Lord of Prayer - Chapter 239 173: Dreams and a Promise
She opened her eyes to see Xia Lan’s long hair stirring in the gentle breeze. Xia Lan was gazing up at the brilliant starry sky, her eyes holding an indescribable melancholy.
“Sister Lan, it looks like you have something on your mind, too,” she said.
“…I’m going to America.”
“Huh?” Li Xiye froze.
Xia Lan’s hands never stopped moving as she gazed at the starry sky and forced a smile. “About half a month ago, my parents arranged my engagement. It’s to someone from the Kars Clan in America… I’ve met the man. He’s quite handsome, with a good personality. I even had someone discreetly look into him, and it turns out he’s a total geek… Hmm, I guess that’s good news. It’s just, suddenly having to go so far away… I’m a little scared.”
“Why so suddenly?” Li Xiye was still in disbelief.
“A political marriage. It’s how so many of our aunts and uncles ended up together.” Xia Lan gently massaged Li Xiye’s temples. “Honestly, I really envy you. At least you get to choose your own future, instead of being a pawn in the family’s alliances like the rest of us.”
Xia Lan was a Painter, a graduate of a renowned art university on the Eastern Continent. And the family had certainly pulled strings to get her accepted.
When you ate the family’s food, drank their wine, and used their money, the end result was having your life dictated to you. The only way out was to use none of the family’s resources, or be so exceptional that you could control your own fate.
Li Xiye didn’t go to an elite school, wasn’t on the best of terms with her parents or the clan, and had rarely ever used the family’s resources. Add to that her… difficult personality, and an arranged marriage was something that would never be forced upon her. Her future was hers to command.
“Do you remember the dream we had as kids?” Xia Lan asked.
Li Xiye sat up. She looked at Sister Lan, her expression complex, and said softly, “To have the largest Garden in the World, filled with roses, filled with china roses, filled with peonies, filled with tulips, filled with sunflowers…”
“From now on, you’ll be the only one left to make that dream a reality.”
Xia Lan smiled and ruffled Li Xiye’s hair. “For the both of us.”
Li Xiye opened her mouth, but she didn’t know what to say. In the end, all she could manage was a heavy “Mm.”
“So, it’s a promise?” Xia Lan held out her pinky.
“It’s a promise.” Li Xiye hooked her pinky around Xia Lan’s and nodded solemnly.
Cold moonlight spilled down upon them, sealing the girls’ pact.
A gentle breeze drifted by, laced with an imperceptible aura of Darkness. It brushed past flowers and trees, carrying their sweet fragrance as it weaved through a swarm of fireflies.
Suddenly, the Yellow Crystal Necklace Li Xiye wore erupted with light, forming a dazzling Constellation Barrier around her.
She felt a few drops of warm liquid splash onto her face. Instinctively, she reached up to touch it. In the ambient light, she saw the crimson staining her palm.
It was a shocking, brutal red.
Right before her eyes, Xia Lan—the very same Xia Lan who had been making a promise with her just a second ago—crumpled to the ground as a spray of blood blossomed from her chest like a red rose.
Li Xiye’s eyes flew wide. She stood frozen, overwhelmed by a powerful sense of unreality that left her dizzy and breathless.
In the deepening night, pairs of crimson eyes began to glow—in the woods, on the eaves of the roof, among the rockeries… Pitch-black bats beat their wings, each one wreathed in a tangible Darkness, as they swarmed out in all directions to blot out the sky!
“Well, well. There’s still one alive…”
A handsome figure emerged from the shadows. He wore a black trench coat, his face was deathly pale, and he offered Li Xiye a Gentleman’s smile. He then raised a hand, Darkness swirling between his fingers, making no attempt to hide his malevolent intent.
“My beautiful lady, would you be so kind as to die for me?”
