Blood Debt Paid in Blood

I deliberately dragged out my words, "A bastard child?"

"You..." Xu Mu's gaze shifted from shock to ruthlessness. "In that case, I can no longer keep you around, Guan Cheng. In your next life, remember to bury these things deep in your heart; perhaps you will live a few days longer."

With that, he swung his blade toward me.

I quickly pulled out a cloth bag and threw it at him.

Inside the bag was quicklime I had prepared beforehand. Having long known his wild ambitions, how could I not be guarded? Before Xu Mu's blade could even touch me, he clutched his face, shrieked in agony, and fell flat onto the ground.

Perhaps out of a guilty conscience, Xu Mu had arranged to meet me in an extremely secluded garden in the southwest of the manor. I looked around; there was no one.

I picked up Xu Mu's blade and lightly stroked his face. "Xu Mu, remember in your next life to keep your thoughts hidden; only then can you hope to live a few days longer."

With that, I raised the blade high and swung it down forcefully onto Xu Mu's limbs. His bloodcurdling screams rang out as flesh and blood splattered.

I tossed the blade into the pool of blood. Xu Mu writhed in agony, whimpering, "No, you are not... Guan Cheng..."

I squatted down, leaning close to his ear. "It is indeed me. I have come to make you pay your blood debt, Xu Mu. You should feel fortunate. For what you owed me, I should have gouged out your eyes and sliced off your nose."

Resting my chin in my hand, I said, "Xu Mu, this is the place you chose. Stay here peacefully."

As I stood up, I suddenly heard a sound on the wall.

Looking up, a young woman was sprawled upon it.

Because all the adult men of the Su family had been taken away, leaving only women, children, and the elderly in the manor, the soldiers who surrounded us last night had already withdrawn. I immediately ran out, originally intending to stop her from saying things she shouldn't. But as soon as I stepped out, a carriage adorned with twelve phoenix feathers stopped before me. I fell silent for a moment, then knelt. "Greetings, Princess."

"Go back. I heard everything. He wanted to force you to repay a favor. I only followed because I saw him carrying a long blade. Your self-defense awareness is very good," she said with a hint of comfort in her voice.

The Princess turned to leave, but I crawled forward two steps on my knees, calling out to her, "Princess, please allow me to say a few words?"

Meeting Princess Weiyang was truly an accident.

If not for this, I probably would have gone to Xiangshan Temple in three days. In my past life, I learned from the prison guard that the Emperor had visited a Daoist temple and encountered assassins. He was enraged, and even the interrogation of the Su family was delayed.