The Mad Woman

Qingyun Sect, Cold Moon Peak.

This place was once the most envied immortal paradise in the entire Eastern Continent, but now it had been reduced to a deathly silent asura arena.

Half a month had passed since that world-shocking wedding.

Most of the bright red silks and double-happiness lanterns that had draped the mountain peak half a month ago had not yet been taken down.

The vibrant reds had become mottled from the wind and sun. Some were even torn to shreds, flapping in the cold wind like the flaunting red tongues of vengeful spirits, making a bleak, rhythmic snapping sound.

No one dared to take them down.

Because Xia Lengyue had not given the word.

The entire main peak's grand hall was shrouded in a dense, impenetrable aura of sinister yin energy.

Inside the hall, the lighting was dim.

Above the ninety-nine steps of white jade, on the throne that originally belonged to the Sect Master, now sat a woman in red.

Xia Lengyue.

She was still wearing the phoenix coronet and robes from the day of the great wedding, but that priceless wedding dress had long been torn to pieces by her own hands that very day. What hung on her body now were mere strips of tattered cloth stained with dark red blood.

Underneath the shattered wedding dress, a washed-out coarse inner garment was faintly visible. It was an old piece of clothing Ye Xuan had worn in the servant quarters, and it was now her only solace.

Her hair hung loose, reaching her ankles and obscuring half her face. The single eye that was exposed had a bloodshot sclera, yet its pupil was a bottomless, abyssal black.

She tightly clutched a wooden tablet in her hand.

It was the soul tablet Ye Xuan had left in the sect.

Only now, this soul tablet had long lost its luster. The soul aura upon it had been forcibly erased by some incredibly tyrannical power, turning it into a useless piece of scrap wood.

Tap.

Tap.

She gently tapped the soul tablet with her fingernail. The sound echoed throughout the grand hall, each strike feeling as though it were hammering directly onto the hearts of the crowd kneeling below.

Below the steps knelt a dense, dark mass of people.

There was the elder of the Wind Listening Hall in charge of intelligence, the deacon of the Trace Seeking Pavilion responsible for tracking, and even several Golden Core stage Peak Masters who were normally aloof and high above.

At this moment, they all knelt prostrate on the ground, their foreheads pressed tightly against the freezing floor tiles. Their bodies trembled violently and uncontrollably, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Sweat mixed with terror pooled into puddles on the floor.

A long time passed.

The woman on the throne finally stopped tapping.

She slowly raised her head.

Still... haven't found him?

The Wind Listening Hall elder kneeling at the very front, an old man at the perfected late Foundation Establishment stage, was so terrified that his teeth were chattering. Bracing himself, he tremblingly raised his head, his voice laced with a sob.

R-reporting to Senior Sister Xia... no, reporting to the Sect Master.

This subordinate... is incompetent.

Over the past half month, the Wind Listening Hall has dispatched three thousand six hundred hidden spies across the one hundred and eight provinces of the Eastern Continent. We even... even investigated the neighboring borders.

All teleportation array records, all rogue cultivator gathering points, all black market bounties... everything... has been thoroughly searched.

The elder swallowed hard, cold sweat sliding down his aged cheeks.

But... but True Disciple Ye is just like... like he evaporated into thin air.

The Myriad Mile Traceless Talisman... is an ancient forbidden talisman. It obscures the heavenly secrets... we... we truly cannot find a single clue!

Bang!

A muffled explosion.

Without any warning.

And without anyone seeing Xia Lengyue make a single movement.

The Wind Listening Hall elder who had just been reporting was instantly crushed, as if squeezed to death by a giant, invisible hand!

A mist of blood erupted, splattering all over the people around him.

He didn't even have time to let out a scream, nor did his soul have a chance to escape, before he was directly reduced to a puddle of mush.

Ah!

The kneeling disciples nearby were scared out of their wits, and some even lost control of their bladders on the spot.

But they still dared not move, remaining rigidly on their knees. They could only desperately bury their heads lower, terrified that they would be next.

On the throne, Xia Lengyue slowly withdrew her hand.

She didn't even glance at the puddle of flesh and blood, merely pulling a handkerchief from her robes to gently wipe away nonexistent blood from her fingertips.

Excuses.

She murmured softly, her tone so gentle it was hair-raising.

I don't listen to excuses.

I only want the person.

Failing to find him... means you didn't put your hearts into it.

Not putting your hearts into it... means you don't want to help me find my husband.

And those who don't want to help me find my husband...

She tilted her head, and in that single exposed eye flickered a childlike yet cruel light.

What use is there in keeping them alive?

Next.

Her gaze landed on the Pavilion Master of the Trace Seeking Pavilion, kneeling in the second row.

She was an early Golden Core stage female cultivator who usually had fairly good relations with Xia Lengyue.

