Chapter 2: Oh Ho, Your Wife Doesn’t Want You Anymore!

“Why are you crying? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

A familiar, bone-deep male voice rang in her ears, accompanied by a dull, swelling pain that forced a moan of discomfort from A Shang.

It hurt… so much…

Instinctively, she grabbed the man’s shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh, leaving behind several glaring scratch marks.

The discomfort of the swelling sensation made A Shang open her eyes, only to meet the cold yet desire-filled gaze of the man before her. Her pupils dilated in shock.

It was Xie Hengyu!

How could he…

Realizing what he was doing to her, her body reacted faster than her mind. In a violent struggle, she kicked him in the abdomen. “Don’t touch me!”

So filthy!

He’s so filthy!

Xie Hengyu hadn’t expected her to struggle so suddenly. Caught off guard, he was kicked to the foot of the bed.

“Xie Hengyu, you really are desperate!” A Shang’s eyes were red as she grabbed the nearby blanket and wrapped herself tightly in it. Her gaze fell on Xie Hengyu, and she hoarsely shouted, “If you want it, go find Shen Yueqing!”

He was so filthy!

The mere thought of him touching her with the same hands that had touched Shen Yueqing made A Shang feel a wave of nausea wash over her entire body.

Xie Hengyu, who had been kicked to the foot of the bed by A Shang, frowned at her inexplicable words. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

As his hand gripped her wrist, A Shang met Xie Hengyu’s cold gaze. She was about to tell him to get lost when she suddenly noticed the conspicuous fox clan love-guard mark on his collarbone.

A Shang froze, her eyes fixed on his collarbone. Why was the love-guard still on him…?

Hadn’t he already found a way to remove it?

Xie Hengyu watched as the girl, her eyes red, wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, appearing as though she genuinely didn’t want this.

Just a moment ago, she had been blushing, pretending to endure everything he did in silence.

Xie Hengyu stared into her eyes for a moment, then pinched a cleansing spell and put on his clothes.

Since she was unwilling to continue, he had no intention of forcing her.

As Xie Hengyu left, A Shang was about to ask him what exactly was going on when she caught sight of her own arm. Staring at her fair, unblemished skin, completely free of scars, her eyes widened in shock.

Where were the scars?

The scars she had gotten from saving Xie Hengyu, burned by the weak water—where were they?

And hadn’t she already died?

Died a long, long time ago…

A Shang raised her head and looked around at the room’s layout. Though it had been so long, the familiar surroundings told her this was the Jade Extreme Hall, the bridal chamber gifted to her and Xie Hengyu by Elder Changxuan when they married.

However, not long after their wedding, an accidental fire had reduced the Jade Extreme Hall to ashes.

Because of this, rumors spread throughout the sect that even the heavens couldn’t bear to see her as Xie Hengyu’s wife, which was why they had burned down the Jade Extreme Hall.

But whether the fire was accidental or deliberately set, A Shang no longer wanted to dwell on it.

The world had always looked down on her origins. How could a lowly half-demon like her ever be worthy of Xie Hengyu, a man as pure and noble as the clear wind and bright moon?

When Xie Hengyu was injured, she brewed medicine for him, but they said she had ulterior motives. When she took a sword strike for him and was bedridden for three months, they accused her of putting on an act.

She had jumped into the weak water to save Xie Hengyu, nearly losing her face in the process, yet they said a woman as wicked as her didn’t deserve such beauty.

Later, when she was falsely accused of colluding with the Demonic Clan and died under the thunder punishment at the Immortal Sect Execution Platform, did they all say she got what she deserved?

She had thought that, though Xie Hengyu was heartless, he might at least believe her out of respect for their marriage. But he didn’t. Until the moment of her death, he never even came to see her.

“Haha…”

A Shang’s eyes reddened as she let out a soft, bitter laugh. She never thought something as absurd as rebirth would happen to her.

But now that she had been given a second chance at life, she wouldn’t be as foolish as she was in her past life.

