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

Nie Zhao looked at him coldly and rebuked him in a low voice, "You're still defending him?!"

Nie Shiyun instinctively fell silent, her chest heaving, tears welling up in her eyes.

She helped herself up from the bedside, knelt down and kowtowed, burying her face in the cold ground: "Mother, you have been in seclusion for years and have never raised me. My sister went to Fenghua Sect. It was Father who gave me love. It was Father who told me that I am not an unwanted child."

Her thin shoulders trembled, and tears rolled down her cheeks: "It was my father who gave me hope. When I was in the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave, I hated him, hated him for lying to me, hated him for using me, but even in my dreams, I would dream that my father would come to save me. He was the person I relied on the most."

"Mother, I know Father's sins are grave. I don't ask you to forgive him. Just lock him up, punish him by making him copy scriptures every day, and confine him to his home for life," Nie Shiyun said, her voice trembling. "Please spare his life, I..."

She choked back tears and said, "I don't want my father to die."

She trembled all over. The once powerful and influential Miss Nie was now like a defeated dog, kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy.

Shen Yuan froze, staring blankly at her, his eyes filled with a complex mix of disbelief and emotion.

"Ah Yun," Nie Zhao pulled her hand, her heart aching unbearably, "Get up, don't kneel for him!"

"Sister," Nie Shiyun grasped her sleeve, tears streaming down her face, "I know Father has done many bad things, but he raised me for over twenty years. He's the only family member who's been good to me. I don't want him to die."

"I don't want him to die, sister," Nie Shiyun shook her head, "You can punish him however you want, just don't kill him, okay?"

Shen Yuan's eyes reddened, and he chuckled softly, seemingly disdainful: "I don't need anyone to spare my life. Nie Zhao, if you want my life, I'll give it to you."

With his current condition, entering the Ten Thousand Poisons Cave would be a certain death, and being imprisoned for life, unable to see the people he longed to see, would be worse than death.

Nie Zhao held Nie Shiyun, who was crying and trembling all over, and looked at her coldly.

Shen Yuan was dressed in a plain-colored long robe, which made his handsome face look pale and sickly. He had been exhausted for days, and his lips were so pale that they were almost transparent. He raised his hand and grasped a narrow-bladed short sword hanging in the room. The metal rubbed against the scabbard and made a cold, soft sound. The cold light reflected in his eyes.

Tan Suiting instinctively protected Xie Weixing beside him, and gently gathered spiritual power at his fingertips.

Do you want to drag someone down with you before you die?

Nie Qingyi's fingers suddenly clenched, and she said coldly, "A Yuan, I am the head of the Nie family. I have given you everything I can, but I don't know why you are still not satisfied."

Shen Yuan's back swayed slightly. His body, weakened by long illness, was now gripping the sword. His pale skin made the cold blade seem even more piercing. "Ayi, no one can bear to see another person by their lover's side. No one can bear to watch their wife be driven to despair. The Nie family of Nanchuan is wrong, Chidi is wrong. This world has ruined my life. I hate them."

He finally turned his head to look at his daughter, whose eyes were blurred with tears. His eyes were filled with an almost morbid stubbornness that sent chills down one's spine: "Yun'er, I used you, hurt you, and instigated you to turn against Nie Zhao, but my kindness to you was genuine. If it weren't for you supporting me for the past ten years, I might not have been able to survive in the Nie family, let alone take revenge."

"I'm not a good father," a tear suddenly rolled down his cheek, "but you're a good child. Don't let us meet again in your next life."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly tightened his wrist.

"Father—" Nie Shiyun suddenly opened her eyes wide.

Nie Qingyi froze: "A Yuan!"

The sharp blade sliced ​​through the flesh, and warm blood gushed out instantly, flowing down her snow-white neck and soaking her plain clothes.

Shen Yuan's body trembled violently, the short sword in his hand fell onto the floor tiles, his pupils dilated rapidly, blood spread across the ground, staining the blue bricks red, and fine blood foam spilled from his mouth.

Nie Qingyi caught his falling body, her eyes bloodshot, and held his hand tightly.

"You again..." After a long pause, she let out a trembling breath, tinged with tears, "...Why bother?"

"I die here now, paying for my life with another's," Shen Yuan said, his mouth gushing blood, his words slurred. "Ayi... even if you are reborn through countless cycles of reincarnation, you will never escape me. In the next life, you must find me. If you refuse, even if I fall into hell, I will drag you down with me, for eternity... never to be reincarnated."

Blood gushed from her neck, soaking through Nie Qingyi's clothes.

After a long while, she finally shed a tear, which landed on Shen Yuan's pale cheek.

"In the next life," Nie Qingyi slowly closed her eyes and promised, "I will not be the head of the Nie family."

Shen Yuan looked at her, his vision gradually blurring, until finally a smile appeared on his face.

"good……"

As soon as he finished speaking, he breathed his last.

"Father—!" Nie Shiyun cried out in anguish, "Father—!"

Nie Zhao hugged her, calling out, "A-Yun!"

"Let me go—!" Nie Shiyun broke free.

Nie Qingyi stood up and stopped her, pushing her out the door with tears still streaming down her face. She said coldly, "Your father is dead. According to the rules of the Nie family, direct female relatives cannot attend funerals, lest they be tainted with bad luck. Go away."

"Mother!" Nie Shiyun's face was covered in tears.

With a muffled thud, Nie Qingyi closed the door, her fingertips trembling noticeably.

"Ah Yun," Nie Zhao hugged her, his brows furrowed, his eyes filled with complex emotions, "In Nanchuan, women are forbidden from attending funerals. You mustn't go."

She never expected that Shen Yuan would commit suicide.

Xie Weixing glanced at Tan Suiting, and both of them had the same complex expression of disbelief in their eyes.

The agency was too smart to calculate, and it wasted Qingqing's life.

"Let me go—!" Nie Shiyun shoved her away, his eyes bloodshot. "I already told you, lock him up and make sure he never leaves the Nie Manor again. I only begged you to spare his life, why are you still forcing him! Why!"

"I didn't force him," Nie Zhao said coldly. "He wanted to die on his own."

"Nie Zhao, I only asked you for this one thing: can't you even leave me a memory, leave me a loved one in this world?" Nie Shiyun looked at her, trembling all over, tears streaming down her face. "Now he's dead, and I'm his daughter. Can't I even see him one last time?"

Nie Zhao's fingers clenched tightly, turning bluish-white: "That's the rule in Nanchuan Chidi. Ayun, if you want to see him, you'll have to wait..."

Nie Shiyun laughed, a vibrant smile staining her tear-streaked face, making her look terrifying no matter how you looked at her.

"Father is right. This Nie family mansion in Nanchuan is a den of monsters that devours people." Her chest heaved violently, and her smile became even more beautiful, but tears streamed down her face. "Women are born to bear the responsibility of ruling the world and cannot have their own feelings. If a man enters the mansion, even if he is dressed in fine clothes and eats fine food, he will still be considered inferior and can only live on the charity of women."

"Sister," she sneered, "this phoenix maiden, destined by heaven, will also become a straw dog under this worldly system. You and I are equally pathetic."

---

The Nanchuan arc is now complete. Actually, this arc was meant to say... no matter what kind of extreme society it is, it's unacceptable; equality is great. Also, I really didn't whitewash Shen Yuan. The bad things he did were real, but his love for Nie Qingyi was also real. Some readers sympathize with him because they like the "bad guy with a sincere heart" trope, but that doesn't mean I think he's innocent or that I'll let him off the hook.