Chapter 30: Retribution!

Li Shunfu could not imagine his own fate; he sat on the ground in a daze, speechless. Ling Chi pushed open the door and walked out. The blazing summer sun was fierce, yet even its heat could not dispel the sins that stained this world.

Pei Shinan and his men were still in a standoff with the Li family’s guards. Sensing Ling Chi’s approach, the crowd parted, making way for him as he walked forward at a measured pace. The atmosphere at the scene grew taut with tension—over a dozen guards swallowed nervously, gripping their weapons, some so frightened that their backs were already slick with sweat.

The fight inside the house had not lasted long, perhaps only twenty or thirty heartbeats. The seemingly invincible Monk Zhishan in their eyes had fallen in utter silence.

“Surrender. Those who have not committed evil may yet live,” Ling Chi pronounced their sentence.

“We outnumber you. You might not be able to kill us all. Brothers, if we fight to the death, there’s still a chance to survive. If we give up, we’re as good as dead, so—” A flash of steel cut him off, ending his life without further ado.

“Appeal denied. Death sentence, carried out immediately.”

Ling Chi charged into the guards like a tiger among sheep, his blade flashing cold and merciless, felling men as easily as cutting melons or chopping vegetables. Dozens of streams of spiritual energy surged into his body, and he nearly moaned aloud with pleasure.

Pei Shinan and the others looked at Ling Chi as if seeing him for the first time. This ruthlessness was no less than the most hardened killers in the army.

“Brother Pei, you and the others search the Li estate, then return to the town. Align everyone’s testimony. Tell the outside world that I fought a fierce battle with a vengeful spirit, suffered grave injuries, and am seeking a place to recover. Say that Li Shunfu and the guards were all slain by the vengeful spirit.

“Of the loot, keep twenty percent for yourselves and distribute it among the men. I’ll take thirty percent, and hand over another thirty percent, which you’ll distribute personally. The remaining twenty percent stays in the town office.

“In the future, use this fund to compensate the families of any brothers who are injured or killed. When the money is deposited, everyone must be present. Let this matter remain forever secret.”

“I understand. I’ll see to it at once.” Pei Shinan replied solemnly. Only when superiors share the spoils with you do you truly become a unit.

He could even guess that Ling Chi had slaughtered the guards just now to demonstrate his strength and intimidate them.

“Go now, and move quickly. Use all the carriages and carts in the estate. Leave before nightfall, and tonight, it’s best you’re not around.” Ling Chi had no intention of letting them witness how he would deal with the so-called victim who reported the crime.

“Yes, I’ll try to have it done before sunset,” Pei Shinan replied.

“Don’t enter the town before dark, and don’t let it become common knowledge.” Ling Chi reminded him once more.

Pei Shinan repeatedly affirmed, thinking to himself that he was still not cautious enough. This town constable of theirs was only fifteen, yet he handled everything flawlessly. Who knew if there wasn’t an ancient monster lurking inside that young heart?

Ling Chi cared little for what Pei Shinan thought of him. He personally searched the study and the secret rooms, checking every letter and correspondence.

In the three-story building mentioned by the young servant, women purchased from various places were imprisoned. Some were already bitten all over by dogs and dying, others had been reduced to a heap of white bones.

The remains were covered in canine tooth marks. A murderous rage rose in Ling Chi’s heart. There were many ways to die, but Li Shunfu had chosen the most brutal for them.

After Pei Shinan had identified the living, Ling Chi instructed him to take them back to Willow Town to recover before deciding what to do next. Only after everything was resolved would they be sent home.

Many of the Li household’s servants had already fled over the past few days. Those who remained either had relatives held hostage or were diehard loyalists, like the gatekeeper. Ling Chi had Wang San and Li Si dismiss those who could be dismissed, and executed those who could not.

As for the Lianshan bandits, this matter required caution. If they caught wind of anything and fled, it would be a loss. The task had to be finished before they could react.

