Chapter 19: The Price of Mercy

The disciples’ first foray out of the valley was a momentous event for the sect. Yet, the Chief Protector, who was supposed to fight alongside them, vanished midway, an irresponsible act that greatly displeased the ten elders.

The elder who dared to voice his doubts had been pushed to his limits, risking the Sect Master’s wrath.

Indeed, upon hearing his words, Ji Wushuang’s face turned exceedingly grim. His eyes blazed with a fierce, almost erupting fury.

Just then, the Wolf Girl arrived, her timing impeccable. Wielding her snakeskin whip, she joined the ranks of those slaughtering the Tatars.

With a single flick of her whip, she effortlessly claimed three lives, effectively silencing the elders and dousing the flames of Ji Wushuang’s anger.

“She’s here,” Ji Wushuang declared, pointing distantly towards the Wolf Girl. He exhaled a turbid breath; though his anger had subsided, a deep, inexpressible melancholy lingered, refusing to be assuaged.

Upon entering the fray, the Wolf Girl immediately sought out Shui Jingxuan. She instinctively rushed to his side, guarding his right flank.

She had believed this was an act of protection for Shui Jingxuan.

However, his swordsmanship had already reached a level of profound mastery; not only was his defense impenetrable, but he also reaped countless lives wherever he moved.

Following him, she found herself not protecting, but rather gaining an advantage, with virtually nothing left for her to do.

Azhuang and Black Tiger also swept towards Shui Jingxuan, trailing behind him to pick off stragglers and eliminate minor enemies.

This quartet had become veritable harbingers of death, eradicating half of the Tatars in mere moments and striking terror into all who witnessed them.

Splattered with blood, fighting amidst a carpet of corpses, Azhuang and Black Tiger’s faces were ghastly pale. The Wolf Girl’s expression was taut, her eyes occasionally flickering with uncertainty.

Only Shui Jingxuan, with a faint smile gracing his jade-like face, moved freely through the bloodbath, harvesting lives with the ease of a stroll through a tranquil garden, as if killing had long become second nature.

“Is this truly the boy’s first time killing?” Ji Wushuang’s twin sister turned to Elder Mu, her face etched with surprise.

“It… it should be,” Elder Mu paused, his voice betraying extreme uncertainty.

“Haha! Little brother, do you remember your first kill? This boy is far more promising than you were!” Ji Wushuang’s twin sister threw her head back and laughed heartily.

She vividly recalled her own panic and her brother’s numb rigidity back then. Compared to the boy’s calm composure, their past selves truly paled in comparison.

“Mm.” Ji Wushuang nodded in a low affirmation, his gaze fixed on the boy, unwilling to tear his eyes away. His previously gloomy expression had long since cleared like clouds parting.

However, his contentment was short-lived, as trouble soon arose from the Wolf Girl’s side.

As the Tatars were nearly vanquished, the Wolf Girl gradually relaxed her guard. After snapping the neck of a burly soldier, she glanced at a child, barely ten years old, who was guarding the soldier’s rear.

She tightened her long whip, ultimately unable to bring herself to strike.

Though young, the child wore a military uniform, likely sent to the army early due to poverty, hoping to survive. The child’s large eyes, stark black and white, revealed profound fear and panic.

Under the Wolf Girl’s gaze, he tried to shrink his body, attempting to minimize his presence.

The Wolf Girl stood for a moment, then finally averted her gaze and turned to leave.

This was also her first time killing. Witnessing the vast expanse of blood and the corpse-strewn camp, her heart was already wavering, having lost her initial conviction to ‘kill all Tatars.’

Moreover, her willingness to save Zhuo Yihang, a stranger, showed that despite her cold demeanor, she possessed a soft side. She simply couldn’t bring herself to kill an unarmed child.

Yet, if she didn’t kill, others would kill her. Many things were not as beautiful as she imagined. A whoosh of air signaled an incoming hidden weapon, striking her from behind, leaving her no escape.

“Watch out!” A sharp cry was followed by a metallic clang. The Wolf Girl looked back to see a small flying dagger, struck down by a pebble.

Illuminated by the silver moonlight, the dagger reflected a faint green glow, indicating it was tipped with potent poison.

With a flick of Shui Jingxuan’s sword, the head of the child, whose face was contorted with murderous intent, fell to the ground, his eyes still wide open in death.

“The Tatars are all martial, a nation of soldiers. Eight-year-olds are common in their camps, and ten-year-olds are already seasoned killers on the battlefield.

