Chapter 50: You, have you repented?

Ha, it disappeared……

That night, the beasts tore open the mask of pretense and shattered the dignity I had painstakingly maintained for so long!

Afterwards, my west courtyard was cold and deserted by day, but at night it was filled with the beasts' excited rough panting, my weeping, my pleas……

Third Master.

Eldest Master.

Second Master.

……

And……Cao Hude!

My body, my spirit endured unprecedented torment; I tried to die several times, but each time I was saved.

Bowl after bowl of medicinal liquid was poured down my throat, keeping my life hanging by a thread.

I'm still young!

A young widow who bore the weight of the chastity archway suddenly died—how much criticism would the Cao family face?

So I cannot die.

But to live……is worse than death!

When my lower abdomen first slightly swelled, oh heavens, I truly collapsed.

Fortunately I know a bit of medicine; the Cao family never lacks medicinal herbs.

Fresh blood streamed down my legs, my lower abdomen churned like a stormy sea, and I collapsed in a pool of blood.

The child was gone, yet they revived me again.

I thought after this they would learn a lesson.

But peace lasted less than a month, and they……came again.

I hate!

I hate!

I hate those beasts, and I hate my easy‑pregnancy constitution.

Pinching my nose, I drank bowl after bowl of contraceptive decoction, yet I kept getting pregnant again and again, aborting each time.

I don't know how many I've aborted—seven? Or eight?

Until my lower abdomen swelled once more.

But this time, no matter how much medicine I took, it had no effect; my belly grew day by day, and in less than three months I was as big as a drum, as if about to give birth.

Such a belly cannot be concealed.

Rumors ran rampant, stirring public anger; they toppled the chastity archway, seized my hair and dragged me out, beating me relentlessly, demanding I name the lover.

My belly ached terribly, my body was weak, I kept vomiting blood clots, and finally I fainted.

But I was painfully awakened alive, a cloth stuffed in my mouth, my limbs bound to a door panel, unable to cry out or move.

But I could hear.

It was Cao Hude!

Cao Hude said I had not taken a lover, nor was I pregnant; I was ill.

Having studied abroad, he had seen similar difficult ailments.

To prove my innocence and preserve the Cao family's reputation, he personally wielded the knife, opened my abdomen, turned over my organs, and found the tumor hidden in my uterus.

He said, "Look, it's a tumor, not a fetus."

Ha ha, it's a tumor.

Fortunately it's a tumor.

A tumor would only take my life, but a fetus would destroy the entire Cao family!

My belly was cut open and then stitched shut.

I was dragged back to the Cao household like a dead dog.

As I lay on the brink of death on the small bed in the west courtyard, enduring immense pain, outside the Cao family was loudly repairing the chastity archway.

I ultimately could not survive that night, and finally died.

Someone as sinful as I, even if I went to hell after death, would accept it gladly.

As long as I could escape the Cao family's cage, flee this chastity archway, I would do anything.

But when I awoke again, I despaired to find I was still in the Cao household.

Seven or eight little spirits surrounded me, imprisoning my soul.

They bore deep grudges, equally hating every member of the Cao family.

I was like a marionette, and under their control I launched a horrendous slaughter against the Cao family!

Slaughter brought the pleasure of revenge.

I watched the beasts who had once shoved me into the abyss fall one by one at my feet, my heart filled with unprecedented exhilaration!

In the end, only Cao Hude remained of the Cao family.

Every night I clung to him, asking, "Cao Lord, have you seen my commendation document?"

I watched him grow more fearful day by day, thinner day by day, and I only asked him, "Cao Lord, do you know what repentance is?"

Cao Hude repented; he knelt on the ground begging me to spare his life, but then he turned and summoned a Daoist priest, who performed a rite to trap me in the west courtyard.

Ha ha, how could I still trust him?

Accompanied by the Cao Yu Clan's weeping‑like laughter, the woman's monologue faded, the illusion before me shattered with a boom, my thoughts coalesced, and I found myself still standing at the west courtyard gate.

