Blood Sand City – Outer Salt District, Dawn of Day 41
The city gates groaned open like a dying beast. Salt dust choked the air. Crimson Wolf banners snapped above the walls, each embroidered with the wolf sigil that haunted Wuya's dreams.
He walked in disguised as a salt miner—face caked in white dust, Mo's flayed mask hidden beneath a tattered hood.
The bowl-claw whip had retracted into his spine, forming living black armor under his rags.
Nine monk souls whispered from the porcelain shard in his heart:
"Lieutenant… Wolf Fang… East Mine…"
The Salt Miner's Life
Wuya joined Shaft 7—a child labor pit 300 zhang deep.
28 children (ages 6–12) chained to iron sleds, hauling salt crystals.
Overseers with wolf-branded whips.
Air thick with salt lung rot—coughs wet with blood.
He worked silently for three days.
Hands bled—salt in wounds.
Back scarred from whip lashes.
Eyes cataloged every guard's face.
Night 3 – The First Mark
Lieutenant Han—Qi Condensation Late-Stage, Crimson Wolf Fang Captain.
Wolf sigil tattooed on chest—same as Zhao Heng's.
Drinks child blood mixed with salt wine.
Sleeps in the overseer's tower.
Wuya waited.
Midnight.
The bowl-claw whip uncoiled from his spine—60 feet, barbed, eyes sprouting along segments like black pearls.
It slithered up the tower wall—silent.
The Flaying of the Wolf Sigil
Han snored, half-naked, sigil glowing under torchlight.
The whip's eyes opened—9 monk souls stared.
Lan's voice:
"Brother… make it slow…"
Phase 1: The Binding
Whip wrapped Han's limbs—CRACK-CRACK.
Bones shattered.
Han woke screaming.
Wuya stepped from shadows, hood down, wolf mask snarling.
"You wear his mark."
Phase 2: The Peeling
Demon claws dug under the wolf sigil tattoo.
RRRRRIP.
Skin lifted—chest peeled in one piece, sigil intact.
Han's screams turned to gurgles—lungs exposed.
Wuya held the flayed sigil to the torch—burned it.
Ash fell like black snow.
Phase 3: The Message
Wuya nailed the living skin to the tower door—still bleeding.
Carved beneath with whip-tip:
WUYA WAS HERE. ZHAO HENG NEXT.
Han's eyes bulged.
Wuya whispered in Hua's voice:
"Tell him… the rat remembers."
Whip pierced Han's dantian—SUCK.
Qi core devoured.
Body shriveled to husk.
Tally carved into Han's skull: 九十八 – Ninety-Eight.
The Children's Liberation
Wuya descended to Shaft 7.
28 children chained—eyes wide with terror.
He melted chains with Iron Corpse heat.
"Run north. Black Cliff will take you."
A 6-year-old girl, Mei, clutched his leg.
"Are you… the Boundless Demon?"
Wuya knelt.
Removed the wolf mask—revealed his transparent face, crimson eyes.
"I am Wuya.
And I will kill every wolf for you."
He gave her Han's wolf fang dagger.
"Cut the next chain yourself."
The Bowl-Claw Whip Evolves
The whip absorbed Han's Qi.
Length: 80 feet.
Eyes: 18 (9 new from Han's soul).
New Ability: Soul Whisper—can mimic voices of devoured.
It spoke in Han's voice to the guards:
"All clear… go back to sleep…"
No alarm raised.
The Next Target
Wuya interrogated Han's soul inside the whip:
"Who guards the Blood Jade Mine ledger?"
Han's soul screamed:
"General Xue… Crimson Palace… solstice banquet in 7 days…"
Wuya smiled under the mask.
"Then I'll crash the party."
End of Chapter 11