Chapter 4- Nothing Personal

It happened when Tian was busy slicing open a sect sister’s belly. Some kind of foul insect was gnawing its way in through her guts, and the only way to rip it out was to widen the hole, pour in a generic anti-gu medication, pray that the gu wasn’t well cultivated, and yank it out before it turned more septic. He had about managed it when Counter-Jumper picked up the vibrations of an enemy rushing at his back. Tian spun and threw the stunned Gu into the rushing spearman’s face.

The scream was extremely satisfying. Less satisfying was the way the heretic lunged out with the spear anyway, forcing Tian to block it or watch his sect sister get stabbed. He managed to swing his arm around and knocked the spear to the side, but the spear still cut through his protective suit and scraped along his ribs before just barely missing the big artery under his armpit.

Tian repaid the favor by kicking his dart up into the man’s groin and once it was “safely” lodged, spinning the rope in a wide loop. The saw teeth ensured that anything softer than bone below his hips was shredded, particularly the femoral arteries. He waited for the screaming man to fall over, then got back to his sister. But not before seeing the face of the brother who should have blocked the heretic.

The brother was engaged with another heretic. It could have been an accident. Lots of things going on, and everyone is responsible for their own safety. It would be completely reasonable to think that someone just slipped past.

Tian didn’t believe it was accidental. It was deliberate. He just didn’t know what to do about it. So he carefully marked the man’s face. He studied the lines of his jaw, and the shape of his hands. Measured the length of his stride and the sound his feet made as they moved over the red sands. He took in the details of his three foot sword and the blue silk tassel hanging from the hilt.

He particularly took note of the way he tried to claim the loot.

Tian had his hands busy carefully lifting his brothers and sisters onto stretchers. The already dead were stored in the rings of their sect mates. Once again, his back was to his “brother” when the man chose to strike.

“So, Brother Lu, we have four bodies, and fifteen people to split them with. Leaving aside the two deadweights, that still leaves us less than one for three. And the heretics are broke bastards to begin with, so…”

“So what, Brother Sima?” Senior Brother Lu had a very flat tone. Tian didn’t blame him. The mission wasn’t exactly a resounding success.

“So I wounded eight of the heretics, and they broke when I used my White Dawn Slash. Did any do more than me? On merits, I should have the loot from all four, but in the interest of harmonious relations, I’ll content myself with two.”

“Oh, how broadminded.” Brother Lu’s voice was mild. “I did see that White Dawn Slash of yours. Quite dramatic.”

“Brother Lu flatters me. I’ll just-”

“No, I don’t. And no, you won’t.”

Tian finished loading the wounded onto the stretchers and sorting out who was best able to carry them. Brother Sima only had a long scratch across his temple. It bled like crazy and covered his protective suit in dark blood. Brother Lu had been stabbed three times in the torso. Each time he had deflected the blades enough so that the wounds weren’t immediately fatal, but he was a long way from fighting at full strength.

“Sister Hong, what are the sect rules for distribution of plunder taken during a patrol?” Tian’s voice wasn’t very loud, but it was piercing. Brother Fu had forced Tian to read books on history and ethics until Tian swore he would run off and live with the wolves if he had to turn another page. He had a good idea of where this was all heading, and didn’t want to go there.

“Under Standing Order 5 of the Battlefield Regulations of Ancient Crane Monastery, anything acquired during a mission for the Monastery belongs first to the person who found it or who killed the person carrying it. The Monastery has a superseding claim on any items on the Gold Fortune list, the Red Forbidden list or any item above the Heavenly Person level. A person with a prior claim who chooses to divide his claim with others may earn merit points based on the value of the goods divided, or in the event of a group kill, the total value of the goods is determined and set via merit points or spirit crystals, then divided as equitably as may be managed.”

Hong was clearly reciting most of what she was saying from memory. Tian had been forced to read the standing orders and regulations by his senior brothers. Most of it skipped off the surface of his brain like a rock skipping across a pond, but he remembered Standing Order Five running to twenty pages of quite small characters. Hong was giving them a brief summary, but it could be shortened even further. So he shortened it.

“It’s complicated, but those who killed the heretics have the right to their stuff.”

“Essentially.” Hong didn’t needle Tian. She could read the atmosphere too. Sima wasn’t getting many friendly looks, but there was an uncomfortable number of thoughtful ones.

Tian nodded and pointed. “I killed the one that’s missing his cock and balls. I have some medical training, so I am quite certain the one with the utterly destroyed genitals is the one I silently killed. Look, I even have the shredded remains of his bloodline trapped in the barbs on my rope dart. No time to clean it, too busy saving lives. Brother Sima, please, come take a close look. I would value your insight. Do you think this is all that remains of his once-prided manhood, or is some of it scattered over the sands here?”

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Tian walked over, his rope dart rising like a viper around him, displaying red and white scales. Brother Sima recoiled from it, then took three big steps back. Tian noticed the old man’s hand was resting on the hilt of his sword.

“Don’t be alarmed, Brother Sima, I already determined it’s not cursed or toxic. I just want your opinion. What do you think about the body I destroyed? Do you want it?”

The old man spat on the ground and turned away. Senior Brother Lu clapped and got the walking wounded moving and detailed people to carry stretchers. Tian carefully checked over the body, removed the storage ring and only then shook the flesh off his rope.

“He won’t forgive that.” Hong murmured.

“So?”

She looked at him and sniggered. “Mad Dog’s Pup.”

Tian nodded. Everyone else thought it was an insult, or at least a mean nickname. He made sure nobody knew it filled him with pride every time he heard it. As a reward, he didn’t mention how he had left one of the other bodies, that of the scorpion woman, to her. She didn’t have a fight over it.

Nobody wanted to stand near him on the walk back. He didn’t mind that one bit.