Chapter 28: New Beginnings

The voices grew louder. Li Na's sharp call sliced through the dawn air, followed by the heavier footsteps of others—the foundry workers who had gathered at the edges of the blast zone, waiting for some sign that the nightmare had ended.

Chen Wei's arms trembled around Liang Xun's unconscious form. His weight was substantial, but she barely felt it. The vision still burned behind her eyes—his smile, his outstretched hand, and then the push. The fall into a darkness that felt older and more absolute than the Hunger itself.

*It had never been wrong before.*

She heard Li Na's footsteps crunching across the debris-strewn floor. "Chen Wei! Chen Wei, are you—" Li Na's voice caught as she took in the scene. The crater where the foundry floor had been. The shattered remains of equipment that had melted and reformed into impossible shapes. And Chen Wei, kneeling in the center of it all, holding Liang Xun like he was the last thing she had left in the world.

"Help me," Chen Wei said, her voice flat. "He's hurt."

Li Na rushed forward, her phone already in hand. "I've got an ambulance on the way. What the hell happened here? The whole building's been shaking for the past hour. We thought—" She stopped, her eyes widening as she finally saw Chen Wei's face. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Chen Wei almost laughed at that. *If only it were that simple.*

Together, they managed to lift Liang Xun between them. His breathing was shallow but steady. His skin was pale, but the black veins that had once crawled beneath his flesh had vanished entirely. Whatever the Hunger had done to him, whatever mark it had left, was gone.

But the mark it had left on Chen Wei's mind was another matter entirely.

*He is the one who will betray you.*

She pushed the thought away as they emerged from the ruined foundry into the blinding light of morning. The street beyond was cordoned off with police tape, and a crowd of onlookers had gathered behind the barriers. Chen Wei recognized several faces from the surrounding neighborhoods—people she'd helped over the years, people who had come to her shop with their fears and their futures.

They stared at her now with a mixture of awe and terror.

The ambulance arrived minutes later. Paramedics took Liang Xun from her arms, and Chen Wei felt something cold settle in her chest as his weight was lifted away. She followed the stretcher to the vehicle, but Li Na caught her arm.

"You can't go with him," Li Na said quietly. "You're covered in blood. You need to be checked out too."

Chen Wei looked down at herself. She hadn't noticed the blood before—it was everywhere. Her hands, her clothes, her face. It wasn't hers. She wasn't sure whose it was.

"Li Na," she said, and her voice cracked. "I need to think."

Li Na's expression softened. "Then let's get you cleaned up. You can think in the car."

---

The police station was a blur of fluorescent lights and identical rooms. Chen Wei had given her statement three times, each version slightly more polished than the last. Gas leak. Structural failure. Liang Xun had been inspecting the property when the explosion occurred. She had pulled him out.

They didn't believe her. She could see it in their eyes. But they couldn't disprove her either—not with the way the foundry had collapsed in on itself, leaving no evidence of anything beyond natural disaster.

By the time they released her, the sun had climbed high over Shanghai. The city glittered around her, indifferent to the war that had been fought in its shadows.

Li Na was waiting outside. She had a cup of tea in one hand and a tablet in the other. "You look like hell," she said by way of greeting.

"Thanks." Chen Wei took the tea. It was jasmine—her favorite. Li Na always remembered these small things. It was one of the reasons Chen Wei trusted her.

"How's Liang Xun?"

"Stable. The hospital called about an hour ago. He's awake, but they're keeping him for observation. The doctors can't explain how he survived. No internal injuries, no lasting damage. They're calling it a miracle." Li Na paused. "They don't know about miracles."

Chen Wei nodded, but her mind was elsewhere. The vision had replayed in her head a hundred times since dawn. Each time, the outcome was the same. Liang Xun's smile. His hand. The push.

"Chen Wei." Li Na's voice was sharp. "What aren't you telling me?"

The question hung between them. Chen Wei had never lied to Li Na—not about the important things. But how could she explain this? How could she say that the universe itself had shown her the face of her betrayer, and that face belonged to the man she had just saved?

*He is the reason you will be alone.*

"Nothing," Chen Wei said. "I'm just tired."

Li Na studied her for a long moment. Then she nodded slowly. "Fine. I'll drive you home. You need rest."

Chen Wei let herself be led to the car. She let herself be driven through the winding streets of Shanghai, past the neon signs and the ancient temples, past the glittering towers and the crumbling alleys. The city was a study in contrasts, a place where the old and the new fought for dominance every single day.

She felt like that herself. Two forces warring inside her. The part that wanted to believe Liang Xun was innocent. And the part that knew the vision had never been wrong.

---

The antique shop felt smaller than she remembered. The familiar scent of old wood and incense greeted her as she stepped through the door, but it brought no comfort. Every object in the room seemed to watch her, to judge her.

The mirrors especially.

