How Much For Your Soul?

Chapter 26

Shen Xiu didn't know what to think. She had just lost her purity and entered into womanhood at the age of twenty. Her little nephew that she believed she was protecting all these years had drugged her, and then proceeded to do things she had never thought her body could do!

He had tasted everything her body had to offer, and she was ashamed to say that she enjoyed every moment of it. Under the aphrodisiac's influence, she had experienced an odd mixture of pleasure and pain when her various virginities was taken.

After two hours of sin, he had then tenderly carried her to his bathing pool and proceeded to wash away the evidence of their lovemaking. She was mad at him for forcing this on her, but could also see his point that she would never have considered this in the first place.

Still, it would take some getting used to. When Shen Xiu thought about who could be a possible husband other than Shen Yue, she had drawn a blank. He was the only male she had a high opinion of, the rest of the males she knew were trash!

After the rice had been cooked and no other reason to refuse, Shen Xiu had relented and agreed to be his wife. Shen Yue had laughed and hugged her, promising that she would not regret her decision.

He had then filled her in on all his secrets, blowing her mind with the things he explained. She had just become the wife of the future overlord of the world! It had taken a couple of hours to get her up to date and fill her in on his plans for the Sacred Family.

She had sighed when he revealed his plan for Shen Hong, and although he was her brother, he had brought it on himself. With no need to return to the Holy Orchid Institute now that she was going to quit, they spent the next few hours catching up on what they had missed from each other's lives.

It was as if they had somehow reversed time, to when they were younger and would walk to school chatting idly, as they enjoyed each others company. Yes, Shen Xiu decided, she had made the right choice. Her new cultivation technique also went a long way for her forgiving him!

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Shen Yue was glad that everything had worked out. It was a bit touch-and-go at one stage, but amazingly Shen Xiu had kept her calm and been talked into joining his harem. Luckily she had been raised with high standards and had no love interests.

He really needed to level up to the gold rank and activate that slave inscription soon! He was continually adding more unyielding and powerful women into a relationship that was not controlled by plot armour! He mentally put that as his next objective.

Shen Yue had sent out orders to gather his Family guards for tonight's operation. Thanks to Shen Xiu's intel, he now knew most of their property and any Family members that lived outside the main compound. Lin Feng had long since returned from the Nemesis Abyss Realm, leaving a trained Duan Jian in charge of maintaining order.

Tonight's plan of action was simple. Lin Feng would lead the main force to surround the Sacred Family compound, preventing anyone from leaving. Trusted senior officers would command strike teams, to silently take control of any outside assets. Hopefully mopping up the entire Family in one fell swoop.

Ziyun and Ning'er were not interested in the takeover of one of the most influential Families in the City. So it was only Su Mei, Shen Xiu and himself going along to beat Shen Hong like a redheaded stepchild. The optimum time to attack was 2 am as everyone but the guards will be at home sleeping. As it was still only early in the afternoon, that left plenty of time to do some recon and fine-tune the plan with his senior officers.

When it was time to attack, it was somewhat anticlimactic. The Sacred Family guards were lax, safe in their belief that no one would assault the powerful House. There were only twenty or so bronze and silver fighters patrolling the compound walls. They did not even have any demon spiritualists reinforcing the guard!

Within seconds they were overwhelmed without even raising the alarm. Lin Feng led five hundred legend experts on tonight's mission as Shen Yue didn't want any chance of failure. With the perimeter secure, they waltzed through the main gate and set about subduing each courtyard.

Lin Feng was instructed to knock everyone unconscious, remove any weapons and then secure them with ropes or chains. They were then brought to the main hall to be guarded with anyone that cause any trouble to be crippled without mercy.

There were three black-gold experts including Shen Hong, and they were given special care. If they could not be subdued quietly, then they were to be quickly killed. The exception was Shen Hong, he was to have his cultivation crippled but left alive.

Just as with the guards outside, almost everyone was cleaned up without drama. One of the people able to resist was Shen Yan, one of the black-gold experts. Unfortunately for him, he was only a fighter. As the ten-man team entered his courtyard and started subduing the servants, he was somehow made aware of the attack.

Five of the experts had been stealthily approaching his room when he smashed through his door leading with an attack. They had already merged with their demons in anticipation of the coming conflict. So when the savage looking redheaded Shen Yan came out of his room with a Flaming Palm skill already activated, he was attacked from all sides.

