“You’re awake?”
Chu Ruo woke with her hand pressed to her forehead, her entire being still mired in weakness and confusion. “Mo Fei? Why... why are you here?”
“You fainted and have been asleep for several days,” Mo Fei sighed. “You... take care of yourself.”
“What do you mean by that...”
Before she could finish, several disciples exited the room. Mo Fei opened her mouth as if to speak, hesitated, and finally managed only a single sentence: “Endure it, no matter what.”
At this stage, though Chu Ruo could not guess exactly what would happen next, she knew a warning when she heard one. *Nan Menghua... hah. You have already persecuted us to this extent; what more do you want?*
The door was soon pushed open. Unsurprisingly, it was Nan Menghua. Wearing her habitual cold sneer, she immediately lunged forward and gripped Chu Ruo’s throat. “What, not dead yet?”
Darkness and suffocation—these were the only things Chu Ruo could feel. *Dammit!* Why, after all this time, was she still so useless? Why was it that every single time, she failed to protect the woman she loved?
“You had better take good care of yourself. A little longer, and I would have had them throw you... No, do you know how the Hundred Flowers Palace deals with useless people now? Ever since you two betrayed me, I’ve decided that the palace needs to raise dogs. Dogs never betray their masters.”
The stranglehold vanished abruptly. Chu Ruo slumped to the floor, powerless and exhausted, yet she still found the strength to be defiant. “You... are not even human.” It was one thing to insult her, but Nan Menghua was implying they were lower than dogs. To live in such agony every day—if not for her beloved, why would she even bother clinging to this miserable life?
“You truly do not fear death. You don’t fear it, and neither does that wench.”
“You!”
“However, you both fear the other’s death. Hahaha...”
“Nan Menghua!”
“You’ve been lying down for so long; don’t you want to see that wench? Let’s go.”
“What are you going to do!”
Chu Ruo was currently powerless to resist. she could only allow herself to be dragged toward the dungeon by the disciples. Along the way, the palace was filled with wails, cries for help, and the barking of dogs. She had been confined since her return and hadn't been anywhere else; now she saw that the palace was in a worse state than ever. The air was thick with the scent of blood. She finally understood what "raising dogs" meant—the barking of vicious hounds, the stench of rot, and the sound of gnawing. It turned out that those who disobeyed were thrown to the...
Her stomach churned. Forcing down her nausea, she was dragged step by step until she was before the person she longed for day and night.
“My dear daughter, have you been well lately?”
Chu Ruo stood there, so weak she required two disciples to prop her up. She desperately wanted to rush forward and embrace her lover. The sounds she had heard and the blood she had smelled on the way here made her skin crawl. To defy Nan Menghua meant... *Xue’er...* Chu Ruo had yielded countless times because she was utterly helpless.
Nan Muxue did not respond. She knew the other’s gaze was fixed upon her, yet neither of them dared to make a move. To do so would only result in the other being hurt. *Xue’er, you are right in front of me, yet I cannot hold you.* For Nan Muxue, the feeling was mutual.
“What? Now that you see your lover, you can’t even hear your own mother’s words?” Nan Menghua’s hand slowly came to rest on Chu Ruo’s shoulder.
Finally, Nan Muxue spoke. “I am grateful for Mother’s concern. I am very well.”
“Very well,” Nan Menghua threw her head back and laughed for a moment before finally removing her hand. Her expression, however, grew increasingly distorted. “But I am not well at all!”
A slight breeze stirred—an anomaly in this sunless dungeon. Having been blind for so long, Chu Ruo’s senses were far beyond those of an ordinary person. In an instant, she accurately judged the direction of the threat. Summoning a sudden burst of strength from nowhere, she broke free from her captors and leaped forward, shielding Nan Muxue with her body.
“Ruo’er!”
It was Nan Muxue’s frantic cry. She only ever lost her composure for the person before her. Chu Ruo collapsed to the ground, and Nan Muxue knelt down with trembling hands, cradling her face. “Ruo’er, Ruo’er!”
“Xue’er, I’m... I’m fine...”
Unexpectedly, Nan Menghua’s palm strike never descended. It had been a deliberate test. Sure enough, she clicked her tongue twice. “A rare talent indeed. To be able to leap forward so accurately even in this state... I am almost impressed. I have never taken a disciple in my life; if not for you two... I might have actually considered taking you under my wing.”
Chu Ruo propped herself up and spat back, “Either kill us or be done with it!”
“Kill you? How naive. Letting you die would be a mercy.” She suddenly remembered something, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “It is almost time.”
“Wha—” Before she could finish the word, Chu Ruo felt a heart-piercing pain unlike anything she had ever known. This sensation... *Dammit!* It was the Hundred Flowers Gu. It hadn't flared up in a long time, but she was intimately familiar with it. Nan Menghua hadn't given her the antidote; she was doing this on purpose to torture her and, more importantly, to break Xue’er’s heart. How despicable! “You... kill... kill me!”
She began to writhe in agony on the floor. Nan Muxue gripped her hand tightly, hoping to offer even a sliver of warmth. “Ruo’er, it’s alright...”
*Alright? How could it be alright?* Chu Ruo suddenly found the words absurd. *Nan Menghua, all of this is because of you. One day, I will never let you go!*
“What? From the look in your eyes, you want to kill me?”
“Mother,” Nan Muxue looked at her own mother with forced calm. “Everything is my fault.”
“Fault? My dear daughter, how could you be at fault?”
“I beg Mother to spare Chu Ruo.”
Nan Menghua pinched her daughter’s chin. “And what do you have to offer in your plea?”
“My status as the scion of the Nan bloodline.”
*Slap!* A resounding blow landed on her face. “I have always said you were a clever one, yet you are being incredibly stupid! To give up your status as the Young Palace Master for an inferior person of unknown origin? Since she cannot assist my cultivation for the time being, I want you to watch her every day as the Hundred Flowers Gu ravages her body. I want you to see her in such agony that she wishes for death. Remember, you are the one who harmed her. Everything that happens today is because of you.”
Chu Ruo eventually lost consciousness. As usual, Nan Menghua heartlessly ordered her men to take her away, not giving them a chance to say another word. “Don’t worry, she won’t die. I will give her the antidote, of course. But I want you to watch the one you love beg for death while you remain heartbroken. I want you both to suffer a fate worse than death!”
The dungeon suddenly became empty and silent. Nan Muxue remained where she was, motionless as a clay statue, until the sound at the door interrupted her again.
“Did it go smoothly?”
“For now, the Palace Master does not suspect anything.”
“Mhm.”
“Even though it wasn't a real flare-up of the Hundred Flowers Gu, the pain feels exactly the same. Do you really have the heart to watch her suffer like that?”
“At least Mother won't use her for cultivation for the time being. We must send Ruo’er down the mountain as soon as possible. She cannot come to any more harm.”
“Understood.”
