Chapter 165: Choices

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The news Huang Shing brings back drastically alter their plans. They do not stop preparing for an evacuation. If all goes wrong, fleeing might very well be the only choice left. However, it is no longer the priority.

“Hm, not bad,” Bei Hong says as he flexes his arms to test their strength.

“No, it is fairly bad,” Liu Jin says. There are still bandages wrapped around most of Bei Hong’s body. “I have numbed the pain and done my best to speed up your healing, but that doesn’t mean your body is in good condition. Do not overdo it.”

Despite his warning, Bei Hong and Bei Duyi’s bodies are not in a completely terrible state. If all they had to worry about were a couple of spars, Liu Jin wouldn’t be troubled.

The army of monsters approaching them from all sides does not intend to spar.

“Brother Qing, I think we both know that’s not going to happen,” Bei Duyi says. Like his cousin, he is still covered in many bandages. “My cousin is the sort of fool who would find a way to drown himself in a glass of water.”

“Bah, what point would there be in picking a fight with a glass of water! Besides, the way I hear it, we don’t have a choice, do we? This is not a fight we can avoid!”

“Perhaps, perhaps not.” Liu Jin shakes his head and sighs. “Go find Sister Fan. She’ll give you some Spirit Beast meat to replenish your strength.”

“Replenishing my strength does sound good.” Bei Hong grins. “Heh, a challenge like this is exactly what legends are made of!”

“Just don’t die,” Liu Jin says.

“If I die, that just means I wasn’t good enough.”

Bei Duyi buries his face in his palm.

“It’s always the same nonsense with you.”

“You merely lack vision, cousin.”

“Vision? I’ll not be told that by a blind man.”

Liu Jin finds himself smiling a little as the two continue bickering on their way down the hall. Despite their words, it seems they are willing to put their grudges aside and work together for now.

Or maybe they just beat the aggression out of each other?

Liu Jin thinks about it and nods. That sounds more likely.

“Quite a pair, aren’t they?”

Liu Jin is not surprised when Lu Mei enters the infirmary. He sensed her from the start. She had probably been waiting until he was alone to approach him.

“Are you feeling better?” He asks. Her pale skin already provides an answer, but he wants to hear it from her.

“Better. Not well.”

“I see.”

Liu Jin closes his eyes. Using the Eternal Flame and then having to fly them has taken its toll on Lu Mei. It is unlikely she will be ready for a prolonged fight anytime soon.

“So is it true then?” She asks. “We’re surrounded?”

“Huang Shing and those who came back with him believe so,” Liu Jin replies. Tired, he sits on one of the stone beds. “Trying to break through seems… unwise.”

Fighting the creatures in the middle of the plains would give the monsters too many opportunities to flank them. Considering how dangerous those things are up close, the best way to fight them would be to keep them at a distance. Staying in the temple gives them better opportunities to do just that.

However,if the temple is overrun, there will be no fleeing.

“So it seems,” Lu Mei says, sitting next to him. “A pity not everyone can fly.”

“It would make things far simpler.”

“I can,” Lu Mei says, making sure to meet his eyes.

“You can.”

“We could fly away,” she says, her shoulder brushing against his. “Maybe take a few others with us. Five. Perhaps six.”

“That would be Bei Hong, Huang Shing, the Young Master, and Fan Bingbing. It’d leave us with two spots.” Liu Jin counts them with his fingers. “I’d suggest Bei Duyi due to his strength, but he and Bei Hong would start fighting in the middle of the air.”

Lu Mei laughs softly. “They would, wouldn’t they? Fools. Perhaps it’d be better to leave them here. Bei Hong would enjoy the chance to fight to the end.”

“It would make for a good distraction,” Liu Jin admits.

“With the disciples fighting the horde, no one would notice we are missing until the end. We’d be halfway to the Eternal Flame Clan by then.”

“Can you even fly all the way there in your state?”

“With you helping me, I could.”

“We could report the Core Disciples as soon as we arrived,” Liu Jin says. “With Feng Hao with us, it’d be hard to doubt our word.”

“Elder Xue would support us, and Elder Xun could verify that none of us are lying. Lord Feng Shang’s faction would be publicly shamed, and Lord Feng Gui would be one step closer to gaining control over the Eternal Flame Clan. I’d say that’d be a fantastic result.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“It does sound great.” Liu Jin looks up at the ceiling and imagines the sky beyond it. “There is still the matter of you having publicly used the Eternal Flame. The Core Disciples will remember that.”

“If we get there before them, it won’t matter what they have to say. No one will believe them,” Lu Mei points out. “Besides, Elder Xue and Elder Xun already know. Annoying though it is to admit it, keeping it a secret forever was never an option. As long as no one discovers my father’s identity, it should be fine.”

“Yes, I imagine Lady Feng would not be fond of that discovery.”

While Liu Jin does not know the woman personally, he doubts any woman would like a sign of her husband’s infidelity so close by. Even among fellow concubines, it is not uncommon for grudges to appear, or so he has heard.

“We could do it.”

“We could.”

Lu Mei sighs.