The long night in the dungeon was cold and silent.
When the Gu poison Love’s Entanglement awakened in her veins, the first thing Su Yu felt was heat. A scorching warmth spreading from the depths of her bones. She curled up on the stone bed, trying to press the cold shackles against her skin to relieve the unbearable heat, but it was futile.
Sweat soaked through her tattered sacred robe, the white fabric clinging tightly to her body, outlining her trembling curves. Su Yu clenched her teeth, her consciousness like driftwood in the tide, sinking and rising.
“Clear the mind like water, pure water is the mind…”
She began silently reciting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, the foundational heart method of Xuan Yu Zong, the first lesson she learned as a child when she first entered the Daoist sect. Every word had been recited thousands of times in the scripture hall, yet now they felt so pale and powerless.
When she reached the line “without delusion, without anger,” a violent tremor suddenly erupted from her chest. In an instant, You Li’s blood-red eyes flashed before her: filled with amusement, mockery, and tenderness.
Su Yu arched her body violently, the silver chains clattering. She gasped for breath, her chest heaving, the craving almost tearing her apart. Craving what? She dared not dwell on it.
“So even the Sheng Nu of Xuan Yu Zong tosses and turns sleeplessly in the dead of night.”
You Li’s voice sounded from the cell door. She had returned at some point—perhaps she had never truly left, merely hidden in the shadows to observe. Her dark red skirt flowed like fresh blood under the torchlight as she approached slowly, holding a crystal bowl filled with a shimmering green liquid.
Su Yu turned her face away, unwilling to let her see her current wretched state.
“Why force yourself to endure?” You Li sat on the edge of the stone bed, her cool fingers brushing through Su Yu’s sweat-dampened hair. “Love’s Entanglement is one of the Twelve Marvelous Gu of the demonic path. If it were so easy to resist, it wouldn’t deserve its reputation.”
“Get away,” Su Yu’s voice was hoarse and weak.
You Li chuckled softly, the laughter echoing in the dungeon. Instead of leaving, she leaned closer, almost pressing against Su Yu’s ear. “Do you know? You look far more captivating now than in your usual aloof demeanor.”
Su Yu trembled—not from fear, but because when You Li’s breath brushed against her neck, the scorching heat within her body was strangely soothed for a moment—only to be followed by an even fiercer backlash. She nearly moaned aloud, biting her lower lip hard until she tasted blood.
“Drink this,” You Li brought the crystal bowl to her lips. “Cold Marrow Dew. It can temporarily suppress the Gu poison’s effects.”
Su Yu closed her eyes for a moment, then finally parted her dry, cracked lips. You Li carefully fed the Cold Marrow Dew into her mouth, her movements gentle. The liquid slid down her throat, carrying a chill that instantly suppressed the inner heat. Su Yu couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
“Why…” she gasped, “first poison me, then offer relief?”
You Li set the empty bowl aside and reached out to brush aside the sweat-soaked strands of hair clinging to Su Yu’s cheek. “Because I want you to watch yourself sink into depravity with a clear mind, Sister Su Yu. I want you to know every step of the change clearly, until you belong to me completely in the end.”
Her fingers lingered on Su Yu’s cheek, icy cold yet sending a shiver through her.
“Sleep,” You Li said. “I will return tomorrow.”
She rose to leave, but her sleeve was unconsciously grasped by Su Yu. The action left both momentarily stunned. Su Yu jerked her hand back as if scalded, her eyes flashing with shame and panic—it was not her will, but the Gu poison at work.
You Li stood with her back turned, pausing briefly, yet ultimately did not look back and left the cell directly.
The cell door closed, and the dungeon returned to silence. Su Yu collapsed onto the stone bed as the effects of the Cold Marrow Dew began to take hold fully. A chill spread from her stomach to every limb, freezing her until her teeth chattered. Yet compared to the searing heat of the Gu poison, this cold was almost a blessing.
She lay with her eyes open, staring at the shadows on the stone ceiling. The flickering torchlight made the shadows shift and dance, mirroring the turmoil in her heart.
Fragments of memory surged uncontrollably.
One hundred and twenty years ago, in the spring at Qing Yin Pavilion, peach blossoms filled the valley. Back then, You Li was still called “Qing Li,” the most beloved junior sister in the pavilion, exceptionally talented yet lively and carefree, always clinging to Su Yu, who was a few years older.