At this moment, her face was deathly pale. Shivering all over, she crawled forward a few steps, kowtowing and crying out:

Senior Sister Xia! Senior Sister, spare my life!

It's not that Junior Sister didn't try her best! That talisman is truly too bizarre! We used the Heaven-Searching Hounds, we used the Karma Compass, and even... even Junior Sister didn't hesitate to burn ten years of lifespan to divine his location, but the results shown... were nothing but chaos!

He... he severed all karma!

Karma is severed?

Xia Lengyue chuckled softly.

She slowly stood up, barefoot, and walked down the steps one by one.

The hem of her red dress dragged across the floor, sweeping through the newly formed pool of blood and staining it with an even more bewitching crimson.

She walked up to the female cultivator, reached out her hand, and gently lifted the woman's chin.

Junior Sister.

Xia Lengyue looked at her, her eyes full of confusion.

How can you say karma is severed?

I am his wife, and he is my husband.

We have slept in the same bed.

He carries my scent, my marks, and the countless magical treasures I gave him...

Xia Lengyue's fingers gradually tightened, her nails digging into the female cultivator's flesh.

How could it possibly be severed?

Unless... he is lying to me.

Or... you are lying to me.

N-no... sob... truly I'm not... The female cultivator cried tears of pain, yet dared not resist.

Shh.

Xia Lengyue raised a finger and pressed it against the woman's lips.

Don't cry.

My husband hates it most when women cry.

I hate it too.

She leaned close to the female cultivator's ear and whispered:

Since your Heaven-Searching Hounds cannot find him, and your Karma Compass cannot divine him...

Then it means these things are trash.

And since they are trash... they should be destroyed.

As soon as she finished speaking.

Xia Lengyue's palm violently slammed onto the crown of the female cultivator's head.

Soul Search.

An incredibly tyrannical divine sense forcibly crashed into the woman's Sea of Consciousness.

Ahhhh!

A shrill, bloodcurdling scream echoed through the grand hall.

The Soul Search technique was one of the cruelest methods in the cultivation world. The victim would often be turned into an idiot, or even have their soul scattered entirely.

It was normally only used against mortal enemies.

But now, Xia Lengyue used it on her own fellow junior sister.

A moment later.

Xia Lengyue released her hand.

The female cultivator's eyes rolled back in her head. Frothing at the mouth, she collapsed limply to the ground, completely ruined.

Xia Lengyue closed her eyes, digesting the information obtained from the Soul Search.

Indeed.

This female cultivator had not lied.

Her memories were filled with an exhausted, desperate search, and the panic that followed each failure.

She truly... could not find him.

There was not a single trace.

"Hehe... Hahahaha..."

Xia Lengyue suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter echoed through the grand hall, carrying an endless sense of desolation and madness.

"Ye Xuan... Ye Xuan..."

"You are so cruel."

"The Ten Thousand Mile Traceless Talisman... to think you actually used such a life-saving trump card, something even Mahayana cultivators dream of obtaining, just to hide from me."

"Do you really... despise me that much?"

"Dirty?"

She raised her hand, gazing at her palm, which was as white and flawless as jade.

"How am I dirty?"

"For you, I have kept myself pure all these years. I haven't even let another man touch my hand."

"I ripped my heart out to show you, so why do you still think I'm dirty?"

Boom!

A terrifying spiritual pressure erupted once more, instantly shattering several dragon-coiled pillars within the hall.

"Get out!"

She fiercely flicked her sleeve.

"All of you, get the hell out!"

"Keep searching! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find him for me!"

"Notify all the vassal sects of the Eastern Continent and issue a Blood Kill Order!"

"Whoever can provide clues to Ye Xuan's whereabouts will be rewarded with ten million supreme-grade spirit stones! And one Nascent Soul Pill!"

"But if anyone dares to withhold information, or secretly harbors Ye Xuan..."

"I will slaughter their sect! I will exterminate their entire clan!"

"Yes, yes, yes! This subordinate will go immediately! Right away!"

The surviving subordinates felt as if they had received a grand pardon. They stumbled and crawled out of the hall, as if a vengeful ghost was demanding their lives from behind.

The grand hall once again returned to a deathly silence.

Only Xia Lengyue remained, standing all alone in the center.

She slowly walked back to her throne, slumping down as if all her strength had been drained.

From her robes, she pulled out a torn fragment of a bridal dress, which she had picked up from the very spot where Ye Xuan had disappeared.

It was the dress she had worn that day, still stained with the heart-blood she had coughed up.

She pressed the fragment against her face, sniffing it greedily.

As if by doing so, she could smell the faint, lingering scent of Ye Xuan.

"Husband... you are so bad."

"You took away all my dowry."

"You took away my heart, too."

"And then you just ran away... leaving me here all alone."

Her tears flowed down silently.

But in the next second, her gaze instantly turned incomparably ferocious.

She abruptly stood up and rushed toward the back of the hall—to the bedchambers where Ye Xuan used to live.

