The night was as dark as ink, and the rain poured down in torrents.
In the peach blossom forest, countless petals were ruthlessly hammered into the earth by icy raindrops. A young girl knelt in the mud, digging a pit with her bare hands, blood seeping continuously from her fingertips.
She pulled a charred skull from her robes, gathered wet mud mingled with bloody water, and slowly buried the remains bit by bit.
“Master, your disciple arrived late… but rest assured, I will not let a single person in the Jiang family escape.” Her voice was soft, nearly drowned out by the sound of the rain. “The seventy-seven lives of the entire Qingwei Valley… this feud is irreconcilable! Jiang Heng deserves to die. And I deserve ten thousand deaths even more…”
Patting down the last handful of soil, Yun Zhao slowly stood up.
Behind her, guards held black umbrellas aloft, surrounding a man in their center.
The man wore black martial attire. His face was as handsome as polished jade, and his noble bearing was unmistakable.
Yun Zhao passed by him expressionlessly, and in that instant, her Mystic Pupil soundlessly opened.
Within her field of vision, the man was tightly entwined in black qi so thick it seemed tangible.
Her pupils shrank slightly as her gaze inadvertently fell upon the white jade pig hanging from his waist.
After a moment, she spoke. “You are afflicted by an Evil Curse, and your days are numbered. Do you wish to live?”
A sharp light flashed in Xiao Qi’s eyes.
The fact that he suffered from a Strange Curse was a top-secret matter. Even the imperial physicians were helpless, yet this ghost-like girl before him could see through it at a glance!
“Are you a disciple of Qingwei Valley?” He narrowed his eyes.
He had come to Qingwei Valley at the request of his aunt, the Princess Royal, to find the missing Princess Jiale.
He had heard that the valley was filled with healers, including a remarkable person who could peer into the secrets of heaven and reverse life and death. Although it sounded absurd, he had come nonetheless to soothe his aunt’s years of grief.
But the legendary Qingwei Valley, famed for its many talents, had been completely wiped out overnight by extremely cruel means!
His secret guards had searched the entire valley, only to find this lone girl burying remains in the muddy peach blossom forest.
Yun Zhao’s footsteps froze at his words, “disciple of Qingwei Valley.”
What right did she have to claim the name of Qingwei Valley?
It was she who had personally led the wolves into her own home!
The entire sect had been put to the torch because of her blind trust!
She was a foolish, incompetent sinner who deserved to fall into eternal hell and suffer endless torment!
Memories surged back like a tide…
In her past life.
On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, her master had performed a divination for her. The hexagram revealed that she possessed a Phoenix Fate.
Her eldest senior brother, who had always treated her like a biological sister, told her with reddened eyes about her long-hidden origins—
She was not an orphan, but the legitimate daughter of Minister Jiang of the capital. Less than half a month after her birth, she had been abandoned in the wilderness by her biological parents.
The sect had hidden this from her for years, fearing she would be heartbroken. Now, seeing her noble destiny, they felt it was perhaps time to let her know.
Her family in the valley treated her exceptionally well, but Yun Zhao had insisted on finding the Jiang family. It wasn’t to cling to their status, but to find the truth of why she had been abandoned back then!
It was also on that day that she accidentally saved a man who claimed to be her brother, Jiang Heng, who had come to Qingzhou to search for relatives.
At the time, he was full of pleasant surprise, his eyes burning as if brimming with tears:
“Sixteen whole years! Mother has washed her face with tears day and night, and Father has searched the whole world! I never expected you to become an elite disciple of Qingwei Valley! Ah Zhao, you have truly given your brother a heavenly surprise…”
Back then, she was entirely immersed in the joy of a family reunion, completely failing to notice the coldness and calculation hidden deep in Jiang Heng’s eyes.
She brought her brother back to the valley and told him everything. Perhaps the only thing worth being thankful for was that she hadn’t yet had the chance to tell him that her master had divined her Phoenix Fate!
On the night of the farewell banquet, Cultivation-Dissolving Powder mixed with a strange Incantation Talisman was silently sprinkled into the wine.
That night, Qingwei Valley was plunged into a catastrophic sea of fire.
Men in black slaughtered like ghosts, killing everyone they saw and burning every building they encountered!
The master she respected like a father, the junior brothers and sisters who were like her own flesh and blood… one by one, they fell before her eyes, their screams echoing incessantly!
Jiang Heng stepped through the flames, his expression as gentle as ever.
Despite her body being devoid of strength, Yun Zhao desperately dragged the leg of a man in black, crying out, “Brother, run!”
She had already lost her family in the valley; she could not lose this, her only blood relative!
He still called her “Ah Zhao” in a warm voice, but the cold dagger in his hand plunged into her heart without hesitation, taking her heart-blood to drip onto a jade pendant that could manifest the Phoenix Fate.
Jiang Heng stared at the jade pendant for a short while, and his expression changed.
“Xin’er is meant to marry the Crown Prince.” He wiped the blood from his dagger, his tone chillingly calm. “This Phoenix Fate should not belong to you.”
At that moment, she finally understood. Everyone in the Jiang family had long regarded their adopted daughter, Jiang Wanxin, as the apple of their eye!
They had sent Jiang Heng to find her only for this jade pendant that could carry the Phoenix Fate!
Remorse gnawed at her soul as she begged her brother to spare the innocent people of the valley.
