The Serpent's Vendetta

A serpent spirit who takes human form can be reborn if her core survives, and for six lives running the same two people have found her again each time to take that core from her. Wei Qingqing lived and died six times bound to a man named Wu Ze and a woman named Zhou Yue, both of whom wanted her demon body more than they wanted her. In the sixth life they gouged out her eyes before she died. Her guardian, Shen Shihai, used up his own cultivation to force a seventh rebirth for her. In this new life Wu Ze appears again, this time as her husband, and Zhou Yue as his assistant, both still working toward the same goal of prying the serpent core out of her. Wei Qingqing wakes up with the memory of all six deaths intact. She says nothing to either of them and starts gathering evidence instead, watching how they move around her, noting what they think she doesn't know. She sets a trap around an auction, where Wu Ze's dealings are laid open in front of the guests he was trying to impress, and his reputation collapses in the room. Zhou Yue retreats to a wine cellar to salvage what's left of the plan, and Wei Qingqing follows her there for the confrontation neither of them can walk away from without settling what was taken across six lifetimes, including her eyes.