Redemption in Darkness

The biting wind of Star Luo City seemed to pierce through the gaps in the architecture, drilling straight into the marrow of one's bones. Yet for Zhu Zhuqing, who was huddled in the shadow of a massive pillar in the assembly hall, that cold was not even a ten-thousandth of what she felt in her heart.

She curled up on the frigid floor, her petite body trembling uncontrollably. This shivering was not born of fear for any person, but because the world she had relied upon for survival—the world she called "home"—had completely collapsed in this very moment.

Before this, Zhu Zhuqing had only vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Zhu Zhuqing's childhood had not been a happy one. Due to the unique nature of their family martial soul, any girl born into the direct bloodline of the Zhu Residence was required to enter a betrothal with a boy from the Dai Family. This meant that the girls of the Zhu Family were forcibly dragged into the imperial struggle; the Dai Family could only have one surviving heir, and the same held true for the Zhu Family.

The moment Zhu Zhuqing was born a girl, her fate had already been sealed as a sacrifice for her sister.

Zhu Zhuyun was five years older than Zhu Zhuqing and possessed a more mature disposition. Because she had a sweet tongue, she had been favored by the family elders since she was a child.

However, the introverted Zhu Zhuqing was the exact opposite. The repeated coldness from her family struck her once-passionate heart time and again, forcing her to live a timid and subservient life within the Zhu Residence. She had once thought that living out her life in such a plain, unremarkable way would be fine.

But she never expected that, just in these past few days, everything would change. Her father, who had previously been reasonably kind to her, suddenly would not even spare her a glance, his eyes even carrying a trace of disgust she could not comprehend.

Her sister, Zhu Zhuyun, who always wore a hypocritical smile, now looked at her with a gaze so cold that she seemed to avoid her like the plague.

Even the personal maids who were usually timid and subservient acted as if they had seen a god of plague when they encountered her, lowering their heads and hurrying away.

She did not know what had happened, and no one would tell her why.

She wanted to know what she had possibly done wrong!

Today, she could no longer hold it in. The sense of loneliness, as if she had been abandoned by the entire world, threatened to drown her. Driven by an inexplicable impulse, she traversed the layers of concentric corridors, evaded all the guards, and hid inside this assembly hall that symbolized the highest authority of the Zhu Residence.

She had intended to hear an explanation from her father, even if it were just a scolding. But what she heard was a death sentence that would cost her her life.

Betrothal, Dai Mubai, deserter, funeral sacrifice...

These words were like heavy hammers, smashing her already shattered heart into dust.

She did not even know when she had been promised to that Third Prince she had never met, nor could she understand why the escape of that coward required her life to fill the void of so-called bloodline dignity.

"Funeral sacrifice..."

Zhu Zhuqing bit her lower lip so hard that blood began to seep out. She dared not make a sound, for she knew that if she were discovered now, what awaited her would no longer be the ancient ritual three months from now, but a torment that would end her life prematurely.

The sound of Zhu Ganglie's footsteps gradually faded away.

They were the heavy, cold, and heartless sounds of military boots. As those pairs of long boots trod across the floor, the flickering candlelight in the assembly hall was extinguished one by one by an accompanying soldier.

"Bang!"

The heavy doors slammed shut.

The entire hall plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness.

In this moment, all her pretense and strength completely collapsed. Zhu Zhuqing finally let down all her defenses. She buried her head deep into her knees, her delicate shoulders heaving violently as suppressed, desolate sobs echoed through the empty hall.

Those cries were filled with a desperate helplessness. She was only six years old; she had not even had the chance to see the splendor of this world, yet she had already witnessed its ugliest fangs.

"Who can... save me..."

She screamed powerlessly in her heart, but she knew no one would come. This was the Zhu Residence, the iron-blooded center of the Star Luo Empire. No one dared to challenge the authority of the Dai Family, and no one would offend the imperial house for the sake of a tool destined to die.

Just then, in that suffocating silence, a faint sound suddenly came from above her head.

"Whoosh—"

Two figures drifted down silently from the beams over ten meters high.

Zhu Zhuqing's sobbing stopped abruptly.

She looked up in terror. Although she could not see, her keen intuition as a Hell Spirit Cat told her that someone was approaching.

"Don't... don't kill me..." She trembled and scooted backward, her back hitting the cold stone pillar with nowhere left to retreat.

At that moment, a soft, warm, yet bright light ignited in the darkness without warning.

It was Na'er.

She was walking backward, holding a Soul Guidance Lamp that emitted a faint, warm yellow glow. The light was not blinding, but it instantly dispelled most of the unsettling shadows around them.

And in the center of that light, Zhu Zhuqing saw a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.

A young boy walked slowly toward her.

The light shone from behind him, casting a golden-red outline around his body, making him look not like a creature of this mortal world, but more like a god of salvation stepping out of ancient mythology.

Gu Tian lowered his head, looking at the little girl curled up in the corner, her eyes red and swollen, her face covered in tear tracks. He did not show any condescending pity, but rather a kind of overbearing gentleness.

"No matter how thick the walls of the Zhu Residence are, they cannot lock in someone who wants to leave."

Gu Tian's voice was low and magnetic, sounding exceptionally clear in the empty hall, as if it carried a magic capable of soothing the soul.

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned.

She looked up blankly at the boy of the same age before her. His eyes were so deep, as if they contained a vast starry sky. The composure and strength that did not belong to his age caused her heart, which had been pounding wildly, to miraculously calm down.

Gu Tian bent down and slowly extended his right hand toward the desperate little kitten.

His fingers were slender and powerful, appearing crystalline and warm under the glow of the lamp.

"Come with me."

Gu Tian smiled at her slightly—a smile that, unlike the hidden daggers in her sister's, held only a promise that one could not refuse.

"The life the Dai Family cannot give you, I will."

"The home the Zhu family cannot give you, I will."

Zhu Zhuqing froze in place.

Her worldview suffered a massive shock at this moment. On this night, when everyone was avoiding her like the plague and even her own father had decided to let her die, two strangers had risked their lives to sneak into this fortress, merely to extend a hand to her?

She looked at that hand, then looked at Gu Tian's sun-drenched smile, hesitating for a long time.

That was the final shred of wariness toward the outside world, and the final struggle against fate.

Gu Tian did not urge her; he simply held his hand up quietly, waiting patiently. Behind him, Na'er held the light, her eyes filled with heartache.

Finally, Zhu Zhuqing's small hands, stiff from long-term tension, tentatively reached forward.

She sensed that faint, elusive Dragon God aura on Gu Tian. For anyone possessing a bloodline related to soul beasts, that aura was an irresistible destination.

"Click."

A soft sound.

Zhu Zhuqing's cold, trembling, dust- and tear-stained hands rested heavily in Gu Tian's broad, warm palm.

The moment their palms touched, an unprecedented warmth spread from her fingertips throughout her entire body. That feeling was like a traveler who had trekked through ice and snow for a long time, finally finding a harbor with a burning hearth.

"Hold on tight."

Gu Tian gripped her waist with his other hand and exerted a slight force.

Zhu Zhuqing only felt an unrivaled pulling force drag her from that dark corner, her entire body crashing into Gu Tian's embrace.

It was a sense of solidity and security she had never experienced before.

At this moment, the rules of the Star Luo Empire shattered, and the shackles of the Zhu family broke. The second young lady who once belonged to the Zhu family died in the cruel family competition.

Replacing her was the reborn Zhu Zhuqing.