Severed hand

Yuan Cai's hands trembled, he then saw the side of the page was slightly wrinkled. There were wet marks on it and not just one.

'She...was crying when she wrote this'

On the next page was an image of Lan Du, she was much younger than she is now, but her eyes were cold. She held a kid her age in her hand by his collar. There were bruises over her arms, but the kid in her hand was beaten black and blue.

[Why should I be a good girl if I will only get beaten? If it hurts mother? Screw meeting father, he wasn't here when mother needed him, why would I need him?]

The words began growing harsher and the tone of the writing became more violent

[I'm now 8, mother has completely taken me for a boy, but this is fine, she is smiling more and seems happier, cheh the old man who left her is still not back? He should just die, mother's mentality is beginning to decay due to his absence]

[Mother begins to ask if I will get a girlfriend in the future...but I'm a girl...but if mother wants this, I'll do it for her]

Yuan Cai held the diary tightly, unknowingly, his eyes were watering as his whole body shook. He could understand that the burdens on Lan Du's shoulders were greater than anything he had experienced in his life. Yet this was only when she was at the age of 8.

[I just turned nine...mother seemed to have forgotten my real birthdate, and mistook it for father's...maybe I really am his replacement...but if this is mother's wish, my birthdate will be changed for her]

At this moment, he dropped the diary, he began shaking so hard that he couldn't even hold the diary in his hand even when he tried to pick it up.

'Her birthdate, forgotten...by the only person she could call family, but she's accepting all this? I-I celebrate my birthday every year with father, he never once forgotten and would send gifts back at the exact date if he is busy]

He grabbed his own arms and huddled up. He didn't wish to continue reading, but he couldn't stop. He picked up the diary after calming down before he started reading once again.

[For 10 years, he has been away, now, I realised how unfair the society is to women, is this why mother wanted me to dress like a boy? Or is it just to replace father? Despite all this, that bastard has yet to return, mother's condition has taken a turn for the worst, she still has her memories, but her mental attitude has become that of a teenager, is this goes on, it could turn her into an infant]

[Eleven years, why am I still writing this useless thing? I only have one goal now, to protect mother...I will clear all obstacles that gets in the way of her happiness, the first step being that bastard who left us, I will find him, and I will kill him, for myself...and for mother]

The rest of the pages were all blank, Yuan Cai froze, he realised that Lan Du had grown to a point where there are no words she could use to express her anger. Her goal seeped into his mind.

'Protecting her mother...she has suffered so much, no wonder she hates us, we have taken her happiness, the happiness of her mother and taken her family away'

His mind flashed at the image of a child Lan Du, sitting in front of the door every day just waiting for Yuan Min to return.

Tears began rolling down his face as he hugged himself, he huddled in the corner of the room and cried. Guilt, deep guilt.

He held the diary tightly

'Father...he must see this' He wiped his tears and stood up, clenching the diary in his hand tightly as if it was something he can never let go of.

He walked out the room, the hallways now seemed longer than before, the emptiness he felt. It was the warmth of the original owners, it did not exist here.

Yuan Min was seated at the couch, thinking to himself, he then saw Yuan Cai's figure walking towards him. He looked up and saw his teary eyes.

"Cai'er, what's wrong?" He hurriedly stood up and walked over.

He then noticed a book in Yuan Cai's hand.

"Father...I cannot explain anything with words, but if you wish to know about sister...please read it" He held it forward and said with a pitiful expression.

Yuan Min was shocked, what has happened in the hour he was gone for? He slowly grabbed the book and saw the title.

[Lan Lan's diary]

The childish writing made him tremble.

"This..." He glanced at Yuan Cai and wondered if he read this and changed suddenly.

Yuan Cai nodded

"This is sister's diary...it was written when I was three and a half" He gritted his teeth and said

Yuan Min took in a deep breath and opened the diary. The first page made his heart warm up, the cute daughter he has always wanted. This was the very one.

The second page, the images, the adorable writing. He felt pained when he saw how much she wanted to see him, yet he never came home. At the sixth birthday however, his pupils shrunk, she was bullied? But she still had such adorable writing, always so considerate of her mother.

It made his heart warm, but he also found out his wife's problem, she was under constant depression and without Lan Du, she might have broken down mentally.

On the seventh year, her words were no longer bright and cheerful. He saw the drops of tears and his heart ached for her.

'I'm useless, she has been through ore than I have imagined...'

On the eighth, he began choking, his wife has completely seen their daughter as a boy now...What sickness did she have? It pained him just to imagine his daughter's suffering, she had to take care of her mother at such a young age.

He then saw her curses towards him, as if swords has pierced his heart, he coughed and his eyes swelled with tears.

