The white fox stood at the window looking in.

The woman was completely naked, trembling as she supported herself against the wall to stand up from the floor. Through the gauze curtains, one could vaguely see the blood and unspeakable wounds on her body.

She had her back to Ling Luo’s line of sight, so it was impossible to know what expression Zuo Bai True Lord wore at this moment. But after such humiliation, most people would feel despair and anger.

“Young Mistress.” The maids draped clothes over her and helped her up from the floor. “What… what should we do? Should we call for a doctor?”

Another maid said urgently: “Hurry, go quickly!”

“But the Young Master didn’t…”

“Can’t you see what state the Young Mistress is in?”

Zuo Bai True Lord wrapped her clothes around herself and said softly: “No need to call a doctor. Just help me prepare some hot water for a bath.”

Her voice was as gentle as her person.

The maid hurriedly said: “Yes, I’ll go right away.”

Qin Yuan angrily said: “How dare the Zhao family treat Zuo Bai True Lord like this! No matter what, she is still…”

But she stopped, feeling something wasn’t right.

How could a cultivator of Zuo Bai True Lord’s level be injured like this by a mortal?

“Who is Zuo Bai True Lord?”

Jiang Jun still didn’t quite understand the current situation.

As Qin Yuan was explaining what an extraordinary figure she was, Ling Luo returned and jumped onto Yue Liangze’s shoulder, saying: “She probably had her spirit veins destroyed. There are marks on her wrists from spirit vein extraction.”

For cultivators, regardless of strength, their foundation lay in their spirit veins. With spirit veins destroyed, one becomes an ordinary person without spiritual energy. No matter how many techniques, curse rituals, or phenomena you have in your mind, you can’t use them.

“How is that possible?” Qin Yuan asked in shock. “Who could destroy her spirit veins? Isn’t she a sword cultivator from Nanshan Xuehe? How could such a powerful sect…”

Turn a blind eye?

“When they got married, there were even gift boxes sent from Nanshan Xuehe,” Jiang Jun said. “I saw the servants receiving them. The gift-bearer was a man about the same age as the Young Master, wearing Xuehe sect robes. He had quite a distinctive demeanor.”

“So that means… Nanshan Xuehe knew?” Qin Yuan couldn’t believe it.

“Xuehe must have abandoned her for her to end up like this,” Jiang Jun frowned as he looked in the direction where Gan Mao had gone. They were no longer free to move around as they had been during the wedding ceremony but were now confined near Zuo Bai True Lord by a restriction.

“After hearing what you’ve said, I recall some things as well. Decades ago, Xuehe had an extremely powerful female sword cultivator, so powerful that people speculated the next sect leader would break tradition and pass the position to her. But later, news of this female sword cultivator suddenly disappeared. Some said she colluded with demons, others said she willingly fell from grace and abandoned cultivation, and still others said she lived in marital bliss with children and withdrew from worldly affairs.”

“Marital bliss?” Mu Xujing sneered.

Jiang Jun glanced at him. “That’s what others said.”

Watching the maids carry hot water into the room, Qin Yuan still felt perplexed: “How could Xuehe abandon her?”

Jiang Jun said: “It’s simple. A major sect like Xuehe wouldn’t abandon their disciple without reason, especially one as formidable as this sword cultivator. Consider her destroyed spirit veins and Xuehe’s attitude—her spirit veins were likely destroyed by her sect. The internal struggles in major immortal sects are not few. Perhaps this Zuo Bai True Lord stood on the wrong side.”

Mu Xujing: “You’re also from a major immortal sect.”

Jiang Jun felt he was being targeted, so after a brief silence, he raised an eyebrow and looked over to ask: “Why isn’t your mother here?”

Mu Xujing: “…”

The atmosphere suddenly turned strange.

Everyone present knew who Mu Xujing’s mother was. The relationship between this stepmother and stepson was often the subject of others’ discussions.

Mu Xujing said coldly: “She has no control over me.”

“Is that so? If your mother has no control, then I, your uncle, have even less,” Jiang Jun smiled.

