A cold and aloof woman slightly narrowed her beautiful phoenix eyes as she stared at the man and woman standing before her.
Behind her lay a bottomless abyss. In front of her were the two of them, pressing forward step by step.
One was her cousin, the other her fiancé. And now, they had joined forces to corner her, all to obtain from her a treasure that could allow rapid cultivation.
A treasure for rapid cultivation?
What a joke. If she truly possessed such a treasure, she would have refined it long ago instead of waiting for others to come snatch it from her.
Her luck had merely been a little better than others’. Was that enough to make her a target?
And now, the ones coveting her were her own cousin and her fiancé.
“Elder Sister, that thing is useless in a woman’s hands anyway. You might as well give it to Yu,” the seductive woman said with an expression of generosity and propriety. Her tone, her expression, even the sound of her voice made it seem as though the cold woman would be committing an unforgivable sin if she refused.
The cold woman felt nothing but disgust at her words.
A mocking smile curled at her lips as she said slowly, word by word, “I do not have any cultivation treasure.”
Yet the man and woman before her seemed unable to hear the sarcasm in her voice.
The man had not spoken a single word, but his purpose was painfully clear. He wanted both the cold woman and the so called cultivation treasure in Ouyang Siya’s possession.
He cast a gentle look toward Ouyang Siya’s younger cousin, Ouyang Yunya.
Receiving that look, Ouyang Yunya felt sweetness flood her heart and her confidence surged. Her words became even more provocative. “Elder Sister, if you have something good, why not give it to Brother in Law? He is your fiancé, after all.”
Ouyang Siya looked at Ouyang Yunya with eyes full of ridicule. So she still remembered that this man was her brother in law. Did she not understand the principle that prosperity and ruin were shared alike?
They were cultivators, where strength reigned supreme. If not for their treachery, how could her Nascent Soul stage cultivation have been sealed by their mere Foundation Establishment level, leaving her unable to exert even a fraction of her power?
If she had not been absorbed in cultivation and failed to notice when they had gotten together, she would never have fallen into their trap. If they had not drugged her to suppress her spiritual power, she would never have been forced into this desperate situation where only two choices remained.
One step back was the bottomless abyss.
One step forward was handing over the so called cultivation treasure.
Step forward meant death. Step back also meant death.
She had nowhere left to retreat.
Raising her brows, Ouyang Siya asked softly, “Ouyang Yunya, since when did you become so close to Nangong Yu?”
“Elder Sister, I just cannot bear to see you be so selfish,” Ouyang Yunya replied.
A fool. Nangong Yu had not even spoken yet, and she had already rushed forward. If Ouyang Siya’s abilities had not been sealed, she would have crushed her without hesitation.
She was nothing more than a sacrificial pawn.
Nangong Yu was truly capable, to be able to lure Ouyang Yunya into helping him, disregarding the family entirely. Ouyang Siya felt nothing but contempt for him. The engagement had been arranged by her grandfather, never by her own will. Otherwise, being forced like this by her cousin and fiancé would have left her with even more resentment, perhaps enough to drive her down a dark path.
“Selfish?” Ouyang Siya sneered mercilessly. “Since when did you, Ouyang Yunya, become so generous? So eager to help others?”
“Yu, what are you waiting for?” Ouyang Yunya urged anxiously. “She is deliberately stalling so the drug’s effects can wear off. When that happens, neither of us will be her match.”
Nangong Yu cursed inwardly. Useless trash, wasting his time and careful planning.
“Siya,” Nangong Yu finally spoke, clearing his throat. “As long as you hand over the item, we will still be engaged.”
Ouyang Siya did not believe a single word from this two faced man.
That drug must have cost them quite a bit of resources and effort to obtain.
If she had not trusted them, how could she have fallen for it so easily?
They had truly gone to great lengths.
“It seems you still refuse to believe me,” Ouyang Siya said calmly. “I do not have any cultivation treasure.”
How could Ouyang Yunya possibly believe her?
Within the Ouyang family, Ouyang Siya was a cultivation genius. How could she not possess such treasures?
“Elder Sister, as long as you take it out, you will still be my good sister.”
Ouyang Siya truly wanted to curse out loud.
Once a mirror shattered, could it ever return to its original state?
They were thinking far too simply.
Ouyang Siya glanced at the bottomless abyss behind her. She had never imagined that she, the Ouyang family’s greatest cultivation genius of her generation, would be driven to this point. More importantly, she still wanted to live.
She was already at the Nascent Soul stage. Even if she fell, as long as her Nascent Soul escaped, she could wait for an opportunity to rebuild her body.
“Ouyang Yunya, Nangong Yu, give up on this idea.”
With that, Ouyang Siya leapt backward without hesitation.
“No!” Nangong Yu rushed to the edge of the cliff, watching her body plummet downward. The terror on his face made it seem as though Ouyang Siya were the woman he loved most. In truth, what he could not bear was the thought of the cultivation treasure disappearing along with her.
Ouyang Yunya was also stunned. She had never imagined that Ouyang Siya would actually jump.
…
“Save me, save me.”
Inside a somewhat crude but neatly arranged room, a young woman wearing a floral padded cotton jacket collapsed onto the floor. One hand clutched at her throat while the other groped desperately across the ground as she tried to drag herself toward the door.
“Mom, did you hear something?” a familiar voice sounded from outside.
Hearing the voices, the girl tried to continue crawling forward. White foam spilled from the corner of her mouth as her entire body convulsed. In the end, she could not resist death’s call and lost consciousness.
“It sounded like it came from your sister in law’s room. She did not do something foolish, did she?” a middle aged woman in patch covered, dull gray clothes asked the girl beside her.
“That should not be the case, right?” the girl asked timidly, though her heart was already in turmoil, truly afraid that something had happened.
After hesitating for a few steps, she walked toward the nearby room. When she saw the girl lying on the floor with white foam still at her lips, she screamed, “Mom, Mom!”
The middle aged woman rushed over at once upon hearing her daughter’s cry, calling out anxiously, “What is it? What happened?”
“Mom, look, look,” the girl said in panic, clutching the woman’s arm.
When the middle aged woman saw the person on the ground, she staggered back a step, too frightened to look closely. Fear surged in her heart as well.
“Xiao Yun, your sister in law should be fine, right?”
The girl called Xiao Yun was named Zhao Meiyun, and the unconscious woman lying on the ground was her sister in law, Lin Siya.
“Mom, I was not wrong,” Zhao Meiyun muttered with a pout. “That educated youth from the village really did talk to her. Big Brother is in the army and might only come home once a year. She did not even try to avoid suspicion and still went over to talk to him.”
Jealousy churned in Zhao Meiyun’s heart. Her sister in law, Lin Siya, was prettier than her, and she had spoken with Zhang Jianghua. She was not slandering her. Lin Siya was already married to her brother, yet she still talked to other men. Did she have no shame? Besides, it was Lin Siya who drank the medicine herself. No one had forced her to do it.