dark witch

With ancient and cumbersome chants, "Wu ma ma... Xin de la..." Accompanied by ancient, complex chanting, sparks flew from the copper lamps placed at the four corners of the attic, slowly igniting to dispel the darkness. The girl nestled in bed ceased her chanting, her fair, chubby hands rubbing her eyes as she struggled to lift her eyelids, revealing misty, silver-gray pupils. Her gaze swept around the room, and she muttered to herself, "Did I fall asleep in the attic again after working so hard?" Touching the woolen blanket that covered her, it seemed her father had again waited until she was deeply asleep before he went to rest. Slipping out of bed, Haiyin took the purple cloak hanging beside her bed and draped it over her shoulders, then turned to glance at the finely carved wooden bed, letting out a sigh that seemed too mature for her age: "This bed really can't stay." Although the bed was lovingly handcrafted by her father and brothers, and she cherished it deeply, it represented a significant obstacle on her path to success. Sitting in front of the crystal bronze mirror at the foot of her bed, Haiyin made faces at her reflection, eventually furrowing her brows in a bitter smile. As someone who studied both medicine and law, firmly believing in science, she found it hard to accept that everything she had experienced was real. Could reincarnation truly exist in the vast universe? In her previous life, she was an orphan named Haiyin, a coincidence since in this life she was also called Haiyin, though her surname was now DeXi. According to the head of the orphanage, on a summer morning, while she was about to water the vegetables in the garden after sweeping the yard, she heard the weak cries of a baby. Rushing to open the gate, she found a newborn girl, still uncut from her umbilical cord, crying as if hungry or in need of help, surrounded by a few green-headed flies. Unlike many of her peers in the orphanage, she was fully limbed, healthy, and bright - she could have easily been kept alive with just a bit of food, yet she was abandoned. The head of the orphanage instilled in her the belief that her parents loved her, evidenced by the choice of the orphanage for abandonment, as it was the most affluent and well-funded in China. She outwardly agreed, but deep down, she believed herself to be a mere byproduct of a chaotic relationship between a man and a woman. Supported by the orphanage, she overcame numerous challenges to attend the top university in the country, studying clinical medicine and law, and later, fulfilling the head's request, went to Oxford for further studies. After a four-year rigorous study period abroad, she returned to serve in her adoptive mother's family business - the SiMa Hospital. Unexpectedly, less than a month into her job, she encountered a violent dispute between a patient's family and the hospital. She had no direct involvement in the conflict and had only approached to educate the agitated family member about legal knowledge. With a heavy sigh, Haiyin.DeXi recalled how the patient's family member had softened under her persuasion, only for the situation to escalate when the patient's primary doctor, Hai Rui, arrived. Although Hai Rui did not announce the treatment outcome, his expression said it all. The family member, driven to madness, wielded a fruit knife wildly, scaring off bystanders before stabbing towards Hai Rui. Haiyin, in an attempt to push Hai Rui out of the way, was struck directly in the heart by the knife. In that moment, her only regret was that all her years of study had gone to waste. When asked if she had any regrets, her answer was clear: she had none. The head of the orphanage had cared for her deeply for many years, and she could not bear to let her endure the pain of losing a child in her old age. What Haiyin did not anticipate was waking up again, but this time, everything had changed. She was no longer a 29-year-old woman but a newborn infant, with all her memories intact. She had hoped that as she grew and gained control over her body, her memories would fade. However, they persisted, proving her wrong. Her development was no different from any other infant, learning to turn over, sit, crawl, and walk... The language here was not chinese but resembled Ancient Roman, distinct from Latin. After ten years of learning and understanding, Haiyin had finally grasped some knowledge of this world. In her current life, she resided in the Marland continent, a true survival-of-the-fittest world. From its origins, it was clear this place was not Earth. Humans were not at the top of the food chain; that position was held by a group of self-proclaimed noble vampires known as the Androsi. The Androsi, resembling humans in appearance regardlessof gender, were all naturally endowed with stunning beauty. However, this applied only to those born as vampires; those who were turned could eventually diverge from human traits, developing a preference for human blood and raw flesh. The Androsi nobles were also bound by nature; their lifespan was counted in centuries, but those with impure blood lived shorter lives, feared sunlight more, and had weaker control over their bloodlust. Especially the turned vampires, who not only had shorter lifespans, lesser combat abilities, and weaker self-healing powers compared to the born vampires but were also vulnerable to sunlight, which could kill them instantly. Fear of sunlight was almost an innate trait of all vampires. According to the DeXi family records, only one vampire progenitor in the history of Marland was completely unafraid of sunlight and could live under the harsh rays just like humans. He was also the only one among the eight vampire progenitors who opposed and restricted the Androsi nobles' excessive hunting of humans. However, this progenitor disappeared nearly two thousand years ago, and no one knows his whereabouts. The Androsi nobility's strict hierarchical structure was harsh, treating both born and turned vampires with disdain, placing them at the lowest rank. To change this status, one could only hope to have offspring. For the Androsi, the purer the blood, the harder it was to conceive. Turned vampires, in comparison to born ones, were more