The days that followed were a chaos of preparation, deception, and subtle manipulation.
Hu Huolian was the obedient daughter, the model of filial piety. She trained for the competition with fervor, pushing her cultivation beyond its current limits.
She even attended mock battles, where she displayed a startling brilliance in tactics, greatly impressing her father.
But beneath the surface, she wove a far darker tapestry.
No one questioned her. After all, she was Hu Huolian, the daughter of the clan head, destined for greatness.
But that was the plan.
Her manipulation was calculated and deliberate. She spoke with the Xiong and Gou envoys in secret, giving them valuable pieces of information about the Hu Clan's defenses.
She knew the exact patrol patterns, the vulnerable points in the eastern gates, the blind spots in their array formations.
The contribution competition was useless to her but it gave her a ruse to all her shady work.
On the surface, it was a battle of wit and skill, a showcase of young talent. But to Huolian, it was a test of who could be broken first.
Her new allies, the Xiong and Gou, were the first to make their move. A week before the tide, Huolian slipped into the vaults beneath the Hu Clan's estate, her fingers brushing the cold stone walls.
She activated the wards that sealed the treasures, then whispered the incantation. The vault door opened with a soft, unwilling groan.
Inside, priceless artifacts gleamed in the dim light—spirit stones, cultivation manuals, and soul jade, all ready to be plundered.
But she wasn't alone.
The Gou envoy had arrived earlier than expected. He stepped out from the shadows with a look of smugness on his face.
"I knew you were not to be trusted, bitch. It's no matter. All of it belongs to us now."
"You misunderstand," she said calmly. "This treasure is mine. But we can share."
She reached into the air and pulled a formation scroll from her sleeve—a map to the hidden passageways beneath the clan's inner sanctum.
"I've made sure the southern gate will collapse in two days. The defenders will fall back, unaware. I'll lead them straight into your ambush."
The envoy smirked, but his fingers flexed slightly toward the blade at his side. "You're clever, girl. Maybe too clever."
Huolian's smile didn't waver. "Clever enough."
In one fluid motion, her palm ignited with pale, corrosive qi. Before he could blink, she struck, driving her hand into his chest with a muffled crack.
His body convulsed as she flooded his core with poisoned essence.
"You almost caught me too," she whispered, as his lips parted in shock.
"Too bad, so sad." She grinned.
He fell without a sound. Blood pooled briefly, but Huolian moved quickly.
She dragged his corpse behind one of the sealed compartments, concealed it behind a wall illusion, and placed a stasis charm over the site.
His body would not rot, not bleed further, and would not be found by anyone.
No one was adept enough in the three tribes to look through an illusion created by a Greater Wu master.
"Now no one tells the Gou," she said quietly, brushing dust from her robe. "And the Xiong are too stupid to notice the plot."
She stepped back into the center of the vault, the formation scroll still in her hand.
To anyone else, it was a gesture of trust but to her, it was a leash.
As the days passed, Huolian's web of lies thickened. Each move was carefully calculated, each word a lie, each promise a betrayal.
She knew the precise moment the Monkey-Orc horde would arrive, and she knew how to lead them right into the clan's heart.
The elders were oblivious to her true intentions and celebrated her success in the competition, blind to the storm brewing at the gates.
Huolian feigned exhaustion, retreating to her chambers to "rest," but inside, she was far from idle. She had already planned the final stroke and set the stage for the massacre.
The first betrayal came when the Xiong tribe's warriors took the field in the early morning hours, their battle drums echoing through the mountains. The Gou tribe's forces positioned themselves, waiting in the shadows to strike.
But it was Huolian who had arranged for the Monkey-Orcs to attack right then.
Her smile deepened as she sat by the window, watching the smoke rise on the horizon.
She had already sent a message to the Gou and Xiong leaders, saying that the Hu Clan's resistance was weaker than anticipated. The gates would open soon, and the horde would pour in.
The first scream ripped through the air as the beast tide approached like a wave of pestilence.
Then came the shouts and the rumbling of stones. It was followed by one deep final hollow rumble as the eastern gate of the Hu Clan shattered.
The barriers, weakened exactly as Huolian had planned, crumbled beneath the first assault of the Monkey-Orc horde.
The battle had begun.
From her balcony, Huolian stood motionless, watching as the chaos unfolded below her.
Screams echoed through the stone walls her former self had once wandered as a child. The scent of blood crept upward on the wind.
Her eyes were dark, but her hands trembled slightly at her sides. Just for a moment.
'Her original soul's remnant plea of guilt, I see.' She thought and laughed.
Then she exhaled and the tremble vanished.
The Hu warriors fought with the desperation of those who still believed they could win.
They didn't know the battle had already been lost, not at the gate, but weeks ago, when their fate was sealed in the secret blood promise beneath the mountain.
The Monkey-Orcs swarmed through the breach, roaring and howling. They weren't the real threat. They were weapons, nothing more. Blunt, vicious tools.
And tools always had a purpose.
In the courtyard below, her father, the clan head, a revered cultivator and unshakable leader was standing tall among the defenders.
His voice barked commands, as his blade sang through the air.
Then he looked up and saw her.
"Huolian!" he shouted. "Stay back! Go inside, it's not safe!"
His voice was firm and familiar. For a moment, it stirred something deep in her chest. A younger part of her, buried beneath ambition and calculation, wanted to obey.
It wanted to run to him and save him.
But that part had no place here anymore.
"Father…" she whispered, the word uncomfortable on her lips.
Then she smiled.
"You've already lost. But fret not, your daughter will stand tall among all the three tribes as you wanted."
Down below, just as the defenders began to rally, the trap sprang shut.
The hidden forces of the Gou and Xiong surged from the shadows, cutting down Hu warriors like crops in harvest. The courtyard exploded into blood and screams.
Huolian turned from the balcony.
There was no need to watch the rest.
The sanctum at the heart of the compound was deathly quiet.
Huolian's footsteps echoed in the polished hall as she approached the ancestral vault, the final prize in a game she'd played with perfect cruelty.
Outside, the battle still raged. Inside, all that remained was her goal.