Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

On the eve of the grand wedding, at the Star-Picking Tower in the Divine Capital.

The night wind was extremely cold, making the copper bells on the rooftop jingle loudly.

Su Qing sat on a flying eave, holding a pot of wine in her hand. Below her were the lights of thousands of homes, and above her was the black spirit boat that made it hard to breathe.

The Imperial Advisor stood in the shadows, her bronze mask shattered, revealing a slightly pale face. She watched Su Qing's retreating figure, her brows furrowed deeply.

"Are you really going to do that?"

Su Qing tilted her head back and took a swig of wine. The spicy liquid rolled down her throat, burning her stomach.

She wiped her mouth, her smile somewhat nonchalant.

"What else? Wait for that old monster to slaughter all the gods, then rip out Gu Xiang's heart and use it as a snack?"

"That fool has been enlightened and has fallen deeply in love with you." The Grand Preceptor's voice was somewhat hoarse. "If you were to be honest and tell him that as long as you offer your heart, you can save the people of this city, and even save you, he might not refuse."

"He's willing." Su Qing interrupted the Imperial Advisor, her voice as soft as the wind. "I know he's willing. That fool, he wouldn't even blink if he gave me his life, let alone his heart."

She turned around, her red dress fluttering in the night wind, and a fierce glint in her fox-like eyes.

"But I won't."

"What I want is for him to live, not for him to become a selfless saint. That exquisite heart with seven orifices will only be most potent when it is dug out during his extreme pain, and only in this way can we deceive that old thing in heaven."

The Imperial Advisor remained silent for a long time, then sighed: "You want to be the villain? To make him hate you to the core?"

"Hate lasts longer than love." Su Qing stood up, brushing the dust off her skirt. "Only if he hates me would he be willing to give me his heart. As long as his heart leaves his body, I have a way to use a secret fox clan technique to keep a sliver of his heart meridian intact. As for me..."

She chuckled self-deprecatingly, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers: "A vixen like me, lying is my duty. If I die this time, tell him I ran off with his heart to cultivate my supreme path. It's better for him to hate me for the rest of his life than to spend it guarding a dead man's memorial tablet."

Having said that, she leaped into the air, transforming into a streak of red light and disappearing into the night. Only the Imperial Advisor remained standing on the rooftop, gazing at the waning moon, motionless for a long time.

……

September 15th, Gujia Village Ancestral Hall.

The red candles burned brightly, illuminating the entire ancestral hall as if it were daytime.

The aroma of wine mingled with the scent of meat, filling the air. The sounds of drinking games, laughter, and children playing filled this usually quiet little village with vibrant energy.

Gu Xiang felt as if he were walking on clouds, his feet light and airy. He held a wine glass in his hand, his face flushed red, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

He looked at his grandfather sitting in the main seat. The old man was wearing a brand-new silk jacket today, his face beaming with smiles, and he was pulling the village chief next to him to boast about how successful his grandson was.

He then turned to look at the other side. Li Yu, that unruly prince, was rolling up his sleeves and drinking with his second uncle, completely lacking his usual dignity in the court, and was laughing so hard at his second uncle's few words of local dialect.

Finally, his gaze fell on Su Qing beside him.

Su Qing looks beautiful today.

Adorned in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robes, her red lips blazing like flames, she sat there quietly, like a celestial princess stepping out of a painting. The surrounding clamor seemed irrelevant to her; her mere presence made Gu Xiang feel at peace, as if his life had been worthwhile.

"Brother Gu, what are you daydreaming about!" Li Yu, reeking of alcohol, nudged Gu Xiang's shoulder as he approached with a wine bowl. "Today is your big day, don't just stare at the bride, come on, have another drink!"

Gu Xiang chuckled foolishly, raised his glass and clinked it against Li Yu's: "Drink up! We're happy today, whoever doesn't drink is a coward!"

The liquor burned as it went down my throat, yet it also had a hint of sweetness.

Gu Xiang felt he had never been so happy in his life. He was an orphan, raised on the charity of many families, and studied Confucian classics for twenty years, enduring countless scornful looks. But now, he had achieved fame and success, gained brothers, and found the woman he loved most.

God has been kind to him.

Just then, Su Qing stood up.

Her movement quieted the previously noisy ancestral hall slightly. Everyone looked at the stunningly beautiful bride, their eyes filled with goodwill and blessings.

Su Qing picked up the two glasses of wine on the table and turned to face Gu Xiang.