She pushed open the door.

Everything inside remained exactly as it was before Ye Xuan left.

Neatly folded bedding, a clean and tidy desk.

Even the half-finished cup of tea on the table, though already dried up, still sat in its original place.

Xia Lengyue rushed in and threw herself onto the bed.

She buried her face in the pillow Ye Xuan had slept on, rubbing against it frantically, her breathing ragged and sickly.

"It's still here... the scent is still here..."

"This is my husband's scent..."

She gripped the bedsheets tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.

In her mind, Ye Xuan's cold gaze right before he left, his words 'Let us never see each other again until death,' and his declaration 'I think you are dirty,' acted like red-hot knives violently churning inside her brain.

"No... no..."

"I cannot let you get away."

"You are mine."

"Even if you run to the ends of the earth, even if you flee to the Yellow Springs of Hell, you can only be mine!"

She sat up abruptly, a terrifying resolve flickering in her eyes.

"The Ten Thousand Mile Traceless Talisman... can indeed obscure the heavenly secrets."

"But Ye Xuan, have you forgotten?"

"I am the woman who shared your bed."

"Since I could plant the Concentric Heart Curse on your body, I can plant something even deeper within the depths of your soul."

Xia Lengyue sat cross-legged, her hands forming an extremely bizarre and deeply evil hand seal.

As the hand seals shifted, her originally pale face began to flush red.

She was burning her Nascent Soul origin!

She was casting a forbidden art known as the Soul-Burning Blood Curse!

"With my blood, I guide your soul."

"With my life, I lock your body."

Pfft!

She spat out a mouthful of lifeblood, which transformed into an eerie, blood-red runic symbol in midair.

The bloody light in Xia Lengyue's eyes flared brilliantly.

Although the Traceless Talisman had erased all external marks.

But...

"Ye Xuan, the resources you cultivated with were given by me."

"The spiritual energy for your Foundation Establishment was provided by me."

"Every inch of flesh and blood in your body was built upon the resources I gave you!"

"This is karma! This is the greatest brand of all!"

"Everything you swallowed, I want you to spit back out with interest!"

The blood-red rune trembled violently in the air, seemingly trying to point in a certain direction, yet it was blocked by a layer of hazy gray fog.

The two forces tore at each other madly in the void.

Blood began to seep from Xia Lengyue's seven orifices, and her body cracked with fine lines like fragile porcelain.

Pain!

Agony that pierced straight to the soul!

Yet, she was smiling.

"Found it... I feel it..."

"Even though it's very blurry... even though I don't know the exact location..."

"But... you are in the North."

"You are in the far North."

That was the direction of the Mortal Realm.

"The Mortal Realm?"

Xia Lengyue opened her bleeding eyes, her lips curling into an utterly cruel smile.

"Smart."

"Truly clever, my husband."

"You know that cultivators are unwilling to enter the mortal world, and you know that the aura of the mundane dust there can isolate divine sense."

"So you hid yourself among that pile of ants?"

"Did you think that by hiding among mortals, I wouldn't be able to find you?"

"Did you think that with that talisman, I would be helpless against you?"

Xia Lengyue slowly stood up, letting the blood drip from her body.

She walked over to a massive bronze mirror.

Looking at her reflection—a face covered in blood, looking like a madwoman, a demon.

She stuck out her tongue and licked the blood from the corner of her lips.

"Ye Xuan."

"Since you like the Mortal Realm so much..."

"Then I will turn the entire Mortal Realm into a living hell."

"I will search country by country."

"I will slaughter them, city by city."

"I will kill everyone who looks like you."

"I will kill everyone who has ever seen you."

"Once everyone else is dead... the one left standing will naturally be you."

She faced the mirror, revealing an extremely sickly, twisted, yet expectant smile:

"Are you hiding well?"

"My little husband."

"Please... please don't let me find you too quickly."

"Because this time..."

"I won't give you any more chances."

"After I find you."

"I will break your limbs and cripple your cultivation."

"I will forge a cage out of Ten-Thousand-Year Black Iron."

"I will lock you inside, leaving only a single hole to feed you and to make love to you."

"I will make you beg for life and pray for death."

"I will make sure that in this life, the next life, and for all eternity..."

"You will only ever be able to look at me."

"Haha... Hahahaha..."

The manic laughter pierced through the bedchambers and the grand hall, echoing in the skies above Cold Moon Peak.

Accompanied by this laughter, crimson snow began to fall from the sky.

It was an anomaly formed entirely by the condensation of Xia Lengyue's killing intent.

At this moment.

The entire Qingyun Sect, and even the entire cultivation world of the Eastern Continent.

Trembled in fear beneath the laughter of this madwoman.

And she had already cast her gaze toward the distant North.

There lay the Great Qian Dynasty.

There stood a youth eating a stick of candied haws, believing he had finally gained his freedom.