Star Luo Empire border, Nether Forest.
Night was as dark as ink, and rain poured in torrents.
The icy rain washed over the muddy ground, but it couldn't disperse the faint scent of blood hanging in the air.
"Cough, cough..."
A dark figure stumbled through the bushes. Blood kept seeping between the fingers pressed to her left shoulder, staining the tight black leather outfit she wore.
The girl looked no older than twelve or thirteen, yet her figure was already remarkably developed, her fiery curves faintly visible beneath her soaked clothes.
But now, her stunningly beautiful face was as pale as paper, and her obsidian eyes were filled with exhaustion and grim resolve.
Zhu Zhuqing.
The second young lady of the Zhu Family in the Star Luo Empire, she was also a fugitive enduring her family's brutal competition, hunted by her own elder sister.
"Dai Mubai..."
She leaned against the back of a towering tree, gasping for breath as she used the sound of the rain to cover her tracks.
Those two words were the only thing that had kept her going all the way from Star Luo Imperial City to here.
He was her fiancé.
Though he had chosen to flee in cowardice back then, leaving her alone to face the family's oppression.
Still, Zhu Zhuqing had held on to a sliver of hope.
Maybe he'd gone to find a way to grow stronger?
Maybe he was waiting for her somewhere, gathering strength so he could fight his way back to Star Luo?
If she could find him, if he hadn't given up, then all her suffering and all the blood she'd shed would still mean something.
Just as Zhu Zhuqing forced herself to stay alert and prepared to continue on her way,
"Bzzzt—"
A strange golden light shone from inside her clothes, standing out starkly in the pitch-black rainy night.
"What is that?!"
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes narrowed, and she instantly went on guard.
If it was a tracking mark, she was done for!
She quickly reached into her clothes, but what she pulled out wasn't a soul tool bomb. It was a black book with a smooth, warm feel.
Five gilded characters gleamed on its cover in the darkness: Su Yun's Diary (Copy).
"A diary?"
Zhu Zhuqing froze.
Who wrote diaries, anyway?
And who would send a copy to someone being hunted?
Was this her sister's scheme? Or... some unknown miracle?
As if possessed, she opened to the first page.
The handwriting was bold and vigorous, with a carefree air, but its contents were like a volley of sharp knives, stabbing straight into Zhu Zhuqing's heart.
[X year, X month, X day. Rainy. A good day for sleeping, and for catching someone cheating.]
[Since I'm going to Suotuo City, I have to mention one of its great "sights."]
[That sick cat, Dai Mubai, is probably living pretty comfortably these days, huh?]
[A dignified prince of the Star Luo Empire, and instead of working hard at cultivation so he can return to save his fiancée, he's hiding like a turtle in some backwater town.]
[He's even become the local "Debauched Wanderer" to numb himself.]
[Tsk, tsk. If I've got the timing right, he should be at Rose Hotel in Suotuo City again tonight, right?]
[Still in that "Red Ocean" suite, still with that pair of fiery Twin Sisters.]
[One on each arm, drowning in wine and pleasure.]
[Poor Zhu Zhuqing, that silly girl, is still making a death-defying journey of a thousand miles.]
[She thinks she's rushing toward hope. In truth, she's rushing toward a joke.]
[Not only will that so-called fiancé sneer at her, he'll even dupe her into joining that shabby Shrek Academy, where she'll be the sucker who does all the suffering.]
[If I were her, the first thing I'd do when I reached Suotuo City would be to break Dai Mubai's third leg, then call off the engagement! Let him go live it up with the twins!]
The rain seemed to grow heavier.
The icy raindrops struck Zhu Zhuqing's face, but she didn't feel the cold.
Because her heart had already frozen solid.
"Sick cat..."
"Like a turtle..."
"Rose Hotel... twins..."
Zhu Zhuqing stared at the words, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the diary so tightly she nearly crushed it.
So this was the truth?
I'm struggling to survive amid bloodshed, every breath a gift.
And you, my fiancé, are enjoying yourself in a lover's arms?
I saw you as my lifeline, but you saw me as baggage you could discard whenever you pleased?
"Heh..."
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly laughed.
Her laughter was low, mingling with the rain, full of heartbroken sorrow—but more than that, it carried the cold edge of someone transformed.
The faint hope in her eyes went out completely.
In its place was a clarity she had never known before.
"Dai Mubai, you truly make me... sick."
Zhu Zhuqing closed the diary. She didn't throw it away; instead, she carefully tucked it against her body.
She didn't know who this "Su Yun" was.
Nor did she know why he knew these secrets.
But instinct told her that everything written in the diary was true. It fit Dai Mubai's character far too well—the same character he'd shown when he fled back then.
"Su Yun..."
Zhu Zhuqing murmured the name, a strange light flashing in her eyes.
"Since you know everything, even the details of my situation..."
"Then I'll go see what kind of person you are."
She braced herself against the tree and slowly straightened up.
Her back, hunched from her injuries, was now ramrod straight, like a drawn sword.
The pain remained, but the helpless confusion was gone.
"The assassins my sister sent are still behind me."
"I can't die."
"At least not before I see Dai Mubai's ugly face with my own eyes and slap the engagement contract in his face!"
Zhu Zhuqing checked her bearings.
Suotuo City.
It had once been a sacred place in her heart. Now, it was the battlefield where she would settle the score.
"Dai Mubai, I hope your twins are charming enough."
"Let's see if you can still smile when you face my Hell Stab."
"And that Su Yun..."
A cold curve lifted the corner of Zhu Zhuqing's mouth:
"If you lied to me, you'll die too."
Whoosh!
Her dark figure vanished into the rain-soaked forest once more.
This time, her steps were no longer frantic, and her gaze was no longer lost.
At that moment, the Hell Spirit Cat finally bared her fangs.
At that very moment, a thousand miles away, Su Yun was lying in a comfortable carriage, enjoying Xiao Wu feeding him.
Suddenly, the system's prompt rang out in his mind.
[ Ding! Detected a drastic change in the mindset of key character "Zhu Zhuqing." ]
[ Original plotline "Zhu Zhuqing's Unrequited Love for Dai Mubai" has collapsed. ]
[ Dai Mubai's Luck Value -2000, host's Villain Value +2000. ]
[ Reward: Nether Shadow Clone (Skill Book), Agility +50. ]
Su Yun froze, then swallowed the grape Xiao Wu fed him and grinned like a fox that had just stolen a chicken.
"Oh?"
"Looks like that little wildcat got my delivery."
"Dai Mubai, Dai Mubai, your good days are over."
"The twins? Let's see how you survive this time without a relationship!"
Before you continue