'What is this feeling?'— Tang Li wondered as she awoke in a warm and humid pce. The unusual lightness in her body trasted with the firmness of the surface around her, as though she were floating in a thick, lukewarm liquid.

  'How am I breathing? Why do I feel so small? And why 't I see anything?'— Her restless mind raced with questions as she tried to move, but she seemed to be fined in a tight pouch. With a surge of determination, she kicked.

  Suddenly, something ged. She felt external pressure, a touch.

  —"Are you okay, dear?" — A male voice sounded, soft and loving, as though speaking to someone else.

  —"I'm fihe baby kicked,"— replied a female voice, sweet and maternal. —"It seems excited today."

  —"Hey, little one, go easy on your mother. She's beeired tely,—" the man said, his tole, drawing closer.

  Tang Li remained silent. 'These people… who are they?'

  —"How are you so sure it will be a girl?"— the woman asked, amused, her ughter filling the air with f warmth.

  —"I dreamed of her st night,"— the man replied. —"She'll be a beautiful little princess, just as lovely as her mother."

  Memories flooded Tang Li's mind. She had died. Died saving the universe. And now… where was she?

  'If I'm dead, then where am I now? These voices… Have I been reborn? Am I in a fetus?'

  The loving words tinued around her, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Tang Li felt genuine warmth in her heart. It was a stark trast to the crushing loneliness of her previous life.

  —"If it's a little princess, what name will we give her?"— the mother asked, her tone curious and tender.

  —"Tang Xi," the father replied, his voice full of vi. "—, to represent the arrival of spring and a new beginning. Xi, for our hope that her life will be filled with happiness and love."

  Tang Xi felt the emotion in his words. A smile formed in her soul, even if her tiny body couldn't yet express it.

  As time passed, Xi occasionally woke, listening tments of her parents' versations and learning more about them. She felt their unwavering love in every word aure, and hope for a new life filled with joy grew in her heart.

  Then, the day arrived.

  She felt intense pressure oiny body, being pushed by forces she didn't uand. Voices buzzed around her.

  —"e on, ma'am, the baby is almost here. You o be strong and push harder,"— said an elderly and respectful voice, though ced with urgency.

  With one final effort, Tang Xi was born.

  However, what should have been a moment of joy was quickly overshadowed by the sound of distant explosions. The air was heavy with tension.

  —"It's a girl,"— the elderly voinounced, but the weight ione was unmistakable.

  Tang Xi ced in her mother's arms.

  —"Everyone, leave us. Leave us alone,"— her mother anded.

  The footsteps retreated, leaving only the distant sound of explosions.

  —"Your father was right,"— her mother murmured, her voice thick with emotion. —"I wish I had more time…"

  Tang Xi felt something pced oiny finger—a c—and a pendant around her neck.

  —"Know, my daughter, that your father and I have always loved you and always will…"

  As her mother spoke, she moved quickly, as if trying to escape something. Tang Xi felt every step, every jolt, as her mother seemed to walk away from the increasingly loud booms.

  —"We're out of time,"— her mother tinued, urgency sharpening her voice. —"Your father and I will almost certainly die. So, we're sending you somewhere they 't find you. Everything you o know is in the ring. It will remain sealed until you protect yourself and open it."

  Tang Xi felt her mother's rag heartbeat, her tears falling onto her tiny face. Even without fully uanding, she felt the overwhelming pain and love in those words.

  Finally, her mother stopped. She gently pced her on the ground. Something was activated. A powerful energy enveloped Tang Xi, an overwhelming pressure that seemed to want to destroy her.

  She tried to resist, but the force was overp. Before she could prehend what was happening, everythi dark.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The night was frigid. Cutting winds howled through the twisted branches of a dense forest where winter seemed eternal. Snow piled in thick yers, muffling the steps of a man wandering aimlessly. His clothes were in tatters, stained with dried blood, and his face ortrait of desotioe the austere beauty of his features, his eyes carried a shadow of sorrow and guilt heavier than the freezing air around him.

  He moved meically, ign the cold that burned like sharp knives against his wounds. Each gust of wind seemed to punish him further, yet he did not stop.

  —"I'm useless… I couldn't avenge you, my love,"— he murmured to himself, his voice hoarse and broken. The memory of his wife ed his mind.

  Her final moments were a painful blur. He remembered running through the forest, his heart pounding with ay and despair. Each step revealed signs of a struggle: broken trees, bloodstains in the snow, and finally, bodies—many bodies. With every clue, the terror in his chest grew. When he fouhe world stopped.

  A man dressed in bck stood over her, a bde buried in her heart. His mi bnk. He didn't remember what he did, only that he attacked the killer with all the fury he possessed, destroying him. Then, he k beside her.

  —"I'm here, my love,"— he babbled, desperate, as he pced a healing pill against her lips.

  —"It's no use…"— she murmured with serenity, even as tears streamed from her eyes. —"I'm poisoned… I don't have much time. Don't bme yourself…"

  She raised her trembling hands to his face, the warmth quickly leaving her fingers. "Live," was her final word before her body went limp in his arms.

  Now, the memory tortured him, every detail etched into his mind like a scar that would never heal.

  Lost in dark thoughts, the man walked deeper into the forest. He thought of joining his wife ih, uo bear the void she left. But suddenly, something broke his train of thought.

  A disturbance.

  It was as if the air had shifted, carrying a presehat didn't belong. He stopped, his senses honed by years of battle. He looked around and followed the source of the feeling.

  When he arrived, his eyes widened. On the ground, amidst the snow, was a bu first, he thought he was halluating. He rubbed his eyes, hesitant, before cautiously approag.

  The bundle moved, and he saw something he never expected: a baby.

  —"Little one… what are you doing here?"— he murmured, kneeling to pick her up. He cradled the baby in his calloused hands, noting her fragility. Despite the cruel cold, her small body radiated a gentle warmth. He held her close to his chest, ing her in what remained of his clothes.

  Around her neck, he noticed a jade pendant. Engraved on it was a ang Xi."

  He looked around, searg for any sign of who might have left the child, but found nothing but the pristine snow and the silence of the forest.

  When his eyes returo the girl, he saw something that struck him deeply. In her small, wet eyes, there ain—a pain that mirrored the one he carried in his heart.

  —"My love…"— he whispered, his voice trembling. —"Was it you whht her to me?"

  He thought of his wife, of how they had dreamed of having children, a an ued warmth filling the emptiness in his chest. A paternal love was born there, as naturally as the sunrise.

  —"My name is Tang Wei,"— he said, gently caressing the baby's face. —"It seems we're fated, little one. Will you let me care for you? Raise you as my daughter?"— His voice quivered with a nervousness he hadn't known he could feel.

  Tang Xi, even so young, seemed to uand. She grasped his finger with her tiny hands, and in that simple gesture, Tang Wei felt an acceptance he hought he'd receive again.

  Carefully, he held her closer and stood. As he walked back through the forest, he spoke to her, his voice gentle and full of emotion.

  And so, on that freezing night under a sky full of stars, both found a new beginning.

  Aug_N7052