Lin Dan originally wanted to wander around the city to gather some information, but the people seemed terrified of martial artists. As soon as they saw her approach, they quickly avoided her. She disliked bullying the weak with force and had no intention of grabbing a random citizen to interrogate. However, while she refrained, others seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. She watched as a few martial artists, dressed in black with flame patterns embroidered on their sleeves and collars, forcefully pushed open the door of a household, dragging out the elderly and children hiding inside.

“What crime have they committed?” Lin Dan walked over to inquire.

The leading person impatiently shoved her aside, cursing, “Get lost, mind your own business! Or else I’ll throw you with the sick people so you could play with them!”

Lin Dan stepped back and watched helplessly as they took the people away.

Bai Yan sighed. “Don’t look anymore. Let’s leave as well.”

Lin Dan glanced at him, then suddenly tapped her toes and disappeared. Bai Yan had anticipated this and immediately chased after her. The two quietly followed the group of martial artists to a towering city wall. At the top of the wall, there was a canopy woven from peacock feathers. Beneath it sat a pale, thin man, lazily surrounded by many beautiful women. Beside him stood a few monks in robes, hands clasped together while muttering continuously.

The man spat out a fruit pit and cursed, his expression one of impatience.

Lin Dan and Bai Yan knocked out two of the martial artists and changed into their flame-embroidered uniforms. As they approached the city wall, they overheard one of the monks saying, “Amitabha^[1]immeasurable light and immeasurable life; a kind of greeting and a form of well-wishing, Benefactor Yan, what you’re doing is against the way of heaven. It would be wise to turn back before it’s too late.”

The frail man sneered, “I won’t turn back. What can you do about it? Even the great Master Fa Zhao can’t do anything to me. Why should I fear hell or retribution after death? If karma truly existed, why would I still be living so freely? Clearly, everything you say is a lie, meant to deceive the ignorant masses!”

Master Fa Zhao? Lin Dan’s eyes darkened slightly. She had never expected the youngest monk to be none other than the third-ranked grandmaster on the Jianghu list. His high nose and broad eyebrows, combined with his star-like eyes and the vermilion mark on his forehead, made his already striking face appear even more radiant and pure. At that moment, he had his eyes half-closed, chanting sutras^[2]teachings of the Buddha with a look of helplessness.

Seeing him like this, the frail man grew more arrogant and continued, “You come here every year, aren’t you tired of it? Fine, fine, I’ll show some mercy. I’ll allow you to sit on the wall and chant sutras for these sick people.”

Unable to do anything, Fa Zhao could only sit atop the wall and began reciting the sutras. The monks he had brought along also set up a ritual space and started chanting with him.

With malicious intent, the frail man said, “It’s only been a few days but many of these sick people have already died. Bring more people to liven up the place!”

Several martial artists hurried to drag the elderly and children they had just captured up to the wall. Lin Dan reacted quickly, grabbing a young boy by his collar and blending into the group. Bai Yan sighed in resignation and followed her.

As they ascended the wall, the overwhelming stench of decay almost made the people faint. Below them lay a desolate, ruined district, where many people, their bodies rotting and limbs deformed, staggered about like lost souls. They had been infected with the plague and quarantined, and could only watch helplessly as they turned into nothing but decaying flesh.

Once the sick people died, their bodies would be burned and their homes destroyed, and in a few years, a new town would be built in the same place. Yet, the frail man found amusement in their hopeless struggle. He had isolated this place, creating a city within a city. As the plague victims neared death, he captured healthy people to throw in, treating it as entertainment by feeding them to the plague-ridden.

He gave them no clothes and no food and would just toss live creatures into the place, watching as the sick tore into them like ravenous beasts, devouring flesh and blood. Eventually, the plague victims began to cannibalize one another, which the man found even more thrilling. Every so often, he would throw more people down from the wall, delighting in watching them get torn apart by the sick.

He could have treated his people with kindness and eradicate the plague entirely, yet he turned the place into a plague city for his own twisted pleasure. Even the most depraved person in the world couldn’t compare to this!

Lin Dan tightened her grip on the boy’s collar, her gaze growing cold. The boy was so terrified that his face turned pale and he kept crying out for his parents.

Master Fa Zhao, who had come to Wen City every year to persuade the city lord, was witnessing him throw people into the pit for the first time. Unable to continue chanting, he slowly stood and said, “Benefactor Yan, you’re going too far.”

The frail man completely ignored him and reached out toward Lin Dan, saying, “Give me that little brat. The sick love tender meat the most.”

Lin Dan tightened her grip on the boy’s collar and did not move. Bai Yan transmitted his voice through a secret technique, “Lin Dan, don’t act rashly. This is the territory of Emperor Yan and that man is his only heir, Yan Zhaotian. If you kill him, Emperor Yan will never rest until you’re dead!”

People who had reached the grandmaster realm all had their own spheres of influence and they rarely interfered with each other. This was an unspoken rule. If two grandmasters had a conflict, it would inevitably lead to wars between two sects, or even multiple nations, affecting countless lives. Because of this, even though Master Fa Zhao disapproved of Yan Zhaotian’s actions, all he could do was offer advice, as he had no other way to deal with him.

