Chapter 7 — Obsession at the Banks of Reincarnation

A solitary tear fell, striking the pool of blood upon his chest. The shattered fragments of memory converged right here. When I opened my eyes once more, I found myself lying upon the desolate banks of the River of Forgetfulness. Granny Meng sat crouched nearby, peering down at me with a probing gaze as she softly asked:

"Little Ying, have you finally discovered the soul who forged your deepest obsession?"

How could I possibly ever forget? The elder brother who had cherished me from the very moment of my birth, who had spent his entire mortal lifetime desperately searching for me, possessed the exact, unmistakable countenance of the Lord of the Underworld himself. It turned out that from the very first day I ever set foot within the gloomy realm of the netherworld, we had already crossed paths once again. I scrambled up from the cold earth and bolted backward without a moment's hesitation. The chilling winds sweeping across the River of Forgetfulness rushed past my ears, the thick, swirling mists torn apart by my hurried footsteps only to close behind me once more. I had never run with such frantic desperation in all my existence. Jagged stones sliced mercilessly into the soles of my bare feet, yet I paid no heed to the searing pain. In a matter of moments, I caught sight of several figures standing solemnly at the head of the bridge. My brother stood with his back turned directly toward me, flanked by the parents of the Quy family and Quy Duong. The three of them appeared to have been weeping, their eye rims bruised and reddened. But I had no time to spare for them.

"Elder brother!"

I lunged forward, crying out at the top of my lungs, my voice piercing through the heavy veil of mist all the way to the head of the bridge. Quy Duong snapped his head up in astonishment, his eyes lighting up with sudden hope as his lips parted to respond. Yet in the very next heartbeat, I raced straight past his side without a second glance. I flung myself directly into the arms of the Lord of the Underworld, burying my face deeply against the dark fabric of his heavy robes, my trembling hands clutching desperately at the corners of his attire. The familiar, comforting warmth radiating from his chest surged through the cloth in a steady, reassuring rhythm.

"Little Ying."

His hand came up to rest gently upon the back of my head, a trace of perceptible tremor underlying his deep voice.

"Have your memories finally returned?"

I burrowed my face even deeper against his chest.

"They have all returned."

"Elder brother, why did you choose to conceal this from me?"

Quy Duong stared at us in absolute disbelief, standing frozen as if utterly incapable of processing the scene before him for a long, agonizing moment.

"Little Ying... what did you just call him?"

I turned my head away from the embrace of the Underworld Lord. Quy Duong stood merely three paces away, his complexion as pale and lifeless as the river stones along the bank. I uttered not a single word, my fingers maintaining their tight grip upon the fabric of the dark robes, refusing to let go.

"And what about me?"

Quy Duong's voice suddenly pitched upward, turning sharp and grating to the ears.

"What am I to you? We are the ones who share blood, I am your actual brother!"

I gazed back at him, yet within the depths of my heart, not a single ripple of hesitation stirred.

"You are the brother of Quy Mong, not mine."

"Back then, those were your very own words—that someone like me was unworthy of being your sister."

Quy Duong choked on his breath, utterly silenced. Mother Quy lunged forward, frantically grabbing at my wrists, her eyes brimming with a desperate, pleading light.

"Little Ying, everything that happened in the past was our fault."

"Your father and I will make it all up to you. Just wait for us, let us all be reincarnated together as a family, and we can stay by each other's side in the next life, alright?"

I looked upon her, my heart remaining as tranquil and unmoving as a stagnant pond.

"I am not leaving; I will remain here in the underworld."

Mother Quy's eyes brightened instantly, and just as she opened her mouth to plead further, I forcefully yanked my wrist from her grasp.

"The only reason I choose to stay is because of my true and only brother."

"When you cast me aside over and over again in favor of Quy Mong, we ceased to be a family long ago."

Mother Quy wept so violently she could no longer form words. Quy Duong took a frantic step forward, his voice breathless and ragged:

"Little Ying, I was wrong, I truly know how much I messed up..."

"I once gave you a chance."

I spoke coldly:

"That phone call from three years ago was the opportunity I offered you, but you chose to hang up."

He froze instantly, paralyzed in his tracks. I turned my body around, looking up once more into the eyes of my brother, gazing into the profound, heavy emotions that had been suppressed within his gaze for hundreds of long years.

"Elder brother, I wish to stay by your side."

His brow twitched slightly.

"Little Ying, do not act rashly."

"You still possess a promising mortal life ahead of you, a genuine chance to start over..."

"I want none of it!"

I cut him off directly, the edges of my eyes stinging with heat.

"Elder brother, I only want to stay with you."

"Would you rather push me toward such a family than allow me to remain by your side?"

He stared down at me for a long, silent stretch of time. Then, slowly, he raised his arms and pulled me tightly into his embrace. He rested his chin gently upon the crown of my head, and the familiar, steady heartbeat thudded against my chest with unwavering warmth.

"Very well, then you shall stay."

"As long as you remain within the underworld for even a single day, your brother will ensure you are kept safe and sound."

From behind us came the hoarse, agonizingly strained voice of Quy Duong.

"Little Ying..."

I refused to turn around. In the quiet, enveloping mist, we stood in silence for a long time until I finally heard the sound of slow, heavy footsteps receding into the distance. Every single step dragged heavily across the earth, as though iron weights of a thousand pounds were shackled to his ankles. The three figures grew progressively smaller and smaller, until they ultimately vanished into the haze entirely. In later days, I heard whispered tales that Quy Duong was reincarnated into a destitute family, forced into servitude as a resident son-in-law from a tender age. The parents of the Quy family were successively reborn into ordinary households, enduring half a lifetime of bitter hardship yet utterly unable to alter their wretched fates. Once those mortal lives finally drew to a close, they spent three full days weeping bitterly upon the banks of the River of Forgetfulness, but by then, seeking forgiveness from anyone was utterly futile. Quy Mong was condemned to burn within the eighth tier of the howling Avici Hell, her three hundred years of torment having only just begun. I remained in the underworld. My brother constructed a small, quiet dwelling for me, from whose windows the waters of the River of Forgetfulness could always be seen flowing past. Every few days he would visit, sometimes bearing a bowl of steaming broth, other times bringing nothing at all, merely sitting quietly beside me as we both gazed blankly at the endless stream. That tranquil afternoon, I sat in quiet contemplation upon the riverbank.