When the man and Ji Li were engaged in intimacy—that would be the time to strike. Even the most skilled martial artist would be vulnerable then.
The thought unsettled him, but he said nothing. Gripping the waterskin tightly, he crouched in silence.
"I’ll go curse him now. It might take some time. Wait for me, and no matter what, don’t come out," Ji Li had said before locking the door behind her. Her parting words filled him with hope.
"Wait for me…"
Happiness seemed so close—he just needed to endure this final wait.
And so he waited.
A day and a night passed. Ji Li didn’t return.
He didn’t dare leave, fearing that stepping out might coincide with the enemy’s arrival.
The wait grew agonizing.
Ants crawled over his feet. Hunger gnawed at him. He was parched.
It was only then that he remembered the waterskin in his hands.
Thinking back on Ji Li’s words, he found her gesture deeply considerate.
"Take some water. You can go without food, but you’ll need to drink."
Moved by her thoughtfulness, he raised the waterskin, uncorked it, and gulped down a mouthful.
“The water was tainted,” Xuan Ye couldn’t help but interject this time.
“Yes, the water was tampered with,” Chi Wang Chuan sighed deeply.
It wasn’t a deadly poison meant to kill instantly; instead, it was a dose of Soft Bone Powder, a substance that rendered him unable to move, not even able to lift an arm.
The hidden tunnel, barely a meter in height, might as well have been a bottomless abyss at that moment.
The courtyard outside was silent, locked behind three layers of gates. Even if he had screamed until his throat tore, no one would have heard him.
So, he sat in the depths of the tunnel, waiting for death, the stench of his body growing more unbearable with each passing moment.
Four days and five nights went by. The tunnel filled with ants that crawled freely, even onto his face. He thought he was already dead when, suddenly, he heard a noise above him.
The door lock clicked open, and footsteps slowly approached. He knew it was Ji Li.
She had come back.
“She came back to tell you that you were her true enemy all along, the target of her vengeance?” Half Xia’s mind wandered briefly to melodramatic revenge plots from old wuxia dramas.
Chi Wang Chuan shook his head. He raised his hand and removed the mask covering the left side of his face.
The exposed half was grotesque beyond words, the features indiscernible and shimmering with a strange silver hue.
“She returned without saying a word,” Chi Wang Chuan said, his tone chilling. “She simply poured a vat of scalding mercury down into the tunnel. Thankfully, I was sitting off to the side, so only half my face was ruined.”
Half Xia shuddered, every hair on her body standing on end. Her voice trembled as she asked, “You were already dead. Why would she pour mercury on you? What was she trying to accomplish?”
“At the time, I didn’t know. She never said a single word,” Chi Wang Chuan replied, running his fingers over the scarred half of his face. “It took me many years to piece it all together.”
“For instance, that vat of mercury was laced with cursed techniques, designed to increase the weight of a vengeful spirit, preventing its soul from rising.”
“She was meticulous. Knowing I would not rest in peace, she surrounded the tunnel’s exit with layers of warding seals, trapping my soul for an entire century.”
“For a hundred years, I wondered why she had done this. I made countless guesses, and eventually, I arrived at the truth.”
He paused, his voice breaking slightly. Even after so much time, the revelation still shook him to his core.
“What was the truth?”
Chi Wang Chuan laughed softly at Half Xia’s question, the sound hollow and bitter.
The truth was that Ji Li hadn’t lied entirely. Her clan had indeed been massacred, and the man she targeted was her true enemy.
But her ambition extended far beyond mere vengeance.
She used the Jade Pear to place a curse on her enemy, ensuring his eternal devotion. He taught her his martial arts, willed her his fortune, and, when he had nothing left to give, tore out his fingernails to perform the Jade Pear Curse, birthing a second cursed fruit.
As for the man who tore out his nails? Like Chi Wang Chuan, he was nothing but an obstacle in her path, a disposable pawn. His fate was inevitable—death.
The following year, she ensnared another man using the Jade Pear, marking him as her next prey.
“This was a chain of schemes,” Chi Wang Chuan said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Seven men tore out their nails for her, one after another.”
“And I…” He paused, his tone heavy with despair. “I was the only one who wasn’t cursed. I willingly gave her my everything.”
The room fell silent. Both Half Xia and Xuan Ye were at a loss for words.
That such malice could exist was nearly beyond comprehension.
Chi Wang Chuan continued, his voice raw and unsteady: “She lived to the age of ninety-three, basking in glory and wealth. When she passed, childless, the entire city mourned her. Over a thousand people wore white and attended her funeral procession.”
Half Xia clenched her fists, her teeth grinding audibly. “You mean to tell me that after a century, when you finally broke free, she was already dead?”
“She was long gone,” Chi Wang Chuan replied simply.
“Then why didn’t you find her reincarnation?”
Chi Wang Chuan remained silent.
It was Xuan Ye who broke the stillness. His Moonlight Blade began to glow faintly, and his voice carried an edge of menace. “You must have sought her reincarnation. And in the process, you slaughtered countless women—those whose hearts were filled with greed, just as hers was.”
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