Chapter 54: Second Brother Makes a Move

For the past three years, she had been forced to provide a drop of her heart's blood every single day and slice a piece of flesh from her own body every single month, all to keep Shen Yuejiao alive!

Everything she endured was solely for the sake of letting Shen Yuejiao survive!

Shen Liuli harbored a monstrous hatred!

The deep-seated fury within her finally erupted.

Her eyes cracked open so wide that the capillaries burst, sending two trails of bloody tears streaming down her face.

Clenching her fists tightly, she mustered the very last ounce of her strength. Every single wound across her body ripped open anew, and blood gushed in a torrential stream from the gash on her chest.

"Zhao Zhulian! Shen Yuejiao! Even if I die, I will never let Shen Yuejiao use my heart!"

She refused to be resigned to this fate!

She would not simply remain a vessel nurtured to supply Shen Yuejiao with a heart!

Witnessing this, Zhao Zhulian panicked instantly. "Oh no, this bitch is trying to kill herself!"

"Jiaojia, while she still has a breath left, use the dagger to carve out her heart! If she dies before you cut it out, her heart will be rendered useless!"

Panicking as well, Shen Yuejiao didn't hesitate for a second. She jumped straight into the water, gripped her dagger tight, plunged it into Shen Liuli's chest, and brutally carved her heart right out of her body!

"Ahhh!"

With her chest sliced wide open, Shen Liuli let out a piercing, agonizing shriek.

Glaring with bloodshot eyes full of unyielding resentment, she finally drew her last breath.

Even her dying curse was choked off in her throat by the warm, sweet taste of blood.

Zhao Zhulian helped Shen Yuejiao to her feet and instructed her servants coldly, "Someone, throw this bitch's corpse into the pauper's graveyard. I want her torn apart and devoured by wild dogs, denied even a shred of peace in death!"

Before long, Shen Liuli's corpse was wrapped in a tattered reed mat and hauled out of the Shen family's back courtyard in the dead of night.

Shen Liuli's translucent soul floated midair, trailing the two manservants all the way to the suburban potter's field.

She watched with her own eyes as the two men tossed her body onto a desolate mound littered with bleaching bones.

As soon as they left, countless wild dogs drawn by the scent of blood swarmed the scene, gnawing frantically at her mutilated, blood-soaked remains.

Gazing at this grim spectacle, a dead silence settled deep within Shen Liuli's eyes.

So, ever since she was schemed against and lost her innocence by the Shen family three years ago, she had been destined to meet this wretched end!

Yet what stung the most was that Shen Yuejiao had ultimately gotten her way, tearing her heart from her chest.

If only she had died sooner.

At the very least, she wouldn't have let the Shen family have their way.

Just as Shen Liuli was drowning in sorrow and despair, a violent and overwhelming force suddenly exploded, blasting the countless wild dogs scattering into the air.

Startled, Shen Liuli focused her gaze.

There, standing quietly not far from her remains, was a man dressed in black and wearing a mask.

Shen Liuli was filled with doubt and astonishment.

Who was this person, and why would he appear in a place like this?

Under Shen Liuli's watchful eye, the man in black took heavy strides forward.

He then knelt down, picking up her shattered, broken corpse with infinite care and gentleness.

Two trails of tears silently fell from his eyes.

"For six long years, I searched for you in vain, never imagining that you were right beneath my very nose all along."

"It's all my fault. If only I had recognized you sooner, how could you have ever come to this?"

The man in black reached out, gently caressing the remaining half of Shen Liuli's ruined face, his gaze empty and helpless.

Shen Liuli froze in place.

She floated forward, drifting close to the man in black.

Who on earth was he? Why was he weeping for her?

He had searched for her for six years—could it be that before she lost her memory, she had known this masked man?

After a moment, the man in black suddenly raised a hand to his mask.

The mask slowly slid downward.

Shen Liuli stared fixedly at that half-mask, desperate to know the true identity of the man before her!

Yet right at that moment, an invisible surge of power erupted deep within Shen Liuli's body.

Before she could catch a glimpse of the man's face, her vision began to blur, and the figure of the man in black gradually dissolved into an indistinct shadow.

