The rain had not stopped.
Xie Estate, Tingtao Pavilion.
The candlelight in the study was dimmed by the heavy dampness in the air. Occasionally, a candle wick would pop, emitting a soft crackle.
Xie An sat behind a large red sandalwood desk. He held a Yunzi chess piece between his fingers, hovering it over the Go board, hesitating to make his move.
He wore a loose white silk inner robe, his hair held up simply with a wooden hairpin. His well-maintained face showed few traces of time, save for a few fine lines around his eyes that hid his deep shrewdness.
It was noisy outside.
Even through several courtyards and the pouring rain, the sounds of slaughter coming from the direction of the Qinhuai River could still be faintly heard.
The sharp clash of weapons and the agonized shrieks of the dying mixed into the wind and rain, making one's ears itch.
"Master."
The old butler, Xie Zhong, appeared silently at the door of the study, the lantern in his hand still dripping water.
"There is quite a commotion outside. Word is that the head of the Wang family is playing for keeps. He has sent out all his hidden death squads. He means to exterminate the Xu family line."
Xie An's fingers twitched slightly.
The black piece fell, making a sharp tapping sound.
"Wang Ruhai's vision is still too narrow."
Xie An's voice was light, tinged with weariness. "To kill a nouveau riche upstart from a merchant background, is there a need to make such a massive fuss? It is too unseemly."
In his eyes, there was no suspense to tonight's game.
The Xu family had money, and Xu Qinghuan had talent—she was even a bit uncanny.
But in the face of absolute violence, money was just waste paper, and talent was a joke.
The Wang family might be stupid, but the knives in their hands were fast.
"That girl from the Xu family, what a pity."
Xie An shook his head, seemingly genuinely regretful. "If she had been born into a noble family, even as a concubine's daughter, I could have guaranteed her a lifetime of wealth and rank just based on that Butterfly Lovers piece. It is just a shame... her fate is poor, insisting on clashing head-on with the Wang family."
He picked up another white piece, preparing to finish this endgame against himself.
To him, the Xu family was destined to be wiped out tonight. This was merely an insignificant event among the countless power shifts in Jiangning City over the past few centuries.
It was not even worth a second glance from him.
Thump, thump, thump.
A knock on the door sounded abruptly.
The sound was urgent, even carrying a trace of panic.
Xie An frowned slightly, displeased.
The rules of the Xie family were strict. Since when did the servants dare to pound on the door like this?
"Come in."
The door was pushed open.
A gust of cold wind, mixed with the metallic scent of rain and the smell of dirt, poured in. It made the candle on the desk flicker wildly, stretching and distorting Xie An's shadow.
The person who entered was not a servant.
It was a soaking wet man, his trouser legs covered in mud splatters.
He wore the gray cloth tunic of the Xu family, and there were even a few spots of unwashed blood on his clothes.
He did not kneel, nor did he bow.
He just strode right in, each step leaving a muddy footprint on the carpet.
Xie Zhong was about to reprimand him but was stopped by Xie An raising his hand.
Xie An looked at the man.
Someone from the Xu family?
They weren't all dead? He could actually make it here?
"Master Xie, my master asked me to deliver a return gift to you."
The man's voice was hoarse. He reached back and untied a long object wrapped in oilcloth from his back.
"My master said that the Wang family sent the Xu family a death trap. As a return gift, the Xu family has sent the Wang family a coffin."
Xie An's hand, holding the chess piece, paused.
A coffin?
For the Wang family?
Did this mean... the Wang family's death squad had been defeated?
How was that possible!
Those were the elites the Wang family had cultivated for twenty years, and they even had a few shadowy trump cards. How could they lose to a mere businessman like Xu Youde?
Before Xie An could recover his wits, the man pushed the bundle in his hand forward.
"As for this, my young miss gave special instructions long ago that it must be personally delivered into Master Xie's hands."
The man placed the bundle heavily on the large red sandalwood desk.
Water droplets slid down the oilcloth, dripping onto the unfinished Go board and blurring the deadlocked game.
"The miss said that she retrieved this for Master Xie from the backyard of Ciyun Nunnery."
Ciyun Nunnery.
The moment these words were spoken, Xie An's pupils shrank instantly.
In that instant, he felt as if his heart had been ruthlessly squeezed.
That was where A-Rou used to pray to Buddha.
Fifteen years ago, his first wife, Shen Rou, had gone to Ciyun Nunnery to burn incense and pray for blessings. As a result, she suffered a massive hemorrhage during childbirth and died there.
Because it was an unnatural death, the Wang family claimed they were afraid it would ruin the feng shui. They didn't even let him see her body and simply buried her hastily.
For so many years, that was the one thing in his heart that could not be touched.
What were the people of the Xu family doing at Ciyun Nunnery?
"The item has been delivered. Farewell."
The man did not linger. He turned and left, disappearing into the wind and rain.
The study returned to silence.
Only the object wrapped in oilcloth lay quietly on the desk, radiating a chilling aura.
Xie Zhong wanted to step forward and untie it, but Xie An waved him away.
"Get out, all of you."
Xie An's voice was steady, but if one listened closely, a hint of trembling could be heard at the end of his words.
The door closed.
Xie An stood up, his hand reaching stiffly toward the bundle.
He untied the first layer of oilcloth.
Beneath it was a thick layer of cotton cloth, soaked with water and heavy.
He unwrapped the cotton cloth.
Revealed beneath was a somewhat familiar red sandalwood box.
