Gu Qingxi hadn't taken five steps when the door crashed open behind her.
Gu Patriarch froze.
Elder Yuan's corpse pooled at his feet.
His disgraced daughter stood amidst the ruins—calm as glacial ice.
"What madness is this?!" His roar echoed. "Did you think seducing Elder Yuan would—?"
His accusation died as he touched Yuan's cooling wrist.
No pulse. No qi. Only blood soaking sanctimonious white robes.
Panic seized him. No resources. No sect protection. Only retribution.
"What have you done?!" He wheeled on Gu Qingxi, blind to the truth before him.
"They're dead." Her smile held zero warmth. "You'll join them."
"Wretch!" He lunged, hand raised for a familiar blow—
—and saw Gu Wenlian.
His golden child.
Skull cratered. Robes looted. A fly already buzzing in her open mouth.
Impossible.
The waste—the failure—couldn't have…
"You killed Wenlian?" Voice cracking.
"Yes." A black talisman materialized in Gu Qingxi's fingers.
Only then did he notice—
The room was papered in void-dark seals.
Their energy hummed against his skin like angry wasps.
"Yuan too? A—a talisman master? At Qi Refining Level 1?!" Logic shattered.
Gu Qingxi ignored him. Her verdict fell like an executioner's blade:
"You poisoned Mother. To install your pregnant mistress."
"Gu Wenlian was always your blood."
"Traded her like livestock for pills."
The Patriarch blanched. How could she—?
"Water-Wood dual roots." Gu Qingxi's laugh was arctic. "Guzzled family resources for decades…" She leaned in, whisper sharp as a scalpel:
"...yet still can't reach Foundation Establishment."
"WHO'S THE FAILURE NOW?"
"ABOMINATION!" His palm flew—
The talisman flared.
Black runes snapped taut like guillotine wires.
CRUNCH-SPLAT!
His striking hand vaporized—leaving one dangling finger. Blood geysered.
"GAAAH—!" He collapsed, seven orifices weeping crimson. Invisible claws shredded his spirit.
"Answer me." Gu Qingxi loomed over him. "Who. Is. Trash?"
"Hk—ghhk—!" He clawed his throat, eyes bulging with dawning horror.
Regret flooded him: This monster was his daughter. His ticket to glory. Wasted.
Too late.
She stepped over his twitching form.
Didn't glance back as the bridal chamber imploded behind her—
—swallowing two broken men in talisman-fed flames.
Moonlight washed the blood from her robes.
She shed the bridal gown like snake skin. Walked into the silvered night.
*---*
Dawn found her at a roadside stall.
Steam curled from her fifth bowl of pork wontons.
The vendor eyed her worriedly. Such a slender girl devouring noodles, dumplings, spicy beef noodles...
Gu Qingxi ignored him.
The flavors exploded on her tongue—rich. Complex. Alive.
No more nutrient paste. No more corpse-tainted water. Just... life.
She ordered a sixth bowl.
The Patriarch's final gargles echoed in her mind.
Failure. The word tasted better than any delicacy.