Ahh…it hurts… The bones of her entire body felt as though they had been shattered. She couldn’t even lift one finger.

Jun Xiaomo lay on the bed, seemingly trapped in a never-ending nightmare. She desperately struggled to wake up, but to no avail. Her body involuntarily twitched from time to time. Her chest rose and fell violently in tandem with her furious breathing. Large globules of cold sweat constantly beaded up on her glistening forehead, frequently rolling down, percolating the gaps in her hair.

“Hey dear...Mo-Mo, where does it hurt? Tell Mum, alright?” The beautiful lady sat beside the bed watched her daughter. Her eyes were filled with pain and heartache that only mothers know of. She tenderly and patiently wiped off the sweat on Jun Xiaomo’s body with her handkerchief.

Ever since her sixteen year-old daughter received punishment for entering the Sect’s forbidden ground, her daughter had been trapped in a nightmare, unable to awaken from her slumber. Liu Qingmei was initially furious at her daughter’s mischievous and naughty ways. Yet, after a few days, Liu Qingmei’s anger quickly turned into a deep concern for her. 

“Mo-Mo, don’t scare your mother like that. Hurry up and wake up alright?” Liu Qingmei was well-reputed to be a strong and courageous lady. Yet faced with her daughter’s serious injuries, she was unable to keep herself calm and composed. The tears she shed over these past few days far outnumbered the tears she had shed over the past year combined! To make matters worse, her husband had entered closed-door cultivation, and she could only forcefully bear the frustration and pain in her heart alone. 

-plop- A drop of tear landed on Jun Xiaomo’s hand, and the sensation offered a small reprieve from the pain she was experiencing.

This is…water?

Jun Xiaomo was still fully immersed in the moment of death where her life force was torn from her body at the dungeon. She had thought that the formation array was incomplete, and she was simply waiting for death’s arrival. However, the cool, otherworldly sensation on her hand suggested to her that things were not as they seemed. 

Her consciousness slowly but surely returned to the present, and she found her ears ringing with a high-pitched noise. Jun Xiaomo tried shaking her head to dispel the noise, only to realize that her head felt heavy as though it were made of lead.

“Mo-Mo…” Almost as though she had sensed it, Liu Qingmei leaned over her body, gently caressing her daughter’s hair.

“Mum…” Jun Xiaomo immediately recognized this voice which was buried in the depths of her memory. Two streaks of tears promptly gushed out of her tightly shut eyes, flowing into her hair.

How many years has it been since she had last heard her mother’s tender call to her? She must finally be dead right now. Otherwise, how could she once again see her father and mother?

“Mo-Mo, don’t cry. Let mother know where your discomfort is.” Liu Qingmei wanted so much to embrace and comfort her daughter, but she was also worried that the injuries on her daughter’s body might be aggravated. So, she could only gently and carefully hold onto her daughter’s hand.

Jun Xiaomo wanted to exclaim that her whole body was in discomfort, especially in her heart! However, the multitude of words found themselves lodged in her throat, and the only utterances which made its way out were incomprehensible.

With mixed feelings in her heart, Jun Xiaomo slowly opened her eyes.

This is…light?!

In the wake of losing her vision, Jun Xiaomo had almost forgotten what it was like to be able to see. She subconsciously shut her eyes before slowly opening them once again. This time, her vision gradually became clear.

Sandalwood furniture, lilac veils, and a young…mother.

“Mum…” Jun Xiaomo’s voice was filled with emotions. She wanted to lift her hand to see if her mother was real or not. Only, the pain in her hand prevented her from doing so.

Liu Qingmei noticed Jun Xiaomo’s intentions, and lifted her tender hands to her cheek, saying “Dear…Mum is here.”

“Mum, am I dead?” Jun Xiaomo asked with a bitter smile on her lips. No matter what, having had the opportunity to see her mother one last time before being reincarnated, Jun Xiaomo was very satisfied. 

“Silly child! What do you mean, dead? Your father is still around – no one would dare to beat you to death!” Liu Qingmei looked at her quizzically. Who wakes up and immediately suspects that oneself is dead? Liu Qingmei glared at Jun Xiaomo, rebuking, “Have you finally learnt your lesson this time? Such mischief. You even dared to enter the Sect’s forbidden grounds!”

Forbidden grounds? Jun Xiaomo knitted her eyebrows, her pale lips stretching out into a thin line.

Jun Xiaomo’s memory from a long time ago resurfaced in her mind – when she was sixteen years-old, she was incited by Qin Shanshan to enter the Sect’s forbidden grounds, almost lost her life as a result, and even alarmed the Sect’s Court of Elders. However, because Qin Shanshan was Qin Lingyu’s sister and she wanted to please her sweetheart, Jun Xiaomo did not tattle on Qin Shanshan. Instead, she bore all of the punishment herself. The Sect Elders punished her in accordance with the rules of the Sect, almost taking away the remaining bit of life in her!

If not for the fact that her father was a Peakmaster in the Sect, perhaps the Sect Elders might really have simply allowed her to return to the heavens.

“Stupid! So stupid! Extremely stupid!” Jun Xiaomo coldly muttered to herself. She could vividly recall the reason why she had entered the Sect’s forbidden grounds in the first place. Wasn’t it because Qin Shanshan said that the forbidden grounds held something which her brother had wanted? Just for that one casual statement, Jun Xiaomo ran into the forbidden grounds without further thought.

Recalling the things that she had done for Qin Lingyu, an indignant feeling stirred within her, churning and festering.

Could there be anyone lower than her?

A bloody taste welled up at the tip of Jun Xiaomo’s tongue. This smell was extremely pungent, yet it was the same familiar smell which had accompanied her in the three hundred or more days which she had been held captive in the dark and dank dungeon.

“Ah--! You’ve bit your lips! Is it painful?” Liu Qingmei call jolted Jun Xiaomo back to her senses, incidentally rescuing her lower lips from the vice-like grip between her teeth. Jun Xiaomo’s lower lips were left with a deep impression of teeth marks.

Jun Xiaomo’s eyes grew red and hot. In that instant, a force welled up within her prompting her to throw herself into her mother’s embrace, ignoring all the pain in her body.

“Mum~~! I’m sorry~!” Jun Xiaomo hadn’t forgotten how her parents had died, nor did she forget how her entire Peak was annihilated.

Jun Xiaomo’s tears completely drenched Liu Qingmei’s clothes. Her daughter seemed to have grown up overnight, and her whole being seemed to be shrouded with a kind of grief.

What exactly happened to Mo-Mo in the forbidden grounds? Whilst Liu Qingmei gently stroked Jun Xiaomo’s back, she slightly raised her eyebrows.

“Forget it. Let’s wait until her emotions have stabilized before asking her again,” Liu Qingmei thought to herself while tousling Jun Xiaomo’s hair.

Basking in the comfort and love of her mother again, Jun Xiaomo gritted her teeth – it seems that time had reverted to when she was sixteen years old. This also happened to be the year where she experienced the largest turning point in her life.

Mother, Father, and my fellow martial brothers and sisters, it will be my turn to protect you this time!

No matter what, she was not going to let the bloody scene which happened 30 years later repeat itself. If anyone dared to hurt the people which mattered to her, it would have to be over her dead body!

Indeed, one can only hope that they have enough good fortune to experience this Lady Demoness’s formidable and fearsome vengeance.    

Behind her shimmering, tear-filled eyes, Jun Xiaomo’s gaze carried with it a deep and fierce determination.