Chapter 32: The Severing of Matrimonial Ties, Shen Ningyuan Renounces Her Husband's Surname

The night was silent and eerie.

The dark, damp water dungeon was filled with the putrid stench of rotting corpses. Several filthy rats scurried across the mottled floor, licking at dried bloodstains. In the deepest corner of the dungeon, a woman with a face as pale as parchment was firmly secured by several iron chains. Her tendons—both in her hands and feet—had been severed, and she lay like a heap of dead flesh, submerged in ice-cold, blood-red water. From the region of her heart, blood continued to ooze out with a sickening, gurgling sound.

*Click.*

Following the sound, the iron door was pushed open from the outside.

She lifted her head weakly and saw Shen Yuejiao, looking radiant and moving with a light, graceful gait in her white dress, strolling toward her. Shen Yuejiao parted her crimson lips and greeted her with a triumphant smile: "Shen Liuli, my dear sister, your elder sister has come to visit you again!"

Hearing Shen Yuejiao’s words, a wave of hatred surged in Shen Liuli’s heart. She bared her teeth, and fresh, metallic-tasting blood immediately welled up, flowing into the already crimson water. Even as the pain pierced through her marrow, she forced a mocking smile at her tormentor.

"Shen Yuejiao, I... I am about to die. You will never, ever be able to use my heart’s blood as medicine again. If I die, don't think you'll live either!"

To her surprise, upon hearing this, Shen Yuejiao laughed even more wantonly than she did.

"Hahaha... Shen Liuli, why are you still so naive even at the brink of death? Do you think these past three years, where I drank your heart’s blood daily, were just to prolong my life?" Shen Yuejiao’s face twisted into a terrifying expression. "You are wrong. I drank your blood and ate your flesh only to make your lineage fuse with my body. That way, I could carve out your heart and replace my own with it! Hahahahaha... Shen Liuli, have you still not realized that you were born to be nothing more than a vessel to nourish my heart?"

Shen Yuejiao’s laughter plunged Shen Liuli into utter despair. She had believed that if she died, Shen Yuejiao would not survive either. She had never imagined that what Shen Yuejiao truly wanted was her heart, not just the mere trickle of blood.

Shen Liuli’s face turned as white as paper. She gritted her teeth and cursed resentfully, "Shen... Shen Yuejiao, you will meet a miserable end!"

"Shen Liuli, curse all you want. When your heart is beating inside my chest, you won't even be able to curse anymore, hahahahaha..."

Shen Yuejiao laughed like a madwoman. She had been born with a weak heart, and now, at last, she could live a healthy life!

Amidst Shen Yuejiao’s laughter, another voice drifted in from outside the iron door.

"Jiaojiao, why waste your breath on this wretch? Use the dagger the master gave you to carve out her heart, and let's see how she curses then!"

A regal, elegantly dressed woman walked to Shen Yuejiao’s side. "Three years! Our Jiaojiao can finally use this wretch’s heart!"

"Mother, why are you here?" Shen Yuejiao asked.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhulian, the mistress of the Shen household, gnashed her teeth and said, "I came to watch how this wretch dies!"

Hearing this, the last glimmer of hope in Shen Liuli’s eyes vanished completely. She raised her head, looked arduously at Zhao Zhulian, and asked word by word, "Wh... why? I am your daughter too. Why treat me like this?"

Who would have thought that upon hearing Shen Liuli’s words, Zhao Zhulian would simply spit on the ground.

"Bah! You are not my daughter; you are just a beast raised by the Shen family! If your heart weren't useful to Jiaojiao, would I have brought you back from the countryside to the Shen estate and fed you well?"

Shen Liuli’s eyes dimmed, and her vision blurred. For three years, she had questioned the heavens over and over again. As daughters of the same Shen family, why was Shen Yuejiao held in high esteem, enjoying every favor, while she was locked in this sunless water dungeon, suffering three full years of torture? For these three years, she had to provide a drop of heart’s blood daily and have a piece of flesh carved from her body every month—all to ensure Shen Yuejiao survived!

Shen Liuli was consumed by hatred! The resentment in her heart exploded. Her eyes bulged until the corners split, and blood vessels burst, causing two trails of blood-tears to flow. She clenched her fists, unleashing her final ounce of strength. All the wounds on her body tore open, and blood from her chest wound surged outward in waves.

"Zhao Zhulian! Shen Yuejiao! Even if I die, I will not let Shen Yuejiao use my heart!"

She would not be resigned! She would not be reduced to a vessel to nourish Shen Yuejiao’s heart!

Seeing this, Zhao Zhulian panicked instantly. "No, this wretch is trying to commit suicide!"

"Jiaojiao, while she still has a breath left, use the dagger to carve out her heart! If she dies before it’s removed, the heart will be useless!"

Shen Yuejiao panicked as well. Without a word, she jumped into the water, gripped the dagger, plunged it into Shen Liuli’s chest, and forcibly carved out her heart.

"Ahhh!"

With her chest ripped open, Shen Liuli let out a piercing, agonizing scream.

Staring with blood-red, resentful eyes, she breathed her last. Even her final curse was choked off in her throat by the metallic blood.

Zhao Zhulian helped Shen Yuejiao up and coldly ordered the servants, "Someone, throw this wretch’s corpse into the mass grave. I want her devoured by wild dogs; even in death, she shall find no peace!"

Soon, Shen Liuli’s body was wrapped in a tattered mat and carried out of the Shen estate’s backyard in the dead of night.

Shen Liuli’s translucent soul floated in mid-air, following the two servants all the way to the mass grave on the outskirts of the city. She watched helplessly as the servants threw her corpse onto a pile of white bones. After the servants left, countless wild dogs, drawn by the smell of blood, arrived to tear at her mangled body.

Looking at this scene, Shen Liuli’s eyes were filled with nothing but gray despair. So, ever since the Shen family schemed to ruin her virtue three years ago, she had been destined for this end! It was only hateful that Shen Yuejiao had succeeded in the end, carving out her heart. If only she had died sooner. At least then, the Shen family would not have had their way.

Just as Shen Liuli was drowning in sorrow, a violent and powerful force erupted, blasting the countless wild dogs away.

Shen Liuli was startled and fixed her gaze upon the scene. She saw a man in black, wearing a mask, standing silently not far from her corpse.

Shen Liuli was struck with wonder. Who was this person, and why was he here?

Under Shen Liuli’s gaze, the man in black walked over with heavy steps. He crouched down and carefully, meticulously picked up her shattered remains.

Two lines of tears fell silently.

"I have searched for you for six years, never imagining you were right under my nose all this time."

"It is all my fault. Had I recognized you sooner, how could you have ended up like this?"

The man in black reached out and stroked the only half-remaining side of Shen Liuli’s face, his eyes hollow and powerless.