Chapter 67 Ten years of slaying traitors, ten cuts, I'll return them all to you. ...

Ah Lian had shown off his treasured sword, named "Canglang," to others countless times.

This jet-black longsword was personally bestowed upon him by the old clan chief during his coming-of-age ceremony.

It is said to be a sacred object passed down through generations of clan leaders, having drunk the blood of countless enemies and even severed the heads of heroes.

When Ah Lian held this knife, he always felt that even the world should belong to him.

In contrast, the old clan chief only gave Li Shan a longbow.

Despite Li Shan's superb archery skills, which allowed her to shoot a running deer from a hundred paces away, A Lian still scoffed at her.

“Women are just women,” he told his men. “They can’t lift a knife, so they use this flimsy thing.”

He had also tried the bow, but it was far less heavy than his precious sword.

But Li Shan always looked at him coldly: "The strength required to draw a bow is no less than that required to swing a knife."

Ah Lian never believed it, thinking it was just an excuse for women to embellish their image.

His knife was long, reaching his waist when upright, yet it was also very slender, appearing clean and sharp.

He once asked the old clan chief, "Father, this knife is so narrow and thin, can it really cut through anything?"

The old clan chief shook his head: "The strength of a knife lies not in its width, but in its sharpness."

"Remember, as long as you have the courage to wield a knife, all the difficulties in the world will be easily resolved under its blade."

Yes, Father, he did it.

He's about to become the clan leader!

His beloved woman was behind him, his defeated enemies were pinned before him, and those around him fawned over him, calling him "Chief Alian." Even the usually staid shaman bowed before him.

Is there anything in this world that he cannot obtain?

Ah Lian almost burst out laughing, feeling that there was no more perfect moment in his life than this.

Unfortunately, after Li Shan became the clan leader, she wore red, which symbolized her status, and even her daughter A Yan was entitled to wear red.

Allen had never had the chance to wear such vibrant colors.

Looking at Ayan and her red dress, he suddenly found her extremely offensive.

"Danzhu, draw my sword!" he repeated.

He wanted to cut away everything that was in his way until he could wear that red robe.

He heard the soft sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath behind him. As expected of a famous sword, the "canglang" hum was incredibly melodious, almost making the blood in his body boil.

Ah Lian reached behind him, preparing to take his precious sword from the hand of his beloved woman.

The next second, a chill ran through my chest.

Then came red, an overwhelming expanse of red.

His clothes were red, his hands were red, even the warm, sweet smell emanating from his mouth, and the blood he coughed up was red.

He looked down and saw the black blade emerging from his chest.

Danzhu's voice rang out behind him, like a demon coming to claim his life.

She growled hoarsely, "You, die!"

How long has it been since we last heard Danzhu's voice?

He doesn't remember.

The first time I saw her, she was playing around with a maid in a temple, chasing a butterfly with a radiant smile, her laughter as clear and melodious as silver bells.

Later, he abducted Danzhu, and her voice turned into a sharp, piercing scream. He found it noisy, so he grabbed her by the neck, and all that could be heard in his ears was the painful coughing sound.

Later, seeing her struggle and try to escape repeatedly, he cut off her food and water until she was so thirsty that she could no longer speak, at which point he gave her a sip of water as a form of charity.

After Danzhu became pregnant, he never neglected her needs for food or clothing, but the child ultimately did not come into this world.

He never heard Danzhu's voice again after that.

Until this moment.

Alian couldn't understand where Danzhu got the strength to spin the knife in his flesh, pull it out, and then stab it in again, as if he harbored the deepest and most poisonous hatred in the world.

Even his most loyal subordinates were stunned and unable to stop her.

He cried out hoarsely, "How dare you!"

Am I not good enough to you?

Another cut.

His mouth tasted metallic and sweet, and he mumbled incoherently, "I told you I would make you the clan chief's wife, what else do you want..."

Even a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness, how can you be so heartless?

Another cut.

"I……"

Ah Lian could no longer speak; his blood had taken away his body heat.

His unfinished words dissipated in the cold winter wind.

"Ten years." Finally, Danzhu stopped what she was doing and took a breath. "Ten cuts, I'll return them all to you."

She suddenly drew her knife and watched as the man in front of her collapsed limply like a rag doll.

Then, leaning on her knife, she silently surveyed the astonished crowd around her.

Among these familiar faces were people who had egged her on, people who had beaten her, and people who had secretly taken liberties with her when Ah Lian wasn't looking.

She wanted to kill every single one of them.

But Danzhu simply turned around and walked step by step toward Ayan.

Her demonic appearance frightened the person holding Ayan so much that he retreated and released his grip.

Danzhu looked down at the girl in fiery red before him.

She knew that this girl was the daughter of Li Shan, the only person who had ever reached out to her back then.

Like her mother, she never bowed her head to these people.

Danzhu suddenly thought that if she had been bolder back then and had gone with Li Shan directly, perhaps none of this would have happened.

But there are no "what ifs" anymore.

The moment she realized the true nature of this world, the young lady from the Cheng family died. Now, she lives on like a vengeful ghost, only thinking of dragging them all into the underworld.

Danzhu handed the knife to Ayan with a backhand and said calmly, "Get up."

Ayan looked up at her.

Unexpectedly, it was this woman who had remained silent for many years who finally broke the deadlock.

Perhaps their stance has always been the same.

She took the knife and used it to stand up.

When the witch doctor saw Ayan take the knife, he cried out in terror, "Traitor! How dare you kill someone in public! Execute him immediately!"

He looked around, but the archers in the village all kept their distance, and no one was willing to listen to him anymore.

