Sen simply watched with an impassive expression, even as the rage roared inside of him. He would kill these people. There most certainly would not be a duel. But there would be suffering. Wu Xiao Dan seemed to be having an apoplectic fit. Sen was a little surprised that the man didn’t start frothing at the mouth. While Wu Xiao Dan tried to find the ability to speak, Bahn Huizhong walked over to Sen.
“Are you about to suggest that I let these people go?” asked Sen.
“No,” said Bahn Huizhong in a resigned voice. “They took things too far. You have to kill them. But it will mean war with their sect.”
Sen sighed and said, “That war was always coming with someone. Is the Twisted Blade Sect so valuable that I should spare them?”
Bahn Huizhong looked thoughtful but ultimately shook his head.
“It’s never good to deplete the ranks before the real war starts, but if you have to wipe a sect from existence... Well, I don’t suppose too many people are going to miss the Twisted Blade Sect. Sadly, this kind of display is pretty routine for them. What do you mean to do to them?”
“I’m going to break them,” said Sen. “Then, I’m going to end their lives in the most just way I can think of.”
“What does that mean?” asked Bahn Huizhong.
“Just watch.”
Wu Xiao Dan looked like he had his fury about under control. Sen considered enacting his plan before the fool could speak again. He didn’t think anyone in Li Hua’s ruined shop was going to die if he didn’t dig them out immediately, but he didn’t want to waste much time either. Fortunately, Xu Xiao Dan started spouting nonsense before Sen had to make the decision.
“How dare you call us animals! We are—”
“Silence,” said Sen.
Sen turned his attention back to the ruined shop. Not just a shop, he thought. This was their home. I’ll have to see to it that everything is repaired, and everyone who was hurt is made whole again. He just hoped that no one had died. He walked over and started using air qi to lift away the debris. Bahn Huizhong came over and gave Sen a long look.
“Yes?” asked Sen.
“I’m just thinking that I’m very glad my sect was wise enough not to challenge you. That was a memorable judgment.”
“It was meant to be,” said Sen.
He unearthed the first person, one of Li Hua’s apprentices. He lifted the girl out of the rubble and deposited her in Bahn Huizhong’s arms. The man swiftly carried her off toward the sect. Before long, Sen felt people pouring out of the sect like a disturbed anthill. His students and their teachers spread out into the town, searching for the injured, taking stock of the damage, and doing what they could to help. Sua Xing Xing eventually found him. He glanced at her.
“Good. Please oversee things in town.”
The woman jerked in surprise.
“Are you sure? Aren’t there better—”
“The townspeople know you. They trust you,” said Sen before he added one last thing. “I trust you.”
He wasn’t sure it was entirely true, but he decided it was true enough. Sua Xing Xing looked like he’d just handed her the keys to ascension.
“Yes, Patriarch,” she said.
She offered him a deep bow, then spun into action, issuing orders, demanding reports, and otherwise acting like a reassuring authority figure. He vaguely noted when the last of the Twisted Blade Sect members died. Good, he thought. I’ll have to decide how best to deal with the rest of that sect later. Fire, maybe? Fire is usually good. That line of thought was broken when he finally found Li Hua. He felt a weight of worry slide off his shoulders as he carried her back to the compound. He bypassed most of the buildings and took her straight to Auntie Caihong. He’d debated doing something for her himself, but he didn’t see any good reason to do that when there was someone far more experienced than him on hand. He did make sure that Ai wasn’t there, though. He was relieved to see in his spiritual sense that Master Feng had taken her off somewhere. As Auntie Caihong ordered him to put Li Hua down on a bed, his mind returned to the Twisted Blade Sect. Poison is good, too, he thought.