Late at night.

Liu Family Vineyard.

The vineyard was in shambles. Tables and chairs were overturned, and shards of wine jars littered the floor.

Shopkeeper Liu sat dazedly on the floor, a fresh bruise from a kick darkening his face. His eyes were hollow with despair.

CREAK—the shop door was pushed open.

When Shopkeeper Liu saw his daughter being brought back by Chen Li, he was first overcome with a flash of ecstasy. He scrambled toward her. "Yun’Er! My Yun’Er!"

He hugged his daughter tightly, tears streaming down his aged face. "Are you all right? Are you okay? I’m useless. I couldn’t protect you."

Liu Yun’s eyes were red and brimming with tears as she explained, "Father, I’m fine. This benefactor saved me."

Shopkeeper Liu looked toward the doorway. The street was empty. He asked urgently, "Then... what about the men from the San Dao Bang?"

Liu Yun glanced at the doorway, only to see that Chen Li had vanished. She lowered her voice. "The benefactor killed them all."

"What?"

The ecstasy on Shopkeeper Liu’s face receded like a tide, replaced by a bone-deep fear that instantly crushed the joy of their reunion. "Yun’Er, you... what did you say?"

"What is it?" Liu Yun asked, confused.

Shopkeeper Liu’s expression changed drastically. He snapped, "Did you just say the men from the San Dao Bang were killed?!"

Liu Yun nodded.

"We’re finished! We’re finished!"

The color drained from Shopkeeper Liu’s face. He began to pace frantically, like an ant on a hot pan. "By coming back, you’ve doomed our entire family!"

"Father? What are you talking about?"

Liu Yun swayed, barely able to stay on her feet as she stared at her father in disbelief.

Shopkeeper Liu avoided his daughter’s gaze, pacing relentlessly around the main hall. "This is a disaster! A disaster! Men from the San Dao Bang are dead; they’ll definitely investigate. You were abducted by them, and now you’re back, but they’re dead...

How could those jackals from the San Dao Bang possibly let us go? If they can’t find the killer, they’ll take their anger out on our whole family! What are we going to do? Your mother, your two older brothers, and your sisters-in-law... none of you will escape their cruel grasp."

Liu Yun stared blankly at her father, as if seeing him for the first time. Tears rolled down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string, but she bit her lip so hard she didn’t make a sound.

As if he had made up his mind, Shopkeeper Liu suddenly rushed into the back courtyard.

Moments later, he returned with a bundle and thrust it into the young woman’s hands. "Yun’Er, you have to leave. Go now, hurry! Go anywhere you want, just leave the city first thing in the morning. And whatever you do, don’t go near Mirror Mountain."

Liu Yun’s frail body trembled slightly in the cold night. The look in her eyes transformed from initial shock and pain into a kind of numb despair.

"Just... go!"

Shopkeeper Liu looked both relieved and deeply ashamed. He turned his head away and shouted, his shoulders heaving violently.

Liu Yun didn’t know how she managed to walk out of the vineyard, nor did she know where to go. She simply staggered forward, alone on the long, pitch-black street.

"Sigh..."

A sigh echoed in the night.

Liu Yun turned her head and saw a figure that had appeared behind her at some point.

"Benefactor?"

Liu Yun let out a wretched laugh as tears trickled down like pearls.

Chen Li was silent for a moment, his voice tinged with resignation. "Come with me."

’In this world, it’s hard to be a good person!’

The Court’s laws might be strict, but their enforcement by local Government Offices largely followed a simple principle: if the people don’t report it, the officials won’t investigate. If the people don’t push for it, the officials won’t know.

’It’s a bit like ancient times in my past life.’

Chen Li recalled reading a classic novel once. When a crime was committed, as long as the phrase "but there was no aggrieved party" was included, the sentence would be light, if not a full acquittal.

These local thugs and ruffians were a gang, their crimes numerous. But no one dared to report them. You might be able to report one of them, but you couldn’t report ten, or a hundred.

Even if you managed to report one or two to the authorities and get them locked up, you’d face retaliation from the rest of the gang.

Over time, no one dared to report them to the authorities anymore. Without an aggrieved party, these thugs acted with ever-increasing impunity.

It was a vicious cycle.

In contrast, in the case of a rural clan, if someone like Wang Shizhang’s entire family was massacred, the clan would report it to the authorities on their behalf.

