Duchess's Bounty!

"Twin Martial Souls..." Zhu Yue murmured, a flicker of panic flashing through her eyes before it was swiftly replaced by deeper killing intent. "That bitch actually gave birth to such a terrifying bastard... If Dai Hao finds out, will he..."

She did not finish, but Zhu Fu understood.

If Duke of White Tiger Dai Hao learned that he had a son who possessed the strength of a four-ring Soul Ancestor and Twin Martial Souls at the age of twelve, what would he do?

Would he bring him back to the Duke Mansion, give him status and resources, and raise him as the heir to the White Tiger Duke Mansion?

Would he suppress her and her two sons for the sake of this illegitimate child?

No, that could never be allowed!

"Where is that bastard now?" Zhu Yue's voice was as cold as ice.

Zhu Fu shook his head. "We don't know. There were traces of him heading north from the scene, but they vanished once he left the Star Dou Great Forest. This old servant has already sent people to investigate along the likely routes, but... the Heaven Dou Empire is too vast. Finding one person is like looking for a needle in the sea."

Zhu Yue closed her eyes, her chest heaving violently as though she were forcibly suppressing rage on the verge of eruption.

After a long while, she opened her eyes again. There was no warmth left in them, only pure, naked killing intent.

"Those bastards... those lowly, filthy bastards who should never have existed... why can't they just obediently die?" she said softly, her voice quiet yet snake-like.

"Why resist? Why keep living? Why... stand in my sons' way?"

She walked to the window and looked at the meticulously tended flowers and plants in the Duke Mansion's garden. The sunlight was bright, and the blossoms were vivid, yet she found those colors so glaring they made her sick.

"Pass down my order." Zhu Yue turned to Zhu Fu, enunciating each word as if squeezing it through clenched teeth.

"In the name of the White Tiger Duke Mansion and the Zhu Clan, issue a continent-wide wanted notice. Offer... one million Gold Soul Coins for that bastard's head. Dead or alive, so long as his identity is confirmed, pay immediately."

Zhu Fu's entire body jolted as he abruptly looked up. "Duchess, one million Gold Soul Coins? This... this will alarm the entire continent! Even Titled Douluo might..."

"That's exactly what I want!" Zhu Yue cut him off sharply, madness gleaming in her eyes.

"I want every desperado, assassin, and mercenary on the continent searching for him! I want him to have nowhere to run, no path to take! I want him dead—the more horribly, the better! Better yet, torn to pieces, chopped into minced meat, and..."

She could not continue, because her fury had nearly suffocated her.

Zhu Fu looked at the nearly hysterical woman before him and sighed inwardly, but he still bowed. "Yes. This old servant will see to it at once."

"Wait." Zhu Yue stopped him. She walked to the desk, opened a drawer, and took out a token. It was made of pure gold, engraved with a roaring White Tiger on one side and the character "Zhu" on the other.

"Take this and mobilize every hidden asset the Zhu Clan has in the Heaven Dou Empire. At any cost, find that bastard. I want to see him alive, or see his corpse."

Zhu Fu accepted the token. It felt heavy in his hand, like a red-hot branding iron.

"This old servant... obeys."

He turned and hurried from the study, his retreating figure somewhat flustered.

Zhu Yue stood alone in the study, looking at the shattered porcelain and spilled tea covering the floor. Then she suddenly laughed.

Her laughter was soft and cold, echoing through the empty study like the cry of a night owl.

"Dai Hao, do you see this? This is the price of your promiscuity. You ruined my entire life, so I'll destroy every bloodline of yours that should never have existed."

"We'll... see."

Heaven Dou Empire, outskirts of Heaven Dou City, Baili Slope.

Dai Tu stood beneath an old locust tree at the village entrance, looking up at the dried corpse hanging from its branches.

It was a man in his forties, dressed in coarse cloth. He was likely a villager from this place.

A hemp rope hung around his neck, and his body swayed gently in the wind like a human-shaped wind chime. His eyes were still open, his pupils dilated, filled with fear and despair.

Fine wounds covered his face and body, as if something tiny had repeatedly sliced him apart. Some cuts were deep enough to expose bone, yet there was no blood at the wounds—his blood had long since drained away.

The village was quiet.

No, it was deathly silent.

"We came too late." Long Aotian stood beside Dai Tu, staring at the corpse with deeply furrowed brows.

"Those beasts slaughtered another village."

Dai Tu said nothing. He simply watched in silence.

His expression was calm, so calm that it was as if he were looking at something unrelated to him.

But Long Aotian noticed that Dai Tu's hand hanging at his side was trembling slightly. It was not fear, but something deeper, something suppressed.

"Junior Brother." Long Aotian turned toward Dai Tu, his amber eyes full of confusion.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Evil Soul Masters deserve death, but our Body Sect... generally does not involve itself in such matters. Master said that as long as they don't provoke us or go too far, we should let them be. Douluo Continent is huge. Countless people die every day. We can't save them all."

Dai Tu fell silent.

That was right. In the end, he had asked Long Aotian for help and had him bring him here to find the Evil Soul Masters. It saved time.

Long Aotian stared at Dai Tu for a long time. Finally, he sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Since you insist, I won't ask any more questions. Remember, if anything feels wrong, retreat immediately. I'll be watching from nearby and will act at any time."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

After saying that, Dai Tu turned and walked into the village.

Long Aotian followed behind him. One after the other, they passed through the village entrance and entered the silent settlement.

The village was small, with only around thirty households. Yet now, corpses lay outside nearly every home. There were elderly people, able-bodied adults, women, and even... children.

Most of the corpses were mutilated. Some had their hearts dug out, some had been drained of blood, and some had been skinned. Blood had congealed across the ground into dark-red stains that glimmered with eerie light beneath the sun.

Then he heard voices.

Wild laughter came from the ancestral hall in the center of the village, along with stifled pleas for mercy tinged with sobs.

Dai Tu and Long Aotian exchanged a glance, then quickened their pace toward the ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall was brightly lit.

More than a dozen people in black robes and hoods stood in a circle around several surviving villagers kneeling in the middle. The villagers, men and women alike, were tied with ropes and trembling on the ground, their faces and bodies covered in wounds.

The leader was a tall man in black robes. He had removed his hood, revealing a pale, gaunt face with sunken eye sockets. He looked to be in his thirties. His lips were dark purple, and fine black lines spread from the corners of his eyes to his temples like spiderwebs.

"Please... spare my daughter... she's only eight..." a middle-aged man cried, smashing his forehead against the ground until it bled.

The four-ring Soul Ancestor and Evil Soul Master leader, "Bloodhand" Li Hun, bared two rows of yellowed, pointed teeth.

"Spare her? Why should I?" His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping together.

"You lowly commoners should consider it an honor to become nourishment for my cultivation. Don't worry. I'll be gentle. I won't let your daughter suffer too much."

As he spoke, he ran his tongue over his lips, greed and cruelty glinting in his eyes.

The black-robed people behind him also began to laugh. Their shrill, piercing laughter sounded like a flock of night owls howling.