Master Kui was momentarily stunned. Before him stood a girl no more than fourteen by appearance, slender, composed, and utterly unafraid. For a heartbeat, disbelief flickered in his eyes, but it vanished just as quickly.
"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice low and edged with caution.
Li Shuying smiled faintly, her gaze steady. "I am the one you have been calling for."
Her tone was light, almost playful, but it carried a weight that pressed against the air.
Master Kui's breathing, which had surged in anger moments ago, gradually steadied. The fury did not leave him, but it sharpened, refined into something colder, more dangerous.
He did not underestimate her.
A lifetime spent among blood, betrayal, and power had taught him a simple truth, those who dared to walk into the tiger's den alone were never ordinary. Heroes, monsters… they often wore young faces.
And this girl, her calmness, her eyes, the faint curve of her lips, everything about her whispered danger. He could clearly feel the hostility rediating from her.
"What do you want?" he asked slowly.
Li Shuying's smile deepened into a smirk. "Nothing much," she replied. "I simply wish to play a game of Wanku Ju with you. I have heard that Master Kui is particularly skilled at it."
For a brief instant, shock flashed across his face. Then it was gone replaced by a dark, simmering rage.
"Know your limits," he said coldly. "Speak plainly. What do you want, little girl?"
Li Shuying tilted her head, as if considering his question. "I already told you," she said softly. "I want to play Wanku Ju with you." She paused, her gaze turning sharp, her voice dropping into something far more chilling, "And… you will be my lacquey."
That was enough. Master Kui's restraint snapped. With a swift motion, a military knife flashed out from his sleeve, glinting under the dim light as he lunged forward.
"You want Master Kui to be your lacquey?" he snarled. "In your dreams!"
The blade cut through the air toward her throat. But Li Shuying had already anticipated it.
She shifted her body at the last possible moment, the knife grazing past her as she stepped aside, her movements swift yet controlled.
She did not counterattack. Instead, she retreated.
Because she understood one thing clearly, this man was no ordinary opponent. His strength, his experience… they could not be taken lightly. To face him head-on would be foolish. The only way to defeat him was right moment.
Master Kui staggered slightly from the missed strike before regaining his balance. A dark grin tugged at his lips.
"So… you are trained," he muttered. "Impressive. Once I kill you, I will find the master who trained you, and send him to join you afterlife."
Li Shuying chuckled softly. Her master?
The sound only fueled his anger further. "Let us see if you can dodge this," he said, his voice turning grim.
In the next instant, his stance shifted. Instead of advancing directly, he moved in a sudden arc, his body pivoting with precision as his arm snapped forward.
The knife left his hand like a streak of lightning.
Li Shuying's eyes widened slightly.
She twisted her body just in time, the blade missing her heart by a hair's breadth.
But it still grazed her.
A sharp line of pain tore across her upper arm, slicing through cloth and flesh alike. Her sleeve split open, blood immediately seeping through in stream.
She hissed, the sting biting deep. And in that brief moment of distraction he was already upon her.
Master Kui appeared beside her like a shadow, his hand shooting forward as he seized her hair, yanking it back with brutal force.
Pain exploded across her scalp, forcing a sharp cry from her lips.
He leaned closer, his breath cold, his voice dripping with mockery, "Tell me," he sneered, "do you still wish for me to be your lacquey?" His grip tightened. "You thought you could fight me? You have made the greatest mistake of your life." His lips curled into a cruel smile. "And since you are so eager to play Wanku Ju, let us play tonight. Only this time… you will be my lacquey."
With that, he jerked her head back and struck her hard across the face.
The impact rang sharply in the silent courtyard.
A burning pain spread instantly, her vision blurring for a moment, her teeth clashing painfully as the force of the slap echoed through her skull.
But the pain did something else. It awakened a rage that she was trying to control.
In that instant, Li Shuying's eyes turned crimson with fury and without hesitation, she seized his wrist.
Then using every ounce of strength in her body she twisted downward, pivoting sharply and pulling him off balance.
With a sudden burst of force, she threw him to the ground.
"Ah...!" Master Kui's body slammed against the stone floor, the impact jolting through his aged frame. For a moment, even he felt the shock ripple through his bones.
As he lay there, stunned...
An image of her mother eight months pregnant from her privious life flashed through her mind and final thread of sanity inside her snapped completely.
