My Bride Rose from the Grave

The night descended like a curtain on a stage, covering all things in the world. It signaled the end of the day, a time for rest amid the hurried cycle of nature. But at the same time, this curtain concealed countless crimes, bringing darkness to mankind—both in the literal and figurative sense.

Tonight, the sky had neither moon nor stars, making the night even heavier and the atmosphere darker and more oppressive.

Late at night, despite the silence, a group of people moved stealthily in the outskirts.

This place was a deserted land—no houses, only eerie forests and several rugged mountains scarred by human exploitation. Normally, no one would come here after dark. But tonight, amidst the pitch-black darkness, a beam of light suddenly pierced through, like a blade cutting through the shadows. A car pulled up at the edge of the forest.

The car engine growled like a beast.

The car doors opened, and several men stepped out. The first few opened the trunk and took out shovels and pickaxes, while the last two appeared to be struggling to drag something out of the vehicle. Finally, they managed to haul it out—a large, bulky sack.

The group turned on their flashlights and furtively carried the sack deep into the forest. When they reached a spot that seemed rarely visited, they tossed the sack down. Only then did it become clear that it contained a corpse—a young girl's body.

"Hurry up and dig a grave. Bury her quickly and get back, or we'll be in trouble if someone discovers this!" barked one man, presumably the leader. The others immediately gathered around, shovels and pickaxes in hand, and began digging.

In the stillness of the night, the sounds of digging seemed to shatter the silence of the area.

A gust of wind swept by, lifting the girl's hair, revealing a purple bruise on her neck.

So, she had been strangled to death.

The young girl's face was delicate, and she appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. But now, her eyes were tightly shut, her lips pale and bluish, and her complexion ghostly white.

It didn't take long before a grave was dug, and the men threw the girl's body into it, then began covering her with dirt.

Clumps of soil fell, covering the girl's face, and soon completely buried her. The cold earth pressed against her lifeless form without a coffin or any covering.

In no time, the pit was filled. The men flattened the ground, using grass to conceal any trace of their digging.

After finishing, they dusted off their hands and left.

Only the sounds of insects buzzed among the trees, as if mourning the young girl.

Time passed, and the clock in the city struck midnight, its chimes echoing all the way to the outskirts.

At that moment, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky. The temperature around suddenly dropped, and the atmosphere turned damp. Bats scattered in panic, searching for shelter. A sudden storm poured down on the forest.

The rain fell heavily, mercilessly.

A bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating everything.

The thunder was so loud that anyone would have been startled.

Just then, from beneath the ground, right where the girl had been buried, a pair of pale hands suddenly appeared. The earth shifted, as if something was trying to rise. Suddenly, the soil parted on both sides, crimson nails clawing away at the dirt. Moments later, the buried girl clawed her way up out of the ground.

_____________

Umee spat out the dirt from her mouth, and the rain above seemed to wash away all the mud and grime clinging to her. A thunderclap jolted her awake. She looked around, dazed and confused, unsure of where she was.

All she knew was that she felt very cold.

It was as if she had fallen into an icy pit, her whole body stiff and numb.

Umee lowered her head, and her neck made a loud "crack" sound. Frowning, she lifted her hands and found that her joints were rigid and numb, making a noise like snapping bones every time she moved.

Umee stood there, bewildered. She couldn't remember… who she was.

Who was she? Why was she here?

The only thing she could recall was the name "Umee" floating in her mind.

Umee tried to stand, but her legs were unresponsive. The moment she pushed herself up, she fell back down. Frowning, she gritted her teeth and used force to bend her knees back. The joints, which had been locked stiff, cracked loudly as she twisted them, but Umee felt no pain. After some fumbling, she finally managed to stand up. Umee limped forward, staggering with each step.

The rain continued to pour down heavily.

She had no idea where she was going.

Her memory was completely blank, as if she had just been born into this world.

Where should she go? Should she find someone to help her?

The darkness around her was terrifying, and the bone-chilling cold made her shiver uncontrollably. Her entire body was drenched, making her look as miserable as a stray kitten.

Just then, Umee spotted a shadow in the distance. The faint light reflecting off the rain made the figure barely visible. Without caring whether the person was friend or foe, all she knew was that she had to reach that person—that person was the one she needed to find.

Could that be someone she knew in her previous life?

Or a close family member?

Umee couldn't remember and didn't care. She followed the instinctual pull, rushing towards the figure.

There really was someone there.

But it seemed she had frightened them. The person froze for a moment, then took off running.

"There's a ghost, aaaah!"

The man screamed at the top of his lungs, even dropping the umbrella in his hand as he fled.

Umee panicked. She wasn't a ghost, she wasn't a ghost.

Umee became flustered. What should she do? She had scared him away. Umee stood still, shivering from the cold. She picked up the discarded umbrella and, using it to shield herself, chased after the man.

"I'm not a ghost! I'm a human!"

But the man didn't listen. He kept screaming and running in a frenzy.

The two of them ran for quite a distance.

Just then, a gust of wind flipped the umbrella inside out, pulling Umee along and sending her crashing to the ground.

"Ow!"

Umee cried out as her elbows and knees scraped hard against the concrete, yet no blood flowed. Her skin remained unnaturally pale and deathly white. She lowered her head to examine the wound, a strange feeling welling up inside her. But this action made the man think she was crying out of pain. This prompted him to hesitate and turn back.

Umee looked up and realized it was the same man as before.

"A-are you really human? Not a ghost or a demon?"

Umee shook her head.

The man was an elderly gentleman, around sixty or seventy years old, dressed in a sleeveless shirt and shorts, with a pair of flip-flops now pushed up to his calves from his frantic running. He was soaked to the bone, looking as bedraggled and pitiful as Umee herself.