The morning after the Whispering Lake felt like a dream Aiden couldn't shake off.
Every sound — the rustle of wind, the hum of cicadas — seemed louder, sharper.
Maybe because, for the first time, he'd faced death and heard it whisper his name.
And somehow, it whispered hers too.
He glanced at Lian walking beside him on the mountain path. Her form shimmered faintly in sunlight — too bright, too ethereal for this world.
Yet, when she turned and smiled faintly at him, it didn't feel like looking at a ghost.
It felt like looking at someone real.
"Are you feeling well?" she asked, her voice soft but cautious.
"Define well," Aiden said. "I nearly drowned in a talking lake, saw my dead ancestor's trauma, and got spiritually slapped by history. So, yeah. Great."
Her lips twitched — the closest thing to laughter she'd shown all morning.
"You still make jokes even when you've walked through death."
"That's my coping mechanism," Aiden said. "That, and expensive coffee."
Lian tilted her head. "You have many strange habits, Aiden Zhou."
He grinned. "You say that like you don't secretly enjoy them."
She didn't reply — but he saw the faintest color rise to her cheeks.
They reached a ruined shrine deeper in the forest — smaller, older, the kind that looked forgotten even by time.
A single red rope hung from the gate, tied into a perfect knot.
Lian's tone changed. "This is the place of the Crimson Oath. Only those bound by fate may enter."
Aiden blinked. "Sounds romantic. Or deadly. I can't tell which."
"Both," she said simply.
"Of course," he muttered. "My life's theme."
As they stepped forward, the rope began to glow.
The air thickened — heavy with scent of cherry blossoms and iron.
A woman's laughter echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once.
It was soft, musical… and mocking.
"Oh, how sweet. The spirit girl still clings to her mortal boy."
Lian froze. Her expression turned to ice. "Yume…"
The air shimmered — and from the petals, another spirit appeared.
Beautiful, deadly, draped in silk black as night, with eyes that glowed like molten gold.
Aiden instinctively stepped back. "Please tell me she's friendly."
Lian's voice dropped. "She was once my sister in the temple. Now, she is the one who betrayed me."
Yume smirked. "I didn't betray you, Lian. I just learned faster. Love is weakness. And you…" She turned to Aiden, eyes narrowing. "You've become her weakness again."
Aiden raised his hands. "Hey, let's not start ghost sibling rivalry around me, okay?"
Yume ignored him, her gaze burning into Lian. "You took an oath, remember? Never to love a human again."
Lian's expression faltered — for just a second. "That was lifetimes ago."
"And yet," Yume whispered, "here you are… repeating your sin."
Aiden frowned. "Wait, what sin?"
Yume smiled wickedly. "The sin of falling in love with her killer."
Silence.
The forest seemed to stop breathing.
Aiden's pulse quickened. "What did you just say?"
Lian's voice broke the silence — soft, trembling. "It's not what you think."
Yume circled them like a predator. "Oh, but it is. The man you once were — Aiji Zhou — was the one who led the soldiers to her shrine. The one who ended her mortal life."
Aiden stared at Lian, his voice barely a whisper. "Tell me she's lying."
Lian's eyes shimmered like broken glass. "He didn't mean to… but yes."
Something twisted inside him — anger, guilt, disbelief.
"I'm supposed to believe that I'm some reincarnation of her murderer?"
Lian stepped closer. "Not murderer. Destiny. You carry his blood — but not his cruelty."
He shook his head, laughing bitterly. "Wow. That makes me feel so much better."
Yume smirked. "How sweetly dramatic. Perhaps you'll kill her again when this ends. History loves its patterns."
"Enough!" Lian's voice thundered, and crimson light erupted around her, shaking the ground. "Leave him out of our curse!"
Yume laughed, stepping back as her form began to dissolve into black mist. "Then break the oath, sister. Bind him to you completely… or lose him forever."
Her voice faded with the wind, leaving silence behind.
Aiden stood frozen, breathing hard.
Lian looked down, guilt written in her eyes.
"She's wrong," Lian said softly. "You are not him. You never were."
He exhaled slowly. "And if I am?"
"Then I will forgive you again," she whispered.
He stared at her — at the strange, beautiful sadness that surrounded her — and something in him cracked.
"I don't deserve that."
She smiled faintly. "Perhaps not. But neither did he."
The crimson rope at the gate suddenly shimmered again, tightening into a perfect knot.
Lian turned toward it, her voice trembling.
"The Crimson Oath demands truth," she said. "If we cross together, our fates will be sealed — for life, death, or eternity."
Aiden looked at her hand hovering between them.
Her fingers were translucent now — fading slightly.
He swallowed hard. "If I take your hand, what happens?"
Lian smiled sadly. "Then your soul will belong to me."
Aiden's heart raced — half fear, half something deeper.
He looked into her eyes. "And yours to me?"
She hesitated. Then — "Yes."
He grinned, soft and defiant. "Then what are we waiting for?"
And he took her hand.
The world exploded in red light.