Meiling stood there—naked in all but scraps of silk—and felt something break inside her that had been cracking for years. A final fracture.
This was her life. This exact moment, repeating forever like a cultivator's karmic loop. Even when he finally killed her, she'd die carrying his name. Die having borne his son. Die having never been anything but his property to break.
The door opened wider.
Cang stood backlit by lamplight, his gaze moving past Li Feng to find her face. To see the handprint blooming red across her cheek. His expression held no pity—just cold assessment.
"Do you see now?" he said quietly, each word deliberate. "He will beat you. Worse than before, because now he has justification." He paused, letting it sink in. "Come back inside. Join me. Satisfy me—and I promise to take you away from this. Make you an immortal cultivator."
The hallway went silent.
Meiling's heart hammered against her ribs. Immortal. That meant living forever. That meant...
