The destruction of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion [Three thousand words to celebrate this book's paid release]

The ruthlessness the little girl displayed at that moment had, to be honest, shocked even Li Mu.

But he was only somewhat shocked. He stood there calmly.

Powerful figures kept emerging from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. Even the weakest were Soul Ancestors, while the strongest had reached Soul Emperor.

This era was extremely chaotic. Friction frequently arose between the four nations, sometimes even erupting into war, making it difficult to keep powerful experts around.

Soul Kings and Soul Emperors already ranked as officers within the empire, and many were even high-ranking officers.

Yet there were several Soul Kings and Soul Emperors within the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

However, none of them, including those Soul Kings and Soul Emperors and even the strongest Soul Saint surnamed Dai, stood the slightest chance against Li Qingming.

The Soul Saint's presence erupted rapidly as he unleashed his Martial Soul, the Evil White Tiger, and terrifying power descended.

Yet in a single clash, the Soul Saint had barely managed to shatter three or four ice-crystal spears hurtling toward him with all his strength.

Then, the next second, an illusory silver space slowly appeared before Li Mu.

A pair of hands as fair as jade reached out from within, and in the next second, those delicate hands pointed lightly forward.

An explosive crack rang out, and the Soul Emperor's body suddenly burst apart, turning into ice crystals that filled the sky before disappearing completely.

This utterly terrifying massacre, or rather purge, lasted less than an hour.

Around five hundred people in the White Tiger Duke's Mansion were slaughtered from end to end. There were no commoners among them.

Almost all of them belonged to collateral lines or branches of the Dai Family, or were female members of the household.

Li Mu spared none of them. Of course, he had not killed most of them; Huo Yutong had.

Although Huo Yutong's greatest enemy was that so-called first madam.

That first madam was Dai Huabin and Dai Yueheng's biological mother, as well as the cruelest thorn lodged in Huo Yutong's heart.

Still, she spared none of the others either. As she killed on and on, wretched screams filled the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

In the end, Huo Yutong brought back only one woman, a woman who was not very old.

The woman looked to be only in her thirties or forties, with reasonably regular features.

Huo Yutong supported the woman, whose body trembled slightly with fear.

A boy followed beside her, likewise somewhat frightened.

Nevertheless, the boy's expression remained fairly resolute.

The two people Huo Yutong had brought over stepped forward and silently knelt before Li Mu.

"She helped me a great deal, and this is my younger brother, Dai Luoli. I hope you can spare their lives, at least let the two of them live."

"As for whatever extra price I'll have to pay, it doesn't matter. As long as you agree, I'm willing to accept your conditions."

Huo Yutong pressed her lips together as she spoke. Her face was covered in blood.

Her clothes had also been dyed red, yet her expression showed a rare trace of nervousness and worry.

But looking at Huo Yutong, Li Mu merely smiled and waved his hand. "Since they're your aunt and younger brother, that makes them my aunt and younger brother too. Naturally, I'll spare their lives."

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a money pouch appeared in it.

He tossed the pouch straight toward the boy, who was watching him warily.

"There are about five hundred Gold Soul Coins in here, along with an unregistered card holding around five thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"That should be enough for you to live on. There are stables over there, so you can leave directly, but I hope you won't speak of what happened today."

Li Mu spoke bluntly as he looked at the two of them. Naturally, he knew who they were.

He knew that they had helped Huo Yutong a great deal. To the little girl, that must have been an immense kindness.

As for whether the two would betray them afterward, or even reveal that the two of them had carried out the killings.

That mattered even less. It made no difference if people knew. The same point still stood.

If anyone wanted to suspect someone with only two rings like him, they would need to give a reason.

Besides, what could they do even if they discovered it? He had done it in the first place.

Li Mu had destroyed the White Tiger Duke's Mansion for the resources within.

And to avenge Huo Yutong. He understood that cause and effect very clearly.

Hearing Li Mu's words, Huo Yutong hurriedly raised her hand.

She caught the pouch and placed it in her younger brother Dai Luoli's hands.

But the boy was utterly resistant, his furious gaze fixed on this nominal elder sister of his.

His eyes held hatred, as though he wished he could kill Huo Yutong.

Huo Yutong paid it no mind, however. She raised her hand and knocked her younger brother unconscious.

Then she looked at the woman who had helped her so much, and an immensely complicated look flashed through her eyes.

She said nothing, merely kneeling in silence and kowtowing to the woman.

Under the woman's somewhat complicated gaze, Huo Yutong took her to harness a horse.

Then she hitched up the carriage and let the woman leave, waiting until it had receded into the distance before turning around.

Watching Huo Yutong send them away, Li Mu yawned and took two steps forward.

