Chapter 27: Twisted

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Liu Jin wakes up with a gasp.

He desperately looks around and finds he is back in his room, back in New Moon Town. For a desperate moment, Liu Jin dares to think it might all just have been a nightmare. However, it is a foolish thought. The images in his mind. The pain in his body. They are all too real. No, it was not a dream.

He…

He….

“Little Brother!” Someone touches his shoulder. Liu Jin flinches but instantly relaxes upon noticing it is Xiao Nan.

“Elder Brother,” Liu Jin says, taking a deep breath. “You are here.”

The knowledge is enough to return a measure of calm to Liu Jin.

“I am, Little Brother,” Xiao Nan says. “You are safe. We brought you back.”

Liu Jin closes his eyes and tries to remember the events after the fight, though perhaps calling it a fight is too kind.

As soon as the bandits had been taken care of, Liu Jin put the pendant back on. It wouldn’t do to let Nine-Headed Snake God’s poison keep contaminating the forest. He had done his best to take in the surrounding poison and guide it into the pendant, but by then, the damage had been done. Though perhaps not immediately lethal, nothing would grow in that area of the Whispering Woods for a long time.

Xiao Nan had arrived shortly after that. The older boy had found him surrounded by corpses and about to collapse, tired both physically and mentally.

“And the others?” Liu Jin asks with his eyes still closed. He doesn’t know why he asks. The answer is already known to him.

“Dead.”

The reply is instant. Liu Jin’s heart aches.

“The Black Bear Group… It was the Black Bear Group.”

“We know.” Xiao Nan’s words cause Liu Jin to look up. “One of the corpses was identified as one of their commanders. I was also able to interrogate one of them.”

“What? But I…” Catching himself in time, Liu Jin lowers his voice just in case. “I removed my pendant, Elder Brother.”

No one should have survived Nine-Headed Snake God’s poison.

“I figured as much,” Xiao Nan says. “Little Brother is strong but not that strong. You must be thinking no one should have survived something like that, and you’re right. Not one of the bandits was left alive.”

“Then how…?”

“Not being alive is not the same as being dead. There are a great many steps between life and death, and there are a great many things you can do with someone who is transitioning between them.”

For a moment, Liu Jin wants to ask just what exactly Xiao Nan means by that. However, he cannot bring himself to do so. The look on Xiao Nan’s face is as severe as he has ever seen it. The teen’s face is tight with worry and anger.

“Regardless, the interrogation produced interesting results,” Xiao Nan continues. “The attack only had one purpose. To kill Xiao Dong. I am not sure what was going through their minds when they decided to do something like that. However, now that they have succeeded, it cannot be overlooked. This cannot go unpunished.”

Of course it couldn’t go unpunished. The Branch Master’s son was killed by a group of lowly bandits. Even though this is just a minor branch, the Xiao Sect is still the Xiao Sect. An offense like this cannot be allowed to stand. The Black Bear Group should not have been unaware of that. Attacking Xiao Dong like they did could lead to no other outcome than bringing down the wrath of the branch sect on them.

That was why no one had seen the need for Xiao Dong to be heavily guarded.

No one would be stupid enough to attack him. That had been everyone’s reasoning.

“A party has been gathered to hunt down all members of the Black Bear Group. I will set out along with them in a few hours.”

“You will be leaving?” Liu Jin curses himself for how weak he sounds. Even so, he does not want Xiao Nan to leave. Not right now.

Xiao Nan’s face softens.

“I wish I could stay with Little Brother. However, Xiao Ding is furious. He would have set out on his own the moment we found you if I hadn’t talked him out of it. For a place like this, Xiao Ding is not weak at all. However, his emotions are out of control right now. I need to be with him to ensure he does not make any mistakes.”

“I see.”

The worst part is he can. Xiao Ding is a man who has just lost his son. How can he be expected to make rational decisions? The local branch has already lost its Young Master. It cannot afford to lose the Branch Master as well.

“It is better for Little Brother to rest for now,” Xiao Nan says, patting his shoulder. “Little Brother has already been through enough. Sleep. By tomorrow, your Elder Brother will have taken care of everything.”

Xiao Nan is trying to be kind. Liu Jin understands that. However, there is no way he can sleep peacefully right now.

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“I let them live.”

Liu Jin looks at Xiao Nan, lost. “Back then, Elder Brother told me to decide the fate of the bandits. I let them live.”

“Little Brother-”

“Killing them never crossed my mind. I will admit that.”

How could it? How could someone who wants to dedicate himself to healing others even think of taking away someone’s life? It is inconceivable.

“However, we could have brought them here! I could have even asked Elder Brother to destroy their dantian. That was another possibility. To take away their cultivation. There were so many things I could have done back then, but I just left them tied to a tree. I thought that was enough. Because I did that, they were able to attack us.”

At the very least that man… the Fifth Commander, he would have never been there if not for Liu Jin’s choice.

Tears start gathering in Liu Jin’s eyes.

“They attacked us… and… and…” The first tear slides down Liu Jin’s cheek. “Elder Brother, I ended up killing them. I killed them all. When it came down to it, I did not want to die, so I killed them. I willingly took off the pendant even though I knew what would happen.”

The tears keep falling. Liu Jin’s vision blurs.

“Elder Brother, is this my fault? Did I make the wrong choice?”