"My daughter..." He wanted to stop

But Yuan Cai grabbed his shoulders

"We have caused her more pain than you can imagine, treating her as a boy is just the beginning" He said sternly, Yuan Min has never seen his son so serious before.

He continued reading up to the ninth years.

Like Yuan Cai, he too dropped the diary, his hands were trembling and his eyes watered.

"My daughter, I'm useless, I did this to you, I'm to blame" He cried

The fact that his wife forgot Lan Du's birthday, just so she could preserve memories of him, he couldn't feel any more guilty than he already is. Yet Lan Du had accepted all this, she accepted it!

"You love her more than I do, you're even willing to change your own history for her, Yu'er, father is useless, father took away your happiness"

He bawled his eyes out, even Yuan Cai has never seen him so sad.

"I was gone when you both needed me, yet now that I can return, you both are out of my reach, I'm pathetic"

He picked up the diary and continues reading

But he couldn't help but cry as he read, she now hated him to the core, she detested him and all men. And his wife's illness, what happened? Why is her mentality regressing?

He kept reading, she has now realised society's cruelty, yet she kept moving forward. Now, he was genuinely proud of her current achievements.

But when he read her goal, his felt his heart shatter.

'So this is why she hates me...it was all for Lan Xin...she never hated me for leaving her, she hated me for leaving Lan Xin...' He covered his eyes which began leaking tears.

He couldn't stop, Yuan Cai didn't do anything, he knew how his father felt, and he knew, no words can get through to him at this moment.

At this moment, they heard a loud bang, the door was slammed open and someone walked in. It was Lan Du, seeing her now made Yuan Min and Yuan Cai's face twist with grief and sorrow.

Lan Du noticed something strange, she then saw the diary in their hands and her expression became cold.

She walked over, without listening to anything, she gave both of them a vicious slap and snatched the diary from his hands. Staring at it, she frowned and headed to the kitchen.

"Yu'er, stop, I-I need to talk to you" Yuan Min shouted out

Lan Du ignored him and continued walking, the two followed her in and saw her turn on the stove.

"What are you doing! Stop!" Yuan Cai ran over and turned off the stove.

"You two have no right over what I do, peaking at my past, are you happy now? Now you know the embarrassment I was as a kid, how pathetic, to think I wished to meet someone whom I never met before" She clenched it tightly and opened the stove once again.

She pushed Yuan Cai aside and tossed the diary into the flames. But in that instant, everything froze, once time resumed, Lan Du paused. The diary wasn't in the flames, in fact, it was nowhere in her sight.

She didn't turn her head

"Do you like making fun of me? Mocking me for being unable to counter your domain? Good, very good, I came back to tell you, unless there are important matters, don't call me again, if you look for me, I will expose your scandals against my mother, don't even think about threatening me with my friends, I've made sure even a Major General can't find them" Lan Du said coldly

She glared at Yuan Cai

"Your dear son will become a joke as an illegitimate child and your reputation will be ruined, and never look at me with sympathy, guilt or pity, or I will make sure that's how people will look at you after I dig a bit deeper into your history" Lan Du growled at them and shoved them aside.

Yuan Min frowned pitifully, he wanted to say more, he wanted to tell her how he felt and he wanted her to recognise him.

'Why, why couldn't I have come back a few years earlier, if I did, my daughter will still have her innocence, my wife will be healthy and Yuan Cai can feel welcomed, why, why!'

"Yu'er, please listen, back then, I-"

"Military order 2, the second time in China's history where all Colonels and above have been called for an emergency, as a Colonel, you were unable to stay with mother, I know" Lan Du cut him off and said

"Then why! If you knew, why did you-"

Lan Du glared at him

"Because I need a reason to hate you, my life will become pointless once I find a way to forgive you, if mother will never wake up, I will end myself" Lan Du walked slowly out the kitchen she headed to the front door and her hand held tightly onto the doorknob.

"Yu'er!" Yuan Min ran over, he grabbed her by the wrist, his hands were clenched tightly so she couldn't get away.

"Don't think like this, don't ever think like this, I'm always here for you, just stay with me" He was on the verge of tears.

But Lan Du's face remained indifferent

"It'sa pity, you said this ten years too late, if it was the eight years old me, I might have accepted this" Lan Du however still couldn't shake off his hand.

She clicked her tongue and took out a dagger with her other hand, she raised it up.

Yuan Min's gaze remained calm and steady, as if he had no intentions to let go

"You underestimate me too much" Lan Du said coldly, the dagger lowered

Yuan Min flinched but didn't let go, even if Lan Du cut of his hand, he will grab onto her with his other hand. However, his head went blank the moment the dagger came down.

It wasn't targeted at his hand, it was her own.

His domain immediately shot forth and the area froze yet again.