No!

Let her see, just a single glance would be enough.

She needed to know who this man was, the one who harbored such deep, unwavering affection for her!

Unable to see the man's face, Shen Liuli felt close to tears with anxiety.

She forced her eyes wide open, desperately trying to bring her vision back into focus.

Yet no matter how hard she struggled, darkness eventually reclaimed her, and even her consciousness began to slowly dissipate.

Before slipping entirely into oblivion, she caught only the man's tender, water-like murmur echoing in her ears.

"Ah-li, you must live on well, and wait for me to come find you..."

"!!!"

A sharp, violent pain in her jaw slowly coaxed Shen Liuli back to consciousness.

Before she could even process her surroundings, a teasing, mocking voice chimed in right beside her ear.

"Hah, awake?"

"So fragile? I haven't even really started yet, and you suddenly went completely still..."

With great difficulty, she forced her eyes open, and an enlarged, handsome face filled her field of vision.

"Ah!"

Crying out in shock, Shen Liuli bolted upright, scrambling backward to put some distance between herself and the man.

In a daze, Shen Liuli swept her gaze across the surroundings.

What met her eyes was a modest, cramped monastic cell, and she and the man before her were currently stark naked, locked in an awkward stalemate beneath the covers.

Wasn't she already dead?

How could she possibly have woken up here?

Clearly, her heart had been ripped out by Shen Yuejiao, her corpse tossed into the pauper's field, and more than half of her flesh devoured by wild dogs.

In the end, a masked man had driven away the beasts and held her tightly in his arms.

Regrettably, she had lost consciousness and returned here before she ever had the chance to see his unmasked face.

Instinctively, Shen Liuli pulled the quilt upward to shield her bare chest, watching the man before her with sharp, guarded eyes.

With a trembling voice, she demanded, "Who—who are you?"

The man chuckled softly, reaching out to pinch her chin.

He asked, "Since you didn't know who I was, why were you clinging to me so desperately all through the night? You nearly squeezed the life out of my waist..."

"I—"

A flush crept up Shen Liuli's cheeks.

She understood the man's implication, realizing that some unspeakable events had indeed transpired between them last night.

Just as she was gathering her thoughts to demand answers, an angry shout suddenly pierced the air from outside the door.

"Shen Liuli, you shameless slut who crawls into men's beds, you didn't even spare a monk from Cloud Zen Temple! It's one thing for you to run wild on ordinary days, but you actually had the audacity to pull such a vile stunt in the solemn and sacred Cloud Zen Temple!"

Unfazed, Shen Liuli's expression turned icy as she walked over and flung the door of the cell wide open.

Waiting for her right outside was a fierce slap swung directly by Zhao Zhulian!

As she struck out, Zhao Zhulian hurled abuse, "Bitch! The Emperor himself is staying at Cloud Zen Temple, and yet you pull such a filthy stunt—how do you expect the Shen family to show their faces?!"

With a cold glint in her eyes, Shen Liuli violently intercepted Zhao Zhulian's wrist, spun around, and delivered a swift, resounding slap squarely across Zhao Zhulian's face!

Crack—

The blow sent Zhao Zhulian stumbling back two steps, leaving her utterly dumbfounded.

Clutching her stinging cheek, Zhao Zhulian stared at Shen Liuli in absolute disbelief.

Gritting her teeth in fury, she shrieked, "Bitch, how dare you hit me?! I am your mother!"

"Mother?" Shen Liuli let out a cold, mocking laugh.

She retorted sharply, "Does someone who opens and closes her mouth only to curse her own daughter as a bitch deserve the title of a mother?"

"No matter what, I am still your mother, and raising a hand against me is an act of unfilial rebellion!"

Driven to the edge of rage by the retort, Zhao Zhulian raised her hand, eager to strike Shen Liuli again.

This time, however, Shen Liuli gave her no opportunity whatsoever.

As Zhao Zhulian lunged forward, Shen Liuli lashed out with a swift, airborne kick, slamming her foot hard into Zhao Zhulian's soft abdomen and sending her flying backward out the door!