“What is the value of a human life?” Tian Lu asked his fellow sect mates. He looked each of them in the eye. But not the eyes, because Tian Lu thought he remembered taking a public speaking class. The time saved by only looking at one of his fellow disciples eyes could be used to add flourishes to his senior brother act. Another wave of his fan followed.

He sighed.

“As humans, we are the deciders of life. As cultivators, we are often the harbingers of death. My fellow cultivators, I ask you this, how valuable is a man’s life?”

Tian Lu took a beat.

“Some men deserve to live and others deserve a fate worse than death.” His face became solemn. Forlorn, as if he had experiences in these matters. However, he did not.

“It is within our realms to bring about punishment and salvation. You may kill a man today and save a man the next. Does that make it equal?” He looked right at his two junior disciples as he said this.

“The man you killed today could have a wife. Children. He could have brought about goodness in the world. But you’ve taken it away. The man you saved yesterday could be your enemy tomorrow. He could scheme and bring about your demise and the demise of all those around you. How do we know whose life is worth saving? How do YOU decide who lives and who dies?”

Tian Lu could hear a crescendo somewhere. It was inside of him.

“The life of a disciple from the Plum Tree Sect. The life of a senior brother. The life of a bandit. The life of a King! And the life of a little boy yet to experience the world. It is these lives we hold in our hands.”

He put his fan away. And stared at his own hands. Then, he bought it behind his back like he didn’t want to see them ever again. But he definitely would like to see them again, for the rest of his life, in fact.

“And in this moment, my fellow disciples, I ask you to hold each one of these ambushers' lives in your hands.”

The crowd gasped. They too looked at their hands and then at the five men, still kneeling.

“Junior Disciple Daiyu, Junior Disciple Rang, Fellow Disciple Chang. Each of you, take one of these men to a private location. You hold their life in your hands. You do not have to kill them. You do not have to save them. But no matter what you choose, as cultivators, we are given that freedom. The freedom to choose. And we are given that freedom often as you walk the cultivation path. The only thing you can do after, is to live with what you’ve done. And I would ask you: will you be able to live with what you’ve done?”

Each of the three members of the Plum Tree Sect spread out and went to different locations. Each with a heavy face. They slipped into the vastness of the forest.

His speech was finished. He thought it could use some work but he had gotten the message into his junior disciples’ heads. Life was important. And really Tian Lu had meant, his life was important. However, for all his schemes, they didn’t always work as intended.