1 Prologue
"I don't want to die. Is that… too much to ask?"
"..."
"Remember."
"You are all but monsters with no name, born not to live but to kill."
"And the moment you lose that purpose, death will come to you, in one way or another."
"There is no way out, Child."
"No Way Out."
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YEAR 2XXX, FORBIDDEN PURPLE ZONE: THE UNEXPLORED LANDS
Under the soft radiance of the bloody-red moon, Xie Yi stood still above a mountain of cold dead bodies, a majestic long spear on her right, with the sharp tip of its blade still dripping with blood, and a severed head of a hideous mutant on her left, its eyes bulging fierce as if it hadn't been unalived seconds ago.
She indifferently threw the spoils of her victory to the side, letting it roll down the sharp uneven slope of severed body parts whilst leaving a trail of dark red.
"Come…"
As the pale light of the moon splashed against her side profile, it illuminated her cold and emotionless features that were both gorgeous yet stiff, like a flawlessly beautiful clay figure that was devoid of any signs of life.
"Come to me, my child…"
Xie Yi frowned, and only by then did she seem humane for the least. The soft furrows of her eyebrows turned deeper and deeper as her figure twisted in the air, leaving countless afterimages as she dealt deadly blows after blows towards the incoming waves of monsters that seemed to have no end.
One after another, they hurled themselves towards her with a ferocity equal to that of a blood-thirsty demon, only to perish under the swing of her spear in the count of mere seconds.
A shade of blood that was almost as dark as ink, coupled with the broken shreds of mutated cells and tissues, sprayed all over the land, the nauseating metallic scent of rotten flesh lingering thick in the air. But, none of it belonged to the peerless figure who wielded her weapon like the God of War.
She wasn't injured the slightest bit and the leftover mutant monsters around her couldn't pose her dancing figure any potential threat and yet, the frown on her forehead didn't decrease but rather intensified.
'It's not it.'
'This one isn't either.'
'Who?'
Who exactly did these ear-piercing cries in her mind belong to?
Xie Yi looked to her right and to her left. Her comrades, similarly dressed in pitch-black combat uniforms from head to toe, had their eyes glued onto the incoming monsters that barged into their formation without any sign of rest, mindlessly throwing themselves under the tip of their blades.
They didn't seem the least distracted, unlike her.
This… was she the only one who could hear these strange voices? Xie Yi's movements that were as seamless as flowing water suddenly froze.
She lowered her head, contemplating for a short second before her eyes fluttered close to accurately pinpoint the source of these unknown voices.
"Xie Yi, what's wrong?"
One of her comrades, a man wielding a pair of long sabers, seemed to have caught the difference in her as he cautiously moved his back to close in towards her direction whilst pushing off the incoming tide of crazed monsters in a trained manner.
Xie Yi stayed silent as if she hadn't heard him. No, it was true that she hadn't heard his voice at all as what's running amok within her head, dominating her entire sense of hearing was the cries of an unidentifiable monster that sounded humane to her ears.
"Come to me, my child… Miss you… Mother misses you so much…"
Xie Yi sucked a deep breath, the twisting agony that followed after those cries prompting a sudden impulse to rush through the course of her body. And as if she was stripped of her conscious mind, the light in her eyes dimmed down as she twisted her heel to rush into the dark shadows of the vast forest behind her, entering the dangerous land of the unknown.
"Xie Yi, stop!"
The man tried to hold onto her hands, only for his fingers to slip off her wrist and wrap onto empty air instead.
"No! Come back! Xie Yi! Come back!"
His pupils constricted out of fright as he shouted at the top of his lungs, but to no avail. He could only see her fading back in horror, his eyes reflecting the last images of her figure before it blended with the endless darkness of its background.
"Everyone, retreat! Quick! Retreat and chase after Xie Yi!"
The flashing shadows of these proud hunters, the top of their echelon that stood below none but only one, no longer dashed around as they gathered around the commanding man, nodding their heads in silence before they all charged into the forest.
Their movements were swift and their cooperation was flawless. They barged into the depth of the infamously deadly forest at the speed of lightning but alas, what was left on the cold ground was nothing but the body of their comrade, lying flat with a pool of blood under her, a huge gaping hole on her lower abdomen.
Her core was torn apart and blood was flowing out of her wound like bursting water from a broken pipe. It was obvious that they were too late. The damage in her was beyond repairable and they could do nothing but suck a deep cold breath, sighing at their loss.
The man fell onto his knees, carefully gathering the fallen body to rest against his chest. His gloved hands that had long been dirtied by the dry clots of blood trembled in disbelief as his painful cry pierced through the dreadful silence in the air.
"XIE YI!!!!"
***
2 Months Later
The rain was pouring heavily when a young teenager arrived at the doorsteps of the Xie residence. Dropping the entirety of her luggage that amounted to only a shabby-looking gym bag and a cloth-sheathed long pole, the teenager meticulously fixed her clothes and hair before she raised her finger to press on the doorbell.
"Coming~"
What came after the melodious ring was a pleasant voice resounding from within the spacious house as a gentle-looking old woman emerged out of the parting door.
"You're… Miss Xie Yi, right?"
The teenager, Xie Yi, raised her eyes to peek through her long wet bangs. She studied the old woman's kind features before slowly nodding.
"En, I am."
