When Lin Qiuyue had learned the true identity of her target and reviewed Su Liling's memories surrounding Qi Bingwen, the only thing she could say was that this massacre was not too unreasonable.
Qi Bingwen had truly suffered under the hands of the Su Family.
He should be twenty this year, he was taken in by Su Family when he was only eleven, the crippled child of a fallen unorthodox family. That year, Su Liling's father had wanted to show his magnanimous nature to the world and gave Qi Bingwen a chance to live as a servant of the Su Fu. Without a home and scorned by the world, the child accepted the bargain but such an offer was only pretty on the surface. It could only fool the idiots outside.
Every member of the Su household could only laugh in their heads. 'What was Qi Bingwen, just trash from the unorthodox faction. He didn't deserve to be a servant of the Su Family.'
So he was not treated as a servant of the fu but as a slave, he was despised by the masters and looked down on by the other servants. He was severely mistreated and could be bullied by anyone without repercussions, living a life worse than an animal.
There was an understanding that as long as he kept his life, anything could happen to him and the masters wouldn't bat an eye.
Su Liling didn't witness much of it herself but she couldn't avoid hearing of every new form of ridicule he would face.
When her second brother was unhappy he would use him as a practice dummy, beating him black and blue with a wooden sword. When her eldest sister was irritated she would force him to brew hot tea that she would dump on him. When her second sister was bored she would make him dance and sing to her tune. Even the concubine children got in on the fun of harassing Qi Bingwen.
All this abuse, Qi Bingwen had to accept without a word, if he fought back, he would only get beaten further or risk getting thrown out. There was nothing he could do for himself, he lacked the ability to learn martial arts and a background capable of protecting him. He was just a slave that could be killed at any time without anyone batting an eye.
This hellish reality lasted for five years until Su Liling learned of Qi Bingwen's death, it was said to be an accident, his body was found drowned in her second sister's courtyard. Her second sister denied doing anything to him but she was punished by their father anyways, confined to her room for a month. After that, she moved out of that unlucky courtyard and never looked back.
That seemed to have been the end of Qi Bingwen's story.
Su Liling was only fourteen at the time, nine when he first arrived. She didn't have all that many interactions with Qi Bingwen but she had always pitied the older boy. She couldn't stop his mistreatment because of her age and lacking position in the family but she was moved enough to seek her older brother's help.
Unfortunately, her brother was trying to make a name for himself in the jianghu back then so he was not home for months at a time.
Su Liling could only treat Qi Bingwen better secretly, she didn't want her siblings to have any reasons to find fault in her.
When Qi Bingwen was deprived of dinner she would send her trusted maid to give him some food.
When Qi Bingwen was too badly beaten she would send some bruise medicine.
When Qi Bingwen wasn't given a proper blanket for the incoming winter she would send him a blanket and coal to burn at night.
The more that Lin Qiuyue viewed the girl's memories, the more she grew to like her. Su Liling was truly an unblemished flower in a garden of poisonous plants. It was a pity that she was no longer here but she could guess why Su Liling chose to give up her body and sign a contract with the main system.
Su Liling must have known that she could not pass this calamity, she may have been a calm and composed person but that alone wasn't enough to save her.
Yes, she might have helped Qi Bingwen in the past but what was that worth if she couldn't convince him to listen to her, given that she was able to encounter him at all. There was a way higher chance of her getting killed by one of his no-name subordinates and never even getting to see a side of his face.
But Lin Qiuyue was different, she was confident that she could pass the calamity that Su Liling could not.
So it was good that Su Liling left it to her, she would survive and achieve results soon enough! And the first step to that couldn't happen without meeting her target, she still needed to go see how his revenge was going.
Lin Qiuyue peeked outside her door and checked for any enemies nearby before she walked out of the room. Su Liling's sword was in her hand while she ignored the little system that was frantically trying to stop her, it flew in front of her and all around her, its lights flickering wildly.
『Host!! You can't walk to your death like this, we have other options! You really don't have to force yourself!』
The battle was still ongoing outside, she could see guards and assassins in black engaging in combat all around the courtyard. It was obvious at a glance which side was winning, most of the bodies on the floor wore the uniform of the Su Family guards.
It was a gruesome scene, in the moonlight the once bright red blood turned into pools of ink, reflecting only the darkness within. This wasn't her first time seeing a dead body but murder in the modern age was a bit cleaner than this, the swords seemed to slice through the skin like a tomato. Stomach wounds would cause guts to spill out and neck wounds would spray blood on all the surroundings. It was hard to look at.
Even if Lin Qiuyue was not averse to blood, she didn't continue watching. She had to keep moving, she couldn't risk being detected. She turned to sneak along the corridors, following Su Liling's memories, keeping her steps light and her breath low and sticking to the dark corners of the courtyard. In the chaos of combat, it should provide her cover and prevent others from spotting her. Even if they did, she would move too quickly for them to think it was worth it to pursue her while fighting the guards.
"We should go quickly, I don't want to get caught by Qi Bingwen's lackeys."
『Host! Did you hear anything I said?! We should turn around, I have a safe way to get out of here! If you go to Qi Bingwen, you'll die! You'll really die!!』
"It's going to be alright, I won't die. This is the best chance for us to make an impression on Qi Bingwen, there's no other day where he would come to us willingly like this." Lin Qiuyue said with a relaxed smile, she had gone through Su Liling's memories of Qi Bingwen and through those small snippets, she could form a pretty good understanding of him. Along with the plan she had come up with for this task, she knew she couldn't leave now and miss such a golden opportunity.
『Host, Qi Bingwen doesn't have a smidge of good feelings towards you. He won't waste any time killing you, you won't be able to communicate with him at all!』
"Come on, don't you have any faith in me? Who was the one that swore over and over that I was going to be a great host?"
『H-Host...it's not that I don't believe you. I'm just scared that you will fail and leave me forever.』
"You silly thing, I won't leave you. Just tell me where Qi Bingwen is, I'll show you just how much potential I have as a host." Lin Qiuyue petted the lethargically floating system in front of her, she already had a strong guess that Qi Bingwen would be at the main hall where Su Liling's father was but she also wanted to confirm it with her little system.
Aside from Su Liling's father, her eldest sister, older brother, and second brother should be there too as the strongest martial artists in the family. Only, she wasn't sure how much longer they would last, she had stalled for a bit so by now, her half-siblings should be injured or killed by Qi Bingwen. When she arrives, her older brother and father should still be holding on. If she guessed correctly, she might be able to save them, it was not a part of her task but as a favor to the original Su Liling, she couldn't leave Su Liling's brother for dead.
The rest of the siblings' life or death didn't matter to her, this was their own karma after all and she wasn't willing to interfere. It would only make her life more troublesome, her time in this world was already so short, only eight months, so her priority had to be her target.
『Host, Qi Bingwen is at the main hall...but you have to promise me! At any sign, no, any hint of danger, you'll leave!』
"I promise." Lin Qiuyue even made a mock pinky promise with her system to comfort it, it was childish but she didn't mind. Either way, she already knew that her idea of danger and her system's idea of danger must be very different but it probably didn't need to know that.