The light in Chu Huaizhou's eyes went out all at once, replaced by crushing despair. His lips trembled, but no sound came out. He could only look at Xie Zhaolin with a pleading gaze.
Her lips curved into a cruel arc, black qi coiling around her fingers like living snakes. "Zhang Xiuxiu waited for you, right up until the moment she died."
This wasn't ordinary physical torment. It was agony that burned straight into the soul. Chu Huaizhou convulsed like a fish flung onto dry land, yet he couldn't break free.
"She waited for you to save her, to come and take her away, to keep those pathetic promises of yours," her voice stayed calm, almost indifferent. "But in the end, this cheap regret of yours only exists because you're about to die."
The black qi had already covered his whole body. His skin cracked open, revealing the writhing flesh beneath. Still, at her words, his body froze.
"S-sorry…" He struggled to force the words out, hoarse and broken.
For a heartbeat, an unexpected surge of emotion shook Xie Zhaolin's chest. She lowered her head and realized her fingertips were trembling.
"Too late," she said coldly, and clenched her hand tight.
Boom!
His body exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
She stared into the swirling crimson fog, black qi surging from her fingertips to grasp his struggling soul. The twisted outline still carried the hated face of Chu Huaizhou.
"Don't go down there and taint her eyes."
A black flame roared from her palm, grinding the soul to dust, piece by piece. As his presence vanished completely, a strange lightness flooded her body. It was as if some heavy shackle deep inside had finally been shattered. She looked down at her hand. For the first time, she felt a seamless harmony between body and soul.
At this moment, she wasn't just occupying this body anymore. She had truly become its master. The last fragment of Zhang Xiuxiu's obsession dissolved the instant Chu Huaizhou's soul was obliterated.
"Finally…"
With a soft sigh, she flicked out a wisp of black fire. Flames danced, and the corpse below turned to ash, carrying that wretched bond into the night wind.
Her cleanup afterward was meticulous.
From her storage ring, she pulled out the corpse of a woman with a figure similar to Zhang Xiuxiu—spoils from a slain evil cultivator. She dressed the corpse in her own robes, left it on the bed in the side chamber, then scattered several artifacts belonging to the black-robed man throughout the Chu estate, leaving behind traces of evil cultivator qi.
When she passed the secluded courtyard, she stopped briefly and burned Yuzhu's broken puppet body to ash with a flick of her fingers.
Finally, a single blaze consumed the entire Chu estate.
From a distance, she watched the towering inferno, knowing that "Zhang Xiuxiu" had completely vanished from the world.
As she turned to leave, a metallic sweetness surged up her throat. She wiped away black blood from the corner of her lips. The chaotic baleful qi rushing through her meridians reminded her that the fight with the black-robed man had left far deeper injuries than she thought. For now, she'd better avoid using her strength.
"Zhou Zhilán's courtyard…" She murmured with a faint smile. "Looks like it'll come in handy after all."
…
By the time Xie Zhaolin reached the residence Zhou Zhilán had arranged, it was Yin Hour (3–5 a.m.).
Dry leaves cracked beneath her boots, the sound loud in the still night. She flicked her finger, and several strands of black qi sank silently into the courtyard walls, forming a ward of vigilance.
Inside, she sat cross-legged.
Black qi struggled through her damaged meridians, every acupoint it touched feeling like knives carving her flesh. Sweat rolled down her pale face, but her breathing never faltered.
This backlash from forcibly raising her cultivation was far worse than she'd expected. Her meridians wouldn't fully heal for at least forty-nine days. Thankfully, she had plenty of healing pills in her storage ring. She swallowed one, letting the cool medicinal power slowly soothe the burning pain in her body.
Outside, the sound of the night watchman's clapper echoed faintly, drifting nearer and farther.
By the time dawn's pale light touched the sky, her eyes snapped open. A thread of black qi shot silently into the ground—someone was approaching.
She instantly concealed her aura and melted into the shadows.
Moments later, voices rose outside the courtyard.
"Did you hear? The whole Chu family's been wiped out!"
"Shh, keep it down! They say there weren't even any bodies left, the estate burned completely clean!"
"I heard Hehuan Sect's already sent people to investigate…"
The footsteps faded into the distance, but her frown deepened.
The Hehuan Sect's reaction was even faster than she'd expected. Then again, it made sense. From the black-robed man's last words, they'd probably been watching the Chu family all along. Now that the estate was nothing but ash, their quick response wasn't surprising.
In the days that followed, tension gripped the entire city. She occasionally released her divine sense to catch snippets of gossip. The Hehuan Sect had sent a Golden Core cultivator with several Foundation Building disciples. They scoured the ruins of the Chu estate, but only made a half-hearted show of checking the surrounding streets.
"Looks like it's safe… for now."
Her lips curved slightly as she withdrew her divine sense. Her injuries had recovered about thirty percent, but a full recovery would take at least another month. For now, she focused on meditation and healing.
On the seventh evening, while she was seated in meditation, her divine sense twitched—someone had entered. She concealed her aura instantly, retreating into the shadows. The intruder's steps were light, clearly a cultivator.
"How strange…" A familiar young woman's voice drifted in. "Could she really not be here?"
Zhou Zhilán!
Xie Zhaolin's pupils shrank as she watched the girl in goose-yellow robes step from the veranda. Zhou Zhilán looked much more haggard than before, dark circles under her eyes and her lips cracked and pale.
"The Chu family's massacre has everyone talking." Zhou Zhilán muttered to herself as she walked toward the west wing, her embroidered shoes crushing a dry branch. "Tomorrow, Hehuan Sect's Golden Core cultivator will start searching the southern part of the city."
Xie Zhaolin's knuckles pressed against the wall, cracks spiderwebbing through the bricks.
"Today, I met with the Hehuan Sect inspector," Zhou Zhilán went on casually. "They asked a lot of questions." She turned, gazing at the empty courtyard. "They even asked who's living in this residence I provided."
The night wind stirred, sweeping dead leaves across the ground.
Xie Zhaolin held her breath, black qi condensing in her palm, her eyes gleaming coldly. Zhou Zhilán was clearly baiting her out. But what caught her attention even more was the question—what exactly was this girl scheming?
"I know what you're thinking." Zhou Zhilán suddenly laughed, clever light glinting in her eyes under the moon. "It'd be easy for you to kill me. But tomorrow, when the Hehuan Sect searches… you know their methods better than I do."
From the shadows, black qi flickered at Xie Zhaolin's fingertips.
Zhou Zhilán was right—killing her now would only stir up worse trouble.
But she'd miscalculated one thing.
"Brave of you," Xie Zhaolin's voice cut through the night.
Black qi surged as she appeared like a phantom. She clamped a hand around Zhou Zhilán's throat and slammed her into the red lacquered pillar, shaking the bronze bells hanging from the eaves.
"I'll take a third path."
Her grip tightened.
"I'll replace you."