But as I was lost in my own thought, suddenly I heard the ugly laughter, it still had the same hint of arrogance in their voice.
Even now, at death's door, they had the guts to mock me.
I didn't say anything.
Didn't even blink.
Lin Qiao smirked wider. "You look angry," she said, tone trembling with pain but still smug. "Go ahead. Kill me. Cut me up. Burn me. You'll see what happens."
I tilted my head. "Oh? Should I take that as a challenge?"
"Not a challenge," Wen said, chuckling low. "Just a reminder. You don't have even a bloodline and will always be at Rank F-1, trash and you cannot even levelup"
She leaned forward slightly, a glint of madness in his eye. "You can't kill us. Not with your trash bloodline. Not even if you tried all day."
She raised her shaking hand — and I saw it then.
A faint glow pulsed on her wrist. Some charm, gold light crawling over it like fire that wouldn't die.
"What's that?" I asked.
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
Not angry. Just curious, I guess.
I didn't remember anything like it from the books I read, and I'd read everything.
Lin's grin twitched. Blood slid down her chin, but that smugness… it didn't die.
"A gift," she said, almost proud of the word. "Something that makes us untouchable to anyone below Rank E."
A gift?
My brow twitched. "Gift from who?"
She laughed — dry, broken, but it carried that bite I hated.
"From someone far above you, Shen Yan. You should know her."
Her eyes lifted, bright with mockery even through the cracks of pain.
"Divine Seraph bloodline. Ring a bell?"
My eyes went wide.
For a moment, I just froze — like time itself stopped only for me.
The wind, the falling leaves, even those two arrogant faces in front of me — all still, frozen in that one second that wouldn't move on.
I didn't even breathe.
Divine Seraph.
Her words echoed again and again, louder each time, hammering through my head. Like I was stuck on the same word for many days.
I knew who she meant. Of course I did.
But my brain refused to move past it.
Not disbelief.
No — I believed her.
If it was the old me, the one before the Awakening Ceremony… maybe I'd have snapped.
Maybe I'd have shouted, tried to protect her name like an idiot still holding on to family.
I'd have said, "Don't you dare talk about my sister like that."
But not now.
Now I just stood there.
No anger, no denial — just a quiet space in my chest where something used to be.
That silence felt heavy, like something was about to snap.
"Mei Lin…"
Her name slipped out before I realized I said it.
A faint tremor ran through my hand.
Then my fingers tightened into a fist — hard enough that the dagger hilt cracked.
She sent them?
My sister… sent them? Why?
What reason would she even have to kill me?
I'm nothing — just a trash bloodline everyone already wrote off as dead the moment I entered this zone.
So why them? Two F-5s for someone like me?
I watched her try to breathe. Blood slipped from her mouth, but somehow that stupid grin stayed.
She still had the energy to look proud.
"Haha… look at you, Shen Yan," she rasped, her voice scratching at my ears. "Standing there like some lost puppy."
She even barked — actually barked.
"Woof, woof," followed by another cough that sprayed blood on the dirt.
I just stared at her. No emotion. Just… watched.
"Pathetic," she wheezed out, still laughing like she'd won something. "Still wagging your tail, waiting for someone to love you."
She coughed again, red dripping down her chin, but somehow her voice got sharper.
"Can't even accept it, huh? That your oh-so-pure sister sent us? Still think you're special? Please."
Her head tilted a bit, that same half-broken, half-mocking tone clinging to her words.
"You're nothing but a mistake. A Null Bloodline — trash. Even your sister knew it. She probably pitied you once, but I guess even she got tired of pretending."
She laughed again, a wet, choking sound, proud right to the end.
"Honestly, Shen Yan, you should thank her. At least she remembered you enough to send someone to end your misery."
I just stared at her.
Didn't blink. Didn't speak.
My body didn't even move — it felt like my blood had stopped running.
But my head… my head was loud.
Not screaming loud. Just… quiet loud.
Every thought dropped in one by one, clear as day.
Something inside me shifted. A small snap, like something finally broke.
A click in my head, like something finally stopped pretending.
It wasn't rage. Rage burns. This didn't burn.
It wasn't hatred either. Hatred screams.
This was something colder — the space left after fire dies.
Clarity. That's what it was.
Pure, sharp clarity.
Every word she said clicked in my head, one after another. Like a puzzle falling into place.
The mockery, the hunt, the betrayal — all of it suddenly made sense.
I could see it so clearly it almost made me laugh.
Yeah… clarity. The kind that kills whatever softness is left in you.
That I didn't have to feel pity anymore.
That I didn't have to hold on to something already dead.
I didn't have a sister. Not anymore.
Maybe I never did.
All that time saving money for her, protecting her, thinking I was doing something noble —
funny.
The moment she turned her back, I finally knew what freedom really was.
No attachments.
No love.
No family.
Just me — and whatever path I carve through the world.
The fear, the hesitation, the weakness… gone.
It felt clean. Almost too calm.
I exhaled slow.
For the first time, I didn't feel angry.
Just… free.
"End my misery, huh…" I muttered, quiet enough that it almost got lost in the wind.
My lips moved a bit. Not a smile, just something close.
They still thought I was the same old Shen Yan.
The one who bowed, flinched, tried to reason.
They didn't realize that part of me died when she turned her back.
"Then I guess…" I whispered, stepping closer, eyes locked on hers,
"…it's my turn to remember her too."