Are you really trying to cultivate immortality? Something feels off.

Nie Shiyun looked at the person in front of her, her elder sister.

She could only look up to her from a young age.

My elder sister was born a phoenix maiden of this lineage, the most dazzling one in the Nie family of Nanchuan. Wherever she stands, there is light. Forever upright, forever strong, forever invincible.

As for myself, being protected under their wings, I could only look up with a bit of caution.

Later, when my older sister grew up, even if she looked up, trying her best to look very high, she could no longer see her.

Nie Shiyun was completely exhausted. His soul was being devoured and shattered by the poisonous insects in the Ten Thousand Poison Cave. His vision was turning black in waves, his eyes were blurry and overlapping, and even breathing was accompanied by a tearing, dull pain.

"Sister..." Her face, pale to the point of being almost transparent, was covered in filth and faint bloodstains. "I..."

Nie Zhao's eyes reddened, and for the first time, her usually aloof expression revealed an undisguised tenderness.

"Sister is here," she said, quickly stepping forward. Her cool, clean fingertips, devoid of any harshness, touched Nie Shiyun's dirty, pale cheek. "Sister will take you away."

Nie Shiyun's dry, cracked lips were completely bloodless, her eye sockets were deeply sunken, and she had long since lost all strength to even lift her hand.

She laughed, her expression dazed.

This woman can still talk; it's definitely a case of her dying breath.

I desperately hope that Heaven will have mercy on her and allow her to see her elder sister before she dies.

"I," she tugged at the corners of her lips, trying to laugh, but the laugh was more bitter and hoarse than tears, uttering two soft words.

"hate you……"

Nie Zhao was stunned.

A moment later, a tear suddenly slid down her cheek, her expression indifferent, as if she hadn't even noticed it herself.

"In the next life, I want to be a wild grass, a lynx, a pig or a dog..." Nie Shiyun's pupils were fixed, her long, dry eyelashes trembled, and her faint voice broke in the cold air, "I don't want to be a daughter of Nanchuan, I want to be your... sister..."

These were all the final words she wanted to say.

Looking at his younger sister, who was hanging from the iron chains like a flickering candle but still hated him to the bone, Nie Zhao felt as if his heart was being squeezed by a cold hand, and the pain was so intense that he could hardly breathe.

She felt only anger when she heard the lies in the outer hall, but when she saw Nie Shiyun's lifeless and tormented state, an overwhelming heartache overwhelmed her.

This is her younger sister whom she watched grow up and cherished dearly. She is the little girl who would sweetly call her "big sister," follow behind her affectionately, and whose eyes would always sparkle.

Now he has been tortured to the point of being emaciated, covered in wounds, and almost exhausted even the strength to live.

The moment the fingertips touched her skin, the warmth of the fingertips seeped through the cold skin and into Nie Shiyun's already frozen blood vessels.

The illusion shattered.

it is true.

Nie Shiyun trembled violently, her unfocused pupils widened in shock, and tears streamed down her pale cheeks, leaving two clean streaks on her dirty face.

"Sister...?"

Her hoarse, broken voice was tinged with sobs, and tinged with a hint of confusion.

Is it because she's in so much pain and misses Nie Zhao so much that even her eyes are starting to lie?

Phoenix was drawn from its sheath, and Nie Zhao swung his sword. With a clean and swift motion, he severed four poisoned black iron chains.

"Clang—!"

The heavy iron chain fell to the ground with a dull thud.

In the instant of weightlessness, Nie Shiyun's slender body suddenly plummeted. Nie Zhao was prepared and caught her steadily, pulling her into his arms.

She collapsed into Nie Zhao's arms, utterly exhausted, her body twitching slightly. She felt the warmth of his embrace, and the clean, refreshing fragrance of a woman lingered in her nostrils, shielding her from the cold, miasma of the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave.

The real temperature, the real force, the real heartbeat enveloped her broken body layer by layer.

"I am here."

Nie Zhao lowered his head, his chin gently resting on the top of her messy hair, his voice soft and husky like never before.

"I'm back, no one will dare to bully you anymore."

She gripped her elder sister's crimson robe tightly, her fingertips turning white from the force: "Nie Zhao..."

It's really her.

Nie Shiyun's long hair was completely disheveled, the soaked strands stained with blood and sweat, clinging pathetically to her pale, translucent face and neck. Two years' worth of pent-up emotions surged within her eyes, but she was almost too exhausted to even shed a tear.

She was so weak that she seemed about to vanish into the poisonous miasma at any moment: "How could you...?"

"Don't speak," Nie Zhao said, feeling both tenderness and rage. He even felt a throbbing pain in his temples. He carefully picked up Nie Shiyun and whispered, "Hold me tight."

It turns out that the little bit of heartache I've endured over the past two years is only one in ten million.

Spoiled since childhood, someone who would cry even if they burned their hand as a child, is now living in this endless purgatory day and night.

*

Shen Chunri, with a herb he'd somehow found dangling from his mouth, squatted on the table pouring a cup, bored out of his mind and contemplating poisoning someone for fun.

"Help her up properly," Nie Zhao's voice rang out.

Xie Weixing looked up and saw that his senior sister was holding a black and red human-shaped figure in her arms.

?

He frowned: "Is this Nie Shiyun? How did she get beaten up like this?"

Even if they weren't biological children, who could be so cruel to a young girl in the prime of her life?

Besides, this is her own daughter.

Such a person deserves to go to the deepest level of hell.

Shen Chunri rolled off the bed, took Nie Shiyun from Nie Zhao's arms, and carefully let her lean on his shoulder.

The person in his arms was so thin that she was just skin and bones; there was no trace of the arrogant young lady who used to be in Wanjian Mountain.

Seeing a woman tortured to this extent, even if she was a mortal enemy, Shen Chunri couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow in his heart.

She looked up, frowned, glanced at the elder in the hall, helped the person sit down slowly beside her, took out a pill from her bag, and fed him one: "Would you like some water?"

A long, slender hand reached out, and Yu Xintang handed over a cup of tea.

Nie Shiyun couldn't help but laugh, which made all her wounds ache, and the corners of her lips curved into an extremely sarcastic smile.

The one who persecuted her to this extent was her most beloved father, the father who held her in his arms since she was a child and gave her whatever she wanted, and the kind-faced elder who would call her Miss Yun with a smile.

The ones who could save her and speak up for her were her sister, whom she hated to the core, and even the Feng Hua Sect, whom she regarded as her mortal enemy.

Seeing this, the elder in charge of the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave broke out in a cold sweat. He forced himself to speak, his voice strained and stiff: "The Second Miss has come out. You... Eldest Miss, you are safe and sound. This matter can be dropped. The Nie family rules are in place, you..."

Before the words were finished—

"Whoosh—!"

A sharp, crimson sword light suddenly slashed through the air.

So fast that the sword-drawing motion was invisible, without even the slightest hesitation.

All excuses and sophistry were cut off by a single sword at this moment.