He looked at Mu Xujing with a smile, but his expression concealed mockery: “But why don’t you know even the Moon Curse technique? How will you become the leader of the Moon Palace in the future?”

Mu Xujing: “I don’t know it. It would be strange if you did.”

Jiang Jun snorted but didn’t provoke him further.

Ling Luo knew that the Bone Demon had come to Shunyi Town looking for Zuo Bai True Lord’s remains. She also knew that Zuo Bai had once been married and lived poorly, but these were all things she had heard—she had never witnessed them firsthand.

Seeing the wounds on Zuo Bai True Lord’s body now, she realized that others’ descriptions didn’t capture even half the reality.

While Zuo Bai True Lord was bathing inside, the two maids standing guard outside the door wore complex expressions.

“Wasn’t she supposed to be a famous True Lord from an immortal sect? How could she end up in such a state at the Young Master’s hands?”

“Shh, lower your voice. I’ve seen wounds like those on the True Lord’s hands before… The Young Mistress seems to have lost her spiritual energy. She’s a cripple now.”

“Wh-what?”

“Otherwise, how could someone like her marry the Young Master?”

“This is really… Sigh, I originally thought that after meeting the Young Mistress and serving her well, I could ask her to use her art to heal my brother’s illness. But now she’s become a cripple, and there’s no chance at all.”

“…”

It took Zuo Bai True Lord a long time to emerge from the inner room. Properly dressed, with a plain face, she went to the main hall to see Mr. and Mrs. Zhao.

At the breakfast table, Mrs. Zhao smiled and invited her to sit by her side.

Zhao Lang said discontentedly: “How can you come out without putting on some rouge? Look at your face, tsk, appearing with a bare face—what does that look like? You cultivators only know how to learn those messy sword techniques, not how to make yourselves presentable?”

Zuo Bai True Lord remained silent.

With one eye white and one black, she looked somewhat frightening at first glance. Zhao Lang looked up at her face and said: “How unlucky. I’ve lost my appetite!”

“You scoundrel! How can you talk like that!” Mr. Zhao angrily slammed the table. “Come back and sit down properly!”

But Zhao Lang wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. “Father, look at her. We just had our wedding, and she gets up without saying a word to me, not even calling me ‘husband.’ She’s the scoundrel! I think she feels we’re not good enough for her, putting on airs as a cultivator, looking down on us. Otherwise, why wouldn’t she call me ‘husband’?”

“This is too shameless!” Qin Yuan couldn’t bear it any longer and wanted to step forward to beat him but was held back by Jiang Jun.

Gan Mao, who had been crying earlier, now erupted in cursing: Fuck! Using my face to say these despicable things, I want to vomit! Junju, don’t stop her, let her come and kill this bastard!

As father and son argued, Mrs. Zhao rose to mediate: “Stop fighting. What does this look like? We’re all one family, one family.”

Mrs. Zhao wasn’t in good health. After standing to intervene for just a moment, she felt dizzy and held her forehead. Mr. Zhao hurriedly supported her and angrily said: “You unfilial son! Look what you’ve done to your mother!”

Zhao Lang tugged at the corner of his mouth and pointed at Zuo Bai: “She’s the one making her ill! Look at how she just sits there saying nothing while we argue! She’s probably laughing at us in her heart! Father, I tell you, this person is just used to being a high and mighty cultivator, looking down on us mortals. Usually—”

Before he could finish, Zuo Bai softly said: “Husband.”

Zhao Lang was first stunned, then broke into a grin so wide that tears almost came to his eyes.

“Call me again?” he said.

Zuo Bai pressed her lips together, glanced at Mrs. Zhao who was about to faint, and said quietly: “Husband, come sit down and eat.”

“Alright, alright, since my wife has spoken, of course I’ll eat,” Zhao Lang returned to his seat, looking at her with derision. “Why don’t you feed me yourself, wife?”

Zuo Bai’s expression remained calm. She hid all her emotions, showing only a gentle façade as she picked up the bowl and fed him one spoonful at a time.

