I was taken aback.
Why… why weren't they afraid of death the way everyone else was?
"WHY DON'T YOU CARE?!" I shouted, my voice shaking. "JUN—YOU COULD DIE IF YOU DO THAT! YOU KNOW THAT!"
Jun reached for my hand and held it firmly, his grip steady, grounding.
"Kid," he said softly, "it's normal to help someone in need. It has nothing to do with violating the laws of nature. If you have the ability to help… then it is your choice to do so. And that choice is not wrong."
Help?
What was he talking about?
Help… meant interfering, didn't it? Changing someone's fate… rewriting their death…
Wasn't that forbidden?
Wasn't that against everything?
"What you're saying…" I hesitated, my thoughts tangled. "Isn't interfering with someone's life… a violation of the laws of death?"
Qian suddenly burst into laughter.
"Where did you even learn this nonsense, kid?" he said, still chuckling. "Laws of death? What kind of ridiculous idea is that? Interfering with life?" He shook his head. "Life and death aren't bound the way you think. Saving someone is not interference, it's simply saving. Anyone can do it, if they have the will."
Jun cut in gently, his tone firm.
"If you have the chance to save someone, you should take it. Letting them die just because you believe it's 'fate' or 'God's will'… that's foolish."
Their words twisted inside my head.
So… we could change someone's death?
Just because we had the chance?
And that was… right?
"The...then…" my voice faltered, uncertain. "It's not wrong… to rewrite someone's death?"
Jun spoke slowly, carefully.
"Extending someone's life is not a sin. Taking it away, that is where the sin lies. Saving someone is never wrong"
Qian cut him off, his voice sharper now.
"Tell me, kid. who taught you all this?" He stepped closer. "Saving someone is giving them life… just like your mother gave you yours."
His gaze hardened.
"And killing someone, someone who could be a parent, a child, someone's entire world, that's what leaves others alone."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"So tell me… who was wrong? Your mother… or the ones who took your parents away?"
Everything shattered.
Every belief I held, every truth I thought I understood ,it all unraveled at once.
Had I… been living a lie?
The ground beneath me seemed to disappear. My vision blurred, the world spinning violently.
And then everything went dark.
When I opened my eyes again, the world was quiet.
A young woman was asleep beside me, her hand still holding mine.
I looked around the room, trying to gather my thoughts but the small movement must have woken her.
"Oh," she said softly, her eyes lighting up. "You're finally awake. I was so worried."
She sighed, shaking her head slightly.
"I should never have let Jun take you out so soon after your recovery. That man is such a fool." She smiled gently. "Now, now… you need more rest."
I looked at her, still lost.
"Ma'am… why did you help me?"
She laughed softly, her eyes warm.
"Well… I'm Piao. But you can call me 'Mom.'"
She adjusted the blanket over me before continuing.
"When I was very young, it was during a time of war. My hometown was destroyed… there was nothing left. No hope, no future." Her voice softened. "I truly believed I wouldn't survive."
She paused, her grip on my hand tightening just slightly.
"But when I was about to give up… a man found me. He held me, just like this, and told me not to give up yet. He gave me shelter, food… everything he had."
A small smile formed on her lips.
"Back then, I didn't understand why he did it." She looked at me. "But after saving you… I finally do."
"It doesn't matter what you have," she said gently. "What matters is what you can give."
Her thumb brushed lightly over my hand.
"Sometimes… all a person needs is someone to look them in the eye and remind them that they exist."
I held her gaze, speechless.
She smiled.
"Life is simple, dear. We are the ones who make it complicated, creating rules, blaming fate, blaming each other." She shook her head softly. "There are no such rules set by God."
Her voice softened into something almost like a whisper.
"He only asked one thing of us… to live."
She gently patted my head and began humming a quiet lullaby.
Strangely… my mind, which should have been heavy with everything I had learned…
felt light.
Like a burden I didn't know I carried had finally been lifted.
And before I knew it,
I fell asleep.