"I will not save this child!"
In the heart of the Tianyuan Continent, within the Qingyun Empire, nestled in the city of Liuyue, stands the revered Shengdan Hall.
An elder with a hint of frost on his temple, clad in the robes of an alchemy master, stands in the hall, his gaze as cold as winter, with an unyielding tone addressing the three people before him.
Among them is a middle-aged woman, whose beauty has been marred by the hardships of laborious work, dressed in a simple linen dress that conceals her fragility.
Her face is a canvas of despair, standing awkwardly in the hall, unsure of what to do.
Beside her, a young girl clutches the hem of the woman's dress, her eyes wide with terror as she gazes at the strange looks cast upon her.
Behind them, a young man of sixteen or seventeen lies on a wooden board, his complexion as pale as death.
He is dressed in white clothes, now stained with blood, tattered garments revealing a body covered in terrible wounds, dried blood crusted over, his limbs twisted in the most unsettling manner.
"Lord Mo Chuan, you are the most powerful alchemist in our Liuyue City. I implore you, save my son, I beg of you!" cries the middle-aged woman, her face etched with sorrow, her eyes red with desperation.
Lord Mo Chuan turns his gaze to the young man behind the woman, snorts, and says, "Liu Yuemei, I have said it once, and I will say it again. I will not save him. Leave the Shengdan Hall at once, or do not blame me for being merciless!"
With his words, several guards in the hall skillfully encircle the group, as if to usher them out.
Many warriors who came to the hall to purchase pills are now curious, whispering to each other.
"Who is the young man lying on the board?"
"Don't you know? That's the young master of the Ye family, Ye Wushuang... It is said that he just married Miss Yun Qingyue of the Yun family yesterday and entered the Yun family. Why is he in such a miserable state today?
"Ah, the Ye family must have done something to provoke the heavens back then."
"How could this be?"
"You may not know, but the Ye family was once the top family in our Qingyun Empire. For some unknown reason, all the men in the family do not live past forty and suddenly die inexplicably, which is why this family has fallen into decline, each generation worse than the last.
"Now, in the generation of Ye Wushuang, only his third uncle, Ye Qingfeng, is still alive, but he is likely to die soon. It seems that the Ye family is about to end.
In the buzzing whispers, the young man on the board weakly raises his hand, looking at the pleading woman, his voice faint, "Mother, let go, we... should leave..."
Hearing this, Liu Yuemei turns to her son, her heart aching even more.
"Liu Yuemei, Ye Wushuang, how dare you still have the face to come to the Shengdan Hall to ask for medicine?"
Just then, a voice full of anger and coldness suddenly echoes in the hall.
Hearing the familiar yet strange voice, Ye Wushuang's expression freezes, looking up at the group entering through the main door, a spark of anger burning in his eyes.
She is led by a young woman with long, slender black hair cascading down her shoulders, a light purple dress highlighting her petite figure, making her as enchanting as a lotus on a snow peak, noble and aloof.
She steps forward, raising her voice, "Ye Wushuang, you are truly a man with a heart of a wolf and ungrateful!
Her words immediately attract the attention of the crowd, and Lord Mo Chuan remains unmoved, clearly well aware of the situation.
"Your Ye family, from being a top family in the Qingyun Empire, has fallen to the current state of poverty and decline. My Yun family remembered the help your Ye family provided in the past and could not bear to see your family destroyed.
"I, Yun Qingyue, let my father marry you into our Yun family to help maintain your family's livelihood. But what about you?
"On the wedding night, you sneaked into my sister Yun Ziyan's room, drugged her, and intended to do evil... Are you even human?
"Really, are you even human?" A young member of the Yun family immediately jumps to Yun Qingyue's side, indignantly pointing at Ye Wushuang, "Last night, our second young lady was terrified, waking up several times throughout the night, and now she is bedridden. Our eldest sister was punished by the head of the family for your actions, kneeling in the ancestral hall all night.
"If it were not for the eldest sister's plea last night, you would have suffered more than just broken bones and paralyzed meridians. You would have been beaten to death by the head of the family on the spot. But what about you?
As the onlookers hear these words, they finally understand what has happened.
"This Ye Wushuang, he is truly beyond redemption."
"He's utterly ungrateful, not even a scoundrel, less than an animal. On his wedding night, he tried to take advantage of his own sister-in-law..."
"No wonder Master Mo Chuan refuses to treat him. Such a scum deserves to be punished to the fullest extent!"
"The Yun family still spares his life; it's too lenient a punishment!"
Hearing the criticisms from the crowd, Ye Wushuang's gaze was as sharp as a sword, staring straight at Yun Qingyue.
This woman who had always helped his Ye family, this woman he had always considered as close as family, had finally torn off her hypocritical mask, hadn't she?
"Yun Qingyue!"
Ye Wushuang clenched his teeth, looking at Yun Qingyue with indifference.
"In Liuyue City, everyone knows that I, Ye Wushuang, lack talent. After three years of cultivation, I have not been able to sense the spiritual energy, not even entering the first level of physical cultivation. Your sister, Yun Ziyan, at the age of fifteen, is already at the fourth level of physical cultivation. As an ordinary person, could I drug her with the intention of violating her?"
Ye Wushuang said coldly, "What intentions your Yun family has, you know best! Thinking that my Ye family, fallen as it is, still has some treasure hidden, and once you found out that there are no treasures left in my Ye family, you immediately turned your back on me, kicking me away. That was not enough; you even set up such a vicious plot, making me, Ye Wushuang, carry a bad name and die!"
"How ruthless!"
"How decisive!"
"Yun Qingyue, I, Ye Wushuang, am indeed less than a scoundrel, because I, Ye Wushuang, actually believed in you, believed in the laughable hypocrisy of your Yun family's kindness!"
As soon as Ye Wushuang finished speaking, Yun Qingyue's eyes turned red, and she tremulously extended her delicate hand, looking at Ye Wushuang as if in disbelief, her voice trembling, "Ye Wushuang, I have treated you with sincerity, how many people in Liuyue City do not know this? You have done such a despicable thing, and now you... you... even slander me for harming you... you..."
Yun Qingyue seemed to be deeply wronged by Ye Wushuang's counterattack, and tears flowed down her cheeks.
The onlookers, seeing this scene, mostly believed in the "innocent and weak" eldest Miss Yun, and the curses against Ye Wushuang were spoken out one after another.
Listening to the abuse around him, Ye Wushuang gave a bitter smile.
Yun Qingyue, so good at acting, he had been deceived by her for these three years, how ridiculous!
"Qingyue!"
At this moment, Liu Yuemei came to Yun Qingyue's front, tightly holding Yun Qingyue's hands, pleading, "Qingyue, there must be a misunderstanding, please, save Wushuang."
Yun Qingyue, hearing this, showed a helpless expression and said, "Aunt, it's not that I won't save him, it's that Ye Wushuang..."
Suddenly, a thud sounded.
Liu Yuemei suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowing fiercely, with bright red blood immediately flowing out, and her long hair was in disarray.
Liu Yuemei, however, did not care at all, pleading desperately, "Qingyue, I beg you, please save Wushuang, there must be a misunderstanding, there must be some misunderstanding, I beg you, Qingyue..."