Chapter 97 Breaking the Formation
The crystal chandelier cast a pale halo on the empty stage as Su Man slowly walked towards the center of the stage.
Today she specially chose a black Dior gown from the latest season, and the Cartier diamond necklace around her neck shimmered with a cold light under the lights.
These luxuries were her last armor, protecting her aging body.
"Master Xuanjin, I beg you... don't destroy this formation... I can give you all my assets from all these years."
Her knees slammed heavily onto the marble floor, but the excruciating pain paled in comparison to the fear in her heart.
Her meticulously applied makeup couldn't conceal the dark circles under her eyes. For the past three months, she had barely slept a wink, relying entirely on sedatives to stay awake.
Lu Yao stood at the edge of the formation, holding a Ziwei wooden sword, the tip of which pointed directly at Su Man's brow.
She was dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, which seemed out of place in this luxurious setting.
But those eyes—Su Man had never seen such clear and sharp eyes before, as if they could see through all her pretenses.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Lu Yao's voice was icy. "Twenty-four girls, the oldest is only twenty-two."
Su Man's breathing suddenly quickened as she recalled the scene when she first met these girls three months ago.
They were lively and energetic, full of youthful vigor, which she envied.
They all sweetly called her "Sister Suman".
Su Man's fingertips unconsciously caressed the jade bracelet on her left wrist. It was a gift she bought herself for her thirtieth birthday, when she had just won her second Best Actress award.
“Of course I know.” She suddenly laughed, a hysterical tremor in her voice. “I’m saving my career, my…life.”
"The crew of 'Spring Returns' asked me to play the mother of the female lead," Su Man's voice suddenly calmed down, as if she were telling someone else's story. "That character was only thirty years old! And I was only thirty-six at the time."
Her nails dug deep into her palms, and she didn't even notice when her carefully maintained nails broke. "Ten years ago, I played that female lead."
Lu Yao lowered the tip of her sword slightly by an inch, but the vigilance in her eyes did not diminish in the slightest.
“I’ve won three Best Actress awards,” Su Man suddenly ripped off the necklace around her neck, scattering diamonds all over the floor. “But after I turned forty, I didn’t even get an audition! They said I didn’t fit the market profile.”
She mimicked the casting director's slick tone, but tears welled up in her eyes. "Master Xuanjin, you will never understand what it feels like when your best skill is rejected."
“I really don’t understand,” Lu Yao said coldly, “but I do know that using other people’s lives to gain one’s own interests is not art, it’s murder.”
“Ten years ago, I found the script for ‘Before Sunset’.” Su Man continued, seemingly ignoring Lu Yao’s words, “I prepared for the role of the mother with cancer for three months… I even went to the hospital and lived with real cancer patients.”
Her voice suddenly became shrill, "But in the end they chose a 25-year-old newcomer! They said the audience doesn't like watching older women who don't have a youthful vibe!"
Lu Yao noticed that Su Man's facial muscles twitched unnaturally when she said the word "old woman".
This once-glorious actress is now clinging to her last straw like a drowning person.
“So, I started trying to raise a ghost child,” Su Man suddenly pulled open her collar, revealing the eerie patterns on her collarbone. “That black-clad ajarn said it could help me regain the producer’s favor.”
“I fed it with blood every day, and what happened? It turned on me, and I vomited up a bunch of blood clots every day.”
Her voice stopped abruptly, her Adam's apple bobbing as she swallowed a horrifying memory.
“Later, Ruishi’s blood transfusion was even more ridiculous.” She pulled open her sleeve, revealing a dense array of needle marks on the inside of her elbow. “Every time blood was drawn, it felt like being bitten by a million ants, but instead of collagen, I came back covered in needle marks!”
A manic light shone in Su Man's eyes. "After failing another audition, I went to the southwest to clear my head. The scenery there was so beautiful that I almost wanted to take my own life in such a lovely place. But then I met Yan Xiucheng."
"The Yan family is a family of Gu poison masters. They reconstructed this formation from fragments of ancient Miao texts and improved it, supplementing it with the Red Beauty Gu, allowing it to steal life force rather than directly kill, thus reducing the risk of divine retribution. He doesn't need me to touch those filthy things, he only needs to..."
She looked up at the crystal chandelier hanging high above the stage, a sickly smile curving her lips, "Borrowing a bit of their inexhaustible youth."
Upon hearing the name Yan, Lu Yao's eyes suddenly sharpened.
She had long suspected that Yan Lingxuan was not the only one behind this evil ritual.
"Did the Yan family tell you that stealing these girls' life force would allow you to stay young forever?" Lu Yao sneered. "Didn't they tell you that this kind of beauty curse only lasts for five years at most, after which it will accelerate aging?"
Su Man's expression froze, her carefully drawn eyebrows furrowing: "You...you're talking nonsense! Mr. Yan said this is an ancient secret technique, and as long as you replenish your life force regularly, you can stay young forever."
"So you're going to ruin those girls?" Lu Yao suddenly raised her voice. "Their lives have just begun! You've experienced the pain of being deprived of opportunities, and now you want to deprive them of them?"
"I don't want their lives, just give me a little bit from each of them!" Su Man screamed.
"Don't be generous with other people's money! What you call a little bit will have a lifelong impact on them," Lu Yao said coldly. "Since you are so stubborn, then let the righteous path of heaven and earth judge."
The sword instantly burst forth with blinding lightning. Lu Yao held the sword above her head with both hands, and the lightning ball condensing at the tip of the sword grew larger and larger, emitting a chilling crackling sound.
Su Man tried to rush forward to stop him, but was struck down by an arc of electricity.
"The Nine Heavens respond to the Origin, and thunder spreads its influence!"
As the incantation ended, Lu Yao's figure suddenly split into twenty-four—a split of light and shadow.
Only after the throat-locking monument shattered was Lu Yao able to use this secret technique.
Twenty-four figures simultaneously wielded their swords, unleashing a torrential downpour of lightning.
Each sword strike precisely targets the most vulnerable point of the bloodline, and dazzling sparks erupt the moment the blade touches the bloodline.
Click—
Twenty-four blood vessels snapped simultaneously.
The severed bloodline twisted and struggled in the air, spewing out a foul-smelling mist of blood like a dying venomous snake.
At the same time, amidst a thunderous explosion, purple lightning descended from the sky, striking the crystal chandelier precisely.
Lu Yao formed a hand seal with her left hand, while her right hand slashed the wooden sword across her palm.
The moment the blood dripped, she made a hand seal and chanted an incantation: "Samadhi Fire, burn away all evil spirits!"
boom!
A golden-white pillar of fire burst forth from her palm. The flames were so pure they were almost transparent, yet they caused the temperature around the stage to rise sharply.
The mother Gu let out a heart-wrenching scream and writhed wildly in the fire.
It tried to crawl back into the specially made crystal chandelier, only to find that the chandelier had already been shattered into pieces by lightning.
In the flames, the mother Gu's skin began to peel off.
When the smoke cleared, only a pool of foul-smelling slime remained on the stage floor.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
