[Two Years Ago]

Aren and Ai don't question the boy much. While Aren tends to the boy, Ai looks for other survivors.

There's none. After Ai is sure that there's nobody else alive other than the child, he buries the corpses and marks the graves.

"We can't leave him here." Aren says to Ai, "Whoever killed these people might come back and kill this boy."

"Let's take him with us." Ai glances at the boy in his brother's arms. Li Jun seems to be around nine-year-old. The boy is a half-human like him. "I will look for his family later in the fae market. We should head to the river of death."

Aren nods. He looks down at the boy. "Li Jun, if you know anything about your family, you should tell me."

"My mother was brought here from the human world," Li Jun says with a soft voice. "She didn't like this place but she couldn't leave this place either. She told me that her parents sold her to the fae before she was even born. If she could, she would have sold me too."

Ai purses his lips, not knowing what to say. They cross the lands bathed with blood and reach the land of winter. Across the winter, the barren lands begin. If one keeps walking, they would reach the shore of the river of death.

"Though she hated me, she died saving my life." Li Jun rests his head on Aren's chest. "She locked me in the cellar and told me not to make a noise. Her name was Li Jingyi. She was from C Country. Her father's name was Li Zhihao. Her father sold her because he wanted money. The fae promised them money. Just a day before she turned thirteen, the fae brought her here. At the age of sixteen, she became my father's concubine."

Ai releases his breath. There's no way that they can send this child to Li Zhihao. That man might send Li Jun again for money.

"My brothers hated me because I was half-human." Li Jun's voice is faint. He seems to be sleepy. "The crown prince hated me the most. He said that my mother was a slave.

'Concubine' was just a fancy word for a female slave."

"You don't have to say anymore." Aren strokes the boy's shoulder gently. "Go to sleep. I will wake you up when we reach the mortal world."

Li Jun closes his eyes and falls asleep.

"You did a compulsion spell on him." Ai gives him a judgmental look. "That's why he was talking emotionlessly."

"I needed to know if he has a family." Aren heaves a sigh. "His life was tragic."

"He doesn't have a family here or in the mortal world." Ai shakes his head. "Let's keep him with us then."

"What are you saying?" Aren makes a face. "We can't keep him. Don't be like Renasir Ari."

"We should be like her." Ai scowls at his brother. "If she didn't keep me, I wouldn't be alive. Anyway, where should we leave this boy? He's half-fae. He would always be different from humans. Do you want to send him to the orphanage? Orphanages are worse. There's never enough to eat. Rilyah, I and Cina survived because we were different. We always had to pretend because humans don't treat different kids nicely."

Aren purses his lips. His brother must have lived a hard life in the human world. He glances at the boy's face. The child will have scars on his body and soul. "Alright, we will keep him. If he ever wants to come back here, we will let him do so."

"Alright," Ai mutters. They are walking on the shore of the river of death. The beginning and end of this river are unknown. Ai looks at the river's surface. The glimmer of red is faint. It seems that something is cleansing the river.

"Is something happening in the river?" Aren turns his head toward the left. "All the foul creatures are moving in that direction."

"I don't know the working of this world." Ai stumbles against something. He looks down and finds a milestone with strange letters. "I can't read the language of the afterlife either."

"Let me take a look." Aren bends down his waist while carrying the boy in his arms. "I think that it says… the bridge is ten miles away?"

"You are guessing." Ai doesn't know what to do with his brother. His brother is dumber than he looks. If he says that the bridge is ten miles away, one can guarantee that the bridge is either on the other side of the world or only a step away. Ai thinks about what the dark lord said. "Brother, could she have fallen into the river?"

Aren shudders. "She would better not."

"Then, we should find out whether she reincarnated or not." Ai gestures him to walk ahead. As he has predicted, the bridge is only ten steps away from the milestone. "This bridge goes to the afterlife."

"Should we take the boy with us?" Aren questions him with a creased forehead.

"What else can we do?" Ai looks around. Many ghosts are stuck in the mist. But the mist doesn't affect them. It must be because they are born in Iravan's Karma system. "We can't leave this boy here."

"Let's go then." Aren climbs the bridge. "He will be safe as long as he's with us."

Ai walks behind his brother. The boy is still asleep. After they are halfway on the bridge, Ai exclaims, "Brother, you should have waited at the shore with this boy."

"Ah…" Aren raises his chin, realizing his mistake. "I guess I could have."

"Is it okay to take a mortal with us?" Ai knits his brows, worried. "Fae realm does fall in this karma system."

"Aish! What could go wrong?" Aren looks at him. "We are only crossing the bridge. It's not like we died for real. We will bring him back with us. If they cause problems, we will run away."

"Okay then." Ai doesn't argue. All they have to do is find out whether Renasir Ari has reincarnated or not. Surely, they can't force a living person to die.