"Wait, Senior Luo! Wait a minute," a stumbling Lu Kai chased after me in the crowded bamboo forest outside the Wu cottage.
I stopped walking and turned around to face him, drawing my Meteor Sword. He saw and stopped as well.
"I thought you said you weren't mad?" He argued.
"I should kill you on the spot for desecrating the honor of Crimson Snow Valley. You knew that men could not be followers of the sect. And you lied," I said. No emotion in my voice, no soul reflected in my eyes. I could kill him then and there.
With his head held high, he said, "Then why don't you go ahead and kill me? Kill me and spare me from a life without you."
"You!"
This crazy bastard.
Those words caused my heart to
become tangled like it was jumping in and out of my chest. Just why did it feel different from the times I watched over him as my Younger Sister disciple? Was it because I knew him as a man now?
It was so obvious. I felt so stupid for being fooled. He asked to stay in a room by himself, he used the excuse of having burn scars to remove suspicions when he wouldn't bathe with the others. Not only that, but his towering height over me and changing voice should have been enough clues. I didn't spend much time around men, but I should have known better.
"I can't kill you now. The Star Gem injured me, and its powers are protecting you, but don't think that I won't attempt to end your life. I'll come back and kill you once I'm healed."
I was bluffing... I didn't want to kill Lu Kai, but I had sworn to the rules of Crimson Snow Valley. For him to be safe, he had to stay away from Crimson Snow Valley, stay away from me. I was going back to receive punishment. I knew that going back could mean that I would never be able to step out into the world again.
"Where are you going? Back to Crimson Snow Valley?"
"I have to go back and receive punishment for failing to retrieve the Star Gem."
"Don't go back, Senior Luo. You don't know what Sect Leader will do."
Scoffing at him, I said, "I know Master better than anyone else. She won't kill me, but she'll definitely make my life hard. However, that's not anything you need to know."
"I know that Sect Leader is cruel to everyone. Even to you."
"You do not have the right to speak of Master." I aimed the sword at him.
"I could see the burden she placed onto you every time you left for an assignment, your will to receive her approval dissolved each time, and she never gave you the time of day. She never cared to praise you for all that you've done for the sect."
"Master has never hurt me as much as you. You lied to me."
With a gaping mouth, Lu Kai whispered, "I'm sorry."
Tired, I continued walking ahead. Not caring to bid Lu Kai farewell.
He shouted after me, "I'm sorry! I didn't know that day when I followed you that I would stay so long at Crimson Snow Valley. I lied to stay in the only place I'd ever felt like I was safe. To escape poverty, to escape the tortures of being a slave. I only wanted to finally have a place to live."
He continued, "I didn't mean to lie... I didn't know how to tell you when you already saw me as a girl, and I didn't want to leave because you treated me well. You saved me, and I will always be grateful. Let's leave Crimson Snow Valley together. Finally be free from Sect Leader Zhao."
Silently piecing the Meteor Sword through the skin of his left shoulder, I warned him, "Do not follow me to Crimson Snow Valley, if you wish to live. This is my last act of mercy towards you as I've watched you grow over the years. From now on, I don't know you, and you don't owe me."