The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

"Stop blaming yourself! The priority is to save our people!"

Sun Fengxuan placed a firm hand on Sun Congyun's shoulder, his voice tinged with grief yet resolute.

Without waiting for a response, he darted forward, stopping in front of a mutilated middle-aged man floating in a vat of wine. His voice cracked with emotion as he called out, "Seventh Uncle!"

"Is… is that Fenglin? Or… Fengxuan?"

The man, blind and dismembered, struggled to discern who stood before him. His once sharp senses dulled by the torment he'd endured.

"It's me, Fengxuan!"

Looking at his uncle's pitiful state, Sun Fengxuan felt a knot tighten in his throat. Memories of the past flooded his mind—his seventh uncle standing against his father during the family strife. Yet now, faced with the horrors inflicted on their kin, all grievances faded into insignificance.

"And your brother?"

"He's outside, keeping an eye on the Su family scum!"

"Ha… good! Excellent!"

The mutilated man let out a bitter laugh, blood seeping from the empty sockets where his eyes once were. Tears mixed with blood as they trailed down his disfigured face.

"When you leave, tell your brother… kill them. Kill them all! Make those bastards from the Su family pay in blood!"

His voice trembled with rage and despair.

"I know… I know I wronged you and your brother during the family conflict. But I beg you, avenge our people. Avenge our family!"

"This past year, the Su family has treated us like animals. It's been unbearable… utterly unbearable!"

"They slaughtered your uncles like livestock, feeding their bodies to dogs. Your aunts and cousins were violated, their dignity stripped away. The children—our future—were beaten, humiliated, and left to starve.

"Fengxuan, don't forget this. Don't ever forget this!"

The seventh uncle's voice, heavy with sorrow and fury, echoed through the cold, damp dungeon.

Sun Fengxuan's eyes scanned the room, taking in the battered, emaciated forms of his surviving kin. His fists clenched tightly, nails biting into his palms.

"Seventh Uncle, let me get you out of here," he said with a heavy sigh.

"No, leave me. Save the others."

"I'm nothing but a cripple now, a useless shell of a man. The Su family made sure of that. I can't live like this anymore, floating in a vat like a corpse. Please… give me peace."

"But—"

"Fengxuan!" His uncle's tone turned desperate. "You wouldn't let me live out this nightmare, would you?"

Sun Fengxuan's hand trembled. He looked into his uncle's empty eye sockets, then slowly nodded.

"I understand…"

Tears streamed down his face as he reached out and gripped his uncle's neck. With a swift motion, he ended his suffering.

"Seventh Uncle… this vengeance will be ours," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

"Fengxuan Uncle, the others have been freed!" Sun Congyun reported as he approached, his face pale but resolute.

Sun Fengxuan took a deep breath, composing himself. His gaze swept over the group of survivors—twenty in total, mostly children and women. The elderly had long succumbed to the horrors of their captivity.

"Take them outside," he instructed firmly.

"I'll handle the rest."

As Sun Congyun led the survivors out, Sun Fengxuan lingered in the dungeon. With a heavy heart, he pulled out a Fireball Talisman.

The faint glow of the talisman reflected in his eyes as he muttered softly, "May you all find peace."

The talisman ignited, releasing a torrent of flames that engulfed the dungeon.

The intense heat consumed the bodies of his deceased kin, the blaze crackling and roaring with a ferocity that matched his anguish.

Sun Fengxuan stood still, watching the flames erase the evidence of the atrocities committed here.

When the fire began to spill out into the passageway, he finally turned and exited the dungeon.

As he emerged into the courtyard, the fire surged behind him, leaping up like a vengeful serpent and setting the nearby pavilion ablaze.

The once grand structure groaned and creaked under the inferno's weight before collapsing in a fiery heap.

The thunderous crash sent clouds of ash and smoke billowing into the sky, the embers dancing like sparks of rebellion.

"Rest in peace, my kin," Sun Fengxuan murmured, bowing his head.

When he looked up again, his eyes burned with renewed determination. "This vengeance will not end here."

"Are we really… saved, sister?"

A bruised and battered young boy gazed up at the azure sky, his voice trembling as he stared at the crumbling, blazing pavilion. His words carried disbelief, as if clinging to a fragile hope.