likely to conceive or to make a born vampire conceive. However, even with children, their awkward status remained unless their offspring were exceptionally powerful. Facing the formidable Androsi nobles, humans were almost like fish on a chopping board, easy prey with no chance of fighting back. Yet, there were extraordinary beings among humans, namely the witch and werewolf tribes. Werewolves, though categorized as humans, shared many habits with wolves, preferred living in packs, and were the only human entities capable of standing up to the Androsi, thanks to their formidable physical strength. They highly respected strength, thus always regarded regular humans as inferior. Werewolves were distinguished within their community by the color of their fur; the purer the color, the stronger the werewolf. The werewolves with fur colors closest to silver or moonlight were considered the highest in rank, similar to the Androsi's strict social stratification. In terms of reproduction, werewolves were much like the Androsi; the purer the fur color, the harder it was to conceive. However, werewolves could easily have children with ordinary humans, although only about 50% of these offspring would be werewolves, often with mixed fur colors. Still, having children was better than none. Another formidable presence among humans was the witch tribe, whose meridians differed from ordinary humans. Witches could gather the forces of nature, channel them for their use, and perform magic with offensive and defensive capabilities. Based on their training, witches were divided into two categories: light witches and dark witches. Light witches, who grew strong and extended their lifespans by harnessing the power of sunlight, opposed the dark witches, who grew strong by harnessing the power of moonlight. Despite belonging to the same tribe, light and dark witches were always at odds. Notably, dark witches did not get along with werewolves or ordinary humans either, preferring the company of Androsi nobles. However, the Androsi nobles favored light witches over dark ones, further infuriating the dark witches, especially since light witches traditionally opposed killing, thus showing no favor towards the bloodthirsty Androsi. Among the witches, there were exceptions, such as the DeXi dark witches residing in the Western Sea Forest. They favored no one but money. In this life, Haiyin was born into the infamous DeXi family of dark witches. The DeXi dark witches were notorious because they would do anything for the right price, regardless of morality. However, they demanded p*****t whether the job was completed or not. If the client refused to pay, the DeXi witches would haunt them like ghosts. Her father once told her about her mother accepting a job to break the protective magic barrier around the Mullin family estate. However, upon arriving and feeling hungry, her mother entered the Mullin estate to look for food. She stumbled upon the Mullin family's daughter giving birth and, after eating, felt a sudden compassion for the newborn girl and left without completing the job, yet still demanded p*****t from the client. The client, a turned Androsi noblewoman with offspring, was unwilling to pay the full price of a thousand gold coins, offering only a thousand silver coins instead. Unsatisfied, Haiyin's mother placed a dark barrier around the client's estate, cutting it off from the world until her demands were met. It wasn't until Haiyin turned one that the noblewoman's son delivered the thousand gold coins, and her mother removed the barrier. Such was the un ashamed nature of the DeXi dark witches, feared for their formidable powers in crafting dark artifacts and setting enchantments, and for holding long grudges. Due to the DeXi dark witches' unreasonable behavior, their business suffered greatly, to the point where, for ten years since Haiyin's birth, her grandmother, mother, and aunt received not a single job. Fortunately, they had substantial savings, but relying solely on their legacy was unsustainable. Haiyin sighed as she brushed her shiny black curls, thinking about her family's dwindling resources and her brothers' recent reluctance to eat their fill. In this world, the status of ordinary humans was truly low; they worked hard for little in return, sustaining Androsi and werewolves while living in constant fear of vampire hunts. Some spent their entire lives saving money, only to find it insufficient to purchase a single protective stone from the witches. Despite the dire circumstances, not all humans lived in poverty; some, like the Mullin family mentioned earlier, enjoyed wealth and favor from both Androsi nobles and werewolves due to the beauty of their female members. Other notable families included the Kesi and Hanbeili tribes, with the SaHa family standing out for its long-standing alliance with the powerful Leeds Tribe of werewolves. The SaHa family, with each generation's patriarch being a werewolf descendant, possessed stronger physical constitutions due to their werewolf heritage, allowing them to contend with ordinary Androsi when armed. Haiyin glanced at the clock on her desk, noting it was now seven o'clock in the morning. Curiously, the world's time division was identical to her previous life, with the currency consisting of copper, silver, and gold coins, where one silver coin was worth a thousand copper coins, and a gold coin equaled a thousand silver coins. Hearing a creaking noise, she turned to see her brother David DeXi at the door, asking if she was awake. With a smile, she assured him she was and would join them for breakfast soon, despite running late again. David, showing understanding and affection, encouraged her not to rush. Dressed in a complex silk gown reminiscent of ancient Europe, with its large skirt and tightly cinched waist and wrists, Haiyin reflected on her appearance in the mirror. Her only dissatisfaction was her silver-gray eyes, though she hoped their color would darken with the advancement of her witchcraft, signifying increased power. Her goal was to surpass the achievements of the greatest dark witch in Marland's history, XIHai.DeXi, from her own family, who had managed to turn her sky-blue eyes pure black through her practice.