Vaulting onto the high wall, Lingxiao stood tall, the moonlight bathing her figure. She looked like a lithe leopard, her jet-black eyes sweeping across the Capital.
Back in the world of the living, looking at this sprawling, walled city, everything felt vastly different.
To the west lay the prosperous Western District, home to most of the noble and powerful families. Naturally, this included the Estate of the Duke of Yong—the place where her biological parents resided. That vast estate was a place where man-eating demons lurked in every corner.
At this moment, the estate was ablaze with lights. The Duke and the Duchess of Yong, who lived in superficial harmony but deep discord, clearly were not sleeping in the same quarters. Before she had been sent away to that small, desolate courtyard, she had heard that the Duke had taken a new concubine, a delicate woman from the southern water towns. Not long after, a physician had been summoned to the estate to treat the Duchess, who was suffering from a fit of rage.
How lively it all was.
Further away, one could see the bustling Marquis’s Estate. Only two years after the Duke’s daughter, Song Miaochun, had married into it, the once gilded but rotting estate had truly begun to flourish. Cheng Zanxin, the young heir whom the world had once deemed a hopeless fool, was now a rising star among the elite, holding a fourth-rank official post at such a young age—a model for all young noblemen in the Capital. The loving bond between him and Song Miaochun was the envy of all; no one spoke of "blessed couples" without thinking of them.
Then there was the Lu Estate, home to her adoptive parents. By clinging to their own biological daughter, they had climbed the social ladder and gained favor with countless powerful figures. The Lu family was thriving, and Song Miaochun bathed in the love of two households. How happy she was; how lucky she was…
Looking further still, she saw a familiar residence. In terms of wealth and power, the Zhang Family could not compare to the others, but they possessed a reputation that the others could never reach. They were the gold standard of the virtuous scholars of Daqing—a beacon of moral direction. The upright and unyielding Grand Secretary took the greatest pride in the sons he had raised, especially Zhang Yuan. No one had a bad word to say about Zhang Yuan.
His talent and character were one thing, but his kindness was another. That he had married a woman of low worth and ignored the whispers of the world only made him more admirable. In the eyes of the public, Song Xiyan was like a beautiful flower planted in a pile of dung, which only made Zhang Yuan seem all the more pitiable and noble, while Song Xiyan was nothing but a wretched creature.
How well they all lived!
Each of them stood in a high position, each possessed a good name and immense power. No one knew that they had sacrificed her, time and time again. Song Xiyan had been trampled into the mud by them all, devoured until nothing remained but a rotting shell.
Lingxiao straightened her back, her lips curling into a smile. She raised a hand to gently stroke her hollow chest and laughed. "Song Xiyan, look at what you’ve been reduced to."
"You are dead. Does anyone remember you?"
"No one…"
"Are you sad?"
Lingxiao was not sad. She had no heart, no feelings. What sustained this shell was an indelible hatred! A murderous intent that could not be suppressed!
"Lingxiao!" She pressed hard against her chest, her eyes boiling with malice. "It is time to take back your heart!"
...
Late at night, in the Qingzhao Courtyard of the Zhang Mansion, the lights in Zhang Yuan’s study remained bright. He sat upright at his desk, staring blankly at a vibrant red agate bracelet lying before him.
The servant who had delivered the "heart" had said that this was an agate bracelet she had torn off during her struggle, which had accidentally fallen into their crate. This bracelet had been the token of affection he had given her when he asked for her hand. She had worn it every single day, and even when she died, she had never taken it off…
*Creak.*
Someone pushed open the door, letting in a draft of cold air. A white robe fluttered in the wind, revealing the frail figure of a woman.
The moment Zhang Yuan looked up, he instinctively pressed his hand over the agate, hiding it under the desk without a sound, and hurried to greet her.
"Why aren't you resting yet? In such cold weather, why are you out?"
He embraced her, shut the door, and led her by the hand to sit down.
The woman was dressed in white, her skin pale and her features beautiful. There was a touch of illness about her, yet she carried an air of delicate charm. She knew exactly how to manipulate Zhang Yuan.
"You say that to me, yet you haven't rested yourself." She kneaded Zhang Yuan’s shoulders, leaning against him as if boneless. "Qingyu, if only days like these could last forever…"
Zhang Yuan’s expression shifted, but his heart softened, and he pulled her completely into his arms. "Yanran, days like these will certainly last a long time."
"Rest assured, I have already… I have already obtained the medicinal catalyst. Tomorrow, I will have the Divine Physician enter the mansion to fire up the furnace and brew the medicine for you!"
Qin Yanran looked up in surprise, unable to believe her ears. "Truly?"
"You truly obtained the catalyst?"
"Qingyu, will I really be able to stay by your side forever and ever?"
Her eyes turned red, as if she were completely unaware that the "catalyst" Zhang Yuan spoke of was the heart of his own wife. She would live, but the price was another’s life.
Zhang Yuan nodded forcefully. "Yes! Once you have taken the medicine, we will have a long life ahead of us…"
*Whoosh!* Just as the two were caught up in their sentimentality, a violent gust of wind suddenly blew outside. The windows rattled with a thunderous *bang-bang-bang!* An eerie, cold wind rushed in, instantly blowing out every candle in the room.