Gan Mao was furious: This is my face! My body! You’re disgracing my Gan family’s honor! You’re dead. Once this Young Master gets out, I’ll dig up your ancestral graves and scatter the ashes!

The entire Shunyi Town knew that the Zhao family had married a female Dao Lord.

This female Dao Lord was a very powerful sword cultivator from a major immortal sect. People gossiped enthusiastically about her past. The next day, many people came to catch a glimpse of the True Lord’s elegance or brought gifts with requests.

Mr. Zhao had the servants block them from entering, but Zhao Lang opened the door and let them all in, declaring: “My wife is a famous Dao Lord. There is no problem in the world she cannot solve. She is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see people suffer. You can all ask her for help. She will agree to anything.”

The devout and opportunistic people came to the courtyard where Zuo Bai lived. A maid hurriedly ran to inform her of the reason.

Zuo Bai remained silent, then personally came out. In front of everyone, she extended her wrist, revealing the scar and explaining: “My spirit veins have been destroyed. I am now just a weak ordinary person. I apologize for disappointing you all.”

The expressions on everyone’s faces were quite remarkable.

At first, many people had envied and been jealous of the Zhao family for marrying a Dao Lord. The next day, they learned this Dao Lord was a cripple. Behind their backs, people found this extremely amusing and often joked about it during meals.

“I’ve seen Dao Lords before. Which one wasn’t graceful and beautiful? Yet the one the Zhao family married is, compared to other Dao Lords I’ve seen, simply unbearable to look at.”

“Not only is she ugly, but she’s also blind in one eye!”

“Sigh, she was already not good-looking, and with one blind eye, at least she used to be powerful and glorious. Now she’s become a cripple. It’s quite a spectacle.”

“What’s so special about being a cultivator? Without spirit veins, aren’t they just like us? Who’s more noble than whom!”

Zuo Bai never left the house, basically staying within the Zhao family courtyard. She was injured and would need ten days to half a month to recover. However, she would rarely have time to heal before being violated by Zhao Lang again, leaving her with a constant mix of old and new wounds.

Physical torture wasn’t enough; Zhao Lang would deliberately tell her how people outside were talking about her.

Qin Yuan was watching all this and was about to go crazy with anger. Jiang Jun held her back again and said: “This person is going too far. It doesn’t seem like simple cruelty of character but more like he has a grudge against Zuo Bai True Lord.”

“A grudge? What grudge? Killing his entire family, breaking his tendons and bones, and grinding his bones to dust wouldn’t be too much!” Qin Yuan raged.

Jiang Jun smiled wryly. You’re quite fierce for a young girl.

Qin Yuan looked around at her companions and asked: “Why am I the only one reacting so strongly? Don’t you all feel angry watching this?!”

The white fox, again held down in Yue Liangze’s arms, could only raise a paw and say: “I’m very angry.”

Yue Liangze swore he was only holding her down to avoid being bitten by an angry fox.

Jiang Jun said: “Although I’m also very displeased, getting angry is useless. Think carefully—all these people died later. Just calm down.”

With her spirit veins forcibly stripped away, her body was extremely weak. Although Zuo Bai resisted, her strength was far from enough.

That night, Zhao Lang had been drinking. Outside, rain was falling. The night’s rain curtain mixed with the lamplight made the courtyard appear particularly desolate.

Zuo Bai wore an outer robe, sitting under the eaves and listening to the rain.

Zhao Lang, reeking of alcohol, held a dagger in his hand. Walking behind Zuo Bai, he said: “Today is Yudi’s death anniversary. I was supposed to marry her, but you said she was a demon and made my parents drive her away.”

Qin Yuan paused when she heard this.

“She was very timid, especially afraid of people. When speaking to others, she would always stutter and could only hide behind me, watching silently. She was so gentle and had never harmed anyone, yet you insisted on killing her.”

Zuo Bai said softly: “She killed people.”

“Shut up!” Zhao Lang grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to look at him. Only one bright black eye reflected the man’s ferocious face. “I don’t care if she killed or not. I’ve seen through you cultivators! What does it matter if she was a demon? She never harmed me! Never hurt me!”