Even if the investigation ultimately led nowhere, another crime would be added to the Unpredictable Three Fierce’s record at the Government Office.

As long as the killers didn’t wipe everyone out and an aggrieved party remained, the Government Office had to register the case and pursue it for years to come.

Liu Yun’s body shuddered. She lifted her tear-streaked face to look at Chen Li.

Her lips moved, but she said nothing in the end. Wiping away her tears, she followed him.

Chen Li brought Liu Yun to an inn. He prepared some fresh water and dry rations for her and instructed, "Stay here. Don’t go outside. Wait for me to return."

Hugging her frail body, Liu Yun nodded. Her eyes were still filled with terror, but now held a flicker of reliance on and trust in Chen Li.

After seeing Liu Yun settled, Chen Li’s figure once again melted into the night.

...

The night was as black as ink.

Zishi Street, in the western corner of the county seat.

The main doors of a shop with a faded "Wang’s Cloth Workshop" sign were shut tight, but a faint, dusky-yellow halo of light seeped out from within.

Chen Li appeared silently in the alley behind the workshop. He scaled the back wall and slipped inside.

His Spiritual Sense spread out silently like quicksilver, perceiving every movement within the workshop.

The workshop was dimly lit. Tall shelves piled high with bolts of colored cloth created deep, shadowy areas—perfect hiding spots.

Chen Li slipped deep into the narrow gap between two tall shelves. He pressed himself flat, completely concealing his presence and melting into the darkness.

Not far ahead, a cloth curtain separated him from the workshop’s back room.

From within came the faint sounds of a woman’s suppressed sobs, an old woman’s low, coaxing voice, and a man’s coarse, slurred speech, thick with drunkenness and lecherous laughter.

"Madam Wang, this... this little lady you found this time is quite a tender thing... It’s just... her crying is ruining the mood..."

Tu Sandao’s coarse voice was accompanied by the woman’s suppressed whimpers.

"Aiyo, my dear Master Tu!"

An old, oily voice chimed in, oozing with flattery. "It’s just her first time, she’s shy with new people. Once she gets used to it... if you just give her a little more of your... affection... I guarantee she won’t be like this next time. Definitely not."

"N-No... Next time... Next time, I want her husband to come too," Tu Sandao growled.

"Done, done. It’s just that cuckold will probably demand a king’s ransom."

"What? He wants money for it?"

"Aiyo, my lord, who do you think you are? Give him the courage of a hundred leopards and he still wouldn’t dare. Here, little lady, hurry and pour Master Tu some wine. Moisten his lordship’s throat."

Tu Sandao gave a smug grunt.

Time ticked by.

From the room came the intermittent sounds of teasing, coaxing words to drink, and the woman’s startled shrieks and sobs.

Chen Li remained hidden in the shadows, his patience that of a master hunter.

Finally, a chair scraped harshly against the floor. Tu Sandao mumbled, "Gotta... gotta piss... Madam Wang... I’m goin’... to the privy..."

"Oh, right, right! This way, Master Tu," Madam Wang quickly responded.

CREAK!

A small door was pushed open, and Tu Sandao staggered out, leaving the woman, her clothes slightly disheveled, to weep alone in the back room.

’My chance!’

Chen Li moved, slipping silently from his hiding place. He followed close behind, darting through the small door and into the back courtyard.

He saw Tu Sandao lurching toward a small door in the corner of the courtyard.

In the corner stood a simple thatched shack—the latrine.

Tu Sandao pushed the door open and went inside. He tried to pull it shut behind him, but he was so drunk that it was left ajar, leaving a narrow gap.

The sound of flowing water and his slurred humming soon came from within.

Chen Li’s heart was as calm as still water, but his killing intent surged to its peak.

The Inner Qi in his body ignited instantly.

Tu Sandao finished his business, shakily pulling up his trousers.

And then—

Chen Li moved.

The Iron Sword gripped in his palm let out an almost imperceptible hum.

He became a black bolt of lightning, tearing through the darkness.

BANG!

A single strike, long-prepared, condensing all his strength, speed, and True Intent, shot with unerring precision through the gap in the door.

"Who—?!"

In that instant, an unprecedented, fatal chill shot up Tu Sandao’s spine, piercing him to the marrow. The shock sobered him up in a heartbeat.