Qingxue's POV - Three Weeks Earlier (Flashback to Before Yuyan's Return)
The sleeping poison worked perfectly.
Xiao Chen lay motionless in our marriage bed, his breathing deep and steady. I'd slipped the drug into his evening tea—a special blend from my demon cultivator contacts. Undetectable. Tasteless. Effective.
"Sweet dreams, Husband," I whispered mockingly.
I pulled out the curse needle from my hidden pouch. Black metal. Carved with ancient demon runes. It cost me three innocent lives to create—their blood fueled the curse's power.
My hands trembled slightly. Not from fear. From EXCITEMENT.
This curse would slowly drain Xiao Chen's cultivation and feed it directly to me. Over the course of two years, I'd absorb his entire power base—decades of training, gone. And he'd never know why he was getting weaker until it was far too late.
"You thought you were so clever," I hissed at his sleeping form. "Marrying me for political power. Using me like a tool. Well, guess what? I'm using YOU."
I positioned the curse needle over his heart. "This is specifically designed to need phoenix flames to break. And the only phoenix user I know about? My dear dead sister Yuyan." I laughed quietly. "Who's definitely not coming back from being thrown off a mountain. So you're MINE now. Forever."
I drove the needle into his chest.
Xiao Chen gasped in his sleep but didn't wake. The curse mark spread across his skin like black veins, then faded into invisibility. Perfect.
Over the next two years, his cultivation would drain into mine, bit by bit. He'd think it was stress. Overwork. The aftermath of battles. By the time he realized something was seriously wrong, I'd be twice as powerful as him.
Then I'd kill him. Make it look like a demon cultivator attack. Take control of Heavenly Sword Sect as the "grieving widow." Find a new husband—someone BETTER than this emotionally damaged fool who couldn't stop pining for a dead girl.
"Thank you for your service, Xiao Chen," I said sweetly, patting his cheek. "You'll make an excellent power source."
I slipped out of the room, smiling wickedly.
Everything was going according to plan.
Except—
Except that was THREE WEEKS AGO.
Before Yuyan came back from the dead.
Before everything fell apart.
Qingxue's POV - Present Day, Hiding in Demon Cultivator Base
"We need to kill her FAST."
I paced the dark underground chamber, my mind racing. Around me, five demon cultivators watched nervously. They were all that remained of Father's organization after Ji Mingyu's purge.
"Lady Qingxue," one ventured carefully, "perhaps we should flee to the Western Territories? Regroup? Your sister is too powerful right now—"
"My sister is a THREAT that needs to be ELIMINATED!" I slammed my fist on the table. "Don't you understand? She's already ruined everything! Ji Mingyu arrested Father—he's DEAD now. My cover is blown. The sects know I'm a blood cultivator. And Yuyan is being called a HERO for saving Xiao Chen!"
"But if we attack her directly—"
"We won't." I forced myself to calm down and think. "We'll attack what she CARES about."
The demon cultivators exchanged glances. "What does she care about?"
I smiled slowly. "Xiao Chen. She came back to destroy him, remember? Which means she's still EMOTIONALLY INVESTED." I started pacing again. "If I can't kill her directly, I'll kill him. The curse I planted is already working—his cultivation is draining slowly. I just need to speed it up."
"How?"
"There's a technique." I pulled out a forbidden scroll. "A blood ritual that can activate the curse early. Instead of two years, it'll drain him completely in two WEEKS. He'll be dead, and Yuyan will lose her revenge target."
"Won't that make her angrier?"
"Of course it will. But it'll also hurt her." I smiled viciously. "She saved him. Healed him. Protected the sect. If he dies anyway, she'll feel like she FAILED. That pain will destroy her more than any physical attack."
One of the cultivators cleared his throat. "Lady Qingxue, there's something you should know. We received reports that Demon Lord Yan Xiu is personally protecting your sister. If we attack anything related to her—"
"Then we make sure she doesn't know it's us." I unrolled the scroll. "This ritual can be performed from a distance. I just need something of Xiao Chen's—hair, blood, a personal item. And I need to do it during the new moon, which is in three days."
"How will we get something of his? Heavenly Sword Sect is on high alert."
I thought for a moment, then smiled. "I still have his hair. From our wedding night. I kept it for... sentimental reasons." Actually, I'd kept it for potential curse work, but they didn't need to know that.
"Then the plan is set?"
"Three days. New moon. I activate the curse early, and Xiao Chen dies slowly and painfully." I rolled up the scroll. "Yuyan will watch her revenge target slip away, and there's nothing she can do about it. Perfect."
