Chapter Ninety-Eight: Love Turned to Hatred

"Su Ye, tell me now! What is it? Is it something that will kill my father?"

Jiang Liuying wiped away her tears and sprang to her feet at once, her tone almost accusatory, too desperate to uncover the secret hidden within it all.

Su Ye frowned. Instead of answering, he turned to Jiang Ziyang, who was still lying there.

Realizing the question should be put to her father, Jiang Liuying hurriedly asked, "Dad, what is it? Tell me!"

Looking at his daughter before him, Jiang Ziyang was suddenly overwhelmed by a deep, aching tenderness. In a hoarse voice, he said, "I should have told you long ago. It is the bloodline power our Jiang family has always borne, but we have never been able to control it... So, already in your grandfather's generation, they left the clan and came south to Yang City..."

Jiang Liuying listened in silence. This was the first time she had ever heard anything about their family.

Su Ye also listened quietly without speaking. The place Jiang Ziyang spoke of was also his own family's homeland. Back then, his grandfather had gone to that distant clan and arranged a marriage alliance for the third generation with Jiang Ziyang.

Later, the Jiang family collapsed, and Su Ye's family also underwent a dramatic upheaval. Su Ye was stripped of his original name, took his mother's surname, and traveled all the way south to Yang City.

It was precisely because of the bond between their families that Jiang Ziyang had cared for him without hesitation, treating him as though he were his own son.

Jiang Ziyang forced a bitter smile and, after a moment of ragged breathing, went on, "That place is also Su Ye's homeland. You used to envy Su Ye for having nine thunder meridians, but in truth, our Jiang family also carries a power within us... Only this power is too great, already cursed! I have to lock it firmly inside my own body. Once it is passed down to the next generation, that child will be in mortal danger..."

As she listened, Jiang Liuying suddenly remembered something and said in shock, "Then my dead brothers... did they all die because of the thing inside you?"

"Partly," Jiang Ziyang said, a wave of pain rising through him. "I tried to pass it to your eldest brother and second brother, and later to your sixth brother as well, but none of them could bear it. I killed them. Will you blame me?"

Jiang Liuying's hand trembled as she slowly reached out and took his. She understood that the one suffering most was surely her father. How could she blame him?

"It is all the fate of our family. Now... pass it to me! Dad, I don't want to watch you die!" Jiang Liuying said with unwavering resolve.

At that moment, Jiang Ziyang seemed almost ready to struggle upright. His voice turned utterly firm as he said in a low tone, "No! I have already lost six sons. I cannot lose you as well! Daughter, don't worry. Your father can still hold on."

"But how can you hold on now? I know, I know there are spirit beasts beneath our underground palace, and they like to drink my blood. I know Sixth Brother spoke to me all night about strange things before receiving the inheritance... This inheritance was destined to be passed down from generation to generation at the cost of life..."

Jiang Liuying slowly wiped away her tears and straightened up. "Dad, I can't be without you! I thought you were leaving me just now. I truly don't know how I would go on living..."

Su Ye's whole body suddenly shook. The hand pressed against Jiang Ziyang's crown nearly flew back from a terrifying force. A streak of blood instantly spilled from the corner of his mouth, and he said hastily,

"Patriarch Jiang, you must decide at once whether to keep imprisoning it in your body or pass it to Liuying. I am about to lose control!"

At once, Jiang Liuying grabbed Su Ye's hand and said in frantic distress, "Pass it to me, pass it to me now! Su Ye, I can't be without my father. You know how to do it, don't you? Pass it to me!"

Jiang Ziyang bellowed, "Su Ye! Seal it in my acupoint immediately. You and Liuying are still young; the future belongs to you. The Jiang family also needs you. Do as I say. Begin!"

"No—" Jiang Liuying was nearly hysterical. She cried out in despair, "Su Ye, pass it to me right now, or I will hate you for the rest of my life! I will never forgive you!"

