Gu Jichun’s eyes widened. Her face went pale. In retrospect... she had indeed thought of dying before... if it weren’t for Gu Jin...
Tears ran down her cheeks as her body shook.
Gu Jihu’s eyes burned with fury. "You poisonous snake! You almost destroyed our whole family!"
Gu Jin’s face was calm, but her heart was heavy. She spoke slowly, "So, in the end, your job was to kill us. All of us."
Gu Aihan sneered. "Yes. That was the plan. If not for you, it would have worked. You were never supposed to return. Never supposed to exist."
Her voice dropped to a whisper. "But since you are alive... the organization will not stay silent. They will take revenge. Gu Jihu. Gu Jishi. They will target all of you."
Her words sank like a stone into the hall. The Gu siblings looked at one another, fear flashing in their eyes.
Then Gu Aihan turned her head toward Long Yifan. Her expression shifted to desperate hope. "Now that I have told you everything, you will let me go, right? I have paid for all the years by revealing the truth. You must release me."
Her voice cracked, her body trembling.
But Gu Jin only chuckled. The sound was soft, but it cut like a blade.
"Let you go?" she said. Her eyes were cold. "Do you think my suffering, my pain, my lost years can be repaid just by you speaking the truth? Do you think it is that easy?"
Gu Aihan froze. She blinked in shock.
Gu Jin’s voice grew sharper. "Do you think the nights I starved, the grievance I held in for years, the time I stayed all alone were nothing? That it is all fine now, just because you finally opened your mouth?"
Gu Aihan stammered, "I... I do not think you suffered that much... it was not that bad..."
The Gu family erupted in fury.
Mr. Gu’s voice thundered, "Shameless girl! You nearly killed all of us, and you dare to say it was not that bad?!"
Gu Jihu’s eyes were red with anger. "A vicious woman like you should not even breathe the same air as us!" He raised his hand and gave a sharp command. "Take her to the basement. Torture her until she wishes she were dead."
"Yes, young master!" the guards answered.
Gu Aihan’s face twisted with terror. "No! Do not! Please!"
The guards grabbed Gu Aihan to drag her away, but suddenly, Gu Jin’s voice cut through the hall.
Her tone was calm, but her words carried weight. Everyone froze in place.
Gu Jichun frowned. "Sister, why? After everything she has done, why stop now?"
Gu Jin’s eyes were cold as ice. She stepped closer to look at Gu Aihan, who was trembling in Liu’s body. "There is no need to punish her ."
For a moment, Gu Aihan’s heart jumped. She thought she was saved. Quickly, she lifted her head and spoke in a loud, shaky voice.
"Yes, yes! Listen to her! You cannot punish me! This body is not mine. You will harm an innocent person!"
Her tone was desperate, but there was a hint of slyness hidden in it. She thought she found her escape.
Gu Jin’s lips curved into a cold smile.
"Do not misunderstand me. I am not saving you. I am saying that before punishing you, we should put your soul back into your true body. Then you will taste the pain with your own flesh, not with someone else’s."
Her voice was sharp, and every word stabbed Gu Aihan’s hope into pieces.
The Gu family looked at each other. Mr. Gu nodded slowly. "Jin’er is right. If we punish her in this borrowed body, it will be meaningless. We should return her to her real body and then deal with her."
Mrs. Gu agreed, her eyes still filled with hatred. "Yes. I want her to suffer as herself, not as someone else."
The guards left and soon returned, carrying Gu Aihan’s true body into the hall. But something was different. The body was standing straight, eyes clear, and breathing normally. Someone else was inside it.
The girl inside widened her eyes the moment she saw Gu Aihan in Liu’s body. She pointed with a trembling hand. "That is my body! She stole my body!"
Her voice cracked with fear and anger.
Gu Jihu muttered, stunned, "So it was ... all along."
Gu Jin narrowed her eyes. "So your soul, Liu, ended up inside Aihan’s body, while Aihan’s soul was stuffed inside yours."
