Chapter Fifteen: That Crimson Stain

With a swift thrust, Yue Qi’s sword severed the zombie’s head, and the girl was already dead. Her right eye had been gouged out and seemingly devoured, while her left eye remained open, filled with disbelief.

“You… you… what are you going to do…?” Yue Lei sat trembling on the ground, staring at the harbinger of doom before him. Yue Qi had kicked the zombie’s head right to his feet; its blood-soaked teeth still gnawed endlessly, and those crimson eyes bore into him as if about to swallow him whole.

“What am I going to do? Well…” Yue Qi sneered, his sword, stained with fresh blood, aimed straight at Yue Lei’s brow.

“Ah! No, please!” Yue Lei squeezed his eyes shut, and a wet patch spread across his trousers, an acrid stench rising into the air.

Yue Qi’s blade halted mere centimeters before Yue Lei’s face. Yue Lei dared to crack open his eyes, only to recoil in terror, crawling backward. He could feel the blade’s sharpness, threatening to pierce his forehead…

“Master… Master… Master, save me! I didn’t mean it! Please, save me!” Yue Lei, face contorted in anguish, crawled to the Master’s feet, clutching his left leg and pleading desperately.

The Master sighed and pulled his leg back, for everyone had witnessed the scene just now—Yue Lei, in order to save himself, had betrayed others to their deaths. Yet, truth be told, the Master wanted to see how Yue Qi would handle this. If mishandled, it might stir great unrest within the group.

“Get out!” Yue Liang, never one for patience, barked. Though wounded earlier, the young man’s blood ran hot; he could not tolerate such behavior. Back at Yue Manor, he had relied on his father’s authority as Master, and no matter how he bullied others, he had never gone so far as to cause someone’s death. The idea that Yue Lei, his childhood companion, could commit such an act was unthinkable.

Yue Liang brandished a cleaver before Yue Lei, forcing him to release the Master’s leg.

“Don’t kill me! Brother Qi! Lord Qi! I beg you!” Failing to win the Master’s mercy, Yue Lei turned to Yue Qi, dropping to his knees and pleading incessantly for forgiveness.

Would Yue Qi spare him so easily? Though Yue Lei begged and wore an expression of contrition, the more he pleaded, the more Yue Qi despised him. Cowardly before the strong, ruthless behind the weak—a man like this could sell out the entire group at any moment if allowed to remain.

“Kill him, Qi! We cannot keep a wolf like him in our ranks!” A middle-aged man behind Yue Qi shouted.

“Yes, Qi, kill him! If you don’t, we might be the next to die…”

“That’s right! Who knows what this beast will do next? He used Tingfang as a shield this time—next time, it could be you…”

Voices rose all around, faces flushed, some ready to take up blades themselves if Yue Qi hesitated.

“Look at the mess you’ve made!” Yue Qi stepped forward, sword pointed at Yue Lei’s brow. At his words, Yue Lei seemed to collapse, sprawling on the ground, yet still begging for his life.

A pang of pity flickered in Yue Qi’s heart. This man had opposed his second brother, insulted his parents, and even endangered their companions—but Yue Qi would rather have seen him devoured by zombies than kill him with his own hand. He was no stranger to taking lives; when a man once insulted Bai Lian and sought to kill him, Yue Qi dispatched him without hesitation, recognizing a cancer that could only bring harm. But Yue Lei was different. Whether he was innately wicked, Yue Qi did not know, but in his youth at Yue Manor, he had not killed nor harmed anyone. To kill such a “good man” by his own hand—Yue Qi simply could not bring himself to do it.

“Qi, how about this: since you won’t spare him, but you won’t kill him either, let’s leave him here to his own fate…” Yue Qi’s fourth sister stepped forward with her suggestion.

Yue Qi nodded silently, then turned to Yue Lei. “Whatever you think, you’ve caused a death. You must pay for it…”

He paused, then continued, “I won’t kill you, but you see—no one wants you in the group. You are no longer one of us.”

