~~~

It has been three days since Liu Jin last visited his grandfather, two since the last storm, and one since the last time his men fought a Spirit Beast.

“Pick up the pace! We want to reach Drizzle Town before nightfall!”

The men don’t complain. Weeks of fighting and eating Spirit Beasts have increased their cultivation levels, putting nearly all of them in the Nascent Realm. What would have once tired them into unconsciousness now merely demands moderate effort. The company is still not nearly as fast as Liu Jin would like–one of the reasons he alone goes to the Brotherhood’s hideout and back instead of making all the men make that trip–but progress is progress.

Lei Kong leads the men in a marching song. Surprisingly, he knows quite a few of them. Some are too bawdy for Liu Jin’s tastes, but the men enjoy them. Better for them to run happy than bored.

Going by the map the Brotherhood gave him–one much better than the one he received from City Lord Lei’s men–they should be arriving at Drizzle Town in a few hours. With it, they will have seen nearly every settlement in the region except those closest to Thunder Blade Fortress, where Lei Leji, the head of the Lei Clan and Lei Kong’s uncle, rules.

Contrary to what someone like City Lord Lei might think, Liu Jin has not been wasting time visiting random towns. In fact, his trips have not been random at all. Every location they have seen has helped Liu Jin understand how the Lei Clan has structured its power around the region. That’s how he knows nearly every member of the Lei Clan is in Thunder Blade Fortress right now.

Maybe it is because of Lei Kong’s sudden appearance. Maybe the Lei Clan has become extremely insular over the years. Maybe it is something else. The reason does not matter.

Most of the Lei Clan has gathered in a single place. That will make things easier.

The song changes. It is a nice song, so Liu Jin tries to hum along, but his heart is not in it. His men might sing cheerily, but there’s no removing the scowl on Liu Jin’s face. He cannot focus on anything other than how much he dislikes all this.

Maybe… Maybe that’s why he has put off acting for as long as he has.

The Lei Clan has not moved against him beyond placing spies like Quan among his men. Most likely, they have not done more because they are as wary of Murong Bang’s reaction as anyone else.

However, that will all change the moment Liu Jin goes against the City Lord. It does not matter how quietly he does it, and Liu Jin could do it very quietly. Over the past few weeks, Liu Jin has considered the pros and cons of multiple poisons. He has even thought about leaving City Lord Lei alive but so drugged he’d basically be a puppet. The existence of the Brotherhood of Thunder, more specifically that of Leader Liu, means he’d have someone to put in charge of the man.

Unfortunately, none of the methods Liu Jin has considered can stand up to the scrutiny of a family visit. The Lei Clan is fully complicit in the City Lord’s slave trade, so he cannot put a stop to it without them noticing.

The song changes. Ten joins in. Liu Jin does not. The heaviness of his thoughts makes his tongue feel like lead.

An entire clan. A clan made of many worthless people that have willingly cooperated with a monster for more than a decade, but an entire clan all the same. One consisting of multiple families with multiple innocent children. If Liu Jin kills only the guilty, can he expect the children to listen to him explain why he killed their parents?

Of course not. The very thought is stupid and naive.

Reluctant as Liu Jin is to admit it, there is a reason why so many revenge stories wipe out families to the last person.

There has to be another way, but no matter how much he tries, Liu Jin cannot think of something that won’t create dozens of would-be avengers that would probably just get themselves killed in a decade or two.

The march continues

The songs continue.

Liu Jin struggles to do the same.

~~~

Drizzle Town is no more.

The houses are destroyed, walls and doors broken down and ceilings caved in. The people…The people are all around the town. Skewered on top of large wooden stakes so they might welcome any who visit. There are so many of them. Men. Women. Elderly.

Children.

One child looks at them with lifeless eyes. His face is twisted into something that resembles a smile, but Liu Jin knows better. Muscles stiffen after death, including those in the face. The macabre sight is a cruel coincidence. Nothing more.

The air stinks of blood and dead flesh. Flies and vultures have already begun to feast. An eye is torn out. An ear is chewed. Intestines are dug through with sharp beaks.

Someone pukes.

It serves as a trigger for those with the most sensitive stomachs among them. It seems that impaled children are a step too far for some.

“What…what in the world?” Ten’s voice trembles with confusion and rage. “What happened here?”

A good question, but now is not the time for it. In a flash, Liu Jin’s Qi snakes lash out, startling the men behind him. They wrap around every single stake and destroy them with poison Qi.

The bodies hit the ground one by one.

“Gather the bodies,” Liu Jin says. “Prepare a pyre. We’re burning all of them.”

“W-what? But commander! Those bodies are…” A green-faced soldier gestures haplessly at the rotting corpses, the notion of touching them in any way unappealing to him.

Liu Jin stares at him.

The soldier gulps.

“I mean… Right away, commander.”

Forty minutes later, all the bodies are piled up, and a rudimentary pyre has been lit. It is all more informal than Liu Jin would like, but as long as the Death Fashioning Scripture is an issue, it is better to quickly burn any dead body.

“Did you find anything?” Liu Jin asks when Ten and Lei Kong come back from searching the town.

“Nothing that is not apparent at a glance, my lord,” Lei Kong says. “This was a quick and violent attack. There was no goal beyond a total slaughter.”

Liu Jin takes a deep breath.

“I see.”

“I examined some of the injuries. This was not done using cheap weapons,” Ten continues. His face twists as he struggles to remain calm. “Some of the corpses were trampled over. There are horse tracks all over town. The people that did this came and left on horseback.”

The people that did this. Under other circumstances, Liu Jin might have cracked a smile. There is no need for Ten to be so vague when there is so much evidence around them. In the first place, there are almost no bandits in this area other than the Brotherhood, and the Brotherhood most certainly did not do this.