Her movements were slow, almost deliberately so. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Gu Xiang, as if they held unfathomable depths.

In his mind, the system notification sounded: [Target's favorability has reached 90%, affection value has exceeded the critical point, the all-knowing heart is fully mature, and she can be plucked at any time.]

Su Qing's fingers trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Gu Xiang," she called softly.

Gu Xiang hurriedly put down the wine bowl in his hand and awkwardly accepted the wine cup handed to him by Su Qing. His palms were sweaty, and his heart was pounding as if it would jump out of his throat.

"Wife, this...this is nuptial wine?" Gu Xiang stammered, his face as red as a monkey's bottom.

Su Qing didn't answer, but just looked at him quietly. Her gaze was so intense that Gu Xiang felt a little flustered.

"Wife?" Gu Xiang called out tentatively.

Su Qing suddenly laughed. That laugh was tinged with sadness, yet also with determination.

"Gu Xiang, is this wine good?"

Gu Xiang paused for a moment, then nodded emphatically: "Sweet! Anything my wife pours is sweeter than honey!"

"As long as it's sweet." Su Qing's voice was as soft as a sigh. "Remember this taste."

She raised her wine glass and waved it at Gu Xiang.

"This glass is for you."

Gu Xiang grinned, revealing two rows of big white teeth, and raised his wine glass to his mouth.

In that very instant.

Su Qing suddenly flipped her wrist.

"Snapped!"

She didn't drink the wine; instead, she threw it all over the ground.

The wine splashed and soaked the red carpet.

Gu Xiang froze in mid-air, the wine glass still raised to his lips, the smile on his face not yet gone, making him look somewhat comical.

"Feel sorry."

The two words Su Qing uttered were spoken with such coldness that it was as if she had become a completely different person.

Before Gu Xiang could even react to what those two words meant, Su Qing suddenly raised her right hand, her five fingers forming a claw, and fiercely grabbed at the void.

"Buzz—"

A piercing buzzing sound instantly reverberated throughout the entire ancestral hall.

The originally festive red candles suddenly turned into an eerie, ghostly green flame.

The ground shook violently, and countless blood-red runes, like venomous snakes that had come to life, crawled out from the ground and instantly covered the walls and pillars of the ancestral hall.

A chilling, bone-chilling aura instantly overwhelmed all the aroma of wine and warmth.

"Wife? Are you performing magic?" Gu Xiang was a little confused and subconsciously wanted to take Su Qing's hand.

But the next moment, something horrifying happened.

Grandpa, who was sitting in the main seat and smiling happily, suddenly twisted his figure and disappeared without a trace, like smoke blown away by the wind.

Next came Uncle Er, then the chubby little boy gnawing on a chicken leg, and then Li Yu, who was drinking heavily...

There were no screams, no blood, not even the slightest struggle.

The more than one hundred people in the ancestral hall were wiped out right under Gu Xiang's nose, as if by an invisible hand.

The once bustling ancestral hall instantly became deathly silent.

All that remained was a table full of leftovers and a few pairs of chopsticks lying on the floor.

It was empty and desolate, so quiet it was maddening.

"Clatter".

The wine glass in Gu Xiang's hand fell to the ground and shattered.

I'm sober now.

In that instant, all the drunkenness vanished in terror at the sight of this horrific scene.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through the bright red wedding robes, sticking to my body and making me feel sticky and extremely uncomfortable.

He stiffly turned his neck and looked around.

There's no one here.

Everything is gone.

His grandfather, who was just talking to him, and his brother, who was just drinking with him, have all disappeared.

"This...this is an illusion, isn't it?" Gu Xiang's voice trembled, like a drowning person grasping at a last straw. "Wife, stop joking, this joke isn't funny at all. Quickly turn Grandpa and the others back, the food is getting cold."

He reached out to grab Su Qing's sleeve, trying to see a familiar playfulness or teasing on her face.

But no.

Su Qing stood there, her red dress as red as blood. The gentleness on her face had vanished, replaced by a coldness and aloofness that Gu Xiang had never seen before. Her vertical, demonic eyes held no warmth, only the indifference of looking at a dead person.

With a flick of her sleeve, a powerful force surged forth, causing Gu Xiang to stagger back several steps and land on his backside.

"Who's joking with you?"

Su Qing looked down at him with a cruel expression.

"Gu Xiang, do you really think a fox spirit would fall in love with a poor scholar?"