“Heh heh heh, ha ha ha ha!” Yue Lei suddenly burst into laughter, looking up at Yue Qi and tearing away the damp cloth from his nose.

“Ah, you’re all so noble, so good… All of you claim to be virtuous! Good people, all of you—so why didn’t a single one of you save me when the zombie came for me?! Was it just because I offended him?!” Yue Lei pointed at Yue Qi. “Just because I offended him, none of you dared come near me, afraid he’d cast you aside? So what if he’s a cultivator? I don’t believe it! When death is upon you, will you still prattle about morality?!”

Hair disheveled, Yue Lei’s eyes blazed at everyone present—even at Yue Qi, sword pointed at him.

“He’s gone mad! Qi, don’t show mercy to a man like this! Kill him!”

“Yes! Kill him—he shouldn’t be allowed to live! Let him become a zombie for all I care!”

A raucous chorus filled the air, urging Yue Qi to kill Yue Lei. A few even brandished blades, ready to charge, though others held them back.

“Ha ha ha! Kill me, then! Go on, kill me! If you don’t, I’ll become one of those things and hunt you down, picking you off one by one!” Yue Lei spat, blood trickling from his bitten lips.

“Hmph!” Yue Qi swung his sword, severing Yue Lei’s left hand in one stroke.

“Aaah!” The scream echoed through Yue Manor, surely drawing zombies their way.

The crowd gasped. Many had thought Yue Qi was only making a show, perhaps about to spare him. None expected him to cut Yue Lei’s arm clean off.

“Ah, so he couldn’t bring himself to finish it…” the Master observed coldly, finally sighing.

“Father? What did you say?” Yue Liang glanced at his father, noticing his lips move.

“This Yue Qi still couldn’t kill Yue Lei…” the Master sighed, “By severing his arm, he’s shown he won’t take his life…” He spoke, half to Yue Liang, half to himself, “Still not decisive enough…”

Yue Liang, still inexperienced in the ways of the world, didn’t comprehend his father’s words, so he simply watched in silence as Yue Qi resolved the matter.

“Kill me! If you dare, kill me!” Yue Lei’s face paled, wracked by agony, desperate for death.

“I won’t kill you…” Yue Qi looked at him calmly. “But don’t expect any mercy. I won’t let you threaten anyone else. You’ll stay here alone. Good luck…” Yue Qi shook his head and surveyed the group. Everyone bore wounds, whether from zombies or accidents, and their spirits were spent—they were at their limit.

Suddenly, behind them, several zombies howled, and the crowd blanched, instinctively edging closer to Yue Qi.

“Hurry, follow me! Leave him be—once we’re outside the manor, they won’t be able to chase us!” Near the gates, Yue Qi called out, nodding at his four siblings to signal them forward, then strode toward the exit.

With Yue Qi’s command, the rest of the group followed suit, sparing Yue Lei only a fleeting, pitying glance. But remembering his earlier actions, they buried their sympathy deep within.

“Kill me… just kill me…” Yue Lei lay on the ground, watching as his “companions” fled, and watched as familiar figures burst from within the manor.

“I don’t want to become one of those things! I don’t want to! No!” Yue Lei screamed, his body trembling. Strangely, the wound on his severed arm had stopped bleeding.

“No… I want… I want to kill you all…” In agony, Yue Lei knelt, supporting himself with one hand.

Three zombies hurried over, reaching the open ground near the gate. They glanced around, sniffing the air as if searching for a scent, but seemed not to notice Yue Lei kneeling nearby—as though he had vanished from their world.

“I want… to kill… ah ah!” Yue Lei growled low, then suddenly raised his head. The crimson gleam in his eyes was chilling.

“Everyone, keep together! No need to rush—there shouldn’t be any zombies nearby. Let’s take it slow!” Yue Qi led the group toward the hunting lodge, but their pace slowed, for with no pursuers behind them, he could afford to let his companions rest.

Yet as he walked at the front, Yue Qi shivered unexpectedly. He glanced back, finding nothing amiss.

“Must be my imagination…” Yue Qi thought, quickening his pace eastward.