Dormant Magnolia

The acrid smell of smoke and ash still hung heavy in the air, a stark reminder of the bandits' brutal attack. Corpses lay scattered among the burnt ruins of the village you once called home. Hiding behind the remains of the stone well, you clutched your chin, a faint throb marking where a bandit's cleaver had grazed you. But the pain was nothing compared to the agony of the memories that had flooded your mind – vivid, fragmented pieces of past lives, a love lost, and a death in the cold snow. You had remembered him, the man who loved you, SongLi, and his murderer, Jing.

As the sounds of the departing bandits faded, replaced by an eerie silence, you peeked out. Two figures in white stood amidst the devastation – women with an otherworldly grace. One, in pure white, knelt before you, her touch sending a wave of comforting coldness through your wound. Your cut healed instantly, leaving only a faint line. They spoke of pure yin energy and recognized you as someone meant for their sect. You looked at the woman in white, then her companion, their expressions unreadable but their eyes sharp. You had no name, but the dream had given you one. It was time to claim it, and your destiny.