1966. Late autumn.

In the capital, a storm you hardly ever saw was raging with thunder and lightning, beating down on the old city like it meant to tear it apart.

In the west part of town stood a three-courtyard siheyuan. In the west wing, a window that was practically falling apart rattled under the wind with loud bangs. Rain kept forcing its way in through the cracks, and even the old hard bed had its ragged quilt soaked through, the yellowed black-stained cotton darkening in a wide patch.

The person on the bed stirred.

Pain.

Sharp, bone-deep pain.

Serena Ashford snapped her eyes open. Above her were moldy beams and roof tiles furred with cobwebs.

She was still alive?

She had been Patriarch Qingxu in the cultivation world. During her ascension tribulation, a bolt of Heavenly Mystic Thunder had blasted her so cleanly that even her body was gone.

She had thought that was it, that her soul would scatter into nothingness inside the void. But the moment she opened her eyes, she found herself dropped into an age with almost no spiritual energy at all, inside the body of an ordinary mortal.

Before she could even get used to this body, weak to the point of uselessness, a surge of towering resentment suddenly crashed into her mind. With it came broken memories flashing by like a lantern reel, so fierce they nearly tore apart her divine sense.

Serena Ashford, the biological daughter of the Ashford family in the capital, switched at birth and kept outside the family for eighteen years.

She had only been brought back half a year ago. She had thought her suffering was finally over. Who would have guessed she had only stepped out of one pit and straight into another.

Her birth father treated her like a thorn in his eye. Her stepmother smiled sweetly while hiding a knife. And that fake young miss, her younger sister, was scheming against her every single day.

Just ten minutes ago, the original owner of this body had been burning with a high fever, then thrown into this leaking side room and left to die.

"Cough, cough..."

Serena pressed a hand to her chest, coughing so hard her whole body shook. Every cough felt like a dull blade sawing through her heart and lungs.

She lowered her head and looked at her hands. They were so thin they were little more than skin stretched over bone. The backs of them were covered in chilblains and tiny needle marks.

"Nine Yin Severed Meridians?"

Serena narrowed her eyes and sent her divine sense inward to inspect the body. The moment she looked, she understood exactly what kind of condition this body was in.

This wasn’t illness at all. It was clearly a natural Nine-Yin Severed Meridian body.

In the cultivation world, a body like this was the finest kind of furnace vessel. But here, in the mortal world where spiritual energy had long dried up, it only meant one thing: a short life, dead before twenty.

But even that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was that she could feel something buried under this room.

Threads of dark, filthy baleful energy kept seeping up from beneath the floor, clinging to her like leeches, sucking hard at the little lifespan and vitality she had left.

Then it followed some invisible path and streamed toward the main house.

"A fortune-borrowing spirit-locking array?"

A slight curve touched Serena Ashford’s lips, but the pallor on her face only made that chill look more frightening.

Very good. Just very good.

So the Ashford family had brought their real daughter back not because they felt guilty, not because they wanted to make amends, but because they meant to use her as a sacrifice, drain her dry, and feed every last bit of her life into that fake heiress.

No wonder the original Serena had gotten weaker by the day, while Candy Ashford had only grown prettier and more glowing, the kind of person who could step outside and seem to stumble into luck.

"Since I’ve taken this body, I’ll settle this debt for you."

Serena lowered her eyes. When she raised them again, the frail, sickly look inside them was gone. In its place was the coldness and killing intent of someone who had lived through ages.

Just then, the sound of high heels striking the stone path came from outside.

"Tap. Tap. Tap."

On a stormy night full of thunder and rain, the sound was especially sharp, enough to make anyone’s nerves tighten.

The door creaked open.

A warm, rich scent drifted in with the damp air, pushing back a good bit of the moldy smell in the room.

The person who stepped in wore a bright red wool coat so flashy it practically shouted in this day and age. On her feet were polished little leather shoes, and on her wrist was a plum-blossom watch.

It was the Ashford family’s fake daughter, Candy Ashford.

She stood there with a white porcelain bowl in her hands. Steam curled up from the bird’s nest soup inside, and the thing looked completely out of place in this shabby, leaking room.

"Serena, why are you still awake?"

Candy Ashford stopped at the doorway, covering her nose with a handkerchief in open disgust. She clearly had no intention of stepping inside, as if the room were full of filth.

She looked down at the frail, scarecrow-thin Serena on the bed, and a flicker of smugness passed through her eyes. But when she spoke, her voice turned sweet and soft.

"Mom and Dad said you weren’t feeling well, so they had me bring you a bowl of bird’s nest soup to help you recover. This is premium blood bird’s nest. Even Mom and I can hardly bear to eat it."