Master Kui, recovering from the fall, snarled in fury, "You bitch...!" He drew his leg back, preparing to strike.
But before he could, he saw something that froze him in place.
Li Shuying's hand, empty a moment ago, suddenly moved and in that instant a butcher's knife appeared in her grasp as though conjured from thin air. Master Kui's pupils shrank, his eyes widening in disbelief.
What...?
He did not even have time to react before the blade came down swift and a sickening sound split the air as steel met flesh.
His scream tore through the courtyard.
Li Shuying's voice followed, cold and filled with a fury that seemed to burn from another lifetime.
"Were these not the same hands," she said, her tone trembling with restrained rage, "that trafficked human like livestock?"
Her grip on the blade tightened.
"The same hands that exploited the poor younger boys…? That tormented innocent people inhumanly for your amusement?"
Her eyes locked onto his, unflinching, "Now tell me, Master Kui... Will you still find it entertaining… when you are the one suffering?"
As the scream tore through the stillness of the courtyard the five remaining guards reacted at once. Startled, their faces drained of color, they rushed toward Master Kui's chamber, boots striking hard against the stone floor.
But inside Li Shuying had already heard them. Her senses, sharpened by adrenaline and fury, caught the rhythm of their approaching footsteps. Without hesitation, she seized Master Kui by his robe, ignoring his writhing body and the blood soaking through her hands, and dragged him across the threshold into the chamber.
His broken cries scraped against the air as she pulled him inside, leaving a dark trail behind.
The door locked. Moments later, the guards arrived. They stopped short at the entrance. What greeted them was not a nightmare.
Their senior brother lay sprawled across the ground, unmoving, and the floor pooled with dark blood. A few steps away a severed hand.
It lay palm-up on the cold stone, fingers twitching faintly, as though still clinging to life.
For a second, none of them breathed.
Then a blood-curdling scream erupted from their throats, "Ah...!"
Panic shattered whatever discipline they had left. Without daring to step further inside, they stumbled back, tripping over themselves as they turned and fled the courtyard in terror, their shouts dissolving into the night.
Inside the chamber, Master Kui lay on the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably. Blood and sweat soaked his robes, his face twisted so grotesquely that it barely resembled a human's anymore. His breaths came in ragged gasps, each one laced with unbearable agony.
When he heard the guards' screams and then their retreating footsteps, something inside him collapsed completely.
There would be no escape. His eyes, bloodshot and wild, snapped toward Li Shuying, "Kill me…!" he rasped, his voice breaking. "You bitch... kill me! Do it now!" Desperation clawed through his words."Kill me right away!"
The agony of his severed limb was beyond anything he could endure. Death, at this moment, felt like mercy.
Li Shuying stood over him, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
Her eyes were red, not just with fury, but with fear, confusion and even… hesitation. What had she just done? The metallic scent of blood filled her lungs. The sight before her was cruel and savage. This was not who she had been. Her grip tightened unconsciously.
But then memories surged forward like a flood she could no longer hold back.
Her mother, alone, desperate and cast aside by society as a bad element dure to her father's exicution as a traitor. Lost her husband and eldest son soon after. And then one night, eight months pregnant, sold like livestock by this cruel man.
What about the child in her mother's womb that life had never even seen the world. And yet, its fate… could not have been kind.
Then her brother in this life, the way he carved his skin for his amusement.
Did this man show mercy then?
Did he hesitate?
Did he feel guilt?
No.
Li Shuying's expression hardened. The turmoil in her heart settled, not into peace, but into something colder. Sharper.
Her voice came out steady, "I won't kill you."
Master Kui froze.For a moment, even his pain seemed to pause, "W...what…?" His voice trembled violently. Understanding dawned slowly and with it, terror far worse than before. His body began to shake uncontrollably, "Don't… don't you dare…" he gasped, panic flooding his eyes. "Little girl, don't make that mistake!"
His voice rose, hoarse and frantic, "The person who sent you won't let you off if you don't kill me! And If I live, one day I will come for you! For your family! For whoever sent you!" His gaze turned vicious, almost deranged. "I will make sure your end is worse than mine!"
Li Shuying looked at him. Her gaze was cold. "That won't happen."
Before he could understand what she meant she stepped forward. The butcher's knife in her hand vanished. In its place a military knife appeared, and then...