Jiang Ziyang shouted, "Steward, get the young lady out of here. Now!"

The stewards outside the door all flinched, but they could only obey. They hurried forward, seized Jiang Liuying, and pulled her away.

Jiang Liuying struggled violently, almost wildly shoving the stewards aside. "Su Ye, stop! Stop!! Don't—otherwise I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!"

But the stewards were all more highly cultivated than she was. With their joint strength, she had no way to resist.

Xiaodie, Jiang Liuying's most beloved maid, burst into tears at the sight. "No, Miss, don't be like this... Master, tell them to let go of the young lady!"

The other servants were all deeply moved, but the Jiang family rules were severe. They could never defy the patriarch's orders.

Su Ye could only watch helplessly. He saw the usually lively and adorable Jiang Liuying now crying and shouting in utter anguish. In her eyes, she was watching her father choose a path of no return with her own eyes!

At last, Jiang Liuying was dragged out, and the door was shut.

Su Ye's hand trembled even more. He let out a low sigh, not knowing what to say.

Jiang Ziyang also closed his eyes in pain and said in a low voice, "She's only throwing a fit for the moment. If I keep sealing this power, my body will merely grow weaker. Three or five years won't be a problem. By then, perhaps I will already have found a true way to break it. Don't bear any psychological burden. Begin—"

"Patriarch, you know you can't fool me. There can't even be three years left... There is no way to break it in this world at all. If there were, after all the thousands of years your Jiang family has endured it, why has it not been broken yet?"

As Su Ye spoke, his eyes slowly darkened, and his expression turned incomparably resolute. It was the resolve of someone who had thrown everything aside.

He pressed down with his hand and began...

...

A full day and night passed.

Only then did the door open. The stewards had long been waiting. They rushed in together.

At once, they saw that Jiang Ziyang was already sitting up. His spirit had recovered considerably, and some color had returned to his face. By contrast, Su Ye beside him, whether from lack of cultivation or for some other reason, was deathly pale, his lips dark, and both palms were almost entirely covered in blood.

Everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Just how much had this sealing method cost?

The chief steward hurried forward to support Jiang Ziyang and said in a low voice, "Master, why did it take so long this time? In the past, the sealing took only an hour. Did something go wrong?"

Jiang Ziyang shook his head, signaling that he did not need help, and said, "I'm fine. You... take Su Ye back properly, have him take one Crimson Sun Divine Pill, and send someone to attend him at all times. Go."

The chief steward's eyes widened. He thought he must have misheard.

There was only one Crimson Sun Divine Pill left in the entire Jiang family. Even when Jiang Ziyang had been grievously wounded in the past, he had not been willing to take it. How could it suddenly be given to Su Ye?

"Yes, Master!" He did not hesitate, however, and immediately supported Su Ye, helping him step by step out the door.

Seeing Su Ye's frail condition, it seemed that he, too, had paid a heavy price to help with the sealing.

Just as they reached the doorway, Jiang Liuying suddenly appeared, striding over with a dark expression.

The moment she saw Su Ye, her face filled with anger, and she ground her teeth. "Su Ye, you... I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!"

Su Ye opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he was so weak that even opening his eyes felt difficult. In the end, he did not know what to say. If it had been anyone else, they would likely have hated him as well.

"Hmph. I'll settle accounts with you next time."

Jiang Liuying had originally wanted to strike him, to beat him viciously, but seeing him in that state, she could only snort coldly and rush into the room.

Su Ye was helped back to his own chamber, where the chief steward had personally gone to fetch the Crimson Sun Divine Pill.

As soon as he swallowed it, he felt an overwhelming wave of sleepiness surging through his entire body. Within seconds, he had drifted into a dazed slumber.

He did not sleep peacefully. He kept having the same nightmare. He fell into a pitch-black vortex, and dark spots the size of soybeans slowly appeared all over his body. In an instant, those spots turned into a roaring whirlpool that swallowed his entire being...