Serena leaned against the headboard and said nothing. She only looked at her quietly.

To be exact, she was staring at the jade hanging on Candy’s chest.

The ancient jade was a deep blood-red all over. Under the dim yellow lamplight in the room, it gave off a strange, eerie glow.

To an ordinary person, it would only look like a fine piece of valuable jade.

But in Serena’s eyes, it was obviously a wicked thing swollen with resentment.

Inside the pendant crouched a hideous little black ghost. It was greedily devouring the luck stolen from Serena, then feeding all of it into Candy.

"Serena, why do you keep staring at my jade?"

Noticing her gaze, Candy smugly stroked the pendant at her chest. She even took a few steps forward on purpose, showing it off as she said,

"Dad specially went to Putuo Temple to get this safety jade for me. That master said my birth chart is too weak, so I need this piece to keep me steady. And honestly, ever since I started wearing it, my complexion’s gotten better and everything’s been going my way."

With a smile still on her lips, she bent down toward Serena’s ear and lowered her voice until only the two of them could hear. Her tone turned cold and vicious.

"Do you know what else that master said? He said this jade has to be nourished with the blood and life force of close kin. You’re dying anyway, but if your rotten little life can be used to raise this jade and keep the Ashford family rising, then that’s probably the only useful thing you’ve ever done in this house."

Once she finished, she straightened up. The malice vanished from her face in an instant. Then she lifted the bowl and held it out toward Serena.

"Go on. Drink it before it gets cold."

Serena lowered her eyes and glanced at the thick, gluey bird’s nest soup.

Her spiritual sense swept over it lightly.

Someone had tampered with it.

A whole lot of sterilizing medicine had been added, and mixed in with it was the juice of heartbreak grass, a slow poison that could make a person lose their mind bit by bit.

So they thought letting her die wasn’t enough. They wanted her to go mad first, then die clean, leaving no trouble behind?

Serena Ashford was so angry she almost laughed.

She had fought and killed her way through the cultivation world for hundreds of years, and even there, she had rarely seen a pack of mortals this shameless.

"Serena, what are you staring at? Don’t tell me your hands are too weak. Want me to feed you?"

Seeing that she still wouldn’t take it, Candy Ashford’s eyes flashed with annoyance.

She lifted the bowl, scooped up a spoonful, and shoved it straight toward Serena’s mouth. Her tone turned hard too, none of that fake sweetness left.

"This is Mom and Dad’s kindness. Don’t be so ungrateful when good fortune lands in your lap. You won’t drink it, is that it? Fine. Tomorrow I’ll tell Dad you poured the bird’s nest out. Let’s see if he doesn’t deal with you then."

The steam blew against her face. Serena blinked once.

Then she slowly raised her head.

Those dull, lifeless eyes from before were different now. Deep, dark, frighteningly still, like a bottomless well no one could see into.

"Good fortune?"

Serena repeated the two words softly. Her voice was hoarse, but it sent a chill straight down the spine.

Candy Ashford felt her heart jump under that stare. Without meaning to, she started shrinking back.

"What... what are you trying to do..."

Before she could finish, Serena, who had been lying weak and sick on the bed the whole time, suddenly moved.

So fast it was terrifying.

Candy’s vision blurred. In the next second, the wrist holding the bowl was caught in an icy grip, locked tight.

"Ah!"

Candy cried out in pain. Her fingers went loose, and the bowl slipped, about to fall.

With her other hand, Serena Ashford caught the bowl clean and steady, quick as lightning. Not a single drop spilled.

Then she seized Candy Ashford’s wrist and yanked hard.

Candy lost her balance at once and pitched straight toward the bedside.

"Since you love this blessing so much, take it back."

Serena’s voice was cold enough to freeze the room. Her hand moved fast and dead sure, grabbing the blood-red jade pendant hanging at Candy’s chest.

Power surged into her fingers.

"Crack—"

A sharp breaking sound rang out.

That old hard jade, which should have been tough as iron, crumbled in Serena’s hand like it was made of paper, turning to powder in the blink of an eye.

"Ah—!!!"

Candy let out a scream so shrill it tore at the ears.

The moment the pendant shattered, the lump of black qi trapped inside had nowhere left to hide. It instantly lashed back, crazed, and drilled straight into Candy’s body.

Candy felt as if a heavy hammer had slammed into her chest. Her insides churned violently, and a strong taste of blood rose right into her throat.

"My jade! Have you lost your mind? How dare you smash my jade!"

Clutching her chest, Candy’s face went white with pain. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Serena.

This useless girl who used to swallow every slap and curse without making a sound—how had she suddenly turned this ruthless?

"Now your heart aches?"

Serena flicked the powder from her hand and grabbed Candy’s delicate face in one sharp move.

