Imprisonment

Sprinting like a wild animal, the guards could barely react before she reached Yan Lang, grabbing onto his neck. Her long nails dug into his flesh and fresh blood began to drip from the wounds, flowing down her hands.

"Agh! Urgh! Let me go!"

Yan Lang grabbed her and tried to pull her away but the nails just dug deeper. He couldn't look away from her eyes, filled with bloodthirst.

"G-guards! Get this bitch off me!"

He shouted out as the fear began to sink deeper into him. The guards were stunned, not expecting such a thing to happen. Guard Xing was the first to break out of his stunned state, quickly moving forward. He grabbed her hand and yanked her away before pushing her to the ground and subduing the woman. Even then, her eyes glared hatefully at Yan Lang.

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you..."

She continued to mutter these three words at him. The city lord's son couldn't help but look at her. The fear was still there, all of the drunkenness was gone as he sobered up.

"Tak- take her away. We'll execute her for attacking a noble."

His voice shuddered as he spoke, no longer as loud or arrogant as before.

"Understood, young master!"

Guard Xing handed her off to the other guards, instructing them to bring her dead family along. He then looked at Yan Lang, whose face had grown white with fear. His lip was trembling as were his hands.

"Young master?", he looked at him with slight concern.

"Huh, wha-?"

As if waking from his stupor, Yan Lang looked at the guard blankly.

"Please come with me, I must bring you back home, young master. The lord requests it."

The guard lowered his head and pointed down the road.

"Oh, yes, home... that sounds like a good idea at the moment."

His voice came out weakly as he looked around dazed. It wasn't until Guard Xing pulled him along that Yan Lang started to follow. Even then, this young master was a bit slow to do so.

On the other hand, the woman and her family were dragged away by the guards. They were brought into a tall gray building and thrown into a cell where the guards left them

They looked at her with slight fear.

The woman's eyes were crazed and her mouth never stopped moving.

"Let's get out of here quickly. Any longer and it feels as if she's going to curse us all", one of them said.

The others readily agreed, swiftly leaving and going back to their posts. None of them were willing to linger here for even a second.

And the woman never stopped muttering under her breath. She looked off to the side, staring at the bars of her cell blankly.

"I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you..."

It was like this all through the night, an unearthly voice echoing through the hail, wishing nothing but death. As the moon rose to its highest point, the woman's killing intent just grew and grew, festering inside of her. She no longer spared even a glance towards her dead family.

She only wished for vengeance.

It wasn't long before someone took notice of this.

"Hm? What's this? Such a dangerous aura... How peculiar."

Emerging from the shadows, a figure entered the prison, sensing the woman's presence.

"Wha- who?"

All of the guards stationed within the prison came across this sudden visitor but none of them were quick enough to alert the others.

"Agh!"

"Eugh!"

Even then, the cries of pain were enough to sow chaos through the prison.

"We have an intruder! Inform the gua-"

"Agh damn! Don't just inform the guards! Send for the City Lord!"

"No, just get someone! Quickly!"

The guards fell quickly, most were dead while the rest were barely alive. Their deaths were both clean but gruesome, their limbs were cut off in one go. It was like cutting a tree down with one swing, flesh and bone were split just like that.

With all that commotion, the prisoners took notice.

"What's going on? Did someone break into the prison?"

All of them went towards the jail door, trying their best to squeeze their face forward and see what was happening.

All but one, the woman.

She paid no attention to it, she just kept muttering under her breath.

"Oooh, I see now."

The voice echoed as this mysterious figure stood before her, shrouded in darkness. But it slowly dissipated under the shreds of moonlight coming through the small prison window. And when the last tendrils of darkness vanished, the woman stopped her muttering and looked up, staring at a strange-looking person.

They didn't quite resemble a man or a woman, perhaps a combination of both, an effeminate man or masculine woman.

Their eyes were small and sharp, but they had no eyebrows and their hair was tied into a bun. There was a curious smile formed by a pair of thin lips.

Tall but skinny, slightly muscular too. Their clothing was different, a tight, sleeveless, black shirt that was cut short, revealing their stomach. The pants they wore were baggy and white, coupled with boots. Furthermore, they wore elbow sleeves and a light robe over their outfit.

It was strange to see.

"How rare to see someone like you, so old but still full of potential."

This strange person knelt down, looking into the woman's eyes.

"So full of despair and hatred. And I can see the reason for that", they said, taking notice of the corpses by her side.

But the woman was quiet, looking at this person quietly.

"Ah, I can see it", they exclaimed excitedly, "The flames in your eyes! The burning hatred! The desire for revenge!"

They then stood up, smiling.

"I am Shen Yuan, and I'm going to ask you a question now. Do you want revenge?" they asked.

The woman merely looked at them, not responding or even reacting at this moment. But Shen Yuan merely shrugged and asked again.

"It's a simple question, do you want revenge? Do you want to kill those that have wronged you?"

The woman didn't move but Shen Yuan merely smiled, moving closer to the jail door. Resting on hand on it, they ripped it out and walked in, staring even closer into her eyes.

"Hah, you might not show it but I see it in your eyes. The fire grows with every mention of revenge, vengeance, and retribution. Give me your name."

As Shen Yuan looked, their eyes were wide with interest as if a cat found a new toy.

Surprisingly enough, the woman answered the question.

"Xue Lan."

Her voice came out quietly, almost trembling but it was loud enough for Shen Yuan to hear. And doing so put a wide smile on their face.

"Good, good! Xue Lan is a good name! And now, I will give you a choice. You can either stay here and rot in a prison, probably be used by that useless son of a city lord or... you can uncover the remains of your family and eat their hearts."

This suggestion caused Xue Lan to look at this strange figure in shock but interest.

"You see, you are simply too old to start practicing martial arts. By the looks of it, your talent in cultivation is less than mediocre. However, that does not mean that you cannot gain strength, at least not through normal means", Shen Yuan said.

The woman just stared at him.

"You- are you a demonic cultivator?!" she asked aloud.

The prison suddenly erupted in gasps of fear as the other prisoners immediately backed away from the doors.

"Wha- a demonic cultivator?"

"Huh?! Why is such evil here?!"

"Look girl, I know that you have gone through harsh trials but believe me when I tell you, don't accept the hand of a demonic cultivator!"

They were shocked and afraid but gave words of caution to Xue Lan.

"Oh shut it, you will all die a pathetic death anyways! Do you want it to happen so quickly?" Shen Yuan's voice came out sharply as their eyes turned to look at the other prisoners.

All of them turned quiet but nothing could disguise the fear in their eyes. All of them merely looked at Xue Lan, waiting to see what her choice was. The demonic cultivator could see the hesitation in her eyes.

"I understand that for you to do such a thing is incredibly difficult for you. But see it this way, consume their hearts and they will be a part of you forever. With the strength you gain from them, you will bring justice to your family. Is that not the best course of action for you? Would your family want you to waste away like this?" they said.

Xue Lan looked at the straw mat covering her dead family and pulled it away. Without it, the stench moved uncontrolled and the sound of gagging echoed throughout the prison.

She looked at them and then at Shen Yuan, whose eyes seemed to urge her to do it.

And she did.