“Senior Sister Su Yu, look at this peach blossom—doesn’t it resemble your earring?”
Fifteen-year-old Qing Li, perched on a peach tree, plucked the most vibrant blossom, leaped down gracefully, and tucked it into Su Yu’s hair. Sunlight filtered through the branches onto her face, her eyes so clear they seemed to reflect the entire spring.
Su Yu, already designated as the next Sheng Nu, should have been solemn and restrained, yet she always found her patience worn thin by Qing Li’s antics. She reached up to remove the blossom: “Don’t be mischievous. Have you finished practicing today’s sword techniques?”
“Finished long ago!” Qing Li giggled, linking arms with her. “Senior Sister, practice the qin with me, won’t you? I’ve composed a new piece and want you to be the first to hear it.”
The sound of the qin rose under the moonlight, clear and refreshing as a spring. Su Yu closed her eyes to listen, her heart serene. Back then, they both believed such days would last forever.
Until that Demon-Slaying Assembly.
Su Yu jolted awake from the memory, her clothes soaked in cold sweat. She remembered now—every detail, every moment.
That year, Qing Li had ventured into the ancient forbidden land of the Black Abyss to save her, triggered a restriction, and damaged her Dao body. Demonic energy seized the opportunity, corroding her meridians. Su Yu, also gravely injured at the time, was forcibly sent by the sect leader to Xuan Yu Zong’s forbidden grounds to heal, her senses sealed off and all external contact severed.
She did not know that, just three months into her seclusion, the Seven Righteous Sects had jointly tried Qing Li, declaring her Dao heart tainted, her body invaded by demonic energy, and sentenced her to death.
She did not know that Qing Li had knelt before the gates of Qing Yin Pavilion for three days and three nights, begging to see her senior sister, only to be met with attacks from the elders of various sects.
She did not know how Qing Li’s eyes, once brimming with the light of spring, had gradually filled with blood-red hue when she was driven to desperation.
By the time Su Yu emerged from seclusion, three years had passed. Frantic, she searched for Qing Li, only to hear that Qing Li had fallen into the demonic path, transformed into “You Li,” slaughtered three righteous sects, and become the foremost demoness under the Demon Lord.
When Su Yu found You Li, it was in Wan Gu Cave. At that time, You Li stood atop a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, dressed in red robes. When she turned, there was no trace of warmth in her eyes—only overwhelming hatred and a demonic crimson glow.
“Senior Sister has arrived?” You Li had smiled then, though not a hint of warmth touched her lips. “A pity—you’re too late.”
……
“Ah—”
Su Yu suddenly let out a suppressed roar, clutching her head as the silver chains grated harshly. Memories surged over her like a tidal wave, every detail she had deliberately forgotten and buried deep now rushing to the surface.
She remembered kneeling amidst the corpses in Wan Gu Cave, crying and begging You Li to turn back.
She remembered You Li sneering coldly as she asked, “Turn back? Turn back to where? Qing Yin Pavilion has already struck my name from their records, the righteous path sees me as a demon, and my senior sister shut herself away in seclusion when I needed her most—tell me, where can I possibly turn back to?”
Then came a palm strike. A palm strike with all of You Li’s strength, sending her flying dozens of feet, yet skillfully avoiding all vital points.
“Su Yu,” You Li stood high above, looking down at her, her crimson robes fluttering fiercely in the wind, “today I will not kill you. I want you to live, to live well, to forever remember that it was you who betrayed me, that it was you who made me into what I am now.”
Back then, Su Yu did not understand why, despite the overwhelming hatred in You Li’s eyes, she still spared her life.
Now, she seemed to understand.
“Ha… haha…”
Su Yu began to laugh softly, her laughter echoing in the dungeon, desolate and hopeless. So it turned out that what You Li wanted was not her life, but a revenge more cruel than death—to make her witness with her own eyes everything she had held dear being destroyed, to make her experience firsthand the taste of betrayal by the closest person, to make her sink into the same abyss.
Footsteps sounded again, arriving faster than expected.
You Li had returned, standing outside the cell door, her blood-red eyes inscrutable in the dim light. She had clearly heard Su Yu’s laughter.
“Remembering something?” she asked, her voice terrifyingly calm.
Su Yu slowly raised her head, tear stains still fresh on her face. “Remembering what I owe you.”
