Breaking the Deadlock

Tap...

Tap...

Tap...

The rustling footsteps squelched through blood, echoing thickly.

Qin Yi stopped three paces away from the girl.

When it came to judging others by himself,

he had no desire to have this girl suddenly give him a knife as well.

His childish voice rang out:

"If you're awake, get up. I've already killed them."

"..."

No one answered.

The girl seemed not to have woken up yet,

but that was impossible.

A kidnapped person's nerves would be strung taut. Even at the brink of exhaustion, the slightest movement nearby would wake them, let alone after he had been flung through the air and smashed down right beside her.

Should he kill her?

Qin Yi thought.

With his current physical condition, fighting an adult was like dancing on a knife's edge. There could not be the slightest unforeseen variable. What if this girl suddenly shouted when the scar-faced brute returned...

As he thought,

Qin Yi drew the short dagger from its leather sheath...

"Don't, don't, don't! I'm awake! Don't attack me!"

At the sound of her voice, Su Nuo sprang upright, her large black eyes blinking as she looked at Qin Yi.

She had actually been awake the entire time.

She had seen everything—the argument between the two bandits while they played cards, and the beating that big man had given this little boy.

At first, she had hesitated over whether to speak up and save the boy,

when that short-haired woman suddenly died.

In an instant.

Su Nuo had seen it clearly, and heard it clearly.

The gurgle of a severed windpipe, the soft sound of an iron blade piercing flesh, and the look in the little boy's eyes when he killed—she had seen it all with perfect clarity.

He did not even blink.

After the short-haired woman died, Su Nuo had wanted to greet him, but before she could speak, the boy's bloodstained little face suddenly moved close.

Su Nuo: "..."

Qin Yi: "..."

"Waaah!"

Su Nuo threw back her little head and struck the earthen wall. She shrank her neck from the pain, curled into a ball in the corner, and stared at Qin Yi pitifully.

Small and helpless.

Qin Yi did not pay much attention to it. Instead, he began sizing her up.

At her age, the fact that she had not yet been scared into tears could only mean she was destined to achieve great things someday.

She wore expensive brocade and was very pretty, fair and tender like a porcelain doll. Her body trembled from the pain.

"Um..."

Su Nuo tucked in her head, stared at the short dagger in Qin Yi's hand, and suddenly blurted out:

"...Could we be friends?"

"?"

"I can give you money. My family is very rich!"

"..."

Qin Yi tried to understand the girl's train of thought.

After a long silence,

he cocked his head and used the tip of his dagger to point at his little face, stained all over with blood.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

Su Nuo cocked her little head too.

"Why should I be?"

"I killed her. I even dismembered her."

"But you didn't eat her."

"?" Qin Yi.

Su Nuo's eyes rolled as she smiled with curved eyes and asked:

"You want to disguise it as a Monster Calamity coming down from the mountain, then keep killing that big guy, right?"

"..."

Qin Yi was surprised. That really had been what he was thinking.

"Hehe~ Looks like this young lady guessed right~"

Seeing Qin Yi's silence, Su Nuo's exquisite little face showed a hint of smugness. Her tiny nostrils flared. "This young lady really is brilliant beyond compare. Actually, there's no need to go through so much trouble. I can help..."

"No."

Qin Yi coldly refused her.

Su Nuo puffed out her cheeks slightly and asked in dissatisfaction:

"Why?! I'm very capable."

"And yet you got captured by this bunch of trash."

"Uh..."

Su Nuo immediately wilted. Then she looked at the boy again and muttered softly, "Didn't you get captured too?"

Qin Yi: "..."

Su Nuo turned her little face away and continued muttering:

"I... It was because they drugged me. I didn't even get a chance to fight. But I really am very capable!"

By the end, she seemed to realize that her words were not very convincing, and her voice gradually faded.

The boy, drenched in blood from head to toe, silently watched the girl.

There were certain "aberrations" in this world that exceeded common sense. His older sister was one of them.

After a while,

Qin Yi suddenly said:

"How about this? Break free of the rope, and I'll agree."

"Huh?"

Su Nuo gave a soft cry, lowered her head in disappointment, and continued muttering:

"I... can't do that."

Qin Yi laughed when he heard that.

Su Nuo immediately panicked.

"I'm serious! Let me loose, and I'll prove it to you right away... Hey, hey, you... don't touch me with your hand. It's so dirty!"

Qin Yi reached his little hand, soaked in blood, toward the top of the girl's head.

Su Nuo twisted like a little white rabbit, trying to dodge, but there was nowhere to hide in the corner. When his palm touched her, though, it was unexpectedly gentle.

Qin Yi stroked the girl's little head. Looking down at her, his childish voice was soft and delicate.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm enough on my own. Once I kill them, I'll escape with you."

The look in Su Nuo's eyes changed. She pursed her lips and asked quietly:

"Really?"

"Of course."

Qin Yi smiled faintly, his tone gentle.

"But sleep for a while first. When you wake up, everything will be over."

"Huh? I don't want to sleep again..."

