Chapter 2

The words were viciously cutting.

Everyone stared in shock.

Their gazes shifted between Chu He and me.

Song Lingchuan rushed to Chu He first.

Clutching his arm, she leaned into his embrace and cried,

“Senior Brother, it hurts so much. Save me.”

Her suffering made his eyes turn red.

Veins bulged at his temples as he glared at me, opening his mouth to berate me.

But the instant he saw my face clearly, his voice died. He went deathly pale.

Someone spoke up in Chu He’s defense.

“How dare a newly ascended minor immortal behave so arrogantly?”

“What a vicious thing to say. You were clearly at fault. You should apologize.”

Mockery filled my eyes, and my lips curved in a brazen, contemptuous smile.

“Oh? Perhaps she committed some secret wrong and is being punished by Heaven.”

“No one else was harmed. Why was she the only one struck? She should reflect on her own behavior.”

“Wouldn’t you agree, Immortal Lord Song?”

Jaw clenched, Song Lingchuan scooped Chu He into his arms and headed for the door.

Chu He refused to leave.

“Senior Brother, punish her for me…”

Song Lingchuan must have whispered my name in her ear.

Her fingers abruptly loosened around his arm. Her lips trembled, and the eyes still flickering with divine light turned toward me. She could not conceal the terror on her face.

Neither of them had probably imagined that one day I, their victim, would come calling.

Now they were the ones too frightened to say a word.

I, on the other hand, could hardly wait to make my suffering known to everyone.

With difficulty, Song Lingchuan said, “Yun Ning, wait for me. I’ll come find you in a little while. There are things I need to tell you.”

I smiled. “Please do as you wish, Immortal Lord Song.”

Turning to someone nearby, I asked, “Immortal, could you tell me how to reach the Hall of Imprisoned Gods? I wish to report an immortal for using divine power to inflict unlawful punishment on a mortal…”

Song Lingchuan appeared before me almost instantly.

With one arm, he held Chu He, whose face was twisted in agony. With the other, he seized me by the arm despite my bright smile and said through suppressed rage,

“Yun Ning, I told you to wait. Once I have taken care of this, I will explain everything to you.”

Though Chu He was in excruciating pain, she forced herself to endure it, listening for my answer.

That made me feel better still.

But not nearly good enough.

I slapped Song Lingchuan’s hand away as though swatting a fly and said scornfully,

“Conduct yourself with dignity, Immortal Lord Song.”

“I may have been your wife in the mortal realm, but our bond ended when I ascended.”

“You are an Immortal Lord, and so am I.”

“If you continue to forget proper boundaries, we can settle the matter with our fists.”

Song Lingchuan’s face turned even paler.

“Yun Ning, that isn’t what I meant. I only want you to wait. Once I heal Chu He, I will bring her to you personally to apologize.”

“Are you begging me, Immortal Lord Song?” I asked with a smile, my tone deliberately insolent. “Very well. I’ll give you two choices. Either we go to the Hall of Imprisoned Gods together and tell them everything, or you let this Immortal Chu suffer for three years. Then I, too, will promise never to do it again. What do you say?”

Despair spread across Song Lingchuan’s face.

“You… know everything?”