CHAPTER 1: Part 4

"Who are you to bury us together?" Wei Lin Jiang roared as he struck at Yuan Li with the iron rod. Yuan Li moved to one side avoiding the blow. Ling Jiang struck at him again and again but Yuan Li dodged them as if he were playing some game. How could Lin Jiang compare to someone like Li Yuan who had undergone intensive training to be a part of Royal Force?

With every attack, Yuan Li's movements became swifter. A scowl appeared on his face; almost as if he were getting bored of this little game. The blade of his sword caught the glint of the blazing fire as it grazed across Wei Lin Jiang's chest.

"Ahh!!" Wei Lin Jiang screamed as blood oozed out of the wound soaking his clothes. But, Lin Jiang wasn't willing to give up. He attacked Yuan Li again. This time the blade struck his arm; the rod dropped to the ground with a metallic clank.

"I will give you one last chance, Wei Lin Jiang! If you kneel and beg for my mercy, I might spare your life," Li Yuan said; breathing heavily with anger.

Lin Jiang's face contorted with disgust. He spat on the ground and snapped, "I would rather die than beg you!"

Something flashed in Li Yuan's ey. His expression turned frosty and his voice grew icy, "You have too much of your father in you. Did his death not teach you anything?"

Wei Lin Jiang's staggered a bit as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, "What do you know about my father's death?"

Li Yuan burst into a peal of demonic laughter. He gaze landed on Wei Huan as he stated, "You haven't told him anything, have you?"

Wei Ling Jiang rushed to his brother's side. Grasping his arm, he asked in a voice dipped in desperation, "What is he saying Wei Ge? How exactly did our father die?"

"It's aready been so long, Xiao Wei. What is the point of reminiscing?"

In the past, whenever Wei Ling Jiang broached the topic of their parents death, his brother would change the topic or get busy doing something. Unwilling to disturb his brother, he usually let the matter slide. But after listening to Yuan Li's comment, Ling Jiang had to find what happened.

He cleared his throat and pleaded, "They were my parents too, Wei Ge. Don't you think I deserve to know how they died?"

Wei Huan managed to retain stoic expression but his eyes were a swirling mess of emotions, "Xiao Wei, Can't you just let it go? Knowing the truth will only bring you pain."

Wei Ling Jiang wasn't the one to give up so easily. He shook his brother up, " Wei Huan, please don't do this to me. If you don't tell me the truth, I will only get to know the twisted version from others."

"Xiao Wei…." He started protesting again but his gaze landed on Li Yuan. He had a feeling that Li Yuan wouldn't drop the matter even if Xiao Wei decided to listen to him. His brother was right, he had to be the one to tell him everything.

Wei Huan's voice grew hoarse with emotions, "Ten years ago, father was summoned by Lord Wang Liu. He must have asked our father to do something atrocious because of which our father attacked him."

"You know that it is a huge crime to attack any Royal Officer, let alone a Lord," Officer Li Yuan said as he closed in on them. "Lord Wang Liu ordered your entire family to be executed. If your mother hadn't begged him to spare your lives, you both would have been long dead."

Officer Yuan circled around them with slow deliberate steps, "I have heard that your mother was very beautiful. I wonder what she did to convince him."

Wei Lin Jiang's blood boiled when he realised the implication of his words. He grabbed the officer's collar and roared, "You bastard! How dare you say such a thing about my mother!"

Li Yuan Kicked him and swished his sword, striking him twice with calculated precision. This time the wounds were deeper. Wei Ling Jiag clenched his stomach to stem the blood that was gushing out like a small stream. His legs became weaker and he dropped to his knees.

The fire of anger in his eyes flared; almost as if it would turn Officer Li Yuan into ashes, "Kill me while you still can, Li Yuan! If I survive today, I will hunt you down an wipe out your entire family."

Li Yuan's jaws clenched the moment he heard Lin Jiang mention his family. With an animalistic growl he aimed for his heart. Right at that moment, his brother jumped in front of him, shielding Wei Lin Jiang with his own body. He gasped as the sword pierced right through his back and collapsed over Wei Lin Jiang.

Xiao Wei wanted to scream out in horror but the weight of his brother kept him pinned down; his lungs burned making him feel suffocated. Gasping for air, he managed to gasp out, "Wei Ge? Are you alright?"

Fear and dread clenched his heart when his brother didn't reply; his body was motionless too. "Brother, you are scaring me now, please say something."

The only reply he got was a sharp snort close to him. A few moments later, Officer Li's venomous voice sounded, "That was meant for your brother, Wei Huan. I would have liked to keep you around a bit longer. My wife says that you are very hardworking." He pulled out the sword and continued, "It is a shame that you had to die with your useless brother."

Wei Lin Jiang struggled to move but stopped hearing his brother's feeble voice, "Stay still and make your body rigid. That is the only way to survive."

There was so much pain, so much desperation in his voice that Wei Lin Jiang didn't protest. He freed his hand from under Wei Huan's body and moved it over the wound. Tears formed in his eyes as he felt the blood trickling through his fingers. He applied as much pressure as he could but it didn't seem to be working.

"Wei Huan, You must hold on. I will find a way to save your life…" he muttered as he extracted his other hand and hugged him tightly.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Wei Lin Jiang saw Officer Liu kick the can of kerosene. Moments later a kick landed on them and the words sounded, "Burying both of you is quite troublesome, I will just cremate you."

With those words he climbed on his horse and sliced of a fragment of burning hay from the roof with his bloodied sword. The burning fragment fell on the ground and the entire region flared up instantly.

Wei Lin Jiang was greatly wounded too. The heat and exhaustion threatened to engulf him as his eyes grew bleary. The receeding sound of hooves rang in his ears as the horse galloped away.

He felt a sudden sense of loss as his brother's arms went limp and he rolled to one side. This jolted him back to senses. With a animalistic groan, he forced himself to a sitting position and gathered his brother in his arms.

"Wei Ge! Don't worry. I will take you to the village healer. You will be fine soon," he clenched his teeth and was about to get up when his brother gasped, "I…I don't have much time, Xiao Wei…. You must leave; run far away from here."

Tears welled in Wei Lin Jiang's eyes and he shook his head vehemently, "I won't let anything happen to you. We both will run away from this damned place and start a new life."

Wei Huan spluttered out a mouthful of blood. His face had grown extremely pale and his eyes had dulled. With shaking hands he managed to cup Wei Lin Jiang's face and said, "You must survive, Xiao Wei. You must become stronger and seek justice for our parents." He gasped for air and his face became contorted with pain.

Giving Xiao Wei slight push, he uttered a single word, "Run." Then his body went limp and his head rolled to one side. Tears streamed down Lin Jiang's cheeks and he uttered a heart wrenching sob, "Wei Huan!"

He knelt there like a statue with his brother's body in his arms. What was the point of living in a world that had no one he loved?

The fire raged around him; the tongues of the flames had reached higher than the tree tops consuming everything like a greedy monster. It crept closer and closer to the region Wei Lin Jiang was sitting. It spread slowly and with a swishing sound the pail kept close to him caught fire too.

Wei Lin Jiang squeezed his eyes shut stemming the flow of his tears. He stayed like that for a moment. When he opened his eyes, they were stone cold; almost as if a part of him had died. He laid his brother on the ground and trudged out of the courtyard with heavy steps.

A few laps of flames scorched him on the way but he didn't even wince. He continued to drag his lifeless body along the stony path that ran through the village. He took one step after another; leaving a trail of bloodied footsteps along the way….