Xie Hengyu didn’t love her, and she would no longer hold onto any hope for him.

She didn’t want him anymore.

*

A Shang didn’t stay in the Jade Extreme Hall. Instead, she returned to the small cottage she had lived in as a disciple of the sect.

Because of her half-demon identity, no female disciple had been willing to share a room with her, so she had always lived alone.

The cottage was a bit messy, as no one had cleaned it in a while, but it was still relatively tidy.

Calculating the time, she and Xie Hengyu had only been married for about a month now.

A Shang lay down on the bed, hugging the blanket and curling up in her clothes.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she had a dream—a dream of her past life.

She was the child of a human and a fox demon. From the moment she was born, she had never seen her mother and had been raised solely by her father, who was a scholar.

Every time she asked about her mother, her father would remain silent. It wasn’t until she was seven years old, when her father passed away from illness, that A Shang became completely orphaned.

Being a half-demon, she was unwelcome among humans. A Shang wandered from place to place, eventually settling in the Land of Bliss, where she worked as a servant in a demon inn, doing menial labor.

A Shang’s life goal was simple: to follow her father’s words and live well.

That was until she turned sixteen. One day, a group of cultivators who specialized in slaying demons arrived at the inn. Among them was a cultivator who, with a single sword strike, killed a great demon. A Shang fell in love with him at first sight.

In the Land of Bliss, there were no shortage of male demons with handsome appearances. Ever since A Shang turned fifteen and entered her heat cycle, her body had grown fuller, and her beauty had become increasingly striking. Many male demons had expressed their love for her, but she had never responded to any of them.

Until she saw him. At that first glance, A Shang understood for the first time what it meant to have your heart stirred.

He was unlike any man she had ever met. He was like a pristine white lotus atop a snow-capped mountain—untouchable, pure, and sacred.

Later, she heard people say his name was Xie Hengyu, a renowned demon-slaying cultivator from the Immortal Sect.

It was because of him that A Shang, for the first time, felt the desire to leave the Land of Bliss. She wanted to cultivate, to see him again, even if it was just one more glance.

And so, she diligently practiced her cultivation. Finally, after a year, she passed the Immortal Sect’s entrance trial and became a disciple of the sect.

Though she was only an outer sect disciple, she was still overjoyed. She believed that as long as she worked hard, one day she would get closer to him.

What she didn’t expect, however, was that after merely helping a female disciple deliver clothes to Xie Hengyu, she would be framed and end up spending a night with him, accidentally planting a love-guard in him.

…

“She claims she wasn’t the one who drugged him? How shameless of her to lie even after climbing into Senior Brother Xie’s bed.”

“A half-demon is still a half-demon, resorting to such despicable methods.”

“I heard she often hides in places where Senior Brother Xie passes by, secretly watching him. It’s so disgusting.”

“Given the circumstances, there’s no way to undo the love curse. Marrying each other is the best option we have now…”

“If it weren’t for her using such vile tricks, how could a lowly half-demon like her ever be worthy of marrying Senior Brother Xie?!”

“Poor Senior Sister Shen, her future husband was snatched away by this disgusting half-demon.”

“Beast! Hand over the Extreme Heaven Stone at once!”

“Just a mere half-demon…”

Countless chaotic voices echoed in her ears as A Shang clutched the blanket tightly, shaking her head and murmuring softly:

“No… it wasn’t me… it wasn’t me…”

I wasn’t the one who drugged them, I wasn’t the one who colluded with the Demonic Clan… I wasn’t the one who stole the Extreme Heaven Stone…

“It wasn’t me!”

A Shang jolted awake from her nightmare, her forehead damp with sweat. She glanced around the familiar room, feeling a sense of security wash over her, and only then did she realize it had all been a bad dream.

In her previous life, she had never found the person who drugged her and Xie Hengyu. That female disciple had appeared out of nowhere and then vanished just as mysteriously.

This time, she was determined to find her and uncover the true mastermind behind it all!