She was unsure how long the two of them continued to stare at one another, but the lady owner broke their connection. She dragged the little girl away toward the back while chirping in a sickly sweet voice, “Aiyo, young miss, don’t worry, this mama will treat you very well as long as you are obedient!”

The lady owner swept a side glance at the young girl, who had remained quiet ever since her mother left. With a slick smile, she cooed, “You are still young right now, so you will work in the back kitchen until you turn…twelve!” She laughed happily as she led the girl toward the kitchen.

Yu Liang wasn’t surprised. The marriageable age of young ladies in this era was around 14-15. Most became mothers by the age of eighteen or younger.

Time began to fast forward. The young girl worked in the kitchen diligently to survive. If her tasks weren’t complete, she wouldn’t be fed any rice. It wasn’t long before she learned the dishes she got was directly influenced by how hard she worked and how much she got done.

Yu Liang stood to the side and watched the day-by-day play like an outsider. From time to time, the little girl would stared at her, but she never spoken to Yu Liang again. In fact, she barely spoke more than necessary to anyone in these past nine years.

Today, the girl was on guard, as if expecting something unpleasant. The lady owner shortly arrived, with a few servants carrying sets of new robes. She smiled brightly at the girl, “Come, today you will greet your very first customer! He paid a high price for an unspoiled flower!”

Brimming with excitement, she signaled the servants to prepare the girl. The twelve-year-old girl wordlessly followed them into a room as Yu Liang followed behind. She watched as the maids dressed her up in flashy robes, styled her hair and painted heavy makeup on the young girl’s face.

She turned her head and looked at Yu Liang. “I’ve waited for this long, bid my time as I survive through these few years. Only if you’re alive, can one carry out vengeance.”

She stood up and walked out the room toward the kitchen. Her hands snatched the sharp cleaver knife, “Tonight is the day we will make them all regret!”

It took a while for her words to register because this was the first time in nine years the girl had spoken to her again. Life slowly returned to her empty eyes as Yu Liang finally found her purpose again — a goal fueled with rage. An influx of killing intent rushed out from the depth of her heart.

With large strides, Yu Liang walked forward and picked up a similar sharp cleaver knife. Truth was, she didn’t need to participate in tonight’s event because by night fall, this place would turned into a human buffet by the hands of that young girl. Exactly, like how it had happened in her memory.

Still, as if she was reliving the moment again, she held the cleaver knife in anticipation. They returned to the assigned room. Soon, a lecherous man entered, his face eager with lust as he rubbed his palms together.

A malicious smile spread across both our faces, as two pair of blood-thirsty eyes locked on our first target. Their first customer widened his eyes in terror as his face quickly lost color. His knees gave out below him, but before he could scream for help, two set of thick knives slit across his neck.

Dark blood spurted out onto our clothes, but we didn’t care. We watched in glee as his head rolled off his shoulders and hit the round table leg. Together, we exited the door, hunting for all those we had done us wrong. We found the kitchen chefs, who would frequently make perverted remarks at them. Without hesitation, we hacked down at the chefs with all our strength. Their head split in half as we continued our parade.

Screams of terror filled the bloody night air as we slashed through our enemies one by one. The servants who stole our portion of the food, leaving us with just barely enough to survive, the people who forced their own chores on us and make us labor for them, and lastly, the lady owner…

We saved her for last. The vile woman who purchased our small body and nurtured us so we could cater to her clients. Too bad…that’s not going to happen! An evil laughter escaped our lips. We already killed him. We advanced toward the lady owner, who peddled backward on her knees and arms as she crawled on the ground in fear.

Another laugh bubbled within us as our voice echoed around her. We watched her trembled and cowered in dread. “There’s nowhere for you to go…be obedient and I will give you a swift death.”

“Please…“ she whimpered, but we only continued to laugh.

We enjoyed this, seeing her at our mercy. With nimble hand movements, we chopped off her legs. Her screams of agony edged us on, and we sliced her neck halfway, so she won’t die immediately. That would be too easy for her. Letting her feel the pain as her life drain away from her would be much more satisfying.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to sit around and wait for her. The authorities should be arriving very soon to capture us and we need to escape as fast as possible. We dashed out the gate, throwing the thick knife at the person blocking our escape. The cleaver knife impaled the lad. Sorry, but you shouldn’t have blocked our path…

We ran and ran, away from the people, away from civilization, away from everything. The two of us didn’t stop until we reached the deep woods. In the quiet forest, we felt at peace. Here, we can build a new life for our self.

Strong icy fingers wrapped around my arms, the twelve-year-old girl glared at me with displeasure in her eyes. “Our revenge is not done! There are still those we owe us! That cheap mother of ours, the heartless father who discarded us, the servants of that manor, and the slutty princess!”

For a brief moment, I was silent before I erupted uncontrollably. I clutched my stomach as burst after burst of crazy laughter lost in madness escaped from my mouth. She was right, we’re not done. There was still work to be done, prey to be hunted. She looked at me with an appeased smile as we both spread our arms out wide and laughed together in delight.

A loud clang disrupted our celebration as a small dagger dropped out of my robe.

Yu Liang stared at the dagger carved with a majestic white dragon. The craftsmanship was so realistic, the dragon seemed almost alive. In the middle of the dagger, embedded in the hilt was a bright golden gem. The bright glare of golden light from the gem snapped her out of her insanity. She was so lost in the memories of her past that she had nearly forgotten this was a trial.

She eyed the young girl before her, the younger version of herself in the past. The girl asked with cold eyes, “Are you just going to let them off like that? What about me? What about us?”

Yu Liang closed her eyes against the accusations in the young girl’s cold eyes. She remembered the past she had locked away. The people she had slaughtered as she escaped from that brothel her mother sold her to years ago when she was only three. She remembered running for so long until she reached the forest, where she built a new life, living in the woods alone, until she met Yu Tian.