“Ah Zhao, take great care and stay alive,” Jiang Heng’s voice was tender. “For every extra day you live, those sect members of yours can live another day.”
Jiang Heng used the lives of the people in the valley to coerce her, forcing her to cooperate willingly so the Phoenix Fate’s fortune could be completely transferred.
Not long after, Jiang Wanxin “sacrificed herself” to block a runaway horse’s arrow for the Crown Prince at the royal hunting grounds, and her reputation as a “lucky star” spread throughout the capital.
Meanwhile, in a dark room, a blood-hole mysteriously appeared in Yun Zhao’s chest, the pain etching into her bones.
From then on, whip marks, brands, knife wounds… before the old scars could heal, new ones were added.
Every bit of “good fortune” that landed on Jiang Wanxin was reflected onto Yun Zhao’s physical body in the most brutal way.
As the relationship between Jiang Wanxin and the Crown Prince grew more intimate, Yun Zhao’s body withered by the day.
But for the sake of her senior and junior siblings in the valley, and to atone for her sins, Yun Zhao willingly endured it!
Until the night before Jiang Wanxin’s wedding to the Crown Prince, they dragged her like a rag into an ice chamber.
Stripped naked and chained to an ice bed, her blood was drained from her body, her entire frame convulsing in agony.
But her brother had said that once the wedding ceremony was complete, he would let her reunite with the people of the valley.
Yun Zhao struggled to hold on, even pressing herself against the ice bed with all her might until the faint light of dawn appeared…
The door to the secret room opened, and through the light and shadow, she saw a woman reclining lazily on a sable-fur couch.
Jiang Wanxin was clad in a bright red wedding dress, surrounded by pearls and emeralds, her face radiant as she looked at Yun Zhao with a smile.
Yun Zhao huddled in the corner, her voice as faint as a gossamer thread. “When… can I see… my sect members?”
Hearing this, Jiang Wanxin actually let out a low, soft laugh. The laughter echoed in the empty stone room, sounding exceptionally grotesque. “Which one are you asking about?
The second senior brother who was hacked into mincemeat? Or the third senior brother who was bled dry? Or perhaps… the eldest senior brother, who was gnawed by wild dogs until not even a whole bone was left?”
Yun Zhao’s head buzzed, and her entire world collapsed before her eyes!
Her brother had clearly said… as long as, as long as she was willing…
Jiang Wanxin leaned down, lifting Yun Zhao’s withered chin with her fingertip.
“You people of Qingwei Valley certainly have equally stiff bones! It was thanks to him thinking of this pretext; otherwise, how would you have willingly endured until now?”
Hate filled Yun Zhao, making her want to pounce and perish together with her, but she was kicked away.
Jiang Wanxin toyed with the pearls on her wedding dress, her tone as casual as if she were amusing herself with an ant.
“If you must blame something, blame yourself for being born lowly yet occupying this Phoenix Fate. Your blood was born to pave this magnificent future for me.”
She was thrown into the darkness like a piece of trash, left to wait for death.
After an unknown amount of time, the door to the secret room opened once again. A figure walked over quickly and gently covered her broken body with an outer robe that still carried the warmth of a person.
“Go quickly and invite Grandmaster Wen Kong!” That voice was deep and slightly hoarse, carrying a sense of panic and urgency she had never heard before.
She tried her best to see the person clearly, but her vision was already blurred; she only caught a glimpse of a lustrous white jade pig hanging at his waist.
…
When she opened her eyes again, Yun Zhao had been reborn to the time after the massacre.
She had awakened the Mystic Pupil technique, which she had never possessed in her previous life, and the Compendium of Ten Thousand Curses that had awakened in her mind gave her knowledge of ancient and modern Forbidden Arts.
She hated the heavens—since she was allowed to be reborn, why couldn’t it have been a little earlier, back to a time when she could still make amends for the past!
“There is no one left in Qingwei Valley.” Yun Zhao’s voice was hoarse, her gaze lingering on the white jade pig at Xiao Qi’s waist. Lingering upon it was a very faint Remnant Soul.
Recalling the outer garment and the last bit of warmth he had given her before her death in her previous life, Yun Zhao suddenly made a decision.
“I can save your life.” She looked directly at Xiao Qi. “And I can also find the owner of that jade pendant. The price is—
Send me back to the capital.”
Xiao Qi’s gaze fell upon the inconspicuous lonely grave behind her. He raised an eyebrow. “Who do you want to kill?”
“The current Minister of Rites, Jiang Shian, is my biological father. I want to return and acknowledge my ancestors.”
Meeting the flicker of amusement in the depths of Xiao Qi’s eyes, she spoke syllable by syllable, not hiding her murderous intent.
“After that, I want to personally watch every member of the Jiang family die, one by one, at my hands!”
“Interesting.” Xiao Qi gave a low laugh. “In ten days, there is a spring banquet at the Princess Royal’s manor. You are permitted to accompany me.”
He leaned in close, his breath cold. “Remember, if you fail, the capital will be your grave. When that time comes, this Prince will not help collect your body.”
“That is enough.” Yun Zhao’s lips slowly curled into a cold smile.
Jiang Heng, the Jiang family… wait for it!
This time, I want your lives as a sacrifice for the seventy-seven dead souls of my Qingwei Valley!