"You—"
Yuan Nü Jūn's voice was hoarse and grating, with a hint of fear.
Yes, fear.
The instant she saw Jimò Qiu reach into the space between her brows, she felt something deep in her soul stir gently. No matter how hard she tried to keep herself from thinking about it, every memory connected to the Time Arrow flashed through her mind. Even tiny details she herself had overlooked came rushing back, and as time passed, the memories flipped by faster and faster.
That humiliating sense of helplessness, beyond her control, reminded her of the day the Yuan clan had bought her. A sharp-tongued old woman had picked her up like a chick and hauled her off to wash. Her slanted eyes brimmed with contempt, and her face was full of impatience. She had scrubbed so hard that she'd nearly rubbed a layer of skin off her. Yuan Nü Jūn could never forget that look. The old woman hadn't looked at a person, but at a worthless beast.
The moment Yuan Nü Jūn took charge of the Yuan clan, she had dealt with the old woman the same way. Unfortunately, the old woman had been too old to withstand the torment. After the wire scourer scraped her clean, yellowing strips of human flesh floated atop the blood in the wooden tub.
The helplessness she felt now was worse than it had been then.
Her throat let out a wheezing, bellows-like rasp. She tried to summon all her strength and seize Jimò Qiu's hand with her withered ones. She didn't notice the ripples welling in the young man's eyes, or how a hazy mountain mist seemed to veil the space between his brows. "I didn't mean to glimpse the Lady's secret, but there's something I can't keep to myself—what happened to