The underground chamber stank of fresh blood and rotting flesh. Lian Mo gripped his father's throat. He squeezed until bones cracked. The old man's eyes bulged in terror. Blood frothed from his mouth. Lian Mo ripped open the chest cavity with his bare hands. Ribs snapped like dry twigs. He plunged his fingers into the pulsing heart. Tore it free. Warm gore splattered his face. He crushed the organ. Drank the spilling essence. No emotion crossed his features. Only a deep, insatiable hunger.
This was the ritual. The forbidden path to immortality. Family blood fueled the blight curse within him. Lian Mo licked his lips. The taste ignited power. Corruption percentage ticked up. From zero to five percent in Withered Husk realm. His veins throbbed. Green-black lines spread under his skin.
His mother screamed from the shadows. She clawed at the chains binding her. "Monster! You are no son of mine!" Lian Mo approached. His void-black eyes gleamed with cold madness. He remembered her beatings. The whips that flayed his cursed skin as a child. The starvation. The isolation. She called him a blight. Now he would prove her right.
He seized her hair. Yanked her head back. Exposed her neck. His dagger sliced deep. Arteries burst. Blood sprayed in hot arcs across the walls. She thrashed wildly. Her nails raked his arms. Drawing shallow scratches. He held her down. Pinned her to the cold stone floor. Watched as her struggles weakened. Her eyes filled with hatred and despair. Blood bubbled from her lips as she tried to curse him one last time. The gurgling sound echoed in the chamber. He pressed his mouth to the wound. Sucked the life force directly. The metallic tang mixed with her fading warmth. Corruption surged to fifteen percent. His flesh knit together. Old scars faded. Strength flooded his limbs. He released her corpse. It slumped with a wet thud. Limbs splayed unnaturally.
His younger sister whimpered in the corner. Twelve years old. Tears streamed down her face. "Brother... please... I never hurt you." Lian Mo knelt before her. Stroked her cheek with bloody fingers. Leaving red smears on her pale skin. "You share the blood. That is enough." She begged. Sobbed hysterically. Her small body shook. He ignored it. Grabbed her arms. Snapped her wrists like brittle branches. Bones shattered with sharp cracks. She howled in agony. A piercing wail that bounced off the walls. Blood welled from the breaks. He forced her hands into the rune circle. Letting the drops feed the glowing lines. Then he slit her throat slowly. The blade dragged across tender flesh. Skin parted. Blood cascaded in a torrent. She choked on it. Gasping. Eyes wide with betrayal. Her tiny fingers clutched at him futilely. He held her close. Felt her heartbeat stutter and stop. The warmth left her body as he absorbed every drop. Corruption hit thirty percent. A green mist seeped from his pores. The air grew toxic. Nearby rats convulsed and died. Their bodies twitching in the dim light.
His older brother roared from his bindings. The strongest of the family. He had tormented Lian Mo most. Punched him. Mocked his weakness. "I'll kill you for this!" he bellowed. Muscles straining against the chains. Veins popping in his neck. Lian Mo smiled thinly. "Too late." He unchained the brute. Let him charge. The brother lunged like a wild beast. Fists swinging. Lian Mo dodged the wild swing with ease. Countered with a fist to the gut. Fingers pierced flesh like knives. Dug deep into intestines. The brother grunted in shock. Hot fluids spilled over Lian Mo's hand. He yanked them out in steaming loops. Glistening organs trailed slime and blood. The brother collapsed to his knees. Screaming. Writhing in the pooling mess. Clutching at the gaping hole. Lian Mo stomped on his head. Skull cracked with a sickening crunch. Brains oozed between his boot and the floor. Gray matter mixed with red. The screams cut off abruptly. He knelt. Devoured the essence from the ruined corpse. Inhaling the metallic stench. Corruption climbed to sixty percent. His body hummed with raw power. Muscles swelled. Bones hardened. The thrill of dominance coursed through him.
The last was his uncle. The family elder. He had discovered the ritual scroll years ago. Hidden it. But Lian Mo stole it. Learned it. Now the old fool begged. "Spare me. I can help you." His voice trembled. Sweat beaded on his wrinkled brow. Lian Mo laughed. Low and chilling. "You already have." He drove the dagger into the uncle's eyes. One after the other. The blade plunged with wet pops. Eyeballs burst. Viscous fluid leaked down his cheeks. The uncle shrieked. Hands flailing blindly. Lian Mo grabbed his tongue. Pulled it out. Sliced it off with a swift cut. Blood filled the mouth. Muffling the cries. Then he carved open the belly. From sternum to groin. Skin and muscle parted. Organs spilled in a slippery heap. The uncle convulsed. Still alive. Gasping through the blood. Lian Mo reached in. Ripped out the liver. The kidneys. One by one. Feeling the warmth and texture. The uncle's body jerked with each violation. Finally, the heart. Torn free while it still beat weakly. Lian Mo crushed it in his fist. Absorbed the agony-fueled blood. Corruption reached eighty percent. His skin cracked wider. Blight aura thickened. The chamber walls began to decay. Stone crumbled to dust. The air shimmered with toxic haze.
All five lay mangled. Guts strewn across the floor. Limbs twisted at impossible angles. Faces frozen in eternal horror. Pools of blood congealed under the dim torchlight. The rune circle pulsed with stolen life. Lian Mo sat amid the carnage. Closed his eyes. Channeled the essence. Pain exploded inside. His dantian boiled. Flesh tore from within. He endured. Laughed through blood-flecked teeth. Corruption ninety percent. Ninety-five. One hundred.
The Blight Seed erupted. Energy ravaged his body. Reformed it. Stronger. Deadlier. Withered Husk shattered. Blight Seed born. Immortality's foundation laid.
Thunder boomed overhead. The heavens roared in outrage. This abomination defied cosmic law. Black lightning coalesced. Smashed through the ceiling. Struck Lian Mo square. Flesh burned. Bones shattered. But his blight twisted it. Corrupted the divine force. Turned holy wrath into venomous power. Veins absorbed the poison. He rose from the crater. Unbroken. Laughing maniacally. "Come, heavens. Send your worst. I will corrupt it all."
He ascended the stairs. Stepped over the threshold. The clan house awaited. Empty. Ripe for plunder. Beyond, the sect that banished his bloodline loomed. They would fall next. Screaming. Bleeding. Fueling his ascent.
The blight had awakened. Eternity would tremble.