*****Still inside the grand, opulent herb store marred by shattered walls, splintered beams, and broken fragments of luxury, an eerie silence loomed like a thick fog.No one moved.No one spoke.No one even blinked.It was as if time itself had come to a screeching halt.All eyes remained fixated on Xavier, their gazes blank and stupefied, unable to digest the sheer gravity of everything he had just recounted.He had already finished relaying the entire truth as it had happened a moment ago, his voice calm, unwavering, and brutally honest. Yet, not a soul had stirred since then.Not Master Tush.Not Madam Tush.Not the trembling attendant.Not even Lyria or the mighty Sage Myron.They all just stood there, frozen in an eternal moment of reckoning. It wasn’t until what felt like an entire epoch had passed that their heads began to turn.And not haphazardly.No… every head shifted with perfect synchronicity, as if commanded by a single unseen puppeteer.Their collective

*****[ As a special thank you for this amazing milestone, here’s a bonus chapter just for you! Let’s celebrate together! ]…..“The… the agony… It’s unbearable…” she moaned, her eyelids fluttering shut like she was slipping into unconsciousness.With her ghastly complexion, the sheen of sweat, and trembling lips, she looked like someone on the verge of death.Some of the more gullible observers, like the attendant, wavered. But those who knew better exchanged cynical glances. Lyria rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t get stuck in the back of her head.Master Tush, however, looked like his soul was being crushed. His eyes widened in panic as he wrapped his arms around his devious wife.“Sir Patriarch, please!” he pleaded, desperation seeping from his every pore. “She’s going to collapse! Let me take her to the hospital—I beg you!”Still, Sage Myron said nothing. He merely observed Madam Tush, his eyes flat and devoid of mercy.And that made it worse.Madam T

*****The more Master Tush questioned his wife, the more his voice cracked, his fury rising like a tide.His face flushed crimson, but it wasn't just anger… it was betrayal, heartbreak, and complete emotional ruin, bleeding into the whites of his eyes until they glowed with a terrifying red hue.His breathing grew ragged, his chest heaved, and thick veins bulged at his temple.Meanwhile, Madam Tush trembled in place like a criminal awaiting judgment. Her lower lip quivered, and then… right on cue, her eyes became filled with tears.Before she knew it, salty streams began to cascade down her cheeks in what could only be described as the most pitiful crocodile tears anyone had seen.“Hus… husband,” she whimpered, her voice barely audible. It was hoarse, like someone desperately clinging to pity.Then she staggered toward him with calculated slowness, adopting a posture of despair.Her eyes widened, her mouth trembled, and her fingers twitched like she had just been accused of mu

*****No one inside the herbal emporium could have foreseen the bombshell Master Tush had just dropped.Not the smug, iron-faced guards who already harbored knowledge of the truth but had chosen to stand silent. Not Vidor’s lackey, whose eyes had glimmered with schadenfreude from the moment he entered. Not the clueless, naive attendant who’d been used as a pawn. Not even Lyria, who, despite her intelligence, was genuinely caught off guard. And certainly not Sage Myron, whose venerable gaze narrowed with deep suspicion.But the ones who were the most unprepared... were Master Tush himself, and the venomous woman he called his wife.In one staggering moment, a truth was flung open like a trapdoor to hell.The revelation spread through the room like a detonation. Yet, not a single soul could speak for what felt like an eternity. Not a breath was drawn. And not a whisper escaped.The atmosphere inside the emporium turned dense and stifling, as though the very air itself had curdled

*****Master Tush turned to his wife, but the woman before him was no longer his wife.No, she no longer resembled the woman he had pledged his life to, the woman he had loved and adored so intensely that he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice all else for her.This woman was now a… stranger.No, worse—she was now a demon. A heartless, wretched witch, cloaked in human skin.He began to tremble frantically until suddenly, a strong, murderous aura exploded from him, sweeping through the room like a hurricane of malice.Several people flinched, instinctively stepping back. Even Madam Tush’s eyes widened for a split second.“Why?!” the overweight man bellowed.It was just one word. One single question. Yet it cut deeper than a thousand accusations.For the first time, Madam Tush’s eyes flickered with uncertainty. Had she gone too far?But then clarity returned, and she realized it was already too late for regret. Tush’s love for her had already perished after he realized she was chea