,tracing your cheek,my lips hover close—but it is only wind,my embrace closing on emptiness.
So I drink.Cup after cup, the wine burns my throat,but it cannot burn away the ache.I laugh to myself, I dance in this bridal dress—swaying like a madwoman,pretending your arms are around me.
"Why do you smile so gently, even now?Do you not see me falling apart?"I press my forehead to yours,but only the moon answers.
I kiss the ghost of your lips,I rest on your phantom chest,and for a heartbeat, warmth floods my heart.Yet the next heartbeat is cold,and I drown again.
The world outside calls me bride—but my soul, my body, my love,belongs only to you.
So I drink again.I speak to you,I dance for you,I touch your face in the empty air.If you do not come,then let me vanish into this night with you—drunk, lost, and in love.
She raised the cup, letting wine trail down her lips like blood.
Her fingers closed. The jade cup shattered, shards scattering across the floor like pale stars.
Outside, firecrackers split the night, drums rolled like thunder, and the Ning Clan drank in waves of celebration.
With slow, haunting steps she swayed, laughing and singing softly to herself, raising a wine cup and kissing the empty air. At times she twirled as if in the arms of an unseen partner, at times she whispered words of longing to the moon.
Tianlei stood frozen. The dagger slipped from his hand.
"Yue'er…" his voice cracked. "Who are you dancing for? Who is it you… love?"
Ningyue stopped mid-step. Slowly, she turned her head, the red veil brushing against her pale cheek. Then—she laughed. A sound both mocking and sorrowful.
"Father… your'e here?"
She lifted her veil. Her eyes gleamed with love a maiden of her age.
"This is not my first life."
Tianlei staggered back. His knees trembled. It was too sudden
Ningyue's smile deepened, yet behind it shimmered an ocean of sorrow.
"Yes. Everything you see—the banquet, the schemes of the elders—it has all happened before. In my first life, I was sold to the Hua young master. From the first night, I was beaten, violated, stripped of dignity. Day after day, they treated me as nothing but a furnace, a tool of Yin to be plundered. To them, I was not even human."
Her voice quivered, but her gaze was steady.
"For years I endured. My body was broken, my soul scarred. No pity, no kindness, only Pain and sorrow. Until… one day, he came."
Her eyes softened, her lips curling into a wistful smile. She raised her arms again, as if embracing the phantom of that man.
"A man who walked alone against ten thousand. Who slaughtered the Hua Clan to the last child. Their palaces burned, the rivers ran red, their arrogance shattered into dust. He found me—rotting in that gilded prison—and freed me."
"He taught me joy, taught me the world, taught me… how to live again. Even when I tried to sell myself to him, body and soul, he only smiled and refused. 'You are not a tool,' he said. 'You are human.'"
Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her voice trembled like a fragile zither string.
"That man… he was my everything. My savior, my life, my love."
She laughed bitterly.
"But fate is cruel. The years of hatred devoured him. Fate stole him from me. And when I finally closed my eyes, I prayed only for one thing: to see him again."
Her fingers clutched the veil, knuckles white.
"And now… I am here, once more, living all the same moments. I see my father with a dagger trying to kill me but failed and will be banished from the clan again."
She turned to her father, eyes burning with resolve.
"But this time, Father—this time I will live my life. I will not bow to fate. I will not let the heavens shackle me as a furnace again. This time, I will seize fate by its throat."
Tianlei could only collapse into his chair, numb, watching his daughter—no, this stranger cloaked in his daughter's skin—yearning again beneath the moon, lips whispering a dead man's name.
His dagger lay forgotten on the ground.
None knew that behind the red veil, the bride-to-be was no lamb prepared for slaughter.
She was the blade hidden in silk.