The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

As dusk settled in, it seeped into the lobby of the inn facing the street, chilling the corpses scattered on the floor.

Seven or eight corpses lay scattered on the blue brick ground, their necks all bent at an odd angle, clearly having had their neck bones broken by human hands.

Beside the counter, the shopkeeper's round, plump body leaned to one side, his eyes still wide open, but he was no longer breathing.

The entire inn was eerily quiet; even the wind outside the window seemed to have been deliberately silenced. Only at the square table in the center of the lobby sat a man who was at least 2.5 meters tall and had an incredibly robust build, eating heartily.

The sound of light footsteps moved from the direction of the kitchen. The waiter, carrying a tray, walked over with trembling legs. He dared not glance at the ground or look at the people at the table.

"Sir, sir...you ordered the roast duck..."

Yan Lie didn't respond. He reached out and grabbed the whole, glistening roast duck from the tray, then tore it apart with his mouth. The sound of the skin and meat separating was clearly audible.

In a few bites, the whole duck was devoured, leaving only a bare skeleton that he casually tossed on the ground.

Yan Lie wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, glanced at the waiter, and said in a rough, hoarse voice, "Bring five more roast ducks, a big bucket of fried rice, and two more jars of wine, since there's not enough."

"Yes, yes... I'll go prepare it right away!"

The waiter nodded tremblingly, then bowed and backed away. He turned around and practically ran back to the kitchen.

He wondered if this monstrous-looking man would try to dine and dash.

I don't have time to think about this?

It's a blessing to be alive.

"Ha, you useless coward."

Yan Lie chuckled, picked up the wine pot and poured himself a full bowl. Just as the wine reached his lips, the inn door creaked open.

The night wind, carrying the chill of the night dew, rushed in as a group of people filed in, all wrapped in black cloaks with their hoods pulled low, obscuring most of their faces.

After entering, they walked straight to Yan Lie's table without saying a word.

Yan Lie put down his wine bowl, a cold smile creeping onto his lips: "Who are you? Are you rushing here to die?"

The leader stopped, raised her hand and pulled off her hood, revealing the face of a woman in her thirties with sharp eyebrows and a straight nose, her eyes carrying a hint of arrogance from someone who had long held a high position.

She looked at Yan Lie, her tone calm and unwavering: "Yan Lie, the Mountain-Splitting Axe, I wish to make a deal with you."

"Not interested." Yan Lie didn't even lift his eyelids.

The woman was not annoyed by his words, but instead said, word by word, "What if we could help you find the auspicious white deer?"

The act of pouring the wine suddenly stopped.

Yan Lie suddenly looked up, his gaze as sharp as a knife fixed on the woman's face, filled with scrutiny and ruthlessness: "Do you really think you can find the auspicious white deer?"

The woman smiled slightly, her tone confident: "We have informants throughout the court and the marketplace of Bilin Kingdom, and our influence is deeply entrenched. It's several times faster than Lord Yan Lie searching aimlessly alone."

Yan Lie stared at her for a long while, then asked in a deep voice, "Who are you people?"

"You don't need to know that."

The woman slightly raised her chin: "Our request is simple: once you obtain the white deer, kill someone for us."

Before he could finish speaking, Yan Lie interrupted him directly, his tone domineering and brooking no argument: "If you want me to kill someone, fine, but you have to hand over Bai Lu's information to me first, then we can talk about anything else."

"You're too arrogant!"

A cloaked figure behind the woman finally couldn't hold back any longer. He stepped forward and shouted sternly, "My master is already doing you a favor by agreeing to cooperate with you. With your attitude, do you even deserve to talk about cooperation?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Lie slowly picked up the wine bowl, tilted his head back, and drank the entire bowl of strong liquor in one gulp.

The next instant, the sound of wind breaking suddenly arose!

No one saw how he made the move, but the rough porcelain wine bowl, carrying a sharp gust of wind, struck the speaker precisely on the forehead.

"Bang!"

"Uh..."

Porcelain shards shattered and flew everywhere. The man screamed, clutched his forehead, and staggered to the ground. Blood gushed out from between his fingers, instantly staining half of his face red.

The others were both shocked and furious, and they began to shout and curse.

"You vulgar scoundrel, how dare you harm our people!"

"You ignorant fool!"

One man drew his sword in a fit of rage, but as soon as he moved, his neck was suddenly tightened.

Yan Lie had instantly closed in on him, his five fingers like iron pincers, gripping his throat tightly.

Before the man could even utter a cry of surprise, Yan Lie lifted him off the ground with one hand, his feet dangling in the air as he kicked wildly.

"Click—"

A crisp sound of a neck bone breaking rang out.

The man's body stiffened abruptly, then slumped down limply, and fell silent.

Yan Lie casually threw the corpse on the ground, where it was piled up with the other corpses that were already in the inn.

He grinned menacingly. His already imposing 2.5-meter height was now fully unleashed, his murderous aura pressing down on the remaining men like a mountain, causing them to turn pale and involuntarily retreat.

"My rules are that simple."

Yan Lie swept his gaze across the crowd, his voice chillingly cold.

"If you want to cooperate, follow my rules. If you want me to kill someone, first produce information about the auspicious white deer. If you can't, then get lost."

The woman leading the group trembled slightly at the fingertips, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on her cheeks.

She had long heard that Yan Lie was one of the ten most notorious villains in the martial arts world, but she never expected him to be so arrogant and mad, killing without hesitation at the slightest disagreement.

