Feng Jiu’er had endured two successive palms from Madam Butterfly and had only barely managed to pull herself back upright. Yet the blood at the corner of her lips had never stopped flowing.

She raised her hand and wiped it carelessly across her face — the back of her hand was smeared entirely with her own blood. Even so, seeing Madam Butterfly reduced to this state, her spirits lifted, and she forgot the pain all over her body.

“Last time, you took it upon yourself to make decisions that nearly cost me my life. Madam Butterfly — I said I would repay this debt, and I meant it!”

So even if she were to die, she would absolutely not let Madam Butterfly have an easy time of it!

Hu Shuang could not utter a single word. Madam certainly had her faults — but to destroy Madam’s face like this — how was Madam supposed to live out the rest of her life?

It was the thing Madam had cared about most, above all else, her entire life.

Feng Jiu’er knew perfectly well just how much Madam Butterfly prized that face of hers. If that were not the case, she would not have risked her own life to destroy it.

Strike at the serpent’s most vulnerable point — to deal with Madam Butterfly, one had to go straight for her face.

Compassion — before a truly wicked person, she had none of it.

Jiu’er leaned against the wall, unwilling to crumple, but with very little strength left.

Even so, she kept her gaze fixed on Madam Butterfly’s ruined face, her mood soaring.

Hu Shuang truly did not know what to do. Feng Jiu’er’s bold, passionate nature — her capacity to love fiercely and hate fiercely — was something she admired. Had it been herself, she imagined she would have sought revenge in exactly the same way.

But right now, the one who was injured was Madam…

“Madam…”

“Throw her into the Gu pool.” Madam Butterfly’s words came out one syllable at a time, cold as marrow.

Hu Shuang’s entire body shook; even her fingertips trembled: “Madam — the Gu pool — the Gu pool is full of Gu worms!”

Good heavens! Madam was actually going to throw Feng Jiu’er into the Gu pool!

No one had ever been subjected to treatment this terrifying. Never before — never once!

To throw a person into the Gu pool — never mind that Hu Shuang had no idea what the consequences would be; even Madam Butterfly herself most likely did not know.

“Madam, she—”

But Madam Butterfly suddenly took a stride forward. Her speed this time was so swift that even Hu Shuang could not follow her footwork. In the blink of an eye, she had closed the distance and stood directly before Feng Jiu’er.

Feng Jiu’er, already rendered limp and powerless by those two palms, was hauled up with one hand by Madam Butterfly. She was soft and drowsy, it seemed as though even her consciousness was beginning to disperse, and she simply let herself be dragged out of the secret chamber.

The Gu pool lay deep within the rear mountain behind Butterfly Valley. Hu Shuang had already moved at her utmost pace to give chase, yet still she could not catch up.

Madam truly intended to throw Feng Jiu’er into the Gu pool. Once a person went in, their life in this world would truly and absolutely be ruined forever.

She admired Feng Jiu’er’s fierceness of spirit and sharpness of mind, and deep in her heart she also found herself unwilling to watch Feng Jiu’er meet such a wretched end.

But what could be done now? What else could possibly be done?

Feng Jiu’er was dragged along by the maddened Madam Butterfly, swept through half the valley on the open air, and in the blink of an eye arrived at the deepest part of the rear mountain.

Over a dozen white-robed women stood guard around the most important pool. Drawing closer, one could see countless Gu worms writhing and squirming within.

Those revolting creatures were all the lowest-grade of Gu worms — even Madam Butterfly herself could not fully comprehend their toxicity and nature. The fine Gu worms she would take away for cultivation on their own; those that had been poorly cultivated were cast here.

Over the years, batch after batch of Gu worms had died in the pool. The weak were consumed by the strong; the strong evolved to become even stronger!

What exactly now inhabited the Gu pool — even Madam Butterfly herself no longer knew.

Feng Jiu’er was dragged all the way there with not the slightest capacity to resist. Arriving at the pool’s edge, she was pressed down over the opening — half her body nearly falling in.

“Madam…”

“Ah…”

Several of the women standing guard at the Gu pool could not help but scramble sharply backward, their legs going weak with fright.

They had guarded the Gu pool for so many years. Madam occasionally came by to check whether there were any fine Gu worms worth selecting. But Madam had never drawn this close to the Gu pool herself, and no one had ever dared to lean half their body over the pool’s rim. If a Gu worm were suddenly to leap up…

The Gu worms in this pool had been left to sustain themselves for so many years. The stronger ones had grown extremely formidable, and occasionally a worm truly would launch itself upward. However, the surrounding area had been sprinkled with sulfur powder by Madam’s orders — even if a worm dared to leap, it could not cross that sulfuric barrier to get out.

But now, they themselves had crossed over the sulfur barrier — they had drawn this close themselves!

And then there was Madam’s face… How had Madam’s face come to look like this?

The flesh peeled back, the wound so grievous it seemed it could never heal.

The white-robed women went ashen to a one, staring at the two figures at the pool’s edge, utterly at a loss for what to do.

Not one dared draw even half a step closer — each terrified that Madam might suddenly seize them and hurl them into the Gu pool, for the Madam before them now was truly… utterly terrifying!

“Feng Jiu’er — have you seen clearly? Look at it! I want you to see it clearly!”

Madam Butterfly’s voice was hoarse and raw; she was as one who had lost all sanity, pressing Feng Jiu’er further and further down toward the pool: “Look for yourself! Look at those Gu worms down below!”

Feng Jiu’er opened her eyes to half-slits and peered down to the bottom of the pool. At the sight of those writhing, jet-black worms crawling over one another, she very nearly retched.

These worms did not merely crawl — some of them could actually leap, and one nearly sprang right onto her head, clearly already grazing her long hair!

Feng Jiu’er felt a wave of nausea overwhelm her, and she dry-heaved uncontrollably.

“Hmph — Feng Jiu’er, are you frightened?” Madam Butterfly did not immediately cast her in. She had not yet had her fill of savoring Feng Jiu’er’s expression of panic and helplessness.

She needed Feng Jiu’er’s regret. She needed her to admit fault. She needed her to beg through her tears!

“Beg me! Beg me, and I will consider whether to delay throwing you in a little longer — hmph, beg me! Hurry and beg me!”

Madam Butterfly had truly gone mad. Elegance, restraint, dignity — she wanted none of it anymore!

Her face had already been destroyed by Feng Jiu’er. What else remained of her life?

The next time A’Jiu came, she would not dare to let him see her anymore. She had no future — she had nothing!

The one and only hope that kept her alive now was to witness Feng Jiu’er’s despair.

“Hurry and beg me — beg me! I want you to beg me through your tears!” Madam Butterfly drove a kick into Feng Jiu’er’s body.

Jiu’er parted her lips, and a mouthful of fresh blood spilled out — falling directly into the Gu pool.

The Gu worms within surged into instant motion. Catching the scent of blood, every worm in the pool rushed toward the place where it had fallen. Some of the more ferocious ones bit straight through the worms blocking their way, ripping them apart until they were torn to shreds, blood and flesh everywhere.

The Gu worms had already undergone so many rounds of evolution that some had even grown teeth longer than their own bodies — like two blades, ghastly, gory, stomach-turning!

Feng Jiu’er could not help dry-heaving again, yet she gripped her fists tight at her side and gave a cold laugh.

“Hmph — why on earth would I beg you? Even if I die, at least in the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s heart, my image remains as perfect as ever. And you?”

She could see it clearly — how much this wretched, undying old woman cared for the Ninth Imperial Uncle.

She laughed: “Looking the way you do right now — if the Ninth Imperial Uncle were to see you, do you know how frightened he would be?”