This body had no spiritual power at all and was weak to the bone, but the old ancestor had not forgotten her bone-dislocating techniques.

Her thumb and forefinger pressed lightly.

There came a crisp "crack."

Candy Ashford’s jaw popped clean out of place. Her mouth hung wide open and wouldn’t close. She wanted to scream, but all that came out was a choked, miserable "Mmff... mmph..."

"What a waste to throw out a bowl of specially made bird’s nest like this."

Serena Ashford lifted the bowl that was still steaming. Her eyes were cold, flat, like she was staring at a chicken waiting for the knife.

"You brought it here yourself, didn’t you? Then drink every bit of it. Not one drop left."

The moment the words fell, her wrist tipped.

That whole bowl of scalding bird’s nest, soup and all, went straight into Candy Ashford’s gaping mouth.

"Ugh! Mmph—mmph!!"

Candy Ashford twisted with all her strength, hands flailing wildly, trying to shove Serena Ashford away.

But Serena Ashford’s arms, thin as they looked, held shocking force. One hand clamped down hard on the back of her head and didn’t budge.

The burning-hot bird’s nest slid down her throat. It scorched all the way down, her gullet feeling like it had caught fire. She choked so hard tears and snot streamed down together.

Just a few seconds later.

The bowl was empty.

Serena Ashford casually flung the empty bowl to the floor. With a sharp crack, it shattered into pieces.

Then she lifted her foot, aimed at Candy Ashford’s stomach, and drove a fierce kick into her.

"Get out."

That kick wasn’t random. Serena Ashford had used just the right force.

Candy Ashford’s whole body flew out like a kicked ball, slammed into the doorframe, then rolled all the way into the rain-soaked yard.

Right then, thunder exploded outside.

"Boom—!"

Lightning split open the night sky, lighting up Candy Ashford’s face clear as day—shock, fear, breathless panic. Her face was swollen red like boiled liver, her whole body covered in mud and rainwater, a pitiful sight from head to toe.

She clutched her stomach and lay in the mud, retching hard, trying to throw up what had just been forced down her throat, but no matter how she gagged, she couldn’t get it all out.

Her jaw had been knocked out of place. Her mouth wouldn’t close, and drool mixed with rainwater ran down her chin. There was nothing left of that proud little-miss-of-the-Ashford-family look she’d been putting on a moment ago.

Serena Ashford sat at the edge of the bed, calm as ever. She slowly pulled a ragged piece of cloth from under the pillow, wiped the powder and rainwater off her hands, then tossed it aside like it was nothing.

"Wuu... wuu..."

Candy Ashford stared in horror at the figure sitting in the dim room.

That blow just now had scared her half to death. The person in front of her didn’t feel like that meek, easy-to-bully older sister anymore. She felt more like a vengeful ghost that had clawed its way back from hell.

That look in Serena’s eyes was cold clear through to the bone. It made Candy’s scalp tingle and her whole body shake.

She didn’t dare stay there another second. Scrambling up from the floor, she covered her face and staggered toward the front yard.

As she ran, she cried out in a slurred, broken voice,

"Dad... Mom... save me..."

Serena watched Candy’s figure disappear into the curtain of rain, but she didn’t move.

She raised a hand to cover her mouth and coughed twice, low and rough. A thin thread of blood seeped from the corner of her lips.

So this really was just a mortal body.

That burst of movement a moment ago had nearly drained the last bit of strength this body had left.

Now that the rush had passed, pain came crashing back from all sides.

Serena leaned against the icy wall, breathing hard.

She knew very well this was only the beginning.

Crushing the Spirit-Locking Jade had only broken the formation core in the courtyard. At best, it had cut off the Ashford family’s way of feeding on her for the moment.

But the Nine-Yin Severed Meridians in this body were still a dead end.

And now that Candy had run off like that, those monstrous parents of the Ashford family would come charging over any second.

"This body really won’t do..."

Serena Ashford gave a bitter little smile and lifted a hand to touch her bare wrist.

That spot should have held her life-bound storage bracelet.

Back in that lightning tribulation, the bracelet had likely come over with her. Shame this wretched place had barely any spiritual energy at all. The bracelet had sealed itself shut and sunk deep into the core of her soul. No matter what she tried, she could not force it open.

No spiritual power, no medicine, and no way into her space.

Right now, she was nothing more than a dying patient who could stop breathing at any moment.

Serena Ashford closed her eyes and quietly tried to circulate the Qingxu Art.

The pitiful trace of spiritual energy in the air was thin as a strand of hair. With great effort, she tugged it over bit by bit and guided it into her meridians.

Too slow.

This little bit was not even enough to line the bottom.