The craftsmanship of the box was not exquisite; it was even a bit rough. The corners were worn, and it gave off a stale, musty smell.
But Xie An recognized this box.
Fifteen years ago, on A-Rou's birthday, Wang Ruhai had sent this as a gift, claiming it was a rare item from the Western Regions, perfect for storing jewelry to keep out the damp.
Later... after A-Rou died, this box disappeared.
Why was it here?
Xie An's fingers touched the cold lid of the box, and his fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
Click.
The brass clasp was flicked open, and the lid was slowly lifted.
Xie An held his breath.
He looked down.
Just one glance.
He froze in place, his soul seemingly leaving his body in an instant.
Inside the box, there was no gold, silver, or jewelry.
There was only a neatly arranged pile of withered bones.
The bones had turned black, clearly having been there for many years.
Because the box was too small, the skeleton was incomplete. Only a skull and a few finger bones were tragically crammed together.
And resting atop that pale skull was half a piece of wood.
It was a rough piece of wood, looking as though it had been forcefully broken off from a table leg or a door threshold.
It was covered in dense, overlapping bite marks.
Some of the bite marks were so deep they nearly bit through the wood, and dried, blackened blood still seeped into some of the indentations.
How much pain must she have been in?
How desperate were her wails?
To have bitten a piece of hardwood into such a state?
And pasted on the inside of the lid was a piece of rice paper.
On the paper was a portrait.
The brushwork was a bit amateurish, but it was incredibly accurate.
It depicted a gaunt, heavily wrinkled woman.
She had no tongue; her mouth was just a black hole.
But right between her eyebrows was a bright red cinnabar mole.
The position of that mole, those eyes that conveyed endless sorrow even in a drawing...
Xie An was far too familiar with them.
That was A-Rou.
It was the A-Rou he saw every night in his dreams.
That was the first wife he had once sworn to protect for a lifetime!
Flutter.
A slip of paper fluttered down from behind the portrait, landing on the withered bones.
The handwriting was in wild cursive—it was the work of Xu Qinghuan.
The content was simple, yet every single word seared fiercely into Xie An's heart:
The backyard of Ciyun Nunnery, an underground stone chamber.
On the walls, the word 'Hate' was carved three thousand six hundred and fifty-two times.
The Wang family publicly claimed she died in childbirth, but in truth, she was imprisoned and tortured for fifteen years.
This broken wooden gag was found in her mouth.
Patriarch Xie, your dignity was maintained by the Wang family using the flesh and blood of your wife.
A deafening roar echoed in his mind!
Xie An's sanity completely snapped.
With trembling hands, he picked up the broken piece of wood.
His thumb brushed over the deep and shallow bite marks.
He could almost see how, in that pitch-black underground chamber, A'Rou had screamed in despair, how she had bitten down on this piece of wood in agonizing pain, forcefully enduring those three thousand six hundred days and nights.
Fifteen years!
A full fifteen years!
He had been right here in Jiangning City, less than ten miles away from her, calling her murderer his brother!
He had even married Wang Ruhai's illegitimate sister as his second wife!
He had even helped the Wang family cover up their misdeeds in the imperial court!
"Heh..."
A bizarre, strangled sound escaped Xie An's throat.
He thought of Wang Ruhai's fleshy face, and that look of pity Wang Ruhai wore every time A'Rou was mentioned.
It turned out to be mockery.
It was mocking him, Xie An, for being blind! For being a fool! An absolute, utter idiot!
"A'Rou..."
Xie An clenched the broken wooden gag tightly in his palm.
Wooden splinters pierced his skin, and blood flowed down through his fingers, dripping onto the blackened, withered bones.
Did it hurt?
Compared to the torment she suffered in hell, what was this little bit of pain?
He remembered a few days ago, when Xu Qinghuan asked him in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion:
"Patriarch Xie, do you believe in karmic retribution in this world?"
At the time, he only found it amusing.
Now, he understood.
Retribution had arrived.
But he did not believe in retribution dealt by the heavens.
He would deliver it himself.
Outside the window, a bolt of lightning tore through the night sky, its pale light illuminating the study.
Xie An raised his head.
That face, usually carrying a touch of refined elegance and profound depth, was now terrifyingly twisted.
His eyes were entirely bloodshot, yet a grotesque, eerie smile crept up the corners of his mouth.
He carefully gathered the withered bones and closed the purple sandalwood box once more.
Then, he pushed open the door of the study.
A violent storm instantly billowed into his sleeves.
Xie Zhong, waiting at the door, saw his master's appearance and was so frightened his legs gave out, almost dropping to his knees.
"Master..."
"Pass down my orders."
Xie An's voice was very soft, yet it carried a chill that could freeze a man's bone marrow.
"Release the forces we have been keeping hidden in the shadows."
Xie Zhong snapped his head up, his face full of horror: "Master! Those are meant for..."
That was the foundation the Xie family had accumulated over hundreds of years, their ultimate trump card meant to save their lives during a change of dynasties!
"Enter the city."
Xie An ignored the steward's terror. He looked in the direction of the Wang family's estate, letting the pouring rain wash over his face.
"Tonight, I want the Wang family..."
He paused, squeezing the words through his gritted teeth:
"...to not even have a single dog left alive."
"No matter who comes to plead for mercy, even if it is the Emperor of Heaven himself, chop them to pieces and feed them to the dogs!"
This night.
The rain in Jiangning City was destined to be unable to wash away the blood that would fill the streets.
The demon in the shrine had been unleashed.
Gripping its blade, it had come to claim lives.
