“Ye Jiuhuang!” Shen Qingshuang’s voice was shrill, nearly a howl. “Is this the answer you’re giving me? Is this how you intend to repay me for eight thousand years at your side?”
Shen Qingshuang staggered forward several steps, tears bursting from her eyes. “I’ve waited behind you for eight thousand years! Eight thousand years without a proper title, eight thousand years of waiting, eight thousand years of a marriage in name only! I thought that one day, you would truly accept me. But I never imagined that what I’d be waiting for was news that you intended to marry Ye Xuan!”
Her voice echoed throughout the great hall, every word laced with blood and tears.
The elders and disciples of the Sword God Palace stood around them, as silent as cicadas in winter. Not one of them dared even breathe too loudly.
The sight of Ye Jiuhuang being sent flying with a single slap from Ying’er was still fresh in their minds. None of them wanted to court disaster at a time like this.
Shen Qingshuang, however, no longer cared about any of that.
She stared fixedly at Ye Jiuhuang, jealousy burning wildly in her eyes. “You and I have been husband and wife for eight thousand years. Do you dare say you don’t feel anything for me? Do you dare say there’s nothing between us?”
Her voice was shrill and despairing. “I, Shen Qingshuang, have loved only one person in my entire life! Even though you’re a woman, even though we’ve never truly been husband and wife, I was willing to remain chaste for you and wait for you for eight thousand years! But you… how could you do this to me?”
“Shut up!”
Before Shen Qingshuang could finish, a cold shout exploded like thunder!
Ye Jiuhuang’s expression instantly darkened to the extreme.
The faint flush that had colored her beautiful eyes before Ye Xuan was gone. In its place, icy light shot from them, while the aura around her surged violently like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
The gentle, obedient demeanor she had displayed before Ye Xuan had vanished without a trace. In its place was a murderous intent that sent chills through everyone present.
She abruptly turned around and glared at Shen Qingshuang. Her voice was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice. “Shen Qingshuang, what are you supposed to be? How dare you raise your voice at my husband?”
Shen Qingshuang opened her mouth. “Jiuhuang, I’m your—”
Smack!
A crisp slap rang through the hall.
Before Shen Qingshuang could finish speaking, Ye Jiuhuang had already struck like lightning, sending a vicious slap across her face!
Pfft!
The blow sent Shen Qingshuang flying through the air. She spun several times before crashing heavily onto the icy black-ice floor. Half her face swelled instantly, and blood mixed with broken teeth sprayed from the corner of her mouth.
She struggled to rise, clutching her throbbing cheek. Her eyes were filled with disbelief. “You… you hit me?”
“Consider yourself lucky it was only a slap!” Ye Jiuhuang’s voice was cold enough to pierce bone. “Shen Qingshuang, you dared to spout such nonsense in front of my husband. This is the price of seeking death!”
She advanced toward Shen Qingshuang one step at a time. Sword qi began to surge wildly around her, and the white-gold sword rays that had originally circled her body now carried a faint, maddened tinge of crimson.
“Who do you think you are? Back then, you were nothing more than a tool I casually married to conceal my identity! And you actually started thinking you were my wife?”
Shen Qingshuang trembled all over. The fiery pain in her face was nothing compared to the agony in her heart. “Our… our feelings over eight thousand years… are they really worth less than Ye Xuan?”
“Feelings over eight thousand years?”
Ye Jiuhuang let out a cold laugh, her eyes filled with contempt and disdain. “Shen Qingshuang, have you misunderstood something? There have never been any feelings between us. I married you because I needed to travel the world under a man’s identity. I needed a wife in name to conceal the truth. That’s all!”
Her voice was as sharp as a blade, every word striking straight into Shen Qingshuang’s heart.
“You stayed by my side for eight thousand years because that was your choice. It had nothing to do with me! You were the one who insisted on clinging to me and refusing to leave. When did I ever ask you to stay?”
Shen Qingshuang’s face turned as pale as paper. Her entire body swayed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Her lips trembled violently as tears slid silently down her cheeks. “Ye Jiuhuang… you’re truly heartless… So, in your eyes, my eight thousand years of waiting was nothing but a joke?”
“A joke?”
Ye Jiuhuang gave another cold laugh. “You really think too highly of yourself. In my eyes, you’re not even worth being called a joke. You’d better understand your place. If you ever dare show my husband the slightest disrespect again, next time I won’t be taking only half your face—I’ll be taking your life!”
Shen Qingshuang trembled from head to toe, tears pouring from her eyes like a broken dam. She opened her mouth, but found that she could not utter a single word.
She had lost.
Lost utterly and completely.
The godlike figure in her heart—the Peerless Sword Empress she had looked up to for eight thousand years—was now fawning at the feet of another man like a dog wagging its tail.
At that moment, Shen Qingshuang felt as if her entire life had collapsed.
The last remaining meaning in her life had been utterly crushed by Ye Jiuhuang’s merciless words.
“Ye Jiuhuang… you’re cruel…” Shen Qingshuang covered her aching cheek, her voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible. “You’ll regret this… The humiliation you’ve inflicted on me today will bring retribution upon you someday…”
“Retribution?”
Ye Jiuhuang let out a disdainful scoff. “When I, Ye Jiuhuang, act, I follow only my heart. I don’t concern myself with cause and effect. Anyone who dares touch my husband, I will kill. Anyone who dares insult my husband, I will wipe out their entire clan! Shen Qingshuang, if you’re smart, you’ll behave yourself. If you insist on making trouble, I don’t mind showing you what it means to wish you were dead!”
Shen Qingshuang shuddered.
As she gazed into Ye Jiuhuang’s eyes—so cold and utterly devoid of emotion—an icy chill suddenly surged from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.
She suddenly realized that the woman before her was no longer the gentle husband who had once smiled at her and occasionally shared wine with her.
Ye Jiuhuang had changed long ago.
Or perhaps she had always been this kind of person. It was only that, throughout all those long years, she had never revealed her true fangs to Shen Qingshuang.
Just then, Ye Xuan, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, finally spoke.
His voice was not loud, yet it carried an oppressive force that no one could ignore. “Since she stayed with you for eight thousand years, let her remain here. She can serve as my bedchamber maid. That way, the two of you can be reunited as husband and wife.”
At those words, a radiant smile instantly blossomed across Ye Jiuhuang’s face.
She hurriedly turned around, walked briskly to Ye Xuan’s side, and bowed respectfully and meekly. “My husband is wise! Jiuhuang will make the arrangements immediately!”
She turned her head toward Shen Qingshuang, who was still slumped on the floor. Her gaze was cold and utterly devoid of warmth.
“Shen Qingshuang, did you hear that? This is a grace bestowed upon you by my husband! From now on, you are my husband’s bedchamber maid! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and thank him for his kindness!”
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