Today, Monk Zhishan had been killed. If his sect learned of it, they would surely seek revenge. Ling Chi decided to strike first—he would set out tomorrow to destroy that depraved temple.

Zhishan’s Shande Temple was in Feng County, Hezhou, while the Lianshan bandits’ lair was in Guan County, also in Hezhou—close enough to be on the way.

Ling Chi had the corpses piled together and burned to ashes. Li Shunfu, mouth gagged, was tied spread-eagled in the room.

As night approached, Pei Shinan led a convoy of carriages and carts out of the Li estate, taking a roundabout route back to town.

A rough estimate suggested that the confiscated wealth amounted to eight or nine thousand silver coins, plus antiques and paintings worth some seventeen or eighteen thousand in total. His share would be about five thousand silver—truly a lucrative haul. As the saying went, “Great wealth from murder and arson.”

As dusk deepened, the villagers, weary from a day’s toil, returned home one after another. Most of the fields in Li Village were controlled by Li Shunfu; the villagers were all his tenant farmers. The “Li” in Li Village was his “Li.”

The deed to the Li estate’s lands was kept by Ling Chi, while all the IOUs were burned.

In the vast Li estate, only Ling Chi, Li Shunfu, and a single living dog remained.

Wangwang was a large, sleek dog, well cared for by Li Shunfu. Ling Chi had left it hungry for a day, even using spiritual energy to cleanse its stomach. Now, it was starving.

Li Shunfu was bound in the center of a room with the doors wide open, unable to move. Wangwang, locked in its cage, had lost all its former bravado. Ling Chi, saber in hand and a wooden stick between his teeth, sat in a chair feigning sleep.

Darkness gradually swallowed the Li estate. Li Shunfu stared into the gloom, sensing that the thing about to devour him was lurking within.

Soft footsteps sounded in the darkness.

As if someone were tiptoeing closer, bent low. Li Shunfu’s hair stood on end; his eyes bulged, but his mouth could only issue muffled whimpers.

He looked tremblingly toward Ling Chi, who remained in his feigned slumber, ignoring his pleas for help.

He glanced toward the door, and there, something hid just outside—half a bruised, purplish face peering in with a baleful, secretive gaze.

A yellow stream trickled down Li Shunfu’s trouser leg. He shivered all the more violently.

“Sister Cai, come out now. If you keep scaring him, his heart may burst. If he dies of fright, how will you get your revenge?” Ling Chi’s voice sounded from the darkness.

The ghostly girl, her face purple and swollen, fixed her gaze on Li Shunfu, issuing a faint sound like a kitten’s mewl.

That mew hardly suits your fierce visage, Ling Chi mused.

“Sister Cai, I’ll give you two options. You choose. Either I let the dog loose and it eats Li Shunfu, just as it killed you, or you can have your fun first and I’ll bury him alive afterward. What do you think?” Ling Chi’s tone was as casual as a neighbor discussing which toy a child would like.

The ghostly Cai slowly revealed herself—her clothes soaked in blood, hair in wild disarray, bare feet on the floor. She inched closer, and Li Shunfu’s eyes nearly burst from his head in terror.

“Don’t mind him. Come here and tell me, which do you want?” Ling Chi asked cheerfully.

To his surprise, Zhou Cai really did walk over to him. The thirteen-year-old girl, stunted and frail from years of malnutrition, revealed a delicate beauty beneath the bruises—a beauty that had led to her being sold to the Li estate.

She extended her forefinger and tapped Ling Chi’s shoulder, then pointed at Li Shunfu, and finally at the floor.

“You want me to bury him alive?”

Zhou Cai nodded, then pointed at Wangwang.

“Bury Wangwang together with him? Very well. Let the master and his dog depart this world together,” Ling Chi said, gently ruffling Cai’s matted hair.

The living aura made her uncomfortable, but she did not flinch away. In the faded corners of her memory, only when her father was alive did anyone ever stroke her head like this.