Betrayal

"Is something on your mind, young master? Are... are you feeling unwell?"

Xiao Mei asked in a concerned voice. Having worked under Zheng Fei for so long, she had memorized all of his habits. On a stroll back home like this, he would usually make short stops to gaze at beautiful young maidens, or using his privilege to get free dumplings from the street vendors. But today, he wore an unusual contemplating look as he walked down the bustling street.

"Oh.. It's nothing, I was just thinking about those two stray dogs earlier."

"You shouldn't stress yourself over such trivial matters young master, dealing with lowlives like them is the job for the disciples."

Xiao Mei said, with a cheerier tone now that she knew there was nothing wrong with the young master.

"It's not just those two, you noticed it too, right?"

Zheng Fei diverted his gaze toward the fish vendor in the corner of the street. Standing there were two people wearing familiar black rugged attire harassing the owner. Those were undoubtedly members of the Black Dog Sect. In a pub right next to them, there was another group of Black Dog disciples laughing, chatting and enjoying wines.

"There does seem to be a lot of them around lately."

Xiao Mei said, before letting out a long sigh.

"Hmm? The encounter back there wasn't your first time meeting them, Xiao Mei?"

Zheng Fei asked, with a curious look on his face.

"Yes.. unfortunately, there have been some small skirmishes between our disciples and theirs. Luckily, nothing big came out of them"

Xiao Mei noticed the young master's stare at the Black Dog members. He was looking at the accessories on their neck, which turned out to be necklaces made out of teeth.

"But, we did find out some information about their sect. Apparently it was only established about a year ago, by an unknown master. Their ranking seems to be determined by the teeth necklace each disciple wears. So far the most we've seen is one with 5 teeth, which suggests it's the highest rank"

"The two in the old man's store. The big one was wearing a similar necklace with 2 teeth on it. But the woman..."

"... She was wearing one with 3, but blacken ones"

Xiao Mei noticed she accidentally cut in on the young master's speech and franticly apologized. The young master didn't seem to notice, he was still lost in his thought.

"I'm more surprised that uncle let these mongrels infest our backyard, considering he has always been a stuck-up for righteousness."

"Oh? I guess you didn't get the news, but the responsibility of overseeing our town has been transferred to... your cousin, young master Liu Tian Lang"

A wave of anger suddenly swept through Zheng Fei, his face distorted to an unusual appearance.

"... So that's how the old coots are playing this huh?"

"M... My apology, young master. I should have known better than mentioning his name before you."

Zheng Fei just clicked his tongue, then let out a gesture to calm her down.

"It's not your fault Xiao Mei, I'm just a bit miffed is all "

He then continued.

"But no matter. As soon as gramp croaks, they will have no other excuse to keep me from becoming the sect leader."

Before they realized it, time passed by in a flash and they had already ended up in front of the Heaven Gazer Sect's estate. Zheng Fei had a long stretch with his shoulders.

"The dealing of those stray dogs is a matter for another day, for now I'll take a good rest, you should too Xiao Mei"

Xiao Mei nodded in agreement, then turned around and opened the gate.

"Servants, prepare the bath..."

The young master commanded loudly, but it was cut short when he noticed the ones greeting him back weren't his servants, but his uncle instead, along with no less than 10 other disciples standing firm with battle garbs and weapons on their back.

"Greeting, my dear nephew, how have you been this past week?"

He spoke, in a calm yet intimidating voice. Zheng Fei quickly regained his composure and replied.

"Never been better, I never thought there would be a day when you greet me personally uncle. What great deeds have I done to warrant such treatment?"

Zheng Fei responded, with a slight mocking in his tone.

"Oh you would have known, nephew. In fact, your "great deeds" are what we're here for today."

He then threw several small objects on the ground. On closer look, they were badges engraved with the symbol of the Heaven Gazer Sect. Small splashes of blood could be seen on some of them.

"... What is the meaning of this, uncle?"

"There were... numerous reports coming to me this past week, several of our subordinate sects were getting massacred with no survivors. These badges were the only things found at the scenes... Care to give this old man an explanation, nephew?"

The old man's eye glowed up with a red tint, emitting an intense pressure. But Zheng Fei wasn't fazed, he answered.

"What is there to explain, uncle? Are you perhaps, implying that I, young master of our great Heaven Gazer Sect, committed such pointless atrocities?"

Clear irritation could be heard in Zheng Fei's voice.

"I'm not implying anything, young nephew. It is a fact that no member of our sect have stepped foot outside of their estates this past week. Because we were too busy mourning the passing of our late sect leader, your dear father. While you and your cohorts were engaging in shameless debauchery in town."

A barely concealed anger could be seen on his face. Then, he raised his hands.