The night was torn apart once more with master Kui's screams.
Li Shuying did not rush. She did not lose control. Every movement was precise, as though she were etching something into existence, something that could never be erased.
Master Kui's screams rose again, sharper, more desperate than before. They echoed through the empty compound, piercing the silence of the night again and again.
But this time no one came. The pain broke him piece by piece, until finally his body could endure no more, his voice cracked into nothing, and darkness swallowed him whole and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
Silence returned, heavy and oppressive. Li Shuying stood still for a long moment, her breathing uneven, her grip slowly loosening.
Then, without a word, she withdrew the blade. But before she turned to leave, she paused. Her eyes fell upon his throat. Without hesitation, she lowered the knife. The tip pressed just below his Adam's apple. And with a single, controlled motion she punctured it.
Her gaze shifted toward the kang and without hesitation, she stepped forward and overturned the thin mattresses laid upon it. The rough fabric slid aside, revealing a hidden compartment beneath. Just as Heizi had said a ledger was placed there.
Li Shuying picked it up and tucked it away into her system space.
Only then did she move toward the corner of the room, where a small water canteen rested. She poured a little into her hands, scrubbing away the blood as best as she could. The water turned murky, dripping onto the stone floor, but she did not stop until her hands were clean.
When she finally stepped out of the chamber, the night air struck her face like a quiet awakening. Li Shuying paused. Slowly, she lifted her gaze toward the sky.
The darkness stretched endlessly above her, scattered with faint stars. For a moment, she simply stood there, looking up, as if searching for something beyond the night.
For the first time…
She felt something had changed. She had acted. The man who had destroyed her mother's life in her previous life, is dealt with.
A faint weight lifted from her chest, though it did not bring peace. Only a quiet, uncertain stillness, "So… will the future be different now?" she murmured inwardly.
Her thoughts drifted to, how she earned Regimental Commander He's regards.
To Gu Zhenhua, whose trust she had begun to earn through a buisness dealing.
And to Zhang Wenhao, whose connections and standing, though not from the same unit as her father, were anything but ordinary.
So she should be able to change the fate of her father right?
And now master Kui was also dealt with, once this ledger is given to security officers, he shouldn't be any harm the future.
Her eyelids felt heavy, exhaustion creeping in as the tension of the night began to settle into her bones.
But just as her thoughts began to drift she heard a approaching footsteps.
Her body reacted instantly, every muscle tightening as she turned, alert once more.
But when she saw who it was Heizi her tension eased, but his expression...
Has something fine wrong?
"What happened?" she asked, her voice low but firm.
Heizi's breath came in ragged bursts, his face pale, his eyes filled with urgency.
"Those three core members…" he said, his voice cracking, "they've reached the warehouse. They have military bolt rifles, three of them. They're about to fire. You must do something!"
Li Shuying's eyes widened and face drained of color. "How is that possible…?" she murmured.
She had taken everything. Every weapon hidden in that place, she was certain of it. So where did these rifles come from?
Her thoughts spun for a brief moment, but Heizi cut through them, his voice trembling with panic, "Forget that now!" he urged. "If we don't act, those kids… they will die!"
The words struck her like a blow. Li Shuying's expression hardened instantly. "Yes...let's go. Now."
They had barely taken a few steps, when the night split apart with gunfire in distance.
Not a single shot of a pistol Zhang Junyi and others had.
But a series of thunderous bursts of military bolt-action rifles.
Both of them froze and time seemed to stop.
Heizi's legs gave out beneath him as he staggered, his voice barely more than a whisper, "D…does that mean…?"
Li Shuying shook her head immediately, almost violently, "No." Her voice was firm. "Nothing will happen to them. Nothing will happen to Zhang Junyi or the Dong Tian gang members."
Even as she said it a flicker of doubt pierced her chest. But she did not allow it to grow. Without another word, she broke into a fast and desparate run.
Her feet barely seemed to touch the ground as she raced toward Warehouse Three, her heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.
Behind her, Heizi remained where he was, frozen between fear and helplessness.
But Li Shuying did not look back.
As she ran, a single thought repeated over and over in her mind, nothing must happen to them.
A sharp pang of regret struck her chest. She had pulled them into this, she had asked them to walk into danger.
She underestimated the situation. And now the consequences were unfolding before her.