The full moon was veiled by dark clouds. Under the shroud of night, the pieces of the shattered coffin blasted outward. Those who ran too slowly were instantly pierced through by the flying wood, sending flesh and blood spraying everywhere as their corpses crashed to the ground.
The survivors let out shrill screams, frightened out of their wits as they fled in a chaotic, stumbling panic.
With her dark hair dancing in the air, she rose from the coffin. The blood on her chest had long since dried. A pair of crimson eyes snapped open, looking upon this mortal world once more.
Her expression was blank, her entire body freezing cold. The flesh that had once wasted away rapidly grew back, her wounds sealing shut. The flesh and blood within her chest filled the cavity, yet the heart that had been cut out failed to grow back.
She simply raised her head to glance at the full moon obscured by dark clouds, and in the next moment, her figure vanished from the coffin.
"Ah!"
A fleeing manservant was snatched up by one hand, his neck instantly snapping in the next instant as his head severed and dropped to the ground.
Hearing the commotion, the old women who had done the cutting turned back to look. Just a single glance was enough to shatter their livers and gall with terror: A ghost! The Fourth Young Madam! She has turned into a ghost!
"Save—"
Before the old woman could even squeeze out a complete plea for mercy, a pair of bloody hands burst through her chest, and a warm, pulsating heart appeared right before her eyes.
Thump, thump, it beat, steaming with heat.
Lingxiao withdrew her hand, instantly crushing the heart in her grip, and without a moment's hesitation, she slaughtered her way toward the next target.
Tonight, she had no intention of letting these executioners live.
Her grievances had nowhere to be appealed, and leaving behind a few human witnesses served no purpose. From the moment she was hauled off to this remote estate down to the carving out of her heart, not a single person in Xiyan Courtyard was innocent.
These people were all entangled in her karma; they were the ones Lord Yama had said she could dispose of as she pleased!
Heartless as she now was, mercy and kindness were entirely foreign to her. She knew only one thing: debts of blood must be repaid in blood, and grievances must be avenged!
These people had murdered her, so they ought to forfeit their lives!
If she let even a single one of them go, her mind could never find peace!
Down in the small courtyard by the mountain, three or four gatekeepers and old hags remained. Completely oblivious to the carnage on the mountain, they were still swaggeringly feasting on food bought with Song Xiyan's allowance.
"The Fourth Young Madam is truly a fool. Could the Fourth Young Master's act of cheating her out of her trust, her heart, and her body have been any more obvious?"
"That's just how women drowning in romantic love are—incapable of seeing through a damn thing."
"Exactly. That young lady had already moved right into the manor, and when the young master called her his cousin, she actually believed it. Not only did she believe it, she even raided her own dowry to subsidize the woman. What a fool."
A manservant gave a lewd chuckle. "Putting all else aside, the Fourth Young Master certainly knows how to enjoy himself. Look at the Fourth Young Madam's face and figure—which man wouldn't feel an itch in his heart looking at that?"
"He's the only one willing to share her, though. It's a pity I only got to grab her ass twice just now, and didn't dare squeeze more."
The others looked on in shock. "You've got some real guts! Aren't you afraid the Fourth Young Madam will come looking for you tonight!"
The manservant showed no fear at all, flashing a lascivious grin. "Better to die beneath the peony blossom; even as a ghost, I'd be a romantic spirit!"
He finished speaking, expecting to see looks of admiration from the others, but when he raised his eyes, he saw that their eyes were wide with terror, their entire bodies trembling as if they had witnessed something utterly horrifying.
"Wait, what's wrong with you guys? Is there something behind me..."
He turned his head back, his jaw dropping instantly as he fell flat on his rear in fright. Sitting atop the low wall amid the darkness was a blood-stained, dark-haired female ghost. The bright red embroidered shoes on her feet swayed back and forth, her slender, fair legs faintly visible beneath her white robes.
Alas, he no longer had the stomach for lust. With a shriek, he tried to run.
"Squish!"
The next moment, his spine was crushed beneath a foot, and another explosion of blood burst from beneath him. Lingxiao grabbed the man by the neck and spoke in an eerie voice, "I..."
She tilted her head, lowering her gaze to lock eyes with him, her red lips curving upward. "Have come to find you."
"Ah!"
With a piercing shriek, the man was scared literally to death.
Lingxiao raised her gaze once more, only to find the people in the courtyard too paralyzed by terror even to run. Dropping the corpse, she stepped through the blood and walked slowly toward them.
"Where is my heart?"
She pointed her blood-stained finger at her chest, her red eyes burning as she asked, "Where is my heart?"
Terrified out of their wits, those people dropped to their knees and kowtowed. "Fourth Young Madam! Fourth Young Madam! This was all the Young Master's doing! I beg you! Please spare us!"
"Your heart! Your heart was just picked up by the Fourth Young Master's men!"
Lingxiao walked up to them and let out a cold laugh. "Spare you?"
She shook her head. "If I spare you lot, who is going to spare me?"
The next instant, a number of fine heads shot into the air. Lingxiao's body was spattered entirely with warm blood, yet it still failed to warm her freezing frame.
At last, the moonlight slowly filtered into the small courtyard.
Lingxiao looked up at the moonlight and let out a soft sigh. "My heart must not actually be eaten by someone."
She touched her chest, pitifully smoothing down her tattered clothes. "Go give chase. If we can't catch up, we will pay a visit to our benefactor first."
Only...
She glanced toward the dim little room. "Wearing this outfit would be a bit discourteous."
Late at night, a towering catastrophe erupted at an inconspicuous courtyard on the outskirts of the Capital. The raging fire consumed every trace of sin, thoroughly burning away the person named Song Xiyan, along with every single sentiment and affection of the past.
A woman in green robes rode upon a horse, a battered hot water bottle tied at her waist, holding a long saber as she pursued the one who had stolen her heart.
She had washed the blood from her body and gathered her hair into a simple ponytail, revealing a delicate face that was no different from anyone else's, save for being excessively fair and tender.
She was Lingxiao—Lingxiao reborn into the mortal world, Lingxiao who wielded the Ghost Envoy Token to slay demons and monsters, and Lingxiao who was entirely heartless.
Her heart had been sealed inside a tiny box of gold-inlaid jade, frozen with ice, and was being hastily transported to the Zhang Family in the Capital, delivered directly into the hands of that ungrateful scoundrel.
Lord Yama had bestowed upon Lingxiao an undying body, granted her supreme divine power, and endowed her with the absolute power of life and death.
Yet... this power of life and death came with a condition.
The target's fortune had to fall within the scope of Lord Yama's concealment. That was why Lingxiao had been able to slaughter those manservants and old hags without a single hesitation.
Yet she could not simply charge forward and slay Zhang Yuan and Qin Yanran. One was the nephew of the Senior Grand Secretary and the son of the head of the pure aristocracy; the other was the daughter of high-ranking nobles. She did not even need to look to know their fortunes were extraordinarily high.
This path of vengeance required her to plot and scheme with meticulous care.
And the most important matter right now was that her benefactor had returned to the Capital!
Yet the moment he returned, villains had seized him and placed him under unlawful confinement. Tonight was her benefactor's mortal trial of death!
With her heart transported into the city, Lingxiao gazed distantly in the direction of the Zhang Family in the Capital, extending her tongue to lick her lips. For now, she would let her heart be temporarily stored there.
She would retrieve it very soon.
"Benefactor, I am coming..."