Legs Broken, Fate Severed
The scent of blood had not yet faded from the hallway when silence settled over the Sullivan Estate again. A silence heavy enough to crush the lungs of anyone who dared to breathe inside it. Blood pooled across the marble floor, glistening under the chandelier like a crimson lake, and the air was filled with the faint coppery smell of spilled life.
Valent Sullivan stood in the center of the chaos, hands clasped behind his back, as calm as if he were observing a painting rather than a scene of carnage. The Blood-Knife Monk stood behind him like a silent tower, his expression cold, his saber still emanating traces of murderous intent.
At the far end, Adelia Sullivan lay on the floor with her back pressed against the wall, trembling uncontrollably. Her face was stained with blood spatters, her once pristine dress soaked in filth and panic. Her legs refused to move, as if fear itself had turned them to stone.
Linghu Da—formerly a trusted retainer of the Sullivan family—was sprawled nearby, rolling and screaming on the floor. His right arm was missing completely, severed in one clean stroke. Blood poured from the stump in thick streams, and his eyes were wide with shock.
He had not even seen the moment his arm was taken.
Valent glanced at him briefly, then shifted his gaze back to Adelia. The girl’s chest heaved with every shaky breath. She saw Valent approach, and her body twitched in pure terror.
Linghu Da forced himself upright just enough to press his forehead to the ground. His voice trembled. “Young Master… please… show mercy… she is your sister…”
Valent stopped walking. For a moment, the room seemed to freeze.
“My sister?”
Valent turned his head slowly toward the man who dared say such a thing.
“Sister?” he repeated. “You mean the girl who planned our parents’ deaths? The one who tried to have me buried alive? That one?”
Linghu Da swallowed, desperate. “The second young lady simply lost her way… but you are too cruel…”
Valent let out a short laugh. A cold, humorless sound.
“Cruel? Compared to her? That wolf-hearted brat murdered the very people who raised her for seventeen years just because they spoke ill of her beloved Chu Fan. Even dogs show gratitude to their owners. She doesn’t even deserve to be compared to dogs.”
His words stabbed into Adelia sharper than any blade.
Her lips trembled. She wanted to scream, but her breath kept catching in her throat.
She forced her voice out. “I… I didn’t do anything wrong… Brother Chu Fan… he is everything to me… Father and Mother spoke badly about him… they wanted to separate us… they deserved it! If they hindered our love—”
Valent cut her off with a wave of his hand.
“You really are hopeless.”
He walked to the table and picked up a porcelain teacup still filled with steaming liquid. He weighed it lightly in his palm.
Adelia’s pupils narrowed.
“Don’t…” she whispered.
Valent flicked his wrist lazily.
The cup flew.
It spun through the air, gleaming under the lights, before smashing directly into her right leg. Hot water splashed across her skin.
The shriek that followed echoed through the entire mansion.
Adelia collapsed forward, clutching her leg as her body trembled violently. Her voice cracked as she screamed again and again.
“You— you bastard! When Brother Chu Fan finds out, he’ll kill you! He’ll slaughter you! He’ll— he’ll—!”
Valent let out a bored sigh.
“Monk,” he said, waving his hand dismissively, “if a rabid dog keeps barking, fix its mouth.”
Adelia’s eyes widened. “Don’t you—”
The Blood-Knife Monk moved.
A blur.
A gust of air.
And then—
Slap.
Another slap.
Then another.
The sound of flesh striking flesh filled the room, each impact more brutal than the last. Adelia’s head snapped to the side repeatedly, blood spraying with every strike. Her cheeks swelled in an instant, red and deformed, and her lips burst open. Two of her teeth flew across the floor and clattered near Linghu Da.
When the monk stepped back, Adelia did not scream anymore.
Valent approached her slowly, crouched down, and examined her face with an almost curious expression.
“See? Much better. No more barking.”
Her breathing was ragged, her eyes filled with tears of pain and humiliation.
Valent spoke softly, almost gently.
“You know, in the original story of this world, you were the one who ruined everything. You handed our family’s fortune to Chu Fan and watched him step over corpses—including ours.”
Adelia trembled harder.
“I want to know,” Valent continued, tilting his head slightly, “what exactly is inside that empty skull of yours? How can you love a man so blindly that you willingly killed your parents? Did he drug you? Hypnotize you? Or are you truly just that stupid?”
Adelia tried to speak, but only broken sounds came out through her swollen lips.
