55 Chapter 54: Tragedy (2/2)

”Fuck you…”

I gritted my teeth.

”…if you harm either one of them, I swear I will kill you! I don't care how, but one day, I'll definitely escape and avenge their deaths. You mark my words, I'll…”

Ba Yun straightened up and glared at me. For a moment, he was rock still, as if he couldn't believe the answer I gave.

Then a vein twitched in his temple and he glared at me.

”I'm not asking you about that bullshit!”

He stepped forward and grabbed me by my hair again, shaking me violently, causing me to rock in my chair.

”What's your reply? Hmm? Answer my question, hey! Decide! Decide! Decide quickly! Don't be such a wuss, hey!”

”Shut the fuck up!” I yelled. ”I already told you, if you have to kill someone, kill me instead!”

”And I told you it'll be too simple! You deserve a far worse punishment than death!” Ba Yun roared back as he kicked me so hard that I fell over, the chair and all. The rivets that bolted the chair to the ground had given out under the tremendous impact and the furniture fell over, taking me along with it. I grunted as the back of my head hit the rough floor.

”…”

Ba Yun fell silent for a moment, and then he sighed.

”Whoops. Looks like I lost my cool for a bit there. Sorry about that.”

He then righted the chair, bringing me back up to an upright position. Shaking his head, he dusted me off with his hands, his paws slapping hard against my body. I jolted from the impacts, but didn't utter a sound of pain.

God…end this already. Please…I beg You, end this…

Both Hu Shi and Hu Hai watched in silence, their eyes wide as they struggled to comprehend what had just happened. I raised my head wearily and met their gaze.

I can't let them die.

They took care of me when I was on the verge of death, giving me a place to stay and helping to nurse me back to health after my fight against the Hydra. I couldn't let them die. I had to find a way to save them, to save the both of them, no matter the cost.

Even if I had to offer my life in exchange.

”…just kill me, and let them go. Please…”

Ba Yun paused as he studied me, then he straightened up with a smile.

”I see. All right then. I understand.”

He then strode over to Hu Shi, who flinched and wept quietly. But the lady had already steeled herself, having resolved to die in her son's place.

”Brat, watch closely.”

”No…” I murmured, my eyes wide and wet with tears.

”...”

Hu Hai, despite his youth, also understood what was going on. He bit his lips as he fought to hold back a sob, tears streaming down his face. He clenched his fists and cried, his body shaking.

”…Senior Ba Yun.”

To my surprise, someone else had entered the room. It was none other than Qi Fu Ren. Even the bully seemed sick to his stomach at what was transpiring inside here.

”Don't you think you're going too far? These commoners are sacrifices for the sect leader. You can't just take them and kill them on your own.”

”They're going to die either way, what difference does that make? As long as you don't tell anyone, who would know?”

”That's not the point.” Qi Fu Ren took a deep breath and clenched his fists. ”Don't you think your actions are too depraved? No matter the circumstances, to kill the kid's mother in front of him is just…”

I never thought I would see the day Qi Fu Ren stand up for other people. He was a bully who loved to pick on the weak, to establish his superiority so that he could wallow in his self-perceived sense of superiority.

It was probably a testament to just how depraved and how far gone Ba Yun was, to the extent that even a bully was sickened to his stomach by his horrible actions.

”…huh?”

Ba Yun twitched as he turned to glare back at Qi Fu Ren. The bully didn't seem at all intimidated as he stood his ground.

”Say that again, Qi Fu Ren?”

”I said you're going too far,” Qi Fu Ren replied fearlessly. ”I enjoy your abuse and torture of Fei Wu, don't get me wrong, you're doing an amazing job of breaking down his indomitable spirit. But you shouldn't drag others into this. That kid and his mother have nothing to do with Fei Wu. There is no reason to torture and kill them.”

”Are you not listening to anything I said? This mother-son pair have intimate connections with that loser over there. I heard them talking, you know? They were the ones who took care of him and housed him when he ended up half-dead in their village.”

”I don't mean that…I mean, there is no reason to torture people other than Fei Wu himself…”

”Hey, junior.” Ba Yun was turning to face him fully now, his fury washing out in a sea of hostile qi, as he emphasized on their difference in status. ”Are you telling me what to do?”

”I just…”

”They're both going to die later, either sacrificed to our great leader or killed by me. Isn't it mercy on my part if I end their misery sooner rather than later? Aren't you being a hypocrite? You know their fates. What's the difference if they die now or if they die later, huh?”

”That's not…”

”Are you getting cold feet now, hmm? Newbie? Did you suddenly realize you have a conscience and can't bear to kill innocents? It's too late, isn't it? Your hands are already stained with the blood of innocents.”

Ba Yun glowered at Qi Fu Ren, who fell silent, unable to rebut him.

”I know what you did. The promising newbie…with an amazing reputation when he officially joined the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect. Weren't you the one who killed your own lackeys, hmm? And now you're getting cold feet and telling me not to kill?”

”I'm not telling you not to kill anyone,” Qi Fu Ren protested. ”But…but even if you have to kill someone, at least…at least make it quick. There is no sense in torturing them like this.” he turned to look at me scornfully. ”Fei Wu is different. He deserves to be tortured. He doesn't deserve a quick, easy death. But…” He turned to glance back at the mother-son pair. ”Those two are innocent. If you want to kill them, make it as painless as possible.”

