Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Chapter 297 - Burden Or Not

He yelled out, walking towards them. 

"The elders and the Sect Leader have gone off to fend off this mysterious attacker and they have left me with the duty of bringing you all to safety. Come! Follow me!" 

All those that stood there looked at him blankly, not knowing whether to do so or not. 

"Should we go?"

"But what about the elders and the Sect Leader? Will they be fine?"

"You felt that large shockwave, how can we match that strength? We will be killed in an instant."

"For all you know, they might not be enough."

Murmuring and whispers broke out as they all thought, too afraid to move forward or move back. They knew too little of what happened outside those doors. It was then that Fei Xian stepped forward, his hand gripping tightly on his sword. 

"You! What have you done with my uncle? Where is he?!" he shouted out. 

"What do you mean? What are you trying to do? We must leave immediately!"

Elder Jia spoke out with urgency, his voice and appearance lended to this act of his but Fei Xian was not having it.

"I saw that that incense burner! That was Valerian Snake Incense, a powerful hynosis drug! What were you planning to do with it?"

"That-that wasn't mine, it was the attacker who hid it up there! Please stop and listen to me! We have to go now!"

Fei Xian pulled out his sword, lashing out at the elder. 

"No! I know what you've done! Qi Yao heard everything! Siding with the Tao Feng! Drugging the Elders and even the Sect Elder! And taking my uncle! Why did you do it? Tell me!"

Elder Jia looked at him and his demeanor suddenly changed, no longer did he seem has panicked as before. Instead, he looked coldly and showing disdain for Fei Xian. 

"Elder Fei, it's always Elder Fei, isn't it?"

He looked at Fei Xian before looking at everyone else. 

"Why did I do it? Isn't it obvious?" he asked. 

His sword flashed, knocking away Fei Xian's blade before placing it on his neck. 

"I was jealous, of course! He and I are from the same generation and yet, even as elders, our positions differ. I do not understand, why is he so important? So much so that even the Sect LEader comes to pick him up when he went to Clear Spring Mountain. If not for Fei Yun, Sect Elder Fu would have just sent a gift. Now he has a woman too? What kind of luck does he possess to have so many people pine for him?"

Elder Jia spit out a wrathful speech towards Fei Xian. His face twisted and turned red as he spoke of all the wonderful things he did not have. But then, it turned to a smile. 

"I was approached by someone, a member of the Tao Feng who could help me. He attacked Elder Fei, capturing him and handing him over to me. In exchange, I had to do a request for this man but that doesn't matter. Your uncle... I strung him up in the pagoda that holds the Eonic Stance. When you find him, his meridians will be ruined and his cultivation destroyed. Though I doubt you'll ever see him again, right? Young Master Zuo Er."

Entering through those same door was a masked figure, dressed in black with two swords on his back. The mask he wore was simple, marked with two holes that revealed a pair of black eyes. 

He did not speak and looked coldly at them all, ignoring Elder Jia's words. 

"Hmm, not bad."

Zuo Er turned to him, immediately stabbing him in the heart. He twisted the blade, tearing a hole as the sword was slowly pulled out. Elder Jia did not expect such a thing to happen and his eyes widened at the wound left on his chest. The blood that left it was black, it was unsettling and he looked back at Zuo Er. 

"You-you promised me. In the new world, I could be my own Sect Leader, why?" he asked.

"You failed, we have no need for failures. Perhaps, if you had taken them to the Merciless Storm Peak, I would have thought differently. But you didn't, and the incense burner has been destroyed. Now I have to kill them all before returning."

He gave one look at Elder Jia, who laid on the floor as black blood flowed. The mask he wore hid everything but his eyes, the expression and emotions one his face could not be seen. However, his black eyes said it all. He felt disdain for Elder Jia.

"You're just a small man jealous over some shallow desires. The fact that you acted so proudly while barely doing a thing shocks me. You are better off a corpse and one my master shouldn't use."

The elder laid there silently. His face contorted as these words pierced him like arrows. He had been used, insulted in this way. Foolishness and spite clouded his judgement, if not for these feelings he would've known that this would happen. Alas, he could only lay here and die. 

But there was so much more he wanted to do. He wanted to achieve and do greater things but now...he dies as a fool. 

Zuo Er looked at the many disciples, all of whom were scared and unsure of what to do. He wiped his sword clean and retrieved his other sword from its scabbard. 

"You should all be grateful, that you will die now rather than later."

Back within the pagoda, Ming Yue supported Elder Fei up, holding him with his arm over her shoulders. 

His eyes barely opened as he saw the blurry image of his savior.

"Ming-Ming Yue, How did you? Why are you here?"

He spoke weakly, his voice barely contained any life in it. It was such a difference from the first time they met, there was no longer that friendly voice that which had true charisma. 

"Don't speak, save your strength. I came after Cui Fen sent me a letter. If I had come any later, I would not have been able to save you. Although now, we are stuck here."

She quickly brought him up to speed, speaking of his drugged comrades to which he felt shock. However, his mentality was not weak and he came up with a solution. 

"There is an underground pathway leading to the outside. We can escape through there, leaving them to stand outside. They will not have known you left at all."

"Then we must hurry." 

She flew down the stairs, quickly descending into the underground passageway. It was dimily lit and built through stone, a straight pathway that led outside of the sect. It was quiet, there were no sounds except for their foot steps. 

"You've grown since the last time we've met."

"Yes, Heaven's Gate has been quite an experience for me."

"Hah, you're only a level below me in cultivation. Putting me to shame here, aren't you? Though I suppose it does not matter anymore." 

"Do not say that. Fei Xian is waiting for you, not to mention Cui Fen and Rou'er as well."

"My meridians are a mess and my cultivation destroyed, I am merely a common man now perhaps a burden rather."

Elder Fei's voice was wistful, sad as he thought of the irreparable damage done to him. 

At the end of the passage, they emerged within a thick forest not far from the sect. Close by was a hut carrying supplies and what not, Ming Yue took him there and laid him to rest. She looked at him before going for the doors. 

"When I return, I will bring you back to Cui Fen and I will heal you.. Burden or not, they need you and you need them."