Killing Monks

Deep within the heavily guarded Lu mansion, Tang Shuangshuang finally met her parents.

It was a windowless side room with bare walls and only two straw mats on the floor.

Mr. Tang and his wife lay side by side, their eyes closed, their faces pale and bluish-white in the dim candlelight.

However, there was still a slight rise and fall in his chest, and his breathing was deep and even.

"This is..." Tang Shuangshuang's heart tightened, and she squatted down to check her parents' pulse.

"It's 'Zinnia Flower'."

A frail yet sharp voice came from beside her.

The speaker was an elderly woman in her fifties or sixties, with her hair neatly combed, dressed in a dark brown cloth robe, and with sharp eyes like an eagle.

She was Lu Mei, the head maid of the Lu family's inner courtyard, who had been in charge of looking after Tang Shuangshuang these past few days.

"After sleeping for a hundred days, your vital energy gradually depleted, and you finally breathed your last in your dreams," Granny Yan said calmly. "It's already a mercy from the head of the family that you weren't killed on the spot."

"You—!" Tang Shuangshuang suddenly looked up, her eyes instantly reddening.

She still can't understand how things turned out this way.

He simply invited Lu Fei to his home for a meal, wanting his parents to see that the friends he made in the martial arts world were not bad people.

How could it be that in the blink of an eye, her parents were kidnapped, she was trapped in this dark and secluded mansion, and Lu Fei... Lu Fei's whereabouts were unknown, and his fate was uncertain.

It was all because she invited Lu Fei.

Everything happened because the Lu family came knocking on their door.

"Who let you get involved with Lu Fei?" Granny Yan looked down at her expressionlessly, her tone completely calm. "Now that you've finished reading, it's time to go back."

It turns out that everything was because of himself.

Tang Shuangshuang wanted to touch her parents' hands again, but Granny Yan had already reached out and grabbed her shoulders.

Those hands were very strong, and they pulled her up without giving her a chance to resist.

"Walk."

Back in that small, simply furnished side room in the courtyard, the door clicked shut behind me.

Tang Shuangshuang leaned against the cold door panel and slowly slid down to sit on the ground.

The fear, grievances, and self-blame of the past few days surged up like a tide, choking me in my throat.

She wanted to shout, to curse, to desperately rush out!

But this is the Lu residence, a den of dragons and tigers that even many martial arts masters are wary of.

Tears rolled down silently, starting as just a few drops, but then they became unstoppable, soaking the front of her clothes.

She hugged her knees, buried her face in them, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

Just then, an extremely soft and cold voice drifted over from somewhere:

"It's only been a short while, and you're already crying and wailing."

Tang Shuangshuang froze.

"Cry today, cry tomorrow, will you cry Lu Chengyu to death?"

The voice didn't reveal any age, but it carried an indescribable weariness and sarcasm.

"Who?!" Tang Shuangshuang suddenly looked up and looked around.

The room was completely empty!

A bed, a table, a chair, and a few changes of clothes piled in the corner.

The candlelight flickered on the table, casting her shadow long and short.

nobody.

But the sound was so real, right here in the room.

A chill ran down her spine.

"come out!"

The only response she received was the rustling of the wind through the bare branches outside the window.

Time ticked by in the deathly silence.

Tang Shuangshuang maintained a vigilant posture, leaning against the wall, her eyes scanning every corner of the room without blinking.

The candle had burned halfway down, and wax dripped onto the table, forming a small puddle.

There was nothing there.

It was as if that cold, sarcastic remark from just now was truly her hallucination.

Her tense shoulders slowly relaxed. The Lu residence was gloomy and oppressive, and after many days, her mind was already overwhelmed.

Just as she relaxed her guard slightly, the voice rang out again.

"Do you know that Lu Chengyu is arranging your wedding, and he wants Lu Fei to marry you?"

"What?!"

Tang Shuangshuang trembled all over.

Marry Lu Fei?

She did indeed have feelings for Lu Fei.

That carefree and unrestrained young man in the martial arts world, whose smile carried a hint of roguishness, had once helped her when she was most confused, and had also shared drinks with her under the moon, discussing some unrelated anecdotes about the martial arts world.

But that was just friendship; she never thought about getting married, much less in this situation.

For a moment, the girl's mind raced, and her cheeks felt a little hot.

But the next second, a chill suddenly ran down my spine.

This is the Lu family residence.

Her parents are still lying in the dark room, being dragged to their deaths by "Hundred Days Fragrance".

Lu Fei himself was also imprisoned, and his fate was unknown.

A marriage?

"Heh...you figured it out too, didn't you?"

The voice chuckled softly, but there was no warmth in the laughter.

"Lu Chengyu is attempting to break through to the Heavenly Realm; he has been stuck at the peak of the Earthly Realm for a full ten years. Now he needs that black blade to help him break through, and that blade..."

The voice said coldly, "It requires the blood of a close relative to unleash its true power."

Blood of one's closest relatives.

Those four words were colder than ice, making her face turn pale.

She said, "He's going to kill Lu Fei?"

"good!"

Even a tiger won't eat its cubs.

"But the Lu family is more venomous than a tiger!"

"Lu Fei, where is Lu Fei?" Tang Shuangshuang asked in a panic.

She was genuinely worried about Lu Fei.

"I don't know about him either. But I do know that Lu Chengyu is going to hold a wedding for you two. When you do, you will be husband and wife, and Lu Chengyu's closest relatives."

For a father, his son and daughter-in-law are his closest relatives.

"So, I will die, and so will Lu Fei. My parents will die too!" Tang Shuangshuang's face was expressionless, only deathly pale.

"good!"

"Lu Fei and I must die."

"good!"

"We have no way to deal with Lu Chengyu."

"That's not necessarily true."

"uncertain?"

The voice said, "Lu Chengyu is the head of the Lu family and can use the Black Blade to break through to the Heavenly Realm."

"Lu Fei is the young master of the Lu family, and he can also use the black knife. He can use the black knife to kill Lu Chengyu."

Tang Shuangshuang's eyes lit up.

If she kills Lu Chengyu, she, Lu Fei, and her parents can survive.

"However, even if Lu Fei is a member of the Lu family, he will have to pay a price if he wants to use the Black Knife," the voice said again.

"What price?"

"Blood of one's closest relatives."

"His closest relative is Lu Chengyu," Tang Shuangshuang said, her face pale.

"Right now, his closest relative is Lu Chengyu, but once he gets married, it won't just be Lu Chengyu anymore."

"And me too," Tang Shuangshuang said.

"That's right, and so are you."

"If Lu Fei kills you with the Black Knife, he can then control the Black Knife and kill Lu Chengyu."

"So, my parents and Lu Fei can live."

"good!"

Tang Shuangshuang fell silent.

The mysterious man gave him a way to break the deadlock: to make her die.

"I'm going to die no matter what."

"good."

"Even if Lu Fei doesn't kill me, Lu Chengyu will kill me."

"good."

"I don't think I can survive." Tang Shuangshuang's face showed a sad expression.

The Tang family's troubles began because of her, and they will end because of her.

She wanted to keep her parents and Lu Fei alive!