The Ghost of Vermil - Chapter 34: Apple X

Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament.

Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.

…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…

I exist in the darkness, disappear under the bright light, and will eventually devour the sun and turn into the shadow of all things… Known by people as the indescribable terror of darkness; the king of shadows; the dark day; the existence of the shadow of the world , is still just a somewhat special high school student, facing a weird death game…

- Description from novelbuddy

During her cultivation practice, Nie Yinzhi encountered a mishap and nearly fell into qi deviation. After emerging from seclusion, she discovered she could see floating subtitles above her head.From these danmu (bullet screen comments), she learned that she was merely a substitute supporting character in a novel.Everyone in her sect doted on and loved her only because her eyes resembled those of the beloved senior sister who had perished ten years ago.And in three days, that blind senior sister would return to the sect—Nie Yinzhi would have her core forcibly removed by her master, her eyes gouged out by her senior brother, and ultimately die alone.Armed with spoilers from the danmu, Nie Yinzhi set up a forbidden array, sacrificing her soul to summon the novel’s antagonist – the great Demon Lord.Covered in blood, amid everyone’s terrified gazes, she coldly smiled and said, “If that’s how it is, then none of you shall live!”The Demon Lord appeared slowly in his dark robes, reaching out to wipe blood from the corner of her mouth: “You’re so young, why harbor such deep resentment? If there are any misunderstandings, we can sit down for tea and talk things through. Why resort to violence?”Nie Yinzhi: “???”Is this the ruthless, evil Demon Lord everyone spoke of?![The Demon Lord says no with his mouth but his actions prove otherwise. Don’t worry, it’s not frustrating, feel free to dive in.]Gu Jiang: Today my wife is asking me to kill againNie Yinzhi: Today the Demon Lord is preaching virtue to me againCultivation World: Being persecuted again todayLaid-back retired veteran couch potato Demon Lord male lead VS grudge-holding can’t-take-any-grievance female lead[[Warning: As you can tell from the synopsis, the female lead isn’t designed to be morally good! She has character flaws! She’s not a perfect victim! She won’t wait until they actually remove her golden core and gouge out her eyes before fighting back! Proceed with caution if this bothers you!] ]

“I WILL MAKE THEM ALL REGRET THE DAY THEY MET ME! I WILL MAKE THEM WISH THEY WERE NEVER BORN! AND I WILL MAKE THEM HATE THE DAY THEY THOUGHT OF BETRAYING ME!”“You will, Sweetie. And I'll help you with that...”Those were the last words Avery spoke and heard before passing out in her bloody red wedding gown, on the same day she was supposed to marry her boyfriend from senior high school.~~Avery McCallum, the sole heiress and president of the McCallum Group of Companies, had her whole family wiped out on her wedding day. Framed for her grandfather's murder and stripped of her position, Avery vows to take revenge on those who wronged her. But her powerless state seems to mock her determination.Enter Archibald Donovan. She used to hate the devilishly hot and narcissistic chairman of the A² Corp who also happened to be her older brother's best friend, but when consumed with the need to take revenge, she begged him to marry her in return for fulfilling a long list of conditions. Archie agrees, and a month later, Avery re-emerges as Ava Donovan, a rising actress and the wife of the most powerful man in the country.With her newfound status, Avery systematically destroys her adversaries, uncovering dark secrets and hidden agendas along the way. But as she navigates the treacherous landscape of her new life, she must confront the truth about her family's past and at the end of it all, come back to him.She owed him after all...EXCERPTArchie's eyes darkened when he saw her stumbling out of the wine cellar, a bottle of wine in one hand and her night robe, in the other. She was literally half naked.“Hey...” her greeting came out in a slur, and that was all he needed to know she was drunk. Very drunk, at that.“Why?” he asked simply, knowing she would interpret his question as she usually did.“I...I visited them today. The flowers on their stones were already wilted and...and...it broke me. I wanted to be happy and at the same time, I wanted to cry,” Avery replied, inhaling short wisps of air before she continued, “Then I found the cellar.”“Did it work?”She shook her head slowly in reply, lifting her head up in time to see a mischievous smirk curl on his lips.“Don't be sad, Baby girl. I happen to know a way to make you cry and keep you excited at the same time,” he said.“Really?”“Wanna try it, Mama?”Avery nodded, slowly but firmly as he closed the distance between them.As he promised, she did cry...in pleasure.