Bang!

Before she could finish, Qin Yi suddenly moved. He fiercely struck the side of the girl's neck with the wooden hilt of his dagger.

The little girl went limp at once.

Qin Yi stared at the unconscious girl, ultimately deciding not to look too deeply into the matter for now. He turned and extinguished the torch hanging on the wall.

In the darkness,

he silently pondered that older sister of his.

The information he had so far warned him that his sister, despite being his "protector," had caused him to fall into danger. That was undoubtedly a sign that something had gone out of control.

If the situation became truly dangerous, he had to abandon that sister immediately. And this rich girl with a broken train of thought seemed to have the potential to become his new insurance.

The sun slanted westward.

After heading into town to buy some braised food, Wang Ma hurried back without stopping for breath.

On the road, he suddenly figured it out. He should have borrowed money and continued gambling with Sanniang earlier. With his sharp eyes, now that he was on guard, he would definitely catch her if she dared cheat again.

When that happened, not only would he recover the silver he had lost, even Sanniang's stake would become his.

Those were rules personally set by the boss.

If he won enough silver, perhaps he could even have a go with Sanniang tonight.

Heh.

The more he thought about it, the more promising it seemed.

Wang Ma unconsciously quickened his pace. His burly body entered the narrow passageway, sweeping past the torches set into the walls and stirring a faint breeze.

Jogging up to the wooden door, Wang Ma shoved it open and shouted:

"Sanniang, I'm back! Lend me some silver, and let's contin—"

His words cut off halfway.

The torches were out.

The secret chamber was dim and quiet. The only light came from the torch at the entrance to the passageway. Most of the cramped dark room was swallowed by shadows, leaving only a few vague outlines visible.

"...Sanniang?"

Night blindness made it difficult for Wang Ma to see inside. He called out tentatively, but the only answer was a soundless deathly silence, along with the thick drip of some liquid.

The gambling itch and desire in his heart were quietly replaced by unease. Wang Ma drew his saber and stood at the doorway, warily sweeping his gaze through the dark chamber.

...Something had happened.

Had someone broken in while he was gone?

Shing—

His heartbeat began to accelerate. Wang Ma resisted the urge to turn around and flee. Taking a deep breath, he pulled out a firestarter and struck it alight. Flame bloomed in the silent darkness, and its warm yellow glow lit up the surroundings.

Large patches of the straw-mud wall coating had peeled away from dampness, exposing the rammed earth underneath. The floor was covered in dark-red viscous liquid. A chair lay crookedly overturned, and atop the square card table sat a spherical object that was especially eye-catching.

But the light and shadows were too dim for him to see it clearly.

"Ha... Hoo..."

Wang Ma took a deep breath, suppressing the unease and fear in his heart. Gripping his saber tightly, he slowly stepped forward. Amid the flickering firelight, he approached the sphere inch by inch, then abruptly stumbled two steps back.

He saw a pair of eyes staring at him.

Sanniang's face was twisted in savagery, her eyes refusing to close in death.

Buzz—

His mind buzzed. Wang Ma's frantic gaze swept rapidly around the room, and only then did he discover that it was not merely her head. Sanniang's body had been completely torn apart as well. Blood was everywhere in the secret chamber—severed limbs, broken arms, chunks of organs here and there, as though something had ripped her to pieces!

That fool lay in a pool of blood. The girl in the other corner was physically intact, but she seemed to have lost consciousness. Broken silver was scattered all over the floor.

There was too much information in the scene for him to find the key point at once.

Who did this?

It was not for money. The silver was lying on the floor.

And it was certainly not to save anyone.

They had even torn Sanniang apart.

Was it... one of those Monster Calamities from the mountains?

The thought made the scar-faced brute curse under his breath:

"Motherfucking scar..."

Whoosh!

A faint sound rang out.

The fingers holding the firestarter were pierced through. At the same time, a slight pain in his chest interrupted Wang Ma's thoughts. When he lowered his head, using the fallen firestarter's light, he saw blood already spreading across the right side of his chest.

"..."

Wang Ma's pupils kept contracting and dilating. The pain was not obvious due to the surge of adrenaline, but his breathing began accelerating uncontrollably, and the strength in his body was rapidly draining away.

Darkness magnified fear. Bloodshed scrambled his thoughts. The attack from the shadows became the final straw that broke Wang Ma's nerves.

Run...

He had to escape first.

He suffered from night blindness. This damned place was too dark—there was no way he could fight properly.

After finding an excuse to convince himself, Wang Ma abandoned all thought. He no longer considered who the enemy was or what method had been used to attack him, and ran for the exit with all his strength.

Beyond the passageway stood a ruined temple. Back under the open sky, Wang Ma's night blindness eased, but he did not stop running. Once fear took root in the heart, it was hard to gather courage again.

Out of the darkness, he wanted to find somewhere safe to dress his wounds first.

The sun had yet to rise, granting Wang Ma a false sense of safety. Yet after running less than a hundred meters, he found himself unable to catch his breath. Cold sweat broke out in waves, carrying the spine-chilling sensation of impending death.

