The Cost of Power

Considering the state of the corpses, it wasn't difficult to reach for their hearts, especially with the help of Shen Yuan.

"Here, I believe something like this would do you quite nicely. It's unbefitting of me so you can have it."

They said, tossing something in front of her, it fell to the ground with a gentle ring, landing right in front of Xue Lan. They were nail guards that were black or almost obsidian in color. It was a pair, one for each hand and each finger was incredibly sharp. They weren't like gauntlets or armor, more so jewelry. No jewels decorated them but it was an intricate design as if threads of black metal were intertwined with one another

Staring at them, Xue Lan picked them up, inspecting them before putting them on,

"Mmm, they look like a much better for you than me."

Shen Yuan chuckled as they watched her reach for the heart of her dead family. You could hear the sound of flesh and bone giving way to her new weapons. She dug deeper into their chests before pulling out a bloody clump of flesh. There was no doubt that they were hearts, a small one and a large one. It was already beginning to rot, just barely starting to rot.

Xue Lan looked at them, holding both hearts in her bloodied hands. The smell was strong and pungent, almost intoxicating even.

"Just consume them and the rest will be handled."

Shen Yuan's eyes were unmoving, they just stared at her, waiting for it to happen. The woman couldn't even hear his words as she stared at the hearts. Suddenly, there were no other thoughts but one.

"I'm going to eat this, I'll be together with them, I'll get my revenge for what happened."

It was then that she knew, there was no turning back. Xue Lan opened her mouth and brought the hearts closer to her face. The scent grew stronger but she didn't care.

All that could be heard was the sound of flesh getting chewed up. The look on her face changed several times, disgust, blankness, and sadness. The metallic taste of blood mixed with the rotting smell of flesh made for a horrible meal. If that wasn't enough, the partially melting hearts weren't exactly a good sensation. Anyone would've gagged or thrown up but she kept on chewing, taking it one bite at a time.

Even then the other prisoners vomited on her behalf unable to bear the stench or the sight.

That is, except for Shen Yuan, who watched with excitement but they weren't looking at her directly. Instead, theirs were staring towards the growing aura emerging from her body.

"Yes, yes, yes! More nourishment for me!"

The thought came across their mind as they raised a hand and pointed a palm at Xue Lan. It shimmered as the growing dark aura coming from the woman began to move towards Shen Yuan. Touching their palm, it began to twist and turn, slowly getting absorbed by the demonic cultivator!

This was their objective from the beginning, not to help her but to use her.

"With this, I'll be able to reach the fourth stage! All of this resentment and darkness dwelling within her, all of it will be for me! Perfect, this is all too perfect for me! She'll be nothing but a shriveled corpse once I take everything from her. "

Not even someone like Shen Yuan could fully hide the greed in their thoughts but it was too late for anything to be done.

"Hm, this!?"

There was a change in their expression as the fake smile turned to a frown. Something was wrong.

"This energy... why is it like this?"

The hand that had been absorbing that energy began to blacken and shrivel up, losing vitality with each passing second.

"She's... this energy is trying to take over me?!" they said aloud.

Xue Lan just sat there without moving, the dark aura continued to grow and change, taking on a deep shade of crimson. It wasn't quite like fresh blood but older blood, darker and somewhat murky.

She was in a trance after consuming the hearts of her family. There was a smile on her face, a happy expression as visions came to her.

"Ah, my husband, my child, you've come to embrace me again. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just have to take care of a few things."

The sight of her was shocking, to say the least. The blood on her face coupled with a look of gleeful insanity gave off nothing but chills. Even more so to those that saw what happened. They were speechless and afraid.

Still in that trance, Xue Lan turned to look at the one who enabled her, the one who perhaps gave her a path to walk.

Shen Yuan looked back, even feeling a chill down their back.

"What kind of resentment is this? How can it be so dense and evil?!"

There was shock on their face, seeing the woman stand up, dirty and disgusting, walking up to them. They tried to pull their hand away but couldn't, even breaking the connection seemed impossible. But all was not lost for this demonic cultivator.

"Hmph, to think my own prey would corner me like this."

Raising the other hand, a blade emerged from the flesh of Shen Yuan's forearm, bloody but practically shining. Without any hesitation, the blade came down, slicing off the other hand just as Xue Lan went to embrace them. But all she caught was the hand and that soon shriveled up before turning to dust.

It was then that the demonic cultivator changed his mind.

"This... this is far too troublesome for me to deal with. I wasn't expecting her to go crazy like this and now I've lost my own hand", they muttered, looking down at the bleeding stump.

"Hm, there's plenty of them to cover my escape."

Looking around, Shen Yuan's eyes glanced at each of the prisoners, seeing them as nothing but scapegoats. But there wasn't enough time for the demonic cultivator to make an escape as Xue Lan was upon this one. leaping through the air like a crazed person. Rather than a gentle and caring face, it was twisted in anger and rage.

"How could you do this to them?! How could you do this to me?! I will avenge them and I will kill you!"

She was swift, moving to grab at Shen Yuan only to find nothing as the cultivator quickly retreated. Quickly running off, they grabbed the prisoners and guards, tossing them at her with no regard for their lives.

"Wait?! Ahhhh!"

"Please have mercy!"

It didn't matter who they were, Shen Yuan tossed them and Xue Lan killed them. As the bodies flew, she merely grabbed them by the neck. The nail guards dug deep into their flesh, letting the blood flow. But the red streams flowed right into her aura, devouring it hungrily.

Even with all this, the woman did not slow down at all. In fact, every kill just made her stronger and Shen Yuan quickly realized this.

"Damn it! To think it's come to this!"

Breaking into one of the cells, the demonic cultivator grabbed one of the prisoners and tossed them at her.

"Wait, please! Nooooo!"

They cried out as Xue Lan hugged them tightly. The nail guards dug into their flesh as their life force withered away under her grasp. At that moment, Shen Yuan struck out, forcing their sword through the back of the prisoner!

The woman suddenly froze, letting go of the corpse and looking down to see the sword in her stomach. Suddenly, the strength in her body had vanished as blood began to spill from her wound. Even more so as the sword was pulled out, the river of red flowed as she could barely utter a sound.

Xue Lan clutched her stomach, taking a few steps back before looking up at Shen Yuan, pointing at them.

"You... you... I'll kill you... I'll... kill... all... of... you..."

She could barely say her final words before dropping to the ground, dying in a pool of her own blood. Shen Yuan looked at her with a cold stare.

"Crazy bitch, if I had known that this would happen, I wouldn't have done this."

He walked up and stabbed her once more to vent his anger before turning around, looking at the terrified prisoners. But it wasn't just them as soldiers started to run in, filling the hallways and brandishing their weapons.

On top of that, someone else entered as well, dressed in his elegant robes.

"Who are you?! To dare make such trouble in my city?!" he screamed out.

It was none other than Lord Yan, whose face was red with anger. It was just one thing after another on this day. First, there was his son, and now this... the city lord only had so much patience.

But Shen Yuan just looked at them and sighed, scratching the back of their head.

"Hah, damn it, even more trouble."