Jiang Che: I'm Willing to Die

"Mother! Mother, please calm down!"

Jia Ling'er spread her arms, using her petite frame to shield Jiang Che.

The Jialan Empress halted, gazing coldly at her daughter, her eyes fixed on Jia Ling'er's right hand.

By now, most of Jia Ling'er's right hand had turned to stone. Soon, her entire arm would become immobile, and eventually, she would petrify completely.

"Jia Ling'er!!!"

The Empress could barely contain her fury.

"I told you to stop falling for him! How could you still—"

Jia Ling'er's face twisted with sorrow. "Mother... I may not understand, but you should know better than anyone. The hardest thing to control... is the heart. I didn’t want to love him, but I... I couldn’t help it."

At first, she had hated Jiang Che—hated him for defiling her purity, hated him for taking so much from her.

But that’s how love-addled minds work. Hatred festered... until it twisted into affection.

"You—!" The Jialan Empress was on the verge of losing it.

[Ding! Host successfully trolled the Jialan Empress, rewarded with 500 million points.]

Hell yeah! There was nothing quite like fleecing a supreme ruler right under her nose.

"Ling'er, you’ve been consumed by inner demons. Once I kill this brat, you’ll return to normal!"

The Empress raised her hand, summoning countless barriers in the void, trapping Jia Ling'er securely within a protective dome.

Then, chains wreathed in black flames materialized from thin air, lashing toward Jiang Che!

In this dreamscape, the Jialan Empress was an absolute deity—a being of the void.

Even across dimensions, her power was barely diminished. Had this been the Nine Heavens, even a half-immortal dragged into her realm would face mortal peril.

Thud!

A chain pierced straight through Jiang Che’s collarbone, the black flames charring half his body.

"Oh? Why didn’t you dodge?" The Empress looked down at him with icy disdain.

Jiang Che: "..."

Seriously, bitch? At that speed, who the hell could dodge?

Of course, he could have dodged—but why bother? A little fatal injury was nothing!

He’d played the martyr before. His performance during the heavenly tribulation had even made Yu Wan'er sob her heart out.

Today, Jiang Che was the epitome of devotion!

Cough cough "Because... I’m not afraid!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face pale but resolute.

"Not afraid? Then die!!!"

The madwoman struck without hesitation. The chains impaling Jiang Che’s shoulder erupted with power!

[Ding! Phoenix’s Protection activated. Host successfully revived!]

Jiang Che: "..."

I didn’t even get to savor death, and now I’m back?

This psycho... she’s really trying to kill me!!!

"Hmm? A revival technique... No matter how many tricks you have, today you will die!"

Just as the Empress prepared to strike again, Jiang Che gripped the chains. "Your Majesty, why are you so determined to kill me?"

The Jialan Empress glanced at Jia Ling'er and smirked. So, her daughter hadn’t told him about the ancestral curse.

Pathetic. The Jialan Empress, infamous for her ruthlessness, had somehow birthed a love-struck fool.

If not for the three centuries she’d spent carrying this child, she’d have suspected a mix-up at birth.

But then... a cold idea flickered in her mind.

"Ling'er, the ancestral curse isn’t baseless. Human men are the best liars. Let me prove it to you."

With that, she yanked Jiang Che closer by the chains.

Now barely two meters apart, Jiang Che could even catch the faint orchid-like scent of her skin—though this was no delicate flower, but a venomous rose.

Lifting his gaze, blood trickling from his lips, Jiang Che met the Empress’s eyes with eerie calm.

[Damn, up close, this Empress is hotter than a figurine. That skin... The 3D art world is missing out.]

[Total goddess. These chains got me feeling some type of way... Almost makes me wish for a little whip action... Ahem!]

[But she’s brutal. One wrong move, and I’d be dead without my cheat cards.]

"Fine, I’ll tell you. The curse in our mermaid bloodline forbids us from loving humans—or we slowly turn to stone."

She pointed at Jia Ling'er’s petrified arm, her voice dripping with venom.

"See that? Ling'er is already petrifying. It’s irreversible. Even if I separate you two for eternity, she’ll keep turning to stone—unless..."

"You die!!!"

The Empress’s teeth clenched.

"So now you understand? This is why you must die. As her mother, I’d wage war on the world for Ling'er—even if it means defying the entire Jiang Family!"

She had everything under control. Kill Jiang Che, and peace would be restored.

"Oh—" Jiang Che’s eyes dimmed.

"Ha! Didn’t you claim to love Ling'er?"

"If you truly do... surely you don’t want to watch her petrify?" The Empress laughed, her smile colder than death.

Jiang Che: "..."

Wow, stealing my lines now?

"If you love her... then you’ll die for her, won’t you?"

The Empress leaned in, her whisper a serpent’s hiss against his ear.

But she never expected Jiang Che’s mind to be... elsewhere.

[So... so white.]

"Jiang Che, no! Don’t do anything reckless!!!"

"Mother! Your Majesty, please stop pressuring him!"

Jia Ling'er’s desperate cries snapped Jiang Che back to reality.

Honestly, he felt a twinge of guilt. I’m such a bastard.

"Your Majesty... I choose death."

His words stunned even the Empress.

"You... what did you say?"

"I said I’m willing to die." Jiang Che’s voice was eerily calm.

"Heh... Hahaha! Good. Here’s a blade. Kill yourself now—your soul will scatter beyond even a immortal’s power to revive."

"Of course, suicide is the dignified way. If you refuse dignity... I’ll grant it to you."

While most families had wicked mothers-in-law tormenting daughters-in-law, Jiang Che got stuck with a murderous mother-in-law hellbent on slaughtering her son-in-law!

"Jiang Che! No!!! Don’t do it!!!" Jia Ling'er screamed, her voice raw with anguish.

Never had she imagined Jiang Che would choose death for her sake.

In an instant, her affection for him skyrocketed—and with it, the petrification accelerated.