Chapter 100: Ruthless

But the latter still hurts, it hurts to the point of being unable to breathe.

Qingxia could only see Liu Liyan's back, seeing that the scab had split in the intangible.

She could keenly sense that Liu Liyan's complexion was extremely unstable, as if even her cold voice carried a slight tremor.

She couldn't understand,

She really couldn't understand.

Although the Young Sect Master Su is a decent person, Qingxia still couldn't figure out what quality could make her usually calm and wise master, so composed and decisive, love him to this extent.

Qingxia tried to probe indirectly from the side, but Liu Liyan never said anything.

The reason for this is probably unclear even to Sect Master Liu, and even Su Chen himself doesn't know.

"Master, there are fragrant grasses everywhere under heaven; why cling to just one flower? Why must you hang yourself on this tree of the Young Sect Master Su? Earlier, the Sixth Prince..."

Suddenly a bone-chilling cold air shot straight to her brow; Qingxia felt a chill down her spine, and she swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, cleverly changing the subject: "Master, actually things aren't as bad as you think."

"I just heard the Young Sect Master Su say that your engagement with her is purely because of you, not because she's thinking of Lin Jianran, and it's even less likely she'd abandon you."

"Don't jump to the worst conclusions for everything; maybe the Young Sect Master will come looking for you soon."

Liu Liyan tilted her head.

She glanced askance at Qingxia, her blood-red eyes glowing intensely.

Her eyes swirled with various emotions, but in the end they were calmed; she spoke in the most indifferent tone, yet her words were full of grievance: "He's just a little liar; everything he says is a lie to me."

Qingxia: "??"

"He said our engagement was simply because of me, that I was deceiving myself."

"He said he would never abandon me in this life or the next, but that's also a lie."

Liu Liyan lightly pressed her red lips, her beautiful eyes gazing toward the tent, murmuring: "He... has abandoned me many times before."

"Master, you only just got engaged to the Young Sect Master Su not long ago, right?"

"How could it be many times already?"

"How come she doesn't know?"

Qingxia's face was full of question marks: "??"

Yet gazing at Liu Liyan, she lost her composure, her face full of desolation; though her emotions had sunk to rock bottom and her heart was already scarred, she still forced herself to appear calm, aloof and indifferent.

"Master, please don't be like this; I feel heartbroken watching you."

"If you're truly feeling upset inside, I'll sneak into Qianyuan City and have Lin Jianran eliminated; if the Young Sect Master Su causes trouble for you, just seal his cultivation."

"A forced melon isn't sweet, but it quenches thirst! Maybe over time feelings will grow, and the Sect Master will gradually forget Lin Jianran." Qingxia was anxious, sweat pouring down her forehead.

Liu Liyan gave Qingxia a deep, lingering glance.

Those eyes seemed to say,

"I really believed your nonsense."

"You keep giving me ideas that aren't so lovely."

Although she felt a slight stir in her heart, whenever Liu Liyan thought of Su Chen looking at her with disgust and hatred, she felt so pained she couldn't breathe; she would rather chop herself into pieces than have that day come.

"Qingxia." Liu Liyan coldly uttered a few words: "It's exactly that I trusted you wrongly; you keep tempting me to do things that make Ah Chen heartbroken to the point of despair."

Qingxia's face filled with astonishment.

"How come I'm not reliable?"

"Well, well, when you previously pretended to be pitiful and acted fragile, how could you be so thorough?"

"It seems anything that doesn't sink into your heart isn't considered reliable, right?"

Under such a heavy atmosphere, Qingxia didn't dare to speak up in rebuttal at all; she could only watch as Liu Liyan left, acting as if nothing had happened.

Walking on, she arrived at the place where Yunhai City imprisons its prisoners.

Clunk.

This second.

In Qingxia's mind, it was as if a slideshow played, flashing countless images; she felt a jolt of heart-pounding anxiety, mustered courage to glance at Liu Liyan's expression at that moment, fearing that this hot-tempered, extreme love‑brain might do something foolish on the spur of the moment.

The two guards, the black panther and the black dog, had not yet returned.

In the spacious cell, aside from the Azure Dragon Holy Land disciple bound to the cross, only Liu Liyan and Qingxia remained.

"You!! What are you doing here?"

"Are you here to kill me to silence me?"

The Guest Elder, his body covered in scars from the branding, met that harmless human‑and‑beast gaze, and shivered: "A venerable sect's Holy Maiden, I never expected her to be so vicious behind the scenes."

"Even the Young Sect Master Su, a good‑for‑nothing second‑generation heir, has been bewitched by you to the point of losing his soul."

"Let me tell you, you Liu."

"My soul has been sealed in advance by our Holy Son; I also shout about poison pills in my mouth—don't even try to pry anything from my lips. I won't yield; at worst I'll die."

"Let me tell you, you Liu."

The Guest Elder shouted threats at Liu Liyan through gritted teeth, his fear reaching its peak.

To mask the reluctance and fear deep inside, he could only bolster his courage with his voice.

But how could Liu Liyan possibly be frightened by such a show of force?

She didn't even furrow her brow, walking straight to the row of torture devices.

She examined them carefully and picked one at random.

With her peerless beauty, she formed a stark contrast against the various bloody torture instruments beside her.

The intense visual impact made the Guest Elder's forehead bead with fine sweat; fear spread from his soles to his whole body: "You, you can't kill me—I am the Guest Elder of the Azure Dragon Holy Land, a retainer of the Holy Son. If you dare kill me, my soul lamp will go out and the Holy Son will sense it; then even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you will also be hunted..."

"The Young Sect Master Su will also grow suspicious of you, doubting that you are really so gentle and kind..."

Liu Liyan lifted her blood‑red eyes and gave the Guest Elder a casual glance.

Afterwards, the fingertip moved slightly.

Selected four torture tools.

Gauze, tweezers, bone-scraping knife, and a vessel.

In the guest elder's fearful pupils, Liu Liyan's reflection appeared; she walked over coldly, first stuffing gauze into the other's mouth.

Then she filled a vessel with salt water, picked up the bone-scraping knife, and walked toward the other's arm tightly bound to the wooden frame.

"Ah... ah..." The guest elder's pupils contracted violently, straining to shake his head at Liu Liyan.

What is she trying to do?

Suddenly.

The tweezers clamped his finger, emitting a crisp sound.

The guest elder stared wide-eyed; the bone-splitting pain spread throughout his body. He wanted to cry out, but his mouth was blocked, unable to make a sound.

A moment before,

Liu Liyan elegantly picked up the vessel filled with salt water, first placing the salt water aside, then using tweezers to clamp the other's finger, then firmly pinching, then using the bone-scraping knife to scrape off the other's nail.

Finally, she placed the finger, whose bone had been crushed and nail pulled out, into the vessel filled with salt water...

That pain, like myriad ants gnawing the heart, made the guest elder's once-trained physique ache so much that veins bulged at his temples and his pupils filled with bloodshot lines.