Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Lunatic!

To save her, he could only sacrifice himself and marry someone he did not love.

But even if they married, he would never touch Song Wan Ning.

His heart—and his body—could belong to only one person: Chu Xue.

“Heh.”

Song Wan Ning stood at the entrance of the main hall, looking down at Gu Qing Yuan with cold indifference.

In her previous life, she had used the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill as leverage to force Gu Qing Yuan to agree to marry her. It had painted her as a brute, as if she had dragged a good man into a marriage against his will.

But their engagement had been set by Gu Qing Yuan himself.

She could still hear his vows.

Only… he had changed. Somewhere along the way, he had turned his heart elsewhere—and the one he had fallen for was his own disciple.

Absurd. Disgusting.

That aloof, immortal-like True Lord Qing Yuan was nothing but a sanctimonious hypocrite.

Once she tore off the filter of love, the man in front of her was painfully ordinary.

Before Song Wan Ning could speak, Bai Yang couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Master!” he roared, eyes full of disgust. “How could you use Junior Sister Ye’s life to threaten Martial Uncle Gu? That’s despicable!”

The revulsion in his gaze spilled out like poison, impossible to hide.

[How did I never notice?]

[So this is how much they hate me.]

Song Wan Ning narrowed her eyes. The corner of her lips lifted.

She slapped from a distance.

“Smack!”

The crack echoed. Bai Yang’s head snapped to the side. Four front teeth flew out with his spit.

He stared at her, stunned, hand clamped over his mouth, blood seeping between his fingers.

“Your name is Bai Yang,” Song Wan Ning said, voice cool. “And you really were raised for nothing.”

She withdrew her hand, glanced at her palm as if checking for dust, and smiled—satisfied.

[This is how it should be.]

[If I’m the villainous supporting character, why bother with reason?]

[Hit first. Talk later.]

Humiliation and shock burned in Bai Yang’s eyes.

[Master actually hit me.]

[How dare she.]

Resentment swelled, wild and sharp. His fingers curled until his nails dug into his skin.

[One day, I’ll surpass Song Wan Ning.]

[One day, I’ll repay her a hundredfold.]

“Song Wan Ning,” Gu Qing Yuan said coldly, patience fraying, “how long are you going to keep this up?”

He didn’t care who was slapped. He only cared that Chu Xue was dying.

“I’ve already agreed to marry you. What more do you want?”

“What more do I want?” Song Wan Ning arched a brow, wickedness sliding into her smile.

“Kneel.”

“Beg me.”

“Song Wan Ning!” Gu Qing Yuan stared at her like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Do you even remember I’m your Senior Brother?!”

[Senior Brother?]

It was like a rasp driven straight into Song Wan Ning’s chest.

[So he remembers.]

[When he helped flatten the Song Family… when he helped bind and restrain me… why didn’t he remember then?]

Darkness churned in her eyes. The deeper the love, the deeper the hate.

Gu Qing Yuan owed her.

And she would make him pay it back—twice over.

“Kneel or don’t,” she said lazily, picking at her nails. “Either way, I’m not the one dying.”

Disciples on the side erupted.

“You can’t kneel, Martial Uncle Gu!”

“Martial Uncle Gu is a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator—how can he kneel to her?”

Bai Yang and the others looked torn—desperate for Ye Chu Xue to live, yet indignant on Gu Qing Yuan’s behalf.

Hatred turned and fixed on Song Wan Ning like a thousand blades.

“I’ll kneel.”

Gu Qing Yuan’s face looked worse than it ever had.

His gaze locked onto Song Wan Ning, icy and sharp. “Song Wan Ning—after this kneel, everything we’ve had these past years is over.”

Then he lifted his robe and knelt.

The Senior Brother who had once been as pure as the moon knelt before her—for another woman.

Song Wan Ning threw her head back and laughed.

“Hahaha!”

“How absurd,” she said, voice cracking with the sharpness of it. “How absurd!”

