The Thanh Ha River had always been tranquil.
Now, it was filled with killing intent.
More than a dozen people in black robes stood across the riverbank.
Each held a black flag bearing a **red eye** symbol.
The wind rose.
Waves churned across the river.
Luc Minh tightened his grip on the peachwood sword.
"You want to take Moc Thanh..."
"...then you'll have to step over my dead body."
The leader burst out laughing.
"You still don't understand."
"We're not here to kill the girl."
"We're here..."
"...to break the curse."
## The Tan Family
Just then, a pickup truck came barreling toward the riverbank.
A woman in her forties hurried out.
A teenage boy of about seventeen followed behind her.
His face was deathly pale, his eyes bloodshot, and both hands were bound with copper chains.
The woman dropped to her knees in front of Luc Minh.
"Please save my son!"
"I've been looking for you for three days."
Luc Minh helped her to her feet.
"What happened?"
The woman choked out,
"My family..."
"...has been cursed for three generations."
## A Hundred-Year Story
She introduced herself as **Tan Ngoc Lan**.
The Tan family had once been one of the wealthiest families in the region.
A hundred years ago,
their ancestors had taken part in the ritual sacrifice of seven children in Thanh Khe Village.
In exchange for prosperity.
Before she died,
the mother of the seven children had placed a curse on them.
> "In the third generation of your family..."
> "...the firstborn son will become a ghost."
From that day onward,
the curse had never failed.
In the third generation,
every firstborn son went insane.
Then killed his own family.
And finally took his own life.
Her son...
was next.
## Signs of the Curse
The teenager, **Tan Duong**, suddenly raised his head.
His eyes had turned completely black.
He stared fixedly at Luc Minh.
Then he broke into a twisted smile.
"At last..."
"...I've met the Maoshan heir."
That voice...
wasn't a boy's.
It belonged to an older woman.
Moc Thanh whispered,
"It's her."
"The mother beneath the well."
## Not Possession
Luc Minh opened his Heavenly Eye.
What he saw left him stunned.
There was no ghost possessing Tan Duong.
Instead...
A red thread connected the boy's heart to the ground below.
The thread stretched all the way to the dry well in Thanh Khe Village.
Ha Van Son frowned.
"This isn't possession."
"It's..."
"**the Three-Life Blood Curse.**"
"A curse passed down through the bloodline."
## The One Behind It
Suddenly,
a round of applause rang out.
The leader of the Huyen Ling Society slowly stepped forward.
He removed his hood,
revealing a gaunt face with a long scar running from his forehead to his chin.
"As expected of Ha Van Son."
"You still recognized it."
He bowed.
"I am..."
**Luu Han.**
"One of the Four Protectors of the Huyen Ling Society."
Luu Han smiled.
"The Tan family is only the first gift."
"Before long..."
"...hundreds of other families will awaken their curses as well."
## The Curse-Breaking Ritual
Luc Minh used the peachwood sword to cut his fingertip.
Blood dripped onto the talisman.
He pressed the talisman against Tan Duong's chest.
"Heaven and earth possess spirit."
"Righteous energy returns to its source."
"Let the Way shatter evil!"
The talisman began to glow.
The red thread immediately became visible.
But instead of snapping,
it pulled taut.
From beneath the ground,
a hand covered in mud reached upward.
Then a second hand.
A third.
Dozens of hands thrust out of the earth.
Each tried to grab Tan Duong's legs.
The cries of children rang out across the entire riverbank.
## Sacrifice
Ha Van Son stepped forward.
He looked at his black hand.
Then sighed softly.
"Perhaps..."
"...the time has come."
He removed the strip of cloth that was always wrapped around his wrist.
For the first time,
his entire right arm was revealed.
It was black as ink.
Golden sealing characters covered every inch of it.
The instant the seal was removed,
an incredible surge of power erupted.
The surrounding yin energy was sucked clean away.
Luu Han's expression changed.
"Fall back!"
"That's..."
"...the Demon-Sealing Hand!"
Ha Van Son placed his palm against the red thread.
He softly recited an incantation.
"Cause and effect..."
"...it's time to end this."
**Crack!**
The red thread snapped apart.
Screams rose from beneath the earth.
Tan Duong fainted.
The curse that had lasted a hundred years...
was finally broken.
## The Price
But immediately afterward,
Ha Van Son dropped to his knees.
Black veins spread from his arm to his shoulder.
Then up to his neck.
Black blood welled from the corner of his mouth.
Luc Minh hurried over and caught him.
"Are you all right?"
Ha Van Son gave a bitter smile.
"The Demon-Sealing Hand..."
"...isn't power."
"It's..."
"...a prison."
"If I use too much..."
"...whatever's sealed inside will awaken."
Just then,
a low laugh echoed from deep beneath the earth.
It belonged to no one present.
Even Ha Van Son went pale.
The voice uttered only four words.
> **"I... am... about... to... awaken..."**
The ground beneath everyone's feet began to tremble.
Moc Thanh looked down at the river.
For the first time, unmistakable fear showed in her eyes.
She whispered,
"It's too late..."
**End of Chapter 15.**