She avoided them, moving through the shop with her eyes fixed on the floor. In the back room, she stripped off her bloodied clothes and stood under the shower until the water ran cold. The cuts and bruises she'd accumulated over the night stung, but she barely felt them.

When she emerged, wrapped in a robe, she found Li Na waiting in the kitchen with fresh tea and a spread of food from the dumpling shop down the street.

"You need to eat," Li Na said.

Chen Wei sat down across from her. She picked up a dumpling and stared at it. "Li Na, can I ask you something?"

Li Na leaned back. "Always."

"Have you ever... seen something? Known something about a person that you couldn't unknow? Even if it meant hurting them?"

Li Na's expression flickered. For just a moment, something old and tired passed through her eyes. "I was a cop for fifteen years. I saw the worst things people could do to each other. But the worst wasn't the violence." She picked up her tea. "It was the look on a mother's face when she found out her son had been the one to kill his own father. She'd known. Deep down, she'd always known. But she'd chosen not to see it. And when she couldn't deny it anymore..." Li Na shook her head. "It destroyed her."

Chen Wei set down the dumpling. "What would you have done? If you were her?"

"I would have trusted what I knew." Li Na met her eyes. "The truth doesn't change just because we're afraid of it."

The words settled over Chen Wei like a weight. She looked down at her hands, at the calluses and scars that mapped her life. Every fortune she had ever told had come true. Every vision she had ever seen had manifested. Who was she to doubt this one?

But Liang Xun...

She thought of his smile. The way he teased her about her ancient phone. The way he'd stepped in front of her when the Hunger had attacked, shielding her with his own body.

*He is the one who will betray you.*

No. She couldn't accept it. Not without proof. Not without understanding.

She stood abruptly. "I need to see him."

Li Na raised an eyebrow. "The hospital? Chen Wei, you just—"

"I need to see him," Chen Wei repeated. "There's something I have to ask him."

Li Na hesitated, then nodded. "Fine. But I'm coming with you."

---

The hospital was sterile and white and smelled of antiseptic. Chen Wei moved through its corridors like a ghost, Li Na a silent presence at her side. They found Liang Xun's room on the third floor. Through the window in the door, Chen Wei could see him sitting up in bed, an untouched tray of food beside him.

He looked tired, but whole. The black veins were gone. His skin had color again. When he saw her through the glass, his face lit up with that smile—the one she'd seen a hundred times in her visions.

The same smile from her vision of his betrayal.

Chen Wei's hand trembled on the door handle.

"Chen Wei?" Li Na's voice was soft. "Are you okay?"

Chen Wei forced herself to nod. She pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Chen Wei!" Liang Xun's voice was hoarse, but warm. He reached for her, and she let him take her hand. His grip was strong, steady. "I was so worried. They wouldn't tell me anything. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." The words came out automatically. She sat in the chair beside his bed, still holding his hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck." He laughed weakly. "But the doctors say I'll be fine. They keep asking me what happened, but I honestly don't remember much. Just..." He frowned. "There was something dark. And then there was you. You were glowing."

Chen Wei's breath caught. "I was glowing?"

"Yeah. I know it sounds crazy. But I saw you, Chen Wei. You were like..." He searched for words. "Like the sun. And then everything went black."

She stared at him. His eyes were clear, honest. She had read his future countless times. She had seen him at his best and his worst. She had never seen him lie.

But the vision...

"Liang Xun," she said slowly. "There's something I need to ask you."

His smile faded. Something in her tone must have alerted him. "What is it?"

Chen Wei opened her mouth. The words were there, ready to be spoken. *Are you going to betray me?* But as she looked at him—at the concern in his eyes, at the way his hand still held hers, warm and real and present—the question died in her throat.

Because the vision had shown her another future too. A hundred futures, in fact. And in most of them, he stood by her side.

"Nothing," she said. "It can wait. You need to rest."

Liang Xun studied her, and she could see the gears turning behind his eyes. He knew she was holding something back. But he didn't press. He just squeezed her hand and said, "Thank you. For saving me."

Chen Wei forced a smile. "That's what I do."

She stayed with him until visiting hours ended. When she finally left the hospital, night had fallen over Shanghai. The city glittered around her, beautiful and indifferent.

Li Na was waiting by the car. "Well? Did you ask him?"

Chen Wei shook her head. "I couldn't."

Li Na sighed. "Chen Wei—"

"I know." Chen Wei looked up at the sky. The stars were hidden behind the city's glow. "I know what I saw. But I need to understand it first. I need to know why."

"And if you don't find an answer?"

Chen Wei was silent for a long moment. Then she said, "I guess I'll have to decide whether to trust what I've seen... or what I've lived."

She got into the car before Li Na could respond. As they drove through the neon-lit streets, Chen Wei's phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number.

*We know what you did to the Hunger. We know what you are. Meet us at the Jade Pagoda at midnight if you want the truth about