Seeing that Lin Dan remained unmoved, Bai Yan transmitted his voice again, “Emperor Yan’s cultivation method is unique. And after reaching great success in cultivation, he can no longer have offspring. In other words, Yan Zhaotian is his only and final child, as precious to him as his own eyes. You had better think it through before you act. You are not alone, there’s the Eastern Sacred Sect connected to you.”

Lin Dan finally looked at him and replied with the same technique, “I have long since cut ties with the Eastern Sacred Sect. If they act in my name, they should be prepared to bear the consequences. That’s their choice and it has nothing to do with me. Is that monk here to persuade Yan Zhaotian? Look at him, chanting Amitabha all day— what good has it done?”

While the two of them spoke in secret, Yan Zhaotian had already grown impatient. He shouted angrily, “I told you to bring that little brat here! Didn’t you hear me?! Fine, I’ll throw you down there to keep him company!”

However, before he could finish speaking, Lin Dan had already picked up the boy and leaped forward. With one swift kick, she sent Yan Zhaotian tumbling off the city wall. The guards around him were all top-level experts and one of them was even a half-step grandmaster but none of them could catch a glimpse of Lin Dan’s movements. By the time they attempted to save Yan Zhaotian, Lin Dan had already unleashed a flurry of blade shadows, decapitating dozens of people in an instant. The half-step grandmaster barely managed to step forward before his head was separated from his body.

Lin Dan threw the boy to Bai Yan, then stood guard atop the city wall. Anyone who tried to go down to save Yan Zhaotian was met with her blade, and within moments, all the frail man’s attendants were slaughtered.

Due to his physical condition, the frail man had long been unable to practice martial arts, making his mind twisted. He enjoyed watching others struggle in despair. But now, it was he who was struggling for his life and he found no pleasure in it at all. As he dodged the plague-stricken patients lunging toward him, he shouted to the people on top of the wall, “Do you know who I am?! You’d better hurry up and save me, or my father will tear you all to pieces!”

Lin Dan stood at the top, her gaze indifferent as she watched him. Master Fa Zhao stepped forward, seemingly wanting to rescue the man, but Lin Dan pointed her blade at his chest, blocking his path. Violent energy crackled and swirled around the tip of her sword, tearing his robes apart before it even touched the blade, leaving Fa Zhao with a shocked expression. He glanced at Lin Dan, then at Bai Yan, whose true identity had been revealed, and said in a deep voice, “With the descent of the Asura, the whole world shall rise to condemn it!” It was clear that he was well aware of the horrifying events of the past and, like Bai Yan, had been warned by his sect.

Lin Dan remained calm. She merely cast a fleeting glance at Fa Zhao before lowering her head. In that brief moment, the frail man had already been caught by the plague-ridden patients and torn to pieces. He never imagined that karma would come so swiftly.

As Lin Dan looked at the plague victims, who had long since lost their humanity, she closed her eyes, then leaped down from the wall and killed them one by one. Blood splattered everywhere, staining the already dilapidated street with an even more hellish atmosphere.

Fa Zhao furrowed his long eyebrows and was about to fly down to stop the massacre, but Bai Yan blocked his way.

“Fa Zhao, you come to this plague city every year, but have you ever saved a single soul? Have you ever stopped that evil person? You chant ‘Amitabha’ all day long, but what good does it do in the face of worldly matters, morality, or the struggle between good and evil? Do you know that just days ago, she slaughtered the seven most wanted criminals, bringing a moment of peace to this chaotic world? You and I hold high positions and are supposed to shoulder great responsibilities, yet our actions don’t amount to even a fraction of hers. If we follow your methods, when will this plague city disappear? When will the souls of this city’s victims be redeemed? People have both good and evil in them, and even Buddha can be terrifying as the temple’s guardian deity.”

Bai Yan turned and pointed at Lin Dan’s blood-soaked figure. “To you, she’s a bloodthirsty demon. But to me, she’s a Buddha who redeems all beings. These plague victims were raised by Yan Zhaotian for over a decade. What was once a treatable disease has now evolved into something terrifying, even beyond the healing power of the Medicine Valley’s Divine Doctor. What can we do? Should we keep them locked up here, forcing them to endure endless pain and despair day and night? Is that your idea of compassion? Worse still, if Yan Zhaotian ever tires of this game and opens the gates to release the plague victims, what do you think will happen to the outer city, to this vassal state, or even to the entire Eastern Tang continent?”

Fa Zhao lowered his gaze and saw that Lin Dan’s face showed no satisfaction— only deep sorrow. As she killed, her heart was filled with a desire for salvation. The plague victims who had initially scattered and fled gradually stopped running. They knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Lin Dan, then exposed their necks, offering themselves to her blade.

After struggling in despair day and night, they no longer wanted to live. Whoever gave them a quick death would be their savior.

Lin Dan’s blade paused slightly in mid-air, and then she continued her merciful slaughter with her eyes closed. The blood was warm, but her heart was cold. Her body felt light, but her mind was filled with burning rage. There was too much injustice in this world. Since she was destined to become a killing machine, she would kill every evil person and eradicate every evil deed! She was alone yet she was unafraid of Emperor Yan, and naturally, she was unafraid of death.

Fa Zhao stared at Lin Dan’s bloodstained back for a long time before finally withdrawing his vast internal energy. Pressing his hands together, he murmured, “Amitabha, I’m ashamed, I’m ashamed!”