“Immolation. Yes, I know,” replied Wuzhi, carelessly interrupting Collette’s report. “I was the one to put forth that suggestion in the first place. Tell me something that I don’t already know.”
At his scathing words, Collette blinked like a cornered prey before hurriedly saying. “T-Tie Zhi’s daughter, Tie Yu whom you had asked us to keep an eye on has disappeared. Upon our preliminary investigation, we learned that she was taken away by a middle-aged man from the vicinity of the Fu Family’s residence.”
“Oh?” A cruel light flashed across Wuzhi’s eyes. “Continue.”
Taking a deep breath to steady her terrified heart, Collette quickly continued, “Two Silver Lilly Maidens from Mana’s team followed the pair until they reached the Black Sin District located Downtown, whereupon they trailed the pair until they entered an establishment named ‘Dirty Harry’s Toy Shop.’ Keeping in mind your warnings from before, the two Maidens chose not to enter the establishment and monitored it from afar.”
“A while later, the middle-aged man who had taken away Tie Yu exited the establishment. Tie Yu was not with him. The Maidens split with one of them proceeding to trail the man while the other kept watch on the establishment.”
“Here’s what we managed to gather on the man.” She handed a stack of papers to Wuzhi. An obvious frown of disgust was present on her face.
Wuzhi coldly scanned the contents of the paper. ‘Rank 2 cultivator… Mid-thirties… divorced… no children… a terminal gambler… addicted to all sorts of vices… owes money all over the city.’
With his intelligence, he could more or less completely see through what sort of person this middle-aged man was. Wuzhi then put the papers aside and sunk into a thoughtful ponder.
“Senior Disciple Brother Wuzhi, should we….” While she did not complete her sentence, the look on Collette’s beautiful face spoke of her thoughts.
“You want to kill this man?” asked Wuzhi, reading her expression.
After a brief instance of hesitation, Collette gritted her teeth and nodded her head. “This sort of filth. I believe that the world is better off with less of it.”
Truth be told, Collette did not know what Wuzhi’s plans for Tie Yu were. However, from reading the reports submitted by her fellow sect sisters, Collette had come to sympathize with the pitiful young woman. In her eyes, Tie Yu was nothing but an involuntary victim in Wuzhi’s campaign against her father, who was a traitor to the Mu Household.
These feelings of compassion and pity quickly turned into raging anger when she learnt that Tie Yu had been kidnapped by a filthy character. That anger only grew in intensity when she came to learn just how exactly filthy and heinous that middle-aged man was.
“While we have yet to investigate him in-depth, just our surface investigations have revealed that his latest act of kidnapping Tie Yu is the lightest of his crimes.” When she recalled the list of suspected crimes, Collette’s body began trembling with suppressed emotion. “Every second that this person lives is an extra second where sin goes unpunished and justice undelivered.”
As a person raised and trained in a [Orthodox Faction] sect, Collette was naturally someone who possessed exceptional morals and a just spirit. While she wasn’t of the sort to go around the world punishing evil, she also wasn’t the kind to ignore evil when it occurred right in front of her eyes.
Wuzhi calmly noted her inner thoughts and feelings with a distant gaze. His cold, emotionless eyes lit up with a trace of mockery for an instant before disappearing just as swiftly as it had appeared.
After a minute of silence, he spoke. “Alright. I can assent to your request of wanting to kill this person. However, I have a few conditions for you should you wish to proceed with this matter.”
“First,” he raised a finger, “I do not care how you go about killing this man; however, you are not to involve me nor any of your other sister disciples from the sect. You will also receive no aid from us.”
“Second,” he extended two fingers, “You are not to expose yourself, your sect, or your affiliations while carrying out the murder. If you do so, understand that your time as my protector will be over. I will send you back to the sect where you will have to face punishment for failing your duty.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Three,” Wuzhi’s tone deepened as he spoke his final condition. “I expect for this matter to be resolved cleanly. You are not allowed to bring any further complications or blood debts when you return.”
“These are my conditions. Are you still willing to continue with your murder?” asked Wuzhi.
Collette did not dawdle and immediately replied, “I am willing!”
“Very well. You can begin after you change shifts with your sister,” said Wuzhi. He then returned to continue with his work.
Having received Wuzhi’s permission on this matter, Collette felt relieved and excited in regard to the upcoming matter. It wouldn’t be her first time killing a cultivator of the [Demonic Faction] as she had prior experience in the act as a result of both her family and the sect’s comprehensive training.
It would, however, be her first time committing the act without any sort of supervision or oversight, and it was this fact that made Collette feel excited. She believed that she was finally leaving the state of being a protected greenhouse flower to one that faced the harsh winds and rains of the outside world.
