Chapter 1: Days Gone By

The mountain peak pierced the clouds. The young man stood at the edge of the cliff, gazing down, but all he could see was a haze of drifting mist. He wore a simple white shirt and black trousers, appearing pale and frail. He tilted his head back and spread his arms; his slightly long hair was swept across his cheeks by the wind, fragmenting his expression.

“Qiyi! Don’t!” A man’s desperate, fearful voice called from behind. The youth did not turn, but his bloodless lips curved almost imperceptibly. He spoke softly: “Brother, I do not hate you, but only that—I do not hate you.”

His voice was gentle, but it struck the man behind him like a blow, draining all color from his face. He looked at the youth, his eyes begging, “Qiyi, come back with me. I won’t force you anymore, as long as you... just come back with me…” By the end, the man’s voice was choked with emotion.

The young man seemed to smile faintly. He lowered his arms and turned around, his weak body trembling in the wind. The man grew anxious, stepping forward, longing to embrace him tightly. “Brother, you don’t need to come any closer.” The youth tilted his head, smiling faintly. He reached out slender fingers to brush aside the hair blown across his forehead, revealing a red cinnabar mark at its center. He spoke quietly, “I will not return with you. I was never meant to live long anyway…”

The man felt a stabbing pain in his heart. He looked at the youth’s pale face, eyes reddened, and said, “I won’t let you die! I absolutely will not let you die—never!”

But the youth only shook his head with a smile. “Brother, you know me. I, Bai Qiyi, have always returned tenfold any harm done to me. But… you are my brother, the one who pulled me from a pool of blood.” He lowered his gaze, shaking his head in self-mockery. “So be it—let this be my payment for the life you gave me.”

“Bai Qiyi!” The man could not help but growl, his fist clenched at his side. He gritted his teeth, voice harsh: “For twenty years, I’ve given you my heart and soul, everything—and you can’t spare even a shred of feeling for me?!”

The youth frowned, and after a moment, shook his head slightly. He looked at the man’s suddenly pale face and sighed, “Brother, I have only brotherly affection for you.” As he spoke, he laughed softly. “In truth, you should be grateful that I feel even that—for otherwise…”

The man trembled, involuntarily stepping back, his laughter low and bitter. “So it is. So it is…” His voice was unbearably bleak. “Bai Qiyi, it’s I who wronged you. I deserve to die!” The youth shook his head, his voice fading. “Brother, my body was never meant to last… You know I won’t obey. Even if I die, it must be by my own hand!” With that, he spread his arms and leaped.

His brilliant eyes slowly closed. Bai Qiyi looked at the figure growing ever more blurred before him, and smiled softly.

Even in death, he would die dazzling, unmatched in grace.

Even as a ghost, he would be the most striking ghost.

“No—” The anguished scream faded into the distance. Bai Qiyi closed his eyes, and a single tear slid from the corner of his radiant eye.

Farewell, Brother… Forgive me…

Bai Qiyi’s brief life had been unparalleled in beauty, yet his nature was capricious and unfeeling; he had never loved anyone.

Who knew if it was that man’s fortune or sorrow—he was the one closest to Bai Qiyi, the only one he could rely on, but he had broken Qiyi’s wings, cut off his escape, and kept him caged. Bai Qiyi was ruthless by nature; even though the man gave him everything, he never relented.

At first, Qiyi hated him, but when the man, trembling, climbed atop him, Qiyi no longer knew if it was hatred or pity. That man never forced him to do anything, and yet…

At his birth, a master calculated his fate: “You bear misfortune in your destiny, and will not live past twenty.” Bai Qiyi had not believed it, but now the prophecy had come true.

He sought, but never found; yearned, but remained empty…

Brother, forgive me. But you can only ever be my brother…

※※※

When Bai Qiyi regained consciousness, he seemed to be in a warm place, surrounded by something. Suddenly, an irresistible force gripped his body and tugged him fiercely; his head felt tightly bound. He tried to cry out, but could make no sound.

A woman’s agonized cries and screams echoed, one after another. The pale pink bed linens beneath her were soaked with sweat and blood. Her legs were spread wide, eyes opened in pain, head tossing, ten slender fingers clutching the bedding as if to tear the tough satin apart.

Suddenly, the heavy burden lifted, and Helian Jia collapsed onto the bed. She heard someone call joyfully, “Congratulations, Madam, another little son!” Helian Jia forced a smile onto her pallid face, closed her eyes to rest briefly, mustering some strength at last. She opened her eyes and saw the midwife holding a baby whose umbilical cord had been cut and whose body had been washed clean of blood. The midwife was carefully wrapping the child in a brocade blanket. Helian Jia reached out with difficulty, her voice rough, “Let me… see the child…”

The midwife, beaming, placed the swaddled baby beside Helian Jia. Just then, a man dressed in a long robe of emerald brocade and feathered silk, his head adorned with a dark cloud-patterned silver crown, handsome beyond compare, strode over with a broad smile. Helian Jia saw her husband and, weakly, smiled, “Ali, come quickly and see our little son.”

The man sat at her bedside, bent down, and kissed her pale forehead gently, speaking tenderly, “You’ve suffered.” He carefully lifted the corner of the blanket. The baby’s face was flushed red, a small red mark on his forehead, eyes tightly shut, tiny fists resting on his chest like a little monkey. But Beigong Li and Helian Jia thought him undoubtedly the most beautiful child in the world.

“Why isn’t he crying?” Helian Jia asked anxiously.

As Bai Qiyi came to awareness, he heard this question. Child? He opened his eyes in confusion and saw the woman’s worried face. He tried to speak but could only make “mm mm” sounds.

When she heard her son’s faint cry, Helian Jia relaxed a little, but then grabbed Beigong Li’s sleeve in panic, “Ali, why is his cry so soft?” Beigong Li frowned and patted the blanket a few times. Bai Qiyi had no choice but to wail loudly, and only then did the couple feel reassured.

Bai Qiyi closed his eyes and cried, feeling the woman gently kiss him. He already understood what had happened. Though it was bizarre and uncanny, he could not deny that he truly had crossed over…