Chapter 5: Invisible Chains Part 113Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXd5qGtuMQ9
After a long silence, Xiao Lian, her head buried between her knees, finally spoke.
—"I haven't slept in three days," she said. "I just can't. Every time I close my eyes, I'm back in that place. That hallway where everyone hates me. They throw stones at me, and I can't even defend myself. I'm trapped in the body of my younger, more helpless self, reliving it all. I hate myself for being weak. I can't stop it, and it frustrates me. I can't even talk to the others anymore without snapping, without getting irritated."
Lin Yuan looked at her silently. The Tranquil Willow Breathing technique had begun to help her, but a few days weren't enough to erase years of abuse... let alone the poison left by that damned spiritual rat. Since he'd met her, she had been the most fragile, the most melancholic. Maybe that's why he saw a reflection of himself in her.
—"The chains of your past are still with you," Lin said calmly. "But they don't own you. They can't."
Xiao Lian felt anger. Not at him—at herself. Since opening up to Lin Yuan, she had tried to accept herself, to change… but nothing seemed to work. Worse: now that she had regained control of her body, her memories grew even more vivid. No longer plagued by gangs or merchants, she now had room for nightmares.
She clenched the stones in her hands harder. Her hands were bleeding. She hadn't even noticed.
She looked at him with fury and fear.
—"I've tried, okay?! I gave it my all, but it gets worse every night. Maybe I should just leave. Ever since the nightmares began, I can create threads out of nothing. And you know what? When I'm irritated, I want to use them. To hurt. To destroy. To hurt you. What if that's who I am? What if hatred lives inside me and never goes away?"
Lin stood up abruptly. He walked over to her and gently pressed his forehead against hers, unfazed by the spiritual threads tightening dangerously around his neck.
—"Then you'll face it. Not alone. If you think that's who you are, I'll be there with you. But don't give up just because someone else—or your own past—told you who to be."
He held her bloodied hands over his, while the spiritual threads trembled in the air.
—"If hatred truly lived inside you... these hands would be stained with our blood. Not your own. If your soul were poison, we'd all be gone by now. But look at them"—he softly closed her fingers over her wounded palms—"only you are bleeding. Do you see? Monsters don't devour themselves, Xiao Lian. The ones who suffer, the ones who resist… they're the ones the world fears to name."
He remained by her side, voice soft:
—"I'll sit with you every night if I have to. I'll shield you with branches, with songs, with light, with whatever I have. But you are not alone. Not anymore."
Xiao Lian looked at her own hands. Thick tears rolled down her face. The threads that trapped her released with an invisible sigh. Then, in a deep sob repressed for years, she threw herself into Lin Yuan's arms, soaking his clothes with blood and tears.
—"You know why I don't fear you're a monster?" Lin said as he held her, smiling gently—"Because monsters don't cry. And you… you are made of tears."
That night, he slept beside her. Every time she stirred, he whispered soft words, held her hand. And when the nightmares came, he was there, so she could fight them.
At dawn, the spirit finally gave in. It broke like a wisp of smoke, freeing her.
DING13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeQTy034Cb
[Reward unlocked: Successful purification of spiritual residue]13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisj2kF4jGQ
[+40 points | Relationship with Xiao Lian strengthened | Side effects removed]
Lin Yuan smiled. At last, that girl could sleep in peace.
But the joy didn't last long.
Ben came running, out of breath. He had gone to look for Roman… and couldn't find him anywhere.
—"Lin... Roman's gone. He left last night. Didn't say a word."13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLZSEmVmtY
