When the old man mentioned Chen Tu, his voice filled with reminiscence.
"Twelve years ago."
"Green Mountain Academy, Sunset Glow Academy, Northern Territory First Psychic High School."
"Three schools. In a single night, not a soul was left alive."
"One thousand three hundred and seventy-two people."
The old man extended his withered fingers, gesturing out the number.
"That was his tally."
Qi Wu raised his eyebrows slightly, that same half-smile still playing on his lips.
"Sounds like a ruthless man."
"Ruthless?" The old man slowly shook his head. "That word is far too mild to describe him."
"Do you know how he awakened the Rule of Slaughter?"
Qi Wu said nothing, merely listening in silence.
The old man's gaze seemed to pierce the thick walls, reaching toward the cell that held the Blood Asura.
"Twelve years ago, Chen Tu was just an ordinary Eighth Rank Psychic teaching at Green Mountain Academy. He taught combat theory. He was mild-mannered and never argued with anyone. He had a beautiful wife, three adorable children, and two retired parents."
"The seven of them lived in a faculty apartment provided by the academy. Every morning, he took the children to school on his electric scooter. When he came home from work in the evening, his wife had dinner ready and waiting. On weekends, he took his parents for walks in the park and watched cartoons with his children."
"A quiet, happy, ordinary life."
"Then one day, he came across an ancient book in the academy library."
"It described a method for touching upon a rule."
Qi Wu narrowed his eyes slightly. "What method?"
The old man looked at him, a complicated glimmer flashing through his cloudy eyes.
"The blood of your closest kin."
"At the instant you kill all your closest loved ones with your