"Motherfucker, aside from my fingers, these wounds aren't bleeding... bleeding that much. What the hell's going on? Did I get poisoned?"

Sitting beneath a large tree, Wang Ma cursed as he panted and undid his collar to inspect his wounds. The instant he saw them, his pupils contracted.

These were crossbow-bolt wounds.

After freezing for an instant, Wang Ma's eyes bulged with rage. He realized what had happened and roared:

"Bastard, cough cough... it was that little girl! I was wondering why she was still so clean when Monster Calamity came! Damn bitch, I'm going back right now to—"

"Are you an idiot?"

The sudden voice cut off Wang Ma's muttered curses.

It came from the path he had taken.

Childish and calm.

Wang Ma instinctively turned around, but it was not the little girl he had expected. It was that dim-witted little brat.

The boy slowly emerged from behind a century-old tree, as if he had rolled through a pool of blood. Thick blood drenched his entire body. He carried a hand crossbow, wore a quiver on his back, and had a waterskin hanging from his waist.

The boy did not continue forward. He tapped his head with the hand crossbow, stood some distance away, and looked at Wang Ma.

"...How could someone who dismembered corpses possibly be clean all over?"

Wang Ma understood everything at once. His fists clenched, veins bulging across his neck and arms. His iron-tower body forced itself upright, fury blazing to the heavens, his voice shaking several leaves from the trees.

"You still dare chase after me?! I'll beat you to death, you little animal!!"

As he spoke,

Wang Ma propped up his burly body and charged forward like a towering wall!

The boy watched him quietly and casually fired a crossbow bolt.

Whoosh.

The bolt instantly pierced through Wang Ma's left knee joint, throwing his running body off balance. He crashed to the ground, his massive frame sliding from momentum until it stopped two meters in front of the boy.

Looking down at the scar-faced brute, the boy quietly took several steps back. His cold, childish voice carried a trace of confusion.

"With the same crossbow, why were you afraid when it was in Sanniang's hands, but not when it was in mine?"

Lying facedown, the agony of his shattered knee made Wang Ma clutch the soil tightly as he snarled:

"Sanniang... Sanniang isn't like you..."

"But I killed her. Just now."

"..." Wang Ma.

"Rather than fearing her, shouldn't you be more afraid of me now?"

The boy continued asking as he cocked the crossbow, muttering to himself, "Oh, I get it... you're an idiot too."

Wang Ma's cheek twitched as he struggled to crawl up.

"...Shut the hell up!!"

The boy forcefully threw the short dagger, pinning Wang Ma's hand to the ground with precision and cutting short his attempt to rise.

"You... hiss!!"

The hemopneumothorax caused by his punctured lung made it difficult for Wang Ma to breathe. He gasped in huge gulps, his wide eyes fixed stubbornly on the boy.

Whoosh.

Another bolt shot out.

The bolt struck precisely through the bend of his leg, piercing Wang Ma's right knee and completely crippling both his legs.

"Uncle, don't move yet. And don't shout."

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

One bolt after another—his palms, elbows, shoulder blades...

Qin Yi's request received no response. Piercing screams rose one after another.

In two minutes, Wang Ma had seemingly walked through hell, and he finally understood one thing.

Monster...

This boy was even more of a monster.

No wonder the boy had inexplicably hung a waterskin from his waist when he chased after him. Whenever Wang Ma was about to faint from the pain, the boy would pour water over his face to keep him awake.

Wang Ma no longer had the strength to struggle. His ragged breathing and the pain throughout his body made him wish he were dead. All he could do was murmur weakly:

"Ha... huff... let... let me go... please..."

After confirming that Wang Ma could no longer pose the slightest threat to him, the boy finally approached him for the first time.

The boy raised Wang Ma's callused hand, as though operating with the precision of a delicate surgery. Then he suddenly slid the short dagger beneath it and pried off one of Wang Ma's fingernails.

"AAAAH!!!! Urgh!! Ha... ah!!"

The scream pierced through the forest canopy, startling a flock of birds into flight.

The sun slanted westward, and the blood-red remnant of sunset filtered through the dense woods, spilling across the forest.

Wang Ma gasped for breath, blood from his wounds soaking into the earth. For the first time, terror appeared in the way he looked at the boy.

That thin, small shadow,

Under the glow of twilight, almost blanketed a vast stretch of forest.

Wang Ma's voice trembled with fear.

"You... what do you want?"

"..." The second fingernail.

"Ha... ah... hiss... wh... why?"

"..." The third.

"Argh!! Ah! Ah... hiss... what... what the fuck do you want?"

"I want to know some things." The fourth.

"No... no, you... fuck..."

"..." The fifth.

Wang Ma's vision went dark as he snarled in rage:

"...You... if you have questions, then fucking ask them...!!"

"..."

Qin Yi seemed to freeze for a moment. With the twilight behind him, he lifted his eyes and tilted his head.

"Eh... I forgot to ask. Sorry."