[War God's Orphan x God of Misfortune in Desperate Straits]
"She loved him for thousands of years, believing the feeling was mutual. Until she died by his blade."
*
Yin Xiao was the daughter of a War God.
Her father burned away his divine bones and died in battle. Her mother's remains were nowhere to be found. All they left behind was an ever-burning lamp and a book of lamp designs.
A marriage contract led to her being framed and thrown into prison, then fleeing to the Land of Eternal Tribulation.
There, she met the God of Misfortune, scorned by all three realms.
He took her in. She crafted lamps for him. In the endless night, true light appeared for the first time.
*
After hundreds of years together, it seemed that more than Yin Xiao's lamps had been kindled. Her heart had caught fire, too.
Until... Yin Xiao "came back from the dead."
The wedding went ahead as promised.
She promised Xuan Sui that she would help him escape the Land of Eternal Tribulation during the wedding.
On the eve of the wedding, she unwound a red cord and tied one end around Xuan Sui's wrist and the other around her own.
"Xuan Sui," she said, "from now on, you're mine."
The next day, Yin Xiao used her divine breath to draw down the light of heaven and break through the seal of eternal night.
Xuan Sui came striding through the light, landing in the wedding hall. She turned to look at him, her eyes shining.
A blade coalesced in his palm. He plunged it into her heart. "I never trusted you."
*
A thousand years later, they met again in the mortal world. She was the daughter of a lamp shop owner, and he was a blind fortune-teller passing through.
She saw the strip of red silk around his wrist, its edges frayed and its color completely faded.
So he had kept it for a thousand years.
That night, she held a knife to his heart and asked if he remembered the person who had tied the red silk around him.
He said hoarsely, "I remember."
Her knife pierced his heart.
He didn't dodge.
"Why didn't you dodge?"
He raised a hand and touched her face.
"Yin Xiao."
She heard him say her name.
The wisp of soul-flame in the lamp, waiting for a thousand years, suddenly burned hot.
A lamp burns through the long night, and Yin Xiao is there year after year.
2026.02.02 (The story will begin in May!)
Reading Guide
1. The heroine is a softhearted god, but not a self-sacrificing saint. The hero is a suspicious god, shaped by his circumstances.
2. This is a whole mess of melodrama where she loves him and he loves her. The more melodramatic, the better. If you love melodrama, come on in.
3. Nobody may be perfect, and that's okay here.
Theme: Even the endless night will eventually see the light.
[Orange Candy] Come on, people who talk a lot need a listener 🧋