The demon cultivators bowed. "As you command, Lady Qingxue."
As they left to prepare, I stared at the forbidden scroll and felt a twinge of something almost like regret.
Once upon a time, I'd just wanted to be better than Yuyan. To be loved more. Chosen first.
Now I was plotting murder and torture.
When did I become this person? a quiet voice asked in my head.
I crushed that voice immediately. Weakness. Sentiment. These were luxuries I couldn't afford.
"You made me this way, Sister," I whispered to the darkness. "By surviving. By becoming powerful. By RUINING EVERYTHING."
In three days, Xiao Chen would start dying.
And Yuyan would finally understand what it felt like to lose.
Lin Yuyan's POV - Three Days Later, Demon Territory
I woke up screaming.
"Yuyan!" Yan Xiu burst into my room, flames ready. "What's wrong?"
"Something's happening." I pressed my hand to my chest where my phoenix mark burned. "Something BAD. I can feel it through the healing connection."
"Healing connection?"
"When I saved Xiao Chen, I poured a LOT of my phoenix energy into him. It created a temporary bond—I can sense his life force." I stumbled out of bed, my legs shaking. "And right now, his life force is FADING. Fast."
Yan Xiu's expression darkened. "The curse."
"What curse?"
"I sensed dark energy in him when you healed him. Soul-draining curse. I didn't mention it because I thought you'd want him to suffer." He caught my arm as I swayed. "Yuyan, whoever cursed him designed it to work slowly. If it's suddenly accelerating—"
"Then someone activated it." Horror filled me. "Qingxue. It has to be her. She cursed him."
"Probably during their marriage. Smart. Cruel. Very demon cultivator style."
"How long does he have?"
Yan Xiu closed his eyes, sensing. "At this rate? Maybe two weeks. Less if the curse speeds up more."
"Can we break it?"
"Phoenix flames can break any curse. But you'd need to get to him, and Heavenly Sword Sect won't just let you waltz in after you threatened to destroy him."
I was already grabbing my jade mask. "I don't care. I'm going."
"Why?" Yan Xiu blocked my path. "You WANTED revenge. Now Qingxue is doing it for you. Xiao Chen dies, you don't get blood on your hands, everyone wins."
"No." I met his red eyes. "This isn't revenge. This is MURDER. And I'm not a murderer."
"You're also not his savior."
"Maybe not. But I'm the only one who can save him." I pushed past Yan Xiu. "I spent three years training to face him myself. To make him answer for what he did. I'm not letting Qingxue ROB me of that closure by killing him first."
"That's the only reason?"
I hesitated. "That's... the main reason."
Yan Xiu sighed. "You're lying to yourself, little phoenix. But fine. I'll take you to Heavenly Sword Sect. Try not to do anything stupid like forgive him."
"Never," I said firmly.
But as we flew through the night sky, phoenix flames lighting our path, I felt the healing connection pulling at my heart.
Xiao Chen was dying.
And for some reason I didn't want to examine too closely, that thought made my chest hurt worse than anything Qingxue had ever done to me.
Xiao Chen's POV - Same Night
I couldn't breathe.
Ji Mingyu found me collapsed in my study, black veins spreading across my skin like poison.
"Sect Master! What's happening?"
"Curse..." I gasped. "Qingxue... planted curse..."
"When? How?" Ji Mingyu frantically tried to channel healing energy into me, but it didn't work. Nothing worked.
"Don't know... getting worse..." My cultivation core felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside. "Ji Mingyu... if I die..."
"You're NOT dying. I won't let you—"
Thunder crashed outside. Phoenix fire lit up the night sky.
Through my fading vision, I saw her.
Yuyan.
Standing in my doorway, jade mask in place, power radiating from every pore.
"You," she said coldly. "You're dying faster than I expected."
"Yuyan..." I reached toward her weakly. "I'm... sorry..."
"Save your breath. You'll need it." She knelt beside me, her hands already glowing with golden light. "I'm only saving you because I want to destroy you MYSELF. Not because I care."
"Understood..."
As her healing flames poured into me, burning away the curse's poison, I saw tears slip from beneath her mask.
She was lying.
She DID care.
And that realization hurt worse than any curse.
"Don't you DARE die, Xiao Chen," she whispered fiercely. "Not until I'm done making you pay."
The curse broke with a flash of golden fire.
I gasped, air flooding my lungs.
But Yuyan collapsed, unconscious—breaking that curse had drained her completely.
I caught her before she hit the ground.
For the first time in months, I held her in my arms.
And realized I'd rather die than let her go again.