Poaching Plan, Zhu Zhuqing Awakens

He gazed at the wisps of blue smoke rising from the distant infirmary, where Zhu Zhuqing still lay unconscious, then continued muttering to himself:

"People with spiritual attributes would get twice the result with half the effort researching Soul Tools."

Shen Lian's fingers unconsciously traced across the stone table, sketching the outline of a Soul Tool as he continued:

"Though their spiritual power alone cannot compare to that of Soul Masters who specialize in spiritual cultivation, such Soul Masters are rare. But everyone in the Breaking Clan who awakens the Soul-Breaking Spear Martial Soul possesses a spiritual attribute, and they have a large population."

As night deepened, Shen Lian stood alone atop the watchtower at the town entrance.

Cloud-Breaking Town below glittered like a field of stars, and he knew that beneath every light lived a member of the Breaking Clan.

A brutal scene from the original story surfaced in his mind—Yang Wudi's battle against Tang San in Sunset Forest:

The old man's stubborn silver hair had been stained with blood, yet he still clutched his broken spear tightly.

"Tang San forcibly beat him with his cheats on, while his three old friends all stood at Tang San's side. He also feared Tang Hao behind Tang San. In the end, to protect his clansmen, he had no choice but to bow his head and join the Tang Sect, because the Breaking Clan feared those words too: 'You already have a death wish.'"

Shen Lian clenched his fists and continued thinking:

"Rather than let them walk toward such an ending..."

The wind swept past the bronze bells atop the tower, producing a faint tinkling sound.

Shen Lian looked toward the star-filled sky in the direction of the Sun-Moon Empire, a meaningful curve lifting at the corner of his lips.

If the Breaking Clan's spiritual Martial Souls were combined with the Sun-Moon Empire's Soul Tool technology, perhaps they could forge a force powerful enough to change the continent's balance.

And that force would be the foundation for the Sun-Moon Empire to unify Douluo Continent.

Moonlight on the wooden window lattice was suddenly obscured by a passing shadow. Shen Lian had just turned toward the watchtower's stone stairs when he heard the soft crack of a clay jar breaking inside.

When he pushed open the door, Zhu Zhuqing was bracing herself against the headboard as she sat up. The bandages beneath her black clothes seeped with faint bloodstains, but they could not conceal the cold gleam that suddenly flashed in her eyes.

"You're awake?"

Shen Lian casually shut the door, the candlelight behind him stretching his shadow long and thin.

Between the girl's hanging strands of hair, the scab over the claw marks on her neck had peeled away, revealing tender new pink skin.

Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head to look at the fingers she could now move. Her fingertips unconsciously curled into the shape of cat claws before she looked at Shen Lian, her savior, and said:

"Thank you for saving me, sir."

Her voice was hoarse, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness, like a blade tempered in ice.

Shen Lian poured warm water from a ceramic urn. The celadon bowl made a soft sound as he set it on the wooden table.

"That day, I heard what you and those people chasing you said. Together with your Martial Soul..."

Shen Lian deliberately paused, watching the girl's back suddenly tense before he continued:

"You should be the second daughter of the Zhu Clan, the one engaged to Star Luo's third prince."

Moonlight filtered through the window paper and shone upon Zhu Zhuqing's face. Her fingers clenched the blanket until her knuckles turned white, and only after a long while did she force out a single word through clenched teeth:

"Yes."

That word seemed to drain all her strength, and her body trembled slightly against the headboard.

"You escaped this time to find him?"

Shen Lian handed her the warm water. When the rim of the bowl touched her cracked lips, he saw her eyelashes tremble violently.

Zhu Zhuqing suddenly knocked over the porcelain bowl, splashing water across Shen Lian's sleeve.

"Find him?"

She let out a short, cold laugh, its sound carrying the sweet stench of blood foam, then viciously said:

"I wish he had never been born!"

Throwing off the blanket, the girl staggered to the window. Moonlight cast her shadow against the mottled wall like the silhouette of a trapped beast.

"Ever since I could remember, the identity of 'Dai Mubai's fiancée' had been branded onto me like a mark."

Her fingertips brushed across the cracks in the window lattice as she continued pouring out her grievances to Shen Lian:

"Whenever Zhu Zhuyun took my things, Father always said, 'You are the younger sister, so you must yield.' When Dai Weisi forced me to the edge of Soul Beast Forest, the clan elders said, 'This is to make you stronger and better matched with Dai Mubai.'"

At that, she suddenly turned around. Humiliation burned in her eyes as she continued:

"But he and I only met once, when we awakened our Martial Souls. On the day I awakened mine, he saw that my Innate Soul Power was only rank seven and decided that, together, we could never defeat Zhu Zhuyun and Dai Weisi!"

Shen Lian looked at the fresh scar on her waist, a wound left by Nether Claws that had cut deep enough to expose bone.

The image of Dai Mubai wasting his days away in Suotuo City overlapped with the trembling girl before him. Shen Lian suddenly recalled how Zhu Zhuqing had always trained alone until late at night at Shrek Academy in the original story.

"Then he ran away."

Zhu Zhuqing's voice suddenly dropped, like ashes scattered by the wind, turning heavy and low:

"He ran away, and Zhu Zhuyun and Dai Weisi treated me as a living target. I suffered every humiliation alone in the Star Luo Empire."

Zhu Zhuqing suddenly grabbed Shen Lian's sleeve, her nails nearly digging into his flesh, and continued:

"But what else could I do? If I did not go find him, who else could I turn to? Was I supposed to go back and wait to die?"

Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the window lattice, casting mottled patches of light and shadow through the room. Zhu Zhuqing's trembling figure looked especially thin and frail within them.

Shen Lian looked at her reddened eyes and disheveled hair. A trace of sympathy rose in his heart, but to add fuel to Zhu Zhuqing's fire, he said:

"Actually, even if you find him, your ending will still be death."

Shen Lian's deep, icy voice shattered the silence in the room as he continued:

"I saw your fiancé in Suotuo City before. He joined a terrible academy there, and every day he indulged in pleasure—eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. He was not cultivating properly at all."

Shen Lian deliberately slowed his pace, each word like a heavy hammer striking Zhu Zhuqing's heart.

Zhu Zhuqing's body jolted. Her already pale face turned utterly bloodless, as though all life had vanished from her in an instant.

She bit down on her lower lip until blood seeped out, yet she did not notice.

Seeing how unsteady she looked, Shen Lian added:

"So even if you find him, you will still die in the end."

Those words were the final straw that broke the camel's back. The stubbornness Zhu Zhuqing had been desperately holding onto instantly crumbled.

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor. Tears surged out like a burst dam.

Her heart-wrenching sobs echoed through the room, releasing years of pent-up grievance, fear, and despair.

Shen Lian stood to one side. He did not step forward to comfort her, only watched quietly.

Shen Lian knew that some pain had to be faced alone. Only after experiencing true despair could someone truly grow.

No one knew how much time passed before the sobbing gradually weakened.

Zhu Zhuqing curled up on the floor like an injured kitten, her body still twitching from time to time.

Shen Lian slowly walked over and sat beside her. The air was filled with oppressive silence.

"By what you said, I am already someone destined to die. I have entered the time of waiting for death."

Zhu Zhuqing's voice was hollow and despairing, as though she had already given up all hope of living.