It was a crippled and gagged man that was deposited in the grand hall to be guarded. A once-feared man, now sobbing at the state of his broken body. More and more bound and gagged people of all ranks and genders were deposited in groups. No one was spared the humiliation of being trussed up like a slaughtered pig.

Shen Yue had been patiently waiting on the Sacred Family patriarch throne, staring at the defeated members that were brought before him. The pathetic crying and muffled pleading did not move him in the slightest. These were people that orchestrated the death of millions for no better reason than Shen Hong wasn't the City Lord.

Finally, the big bad Shen Hong was dragged before the throne, crippled and bound. His gagged mouth was spewing muffled obscenities, so Shen Yue decided to take some revenge. Careful not to overdo it, he started some cathartic beating. So as not to dirty his hands, Shen Yue removed a stick from his ring to beat Shen Hong like a dog.

After a good ten minutes of solid flogging, the defeated evil tyrant was silent. Shen Yue used this opportunity to remove his demon spirit. Since his pillage skill removed all soul-bound items, it was possible to extract an enemies demon spirit hiding in their soul realms. By the time he was finished, everyone had been captured.

Shen Yue placed the Sacred Flaming Condor spirit he had just obtained in his ring and sat back on the throne. Looking over the assembled prisoners, he gestured for his men to wake them. When everyone was attentive, he gave another of his Bond villain speeches.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the whipping and torture of my much-loved father! It seems like only yesterday that he beat me into unconsciousness and sent all those people to capture me.

I was content to let the Sacred Family limp its way towards its eventual death, but then my dear brother tried to take my woman. I could overlook all the Dark Guild plots and schemes, but there was no way that piece of trash was touching my Ning'er.

Tonight's festivities will include every one of you marked with a loyalty inscription. Since I am not a tyrant like my father, I will give you a choice if you want to accept it or not. Those that do will be part of a new Sacred Family led by She Xiu. Those that don't will be buried alongside their beloved leader Shen Hong and Shen Fei!

When you are grabbed by one of my men, you will either nod in acceptance or shake your head signalling death. Those that waste our time trying to trick the loyalty mark will enjoy a painful tortured send off!

It really warms my heart to be back where I was born, especially when we are here celebrating such a joyous occasion!"

Shen Yue thought his speech lent more towards a crazy Joker speech from Batman than a typical villain speech. Judging by the looks he was receiving, it seemed his men agreed with his assessment. Since he had taught his senior officers the loyalty inscription in preparation for his new slave techniques, the speed of people marked was many times faster than when he did it by himself.

Once a person was marked without the stone turning red, they were ordered to take up Shen Yue's stick and beat Shen Hong and Shen Fei once each. Out of the fifteen hundred or so people of the Sacred Family, three hundred died. Fifty-seven of these had to be tortured to death for wasting time and resources when the seal stone turned red.

It was a very cowed group of people that kneeled to pledge their allegiance to Shen Yue and Shen Xiu. The evidence of what awaited them if they even had a hint of betrayal would no doubt give them nightmares for years to come.

Since it was early morning, Shen Yue decided to go home to get some sleep. Leaving Shen Xiu to clean up and organise the surviving members into their new roles. She would also be making a list of people worthy to receive cultivation techniques.

Shen Yue had used this experience to try and temper his wuxia mentality. The muffled screams coupled with the muted sounds of brutality remained hard to get used too. He even delivered the final blow on those sentenced to death to harden his heart towards killing.

By any standard on Earth, he would now be judged a mass murderer or psychopath, and it was difficult to come to terms with it. Manslaughter was the norm in this brutal dog eat dog universe. But the morality and virtue he was raised with on Earth, could not be entirely destroyed.

In the end, he settled for somewhere in between and reaffirmed his mantra, 'Wealth and love to his people, destruction and pain to his enemies'. Although he would probably still flinch at killing another human being, the hundred or so he had murdered today had made it easier to force his emotions aside and do what was needed.

Hopefully, he will not turn into a monster that enjoyed it. Looking at the mangled bodies of Shen Hong and Shen Fei did not bring him any joy, he only felt satisfaction that the trash had been disposed of. Hopefully, a good sign.

Shen Yue could only hope he was still sane! But would he know if he wasn't?

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