Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

The only sounds in the air were "THUD! THUD!"

The righteous man, his limbs now broken, let the clubs rain down on him without a sound, not even struggling.

"Uungh..."

The child’s mother clamped a hand over her mouth, terrified of attracting the attention of those fiends.

She wanted to close her eyes, to not look, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

As for the father, he was pressing his forehead hard against the dirt floor.

His ten fingers clawed madly at the ground, carving ten bloody furrows into the earth.

He was filled with hatred.

He hated these animals, but he hated himself even more—for being able to do nothing but grovel here like a dog, pathetically clinging to life!

That was... that was their benefactor, the man who had saved his son from a brutal fate!

The little boy just stood there in a daze, his face spattered with a few drops of someone’s blood.

His innocent eyes now reflected the image of the figure being beaten again and again with iron rods.

’That big brother is being beaten to death... because he saved me...’

’Is it my fault...?’

...

Guo Tu kicked the motionless Jiang Stone on the ground, a foul look on his face. "Alright, forget this idiot. He’s probably done for."

He turned, his murky eyes once again landing on the trembling child in the corner.

He tapped the iron rod against his blood-soaked palm, making a dull thud.

"That waste of space bought you a little time. Did it give you some kind of false hope?"

Guo Tu grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Too bad. There aren’t that many people in this world eager to court death. Now... who’s left to save you?"

Despair drowned everything.

The one and only barrier—the one built of flesh and blood—was gone.

The father closed his eyes in despair.

’It’s over... It’s all over...’

’All that struggling, all that gasping for air... it was just prolonging the inevitable...’

’My son... my son who should have been running under the sun... is he really fated to have his legs broken and be turned into a tool for begging...?’

The little boy watched Guo Tu draw closer and closer, watched the iron rod rise high in the air. Fear made him forget to even breathe.

He instinctively shrank back until his spine hit the wall.

’No one is coming to save me...’

Guo Tu stood before the little boy, looming over him and blocking out the light from above.

Guo Tu emotionlessly raised the iron rod, aimed for those small, perfect knees, and put all his strength into the swing—

In that instant, time seemed to stand still.

The mother let out a silent scream. The father, in agony, turned his head away, unable to watch the tragedy about to unfold.

Just as the iron rod was a hair’s breadth from the child’s knees, just as everyone thought fate would not smile upon them a second time—

"BOOM—!!!"

An explosion erupted above their heads!

A terrifying pressure, accompanied by a shockwave, instantly enveloped the dilapidated temple!

CRASH—!!!

The temple’s roof was ripped away in an instant. Tiles, beams, and rubble rained down, smashing onto the ground!

Guo Tu’s face changed drastically. He was thrown back several steps by the blast of air, nearly losing his grip on the iron rod.

"Who’s there?!"

Dust and debris filled the air.

Amidst the chaos raining down from above, a masked figure in black landed on the ground.

The gale whipped her hair into a frenzy, but it couldn’t disperse the overwhelming killing intent in her eyes.

Su Ling’er had arrived.

The wind howled, kicking up clouds of dust.

When the dust settled, Su Ling’er was standing in the center of it all.

The first thing she saw was the figure lying on the brink of death.

He was limp on the dirt floor, his limbs broken. One leg was bent at an unnatural angle, with sharp white bone piercing through the flesh, exposed to the air.

He was motionless, the rise and fall of his chest the only proof he was still alive.

’This man, so righteous despite his crippled body... was he tortured into this state by these animals after all?’

’Was I... too late?’

Then, her gaze swept across the surroundings.

In the darkest corner, several figures were curled up, twisted beyond human recognition. Some were stuffed into jars, others had their hands and feet forcibly swapped and sewn on. They stared silently at the world with hollow, numb eyes.

’How could this be the world of the living? This is clearly a feeding trough for ghouls!’

Finally, her eyes locked onto Guo Tu and his men.

These mortal thugs seemed to be wreathed in a faint aura of resentment and bloodlust!

Only butchers who have slaughtered their own kind with cruel methods for years, who have countless lives on their hands, could condense such an aura of malevolence!

They couldn’t cultivate and had no special techniques, otherwise it wouldn’t be just this faint wisp, but that no longer mattered!

"...A pack of beasts in human skin!!"

"VMMMM—"

At her thought, the novice Wooden Sword in her hand let out a tremor, as if thirsting for blood.

Immediately after, the hard Wooden Sword liquefied, spreading up her arm like black mercury and merging with her entire body in the blink of an eye!

[Sword Refining Skill - Evil Demon Form]—Activate!

The next second.

BOOM!

Billowing black smoke erupted from Su Ling’er’s body, instantly shrouding the ruined temple and making it look like a demonic citadel!

In the center of the swirling black mist, Su Ling’er’s eyes were now completely consumed by crimson light, with scarlet streams even leaking from their corners.

The auras of death, resentment, murder, and blood that had always clung to her finally erupted with her fury. They craved blood, they craved slaughter, they... were reveling!

At this moment, where was there even a hint of the righteous immortal maiden she once appeared to be?

Her blood-red eyes stared daggers at Guo Tu and the others. "Since you have fallen onto the demonic path and become Evil Cultivators... then today, I shall deliver heaven’s judgment and send you all... to utter annihilation, body and soul!!"

...

Guo Tu and his thugs, already reeling from that "justice from above," now stared up at the figure wreathed in black smoke with glowing red eyes. Their minds completely shattered.

Guo Tu’s hand, gripping the iron rod, was trembling violently. He swallowed hard, staring at the figure that looked like a demon god descended upon the world.

’Wait... Big sis?! Are you for real?! You’re calling *us* demonic? Why don’t you find a mirror and see who looks more like the Evil Cultivator here?!’

’At worst, we’re just a bunch of bandits and thugs who kill and set fires! At most, we’re perverts! But look at you! Black smoke! Red eyes! And that whole ’annihilation, body and soul’ thing! You’re so damn terrifying, who’s the real villain here?!’

"SHFF... SHFF... SHFF..."

The sound of footsteps, each one seeming to land on Guo Tu’s heart. His body was rigid, his mind racing frantically.

’After all, demonic Evil Cultivators don’t care about martial ethics. They see mortals as nothing more than blood food in the palm of their hands.’

And now, the woman who looked more like a demon than any of them had already raised her claws.

The slaughter was about to begin...