chapter 6

On a snowy night, a crimson glow filled my vision, and the Zhaodian Red camellias bloomed brilliantly.

I sluggishly moved my eyes.

I saw the person who, just half an hour ago, had coyly asked for steamed buns.

Xiao Qi had a dagger plunged into his chest.

Fresh blood soaked the deep snow, like a cold, sinister flame.

This was the most magnificent Zhaodian Red in the snow.

I knelt down, my hand trembling as I reached out.

But suddenly, I met those dazzling eyes.

“Don’t look at me.”

He spoke softly, almost pleading.

“…Dirty.”

More blood surged from his throat, soaking the front of my robe.

I stared blankly and asked, “Are you going to die?”

He smiled foolishly. “Ah Ling, aren’t you happy for me?”

Yes.

Ever since he was seventeen, he had lived only for revenge.

Now that his great vengeance was fulfilled, there was nothing in this world that could keep him.

Something cold fell onto my wrist.

It was the first time I saw him cry.

He hadn’t cried when he was humiliated at Chunfeng Pavilion.

He hadn’t cried when illness tormented him, making life worse than death.

But now, on the verge of death, he shed a single tear.

He said, “This is the happiest day I’ve had in ten years.”

He wept from overwhelming joy.

Before he breathed his last, I heard him murmur something.

It was very soft. But I still heard it clearly.

“Ah Ling, everyone is so bad.”

“…But why are you so good?”

I closed the eyes he refused to shut even in death.

Tears streamed down uncontrollably.

“You were the only one who gave me a steamed bun.”

But really, it wasn’t just a steamed bun.

You gave me so much, so much more.

I never told Xiao Qi.

In my previous life, the reason I survived to the age of ten was largely thanks to him.

The Crown Prince was merciful and kind, setting up a porridge stall outside Guangji Gate on the sixteenth of every month.

That was the day I looked forward to most each month.

I didn’t have to beg or fight-I could eat my fill.

So, my reverence for the Crown Prince far surpassed that for the Gods and Buddhas.

The Gods and Buddhas demanded offerings from me, but the Crown Prince generously let me eat my fill.

He was my deity.

Then one day, the porridge stall was gone.

That’s when I learned the Crown Prince had died.

I traded half a steamed bun with another beggar for half a white candle.

I had no money to offer a lamp for him at the temple.

All I could do was light half a candle, to illuminate a little of his path in the cycle of reincarnation.

When the candle burned out, I went back to begging, fighting for food, wandering.

Until that snowy night, when I was on the verge of starving to death.

Half a steamed bun fell from the sky and hit me on the head.

As if it were the cycle of fate.

I looked up, and the Gods and Buddhas cast their gaze down.

Divine favor descended upon my life once more.

For the countless time, I was saved from disaster.