Then a huge ice-crystal throne appeared behind his back.

He sat upon the throne, facing the main hall of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

Time ticked by, and a few minutes later, Huo Yutong returned.

She held the White Tiger Dagger, its edge badly rolled from all the cutting.

Her gaze locked onto the inner hall of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.

"This day has finally come. Mother, I can finally avenge you. In the underworld, I'll have the entire Dai Family buried alongside you!" Huo Yutong took a deep breath as she spoke.

Unlike Li Mu, who looked ready to enjoy a show, she stepped forward, raised her foot, and kicked the main doors open.

With a dull crash, the door panels slammed to either side, shattering the strained silence within.

Apart from the first madam, several secondary consorts were inside.

Their eyes were filled with fear, and even their breathing was very light.

Several children stood beside them, all quite young.

Nominally, they were all Huo Yutong's younger brothers and sisters too, but clearly, Huo Yutong did not care about that.

Back when she and her mother had been bullied, these people had either joined in or watched coldly from the sidelines.

None of them had ever helped them, so naturally, Huo Yutong would not spare them now.

She walked forward calmly, with no indecision left in her eyes, only calm and indifference.

As the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's spiritual power assaulted their minds, these ordinary people had no room to resist.

Within just a few minutes, Huo Yutong killed them one after another, without even giving them a chance to scream.

The ruthlessness Huo Yutong displayed at that moment also somewhat shocked Li Mu.

She had been a little indecisive at first, but once she truly decided to act, she did not drag her feet.

She did not spare those young children either, choosing to cut the weeds out by their roots.

Once everyone else around her was dead, only the first madam remained, standing there silently.

Although the first madam's expression was full of alarm and fear.

She still sat there feigning composure, as though clinging to one last shred of dignity.

She looked at this boy she could once have crushed with a casual lift of her hand-or rather, this girl.

Now she stood before her with a blade, able to kill her effortlessly.

A trace of madness filled her eyes. "I should have killed you outright and made sure you could never rise again, or sold you off and made you the lowliest servants!"

"Don't think killing me will do you any good. My husband is the White Tiger Duke."

"And my son has already become one of the Shrek Seven Devils. Can you kill them?!"

As she spoke, she glared viciously at the two people before her.

Yet hearing the first madam's words, Huo Yutong showed no unnecessary expression whatsoever.

She simply stood there quietly.

No emotion stirred on her cold, clear face, yet her voice was utterly steady, as though she were stating something perfectly ordinary.

"They'll all die too. Dai Hao will die, and Dai Yueheng will die as well. As for Dai Huabin, he already has no chance of surviving."

As her words fell, Huo Yutong slowly raised her slender hand and walked forward, step by step.

She did not kill the first madam outright. Instead, she reached out and seized her carefully arranged hair.

Dragging her along, she walked all the way out through the gates of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

As the scattered corpses and wreckage all around came into view, the first madam let out one piercing scream after another.

By the time she had been forcibly dragged out of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, her once-exquisite robe had already been scraped into tatters.

She stared at Huo Yutong with utter fury, spewing one vicious curse after another.

But Huo Yutong acted as though she heard none of it.

Her footsteps remained just as steady from beginning to end.

Watching Huo Yutong's composed retreating figure, Li Mu gave a casual yawn.

With both hands in his pockets, he leisurely followed behind her.

The two left the White Tiger Duke's Mansion one after the other and arrived together on the quiet hillside outside.

As Huo Yutong calmly released her hand, the first madam was carelessly dumped onto the cold ground.

The woman had just struggled to her feet and was about to continue her vicious cursing.

But before a sound could leave her throat, she abruptly froze.

She stared blankly ahead at the boy lying there motionless.

A deep gash had been cut across his neck, and he was already on the verge of death.

How familiar that boy was to her. He was her own son.

"Huabin, how is this possible? W-weren't you at Shrek Academy? Why are you here?! This is impossible, impossible!"

The first madam's voice trembled with disbelief.

Hearing her words, Dai Huabin lifted his head slightly to look at her, the depths of his eyes filled with interwoven fury and despair.

He had witnessed the destruction of the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion with his own eyes.

Yet he had never imagined that the root of all this was merely that he had casually tortured a servant to death several years ago.

It had only been a servant, nothing more than the lowliest of servants.

How could such a lowly existence be placed on the same footing as the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion?

And why should the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion end up buried alongside a servant, just because he had tortured one to death?

Flames of fury burned in Dai Huabin's eyes, but before he could utter a single word.

Huo Yutong had already calmly raised her hand.

As a biting stream of water sliced past, he watched blankly as the first madam's head rolled to the ground.

Then, in the very next second, he too collapsed onto the icy ground, losing consciousness completely.