The Eight Empresses Betrayed Me, Only to Deeply Regret It After Being Reborn

Chapter 006: The Sword Sacrifice:

“Ling’er, here’s some jade stem porridge I made for you. Try it and tell me if it’s good,” said Zeng Shuiyue with a kind smile, holding a bowl of light green porridge. The porridge, made from green spiritual rice, exuded a rich and delightful fragrance.

“Thank you, Mother!” Chu Ling replied cheerfully, her face lighting up with a pure smile.

“Mother, you’re the best person in the world to me. I’ll never leave you and Father for the rest of my life.”

Zeng Shuiyue gently patted her head with a smile.

“Silly child, are you saying you’ll never get married?”

The question made Chu Ling pause for a moment.

Get married?

To whom?

Lu Ye?

If it wasn’t Lu Ye, after witnessing his unparalleled charm, who in the world could ever compare? Who could possibly take his place in her heart?

“Ling’er doesn’t want to marry. I just want to stay by your and Father’s side forever, to be with my family,” Chu Ling said, forcing a smile.

“Alright, alright, no need to marry. Now drink your porridge before it gets cold.”

Chu Ling nodded and began sipping the porridge in small, dainty gulps.

Watching her drink, Zeng Shuiyue’s smile grew even more affectionate.

At last, her son was safe.

She had initially planned for this girl to be her son’s sword servant, but fate had other plans. The demonic sword forged by the family patriarch required a sacrificial person, and the criteria were extremely strict.

The only suitable candidates were her son, Chu Shifei, and the adopted daughter, Chu Ling. There was no way her son would be sacrificed.

After finishing the bowl, Chu Ling exclaimed, “Mother, it’s delicious!”

“Then have some more!”

Three bowls later, Chu Ling rubbed her stomach with a childlike innocence. “Mother, I can’t eat anymore. I’m stuffed.”

“Silly girl, take a rest then. If you’re tired, lie down for a nap.”

“I know!”

After Zeng Shuiyue left, Chu Ling found herself pondering the topic of marriage again.

Not long after, an overwhelming drowsiness swept over her.

Something was wrong!

Although Chu Ling wasn’t completely powerless, having fought alongside Lu Ye and earned her title as the Nine Heavens Sword Maiden, the sudden wave of fatigue was far from normal.

She quickly circulated her cultivation technique, the Great Slaughter Sword Sutra, which she had been practicing since her rebirth. The scripture was highly aggressive, and its energy helped her resist the effects of poison.

Poisoned!

How could she have been poisoned?

Chu Ling traced back her actions and realized the only possibility was the jade stem porridge.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

The porridge was poisoned?

How could that be?

Wasn’t it made by her own mother?

The poison began spreading through her body. Drawing on her combat skills as a sword cultivator, she suppressed the toxins with her true energy and decided to feign unconsciousness to uncover the truth.

“Knock, knock… Ling’er, are you asleep?”

Feigning sleep, Chu Ling heard Zeng Shuiyue’s voice.

She didn’t respond.

After a moment of silence outside, Zeng Shuiyue spoke coldly.

“She’s poisoned. Let’s begin.”

The gentle warmth in her tone was gone, replaced by chilling indifference.

“Click.”

The door opened, and a group of people entered.

Zeng Shuiyue and Chu Xiongtian looked at the unconscious Chu Ling with expressions of joy.

“Take her to the patriarch!”

Two people stepped forward, hoisting Chu Ling and carrying her to the deepest part of Chu Sword Manor.

“With the demonic sword finally nearing completion, the patriarch will break through in cultivation, and my crisis will be resolved,” Chu Shifei muttered, still shaken.

“Hmph! If this girl hadn’t returned to die, you would have been the one sacrificed. Stop wasting time and start training seriously. If danger comes again, are you going to rely on luck?” Chu Xiongtian reprimanded him.

“Father, I understand. I’ll train hard!”

“After the demonic sword is completed, you’ll go into seclusion for a year. You’re not to leave until you’ve mastered the fifth level Chu Sword Heart Method!”

“What? The fifth level?”

“Mother, I can’t do that in a year! I’ll go crazy! I can’t take it!”

“Your father’s right. If danger strikes again and you’re weak, you’ll be at the mercy of others.”

Listening to the conversation of the people she had once called family, Chu Ling felt her heart plunge into an icy abyss.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

A sword sacrifice?

Returned to die?

She was the sword sacrifice?

She returned to die?

She…

“If I must reach the 5th level, I have one condition,” Chu Shifei demanded, seemingly resigned to his fate.

“What condition?” Zeng Shuiyue asked.

“I want to spend half an hour alone with Chu Ling. She’s going to die anyway, and the patriarch only needs her innate sword physique. Let me have her first—it won’t make any difference.”

“Ah—Father, stop hitting me! Stop hitting me!”

“You little bastard! What nonsense are you spouting? Chu Ling is your sister!”

“She’s not really my sister. She’s just the daughter of those two dead slaves. She was only kept around because of her physique. If it weren’t for that, I’d have had her long ago.”

“Either give me half an hour with her, or I won’t go into seclusion!” Chu Shifei shouted, fully embracing his shamelessness.

Chu Xiongtian, enraged, nearly beat his son to death, but Zeng Shuiyue stopped him.

“Why not just let him? After all, Chu Ling is going to die anyway. As his mother, I know how much he’s coveted her. Once he gets his way, he’ll be able to focus on cultivation.”

Chu Xiongtian fumed. “Absolutely not! At such a critical moment, we can’t afford any mistakes. If anything goes wrong, it’ll cost him his life!”

“If you dare cause trouble again, I’ll break your legs!”

Chu Xiongtian’s stern warning ended the argument.

The guards present kept their eyes down, pretending not to hear a word.

This family’s affairs were beyond their place to comment on.

But Chu Ling—what a fool. Returning to a home where her real parents had disappeared, Chu Si had been killed for warning her to leave, and she noticed nothing.

Some people are doomed to die.

At that moment, Chu Ling finally saw the Chu family’s true nature.

Memories flooded her mind.

“Master, I miss home. When can I go back and visit?”

“Not yet. Wait a little longer.”

“How much longer?”

“Until… the sword is complete.”

At the time, she thought he was referring to herself as the sword. Now, she realized he had meant the demonic sword!

Once the demonic sword was complete, they no longer needed her as a sacrifice, so she could return.

…

“Master, please, let me go home. I miss my parents so much.”

“Do you mean your biological parents, or your adoptive ones?”

“My adoptive parents are my real parents!”

“Ling’er, real parents are biological ones. Adoptive parents might not always have your best interests at heart.”

“That’s impossible! My parents love me! Master, how can you say such things about them?”

At the time, she and her master had a fierce argument.

…

“Ling’er, it’s time. I’ll take you home!”

But when she arrived, Chu Sword Manor had become a wasteland, its people dead or scattered.

“Those who harm others will ultimately harm themselves!”

“They deserved it!”

“Lu Ye! It’s all your fault!”