Chapter 3: Perishing in the Sea of Fire

The Mu residence's woodshed was extremely simple, a standalone small hut used for storing miscellaneous items, where people rarely appeared.

Lan Xi went to the woodshed alone. Liu Yun lay sprawled on the ground, covered in blood; the blood from her lower body continued to flow incessantly. Her face was so pale it was nearly transparent, and her entire countenance was twisted in agony.

"Why... why do you do this to me?" She didn't actually know who had entered; she merely murmured to herself, her fragmented voice laced with thick resentment.

"What is Sister asking about? Is it your beloved man, or Sister's position as the legitimate daughter, hmm?" Lan Xi moved with graceful, light steps and squatted beside Liu Yun. Looking at her wretched state, she actually let out a soft laugh. "Sister wouldn't truly be naive enough to think that my mother and I were actually good to you, would you? If that were the case, then your younger sister would truly admire you to the heavens."

"Why..." She could not see clearly who was before her, and waves of dizziness struck her. Relying on her last breath, she wanted to demand an answer.

Lan Xi gave a soft laugh, a smile so gentle and shy that no one would ever guess that the Second Miss of the Mu residence—the gentlest, most water-like Second Miss—was actually a woman as poisonous as a scorpion. She pulled a sachet from her sleeve and tossed it in front of Liu Yun. "Sister, Yi told me to return this to you. He said that a filthy woman like you is not worthy of marrying into the Shen residence."

"Not worthy?" Liu Yun couldn't help but raise her voice. Her whole body felt as if it were breaking apart from the pain, yet she let out a cold laugh as if she felt nothing. "I was blind to believe him; I actually believed he treated me with sincerity."

"Sister doesn't know yet, does she? Father has already agreed to let me marry Yi in your place. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you—your younger sister is already carrying Yi's child. This truly is a double blessing."

She deliberately spoke the last four words one by one. Watching Liu Yun's complexion change drastically, she couldn't help but chuckle again. "Sister, you didn't expect it, did you? That man you pine for day and night has actually been having a secret affair with your younger sister for a long time. Do you know what he said to me? He said that only by imagining you as me can he find a way to hold you in his arms. Mu Liuyun, from beginning to end, you were nothing more than my substitute."

"A substitute..." So that was it? Liu Yun suddenly understood a little. Why Yi would close his eyes every time he kissed her, why he would look elsewhere every time he spoke to her—it was because all the sweet words were fake.

"Originally, I wanted him to come and tell you personally. However, he said he doesn't even want to look at you. A woman like you only makes him feel disgusted." After a burst of bell-like laughter, she lowered her voice to whisper in her ear, "Do you know why he is so heartless? Because I told him that the child in your womb isn't his at all."

Liu Yun's pupils suddenly constricted. Her entire body began to shake with rage. As she opened her mouth, a spray of blood erupted. She clutched her lower abdomen, curling her body in pain, trembling uncontrollably.

"Lan Xi, you will face retribution." Every word from Liu Yun was soaked in blood, as crimson flowed out profusely. She stared fixedly at her. "You will definitely face retribution."

"Is that so? I'll wait and see." With a tilt of her brow, the cold light vanished, and she returned to her usual appearance of lowered eyes and gentle demeanor. She turned to walk away, leaving behind a perplexing sentence: "I truly look forward to it."

Look forward to what? Liu Yun no longer had the heart to ask. She only felt a bone-chilling cold spreading through her. As the pain expanded, she bit her lip hard to keep herself from screaming. Master Mu had ordered that no one was allowed to apply medicine to her until she revealed the identity of her lover.

It wasn't until nightfall that she finally understood Lan Xi's meaning. When she saw the raging flames dancing wildly with the wind, setting the entire woodshed ablaze, she suddenly realized—they actually wanted her dead.

What they had always wanted was her life.

Liu Yun struggled to prop herself up, fighting to crawl outward. A camphor wood rack collapsed, crushing her body, and she felt a piercing, heart-wrenching pain.

"Help... help..." She covered her mouth and coughed violently. Her legs were likely broken. She struggled to lift her head to cry for help. The searing heat at her feet almost made her scream; her entire body shook uncontrollably.

There were people outside the door. She excitedly raised her hand, but froze under that person's icy gaze.

Dressed in plain green robes, he stood tall and elegant, his sleeves fluttering in the evening breeze. Between his brows flickered the sharp, ruthless intensity of a conqueror. He merely stared at her fixedly—staring at her wretchedness and humiliation, at her powerless struggling and pain—yet, he stood by with folded arms.

A woman stood beside him, beautiful of countenance with flowing robes. The woman leaned against him, a sweet smile playing on her lips, but her gaze was cast toward Liu Yun, as if she were flaunting something.

"Yi..." She couldn't help but call out to him. The moonlight spilled over him, making him exceptionally striking. Amidst his wind-swept hair was a complex emotion, yet he watched her expressionlessly.

As their eyes met, all past affection surfaced in her heart, bringing a journey of grief and indignation. However, no matter how much resentment there was, it only turned into a sigh.

She understood his indifference. In this instant, she suddenly became lucid. All that love, all those sweet words, were likely prepared for this very day. His utmost care, his deep affection—all passed by like passing clouds.

He watched her struggling and crying in the sea of fire; he watched her cry out to him with hope; and he also watched the hope in her eyes shatter into despair. No one saw how tightly his hands were clenched inside his sleeves; no one knew the turbulent waves beneath his calm exterior.

Finally, a pillar collapsed. She was pinned beneath a burning, red-hot pillar, her body covered in wounds. The searing heat on her face made her cry out in a low, lost voice once more. She tremblingly touched her cheek; her once beautiful face was long gone, leaving only a pair of bright, dark eyes on a face scorched into a bloody mess.

She suddenly began to laugh. The laughter was eerie and terrifying, as if it could pass through walls. With each laugh growing louder, she felt that everything was so ridiculous, like a joke, and she was the biggest joke of all.

She hated her inability to see people clearly; she hated her foolish and naive self; and she hated those who were single-mindedly intent on driving her to her death. She clenched her fists tightly, watching that man's coldness and heartlessness through the firelight, watching the silent "I won" on the lips of the woman beside him, watching how well-matched they looked together. She swore in her heart that if there were a next life, she would never die so unclearly, she would never fall in love, and she would never allow herself to fall into such a wretched and painful state. Those who harmed her, she would never forgive.

In the end, that desolate laughter stopped abruptly, like a snapped string.

The tongues of fire finally swallowed the entire woodshed. As for Shen Yi, he had stood not far away, watching the door of the woodshed from beginning to end. The cold hatred in Liu Yun's eyes pierced his heart painfully. Only after the woman beside him smiled at him did he slightly loosen his grip and leave with her indifferently.

No one knew if this composed man had ever loved Liu Yun, and no one knew what he was truly thinking. Not only did Liu Yun not know, but even Lan Xi beside him did not know.

Reaching a corner, he cast an imperceptible glance at the woodshed that had turned to ash, let out a faint, almost non-existent sigh, and then walked away.

Only after everyone had walked far away did a man in white land gracefully. As his gaze met the woman lying on the ground, his breath suddenly hitched, and his face turned as pale as paper. After a long time, he spoke with a bitter smile, "Is this the happiness you pursue?"

The man in white carefully gathered Liu Yun into his arms, his movements as gentle as if he were cradling a rare treasure, and murmured almost inaudibly, "I will take you away."

With a flash of his figure, that white silhouette vanished like a ghost, as if he had never appeared at all.

The girl who should have been lying on the ground, burned to charcoal, also vanished without a trace.

However, it was likely that no one would care anyway.