At this moment, Jiang Luohan is no longer the beautiful and gentle woman she once was.
When Zhang Yu's gaze fell on her, Jiang Luohan trembled violently as if pricked by a needle.
She knew it was her turn.
Before Zhang Yu could speak, Jiang Luohan scrambled forward a few steps, sobbing and crying with tears streaming down her face:
"Brother Yu, please listen to me, please let me explain."
Her voice was sharp and shrill, filled with pleading and panic:
"I was forced into this. It was Zhang Heng and his Zhang Family who forced me to break off our engagement."
She cried out as she crawled forward on her knees, trying to get closer to Zhang Yu, but was stopped by the cold blades of the black-armored guards.
"You've always been in my heart, Brother Yu."
Jiang Luohan pounded the ground, crying even more miserably:
"What can I, a mere woman, do in the face of coercion from the Marquis Estate's household?"
Please forgive me this once, just this once, okay?
I'll listen to you in everything from now on, and I'll never leave you again.
She desperately shifted all the blame onto the Zhang Family and their Lineage, portraying herself as a simple, ignorant, pitiful, and weak woman, trying to evoke even the slightest bit of lingering affection in Zhang Yu's heart for their past relationship.
This performance elicited varying reactions from different people.
Xiao Fenghua watched coldly, a sneer curling at the corner of her lips.
Xiao Meier covered her mouth with her sleeve and let out a barely audible sneer, her eyes full of amusement at the spectacle.
Most of the other members of the Imperial Family also showed disdain; their quick change of attitude and attempts to shirk responsibility were truly despicable.
"Shut up, you bitch."
Zhang Heng, who was sprawled on the ground, also erupted at this moment, shouting angrily:
"It's clearly your own vanity that led you to take the initiative to seduce me when you saw that Zhang Yu had lost his status in the Marquis Estate."
Now that things are turning sour, are they trying to pin all the blame on us?
"Pah! Shameless slut!"
Although Qin Xuehua was on the verge of collapse, upon hearing Jiang Luohan's words, she struggled to raise her head and, with her last strength, let out a hoarse, cold laugh:
"Jiang Luohan... you shameless thing."
If it weren't for the fact that you're somewhat attractive and have feelings for my Heng'er, and can please him, do you think I would have even given you a second glance?
Will they tacitly allow you to get close to Heng'er?
You were the one who eagerly clung to me, and now you want to distance yourself?
Dream!"
Zhang Wanning also spat weakly. "That's right. When we broke off the engagement, although you didn't propose it yourself, you didn't object. You even looked expectant."
I still remember that disgusted look on his face.
Now you're pretending to be so sentimental?
It's disgusting.
The three members of the Zhang Family, mother and sons, were unusually united at this moment, and once again exposed Jiang Luohan's true colors.
They themselves were in dire straits, and they hated Jiang Luohan, this traitor and opportunist, even more, and they showed no mercy in exposing her.
Zhang Yu merely watched this dog-eat-dog farce with indifference, observing Jiang Luohan's tearful and disgraceful performance, and the Zhang Family's sarcastic retorts, without feeling a ripple in his heart.
He seemed like an outsider, watching an absurd drama unfold that had nothing to do with him.
His consciousness, however, sank deep into his heart, whispering to the original Obsession:
Did you see that?
This is the White Moonlight you've been longing for.
Selfish and callous, opportunistic, and vain to the core.
What you cherish is nothing more than her carefully crafted facade of gentleness, nothing more than a beautiful, illusory memory that you yourself have embellished.
The real her is exactly like this.
In order to protect themselves, they can unhesitatingly shift all blame onto others;
For wealth and status, one can instantly betray all vows;
Faced with desperation, all that's left is this ugly and pathetic begging.
"With this kind of person, do you still want to protect her because of this lingering Obsession?"
Do you still think... it's worth it?
Zhang Yu's consciousness space was completely silent.
That faint spark of Obsession seemed to flicker uncertainly in the face of this cruel truth, filled with struggle and pain.