This was done by soldiers. Not just random new recruits like the ones Liu Jin has been given, but men with experience and equipment.

“They did not bother hiding their tracks,” Lei Kong says. “We should be able to follow their trail, but I am not sure I’d recommend that, my lord. Their trail is so obvious I’m convinced they want us to follow, but how could they have known we’d be here.”

“Does the trail head northeast?” Liu Jin asks. “Towards Rainstorm City?”.

Lei Kong nods hesitantly. “In that same general direction, at least.”

“I have been telling the City Lord of our location whenever I write a report. Anticipating the next town I’d visit wouldn’t have been hard,” Liu Jin says.

Lei Kong pales. “My lord…”

“I did not think the City Lord would be quite this daring,” Liu Jin continues, his voice worryingly detached. “In fact, I am certain he is not, which means something has changed.”

“My lord, this is not-”

“Gather the men. We have wasted enough time already.”

~~~

Once again, one hundred men are arranged in ten rows and ten columns before Liu Jin. In some ways, not much has changed compared to the first time. The men are still a sorry-looking lot, perhaps more now than they were back then. Constant battles against Spirit Beasts have taken away many of their low-quality weapons and armor.

However, there is confidence in their eyes, a surety in their stance that had not been there weeks ago. They are no longer mere rabble but a cohesive force.

They are still nowhere near ready.

“Gentlemen,” Liu Jin says. “I plan on marching to Rainstorm City and removing City Lord Lei Jihai from power. This will most likely involve killing him.”

Silence.

The men do not react to Liu Jin’s words because their brains struggle to comprehend them. They parse over them, trying to find some hidden meaning. They wait for their commander to suddenly smile and tell them he’s merely jesting.

Liu Jin does not.

“After the City Lord is taken care of, I will go to Thunder Blade Fortress. My visit there will most certainly be a violent affair. Though I will try my best, I do not think I can guarantee your survival.”

The outcry is nearly deafening this time. Nearly all the men start speaking out once. Some asking questions. Some demanding answers. Some begging him to reconsider. Liu Jin lets them go for almost a full minute before making a sharp, sweeping motion with his hand.

The men quiet down at once.

“In the beginning, you were ordered to follow my orders, and you did,” Liu Jin says, his hands folded behind his back. “Things have changed. Though I willingly consort with enemies of the City Lord, you still remain at my side. However, let’s be frank. It’s not out of loyalty that you do this. You simply haven’t had the opportunity to betray me. Whatever respect or gratitude you might feel towards me is simply not enough to make you fight your leaders.”

More than one person gulps. Some nervously tug their collars, and more than one hand finds its way around a weapon. Their concern is not unwarranted. They can hear the spoken question in Liu Jin’s words loud and clear.

You haven’t had the opportunity to betray me, so why should I give you one?

Luckily for them, Liu Jin is just not the type of person that will kill them simply because it would be convenient.

“Anyone who wants to leave can leave,” he says in stark contrast to their expectations. Indeed, the men stare at him in shock. “This is not a trick or a test. If I cannot count on you, I’d rather not have you.”

Liu Jin pauses for a moment, allowing them to digest his words before continuing.

“Part of me hopes that you have understood how hopeless an endeavor it is to serve Murong Bang and those like him. Some of you probably harbor thoughts of using what you have learned of me and the Brotherhood of Thunder for your personal advancement. I heavily advise against it. The City Lord is liable to kill you just to spite me. Murong Bang would do worse. He’s notoriously merciless. You will not survive.”

Liu Jin raises his finger and points south.

“If I might be allowed to make a suggestion, then go to the Crimson Cloud Empire and start over. You have all grown strong enough to make a living there. I guarantee that whatever life you start there will be better than the one you have here so long as you do not turn to banditry. Run to your towns and villages if there is someone there you want to take with you, but do not stay here. You should have already realized how little everyone here cares about you.”

Liu Jin gives a poignant glance at the burning pyre before turning back to the soldiers.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Those who want to leave, leave already. There is no time to waste.”

For a third time, the prairie falls silent save for the embers of the funeral pyre. The soldiers’ heads turn left and right, desperate for guidance at such an odd moment. They try to communicate with hand gestures and glances. Somehow, the idea of using words doesn’t occur to them. The weather is warm, but their jaws are frozen stiff.

Finally, a single soldier, one near the back, dares to step back.

It is a small movement. Even calling it a step might be an exaggeration. His left foot moves perhaps two inches. However, it’s followed by another step, then another and another, until the man breaks into a maddened sprint.

Others follow. Some calmly. Some terrified.

By the end, there are only fifty-nine men in front of Liu Jin. Still, he waits thirty more minutes to give them one last chance to back out.

They don’t.

“So many of you,” Liu Jin says, his voice almost a whisper. His eyes find Quan, one of the spies put in place by the Lei Clan. He trembles like a leaf, yet his feet do not move. “I am surprised.”

Quan swallows. “Commander, permission to speak freely.”

“Granted.”

“Where else can I go?” Quan asks him miserably. “If I go to the Lei Clan and tell them I have been lying to them all this time, they’ll kill me. You tell me to start over, but how am I supposed to do that? I don’t know those sorts of things, commander! I only know this!”

Some of the men nod in agreement with Quan. Others look at him with contempt.

“Very well,” Liu Jin says. “If you do not know how to live, I will try my best to teach you. You are all my responsibility, so I will do my best to ensure you all live through this. Is that acceptable to you, men?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good.” Liu Jin nods. “We march now.”

Liu Jin takes off, and the men follow him.

~~~