Everything clicked into place. It explained the strange behaviors, the mismatched mannerisms. Now it was crystal clear.
Liu’s eyes filled with tears. She looked at Mrs. Gu with pleading eyes. "Please, I just want my body back. Please let me return."
Mrs. Gu’s expression softened. "Do not worry. We will return you to your rightful place."
The family then turned to one another, confusion filling their faces. "But... how do we switch souls?" Gu Jishi asked.
Long Yifan stepped forward calmly. His voice was steady. "I know how."
All eyes turned to him.
He reached into his storage ring and pulled out a small ancient-looking artifact. It glowed faintly with strange inscriptions. "This is a Soul Exchanger. It was given to me by an elder. With this, I can pull the souls out and return them to their true vessels."
Gu Jihu’s eyes lit up with hope. "Then do it."
Long Yifan nodded and explained, "Both must give a drop of their blood onto the artifact. Their soul marks will respond, and the artifact will switch them."
Liu, who was in Gu Aihan’s body, quickly nodded and cut her finger without hesitation. She let her blood drip onto the artifact. The glow brightened.
But Gu Aihan, who was in Liu’s body, shook her head violently. "No! I will not! Do not force me! I do not want to return to that body! I refuse!"
Her scream echoed in the hall, her whole body struggling wildly.
Long Yifan’s eyes turned cold. "You have no choice."
He motioned with his hand, and his subordinates rushed forward. They grabbed Gu Aihan tightly, ignoring her thrashing. With a sharp cut, they forced her to drop a single bead of blood onto the artifact.
The moment her blood touched it, the artifact shook violently. A strange invisible wind swept through the hall, and everyone felt a pressure in their souls.
Though it was invisible, Long Yifan alone could see it clearly.
From Liu’s borrowed body, a dark gray soul began to rise. Its aura was thick, heavy, and rotten with resentment. He instantly recognized it as Gu Aihan’s soul.
At the same time, from Gu Aihan’s real body, another soul floated upward. This one was golden and bright, pure like sunlight. Long Yifan understood at once. That was Liu’s soul.
The artifact spun and pulled both souls in, then released them with a flash. The dark gray soul was forced back into Gu Aihan’s true body, while the golden soul was returned to Liu’s original body.
The glow faded, and silence returned.
Liu gasped and touched her face, her own face, with trembling hands. "I... I am back... This is really me!" Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she fell to her knees. "Thank you... thank you so much... I thought I would never return..."
Mrs. Gu bent down and helped her stand. "You do not need to thank us. We only returned what was yours. Rest now, child."
Liu nodded, still sobbing softly. Her gratitude was endless.
Meanwhile, Gu Aihan, now in her real body, staggered. She felt the pain of her own wounds, the weakness of her own flesh. Terror filled her eyes. She turned to run. "No... no, I cannot stay here!"
But before she could move two steps, the guards pinned her down roughly. Chapters first released on novel_fіre.net
Mr. Gu’s eyes were sharp. "Take her to the basement. Now that she is back in her body, let her suffer for all she has done."
The guards saluted and dragged Gu Aihan toward the dark stairs. She screamed and struggled, her voice echoing through the hall.
"No! You cannot do this! I am Gu Aihan! I am your daughter! The daughter you raised. You cannot hurt me! Father! Mother! Save me!"
Her cries grew more desperate, but no one looked at her with pity anymore.
Mrs. Gu’s eyes were red, but her voice was firm. "You may have been raised by me, but your soul has been corrupted beyond recognition. You are no longer my daughter. You are a monster."
Gu Aihan’s screams faded as the heavy basement door closed behind her.
The hall grew silent once again.
Liu bowed deeply toward the Gu family. "Thank you... truly, thank you. I owe you all my life."
Gu Jin shook her head lightly. "You do not owe me. You only returned to where you belong."
Everyone was thinking about what had just happened when Long Yifan suddenly spoke.
"I know about Black Serpent," he said slowly, his tone calm but serious.