”Painless as possible? What do you mean painless as possible, huh?! Death is still death, isn't it?!”

Then suddenly Ba Yun chuckled in understanding.

”Oh, earlier you said something about killing the kid's mother in front of him, didn't you? Is that what's making you uncomfortable? The order of who dies first?”

With a single motion, Ba Yun seized Hu Hai by his neck and lifted the poor kid off his feet. Twisting his flailing captive about, he began strangling the choking boy.

”How about this? If I do this, then the brat doesn't have to watch his mother die! Is this better? Huh?!”

”Hai'er!”

Hu Shi's cry of despair was lost in Ba Yun's rage and violence.

”How about this? Eh?”

”Senior Ba Yun, wait!”

”ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!”

There were painful and ominous cracks that snapped through the vast interior space of the room.

”Hai'er!!!!”

Hu Shi was screaming now, trying to reach out, but unable to help her child. I watched, stunned and horrified at the brutality that was unfolding before me, helpless and useless.

”Senior, that's enough…! Stop!”

”DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”

Ba Yun was bellowing thunderously now even as his grip tightened and crushed the choking and sobbing Hu Hai's trachea.

”I DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS ROOM! THIS ROOM IS MY TERRITORY! MINE! MINE! I DECIDE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN HERE!”

He threw Hu Hai's lifeless corpse onto the ground and stalked off, shoving Qi Fu Ren to the side. Even the bully looked aghast at what had just transpired.

”You…”

”What?” Ba Yun snarled at him, but Qi Fu Ren didn't rise to the bait and merely respectfully maintained his distance.

Ba Yun then came a stop somewhere in the middle of his room and let out a holler.

”See what you've done!? You ruined my fun! You've ruined everything! Ah, fuck! Fuck this shit! FUCK!”

While he was raving and ranting, Hu Shi crawled over to Hu Hai's body and wrapped her arms around him.

”Hai'er…ah…Hai'er…”

She began sobbing.

”Uuu…ugh…why, Hai'er? Why? Heavens, why must you be so…?”

Ba Yun turned his feverish, demonic gaze on her, something in his mind snapping.

”Uuu…”

Even as Hu Shi wept, he slowly stomped toward her. Then with a single flick of his arm, he materialized a shadow blade from his arm and stabbed her in the chest, gouging her heart out and flinging her into the air in a spray of blood.

”You're too noisy!”

My jaw dropped open and my eyes widened when I witnessed the brutal murder. My hands fought against the restraints, but I was unable to break myself free.

”I'll kill you…I'll kill you…I'LL KILL YOU!”

I was screaming incoherently and glaring at Ba Yun murderously. Thrashing about on my seat, I yelled and raged against the fucking bastard.

”I'll definitely kill you, you fucking bastard! You'll regret this! I swear, I'll make you regret this, even if it's the last thing I do! I swear I'll kill you! I swear, you'll regret this! Just you wait, I'll definitely…!”

By now I was raving and ranting crazily, aware that my threats were meaningless. That I did not possess the power to carry out what I was yelling incoherently at the psychotic bastard.

”Yeah, yeah.”

Ba Yun was leaving the room and dismissing my empty threats. With a wave of his hand, he didn't even glance back at me before he left his room.

”Do your best, loser.”

Before he stepped out, however, he paused. With one hand on the door, he sneered.

”And before you start yelling and raging at me, think about this, you trash. This is all your fault. All your fault for being a hypocrite.”

Then he shut me inside the room with the corpses of my benefactors.

”Ugh…ah…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Letting loose an impotent howl of fury, I struggled against my cuffs and restraints one last time, but as usual, my lack of strength of qi prevented me from doing anything.

”…I never meant for this to happen.”

Qi Fu Ren looked at both of the corpses and shut his eyes. Then he stepped forward and placed both mother and child together, granting them at least a dignified burial of some sorts. Not that it held any meaning.

By the next day, Ba Yun would have some servant or subordinate come in and clear the bodies, and they would be dumped unceremoniously together with all the other victims that the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect had massacred.

Hypocrite? Who's the true hypocrite? What's the point of granting them this burial when you're going to sacrifice them…going to kill them anyway?

No…this is my fault. It's all my fault for being useless. If I wasn't such a weak, useless trash, I would have been able to save them…

All those ideals of justice, of virtue and honor…they were useless in a place like this. Ba Yun was right. Those with strength got to decide what virtue and justice was. Anyone without the strength to back up their lofty ideals would remain just talkers, spewing meaningless words that had no concrete reality behind them.

”You do realize this is your fault, don't you?” Qi Fu Ren sneered. I said nothing, and Qi Fu Ren continued. ”It's all because trash like you existed. If you've never existed, this mother and child would never have died. If you've never existed, I wouldn't have been reduced into a fugitive, a criminal who has to throw his lot in with a demonic sect. If you've never existed, nothing bad will happen in this world. Everything is on you.”

He kicked me before striding out of the room.

And…once again, I was left alone in the dark basement, with nothing to accompany me but death.