Qingxue's POV - Immediately After Yuyan Leaves
"She's ALIVE? How is she ALIVE?"
I paced my chambers like a caged animal, my mind racing. Servants cowered in the corners, too scared to move after I'd thrown a vase at one of their heads.
Yuyan survived. Impossible. IMPOSSIBLE.
I'd watched the guards throw her off that mountain. A thousand-foot drop onto jagged rocks. Nobody survives that. NOBODY.
Except apparently my pathetic sister did.
And now she was POWERFUL. Mid-Heaven stage cultivation? Silver-white hair? Phoenix flames?
My hands trembled with rage. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Yuyan was supposed to DIE. Xiao Chen was supposed to forget her. I was supposed to WIN.
"My Lady?" A servant girl whispered. "Should I bring you calming tea?"
"GET OUT!" I screamed, and she ran.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Still beautiful. Still perfect. But my eyes glowed with corrupted spiritual energy—the mark of blood cultivation.
I'd killed seventeen innocent villagers to reach my current power level. Their screams still haunted my dreams sometimes. But it was WORTH IT. Power was worth any price.
Except now Yuyan had more power than me. Without killing anyone. Without sacrificing anything except... what? Time? Effort?
"It's not FAIR," I hissed at my reflection.
A knock at my door made me jump.
"What?" I snarled.
My father—Elder Lin—entered, his face grave. Ever since the battle, he'd been acting strange. Nervous. We'd barely escaped with our lives when Yuyan's phoenix flames destroyed our demon cultivator allies.
"We need to talk," he said quietly. "About your sister."
"Don't call her that. She's not my sister anymore. She's a THREAT."
"A threat we underestimated." Father closed the door behind him. "Qingxue, listen carefully. Yuyan knows what we did. She saw the demon cultivators. She heard you admit to throwing her off the mountain. When she comes back—"
"IF she comes back—"
"WHEN she comes back," Father interrupted firmly, "she'll destroy us. Both of us. We need a plan."
I thought about Yuyan's cold golden eyes. Her terrifying power. The way she'd threatened to make me SUFFER.
"What kind of plan?"
"We need to turn Xiao Chen against her." Father's eyes gleamed with calculation. "Right now, he's in shock. Guilty. Probably half in love with her again. But if we can make him FEAR her—make the sect fear her—then when she returns, they'll see her as an enemy, not a savior."
"How?"
"We spread rumors. Say she's become a demon cultivator herself—that's why she has demon territory's protection. Say she attacked the sect, not saved it. Say she's planning to destroy all righteous cultivation." Father smiled coldly. "Make her the villain. Then when she comes back, Xiao Chen will have no choice but to kill her."
A slow smile spread across my face. "That's... actually brilliant."
"I've been planning it since she left." Father pulled out a sealed document. "I've already started planting evidence. Letters supposedly from Yuyan to demon cultivators. Witness statements from 'villagers' she supposedly threatened. By the time she returns, the entire cultivation world will think she's a monster."
"And if Xiao Chen doesn't believe it?"
"He will. Because you're going to help sell the story." Father's expression hardened. "You're his WIFE. He has to believe you. Play the terrified victim. Say Yuyan threatened to kill you. Say she's jealous and insane with revenge. Make him choose between you and her."
I thought about it. Xiao Chen was already weak right now—injured, guilty, confused. If I played my cards right, I could manipulate him into seeing Yuyan as the enemy.
"What about Ji Mingyu?" I asked. "He suspects me. I can see it in how he looks at me. He'll defend Yuyan."
"Then we eliminate Ji Mingyu too." Father's voice went cold. "Make it look like an accident. A training incident. Demon cultivator attack. Whatever works. With him gone, Xiao Chen will have no one to contradict our version of events."
The plan was ruthless. Evil. Perfect.
"When do we start?"
"Tonight. I'll plant the evidence. You work on Xiao Chen. The sooner we turn him against Yuyan, the better our chances of—"
The door EXPLODED inward.
Ji Mingyu stood there with ten sect guards, his sword drawn, his face twisted with fury.
"Elder Lin," he announced loudly, "you're under arrest for treason, conspiracy with demon cultivators, and attempted murder of the Sect Master."
My blood went cold. "You can't—"
"And you, Lady Qingxue, are under arrest for the practice of forbidden blood cultivation, murder of seventeen innocent villagers, and conspiracy to destroy Heavenly Sword Sect from within."
Father and I both froze.
"You have no proof," Father said, but his voice shook.
"Don't I?" Ji Mingyu threw a stack of documents on the floor. "Witness statements. Physical evidence. Blood samples from your last victim—a farmer's daughter you killed three days ago. Her body was found this morning with her spiritual energy completely drained."
"Those are LIES—"
"We also have your correspondence with the demon cultivator leader." Ji Mingyu's smile was vicious. "The one planning to attack the sect. The one YOU invited. Guards, seize them both."
The guards moved forward.
Father's eyes flashed with corrupted energy. "You want a fight? You'll GET ONE!"
He attacked—dark power exploding from his hands. Three guards went down screaming.
I had no choice. I attacked too.
The room erupted in chaos. Guards fought against our blood cultivation techniques. Furniture exploded. Walls cracked.