You Li’s pupils contracted slightly, and the cell door opened without a sound. She walked to the stone bed, staring at Su Yu for a long time before suddenly reaching out to grip her chin. “So? How do you plan to repay it?”
“Spare Xuan Yu Zong,” Su Yu met her gaze directly. “If you want revenge, direct it at me. What I owe you, I will repay.”
“With what will you repay?” You Li’s fingers tightened, almost crushing Su Yu’s jawbone. “My Dao heart, my innocence, my life—with what will you repay?!”
Su Yu’s face paled with pain, but she did not flinch. “Is my life not enough?”
“Not enough!” You Li suddenly released her grip, standing up and turning her back to her, her shoulders trembling slightly. “What I want is not your life, Su Yu, I want you…”
Her words cut off abruptly.
The dungeon fell into a long silence. Only the crackling of torches burning and the dripping of water droplets broke the stillness.
Su Yu looked at You Li’s back—the once petite and delicate girl who always followed behind her, calling her “senior sister,” had now grown into this eerie and lonely figure. Clad in crimson robes, surrounded by demonic energy, yet still bearing traces of the Qing Li from years past.
“I’m sorry,” Su Yu whispered. “Back then, I didn’t know…”
“Didn’t know?” You Li whirled around, the blood-red light in her eyes flaring violently. “You didn’t know? What a convenient ‘didn’t know’! Then let me tell you, where were you when I knelt outside the gates of Qing Yin Pavilion for three days and three nights? Where were you when I was surrounded and attacked, my cultivation completely destroyed? Where were you when I was thrown into Wan Mo Cave, tormented day and night by demonic energy?!”
Each “where were you” pierced Su Yu’s heart like a sharp blade. She had no words to respond, only repeating over and over, “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
You Li suddenly leaned down, fiercely kissing her lips. This was not the cold touch from earlier but a violent, biting kiss, mingled with the taste of blood and the saltiness of tears. Su Yu froze, then began to struggle, the silver chains clattering loudly.
But the Gu poison flared up again at this moment. You Li’s scent was as alluring as opium, and Su Yu’s resistance gradually softened, ultimately turning into futile trembling. You Li kissed deeper, fingers threading through her hair, plundering her breath with near-ferocity.
After a long while, she pulled back, a silver thread stretching between their lips. Su Yu gasped violently, her eyes filled with mist and humiliation.
“That’s more like it,” You Li wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her thumb—who it belonged to was unclear. “Hate me, Su Yu. Just as I hate you.”
She rose and left, pausing briefly at the cell door. “Cold Marrow Dew will be delivered daily. Before the Gu poison fully takes effect, I won’t touch you—I want you awake, remembering every moment.”
The cell door closed once more.
Su Yu collapsed on the stone bed, her lips swollen and red, her mouth filled with the taste of blood and You Li’s scent. She lifted her shackled hands, covered her face, and her shoulders trembled violently.
But this time, she made no sound. Tears silently slid down, disappearing into the cracks of the stone bed.
Su Yu lay with her eyes open in the darkness, listening to the distant, nameless wails—whether they were the lamentations of other prisoners in the demon palace or the weeping of her own heart, she could no longer tell.
The effects of the Cold Marrow Dew were fading, and the familiar heat rose once more from her dantian, like maggots clinging to bone, slowly gnawing away at her will and clarity.
She began silently reciting the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, over and over.
“Clear the heart like water, clear water is the heart…”
But this time, with every word she recited, You Li’s face appeared before her—Qing Li smiling, Qing Li weeping, You Li filled with boundless hatred, and finally lingering on that brutal kiss and the bottomless pain in those blood-red eyes.
Su Yu suddenly understood: what You Li wanted was not revenge.
What she wanted was redemption—redemption in the guise of destruction; what she wanted was companionship—companionship in the form of imprisonment; what she wanted was love—love carried on the vessel of hatred.
And she, Su Yu, no longer had the strength to escape.
The Gu poison surged through her veins, and the effects of Love’s Entanglement finally erupted in full force. Su Yu’s body arched uncontrollably, suppressed moans escaping her throat, her vision darkening in waves. Before her consciousness completely sank, her final thought was—
If she could return to that year beneath the peach blossom tree, would she still have plucked the flower Qing Li had tucked behind her ear?
Alas, time never turns back.