After My Wife Killed Me to Prove the Way

[You take me for your tribulation of love? Funny, I feel the same way about you.]

My Dao companion, Duan Shu, was the foremost figure of the righteous path. Everyone called her cold and detached, the sharpest sword among the immortals.

But I knew that she would curl up in my arms and act spoiled, show me her vulnerabilities, and tell me she loved me every day.

I loved her so much.

*

I was nothing but a spoiled demon cultivator. I knew nothing of the nation or the world, nor of the joys and sorrows of mortal life. All I wanted was for Duan Shu to be well, forever shining like the bright moon in the sky.

So when the righteous cultivators dragged me to the Demon Execution Platform, heaped vile accusations on me, and ordered Duan Qing to kill me with her own hands, I felt no resentment.

As long as Duan Qing was rid of the stain that was me, she could remain that cold, untouchable immortal lord.

When she killed me, she was truly resolute, as if she had never known me.

As my soul scattered, her merciless path reached perfection.

*

Only after I died did I learn that I was Duan Shu's final tribulation: the tribulation of love.

So she had never loved me. So the stories about Immortal Lord Duan Shu being cold and detached were true. So she had been manipulating me all along.

After my soul returned to me, I stood high above, looking down on the mortal world. Duan Qing had gone mad. She stormed the Palace of Yanluo, entered the Gate of Evil Spirits, gathered countless wandering souls, and drove the entire cultivation world to madness.

She tried to find the remnants of my soul. Unfortunately, having passed through the tribulation of love, I couldn't be bothered to spare even a sliver of my attention for my former Dao companion.

With her Dao heart nearly shattered, Duan Qing cleaved open the void with her sword and found me calmly watching the show.

Her lips trembled as she asked, "Shen Wujin, did you ever love me?"

I smiled. "Never."

Reader's Guide:

Shen Wujin is the gong x Duan Shu is the shou, though they switch roles in essence.

The blurb is in first person, the main story in third person.

Both lose their memories early on. After the shou regains her memories, she kills her spouse to prove her Dao. The gong regains his memories after he dies.

More details to come.

Theme: Establish the heart of the world.