“For Brother Chu Fan… I’ll do anything,” she finally whispered, her voice hoarse. “Anyone who stands in the way of our love… anyone who tries to hurt him… has to die.”
Valent straightened. “Unrepentant trash.”
He glanced at the Blood-Knife Monk.
“Break her leg.”
Adelia’s mind went blank.
The monk moved instantly.
His foot came down with monstrous force, landing on her thigh.
The sound that followed was unforgettable.
Crack.
Not a simple break. A crushing. Bones shattered into pieces beneath the monk’s strength. Her leg bent in a direction no human limb should ever bend.
Her scream tore out of her throat so violently that even Linghu Da flinched, feeling a chill run down his spine.
And then another sound echoed inside Valent’s mind.
Ding. The host shattered the heroine’s leg. Reward: 3000 Villain Points.
Valent blinked. “Well… that was unexpectedly profitable.”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“System, if I chop off every one of her limbs, will I get four times the reward?”
The system’s voice answered without hesitation.
Host, stop dreaming. The reward applies only once to the heroine’s body. Further physical damage will not grant additional villain points.
Valent sighed. “Shame.”
He looked down at Adelia, who was curled on the floor, convulsing in agony, blood streaming from her mangled leg.
“But her spirit… that I can still destroy.”
Linghu Da forced himself up despite the pain, glaring with hatred.
“Young Master… she is still your sister… how can you treat her this way? Even a beast—”
Valent silenced him with a single look.
“She is a murderer. A traitor. A monster blinded by love. If anyone is a beast here, it is her.”
He crouched next to Adelia again.
“Now listen carefully. I’m giving you a choice. You can sign away your rights to the Sullivan family fortune and leave this house forever… or I will cut off every remaining limb you have.”
Adelia stared at him with wide, bloodshot eyes.
“You want me to give up my inheritance?” she rasped. “Impossible. I am the rightful heiress. Even if I can’t take it all, half of the Sullivan fortune belongs to me.”
Valent stared at her for a long moment.
Then he exhaled.
“You really don’t understand anything, do you?”
He stood and flicked his fingers.
“Monk.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Take one of her arms.”
A flash of steel.
A wet slice.
And a pale arm fell onto the marble floor.
Blood poured from the stump, forming a growing pool beneath her body. Her shrieks cracked until her voice disappeared entirely. She writhed like a worm, unable to even form words.
Linghu Da clenched his teeth. “You devil…!”
Valent ignored him.
He knelt and whispered in Adelia’s ear.
“Last chance. Sign the agreement. Or I take everything else.”
Tears streamed down her face. Pain, terror, and despair swallowed what remained of her defiance.
“I’ll sign… I’ll sign… just let me live…”
Valent snapped his fingers.
A Wei entered with a document.
Valent skimmed it and tossed it in front of Adelia.
“Sign. Don’t waste my time.”
Trembling uncontrollably, she used her remaining hand to drag herself forward, dipped a finger into her own blood, and scratched her name shakily onto the page.
Ding. Host forced the heroine to relinquish the Sullivan fortune. Reward: 5000 Villain Points.
Valent smiled. “Good. Now get out.”
Adelia glared at him through tears. “Brother Chu Fan… will avenge me… he’ll come… he’ll kill you…”
Valent chuckled. “Will he really? You’re crippled, penniless, homeless, and missing half your limbs. Do you think he still wants you?”
Adelia snapped, screaming with her last breath.
“He will never abandon me! Our love is—”
Valent interrupted her with a soft laugh.
“Then I look forward to seeing this grand love story of yours.”
He gestured toward the door.
“Now crawl. Out of my house.”
Adelia dragged her broken body across the floor, inch by inch. Her movements were slow, shaky, and pathetic. Each drag left a smear of blood behind her, like a trail marking the death of her former life.
She reached the doorway.
Paused.
Turned her head with hatred burning in her eyes.
“Valent Sullivan… I will make you pay. I will find Brother Chu Fan… and he will kill you for this…”
Valent didn’t even bother to respond.
He simply closed the door on her face.
Outside, the estate gates opened.
And Adelia Sullivan, once a pampered heiress, now little more than a disfigured cripple, crawled out into the cold night like a dying animal.
Valent stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back.
“Chu Fan,” he murmured.
“This is where your story begins to crumble.”
And with that, he turned away, already planning the next move in his game to crush the Son of Destiny.