"I, Liu Jiang Ping, second in command of the Heaven Gazer Sect, hereby declare exile on Liu Zheng Fei, young master of our great sect. You are now expelled, never to set foot in our sect again as long as you still breathe"

An expression of pure rage now appeared on the young master's face. His voice was now brittle and filled with hatred.

"This.. is treason, you know that right, uncle?"

Liu Jiang Ping stayed silence, the decision had been made and there was nothing between heaven and earth that could change his mind now.

"Fine... Xiao Mei!!"

The young master shouted. Quick as a flash, Xiao Mei busted out her musket, a thundering sound erupted from her weapon. Even among all high ranking disciples of the Heaven Gazer Sect, Xiao Mei possessed the fastest draw speed, her talent with the sect's signature Yínbàng* was second to none. The bullet shredded through the air on a straight path to Liu Jiang Ping's forehead.

Suddenly, a small figure jumped onto the path of the speeding bullet. His hand, fast as lightning, quickly engulfed the bullet with his cloak and sent it straight toward the nearby wall. The entire event happened in a flash, before any of the other disciples could even draw their weapons.

"Lower your weapons, I will handle this"

He commanded in a loud voice. Then before anyone could react he already appeared behind Xiao Mei and quickly pinned her to the ground.

"Xiao Mei!!"

Right as Zheng Fei shouted, numerous disciples in hiding also jumped out and swiftly incapacitated him.

"Xiao Ling!!! Why are you doing this? Have you forgotten what the young master has done for us?? Answer me!!"

Xiao Mei cried out, desperately looking for an answer. Only to feel the young man's hands shaking as he continued pinning her down. She looked up to see her younger brother's face, filled with tears in his eyes.

"I... I'm sorry sis, but please stay down, this is for your own safety..."

Xiao Ling said, his voice was shaking in pain. Xiao Mei's heart was being torn in half between her duty and her love for her younger brother. But in the end, she couldn't do anything but bited her lips and remained silence.

Liu Jiang Ping stepped forward, slowly, toward Zheng Fei. Then he finally stooped down and looked at him right in the eyes.

"Don't take this too personally, nephew. Know that this order is taken directly from my dear father, your own grandfather."

"Ha... Hah, I didn't know we have a sacred relic to translate grunting noises into such coherent commands, uncle. Guess I wasn't the only one abusing our treasury for my own pleasure."

Zheng Fei said in a joking tone, as if to cope with the grim situation.

"But tell me this, where is my dear cousin, Liu Tian Lang. He would love to watch me grovel on the ground like this."

"Unlike you, my dear son is always busy honing his body and mind, even now. He has no use for such depravity."

"You know that is a lie, uncle"

"Think whatever you want. Servants, bring out the sacred relics"

As he lied there, what ran through his head wasn't the fact that the servants were drawing otherworldly circles around his position with jade chalks, or them scattering around special made talismans, all to prepare for a ritual to banish him to faraway places. No, what went through his head was the question that the woman from the Black Dog Sect had asked him earlier.

"... but our bonds are thicker than blood. Can you say the same about your sect, young master?"

A snap occurred in his head. It all came together, he thought. The recent rampaging Black Dog Sect in their own turf, the negligence in dealing with them, the fact that all of it happened during the sect's annual 7 days memorial event.

"Ku...kukukukuhahaha... I get it, I get it now!!"

The young master busted out an undignified laugh that none had seen before, not even his closed aides Xiao Mei and Xiao Ling.

"Pathetic, going mad in the face of banishment... Your father must be crying in heaven."

Zheng Fei stopped, his eyes filled not with despair, but a renewed vigor for vengeance.

"It was him, wasn't it? Liu Tian Lang, he planned everything. He secretly hired the Black Dog Sect members to do his dirty deeds and covered up their exploits. And he picked our sect's annual memorial event as the perfect time to enact his plan, he knew I would never participate. Then after everything is done, he framed me for what transpired."

Zheng Fei continued.

"Tell me uncle, did I get anything wrong?"

Liu Jiang Ping remained silence. To him, everything Zheng Fei had said was just mad ramblings of a man who had lost everything.

"Of course... He didn't even tell you, did he?"

As he finished talking, the ground beneath emitted a jade glow, the ritual neared completion. A beam of light from the heaven appeared above the young master's head.

"Mark my word, uncle, I will see to it that you and your pathetic excuse of a son be buried under 18 layers of hell. I will return to claim what is rightfully mines."

The ground started shaking even harder, the area around Zheng Fei was now covered entirely in green light. Just as the ritual came into completion, a silvery object flied toward the young master. Which he caught squarely in his hand.

"Young master, catch!!"

It was Xiao Mei's Yínbàng, she had broken out at the last second and thrown it to him.

"Thank you, Xiao Mei, don't do anything stupid before I come back. For I will return!!"

Zheng Fei let out a small smile as the light engulfed him, and then the young master disappeared completely, as everything returned back to silence...