He feared it was all a dream. A cruel, fleeting fantasy that would dissolve, leaving him back in that dark, fetid dungeon. Back to the endless torment at the hands of the Su family's cruel heirs, powerless to protect his sister from their vile acts.

"Yes, we are saved!"

Next to him, a young girl with torn and tattered clothes pulled him into a tight embrace. Her tear-streaked face held a mix of relief and grief, as tears poured freely down her cheeks.

"We're finally free…" she whispered, her voice breaking into sobs.

Nearby, a woman clutched the lifeless body of an infant in her arms. She collapsed to her knees, wailing uncontrollably. The baby's abdomen bore a gaping wound, its tiny body mutilated—a testament to the Su family's inhuman cruelty.

Sun Fengxuan and Sun Congyun stood in silence, watching their kin cry out and release years of pent-up agony and despair. Their hearts ached, weighed down by sorrow and anger.

"Look after them!"

Sun Fengxuan's voice broke the silence. He turned to Sun Congyun, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Uncle Fengxuan, where are you going?"

"To finish this," he replied, his tone cold and resolute.

Su Family Courtyard

The remaining Su family elders and heirs cowered in fear, huddled on the ground like frightened animals. Not one of them dared move under the oppressive aura of Sun Fenglin, who sat in their midst.

The once proud and domineering Su family was reduced to trembling wrecks, their fate hanging by a thread.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed through the courtyard. Sun Fengxuan approached, his expression murderous, his aura charged with unrelenting fury.

His gaze swept across the huddled figures, locking onto them with a piercing intensity that sent shivers down their spines.

"Who mutilated my seventh uncle and threw him into a wine vat?"

His voice was as cold as the grave.

The Su family elders and heirs exchanged nervous glances, none daring to speak.

Whoosh!

Sun Fengxuan extended his hand, and a surge of energy yanked one of the elders into his grasp. He gripped the man's neck with unyielding strength.

"Speak. Who did it?"

"I… I don't know!" the elder stammered, his voice quaking with terror.

Crack!

Without hesitation, Sun Fengxuan snapped the man's neck and tossed his lifeless body aside.

With another wave of his hand, a second elder was pulled forward.

"It wasn't me! It was Su Yingchun! He assaulted your seventh uncle's wife, and when your uncle fought back, he flew into a rage and mutilated him. He's the one who threw him into the wine vat!"

"And Su Yingming! He helped him!" another elder blurted, pointing at a wiry man with shifty, triangular eyes.

"Both of you had a hand in this?"

Sun Fengxuan's voice dripped with venom as he grabbed Su Yingchun and Su Yingming.

Before they could beg for mercy, he severed their limbs, gouged out their eyes, and tossed them into the courtyard's water vats.

Their agonized screams echoed across the courtyard, sending chills down the spines of the remaining Su family members.

"Who butchered my fifth aunt's child?"

Sun Fengxuan's voice thundered once more.

The Su family heirs hesitated, their gazes shifting toward a young boy, no older than seven or eight, hiding in a corner. He was dressed in fine clothes, his face pale with fear.

Whoosh!

Sun Fengxuan pulled the boy forward with a flick of his wrist, holding him by the neck.

"Please! I'm sorry! Don't kill me!" the boy shrieked, his small hands clawing at Sun Fengxuan's grip.

"A child with a heart this black… Why should I let you live?"

Sun Fengxuan's voice was laced with disdain as he pressed his palm against the boy's abdomen.

With a sickening crunch, his palm burst through the boy's stomach, leaving a gaping hole. Blood poured from the wound as the boy's lifeless body slumped to the ground.

"Who abused the women of my family? Who chained our children like dogs?"

Sun Fengxuan's fury showed no signs of abating.

He turned his gaze back to the cowering Su family, his eyes burning with wrath.

"One by one, I'll make you pay for every sin you've committed against the Sun family," he growled.

These scum didn't deserve a quick death. They would suffer, just as his kin had suffered.

Looking at his brother ruthlessly dealing with the Su family elders and heirs, Sun Fenglin remained calm and did not intervene.

To him, evil needed to be dealt with by the wicked.