In the west courtyard, Wu Qian lay collapsed on the ground, while the Cao Yu Clan held that commendation document in her hands, opened the first page, and read: "Jingcheng Cao Yu Clan…"

She read slowly, weeping as she read, crying and then laughing.

The few little fiends on her shoulders also followed her, crying and laughing.

After a while like that, the Cao Yu Clan murmured, 'If I hadn't lost this Commendation Document back then, would everything have been different?'

'No, if I had never had this Commendation Document from the start, would my fate have been different?'

'Or perhaps, if I hadn't been sold into the Cao family, I would have starved to death on the streets long ago……'

'What wrong have I done? Where have I gone wrong?'

'No, I never had any choice; the fault is yours! Yours!'

A tearing sound.

The Commendation Document that the Cao Yu Clan had searched for over a hundred years was torn to pieces in her hands.

I instantly sensed something wrong, urging everyone to quickly retreat from the Cao household.

The Cao Yu Clan violently flung the shredded papers from her hand, her eyes brimming with blood and tears flashing with ferocity, while the few little fiends on her shoulders cackled wildly.

Bang!

Bang bang!

As the Cao Yu Clan's resentment peaked, her ghostly power reached an unprecedented height; the thresholds of the manor shattered one by one on their own, and the Cao family's seal could no longer contain her at this moment.

With a roar, the Cao Yu Clan sent the few little fiends on her shoulders flying up, cackling as they lunged at us!

Li Qingying gripped her long whip, while Master Huichuan held up his ruler, and together they went forward to meet them.

I, meanwhile, shielded the Wu family as we retreated outward.

But tonight, the Cao Yu Clan and the little fiends were obviously far stronger than last night.

Li Qingying and Master Huichuan were entangled by several little fiends, unable to break free, while the Cao Yu Clan charged toward us.

'You go first! Get out of the Cao household before we talk!'

While shouting, I formed a hand seal and bellowed, 'Feng Wu, come forth!'

A long bow wreathed in flames instantly appeared in my hand, the Golden Scale on its shaft flashing with brilliant golden light.

I pulled the bowstring taut, gripping it tightly, and aimed at the Cao Yu Clan, baring fangs and brandishing claws.

Actually, at this moment I felt a bit panicked inside.

These past days I've been nurturing my body and hadn't drawn the bow; when Liu Junyan earlier inlaid the Golden Scale into the bow, I could draw it to produce an empty twang and feel the air's shockwave, but that force was scattered, lacking focus, so its killing power didn't coalesce.

The Cao Yu Clan was already within arm's reach; a single lapse on my part would mean total defeat.

But there was no time left to hesitate; I clenched my back teeth and suddenly released.

Whoosh, whoosh whoosh...

The instant the taut bowstring snapped, clusters of pale golden flames sprang into existence, scattering wildly in all directions.

The Cao Yu Clan froze, and the few little fiends also froze.

Everyone present froze.

Until Master Huichuan shouted a warning: 'Dodge!'

Master Huichuan and Li Qingying both flung themselves to the ground; several blobs of flame pierced the little fiends' bodies, and only a shrill scream was heard as the little fiends were pinned mid‑air.

The golden flames burned within their bodies, while a steady stream of black vapor kept pouring out.

The little fiends, filled with raging resentment, gradually faded until they vanished.

I had already drawn the long bow to full again, the taut bowstring aimed at the Cao Yu Clan.

I wasn't sure whether Feng Wu could still unleash the same power as before, nor whether this shot would hit the Cao Yu Clan, but for now I at least needed to intimidate her; otherwise, none of us would escape tonight unscathed.

But at that moment, the Cao Yu Clan shed all her ferocity, lifted her face toward me, and blood‑tears streamed down her gaunt visage.

She closed her eyes and smiled: 'After a full one hundred and twenty years, I… can finally be freed……'