It saw Jiang Luohan's current ugly state and heard Zhang Yu's cold words.
After a long while, an extremely faint thought gently echoed in Zhang Yu's heart, like a sigh:
Let her go...
"Consider it... my last time protecting her..."
"After all, back then... when I was humiliated by the Zhang Family, in the dead of winter, almost freezing to death in the snow in the back alley of the Marquis Estate... it was she... who secretly gave me a cold steamed bun and a bowl of... barely warm leftover soup..."
That warmth... whether it was fake or charity... ultimately... it allowed me to see the light that followed...
"Let her go... From now on... we owe each other nothing... and have no further connection..."
This thought was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind, yet it carried a sense of peace that came from complete letting go.
After saying this, Zhang Yu clearly felt that the last trace of lingering affection he had for Jiang Luohan, which had been entangled for so long, melted away like ice and snow under the sun, disappearing without a trace.
It vanished so abruptly that it didn't even require Zhang Yu to swear or promise that he would fulfill this final request.
It was as if, upon seeing Jiang Luohan's true colors and after expressing that insignificant "gratitude," this Obsession itself felt that it had no more attachment or hindrance, and voluntarily chose to dissipate, returning to eternal annihilation.
And as this last vestige of Obsession completely dissipated—
Buzz!
Zhang Yu felt a slight tremor throughout his body, not from external force, but from the depths of his soul.
A pure, powerful, and vast Soul Power, like a volcano that had been suppressed for a long time, suddenly erupted from the very Origin of his soul, instantly sweeping across his entire Sea of Consciousness.
In an instant, Zhang Yu felt his Soul Power surge wildly at an unprecedented speed.
This is half of the Soul Power that was previously Obsession, and now it has completely returned to the body.
This unexpected gain caused a barely perceptible glint to flash in Zhang Yu's eyes.
The Original owner's obsession dissipated, not only resolving the last hidden danger in his State of Mind, but also bringing real and enormous benefits.
"Someone come here." He spoke, his voice calm and even, yet carrying an undeniable air of authority.
"Yes, sir!" The black-armored guard bowed and acknowledged the order.
Zhang Yu's gaze swept over Jiang Luohan as if she were an insignificant trinket, and he said indifferently:
"Drag this woman out."
My Cultivation is stripped, and I banish her from the Capital City. As for her future life or death, wealth or poverty, it is none of my concern.
He ultimately inherited the last vestige of the original owner's fading Obsession, and did not take her life on the spot, nor did he inflict further physical torture.
But to have one's Cultivation abolished is already a tremendous punishment for a Martial Artist.
The guards obeyed the order and stepped forward to lift Jiang Luohan, who was still crying and struggling, up as if she were a chick.
"No, Zhang Yu, Brother Yu, you can't do this to me."
I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. Please forgive me for the sake of our childhood friendship.
Jiang Luohan's cries were shrill and desperate, filled with disbelief and a final struggle.
She seemed to have never imagined that after pleading and crying for so long, she would receive such a cruel verdict.
If her Cultivation is stripped and she's banished from the Capital City, what chance does she have of survival?
But the guards were swift and showed no mercy, quickly subduing her and striking her Dantian with a palm.
Jiang Luohan screamed, her face turning deathly pale. Her aura deflated like a punctured balloon, and years of Cultivation vanished.
Then, she was dragged out like a dead dog, her shrill cries quickly fading into the distance and finally disappearing at the end of the Heavenly Prison passage.
After dealing with Jiang Luohan, Zhang Yu's gaze returned to Qin Xuehua, Zhang Heng, Zhang Wanning, whose faces were ashen and whose eyes held only despair.
At this moment, his eyes were clear and cold, his Divine Soul was perfectly intact, and there was no longer any emotional interference from the original owner of the body, only pure and cold decisiveness.
"Now,"
He spoke slowly, his voice echoing through the Heavenly Prison, carrying the weight of final judgment, "It is time to end the last ties between us."