Zuo Bai said: “She never harmed you, so it’s acceptable for her to harm others?”

“Yudi never killed anyone!” Zhao Lang shouted angrily. “You accused her without distinguishing right from wrong, gave her no chance at all, and killed her directly!”

Zuo Bai was gripped by the neck, struggling to breathe. The incense burner she held fell to the floor with a dull thud.

“Today is her death anniversary. I should bring her some offerings,” Zhao Lang said, raising the dagger in his hand and sneering. “Your blind eye will be compensation for her.”

Zuo Bai extended a hand to block it but was pushed aside. Qin Yuan and Gan Mao both shouted for him to stop, but Zhao Lang’s hand fell with the knife, digging out the white eyeball.

The night rain grew heavier. The woman who had fallen to the floor trembled as she tried to stand but couldn’t walk steadily. She tumbled down the stone steps into the courtyard, rain soaking her entire body, washing away the blood and filth.

Zuo Bai’s expression was blank. She slowly raised her hand to cover her gouged left eye, the gray mist in her remaining eye reflecting the somber sky.

“I killed demons and saved people. Where did I go wrong?”

Zuo Bai True Lord, with her supreme sword path cultivation, had developed a heart demon.

The heart demon stood on the rainy night, looking down at her with a cold expression. In its hand was the sword that had accompanied her since she was fifteen, for a full ten years, but which she had ruthlessly abandoned. The sword cried out repeatedly, full of resentment.

“You did nothing wrong,” the heart demon said. “You wanted to save everyone, but not everyone deserves your salvation.”

No!

Everyone deserves it!

Zuo Bai abhorred demons, and developing her heart demon was even harder to accept than Zhao Lang’s abuse.

She tried hard to extinguish the heart demon’s existence, but this was discovered by the demon realm. At first, only two or three spirit demons stood on the window mocking her, but gradually more and more came.

More and more.

And the demons that came were of increasingly higher ranks.

While the mortal world had forgotten her, the demon realm spread her deeds far and wide.

“Zuo Bai, weren’t you quite imposing when you killed my kin with your Fangtian Sword Technique? How is it that now you can’t even lift a sword?” The Demon Lord stood in the void with a group of spirit demons, his expression disdainful as he looked down on Zuo Bai being abused by Zhao Lang. “Pathetic, truly pathetic.”

For such a cripple, the Demon Lord didn’t even have the desire to torment her.

Zuo Bai continued to suppress her heart demon.

In the first year, Zhao Lang took one of her eyes. In the second year, he cut off one of her fingers.

In the third year, strange occurrences became common in Shunyi Town. People said it was the work of demons.

Mrs. Zhao was seriously ill and showed no signs of improvement.

Shunyi Town did indeed have a few minor demons that scared people at night. These incidents were exaggerated and described as ferocious, bloodthirsty major demons. Everyone was fearful. Even when chickens were carried off by predators from the mountains, people said it was the work of demons.

There were many such claims. As these few minor demons became increasingly unrestrained, people gradually believed this was revenge for the demons that Zuo Bai had killed in the past.

“She killed so many demons, and now that she’s a cripple, those demons must be seeking revenge on her!”

“How unlucky! It’s all because she married into this town, causing us to suffer along with her!”

“I’m going to the Zhao house tonight to make that woman pay for my lost chickens!”

“Me too! My sheep suddenly fell ill. It must be her fault as well!”

People rushed to the Zhao house to make trouble. Mr. Zhao was furious. Zhao Lang only watched coldly and even said: “What kind of explanation do you want? Kill her to ease your anger?”

The people were frightened by his direct words and hurriedly said: “It’s not that serious. We just want her to tell those demons that a debt has its debtor—if they want revenge, they should find her and not take it out on us.”

Zhao Lang was disdainful, calling them a bunch of cowards.

Zhao Lang’s attitude made the townspeople very dissatisfied. That night, a small child encountered a ghost and was frightened to death.

The family was devastated. The child’s father came to Zhao’s house with a knife, charging into Zuo Bai’s courtyard shouting: “I want to kill this woman to avenge my son! All this trouble was brought by you! It’s all your fault!”

