In a small town on the border between Cangzhou and Black Mountain, the last members of the Lin Family lived.
Now, only seven or eight middle-aged men remained, their bodies frail and covered in scars.
Some had lost an arm, others had a crippled leg. They had escaped death during Azure Scale Hall's pursuit, clinging desperately to the hope of restoring the Lin Family.
On this day...
Dark clouds blanketed the sky, making the air bitterly cold.
A mysterious figure in black suddenly descended upon the town.
He wore a bamboo-plank mask, his gaze cold and keen.
The man wielded a fine-steel longsword, descending like a demon god as he wantonly slaughtered the Lin Family members.
Sword light danced across the sky, and a flood of blood surged forth.
Those figures, stripped of hope, fell into pools of blood. Their wails and screams intertwined, tearing the night to pieces.
Death played out like a cruel dance in the Lin Family's last refuge.
Their final cries and hopes were swallowed by the darkness.
The last bloodline of the Lin Family ended beneath the sword's edge.
Slaughter them all. Leave no one alive!
Li Shuidao crossed the names off his list one by one.
Lin Yunzhi had provided the list. Though these people were frail, they knew many secrets.
Those secrets had to be buried, or they would pose a grave threat to the Li Family.
Li Shuidao had handled this personally without telling anyone.
Lin Yunzhi slowly came to. He struggled to breathe, his mind a haze.
Gradually...
He realized he was in a dark, damp basement.
A sinister wall, mottled with damp stains, came into view.
He tried to move, only to find his hands and feet bound with thick ropes to a heavy wooden frame. Chains ran along his body, locking him firmly in place.
Then, he noticed a woman in the basement.
She looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, with deep-set eyes and a cold expression.
She was preparing food on the kitchen counter, working busily and in silence.
Lin Yunzhi hesitated, then tried to speak calmly to her. "Where am I? Why am I tied up here?"
"Miss, I... I'm a good man. I've never done anything wicked. If you let me go, my family will surely give you a great treasure."
A meaningful smile curled at the corner of her lips, both alluring and sinister.
"Young master, you must be very hungry by now. Allow this humble servant to wait on you at your meal." As she spoke, Li Shuiting brought a bowl of thin porridge over to Lin Yunzhi.
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" A flicker of panic crossed Lin Yunzhi's eyes. He had no appetite at all; he only wanted to know how to get out.
"If you won't eat, this humble servant won't feed you."
"I'll eat, I'll eat!" Lin Yunzhi was hungry and thirsty. Even if he wanted to escape, he needed to eat his fill first.
Li Shuiting didn't feed him with a spoon. Instead, she brought the bowl of porridge to his lips.
Lin Yunzhi forced himself to drink, but his stomach was so ravenous that after only a few mouthfuls, he choked.
"Cough... cough, cough, cough..."
"Young master, drink slowly, or you'll choke."
Seeing Lin Yunzhi gulp down the porridge in such a wretched fashion, Li Shuiting's lips curved with satisfaction.
"I'm done eating. Please untie me." Lin Yunzhi looked up and met Li Shuiting's eyes.
But Li Shuiting laughed twice, as if he'd just heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Lin Yunzhi, you're on the brink of death and still indulging in wishful thinking? I learned a blade technique called Serpent's Kiss Entanglement. I hope you'll appreciate the performance." Before she had even finished speaking, two short knives had appeared in her hands. She lightly tapped the ground with her feet and wound around Lin Yunzhi like a serpent.
Bound to the wooden post, Lin Yunzhi couldn't move at all. Li Shuiting's movements filled his eyes with despair.
"If you dare kill me, the Lin Family will grind your bones to dust!"
A cruel expression appeared on Li Shuiting's delicate, beautiful face.
Then...
With a wet squelch, a sharp dagger pierced his thigh, drawing a streak of red.
"The Lin Family... Ha... The Lin Family's already been wiped out." Li Shuiting sneered as the two daggers in her hands never stopped, slicing at his thighs and arms. Now and then, they skimmed his waist. Every cut avoided his vitals.
Lin Yunzhi felt the cold blades slicing through his body and realized the woman meant to flay him alive! He struggled frantically, trying to break free. But in his current state, he couldn't even fight back!
"Ah... you bitch! If you've got the guts, kill me! Otherwise, I'll slaughter your whole family one day!" Lin Yunzhi cursed furiously. But the more violently he resisted, the harder Li Shuiting struck. Blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Li Shuiting seemed to take great pleasure in torturing Lin Yunzhi. A savage smile appeared on her pretty face as she spoke, each word clear: "Lin Yunzhi, that porridge you just drank? I paid a hefty price for one pellet of Clear Spirit Powder, ground it up, and made you swallow every bit. Even if I hack you to pieces, you won't pass out. Enjoy."
As she spoke, Li Shuiting twisted her body again and sliced through the fabric over his right shoulder, exposing his snow-white skin.
"Ah... you vile bitch! If I'm reborn, I'll slaughter your whole family!" Lin Yunzhi cursed like a madman.
Li Shuiting's pretty face was shrouded in sinister menace. Her voice grew darker as she gritted her teeth and said, "Lin Yunzhi, do you see? This is only the beginning. Soon, you'll learn what it means to wish you were dead! I promise you'll die far more horribly than you do today!" As she spoke, Li Shuiting raised her dagger again, aimed at Lin Yunzhi's left shoulder blade, and drove it in hard.
In a mere instant, Lin Yunzhi had taken at least a hundred cuts. Blood soaked through his clothes.
The pain was unbearable, but he couldn't pass out. He roared, "I give up! I give up! Just give me a quick death!"
At that, Li Shuiting put away her knives instead. She brought over a porcelain jar filled with coarse salt.
Li Shuiting grabbed a handful of coarse salt and rubbed it into Lin Yunzhi's wounds, salting him like pork.
Lin Yunzhi was in agony, screaming and howling.
Outside the basement.
Even standing aboveground, Li Shuidao and Xia Ruoxue could hear the harrowing screams from below.
"Wouldn't killing him with one cut be more satisfying? Why go this far?" Xia Ruoxue asked, puzzled.
Li Shuidao's eyes were dark and distant. "I want little sister Shuiting to avenge her father with her own hands."
"No..." Xia Ruoxue shook her head. "The one who killed Fourth Uncle already had his head cut off by you. Lin Yunzhi was, at most, an accomplice. You didn't need to go this far."
Li Shuidao smiled faintly. "You guessed right. I do have another purpose."
"What do you mean?" Xia Ruoxue furrowed her brows and looked at Li Shuidao, waiting for an explanation.
Li Shuidao took a sip of tea and said calmly, "Blood and bones emerge, vengeful spirits awaken. They unite with my soul and make me invincible..."
"Husband, what do you mean?" A trace of fear crept into Xia Ruoxue's voice.
Before you continue