Cold wind howled across the cliff.
Snow drifted through the air, settling on blood stained ground.At the edge stood a long figure, her robes torn, her breathing uneven.
Su Lianxin
Once praised as the greatest genius of her generation....now reduced to nothing.
A faint, bitter laugh escaped her lips.
"Genius?"
Her voice was hoarse, almost unrecognisable
"What a joke."
She clenched her trembling hand, but no strength answered her call.Her meridians were shattered-her cultivation gone.The power that once made her untouchable had vanished like smoke.
In her mind, echoes of the past lingered.
"A Once-in-a-century talent"
"She will surpass us all!"
"The pride of the clan!"
These voices once filled with admiration, now felt like mockery.
Her fingers dug into her palm
Everything.... was gone.
Soft footsteps approached from behind.
Calm. Unhurried.
A gentle voice broke the silence.
"Greetings dear sister."
Su Lianxin's body stiffened.
She turned slowly.
Standing a few steps away was a woman dressed in flawless white robes, untouched by the wind or snow. Her face was beautiful, her expression calm....almost kind.
Shen Ruyue
Su Lianxin's gaze turned cold.
"You came."
Shen Ruyue smiled faintly, her eyes unreadable.
"Of course."She said softly."How could I miss your final moment?"
The words were gentle but they carried no warmth.
Shen Ruyue stepped closer, revealing a small jade bowl in her hand.
Inside it was a dark liquid.
Poison
"Don't worry, It won't hurt for long."She said, lightly.
She extended the bowl towards Su Lianxin.
Memories flashed through Su Lianxin's mind like shattered glass.
Her sudden collapse.
The unbearable pain tearing through her body.
The clan elders' cold accusations.
The artifact she had never stolen.
And through it all-Shen Ruyue watching silently then smiling.
"It was you...."
Su Lianxin's voice trembled, but her eyes burned with fury.
"You took everything from me."
Shen Ruyue tilted her head slightly, as if amused.
"No dear sister,"She replied calmly.
"I simply took what should have been mine."
The wind roar louder, as if echoing the hatred between them.
Shen Ruyue's expression turned cold.
"You have two choices."
She held out the bowl again.
"Kneel and live as my shadow."
A brief pause.
"Or die here-forgetten by everyone."
Silence fell.
Su Lianxin lowered her gaze.
Then.....She laughed softly at first.Then louder.
"Forgotten....?"
She raised her head, her eyes filled not with despair-but with defiance.
"I would rather die."
She reached out and took the jade bowl.
"...than live beneath you."
Without hesitation, she drank it.
The liquid burned like fire as it slid drown her throat.Pain spread through her body, swallowing her senses whole.
The bowl slipped from the fingers.
It shattered against the ground.
Her visions blurred.
Darkness crept in from the edges.
Her body swayed.
"My own sister betrayed me."
"My sect abandoned me."
"And i died for a crime I never committed."
The world began to fade.
But deep within her fading consciousness, something stirred.
" If heaven gives me another chance....."
Her dimming eyes flickered with the last trace of light.
"I will make them all regret it...."
Darkness consumed everything.