Ji Mingyu was strong, but we were desperate. Father landed a blow that sent him crashing into a wall.
"RUN!" Father shouted at me. "Get out of the sect! Now!"
"But—"
"GO! I'll hold them off!"
I hesitated for only a second. Then I ran—out the window, using cultivation techniques to fly toward the sect's edge.
Behind me, I heard Ji Mingyu shout: "STOP HER! Don't let Qingxue escape!"
But I was already gone, flying into the night, my heart pounding with terror and rage.
Yuyan, I thought viciously. This is YOUR fault. If you'd just STAYED DEAD, none of this would have happened!
I flew toward the only place I had left—the hidden demon cultivator base near the border. Father and I had been using it as backup headquarters.
I'd regroup there. Plan my revenge. And when the time was right, I'd kill my sister myself.
Nobody humiliates Qingxue and lives.
Xiao Chen's POV - The Next Morning
I woke to chaos.
"Sect Master! You need to see this!"
A disciple burst into my recovery room—I'd been bedridden since Yuyan healed me, my cultivation core still weak and unstable.
"What's happening?"
"Elder Lin is dead. Ji Mingyu killed him during an arrest for treason. And Lady Qingxue escaped—she's a BLOOD CULTIVATOR. She murdered seventeen people!"
The words hit me like hammers.
Blood cultivator. Murderer. Traitor.
My wife. The woman I'd chosen over Yuyan.
"Where's Ji Mingyu?" I demanded, struggling to sit up.
"In the main hall. Sect Master, there's... there's evidence everywhere. And there's something else. Something worse."
"What could be worse?"
The disciple's face went pale. "We found a document. A breeding contract. Hidden in Elder Lin's belongings."
Ice flooded my veins. "A what?"
"A breeding contract between you and Lin Yuyan. Dated before your engagement to her. It says... it says she was just supposed to produce an heir, then be disposed of. It's signed by your grandfather and Elder Lin."
No. No, that's impossible.
"Give it to me."
The disciple handed over the document with shaking hands.
I read it. Every horrible word.
"Subject Elena Yuyan agrees to conceive and bear one male heir for the Moretti family Xiao family. Upon successful delivery and six-month nursing period, marriage will be annulled. Subject receives settlement. Child remains with family. No custody rights retained."
My grandfather's signature at the bottom. Elder Lin's. Even mine—but I'd never seen this document before. Someone had forged my signature.
"When was this dated?" I whispered.
"Two days before you proposed to Lady Yuyan."
My world shattered.
Yuyan had found this. She'd found this contract and thought—she THOUGHT—I'd been using her as a breeding vessel. That our entire relationship was a lie. That I'd planned to throw her away from the start.
"No," I breathed. "No, I didn't know about this. I never signed—"
"Sect Master, whether you signed it or not, Lady Yuyan believed it was real." Ji Mingyu's voice came from the doorway. He looked exhausted. Blood stained his robes. "She believed you'd been using her all along. And then you proved her right by throwing her off a mountain for a 'better' bride."
"I didn't know Qingxue was a blood cultivator! I didn't know about the contract! I—"
"Does it MATTER what you knew?" Ji Mingyu's eyes blazed. "You still threw her away. You still chose power over love. You still WATCHED while guards dragged her to her death. All of this—Qingxue's betrayal, Elder Lin's treason, the sect's near destruction—ALL OF IT happened because you made one STUPID, SELFISH choice."
I had no defense. He was right.
"Where's Qingxue now?" I asked quietly.
"Escaped. Probably joined other demon cultivators. She'll come back eventually—people like her always do." Ji Mingyu threw a medical report on my bed. "Your cultivation core is healing, but it'll take months before you're at full strength. You're vulnerable right now. Perfect time for your enemies to attack."
"Let them come."
"That's not all." Ji Mingyu's expression grew even more grim. "Word has spread about Fairy Yue. About her saving you. About her identity as Lin Yuyan. Every sect leader in the cultivation world wants to meet her. Some want her as an ally. Some want her as a bride for their sons. And some—" he paused significantly, "—want her dead because they're terrified of her power."
My hands clenched. "She's in danger?"
"She's in demon territory with Demon Lord Yan Xiu's protection. She's probably safer than all of us combined." Ji Mingyu leaned against the wall. "But yes. You've created a situation where the cultivation world's most powerful new genius is everyone's target. Because of YOU."
Guilt crushed my chest. Everything—EVERYTHING—was my fault.
"I need to see her," I said desperately. "I need to explain—"
"Explain what? That you're an idiot? She already knows." Ji Mingyu headed for the door, then paused. "A message arrived this morning. From demon territory. From HER."
My heart leaped. "What did it say?"
"'Tell Xiao Chen his debt is noted. I'll collect when I'm ready. Until then, he should prepare for judgment.'" Ji Mingyu's smile was bitter. "She's coming back, Sect Master. And when she does, she's going to make you pay for everything."
He left me alone with my guilt, my healing wounds, and the terrible knowledge that I'd destroyed the only person who'd ever truly loved me.
Outside my window, a phoenix made of fire flew past—just a vision, a warning.
Yuyan was watching.
And her revenge had only just begun.