Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

It has to be said that Mu An was amazed by the Dark Feather Guards' abilities, and couldn't help but sigh that some industries are not so easy to switch to.

Torture is also a technique.

It's truly impressive that someone could be tortured like that and still not die.

If it were him, this bandit leader would probably be dead six or seven times over by now.

After the half-dead bandit leader regained the right to speak, he spat out all sorts of information like beans.

They talked until their lips were sore, afraid of speaking too slowly.

Carrying the half-dead bandit leader, Mu An walked slowly through the corpses scattered on the ground to his dwelling.

The detached wooden house has two floors and a courtyard, and at a glance, it seems to have about a dozen rooms.

Several women dressed in different ways were hiding in a corner of the room. There were six of them in total. Three were crying, two were scared, and one showed no emotion whatsoever.

The three crying people huddled together, seemingly seeking warmth in each other's company. The two frightened people curled up, as if they felt safer that way.

The only woman who didn't show much emotion looked towards the inner room, neither crying nor making a fuss, just sitting there in a daze.

When Mu An dragged the bandit leader into the house, all six of them looked up and saw clearly the person he was carrying.

To be honest, Mu An didn't have high expectations, but he still came and kicked away a woman who was flailing her arms and legs and lunging at him with bloodshot eyes.

The movements were swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

Not everyone deserves his help, even if they were victims at the beginning.

Amidst the fearful or deathly gazes of the remaining five, Mu An threw the bandit leader to the ground, then solemnly set up a pot beside him, threw firewood into the fire, and boiled the water in the pot.

While the pot was boiling, he also instructed the Dark Feather Guards to place the torture instruments next to the bandit leader and to take the woman who had fallen to the ground and was faking an injury out of the house.

After doing all this, he slightly raised his eyes, looked at the five women remaining in the corner, and asked in an extremely gentle tone:

"Anyone seeking revenge?"

What should have been a scene of catharsis and revenge was instead filled with a long, deathly silence.

Among the women huddled in the corner, two others glared at Mu An with a mixture of fear and resentment.

Of the remaining three, two were huddled up, while the other stared intently at the bandit leader on the ground, his rough hands bulging with veins, and his whole body trembling.

But she didn't move; instead, she tightened the tattered cloth covering her body, and her whole body convulsed.

Looking at this scene, Mu An was not confused. Too much time had passed, and people were no longer people.

Once the fire in your heart has been extinguished, reigniting it is never an easy task.

Perhaps they are still victims, or perhaps they have long since become one of the bandits themselves.

Even if they haven't done anything wrong, they may have gotten used to this kind of life.

In the long period of despair, they constantly glorify the lives of evil people and sin, regarding it as the only remaining belief in life.

This is not surprising; it's simply a human survival instinct.

People always need a hope to live on. Different environments give rise to different hopes. Denying oneself and denying everything is never an easy thing.

Mu An could not provide answers regarding the reasons, right and wrong, involved.

He didn't move for a while before speaking again.

"Is someone seeking revenge?"

Time passed slowly, and the house became increasingly quiet, even the sound of the wind outside became clearly audible.

Then, at a certain moment, a piercing scream rang out from the woman on the ground. The woman, who had been trembling uncontrollably, rushed over like a madwoman and started grabbing, punching, and kicking the bandit leader.

Because she was too thin, her fists didn't have much strength. After just a few punches, they were covered in blood, and even the white bones were exposed.

But she seemed not to feel anything, she just vented her anger like a madwoman, not even noticing the torture instruments on the ground.

Or perhaps she noticed, but at this moment, only the most primal instincts of life, only unrestrained catharsis, only extreme pain could give her some relief.

Even after she was completely exhausted and collapsed to the ground, she still used her missing teeth to tear at her enemy on the ground.

Throughout the entire process, Mu An did not utter a single word, but simply watched everything quietly.

Only when the woman, collapsed on the ground, raised her head, gasping for breath, and stared at him with her bloodshot eyes, did he finally speak and ask, "What can I do for you?"

The woman didn't speak, but raised her blood-stained hand, pointed to the bandit leader on the ground, and then to the oil cauldron beside her.

"Throw him into the oil?" Mu An asked.

The woman simply shook her head.

She wiped away her tears forcefully, pointed at the bandit leader, then at the oil cauldron, and finally at the bandit leader's mouth.

As if afraid that Mu An wouldn't understand, she did it twice in a row, and then pointed to herself with her finger.

Mute?

Mu An paused for a moment, then handed a sharp knife to the woman and turned away, no longer looking at her.

This is a mother's revenge; he doesn't need to do anything more.

The screams lasted for a full half hour, but after the screams stopped, the house remained silent for another half hour.

Mu An didn't go inside to see what was happening; he simply stood outside waiting and taking care of the aftermath of the battle.

Intelligence, spoils of war, arranging for people to gather herbs in the mountains, and the mound of corpses ordered by Princess Yongning all required his attention.

There's still plenty of time. He's done what he needed to do, and the rest can only be left to others.

A full hour passed before the woman finally emerged from the house, covered in blood and dressed in rags.

Step by step, the woman staggered to Mu An's side, then suddenly knelt on the ground, holding a blood-stained knife in her hands.

Mu An didn't help her up, but asked softly.

Do you still have family?

The woman lowered her head slightly. She did not answer Mu An's question. She just knelt there, holding the small knife in her hands, without moving.

A Dark Feather Guard with a silver token emerged from the room, glanced at the woman kneeling on the ground, walked to Mu An's side, and whispered to Mu An while bending down slightly.

"Sir, in the room just now..."

Mu An's pupils contracted, and he gave the woman on the ground a deep look before walking straight into the house.

He didn't look at the remaining four women, nor at the beasts in the oil fryer, but went straight to the inner room.

On a small bed only a meter wide, a child of about three or four years old had her throat slit. Her little face was tightly wrinkled, but it did not look ferocious.

The knife wound was deep, the blow was heavy, there were no extra wounds, a single cut to the throat, and he died very quickly.

Beside the small bed, there was a plate of red fruit, some of which had been half-eaten.

A small rabbit made of coarse cloth was placed next to the child's pillow.

Two small, drooping hands rested on the little rabbit, which was stained with blood, and remained motionless.