Power Up, Artist Yang!

An edge of fear was beginning to creep into A'Yan's voice. If it was anyone else saying this to him, he might not believe them. She was just a weak girl, after all. But from what he had seen tonight so far, this maid was not an ordinary person. She sounded like she would follow on her words.

"You can't kill me—" he blurted, desperately looking for excuses now, "There will be surely someone walking by around this time. They'll spot you trying to kill me or hide my body. And there will be blood stains— you— you can't kill me—"

"There's one kind of person that I hate the most in this world, and that's the kind of person you are. So, you must die tonight."

Her voice was calm, completely devoid of emotions. And perhaps that was what terrified A'Yan the most.

She raised the axe in her hand. The shadow of the axe loomed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut.

The axe never came down. Her movements were stopped the moment there were footsteps in the yard, a voice calling out, "Wait!" 

Just like that, Shen Yuling appeared from the entrance.

…

Yujia entered a scene where someone was about to hack another person up.

She stopped them just in time, calling out a hasty "Wait!" Running up to them— Xie Yufeng and A'Yan— Yujia glanced at the axe, then at A'Yan's who still had his eyes squeezed shut, then back at Xie Yufeng. "You're really going to kill him?" she asked.

Xie Yufeng set her axe down. She smiled. "No. Just playing around for a bit while I decide what I want to do. Or, I guess, now that you're here, what you want to do."

Yujia let out a breath of relief. 

It wasn't like she wanted A'Yan alive. In fact, she might be a bit happy to find him dead. She just wasn't sure if it was a good idea to kill him. There were too many uncertainties surrounding the idea of him dying— too many risks. 

A'Yan's eyes opened up now. Upon seeing Yujia, he immediately called out, "Ling'er, help me!" 

Yujia's expression fell. She raised her eyebrows. "Help you? Why?"

"Because—" he said, eyes wide with disbelief, "I don't want to die? I know what I did wrong! I've repented! And I won't do it again. And—" He managed a shaky smile. "I'm your Brother A'Yan. Could you really have the heart to kill me?" 

She thought back to his every action before, how he raised the axe and almost killed her, simply because she posed a risk to his reputation. This wasn't the behavior of someone sorry. Neither was this a matter for something which could be dismissed with a simple apology.

A wave of nausea overcame Yujia again. She was silent for a few seconds, knowing that if she spoke up right now, it would be unstoppable, furious yelling.

When she gathered herself enough to speak up again, she was trembling with anger. Her volume was contained, except her tone was anything but kind. 

A look of desperation filled his gaze when he heard her words. "Ling'er, how could you say that? I'm— I'm your Brother A'Yan—"

"You are not any 'brother' of mine," Yujia cut in, "If you say that one more time—"

"Alright, alright!" He shook his head, "But, still, how could you say that I don't feel any guilt? I'm incredibly sorry for what I did, and the thing is, I didn't even go too far, so…"

Yujia let out a short breath of air, unsure if this man was being real or not. She knew perfectly well what was going to happen if she didn't intervene in time. She also wasn't sure if there was any point in talking to this person for a moment longer. Being in his presence, listening to his voice, sickened her. 

"You do know that you were his original target, right?" Yufeng, seeing the silence, chimed in. "And judging by the methods he used, it doesn't seem like this is the first time he's doing this."

Thinking back to the words Yujia caught before, how he told her that it wasn't supposed to be Lianye, Yujia knew. She nodded, looking away.

It was all so horrible.

"Anyways, enough chatting." Yufeng weighed the axe in her hand. "What do you propose to do about this body? Turning him in won't do anything, likely. Killing him… might be a hassle to explain the blood stains. Maybe we could strangle him instead. I would suggest torture, but time is short on our hands. Of course, there is the alternative of letting him go, but I know that neither of us want that."

Yujia thought about these options. She didn't know what to do either, frankly. She could already foresee issues coming up with each route.

Seeing their lack of decision, a maniacal laugh suddenly burst out of A'Yan. It started as a slight tremble in his chest that grew into a large, heaving laugh. As he laughed, he managed to spit out, "You're pathetic. All pathetic. I thought you may have been different, but I suppose all women are weak and indecisive like this."

It took Yujia by surprise how quickly his attitude changed. One second, he was ignorant and pleading, and the next second, he was acting this way.

She didn't have to say anything, since Yufeng was already on it with the axe. This time, she pointed it at his neck, positioning it at his flesh. If he moved, just the slightest, his skin would be cut on the blade.

"You don't listen, do you?" she said, "I'm giving you the grace of discussing your fate instead of instantly subjecting you to death, but instead of being grateful…" Yufeng pulled the axe away, planting it into the ground. She raised a finger, a giggle of pure delight spreading coming from her. "I seemed to have remembered something." She turned to Yujia. "I happen to know a place that deals with preparing eunuchs for the palace, what do you think about sending him there?"

Eunuchs?

Eyes lighting up, Yujia nodded thoughtfully. "That… actually does not sound half bad. Fitting."

"You wouldn't dare—" A'Yan shouted, a panic sliding back into his voice. He struggled against his rope bonds, but Xie Yufeng tied a secure knot. "Let me go, untie me, right now—" His eyes slid over to Yujia, filling up with dread. His voice was now diminished into a bare squeak. "Please. Please. I really know what I did wrong. I swear on it, I swear on all the gods above, I swear on my life— I will never do it again. Just let me go— please, please, please. I will not pick up any trouble. I will be indebted to you for eternity, I swear on it."

"Really? Will you tell me the truth?" Yujia blinked.

"Any truth. I will tell you everything—" he promised, leaning forward.

"Alright." Yujia's voice became softer. "Then tell me, was Lianye your first victim?"

His eyes widened. Yujia could see the hesitation passing through them— the flash of a debate in his mind of whether or not telling the truth would benefit him, the hesitation reflecting his internal measuring of the potential outcome of what would happen if he was truthful and admitted to past victims, or if it would be better to just lie about it. 

That was all the answer Yujia needed.

"Enough," she stated, "I don't need your debt. And though I like how you're acting right now," Yujia tilted her head, a small pause in her voice and a curl in her lip, "I think I'd like you better as a eunuch."

He showed Lianye no mercy. He showed his previous victims no mercy either. Did they not beg him to stop as well? Did they not beg him to let them go? Yet how did he respond?

Yujia was only repaying him with his own mercilessness.