‘I shouldn’t deliver a simple death to this scoundrel! No, such an act would be far too much of a mercy considering the sins that he has committed. I must ensure that he is made to feel the pain and helplessness that his past victims would’ve experienced while suffering under his hands!’
While she thought about his victims, Collette suddenly remembered Tie Yu.
“Senior Disciple Brother Wuzhi, you forgot to mention further instructions regarding Tie Yu. How are we going to rescue her?”
Without raising his head, Wuzhi casually replied, “Do not bother.” After a pause, he continued, “Instruct the Maiden keeping a lookout at the establishment to return.”
“What about Tie Yu?” rebutted Collette, finding Wuzhi’s dismissal of this matter strange.
“What about her?” asked Wuzhi, nonchalantly. He stopped his work and raised his head to stare at her with an impassive expression.
Seeing his deadly still eyes, a chilling terror sprouted within her heart. Gritting her teeth and grasping onto a faint ember of hope, she asked. “We aren’t going to simply abandon her, right? You know what they do to people at that establishment. Especially to beautiful women.”
“Yes. And?”
Collette’s breath hitched. Her pupils widened and she stared at Wuzhi as if she was staring at some abstruse creature.
“Wuzhi!” she yelled, unlike her previous self. “You-! How can you be so nonchalant!? By ending up in that place, Tie Yu will suffer from a fate that is a thousand times worse than death!!”
The heartless scholar did not reply. Instead, he lowered his head and returned to his paperwork.
Witnessing his reaction, or rather his lack thereof, Collette felt something within her break. Moisture appeared in her eyes as she stared at the young scholar with heartbreak and disbelief.
“How could you be so cruel?”
“Cruel?” repeated Wuzhi, pausing his actions for a moment. He remained still and quiet for some time before suddenly saying, “Yes. Cruel. What a ‘Cruel *Wuzhi’.” {AN: He’s referring to himself in First-Person here}
Turning to face Collette, Wuzhi slowly explained, “When I first arrived at the Household, Tie Zheng tried to convict me of a false crime. It was only through the nimbleness of my mind and sharpness of my tongue that I managed to avoid a fate of death.”
“To plot against a person would be an act of immorality. To plot against me, however, is an act of sin. And such sin must be answered with swift and harsh retaliation.”
“The mere death of a Tie Zheng is not sufficient to absolve this unpardonable sin. A more fitting price must be exacted.”
Pausing for a second, Wuzhi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And when he opened it an instant later, the light of madness and inhumanity shined within.
“First, I had him captured and made him suffer the cruellest torture that one could suffer.”
“Next, I ruined his name and legacy. Making it so that even the most heinous scoundrels in the history of this land would still seem like absolute saints when compared to him.”
“After that, I pushed his only son into the pits of despair before manipulating him into acting as a witness to the crimes of his father. Tomorrow, when the pubic trial proceeds, Tie Zheng will get to witness his very own flesh and blood chart his path to hell.”
“Finally, Tie Yu, the daughter. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I should do with her. Fortunately, seeing me dawdle in confusion, the Heavens stepped in with a solution once again.”
“Having been sold to one of the Tree Kings of the Underworld, this daughter of Tie Zheng will spend the rest of her life as an object that will relieve the lusts of thousands of men.”
“Ho! I simply cannot wait to witness the look upon his face when I tell this to him tomorrow. How exciting will it be!” Wuzhi’s expressionless face lit up with a brilliant smile for the first time in several weeks.
Meanwhile, having stood witness to his casual confession, Collette’s body froze while her face went stark white. She was beyond shocked and could hardly believe a word that was entering her ears.
What’s more was that she found it even harder to believe that such venomous words were coming out of the mouth of Wuzhi, the very youth towards whom she still felt some degree of fond affection!
“You--!” Collette intoned. “You are a monster! A DEMON!!”
Unable to contain her emotions, Collette drew her sword from the scabbard by her waist and stabbed its sharp tip towards Wuzhi’s head. The latter, seemingly having already expected such a reaction, responded simply.
“[Memories Akin to Pictures]” As he spoke those words, Wuzhi’s argent eyes suddenly lit up like orbs and an invisible, mystical energy penetrated Collete’s forehead causing her body to freeze in its actions and her eyes to turn dull.
A few moments passed before she suddenly jerked awkwardly. She then took a step backwards, sheathed her sword and gazed at Wuzhi emptily.
Without missing a beat, Wuzhi asked, “Are you still willing to murder?”
Intelligence returned to Collette’s eyes as she excitedly replied full of spirit. “I am willing!”