Wounds like crawling insects are spread over the slender arm, turning the originally fair and graceful hand into something terrifying and disgusting.

Though I’ve seen Wei Wan being whipped by her father and brother in the memory images, seeing her scars in reality feels entirely different.

"No wonder she refused when I asked her to bathe with us that day."

Liu Su covers her mouth, her face full of disbelief.

"Are those two truly her relatives?"

Everyone falls into silence, Qiu Zhihe suddenly turns to look at Qin Gengyun, who nods in understanding and walks out of the grove.

Once he leaves, Qiu Zhihe’s slender hand gestures towards Wei Wan, and her delicate body floats into the air; her clothes gently undone and removed by spiritual power.

A slender and almost perfect fair body appears in front of the four women.

Suddenly, the sound of gasping for air echoes.

Even this beautiful body is covered with countless scars of varying lengths, as if the most revolting worms are crawling all over the flesh.

Turning this tender body into something ugly and terrifying.

"Ugh~"

Liu Su can’t help but dry heave; one could hardly imagine such cruelty exists without seeing it.

Just killing is one thing, but torturing a beautiful girl into a monster is downright disgusting!

"Those beasts can’t possibly be related to Wei Wan; who would lay such a cruel hand on their kin?!"

Mo Xiaolan clenches her fist: "Such a life is indeed more tragic than death."

Jian Yue giggles: "Should we call her Wei Wan, or should we call her Mo Ling?"

Qiu Zhihe furrows her brows tightly, her eyes remaining icy; she gestures and re-dresses Wei Wan, gently placing her back on the ground.

"Regardless of what we call her, Cloud Bamboo Mountain needs to pay for this."

Jian Yue raises her sword again: "Mistress, should I kill her then?"

Liu Su snaps: "Jian Yue, it seems you quite want Wei Wan dead?"

Jian Yue giggles, starts counting on her fingers: "Mistress, Second Mistress, Third Mistress, Fourth Mistress, Fifth Mistress, Sixth Mistress, Seventh Mistress... add an Eighth Mistress, and I would only be ranked Ninth! Of course I want her dead!"

"Don’t talk nonsense!" Mo Xiaolan feels somewhat awkward.

"Exactly!" Liu Su angrily points at Jian Yue: "Make it clear, who between Xiaolan and I is second?"

"Susu!" Mo Xiaolan’s cheeks redden, angrily crying out to Liu Su.

"Enough." Qiu Zhihe says coldly to Jian Yue: "Don’t waste your efforts stirring trouble; unless you transform into a deity, the Soul-devouring Pill is incurable."

Jian Yue laughs again, full of flattery: "Mistress, don’t misunderstand, I was just joking. So, how should we deal with Wei Wan?"

Just then, Qin Gengyun returns, speaking in a low voice: "Wei Wan’s memory images don’t reveal the origin of the Spirit Key for the Grand Array at Cloud Bamboo Mountain, nor about her father. He is supposed to be the Spirit Corpse Mountain Master, yet he can bring Wei Wan into Zhenyang Sect, surely his identity isn’t that simple."

Qiu Zhihe nods: "Wei Wan still holds many secrets; she likely knows plenty about the Zhenyang Sect colluding with Spirit Corpse Mountain."

Mo Xiaolan says: "But Wei Wan has started suspecting you; she definitely won’t reveal those secrets to us anymore."

Liu Su suddenly snaps her fingers: "I’ve got it!"

"What is it?" The others look at her.

Liu Su grins: "Attack her mind!"

"Attack her mind?"

"That’s right." Liu Su eyes Mo Xiaolan with a smile:

"However, this mental attack method requires Third Mistress to make a small sacrifice."

Mo Xiaolan knows Liu Su’s quirky nature, and immediately covers her chest alertly:

"Susu, what do you want to do? Besides, Qin Gengyun and I are merely friends, not any Third Mistress."

Qiu Zhihe also coldly eyes her, full of warning; Qin Gengyun taps her head:

"Susu, if your idea isn’t good, you’d better hush."

"Ouch!" Liu Su cradles her head, pouting: "You two are too much; I assure you, my plan will work!"

Qin Gengyun looks at Qiu Zhihe, the family master considers for a moment, then finally nods: "Speak your mind."

Liu Su grins mysteriously: "As long as we disrupt Wei Wan’s mind, we’ll easily extract the secrets in her heart. Think about it; what’s a woman’s most valued thing?"

...

...

Wei Wan had a long dream; in the dream, she’s back in that desolate valley, gnawing on the bloody meat of a demonic beast.

Then, things change around her, bringing her to Xiyue Peak, where junior brothers and sisters call her Second Senior Sister with admiration.

Then darkness envelops, she’s kneeling, her upper body unclothed, Mo Sha behind wielding a whip that lashes her crazily.

Finally, her father emerges, she looks up at him, her voice hoarse:

"Father, are you my father? Who is my mother?"

Father steps in front of her, slowly reaches into her chest, pulling out her blood-soaked heart, a kindly smile on his face:

"You have no mother, nor are you my daughter; you’re merely a tool."

Wei Wan’s eyes suddenly snap open, drenched in sweat, feeling a slight chill on her skin.

She struggles to sit up, discovers she’s lying in a tent, a thin blanket over her, which falls with her movement, revealing her fair yet scarred skin.

Wei Wan slowly lifts the blanket, her expression immediately blank.

She realizes she’s stark naked.

Moreover, a man is lying beside her.

This man wears only a thin shirt, intimately close to her.

Beneath her, the white bed sheet bears a plum blossom-like stain.

The man wakes as well, gasps, looking at Wei Wan with "shock":

"Second Senior Sister, I-I didn’t mean to! I’ve been drugged; I woke like this. I’m sorry, Second Senior Sister!"

"Junior Brother Lan?" Wei Wan is utterly bewildered.

This man lying beside Wei Wan is actually Lan Yin!

Were it another woman, surely she would rage, desperate to retaliate against the one who stole her purity, but Wei Wan only looks confused, less angry and more puzzled.

"Hmm?"

Mo Xiaolan sees Wei Wan’s reaction, she’s slightly stunned.

This doesn’t fit the plan?

Liu Su’s strategy was to have Mo Xiaolan, disguised as a man, sleep beside Wei Wan, creating the illusion that she was defiled by Junior Brother Lan.

Wei Wan would be thrown into chaos, and as the others appeared, they’d coerce confessions from her, surely breaking through her psychological defenses to uncover further secrets.

Liu Su pledged this strategy would work, persuading Mo Xiaolan until she finally agreed.

After all, she is a woman; she couldn’t really harm Wei Wan.

Instead, she had to be vigilant, in case Wei Wan woke raging against her; she’d have to defend herself cautiously.

Meanwhile, Liu Su, Qiu Zhihe, Jian Yue, and Qin Gengyun were hiding outside the tent, waiting for the prime moment to interrogate.

Yet now Wei Wan neither feels shame nor fury, merely curiosity over the red marks on the sheet:

"Junior Brother Lan, what are these?"