Aug 14, 2025
The river gurgles nearby. A chill creeps through the cracked slats in the shack.
Binghe sits in the dark, the bundle of his plans forgotten beside him, the comb pressed to his heart like a promise. One he was too proud to believe in. One Shen Jiu was too late to keep.
He doesn’t cry. He doesn’t scream.
He only kneels, unmoving, as twilight fades into night. For the first time since he found himself in this unforgiving new world, he is alone with the cold, the quiet, and the comb clenched in his hand like it might anchor him to something that isn’t already lost.
— Chapter 2, Born To Die
