The darkness never changed.
No matter how long Lady Chen walked.
No matter how desperately she searched.
There was still—
Nothing.
No light.
No warmth.
No sky above her.
No ground beneath her feet.
Only endless black silence swallowing everything around her.
—
At first, she had screamed.
Called for help.
Begged someone to answer.
But now—
Her voice had become hoarse.
Weak.
Fragile.
—
And the loneliness—
Had begun sinking into her bones.
—
Lady Chen curled into herself quietly inside the darkness.
Her knees pulled close to her chest.
Her hands trembling slightly.
—
"…Please…"
Her voice cracked softly.
"…someone…"
—
No answer came.
Only the distant echoes of prayers drifting through the void.
Sometimes near.
Sometimes far.
As though separated by worlds.
—
Then—
Very faintly—
She heard crying.
—
Lady Chen froze.
Her heart tightened instantly.
Because she recognized that voice.
—
"…Mother?"
—
The sound became clearer.
Soft sobbing.