Anger surged within her, but she ultimately dared not truly provoke the ferocious beast.

"it is good."

The woman took a deep breath, suppressing her surging emotions.

"We will come back to find you."

After saying that, she gestured to her men to carry up the wounded companion, without even glancing at the corpse on the ground, and quickly left the inn with her men.

They came in full force, but left in a rather disheveled state.

Yan Lie didn't take this group seriously at all. He casually sat back down at the table. Before long, the waiter came over nervously with a food tray. Five roast ducks were neatly arranged, a large bucket of fried rice was piled high, and there were two jars of aged liquor sealed with mud.

The waiter put down his things, lowered his head, and dared not breathe, quietly retreating to the side.

Yan Lie remained silent, focusing on eating and drinking. He devoured the food in no time, and the entire table was empty. He stood up, wiped his mouth, and strode out of the inn without mentioning a single penny.

... ... ...

The night is getting darker.

An inconspicuous black carriage sped along the official road, all the way into Jinhua City, the capital of the Bilin Kingdom, and finally stopped beside the side gate of the palace alley.

The woman who had led the way got off the carriage, straightened her clothes, and entered the palace through a side gate as if she knew the way well. She passed through several palace alleys and entered the bedroom of Princess Yuan Shuying.

Inside the hall, candlelight flickered, and Yuan Shuying, dressed in a plain palace gown, stood in front of the bookshelf, flipping through scrolls.

Her eyes were cool and aloof, her demeanor dignified and composed, and she exuded the pride of a royal lady.

"Your Highness."

The woman curtsied, her voice extremely low.

"Your subordinate reports."

"explain."

Yuan Shuying didn't turn around, her voice was indifferent.

The woman recounted everything that had happened at the inn, concluding with undisguised contempt and disgust: "That Yan Lie is a complete brute, arrogant and vicious, utterly lawless. He kills without a second thought. To cooperate with such a scoundrel is like asking a tiger for its skin. I urge Your Highness to reconsider."

Born into a noble family and having followed Yuan Shuying for many years, she looked down on those roughnecks and outlaws of the martial world, let alone a notorious outlaw like Yan Lie, whom she despised from the bottom of her heart.

Yuan Shuying finally turned around, her face expressionless: "Your identity hasn't been exposed, has it?"

"Your Highness, rest assured."

The woman lowered her head: "I did not mention the royal family at all during the entire conversation, so there is no way he could know our origins."

"That's good."

Yuan Shuying nodded slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips: "The more arrogant he is, the more useful he is."

She walked slowly to the table and tapped the surface lightly with her fingertips: "One of the ten most notorious villains in the martial arts world, Crack Mountain Axe, is a ruthless killer with a mysterious whereabouts. If we let him take care of Yuan Yao, even if Father and Mother search the entire city, they will never suspect me."

The woman knelt on the ground, her forehead almost touching the back of her hand. She dared not utter a single comment on the words about murdering her own sister, and simply listened in silence.

"Immediately dispatch all available personnel to search for the whereabouts of that auspicious white deer."

Yuan Shuying's voice turned colder, carrying an unquestionable command: "Find its trail as soon as possible. Only by holding onto this bargaining chip can we control that mad dog."

"Your subordinate obeys."

The woman bowed and withdrew, and the hall returned to silence.

Not long after, a maid's soft voice came from outside the palace: "Your Highness, the King requests your presence in the study."

Yuan Shuying composed herself, smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes, and stepped out of the palace, heading towards her father's study.

As soon as she entered, she saw King Bilin sitting behind the table at the head of the table, while Yuan Yao was nestled in the arms of a woman dressed in green palace attire beside the throne, chattering away with a charming and innocent expression.

The woman was graceful and gentle; she was none other than Queen Ning Shu of Bilin Kingdom, and the biological mother of Yuan Shuying and Yuan Yao.

"Mother, please promise me..." Yuan Yao hugged the Queen's arm and shook it gently, her voice soft and sweet, with a coquettish tone at the end.

Queen Ning Shu reached out and gently tapped her forehead with her finger, seemingly helpless, but her eyes were filled with unyielding affection: "You child, how old are you and you still act so spoiled."

As Yuan Shuying watched the scene of motherly love and filial piety, a complex and indiscernible emotion flashed across her eyes, disappearing in an instant.

She quickly composed herself, stepped forward, curtsied, and said respectfully, "Your subject greets Father and Mother."

"Shuying has arrived."

Prince Bilin raised his chin and pointed to a stack of memorials on the side table: "These are the memorials that have been sent up in the past few days. Go and deal with them first. I will come over to check them later. Be careful and don't make any mistakes."

After saying this, King Bilin stood up, and Queen Ningshu also stood up, holding Yuanyao's hand.

Before leaving, Queen Ning Shu glanced back at Yuan Shuying and said gently, "Shuying is always reliable in her work and will certainly not make any mistakes. Thank you for your hard work."

Yuan Yao stuck out her tongue at her and skipped along with the Queen as they walked out.

The three figures gradually disappeared outside the palace gate, leaving only Yuan Shuying in the imperial study.

She silently walked to the desk, sat down, picked up a wolf-hair brush, and dipped it in thick ink.

The brush tip hovered above the snow-white Xuan paper, hesitant to fall. Her fingers tightened their grip on the brush, her knuckles turning bluish-white. A deep, dark aura surged in her eyes, like a storm raging beneath a calm surface, yet she held it firmly, refusing to reveal even a trace of it...