The maids retreated in fear, and no one protected her. Zuo Bai stood still, her body growing weaker; even if she wanted to run, she couldn’t outrun him.

So she was kicked to the ground, and the long knife cut her face and shoulder. The room was flowing with blood.

The maids screamed and ran away, shouting that someone was killing the Young Mistress, calling for help.

But when Mr. Zhao arrived with the people, they found the knife-wielding man dead in the courtyard, while the blood-covered Zuo Bai stood at the doorway, holding the knife the man had brought.

Mr. Zhao fainted from shock.

Immediately, rumors spread throughout the town that Zuo Bai had gone mad or been possessed by demons. Within a day, the woman who had lost both her son and husband couldn’t accept it and committed suicide at home.

This seemed to ignite everyone’s anger.

They surrounded the Zhao house, demanding that they hand over the demon-possessed Zuo Bai to be killed to exorcise the evil.

Zhao Lang opened the door and pushed out the bound Zuo Bai to them: “Kill her or torture her as you wish, just don’t make noise here disturbing my mother’s recovery.”

Pushed out, Zuo Bai was covered in blood, her face obscured by the red color, making it hard to see clearly.

She seemed to struggle to open her mouth but was struck hard on the head with a stone.

A woman cried out: “It was you who killed my second brother and caused my sister-in-law to commit suicide! You are the demon, the evil ghost! Die!”

The crowd attacked her together, punching, kicking, or beating her with clubs and swords.

Mortal ignorance—perhaps this wasn’t wrong, but to commit such crazed acts because of it was a grave error.

What Zuo Bai saw wasn’t the hateful faces of the people but the gradually expanding black mist behind the crowd, from which emerged a figure holding a long sword.

“No… don’t…” She struggled to speak, trying to stop it, but was struck by a stone thrown by a seven-year-old boy and never woke again.

In the third year after marrying into the Zhao family, Zuo Bai True Lord left the house for the first time.

The sky was dark, and white snow fell from the void. The woman was already dead, but the frenzied people didn’t know and continued their violence.

So the black figure drew its sword, cutting off people’s heads one by one. Screams erupted as people fled in confusion and panic.

Zuo Bai was dead. She could no longer stop her heart demon.

Her heart demon stood in the void holding a long sword, surrounded by black mist. It formed a hand seal to ignite a great fire, ignoring the people kneeling and begging below. In a cold voice, it said: “Come, it’s your turn now.”

When the raging fire reached Zhao Lang, Gan Mao was finally released.

Seeing the man before him with his features twisted in pain, he angrily gave him two more kicks: “You’re worse than an animal! Die! Right now, immediately!”

“Young Master!” Jiang Jun came over to pull him away.

Qin Yuan covered her face, leaning against the wall, crying so hard she couldn’t catch her breath, using Mu Xujing’s sleeve to wipe her tears.

Yue Liangze looked calmly at the heart demon above and said softly: “No wonder the Xuehe Sect Leader could only suppress the evil ghost of Shunyi Town but couldn’t eliminate it. It turns out the one guarding this place is Zuo Bai’s heart demon.”

After they came out, Ling Luo withdrew her Fox Skin Spirit and blinked, looking at the blood-covered woman lying in front of the Zhao house door.

From the sea of fire, a black figure materialized, bending down to tenderly and reverently pick up the dead Zuo Bai.

Mu Xujing and Yue Liangze simultaneously drew their swords, pointing them at the newcomer. Qin Yuan, who had been crying bitterly, was startled. Ling Luo shielded her from behind, looking at the Bone Demon who had finally appeared.

“My Master died at the Zhao family’s doorstep decades ago, yet there wasn’t even a person to collect her body,” the Bone Demon said softly. As he picked up Zuo Bai, her flesh weathered away, leaving only a skeleton stained with blood.

“Master?” Jiang Jun and the Young Master were stunned. “She was your master?”

