My Uncle's Wife

Shen Xing was a pawn, a decoy, a substitute, and a fake Soul-Sealing Master.

After she became her martial uncle's woman,

what she faced was not the question of escaping her misfortunes, rising to prominence, and marrying her martial uncle.

Her martial uncle's meaning was this: he could give her anything, except himself!

Shen Xing understood. She didn't want to trouble him, either, so she quietly chose a very important day and disappeared in a blaze of glory.

Later, they met again.

Shen Xing was about to eat a cold, hard steamed bun someone had dropped on the ground.

Her martial uncle stood before her, his feelings complicated. "Is the food at my place not good enough? Or is my bed not soft enough? You'd rather come here to scrape out a living just to spite me?"

Shen Xing held the cold bun, its filling spilling out, and felt just as conflicted.

But he crouched down and gently said, "I didn't make myself clear back then. I wanted to take care of you."

The companion story, Three Thousand Noble Bones, can be found in my author profile.

Theme: Dare to survive in the narrow cracks between the ten evils without losing your original convictions.