Chapter 32: Cried from the Pain — Struck Down with a Palm
Nan Xun spotted her bargain-bin father at once. Worried, she hurried forward several steps. “Father, why are you—”
Smack.
Before she could finish her sentence, Zui Li Qing Shi slapped her across the face. She was sent flying to the ground, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth, stars bursting before her eyes.
Clutching her swollen cheek, Nan Xun stared at her bargain-bin father in disbelief, roaring at Little Eight in her mind: I was worried something might happen to him, and he goes straight for a slap? Is this really Zui Li Xuan’s biological father?!
The Void Beast replied, “It really is.”
Her father, Zui Li Qing Shi, pointed at her and shouted in fury, “Unfilial wretch! Unfilial! I thought you had died miserably at the Demon King’s hands, but who would’ve thought you’d already colluded with that beast! The entire Beast-Taming Clan is fighting the Demon King, while you live comfortably in his sleeping chamber! If not for Lord Heize seeing it with his own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it—you, you… you disgrace the Zui Li family!”
The man in dark blue beside him spoke indifferently, “Clan Head Zui Li, save the scolding for later. Right now, we should focus on the important matter.”
“Yes, Uncle,” Qin Yuexuan echoed immediately. “Let’s follow Lord Heize’s lead and handle the task at hand first. I believe Cousin only lost her way for a moment. Once we bring her back and reason with her properly, she’ll surely reform.”
Listening to the three of them, Nan Xun had a bad feeling something terrible was about to happen.
She didn’t want to leave this place, but facing these three, she had no power to resist at all.
Nan Xun was knocked unconscious by her bargain-bin father and carried away.
Almost the moment the barrier outside the sleeping chamber shattered, the four-clawed Crimson Blood Teng Snake on the battlefield sharply narrowed its eyes. Bloodlight flared in its vertical pupils. It wanted to rush back to the sleeping chamber, but several stinking dragons and Teng Snakes entangled it so thoroughly that it couldn’t spare even a shred of attention. A moment’s distraction was all it took for the Azure Dragon to carve a bloody gash across its back. Now, shattering space to leave the battlefield was nothing but a pipe dream.
Xue Ming grew increasingly anxious, until it finally turned into even more violent slaughter.
When Nan Xun awoke, she saw several people standing around her: her father, her mother, her beastly cousin, and that Teng Snake named Heize.
Her mother clutched her hand and cried, “Xuan’er, how could you do something so foolish? What kind of person is the Demon King? He devours human flesh, bloody and brutal. Ten years ago, he even killed several elders of our clan! How could you be seduced by him? Have you forgotten that you are a member of the Beast-Taming Clan, the daughter of the Zui Li clan head?!”
Nan Xun knew her bargain-bin parents truly loved her, yet hearing this now made her feel chilled to the bone.
Back when they sent her to the Demon Realm for a political marriage, had they ever considered her feelings this much? Was dying with “honor” by being sacrificed to the Demon King’s belly considered righteous, while her being alive and well now was wrong?
She believed she had done nothing to betray the human race—she had merely “fallen in love” with the Demon King. Was that truly so unforgivable to the world?
Nan Xun suddenly gave a soft laugh, raised her eyes to her bargain-bin parents, and asked quietly, “Father and Mother, did you know about the elders poisoning me with witch poison back then? From the moment I was chosen for the political marriage, I was nothing more than a chess piece sacrificed for so-called righteousness. In their eyes, I was already a dead person long ago.”
Zui Li Qing Shi’s gaze flickered, guilt flashing in his eyes. “Xuan’er, I only learned of this later. But even if the elders wronged you, they devoted themselves to the Zui Li family for years. Every decision they made was for the clan and for the people of the world. As long as the Demon King lives, the world will never know peace.”
Nan Xun tugged the corner of her mouth slightly and murmured, “So… I deserve to die, then?”
Zui Li Qing Shi’s face turned iron-blue. “Enough! Say no more! Being with the Demon King brings shame upon our family. I would rather you had died from that witch poison!”
Her mother hugged her and cried, “Xuan’er, don’t argue with your father anymore. Just admit your mistake, please—Mother begs you.”
Nan Xun said in a deep voice, “I did nothing wrong. You brought me here—are you going to take my life? If so, then do it!”
The Void Beast was startled by her unyielding attitude and praised her sincerely, “You look like a heroine marching to her death right now—so cool.”
Nan Xun immediately replied in her mind, “Little Eight, can’t you tell I’m stalling for time? Damn it, why hasn’t my psycho come to save me yet? If he doesn’t hurry, I won’t be able to keep up this ‘unyielding unto death’ act much longer.”
Void Beast: …
It really had been blind just now.
Nan Xun stubbornly refused to admit fault, maintaining her defiant stance to the end. Her father hardened his heart and said to the Teng Snake, “Lord Heize, do it. I’ll consider that I never had such a daughter.”
Her mother fell to her knees, tears streaming. “Lord Heize, please spare my daughter’s life. She was only bewitched by the Demon King, confused for a moment.”
Nan Xun opened her mouth in surprise. She hadn’t expected Zui Li Xuan’s mother to kneel to a Teng Snake just to save her life.
The Teng Snake Heize said calmly, “Madam, please rise. I can spare her life. However, I must temporarily seal the blood pact Xue Ming branded onto her primordial spirit, and then…”
After hearing the plan, the beautiful woman hugged Nan Xun tightly and said gently, “Xuan’er, don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Lord Heize only wants one of your hands.”
What? One hand?
Nan Xun’s eyes widened. She watched as Heize walked over, pressed a seal onto her forehead, then watched helplessly as her mother lifted her left hand—the one wearing the blood-bead bracelet—while Heize lightly slashed at her wrist with a blade of spiritual energy.
“Ah—!”
The next instant, Nan Xun let out a scream, her face turning as pale as paper.
They actually—actually chopped off her hand!
Nan Xun stared at the slender jade hand lying on the ground, dripping with blood, tears streaming down her face.
The Void Beast was puzzled. “Is it really that painful? I clearly blocked ninety percent of the pain for you just now.”
Nan Xun replied, “Thanks, Little Eight. No wonder it didn’t hurt that much. But I’m not crying because of the pain. I’m crying because I’ve lost my hand—now I’m incomplete. For a hardcore looks-obsessed person like me, this is worse than death.”
Void Beast: “Oh, is that so? Then I should’ve just let you hurt to death.”
Nan Xun thought she’d be stuck with this mutilated state forever. Who knew that the next second, her mother fed her a pill and coaxed gently, “Xuan’er, don’t cry. Don’t cry. This is a Flesh-Regrowth and Bone-Regeneration Pill. After taking it, your hand will grow back very soon.”
Joy surged through Nan Xun’s heart. However, after the emotional whiplash of despair and relief, her face remained strangely calm—almost as though her heart had already died.
The Teng Snake Heize left, holding the bracelet Xue Ming had personally fastened onto Nan Xun’s wrist. It was still stained with blood. He also took the outer garments Nan Xun had been wearing, splashing them with her blood.
Nan Xun was bewildered and hurriedly asked the Void Beast, “Little Eight, that Teng Snake—he doesn’t look like anything good—took my bracelet and my bloodstained clothes and left. What do you think he’s planning to do?”
