At the edge of a cliff, where the wind howled, a dilapidated thatched hut could be seen. Outside of the hut, in a pool of blood, laid an awfully disheveled and small human figure.
Pain!
Piercing pain tore through Wu Feng’s body, making her feel as though she was being hacked at by a myriad of knives, and she found it difficult to breathe.
Ascribed to her instincts as an assassin, her eyes shot open the instant she regained consciousness. Her hands pushed down against the ground, striving to turn her body over so she could jump back on her feet, but those actions only served to once again consume her body in pain.
By the time she realized she couldn’t move her hands nor feet, her slightly arched body had already fallen back into the pool of blood.
Her breathing quickened. Turning her head, she did a quick scan of her surroundings and came to the conclusion that she was located on a deserted cliffside. All around her were clusters of debris and weeds.
That confused her even more. Had she survived the lethal Poison Needle Bomb?
She began to rifle through her memories and paused when she recalled the betrayals of her two most trusted and loved confidants. In that memory was where she pierced her heart with a poisoned needle, activating the bomb within her body and thinking that if she had to die, she would drag that dog couple into the grave with her.
Suddenly, an outburst of prickling pain assaulted her mind. Foreign memory fragments swarmed in, causing her to break out in a cold sweat, continuing for a long time before ending and leaving Wu Feng dumbfounded.
Did she traverse?
Before she could fully absorb the absurdity of it all, a whip flew towards her. Accompanying it was an incisive voice; “Little slut, it looks like you’re pretty determined to keep this pathetic life of yours. My hands are already sore from hitting you, but you still have the strength to move? See if I don’t beat you to death!”
“Third Sister, be careful not to kill her. She scratched my face, so her face now belongs to me. I want to carve on her little cheeks, like we did earlier on her body, until her face resembles a hornet’s nest.” Another excited and insidious voice joined in.
“Wait!” Yet another voice, this one gentle, softly drifted over.
“Eldest Sister, why are you stopping us? This little slut dared to secretly seek out His Highness the Crown Prince. When we caught her, she actually bit Third Sister and scratched my face. Even her death wouldn’t be enough to pay this debt.” The owner of the insidious voice sounded unwilling, but she seemed fearful of the gentle-voiced woman.
“Heheh…” A melodious laugh sounded from above Wu Feng’s head. “You’ve already slit the tendons of her hands and feet and sheared her body a hundred times with a knife. Third Sister also vented her spite with a hundred whip lashes, making it so that there is not one shred of presentable flesh on her body. Now, the only thing she has left is her little face.” Although the voice was tender and sweet, it was not difficult to perceive the disgust and mockery in it.
Cold murder rose in Wu Feng’s eyes. So her tendons were cut? No wonder she couldn’t move her hands or feet.
On another note, she found that voice quite familiar…
Beneath her disorderly hair, Wu Feng slowly raised her eyes.
The next moment, her entire body stiffened, and her eyes twinkled with a glint of ridicule before it was slowly eroded away by frost. She saw a woman who looked identical to San Feng1. Even their charm was synonymous.
At the San Feng lookalike’s words, the other two started to giggle as their moods eased. “Come, throw the Ninth Miss into the forest below the cliff. Let the beasts have her as nourishment; that’s her only worth now.”
A tender voice, paired with cold and vicious words.
Wu Feng didn’t miss a word of the trio’s conversation. In her mind, the memory of what had happened prior played.
That day, His Highness the Crown Prince spent the night at General Manor, intending to pick someone from the manor to join the ranks of his harem as an imperial concubine. The original body’s owner, who lived in the back mountains, had somehow appeared in the crown prince’s room.
Throughout that memory, there was no indication of the original body’s owner entering the crown prince’s room at all—clearly, she had been framed.
Afterward, she was captured by the Eldest Miss, Third Miss, and Sixth Miss and pulled to the cliffside, where she was then whipped and lacerated…
Ha… good, very good!
Wu Feng’s eyes gleamed coldly. On this day, she marked down everything that had been done to her. When her body was dragged unceremoniously through the debris as though she were little more than a sack, a slice of bloodied flesh landed on the clifftop floor. As her body fell through the air and pummeled down the cliff, her heart filled with the desire for slaughter.
Wait for her—her return would mark the end of their peaceful days.
…..
The mountain grounds were packed full with ancient and colossal woods and shrouded in what seemed like a millennium of darkness. A vast variety of magical beasts roamed the forest, causing it to emanate a malicious aura.
“Grrr…”
“Awooo…”
Tigers roared, wolves howled, and their cries resonated across the whole forest. The startled Wu Feng —no… she was Yun Wu now— recovered her consciousness. Once she discerned her situation, Yun Wu couldn’t help but feel her heart quiver. She arched her body and shuffled back to the cliff wall.
A beam of golden light flashed through her mind, immediately followed by a strange passage of information.
[Rank 2] Golden Tiger: Fire-attribute. Strong offense, unique defense, low agility. They are twice as large as normal tigers.
[Rank 1] Iron-Back Wolf: Water-attribute. Average offense, weak defense, exceptional agility. A pack attack can rival the power of a rank two magical beast.
Yun Wu’s situation did not permit her the time to contemplate why these pieces of information were in her mind. On her right-hand side stood a rank two Golden Tiger. It was baring its fangs ferociously at a pack of Iron-Back Wolves and growling in warning while its eyes stared at her greedily, as a predator would with prey.
On her left-hand side was a pack of Iron-Back Wolves. They were —quite defiantly— baring their fangs back at the rank two Golden Tiger while similarly keeping a close eye on her.