The Bone Demon’s face was hidden by a black cloak, making it impossible to see clearly. He only laughed and said: “My Master was good in every way, except that she was too kind. Even after death, she didn’t want her heart demon to harm people, so she left the Fangtian Sword Technique in this town. If I wanted to enter and take her body out, I had to avoid this sword intent.”

“So I borrowed your Zhen Xianyu to block the sword intent. Danshui True Lord, you don’t mind, do you?”

Yue Liangze asked: “Where is Zhen Xianyu?”

The Bone Demon didn’t answer but rose into the void to stand shoulder to shoulder with the heart demon, laughing loudly: “These people all deserve it! Even suffering for several more decades isn’t enough—a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years, tens of thousands of years! I want them to never know peace or rebirth!”

The raging fire continued to fall. The Young Master was scalded and howling. Jiang Jun pulled him along, calling up to the Bone Demon: “Do whatever you want. We have nothing to do with this. Let us out first!”

“Go that way,” Ling Luo pointed in the direction glowing with a faint blue light. “That’s the exit. Hurry while the heart demon hasn’t unleashed its power again.”

Jiang Jun grabbed the Young Master and ran.

He had no interest in the master-disciple vengeful love drama above. Gan Mao, however, kept asking as they ran: “Why didn’t his master’s disciple come when she married into the Zhao family? He didn’t come in the first year, the second year, or even the third year! It took several decades to come to collect his master’s body—what an unfilial disciple!”

Jiang Jun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this. “Is this the time to worry about that? The County Princess has been worried sick since you were kidnapped! I guaranteed with my life that I would rescue you and bring you back!”

Gan Mao hurriedly said: “Right, right, right, let’s quickly go home to see my sister! Once we’re back, I’ll call the Qilin Guards to tear down the Zhao family’s ancestral graves!”

Jiang Jun: “…”

Mu Xujing pulled the tearful Qin Yuan away. Ling Luo asked Yue Liangze, “Why aren’t you leaving yet?”

Yue Liangze looked toward the Tower of Destiny: “Zhen Xianyu is there.”

Ling Luo said unhurriedly: “Everything recorded in the Tower of Destiny is what sustains the heart demon’s existence. Because the Bone Demon used Zhen Xianyu as cover to enter the Tower of Destiny, the tower has been under attack from the Fangtian Sword Intent all along. Now it’s only operating with the support of Zhen Xianyu. If you draw your sword and leave, the Tower of Destiny will be destroyed, the heart demon will dissipate, and the people of Shunyi Town will be liberated, no longer suffering.”

Yue Liangze listened, his brow slightly furrowed, seeming hesitant.

In the void above, the Bone Demon looked at Zuo Bai’s heart demon, his gaze tender but his words full of self-reproach: “Master, I’m sorry. I came too late.”

He reached out and gently stroked the heart demon’s face: “But don’t worry, we will meet again. Believe me, Master, very soon. Those who harmed you like this—I won’t let a single one go.”

“I will destroy their spirit veins, bring them before you to repent, and then lock them together in this ghost town.”

The heart demon was expressionless, only caring about the vengeful spirits below, not sparing the Bone Demon even a glance.

The Bone Demon placed a kiss on her forehead, then left carrying Zuo Bai’s remains.

Fierce fire and white snow fell together.

As Yue Liangze was about to step forward, Ling Luo pulled his hand toward the exit.

“Don’t go,” Ling Luo said. “Didn’t you say you don’t want Zhen Xianyu? Just leave it here. Nobody can defeat Zuo Bai’s heart demon anyway, and no one can pull out Zhen Xianyu. Leaving it here is safer.”

Yue Liangze looked down at his seized wrist, remained silent for a moment, then said: “This isn’t the Fox Skin Spirit this time.”

“So what?” Ling Luo said without looking back. “I’ve changed my mind. Forget about the future—right now, I want to touch you whenever I want. If you don’t like it, draw your sword.”

Yue Liangze: “…”

She was truly brazen.

He smiled silently and allowed Ling Luo to lead him away.

Before leaving, Yue Liangze glanced at the heart demon in the void above.

Not all grievances must be appeased.