Chapter 12: Be Your Blade

As expected, one only feels pain when the blow falls upon oneself.

“Third Miss, this servant does not understand what you’re saying. Please release me; I am truly in agony.”

Chun Chan clearly did not grasp Lu Lanxi’s meaning. She only felt that this woman must be possessed by some evil spirit; from head to toe, she sent chills down one’s spine.

“Wasn’t it you who just said, ‘A dog that can’t be tamed is better off slaughtered and cooked’?”

Chun Chan froze, then instantly understood what Lu Lanxi had meant earlier. She deeply regretted having said it.

“Ah, it hurts, Third Miss, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have bit you recklessly. From now on, I’ll do whatever you ask. Please spare this lowly life.”

“This servant will never harbor disloyal thoughts again.”

“The young mistress forced me; I was utterly helpless.”

As Chun Chan wept and begged for mercy, the little insect inside the box suddenly wriggled and bit her viciously.

“Now you know to beg for mercy? Too late!”

Lu Lanxi released her hand, her gaze wild and crazed as she stared at Chun Chan’s grimacing face.

“You beg not because you know you’re wrong, but because you fear death.”

Chun Chan looked at her swollen, reddened hand. Black lines, like branches, slowly spread up her arm. The pain was unbearable, and she wished she could kill Lu Lanxi.

“You’re not the Third Miss. Who are you? What have you done to me? Save me quickly, or neither the lady of the house nor the young mistress will spare you!”

Backing away, Chun Chan’s face distorted as she shouted.

“The poison has reached your heart, and you still dare to threaten me?”

“Lu Wanhe and the others are not your shields; now they are your death warrants.”

Lu Lanxi strode swiftly before Chun Chan, her slender hand closing around her neck. Chun Chan’s breathing grew labored as she wildly beat against Lu Lanxi’s grip.

“Who exactly are you? Let me go!”

“I am the young mistress’s person. If you kill me, you will die too.”

“What do you want?”

“You’re not human...”

Chun Chan rolled her eyes, her face flushed red, mouth wide open as if she had seen a man-eating demon.

“I’ve indulged you for so long, and you think you’re something special? Daring to swagger before me? If you’re tired of living, then go die.”

Her grip tightened. Just as Chun Chan was about to lose consciousness, Lu Lanxi suddenly released her.

She wanted only to torment her, to instill terror, to make her life worse than death.

***

Dragging her numb limbs, Chun Chan fled desperately toward the door. She knew she could not stay any longer—Lu Lanxi was possessed by a demon. Every moment longer meant certain death.

But as she reached the plum tree in the courtyard, all strength left her.

She watched helplessly as Lu Lanxi approached with deliberate slowness. She tried to cry out for help but no sound came.

Lu Lanxi stopped, her eyes suddenly cold, exuding an icy, merciless killing intent as she opened the box.

“Behave yourself. Don’t waste your efforts. Feed my treasure well, and you will have repaid your debt to me.”

Chun Chan stared as the repugnant little insect slowly crawled into her body. Despair and helplessness overwhelmed her.

She shook her head frantically, screaming silently.

***

Lu Lanxi, clad in red, sat quietly in the rocking chair under the moonlight, leisurely admiring the full moon.

How wonderful it is to live freely.

She always dealt with poison and witchcraft because she herself was cursed.

Her mother, Ye Nanzhi, hailed from the Youlan tribe. It was said she left home for love. Except for the master of the Lu family, no one else knew her origins.

The Youlan tribe was a tiny, isolated place, once independent, skilled in witchcraft. As a child, Lu Lanxi heard from Ye Nanzhi that witchcraft involved medicinal poisons, used solely for healing, and venomous poisons, which could cloud the mind, kill invisibly, and even contain heart-devouring spells. Those afflicted would fall into madness, forget kin, lose reason, and become puppets. This tribe mysteriously vanished many years ago.

To control her and make her willingly a puppet of the Lu family, Ye Nanzhi personally cursed her with poison. Whenever she disobeyed, the poison flared, feeding on her blood, tearing her organs in excruciating pain, until Ye Nanzhi administered the antidote.

Eventually, she stopped resisting, for whenever the pain became unbearable, Ye Nanzhi would hold her and weep, telling her, “Who told you you were not a boy?”

As a child, she truly believed it was her fault. Over time, she became a living corpse, a puppet for the Ye family to manipulate at will.

From a young age, whether in martial arts or poison research, her talent and insight were exceptional. Even Ye Nanzhi envied her and soon forbade her from touching the insects.

After marriage, she stole a new insect from Ye Nanzhi, hoping one day it would aid her.

Alas, before it could be used, she was brutally murdered.

Now, reborn, she refused to be controlled again or become a puppet of the Lu family.

She would nurture her own insects and forge her own poisons.

More than that, she would return the poison Ye Nanzhi left inside her.

Though she could not kill Ye Nanzhi with her own hands, she could repay poison with poison.

What filial piety? What family love? None of it would bind her anymore!

If parents are unkind, why should filial duty be used to morally imprison her?

***

“Seen enough? Come out now.”

Lu Lanxi reclined in the rocking chair, gently rocking, lips faintly curved, eyes closed, fingers tapping softly on the armrest.

Soon, a trembling maid emerged from beside the archway.

“Th-Third Miss... the young mistress sent me to... to see if you had returned...”

Moon Crescent’s voice quivered. She had witnessed Chun Chan’s frantic dash from the room, begging for her life. She had seen Lu Lanxi in her flowing red robe, her slow, deliberate steps, her aura like the judge of hell.

“Speak. What did you see?”

Lu Lanxi pursed her lips and slightly opened her eyes, staring fixedly.

She had long noticed Moon Crescent but did not expect her to be so bold as to neither scream nor flee.

“I... I saw nothing. Please spare me, Third Miss. Don’t kill me.”

Moon Crescent knelt like a wounded child before Lu Lanxi, trembling violently, eyes filled with fear.

“Kill you? Why would I kill you? Do I look like some madwoman who kills recklessly? If I killed you, what would Lu Wanhe say when she comes asking for you?”

“No... I deserve death for slandering you, Third Miss, but I really saw nothing...”

“Nothing at all? Then why are you trembling?”

Lu Lanxi narrowed her eyes, a dangerous glint flashing within.

“I... I’m just... so very cold...”

“Is that so?”

“Are you afraid of me? Am I really that terrifying?”

Lu Lanxi reached out and lifted Moon Crescent’s chin, a faint smile playing upon her lips.

“I’m not afraid of you... I won’t say anything... please spare me, Third Miss...”

Moon Crescent knelt, begging incessantly.

“I believe only the dead speak no lies.”

Hearing this, Moon Crescent bit her lip, a fierce light flashing in her eyes. Clenching her hands tightly, she took a deep breath.

“Third Miss, I may be foolish, but I am willing to be your blade!”