I was dreaming.
It was a recurring nightmare that haunted Fei Ling Kerei, one that relentlessly invaded her mind.
In the dream, she was running for her life, desperately trying to escape. The weak sunlight filtering through the clouds barely reached her, and the bamboo grove was dim. Despite it being the end of summer, the wind was so cold it felt like ice. Kerei was barefoot, and the bamboo leaves pierced her soles, blood seeping from her feet. Even so, gasping for breath, she kept running.
When she looked back, a monstrous creature was closing in on her. It had a body that was neither like a bear nor a tiger, its steel claws raised. Drool dripped from its chin as it groaned in human speech.
“I’ll devour you… Yes, devour you… Tonight, for sure.”
With a scream, Kerei desperately tried to push forward, but her foot caught in the roots of the grass, and she stumbled. The heavy, ragged breath of the hungry creature was felt on the back of her neck.
She thought she would be eaten—that was the next thing that came to her mind.
The creature clutched its head, staggered, and began scratching at its throat as though poisoned, writhing in agony.
“Ah, if I could just kill you… If I could kill you, none of this would have happened.”
The creature was crying.
In truth, Kerei couldn’t be sure. After all, the creature had neither eyes, ears, nor a nose. But she felt it. The sorrow of the creature crying was overwhelming, and without thinking, she extended her arm toward it.
In an instant, the creature reared back and lunged at her, trying to bite.
—It was a mistake. At that moment, she froze, realizing she was about to be killed.
Then, someone intervened.
“Mother―――!”
With a scream, the dream shattered.
“Ha… ha… that dream again.”
When Kerei awoke, the moonlight was shining through the empty room. She glanced around in the quiet shadows of the night, trying to calm her uneven breathing.
The nightmare repeated in the depths of her sleep—this was from the late summer of the previous year.
Since the previous emperor had broken down, Kerei and her mother had been kept in isolation, under house arrest.
The previous emperor would only visit the house on nights when there was no moon.
Every time, her mother would hide Kerei in a chest and lock it from the outside to protect her. The chest had a small gap, and from there, Kerei would peek out. She would see her father, who had become like a broken being, hitting her mother. Having lost his humanity, her father had slowly distanced himself from his human form. However, this was only in the way Kerei perceived him… If he had truly turned into a tiger, there might have been some salvation in this story.
“I can no longer remember what kind of face my father had. The only thing I can recall is the horrifying figure of the monstrous creature.”
Before that, the previous emperor had never visited during the day.
So, her mother would occasionally go out to gather medicinal herbs—herbs to heal the wounds inflicted by the previous emperor. Kerei would wait for her mother’s return, but suddenly, the door was slashed open with a sword, and the previous emperor invaded, intending to kill Kerei, the daughter of the noble family.
In the nick of time, her mother shielded her, and Kerei was spared. However, her mother was severely wounded by a sword strike to her side.
“If I could just kill you…” Those words still tightened Kerei’s throat. If her father had killed her back then, would the previous emperor not have been sentenced to death?
(There’s no use thinking about it… once water is spilled, it can’t be collected again.)
To shake off these poisonous thoughts that clung to her mind, Kerei went outside.
The wind played a gentle tune with the green bamboo leaves, and a cool breeze flowed through.
Good breathing is the best medicine that doesn’t need mixing. The circulation of the air cleanses the body and calms the heart.
“Tonight, the moon is blue.”
Without making a sound, Zhen descended from the roof.
“Why do you always stay so cool, sitting on our roof?” Kerei asked.
“I don’t want my prey to be stolen,” Zhen replied.
“You talk about people like they’re deer or pheasants.”
Kerei sighed.
She sat on the porch, her gaze drifting far away. When the wind blew, the green fire of the bamboo swirled and fell. In a fleeting moment, it was the flame of life, burning brightly. Life is fragile, like fireflies. It blooms knowing it will scatter and breathes its last toward death. So sadly passionate.
“On the night the previous emperor died…”
After a pause, Kerei carefully spoke, as if unwrapping a forbidden book.
“…I saw the death of the Kirin.”
Zhen froze.
This was significant.
It is believed that the calamity of the poisoned land came after the previous emperor’s repeated wars and tyrannical rule, but the truth was different. The cause of the poison in the land was the death of the Kirin.
“The Kirin is connected to the root of Yin and Yang. It is the mediator between humans and the heavens, the controller of all things. With the loss of its protective deity, the harmony of the world has been disrupted, and the land is on the path to decline.”
“You understand what that means, don’t you?”
Kerei silently affirmed.
The Kirin is eternal. As long as the rightful emperor succeeds the throne, the Kirin will protect the land for thousands of years. The death of the Kirin signifies that someone unworthy of the throne has taken the seat of the emperor. It is an accusation and a denial of the current emperor. To speak of it openly would be considered treason, and she would likely be executed.
“The previous emperor was a wise ruler, with great virtue and military prowess.”
The previous emperor had unified the continent through his military might, ending long years of war. Though some feared him as a conqueror, his voice was gentle when speaking to his daughter, like a stream quietly nourishing the earth.
Kerei had deeply respected her father.
“Until three years ago, when he was poisoned.”