Even Ah Lian's men hesitated; most of them carried spears and wooden clubs, and the best weapons were never available to them.

Ah Lian had a penchant for collecting weapons, preferring to let them gather dust rather than share them with his subordinates.

Today was the first time he had let his guard down and allowed someone to touch his beloved knife.

Then he died by his own sword.

With such inferior weapons, how could they possibly defeat her, who wields the famous sword "Canglang"?

At this point, they had completely forgotten what they had said before: "She's just a woman, no matter how strong she is, she can't beat us."

He could only retreat again and again, facing her blade, his legs trembling.

Ayan held up the knife and looked at the witch doctor: "How is it?"

"The new clan leader you nominated has already sacrificed himself. Now, is it your turn?"

Only then did the witch doctor belatedly realize that the situation was hopeless, and that he might truly lose his life at her hands.

He couldn't help but take a few steps back: "Ayan, you...you calm down."

"I was also deceived by Ah Lian!"

He finally found an excuse and hurriedly changed his story, saying, "Yes, he's been deceiving me, trying to get me to conspire with him..."

"Deceive me?" Ayan tilted her head and smiled. "I don't think so."

"Let me guess, who tipped off Ah Lian?"

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Seeing that the other party had nothing to say, Ayan approached him step by step: "You've long disliked my mother being the clan leader, haven't you? She doesn't really believe in your gods, which has made your position in the clan more and more marginalized."

"Therefore, you are thinking of supporting a new clan leader and convicting him of a crime, portraying the original clan leader as a tyrannical ruler, in order to consolidate your own position."

“But the new clan leader you chose is that licentious and immoral person. Just because he is a man and naturally stands on your side, you chose him without hesitation.”

She shook her head, the knife tip pressed against his throat: "You men are like this. As soon as you see that the other person is a woman, you think she is born with original sin, that even her breathing is wrong."

"In that case, I don't think our tribe needs such a foolish witch doctor anymore, does it?"

The witch doctor shook his head in horror, then suddenly tripped and fell backward to the ground.

The blade was close to his face, still stained with the blood of the previous traitor.

He suddenly realized that he might actually die by this knife.

At the critical moment, the witch doctor suddenly unleashed astonishing strength, deflected the knife tip, flipped over, and darted away like a rabbit.

He wanted to run away!

"stop!"

Ayan wanted to chase after him, but someone patted her arm.

She tensed up instinctively and turned her head to see Ah Chao standing beside her, presenting Li Shan's longbow with both hands.

She immediately understood what she had to do.

No one spoke, but Danzhu took the knife from Ayan's hand, and Ayan picked up the bow that Achao handed her.

Draw the bow, nock the arrow, and aim.

The bow is fully drawn.

The arrow left the bowstring, making a clear sound in the wind, and pierced deeply into the defeated man's back.

The fleeing witch doctor seemed to be abruptly stopped by the arrow, looked back in disbelief, and finally collapsed heavily into the snow.

There was no more sound.

Ayan took a deep breath and slowly put away her longbow.

Li Shan was the best archer in the entire village, and she was always right when hunting. As her daughter, A Yan was always better at using a bow than a sword.

Today, she used her mother's longbow to slay the traitor.

Yet no one dared to say a word.

The witch doctor's children fell silent, hiding in fear to the side.

The group of men that A-Lian brought also retreated timidly, afraid that A-Yan would notice them.

Ayan glanced at them but did not make a move. Instead, she turned to Danzhu and said, "These traitors are yours to deal with."

"Do whatever you want with it."

Upon hearing this, the rebellious men turned pale and tried to flee, but when they turned back, they saw the women of the village surrounding them with remarkable coordination, blocking their only escape route.

Those who knew what was good for them had already knelt down, kowtowing and begging for mercy: "Danzhu, we were wrong, we shouldn't have joked with you..."

"We're not guilty of this!" someone cried, tears streaming down their face. "It was all Lian's doing, and he's the one who's been treating you badly all these years. Please let us go!"

The next second, the long knife landed on his wrist.

"You touched me with this hand."

Danzhu then turned to the next person, the tip of his knife pointing at his legs and feet.

"You kicked me."

She remembers everything perfectly!

Screams rose and fell as she severed the tendons of everyone who had helped Ah Lian abuse her or laid a hand on her.

Those who had verbally humiliated her had their mouths gouged out, leaving them only to whimper in pain.

Finally, Danzhu sheathed his sword, not even bothering to glance at them: "Get lost."

But they had long since lost the strength to escape and could only lie sprawled on the ground like mud.

Ayan, seemingly oblivious to everything they were doing, simply asked Achao, "How is Mother doing?"

"The doctors are very skilled. Mother is alright now and gave birth to a baby girl." A-Chao smiled.

"How many doctors?" Ayan was a little stunned. Didn't she only bring Liang Shuyan as a doctor?

Ah Chao stammered as he explained, "Dr. Liang's friends came up the mountain to look for her, and for my mother's sake, I invited them all over."

Very good.

I'm just glad my mother is safe!

Ayan thought she had to properly thank these doctors.

Liang Shuyan, in particular, needs to offer a sincere apology.

Bringing her here so hastily is really unfair to her.

She rubbed her hands together: "I'll go see my mother right now..."

Their conversation was overheard by the men clinging to life around them. One of them crawled to Ayan's feet and kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "We all know the chieftain is benevolent. Ayan, could you please ask a doctor to treat our wounds? We're going to die here..."

Ayan kicked him away: "The clan leader's mercy is never for traitors like you!"

She brushed them aside, ignoring their wails, and left.

All she wanted to do now was see her mother as soon as possible; she couldn't stand these people's crazy talk!