You must not be soft-hearted,” Shui Jingxuan calmly instructed the Wolf Girl. He then resumed his slaughter, leaving the Wolf Girl to stare blankly at the headless corpse for a long time.

Had the Wolf Girl not been of great future use to Shui Jingxuan, he would never have offered assistance in that moment.

As soon as the Wolf Girl spared the Manchu child, several elders began to shake their heads, and Ji Wushuang’s face clouded over.

When the child threw the hidden weapon in a sneak attack, Ji Wushuang’s fingers twitched, intending to unleash a burst of inner energy to intercept it.

However, he caught sight of Shui Jingxuan rapidly rushing to the rescue, and the energy, on the verge of erupting, slowly receded. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hmph! Womanly compassion!” Ji Wushuang’s twin sister, well aware of her brother’s covert action, couldn’t help but scoff coldly, though it was unclear whether her words were directed at her brother or the Wolf Girl.

“The Chief Protector is still young and needs more tempering!” An elder, noticing the Sect Master’s grim expression, quickly interjected to smooth things over.

“Still young? What a joke! That boy is two or three years younger than her!” Ji Wushuang’s twin sister retorted sharply.

She detested seeing her younger brother constantly fawning over the cold-shouldered Wolf Girl; it infuriated her. Whenever the Wolf Girl cast gazes of disgust and repulsion their way, she longed to gouge out her eyes.

Alas, her brother was resolute in his protection, and she dared not harm the Wolf Girl in the slightest, resorting only to occasional verbal jabs.

“Shut up! We’ll discuss this back at the sect!” Ji Wushuang, already intensely vexed by the Wolf Girl’s repeated blunders and constantly undermined by his sister, became even more volatile, scolding her with a stern expression.

Sensing her brother’s violently fluctuating emotions, Ji Wushuang’s twin sister’s heart clenched. She immediately fell silent, not daring to provoke him further.

If her brother went mad and resorted to self-harm with a knife, as they were one, she would also suffer the pain.

Witnessing the two Sect Masters’ disagreement, almost on the verge of a public spat, the ten elders averted their gazes, pretending to seriously observe the enemy camp to avoid the awkwardness.

In just this short while, the slaughter in the camp was drawing to a close. All Tatars had been vanquished. While the inner disciples had suffered casualties, they were far less severe than the elders had initially anticipated.

This resounding victory was entirely thanks to Shui Jingxuan’s astute command and valiant fighting.

The children were well aware of this, and as they cleaned the battlefield and collected spoils, they automatically obeyed his orders, demonstrating remarkable unity.

The Wolf Girl, due to her aloof and unsociable nature, and her unauthorized departure without explanation midway through, had been noted by the children, and she was now isolated.

The Wolf Girl, long accustomed to solitude and a transcendent status, did not even notice her isolation.

She stood aside with her hands clasped behind her back, a faint expression of disdain on her face, watching the children retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades from the piles of dead and collect valuables.

“Why aren’t you doing anything?” Ji Wushuang appeared behind the Wolf Girl like a phantom, asking abruptly, his tone colder than ever before.

Looking at his beloved disciple standing idly by, then at the boy dragging his fellow sect members’ corpses from the piles of dead, preparing to bring them back to the sect for burial, Ji Wushuang’s eyes continuously swelled with anger.

He had painstakingly paved the way for the Wolf Girl, yet she seemed utterly indifferent to the Demon Sect and its people. This greatly disappointed Ji Wushuang.

Following his disappointment came increased dissatisfaction, and he began to question whether his decision to appoint the Wolf Girl as Chief Protector was right or wrong.

The Wolf Girl was startled. She turned, asking with confusion, “Do what?”

“Are you not going to collect the bodies of your people?” Ji Wushuang raised his chin, pointing to the corpse-strewn camp.

“This disciple will go at once.” The Wolf Girl seemed to only now realize her responsibility. She lowered her head in assent, then immediately walked towards Shui Jingxuan, helping him lift a clansman’s body and place it to one side.

The elders who arrived later overheard their conversation. They exchanged glances, then subtly shook their heads.

Though the Wolf Girl was a martial arts prodigy, her temperament was volatile, prone to impulsiveness and anger, and she lacked a sense of responsibility.

She truly was not capable of being the Chief Protector. In contrast, the boy under Elder Mu, with his exceptional talent, meticulous thought, and unwavering command, was far more outstanding than her.