Her eyes reddened as she laughed, but the viciousness in her gaze swallowed the weakness before anyone could see it.

[So he loves Ye Chu Xue to the point of madness.]

Decades ago, Gu Qing Yuan had been at death’s door. To beg the Ghost-Axe Grand Apothecary to save him, Song Wan Ning had knelt outside the Grand Apothecary’s door for three days and three nights until the Grand Apothecary finally agreed and dragged Gu Qing Yuan back from the brink.

[And now?]

[He’s forgotten it all.]

[He even wants to erase the past and cut off the future.]

Song Wan Ning’s laughter stopped abruptly.

She walked up to Gu Qing Yuan, bent down, and leaned close—so close her breath brushed his ear. Her smile turned bright and vicious.

“But what a shame,” she whispered. “I already ate the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill.”

Gu Qing Yuan’s face changed instantly.

His hand shot up and clamped around her throat.

“What did you say?”

Bloodlust seeped into his eyes. His grip tightened, cutting off her breath.

Song Wan Ning didn’t struggle. She smiled.

A dagger appeared in her palm, the blade leveled at Gu Qing Yuan’s chest.

“Do it,” she said softly. “Kill me.”

Her eyes didn’t even blink. “Crack my skull open and strip away my Nascent Soul Stage cultivation. Maybe the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill’s effects haven’t fully faded yet.”

The smile on her lips was bright and wrong, inhuman enough to make one’s scalp prickle.

“Lunatic!” Gu Qing Yuan’s pupils shook. He released her and shoved her aside, as if she were something poisonous.

For one terrifying moment, he had actually felt afraid.

“Heh-heh.”

Song Wan Ning straightened, calmly put the dagger away, and dusted off her sleeve as if nothing had happened.

“I gave you a chance,” she said, tilting her head with a playful blink, “and you didn’t take it. Now it’s my turn.”

Gu Qing Yuan’s whole body went stiff.

Song Wan Ning was insane.

He couldn’t get the pill. He couldn’t waste any more time.

Gu Qing Yuan stared at her hard, carving today’s humiliation into his bones. Then he swept his sleeve and left.

The disciples nearby bowed to Song Wan Ning in fear and hurried after him.

Lu Nan Feng and Bai Yang hesitated, worried for Ye Chu Xue. They moved to follow—

Song Wan Ning’s cold glance pinned them in place.

Looking at her three “dear disciples,” killing intent swelled again, thick and heavy.

But the Three Lives Mirror’s warning rang in her mind: the male lead and his lackeys were protected by the Heavenly Dao, their fortune strong. If she tried to erase them by force, she would fail—and the backlash would bring disaster down on her and the Song Family.

So she swallowed the blood in her throat.

Weaken their fortune little by little.

Wait.

Then strike when the time was right.

Only then would she be able to protect herself and the Song Family. Only then would she have a chance to break her heart demons.

Song Wan Ning turned away and flew off.

After she left, Lu Nan Feng wiped cold sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath. “Quick. Let’s go check on Junior Sister Ye!”

He lifted An Ze, face pale with worry, and started forward.

Bai Yang’s brows twitched. He stared toward the main hall, eyes dark.

“No.”

Lu Nan Feng froze. “What do you mean, no?”

Bai Yang’s mouth curled into a cold sneer. “I know where Master keeps the pill.”

He had once seen her put the bottle away. He remembered exactly where it was.

And now she had left again.

Restlessness clawed at Bai Yang’s chest.

“You’re crazy,” Lu Nan Feng hissed, grabbing Bai Yang’s sleeve. “Didn’t Master already say she took the pill?”

“And even if she didn’t—if she finds out we stole it, she’ll beat us to death!”

Just for talking back, Third Junior Brother had been beaten unconscious. If they stole something on top of that…

“Why would Master take the pill for no reason?” Bai Yang snapped, eyes hard. “She just didn’t want to give it to Junior Sister Ye.”

He spat the words like venom. “Master has always been jealous of Junior Sister Ye. How could she ever want to save her?”