The Bronte mansion was engulfed in red flames.
“I hear a baby crying, my lord!”
“The fire is fierce! Stop the nonsense, and hurry the wounded to evacuate!”
As flames soared, family soldiers poured water, and the steward quickly evacuated the servants. Weak wooden structures succumbed to the flames, expanding the damage.
“Control the fire. If it spreads further here, it’ll be uncontrollable!”
And then,
Soldiers and servants were nowhere to be found in the backyard.
Viscount Bronte and his wife were the only ones left.
“You are not my wife.”
“Is the shell just a shell?”
Viscount Bronte looked at his wife and gripped his sword.
“You can feel the venom of demons from a dead body. If you were a soldier standing at the punitive front with a sword, you would know.”
He had brought the appearance of his late wife to life, but it wasn’t his wife.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“Shut your mouth.”
The mansion, covered in flames and crimson mist, blurred the vision.
“Stupid swordsmen. What are they trying to do with worthless value in a trivial body? Even if you tear me apart with that sword, this body will only suffer slight damage.”
The woman tapped her white skin.
Her thin white hair unraveled like thread, and her lifeless skin was like a blank sheet of paper.
“This body is trivial and fragile. Even if the skin is slightly scratched, it stings, and oh, the smell of blood vibrates, making me want to vomit……. After all, they soaked themselves in the blood of the dead clan, and the sword absorbed that energy. Ah, that’s why I dislike swordsmen.”
“Don’t blabber such words with that mouth.”
“If you knew she wasn’t your wife, wouldn’t it be enough to kill me?”
The hand holding the sword trembled.
“Even if you die, I’m sorry, you wicked man.”
The viscount raised the sword and grabbed his wife’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry for not being able to protect you by your sickbed. I’m sorry for leaving you alone as you die. It’s all my fault, so I’ll go to hell. Please don’t hear about me, even if I go to hell.”
The woman trembled and stepped back.
“Since I won’t be able to see you even if I die, look at my face for the last time here.”
When the lady was about to draw the sword in that direction,
Footsteps were heard beyond.
As if intentionally showing his presence.
“Stop.”
At that moment,
Something bounced off the woman’s body.
[Ah!]‘It’ was a gravedigger.
The gravedigger was a messenger in the world of the dead, a psyche manipulated by a black sorcerer.
The bone-based body crumbled.
[Why.]The gravedigger pounded his bones.
Shackles strangled the gravedigger’s neck.
[Why the shackles!] [Why bind this body!]The gravedigger looked like a shadow disguised as a human.
A pitch-black darkness shimmered like an abyss, and the darkness melded with bone joints. The joints were multifaceted, and the articulation creaked.
“I found it strange because I could sense demon venom.”
Benjamin adjusted his hand holding the sword.
“Is that a gravedigger?”
“What is that?”
Viscount Bronte asked lifelessly.
“It’s a psyche. Originally, these are existences formed by the spirits who, despite being dead, couldn’t believe their death. They once lived, hid in the shadows, and took away that body…”
Benjamin’s words trailed off.
“They must have used my vessel.”
Viscount Bronte drew his sword.
“I will kill it.”
“Psyches exist and yet do not exist.”
“If you strike with the sword, I will die.”
“Your mind is wavering, but if I strike with that sword now, who will be cut, you or the psyche? Which one are you? The sword is useless when properly swung. It must be burdensome for you now.”
Benjamin, with the sword, scratched the shackles binding the gravedigger.
“My subordinates must have suffered a lot.”
The shackles clattered, tightening around the gravedigger’s neck.
[Return my vessel.]The royal guards approached.
“Your Majesty, the road is chaotic. Be cautious as there is a lot of wood vulnerable to flames.”
The mansion covered in crimson smoke looked hazy all around.
“The fire hasn’t reached the cherry tree.”
Shalof stepped forward and looked at the tall cherry tree.
[Why does she… why can we trace her footsteps? An entity that bears the chains of punishment and leaves no bone dust.]Bones jerked in the throat. Then, the shackles around the neck pulled taut.
“Are these shackles a form of restraint?”
When Benjamin scratched the shackles with a sword, the creature thrashed.
[A damn mongrel like you!]Psyches are intangible beings created by the gathering of spirits.
[Are you going out to cover yourself in the blood of the tribe and go hunting?]It was repulsive. Like being immersed in a swamp, suffocating hostility pervaded, even reaching the lungs.
Tap, tap.
The creature pulled its neck as if about to bite off the shackles.
Shalof looked at the psyche and rubbed his temples.
“Don’t struggle. It’s making my head ache.”
He had a headache. Shalof pressed his temples with his fingertips.
“My stomach feels upset.”
“It’s a strong aura.”
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