Zhang Yuan and Qin Yanran clung to each other, looking around in fearful uncertainty. In the midst of the darkness, a shrill, feminine voice rang out.
"My husband~"
"Does our time together end here, then…"
As the voice faded, a beam of moonlight suddenly shone through the window. Zhang Yuan stared ahead in terror; the moonlight was shining directly onto a ghastly white face!
A pale woman's face! Right in front of Zhang Yuan!
"Ahh!"
Zhang Yuan screamed in fright. As the moonlight shifted, a pair of ice-cold, small hands suddenly landed on his back. Sharp nails instantly tore through his robes and pierced his skin.
"Husband!"
The woman shrieked, her voice agonizingly shrill. "I died so miserably! So miserably!"
Terrified, Zhang Yuan only held Qin Yanran tighter. Even though he was scared out of his wits, he still tried to argue for his own sake. "Yaoniang! Yaoniang! You were destined to die anyway; it was me, it was me who saved you! If not, you would have long since… I only—I only borrowed your heart!"
The female ghost let out a fierce howl of rage. "Husband, how cruel your heart is! You did this for Qin Yanran, didn't you! Qin Yanran! Give me back my life! Give me back my life!"
*Splat!* Suddenly, something warm and liquid splashed onto Qin Yanran’s face. She trembled violently, instinctively raising a hand to wipe it away. She looked at her hand—it was bright red! Blindingly red!
The next moment, as the moonlight shone into the room again, the head of a long-haired figure suddenly rolled off its body!
The head rolled and rolled, coming to a stop right at Qin Yanran’s feet!
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Witnessing such a gruesome scene, Qin Yanran fainted dead away from terror. Zhang Yuan managed to hold on, but as he turned his head and locked eyes with a pair of pitch-black pupils, he heard the woman say: "Husband, it hurts, it hurts so much! Where is my heart? Where is my heart?"
"It is…"
The pitch-black pupils suddenly turned milky white. Beneath the black hair, the pale face revealed bright red lips, grinning hideously. "Inside you!"
"Give it back to me! Give it back!!!"
Zhang Yuan could hold on no longer; he rolled his eyes back and collapsed into unconsciousness.
The room fell into silence. Aside from the corpse that continued to ooze blood, there was only the silent female ghost.
Lingxiao stood straight. She looked at the man and woman who were still clinging to each other even in their faint. She sneered, then her long fingernails dug into Zhang Yuan’s face with a *splat!*
She forced herself to restrain the urge to strangle them both, but her nails were stained with Zhang Yuan’s blood, making them dirty. She wiped the blood off onto Zhang Yuan’s clothes in a measured, deliberate manner.
If not for the constraint of the karmic energy that bound her, she would have killed everyone in this courtyard!
What a pity…
After killing the guards who were watching over her heart, Lingxiao opened the wooden crate and saw the small gold-inlaid jade box inside.
Inside that box was her heart.
Holding her own heart, Lingxiao felt a sense of peace. She did not linger at the Zhang Mansion but left the Capital and headed south.
Step by step, without much thought, she walked to the place where she had first met her benefactor.
From there, she could see the highest mountain and the most beautiful cliff in the Capital.
She scrambled up in a few quick movements and, to her surprise, found a trumpet creeper tree on the cliff’s edge.
The moonlight bathed the tree, illuminating the blossoms of the Lingxiao flowers.
Even without a heart, she felt a surge of warmth in her mind and a tingling sensation across her skin. She knelt gently beside the tree and dug a hole with her hands.
She wiped the box clean and spoke softly, "Benefactor, you saved me twice."
She would never forget the kindness of those two occasions.
She buried the gold-inlaid jade box with the utmost care. "I will surely repay your kindness. Your grievances and my hatred both stem from that demon. I will find it, kill it, and allow you to return to the fate that was meant for you."
"You deserve to live in the light; you should not have to endure such suffering."
"I have yet to find the demon that stole our destiny, but I will do my utmost to protect you and set this upside-down world to rights."
As her heart went into the soil, Lingxiao pressed the earth down firmly, closing her eyes to mourn for the dead Song Xiyan.
"There is a long road ahead, Song Xiyan. I will avenge you, one step at a time."
Opening her eyes again, she turned to look at the prosperous Capital. Within the city stood a towering pavilion—the headquarters of the world's most powerful assassin and intelligence organization.
It was called Yanyu Pavilion.
Lingxiao feared neither life nor death. Having crawled out of the Underworld, she sought only to claim lives at every turn.
They said that Yanyu Pavilion harbored ten great evil ghosts, each a master of martial arts, each a cold-blooded killer.
Some said the power behind Yanyu Pavilion was a high-ranking official, serving as nothing more than a blade for the imperial court.
Since she had already served as a blade for the King of the Underworld, acting as a blade for someone else was of no consequence to Lingxiao.
Lingxiao would serve as a blade for anyone, but if she were to ever serve as a shield, it would be for Xiao Wuji alone.