A few scattered candles flickered within the room.
Cui Lingyao's body had been carefully placed on the bed.
Her soiled clothes had been changed. Her hairpins were gone, her black hair fanning out across the pillow.
Xie Jinbai sat silently by the bed, dabbing at the bloodstains on her face with a cloth, bit by bit.
He continued until the clean water in the basin turned red.
He dropped the cloth and sat there stupefied for a while longer, staring blankly at the breathless girl on the bed.
His deep, inscrutable eyes were bloodshot and dry.
Not a single tear would fall.
He was as motionless as a lifeless statue.
Cui Lingyao floated beside him. Seeing him like this, her heart ached.
But they were separated by death, and there was nothing she could do to change anything.
Xie Jinbai sat frozen for a long time before slowly bending down to touch the girl's cheek.
A bone-chilling cold made his knuckles tremble.
He gently closed his eyes.
The room fell into a dead silence.
