The Bone-Eating Poison, a slow-acting toxin that had already begun crystallizing in her mother’s marrow, turning her very skeleton brittle and painful. Each movent would have been agony.
The Heart-Shadow Curse, dark magic wrapped around her mother’s heart like thorned vines, constricting a little tighter with each beat, was designed to eventually crush the organ from within.
And finally, the Soul-Severing Poison, the most insidious of all, a spiritual toxin that was already beginning to separate her mother’s soul from her body, creating hairline fractures in the bond that kept her anchored to life.
"Three different poisons. Three different thods." Shuyin’s voice was barely a whisper now, each word laden with anguish. "And a curse woven through it all like a thread through fabric. Whoever did this wanted to make absolutely certain she would die. And they wanted her to suffer every mont until she did."
Her mother had crossed realms in this condition. Had walked through the city on legs that should have shattered. Had clung to consciousness through sheer force of will, driven by the desperate need to see her daughter one last ti before the end.
The realization broke sothing inside Shuyin.
"Mother... I’m sorry..." She leaned down, pressing her forehead against her mother’s cold brow, and for a mont she was a child again, small, helpless, seeking comfort in her mother’s embrace. "I’m here. I’ve got you. Just hold on. Please, just hold on."
"Princess..." i’s voice was hoarse, thick with guilt and grief. "Can you save her?"
Shuyin didn’t answer imdiately. She was calculating, asuring the depth of each affliction against her own power, against ti, against the fading flicker of her mother’s life force that grew dimr with each passing mont.
"I can try," she finally said, and the words tasted like ash and broken promises. "But it will require everything I have. And even then..."
She couldn’t finish the sentence. Couldn’t voice the possibility that she might lose her mother anyway, that she might be too late, that even her celestial power might not be enough against such calculated, thodical cruelty.
"Everyone out," she commanded, her voice sharp with authority that brooked no argunt. "Except you."
She pointed at Lu Yuze without looking at him. She would need him. If this went wrong, if she pushed too far and her own life force gave out, she would need soone to pull her back from the edge.
i, Ah Ling, and Ah Ying retreated imdiately, understanding the gravity of what was about to unfold. The doors closed behind them with a soft click that sounded like a tomb sealing.
The room fell into heavy silence, broken only by the shallow, rattling breaths erging from the lady’s chest, each one weaker than the last, each one possibly the final one.
"What do you need to do?" Lu Yuze asked quietly, his voice steady despite the tension radiating through his fra.
"Anchor ." Shuyin’s hands were already beginning to glow with soft golden light, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat. "I’m going to transfer a massive amount of my life force to her, enough to stabilize her while I work. If I start to fade, if I go too far, you pull back. Physically if you have to."
"Shuyin....."
"I know the risks." Her eyes t his, blazing with determination and desperate, ferocious love. "But she’s my mother. I won’t lose her. Not like this. Not because of him."
The unspoken na hung in the air between them, heavy with betrayal and rage.
The First Affliction: Heart-Shadow Curse
Shuyin began with the curse, the Heart-Shadow Curse that wrapped around her mother’s heart like a living thing, pulsing with malevolent intent, tightening with each fragile beat.
Curse-breaking was an art form, requiring precision and patience that most practitioners spent lifetis mastering. One wrong move, one slip of concentration, and the curse would constrict violently, crushing her mother’s heart instantly. Shuyin had to carefully unweave each thread of dark magic, finding the anchor points where the spell had been woven into her mother’s life force like parasitic roots.
Her hands moved in intricate patterns, fingers dancing through the air as if plucking invisible strings on an instrunt only she could see. Golden light traced the paths her fingers took, creating complex symbols that hung suspended in the air.
Sweat began to bead on her forehead within minutes. The curse fought back, tightening whenever she touched it, like a snake coiling around prey. She could feel the malice embedded in it, whoever had cast this spell had poured hatred into every syllable of the incantation, every gesture of the ritual.
"Let go," she whispered to the curse, to the magic, to the hatred that had birthed it into being. "You have no power here. Not over her. Not anymore. Not while I still draw breath."
Thread by thread, she unwound it.
Each severed connection made her mother’s body jerk, small spasms of pain even in unconsciousness. The curse didn’t want to release its hold, it had been designed to resist, to cling, to hurt even in its removal.
Shuyin bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, the tallic taste flooding her mouth as tears stread silently down her face. She could feel her mother’s agony as if it were her own, the curse’s thorns tearing at delicate heart tissue with each breath, each beat.
"I’m sorry, Mother. I’m so sorry." Her voice broke on the words. "Just a little longer. Please, just a little longer. Stay with ."
Ten minutes passed. Twenty. Thirty.
Her hands never stopped moving, never faltered, even as they began to tremble with exhaustion. The curse was deeply embedded, older than she’d initially thought; it had been placed weeks ago, maybe months, and given ti to root itself thoroughly.
How long had her mother suffered in silence? How many days had she endured this agony without crying out, without seeking help, perhaps not even realizing she’d been cursed until it was too late?
The thought made Shuyin’s heart fracture into smaller pieces.
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