That night, the moon hung dim and cold, veiled by drifting clouds. Yuehua lay half-asleep when she heard something — the faint crunch of boots outside her room.
At first, she thought it was her father returning late… until she heard a muffled thud and a man's voice — harsh, angry, and laughing.
Her heartbeat quickened. Barefoot, she stepped out of her room, each footstep trembling.
And then she saw it.
The hallway was drenched in blood.
The air smelled of iron and smoke.
Her parents' and brother's bodies lay on the floor, their eyes empty, their necks slashed. Her brother's head had rolled across the wooden planks — and standing above it, his blade dripping red, was Jianhong.
He stabbed the lifeless body again, shouting through his madness,
"How dare you touch me, you filthy worm! How dare you defy me!"
Yuehua's breath caught in her throat. The world shattered into silence.
Her mind refused to accept what her eyes saw. This can't be real… it's just a nightmare, she told herself. But it wasn't.
Jianhong turned. When he saw her frozen there, his expression twisted into something monstrous.
"So, you're awake," he said with a smirk. "Don't worry. I was just cleaning the trash."
Yuehua didn't speak. Couldn't. Her soul felt hollow.
Then, without warning, Jianhong grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward the back room.
She screamed — "Help! Someone, please!" — but the guards only laughed.
Their laughter echoed like demons in the dark.
What happened next shattered what little remained of her soul.
He tore everything from her — her dignity, her hope, her light.
And when morning came, Jianhong left, leaving her there, broken, bruised, and alone on the cold floor.
Hours later, Yuehua forced herself to stand. Her legs shook, her voice gone.
With trembling hands, she dug three graves in the courtyard — one for her father, one for her mother, one for her brother.
She buried them herself, without tears left to shed.
Then she walked.
Through the ruins of her home, through the silent forest, through the endless road.
Days passed. Her feet bled. Her eyes were empty.
At last, she collapsed beneath a dead tree.
Looking at the sky, she screamed — "Why?! What did my family do wrong?!"
No answer came. The heavens were silent.
She laughed — a hollow, broken sound — and whispered,
"Why did you give me this cursed face?"
Then she took a blade and carved a scar across her own cheek, blood mixing with tears.
"If the gods won't punish them… then I will."
She lifted the blade to her throat, ready to end her pain.
But before she could, a calm voice came from behind her.
"There are no gods in this world."
Yuehua turned. A figure stood in the mist, cloaked and faceless.
"In this world," he said, "you are the god of your own fate.
Take control. Forge your destiny.
Give them a punishment worse than death."
His words burned in her mind. A god of my own fate… she whispered.
Her trembling hand lowered the blade.
Her eyes, once filled with light, now burned with vengeance.
She reached out and grasped the stranger's hand.
"Revenge," she said — her voice cold and certain.
And that was the night Yuehua died…
…and something else was born in her place.
Then, in the present time — the City Lord froze. His eyes widened the moment he saw her.
That face… he could never forget it, not even after ten long years.
A chill ran down his spine as memories of that day returned — the humiliation, the anger, the foolish act he had done in his arrogance. He had even sent men after her, only to learn she'd vanished without a trace.
But now… she stood before him again.
Yuehua.
Her steps echoed across the hall as she approached, calm yet terrifying. The air around her pulsed with restrained fury.
"I waited ten years for this day," she said coldly, her eyes burning with vengeance. "City Lord… you have no idea what's about to happen."
The City Lord's knees trembled. The past he'd buried was finally here to destroy him.
She looked at her subordinate and spoke with ice in her voice.
"Take him."
They dragged the City Lord from his knees and hauled him to a place prepared for the show — not to kill him, but to let him live through every hour of the punishment he'd earned. He was made to beg for mercy, to plead for his children's lives, and every plea fell on deaf ears. Around him they staged the consequences of his cruelty: the destruction of his city.
Yuehua torcher was just getting started city lord's daughter was now going to be a play thing for her subordinate until she broke and His son will be kept alive — forced into servitude, used whenever the Bloods need it. He will become a living reservoir for their rituals.
As dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight painted the sky, Yuehua stood atop the city wall, gazing down at the ruins below — the city that had once been her home.
Once, laughter filled these streets. Once, her family lived here in peace.
Now only silence remained — a metallic tang of blood in the air, and wherever you turned there was another dead body.
Shen Yue approached quietly, his footsteps echoing on the stone.
He looked at the fallen city, then at Yuehua.
"From this day on," he said, "the world will remember the name of blood."
Yuehua's lips curved into a faint smile. The morning wind carried her whisper as she answered,
"No, Shen Yue… this is just the beginning — the beginning of the end."