Chapter 199: Even if it is True

~~~

Multiple miles separate Liu Jin from Ox Storm Fortress. Daunting as that might sound, Liu Jin could cover that distance in less than three seconds if he were at full strength.

He is not.

Fighting Han has left him weak. Liu Jin dashes without using movement techniques and leaves drops of his blood wherever he passes. He has done his best to heal the injuries he sustained during the fight, but new cuts keep opening on his skin.

Liu Jin will reach Ox Storm Fortress in fifteen seconds. It does not sound like much, but it will be the difference between life and death for many people. The thought tempts him to push himself further, but he resists it. Using more Qi than he is right now would just make things worse. He cannot even run at full speed. Besides, it is only a difference of a few seconds. Nothing more. Nothing less.

It feels like a lifetime.

Liu Jin arrives to find the barrier around Ox Storm Fortress broken and the soldiers locked in battle. Some of the raiders have already broken into the fortress. The scent of smoke and blood is heavy in the air.

Liu Jin takes it all in.

He identifies every single Qi. Those who are alive and those who are not. Those who are in fighting condition and those who have sustained too many injuries. Those who will live without immediate treatment and those who will die within the next ten minutes. Even through the chaos of the battlefield, this doesn’t take him longer than a second.

His Qi rises.

The presence of a cultivator in the higher levels of the True Realm blankets the area. The raiders look back, for a moment thinking their commander has returned victorious. Shock and dismay ripple across them when they realize that is not the case.

Liu Jin does not let the moment go to waste.

[White Venom Fist – Nine Branches]

Giant Qi snakes rise and hiss at the enemy. Even the allied soldiers are taken aback by the display, but the disciples of the Eternal Flame Clan know his power, and it inspires them to fight harder.

Liu Jin’s snakes fall on the enemy.

The fight is over less than a minute later.

~~~

Sixty-seven soldiers are dead.

All things considered, it is a small number. The commander of Ox Storm Fortress even looked happy when he told Liu Jin about it, his earlier enmity towards him forgotten in the face of his contributions during the battle.

Had Liu Jin not acted as he did, Han would have broken the barrier almost immediately. The surprised soldiers would have been easy prey for the raiders, who, on average, were superior to them in cultivation. Everyone in the base (and even those in Black Stone Village) would have died. If not from the raiders, then due to the collateral damage caused by Liu Jin and Han fighting.

However, since Liu Jin quickly removed himself and Han from the battle, it took the raiders longer to break the barrier. This gave the commander time to bring order to his men and launch a counterattack from the safety of the barrier until it collapsed.

The combined forces of the soldiers and the disciples of the Eternal Flame Clan were enough to gain the upper hand over the raiders, and Liu Jin’s return dealt the decisive blow. Now, the raiders are dead, and the men of Ox Storm Fortress live to fight another day. No matter how one looks at it, it is a fantastic success.

Liu Jin does not sleep that night.

He takes charge of Ox Storm Fortress’ poorly-stocked excuse for an infirmary and spends the whole night treating the wounded together with Ni Cai and anyone else who has some modicum of medical knowledge. It is hard work, and regrettably, he cannot save everyone. Some of the soldiers were far too wounded to live through the night. He had known that from the start.

He can only do the best he can.

“Amazing work as always, Brother Qing,” Ni Cai tells him once they’re done. He has collapsed over an old, rickety chair. There is a window beside him. Dawn is only a few minutes away, and its rosy outline can be seen on the distant horizon. “I thought for sure we’d lose at least twenty more before the night was over.”

Should Liu Jin feel glad that he managed to prevent those deaths or guilty that he didn’t save everyone? Common logic dictates it should be the first one. Expecting to go through a battle like this without losing a single life is highly unrealistic. Naive, even. Liu Jin knows he should take his victories where he can find them and resolve to do better next time. It is all he can do.

However, just because the brain knows something doesn’t mean the soul is ready to listen.

“You went through quite an ordeal yourself, or so I hear,” Liu Jin says instead of dwelling further on his thoughts.

“Heh, it’s nothing much.” Ni Cai tries to grin, but it’s obvious he’s in pain. “The raiders were just rabble.”

The many injuries on Ni Cai’s body say otherwise. He will be okay once he rests for a day or two, but right now, it’s a wonder he’s even conscious.

“That old guy, the Old Qing, he’s really something,” Ni Cai says a little begrudgingly. “His cultivation isn’t much, but he knew what to do. I… was a little insulted when I received your orders, but now I can see you were right to tell me to listen to his advice, Brother Qing. When the attack began, I was not at my best. I had no idea what to do, but that weak, old guy did.”

It is unfair of Ni Cai to refer to Old Qing as a weak, old guy when he’s perfectly average by the standards of the normal rank-and-file soldier of General Dan’s army.

It is also unfair of Ni Cai to think so poorly of himself for not knowing what to do. He’s a disciple of the Medical Pavilion, a healer rather than a fighter. This sort of thing should have never been his responsibility.

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“I placed a heavy burden on you,” Liu Jin says.

Ni Cai shakes his head.

“There was no other way,” he says. “I understand why Brother Qing put me in charge. There’s no guarantee the others would have listened to someone who wasn’t as close to you as I am. We are an unfortunately proud lot. I just… I wish I was worthy of that pride.”

Liu Jin frowns. He tentatively raises his hand to put it on Ni Cai’s shoulders but thinks better of it.

“It is not your fault we lost someone,” Liu Jin says. He regrets it immediately. Ni Cai flinches as if he had been struck.

One death.

Out of all the people that died, only one of them belonged to the Eternal Flame Clan. A young Inner Disciple who volunteered for this mission after hearing the stories of the brave heroes who returned from the Dead Plains.

Liu Jin cannot recall exchanging a single word with him.

“How is it not?” Ni Cai asks. “He was under my command, was he not? Would you prefer I blame you instead, Brother Qing? No. You did not force me to come here. I volunteered for this mission, and if I had wanted to, I could have begged on my knees to be left in Rumbling Thunder City. You would have surely allowed me to do so.”