The dagger in her hand disappeared.

Lan Du's eyes became colder by the second

"You have humilated me over and over again, is it fun for you to do this? Maybe this is where my sadistic side came from" Lan Du spat and stared him in the eyes.

She then felt an impact on the back of her head and her mind blanked. She fell into Yuan Min's arms, unconscious.

Her body became motionless as Yuan Min sighed, he turned his head to Yuan Cai and back at Lan Du.

"What do I do? She's willing to do anything to get out of my grasp, but I only wish for her wellbeing..." He shook his head and carried Lan Du into her room.

He held out a pair of handcuffs and paused.

'I can't let her go, if she goes, I may never see her again' His heart ached but he cuffed one of her hand and cuffed the other one to himself.

'Even I can't break out of these easily, let's hope she will calm down tomorrow' He thought to himself as he laid down beside her.

Yuan Cai watched his father's actions carefully, he sobbed and went to an empty room.

'Sister is suffering, the more we keep her, the more she siffers, yet if we let her go, she'll be gone for good, what do I do?' That night, he cried to himself.

Lan Du who woke up in the middle of the night stared at Yuan Min, then at the handcuffs. She closed her eyes and her mind wondered off.

"Iya!" She heard the familiar sound and saw the blood empress, a faint smiel appeared on her face as she stroked the blood empress' adorable little head.

"Have you been good?" She smiled and asked

"Iya Iya" The blood empress nodded her head in an adorable manner

Lan Du smiled warmly

"Is there anyway to regenerate cut of limbs for me?" Lan Du asked

The blood empress stroked her tint little chin and a bright smile appeared on her face.

"Iya yaya!" She nodded her tiny head and replied sweetly

A blood blade appeared and Lan Du felt a sharp pain as the blade cut down upon her shoulder. Blood didnt flow out but the immense pain made her shout.

"Iya Iya Iya" The blood empress quickly waved it's hand and blood began flowing out the wound. But it flowed in a very strange manner, it began forming a strange shape.

It soon became that of an arm and began solidifying itself.

It was still blood red in colour, but Lan Du could see that skin was growing over it. She was shocked, but the pain it caused was also unbearable. This was the first time she has felt her limbs getting severed.

She was shocked by how realistic it felt, despite it being in her own head.

Her face twisted in pain as her expression paled.

It didn't take long before the arm was back, but she could feel that it was very weak.

"Will it stay weak or will it recover through time?" Lan Du asked as she clenched her hand weakly. She has never felt so useless before, her hand couldn't even hold up a tennis ball at the moment.

"Iya" The blood empress held up two fingers and said cutely

"Two days?" She asked

"Iya" The blood empress shook her head and made a gesture where she waved her hand in a circular manner.

"Two months?" She asked again

"Iya Ya" The blood empress nodded her head and rubbed her cheek against Lan Du's face.

Lan Du smiled and gave her a small hug

"Next time, give me a warning before you cut of my limbs, but good girl, you make me proud" She kissed the blood empress on her forehead and patted her head.

"Please help me regenerate my hand later" She said and left the zone.

Her head spun back to reality and she turned to look at Yuan Min.

"Yuan Min, you even used the titan lock cuffs on me so I will be with your forever, but you will never be able to keep me" She reached down one hand into her trousers but to hersurprise, the dagger was gone.

'So he checked if I had daggers before he locked me, but pity, I have more cards up my sleeve' She bit down on a finger and blood began flowing out.

It slowly formed a blade which gave off an intimidating feeling to it. She raised it up and slashed down on her own hand.

She didn't stop the bleeding, she let it flow onto the bed and blankets before she stopped it. She then felt the Blood Empress slowly fixing her blood circulation before her hand formed. As if termites were biting down on her, the itching pain never faded until the skin has covered her hand completely.

She glanced at her severed hand, the pain was still excrutiating despite her already experiencing it. Her face was now white as paper from the pain and blood loss. But a cold smile appeared on her face.

She dipped one finger in blood and slowly wrote on the walls.

Her left hand couldn't feel any weaker at the moment, she could barely scrunch it into a fist, much less even move things with it.

'Glad he locked my left hand, or I might be in trouble' She thought to herself

She then opened the window and jumped out.

In the morning, Yuan Min woke up to the smell of blood, his eyes shot open and what recieved him was a puddle of blood beside him with a severed hand at where the cuffs are.

His face became pale

"Y-Yu'er, d-don't mess with daddy, t-tell me this is a joke" He trembled as he held the hand.

The blood was already dry, and the hand was cold.

"AHHHHHHH!" He cried at the top of his lungs, sorrow, grief, regret, guilt. All these emotions swelled up in his heart and ran amock within his mind.