The Tang Sect Is No More

Don't be afraid, I'm here!

Four words, spoken softly.

The youth tried to make his voice gentle, forcing out a smile, as though afraid that if he spoke even a little louder, he would frighten the maiden.

Yet Tang Ni still seemed to have been "frightened." Her body suddenly began to tremble violently.

Within her crimson-rimmed eyes, tears burst forth like a breached dam, howling out without restraint.

"Ah..." A hoarse roar, suppressed until it could no longer be suppressed, suddenly broke free.

Like a furious volcano, its magma churning and crashing violently, shattering the final seal and erupting in a torrent that blotted out the sky.

Her raspy voice carried boundless grief, like the agony of a heart pierced through by countless blades, then ground to pieces, sweeping heavily over everything.

"Ah..." Tang Ni roared, roared without cease, then looked at Ye Qiu and burst into loud sobs.

It was the crushing despair of someone bullied to the very limit, shown not a shred of pity, and instead targeted with ever-increasing cruelty.

Bloody tears rolled down, one drop after another.

"They... they killed my father... They killed my father..." Tang Ni looked at Ye Qiu, her twisted, bloodied features revealing utter savagery.

"Ye Qiu, they killed my father..." She raised both hands and seized Ye Qiu's hands.

Her blood-smeared fingers, nails digging deeply into Ye Qiu's flesh.

Hatred!

Utmost hatred!

Rage!

Rage towering to the heavens!

Pain!

Pain that tore at the heart and lungs, pain worse than death!

She had waited for so, so long, hoped for so, so long. These past few days, she had been so excited that she could neither eat nor sleep, yet had worked hard to put herself in her best state to welcome her father's return.

She had even—despite never dressing up