Chapter 344

"Mila."

"Mila, over here! This way!"

"Mila!"

A woman dressed in deep crimson robes walked through the night, the faint scent

of incense drifting around her. The distant calls echoed through the darkness, swirling closer and closer, drawing her forward.

The night was thick and heavy.

Step by step, she moved ahead, drawn toward the voices.

They grew clearer-closer.

But just then, a sudden weight yanked at her arm. Metal clanked loudly. She looked down and found, without knowing when or how, a heavy chain had coiled around her wrist, its weight and pressure pinning her in place.

Where had this chain come from?

She glanced around, but the world had vanished into utter blackness. The mountains, the stony path-gone, swallowed by the dark.

Out of nowhere, a child's laughter rang out behind her.

"One, two, three... Heaven! Hahaha, I made it to heaven-I win!"

Startled, she turned.

worn clothes hopped across chalk-drawn squares, finally landing triumphantly on the last one

flickered out-then came

now, sitting with a group of girls her age as they wove friendship bracelets together. At the end, the girl giggled,

girl jumped rope

faded, then flared up

she was in middle school, sitting at her desk. At the front of the classroom, her English teacher announced loudly, "Let's all congratulate Mila for

class erupted

girl beamed,

to enroll at Northpoint University. College brought

faded and returned,

girl grew up a little more—her clothes changing from ragged to bright, her steps from hesitant to sure. She fought her way forward, carving a path through thorns and hardship, yet always surrounded by the music

stood in the darkness, watching this younger, ever-brighter version of herself blossom beneath

one day, the

seven long

light blazed back. Under its glow stood Mila as a teenager, arms filled with flowers, silently

faced each other in

She strode forward, grabbed the heavy chain on Mila's wrist, and gave it a sharp

rained down

swirling petals, the younger Mila pointed at her and burst out laughing, "I

felt

stunned by the overwhelming sense of freedom. Looking up, she saw her younger self

girl pointed at her and shouted, "No

lips curled into a trembling

"Yes. We are winners."

look-one young, one

the words of that strange blind monk she'd met near the

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