They wondered what madness had possessed the Sect Master to so stubbornly favor the Wolf Girl; their repeated advice had fallen on deaf ears, leaving them feeling helpless.

‘Hopefully, after this incident, the Sect Master will see things more clearly,’ they all mused in unison.

Ji Wushuang did indeed understand a few things, as they wished. However, he had raised this child from infancy, and abandoning her overnight was something he could not do. He thought that if she were properly honed in the future, the Wolf Girl might yet prove capable. Thus, despite his intense fury, he did not erupt on the spot. Instead, he pondered how to handle the situation upon their return to the sect to ensure the Wolf Girl learned her lesson.

With the battlefield cleared, eighty-nine of the hundred inner disciples remained, with a dozen or so injured, none severely. This was considered the most outstanding performance among all the Demon Sect disciples who had undergone trials.

After cremating the eleven children’s bodies on the training ground and carefully collecting their ashes to be placed in the sect’s ossuary, the sky began to lighten. A faint yellow dawn crept across the horizon.

Ji Wushuang gently praised everyone, then his tone shifted, becoming extremely stern. “Our people have been mercilessly slaughtered by the Han and Manchu. Only by uniting and fighting bravely have we carved out this small foothold. You all remember clearly how your parents died. If they hadn’t drugged you and hidden you in the caves, you would have long become ghosts under the blades of the Han and Manchu. They care not for old, weak, women, or children; it is only right and proper that any ‘异族’ is completely massacred. Therefore, I always say, when dealing with the Han and Manchu, you must never show mercy. Today, someone disobeyed orders, not only abandoning their people midway but also harboring kindness towards the enemy. This behavior greatly displeases this Venerable One!”

“Master, this disciple knows her mistake. Please punish me, Master.” Before Ji Wushuang could continue, the Wolf Girl stepped forward to admit her error.

Abandoned by her parents and raised by wolves, she knew nothing of her origins. More importantly, she might not even possess ‘异族’ blood, and thus, could not truly empathize with the tribal hatred Ji Wushuang spoke of. However, since her master implied she was wrong, she had to step forward and account for herself.

“Good, it’s good that you know your mistake.” Ji Wushuang was somewhat satisfied with the Wolf Girl’s initiative. He glanced at her, saying, “Dispel your internal energy and take three lashes. These three lashes will be administered by this Venerable One personally.”

Upon hearing ‘only three lashes,’ some elders present initially murmured their disapproval. However, when they heard the Sect Master himself would administer the鞭, their faces registered surprise, but their hearts were satisfied, and they all fell silent.

The Wolf Girl froze for a moment. After dispelling her internal energy, she walked before Ji Wushuang, turned her back, and stood firm. Her fists clenched secretly, she gritted her teeth and waited. She knew well that her master’s whip, even just three strikes, was not something an ordinary person could endure.

Ji Wushuang’s eyes, dark and inscrutable, stared at the slender back before him. Finally, he hardened his heart and raised the leather whip high. With the first strike, the Wolf Girl’s back was already torn open, a bloody mess. With the second, she could no longer bear it, her knees buckled, and she collapsed heavily to the ground. With the third, she spat out a mouthful of blood with a ‘噗’ sound, clearly having sustained severe internal injuries.

“I hope you remember this lesson!” Throwing the whip aside, Ji Wushuang leaned down, gazing at the Wolf Girl. He admonished her gravely, then gestured to a nearby guard. “Take her away for treatment.”

Ji Wushuang’s twin sister, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke, her tone laced with both relief and faint sarcasm. “Little brother, you should have done this long ago! If you hadn’t spoiled her usually, she wouldn’t have made so many mistakes today!”

Two guards quickly came, lifted the semi-conscious Wolf Girl, and hurried away.

Ji Wushuang ignored his sister’s taunt. He looked up at the remaining children and slowly said, “This trial, your performance has greatly pleased this Venerable One. You may go rest for now. At noon, come to the deliberation hall; this Venerable One will host a banquet to reward you.”

The inner disciples, awed by the Sect Master’s severe punishment, quickly assented. They bowed their heads and filed out, not daring to look up at the Sect Master’s figure. Only Shui Jingxuan, as he passed by, cast a strange glance at him, secretly wondering, ‘For such a minor mistake, Ji Wushuang was willing to be so heavy-handed. Has this pedophile changed his nature?’

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