Zuo Su tried to struggle to her feet, but her body refused to obey, leaving her weakly collapsed on the ground.
The gap in strength between the two was simply too vast.
If she had set an ambush from the very beginning, perhaps there might have been a chance.
But now, she had no hope of victory.
"Cough, cough..."
Blood-tinged froth mixed with bits of flesh continually poured from Zuo Su’s mouth. Each breath was a searing agony... She could even clearly feel her life ebbing away.
So this is what death feels like.
Though she had co close to losing her life at Jiang Shouzhong’s hands before, the sensation hadn’t been so poignant.
At least now, she knew her life was reaching its end.
Suddenly, Zuo Su felt a pang of regret.
If, back then, the monkey hadn’t saved her—if she had died at Jiang Shouzhong’s hands—it wouldn’t have been so bad. At least she’d have died naked in front of a handso man.
"Ti to go."
Mr. Zhao ignored the enticing pallor of her bared flesh and prepared to chop off the woman’s head.
Suddenly, a wisp of eerie black mist silently coiled around his legs.
Before Mr. Zhao could react to this sudden change, the black mist instantly dissolved the flesh of his legs down to the bone, leaving only ghastly-white skeletons exposed.
He collapsed to the ground with a blood-curdling scream.
Terror surged in his eyes as he looked at the black-clad woman standing not far away. Seeing the corpses of his subordinates strewn behind her only heightened his dread.
Ran Qingchen flicked her fingers lightly.
Mr. Zhao’s body exploded into a mist of blood.
Zuo Su stared at the girl before her—a figure so familiar yet so alien—with a complex gaze, and softly asked, "Are you Ran Qingchen, or the Asura Queen?"
Ran Qingchen did not answer; she rely looked at her.
"Perhaps both."
A strained smile touched Zuo Su’s lips, but it was quickly interrupted by a violent fit of coughing.
Every cough brought forth fresh blood that trickled from the corners of her mouth, dripping slowly down her chin.
Finally managing to suppress the coughing, Zuo Su gazed upward at the dark and oppressive sky, murmuring dazedly: "Qingchen, humans all have two sides, don’t they?
My father was a renowned scholar of Neoconfucianism. My mother wrote moral guides like the ’Admonitions for Won.’ They were both greatly admired.
When I was little, my mother would often hold a ruler in hand, making recite those admonitions, teaching the ways of propriety for won, instructing on how, as a daughter, I should respect myself, how to abide by feminine virtues.
My father too kept a close watch over . If I stepped even slightly out of line, he would punish by making kneel in the stone shed behind the study hall all day without food or water.
My mother wouldn’t let go outside, nor would she let play. She said daughters should stay secluded in their chambers, that showing oneself in public is the hallmark of shaless won, and that I must never be like them.
Once, I was too hungry and sneaked into the kitchen to find sothing to eat. I accidentally ran into Chef Wang’s little nephew, who was about my age, and had a brief conversation with him.
My father saw us, drove out Chef Wang and her nephew, then hung in the ancestral hall and whipped , accusing of disgracing the family na, violating feminine virtues, and being shaless... I was only ten years old then...
Zuo Su laughed, tears streaming from her eyes.
With a self-mocking tone, she said, "So, you see, when I grew up, when I finally gained freedom, the thing I wanted most was to indulge myself.
I wanted to be a shaless woman. I wanted to take revenge—revenge against my father and mother—to show them that their daughter could beco a debauched woman desired by many, a... cough... cough cough—"
Another fit of coughing overtook Zuo Su, the light in her eyes dimming by the mont.
Slowly, she raised her collar, wrapping herself tightly, and smiled, saying:
"I’m about to et Father and Mother—it wouldn’t do to look like this. No matter what, I don’t want them to be disappointed in ... Qingchen, Jiang Mo is actually pretty nice..."
Her voice grew weaker and weaker, until finally her delicate head lowered, lifeless.
Ran Qingchen gazed at the dead woman, her expression cold.
Kneeling down, she adjusted Zuo Su’s clothes properly, then walked to the small hut where Old Madam Ran resided.
"We et at last," she said.
A gentle smile blood on Old Madam Ran’s gaunt face.
Ran Qingchen asked coolly, "Do you regret it?"
Old Madam Ran smiled and replied, "Regret what? Regret having a granddaughter? I’ve weathered a lifeti of ups and downs, and so things no longer abide by rules and morals. Qingchen, no matter who you beco, you are still my granddaughter."
"Heh, hypocritical."
Ran Qingchen curled her lips disdainfully, the cold allure in her eyes thickened with mockery.
Old Madam Ran paid no attention to the girl’s indifference, and softly said, "When your mother passed away, I asked her if she had ever hated .
She said, of course she had. She was human too. She had feelings, emotions—how could she not harbor resentnt after being insulted and ostracized like she was?
But, deep down, I knew your mother never truly hated . She only said those things to lighten my guilt."
With a tender gaze, Old Madam Ran looked at Ran Qingchen and said, "Qingchen, no one wants to deceive you, especially not your mother. In her heart, you were always her daughter..."
"Enough!!"
Ran Qingchen’s eyes blazed with fury as she stared at the elderly woman. "You’re all lying to ! All of you! Even as you’re about to die, you cling to your lies!"
The old woman gazed calmly at her estranged granddaughter, her eyes bereft of sadness or bla. Weakly, she asked, "Since I am at death’s door, Qingchen—tell , do you hate your grandmother?"
Ran Qingchen opened her mouth but said nothing.
"Qingchen, do not hate your mother. Do not hate Jiang Mo. That hatred will make you lose the true essence of yourself."
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