The grey-clad. (4)

"Well?"

The elder couldn't stop her trembling as Liang Chen's gaze rested on the back of her head. Like a rabbit trapped by a tiger, her body was instinctively warning her. She was a Sebettu, a predator with exalted blood flowing through her veins. But right now… She felt like helpless prey for the first time in her life, all the way down to her very core.

"Little Freak, they won't be able to raise their head if you keep looking at them like that. Take a breath and calm down."

Another voice luckily cut in just as the elder felt as if her legs were going to give out underneath her. The carefreeness of the voice didn't fit in with the situation, a faint remnant of scent still lingered from the elder that was just reduced to nothing. She finally dared to raise her head slightly when she felt Liang Chen's eyes slide away from her, the red light fading at the same time.

Cyan hair tied into a braid, sapphire eyes that carried a certain depth despite their mischievous glimmer. Yan Ling, the fiancee of the Crown Prince, and if the reports were true then she was the one who actually convinced him to pay them a visit.

"I'd say don't mind him, but you really brought this on yourself. Yeah, you really should do your research when you invite someone to your doorstep."

She didn't look apologetic, nor did she look disturbed. It was as if scenes like this had become commonplace for her, an everyday occurrence. Then again… Maybe they were? That thought gave her a fright. The Crown Prince, what if he really did go around and just killed people that displeased him wherever he went? If he stayed here, would that be the fate of the Sebettu?

"No need to look so afraid, it's really easy to avoid getting on his bad side, just be a good person. With that said, could you guide us to our lodgings? Little Fentian here isn't too comfortable being stared at by so many people."

The girl, Yan Ling, she still spoke so casually, without a care in the world. The scent of the scorched elder still lingered in the air where his body used to be, and with a quick move of her pupils she could see that the crowd around them was stunned into silence, mouths agape as faces turned pale. Yes, that was the common reaction, that was how people were supposed to react.

She had fought in many wars, but even she felt a part of herself tremble as someone who was her equal simply burnt to nothing with a guttural growl. And yet the one who supposedly brought the Crown Prince here was still smiling softly, more concerned about the infant that looked as if it was about to cry again.

Insane. The Crown Prince they had invited back was mad, but his fiancee was no less deranged it seemed. That… May make this entire thing a mistake. In that moment, she really just wanted to send them away.

"Yes… Yes, of course. Please, allow me to guide you, we've prepared the best possible lodgings for the two of you, I am sure that you won't find it lacking."

But what was she supposed to do? The current highest authority of the Sebettu had ordered them to welcome the Crown Prince and his fiancee while treating them as honoured guests. They had to be polite, hospitable, and forgiving so that the Crown Prince would want to form a bond with their race again. Even if it meant swallowing what felt like several mouthfuls of dirt.

————

While the female elder was swallowing both fear and unwillingness to guide Liang Chen and Yan Ling to the lodgings they had prepared, two figures were looking at them from one of the distant buildings. Of those two figures, one looked as if she was about to fly into a rage.

"Brother, stop blocking my path and let me go. Now!"

A youthful figure, silver hair that hung down just past her ears and eyes such a dark grey that they bordered on black. Every pore on her body radiated a dignified and regal aura, but it was currently twisted by anger that almost oozed out of her like steam. Ren Xiao Ping, daughter of Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu. If they went by blood then she would be Liang Chen's biological younger sister.

"You know I can't do that. We need him."

The one who blocked her path looked a bit older than her, bordering on his thirties. He had a headful of dark silver hair, albeit much shorter than Xiao Ping. He also had eyes that were almost identical to hers in colour, so grey they teetered into black. Ren Shuya. Tracing the bloodline, he would be Liang Chen's biological younger brother.

Liang Chen was considered a Crown Prince thanks to his bloodline, or at least the bloodline that the Sebettu knew him to have in the past, it was worthy enough for them to consider him one possibility for their next emperor. But of these two siblings, only Xiao Ping had a bloodline that was of equal purity, granting her the title of Crown Princess. Ren Shuya was born later than both of them, after their parents had paid several heavy prices for both Liang Chen and Xiao Ping so his bloodline was two tiers lower.

But he was still the son of the current Emperor dowager and empress dowager, and he had strength befitting that bond, so it wasn't as if he had a low status within the race. Certainly, even if he stopped the possible future empress like this then there were very few within the race who wanted to risk speaking up against him.

"Need him? He just massacred one of our elders in front of everyone! You want to rely on a man like that? Have you no pride as a Sebettu?"

Naturally, Xiao Ping was one of those who dared to speak up against him no matter the situation, flaring up that much more fiercely as she looked at her brother. They had gathered far too many of their citizens in that park to welcome the new Crown Prince, far too many people had seen him kill one of their elders like that. How could they possibly allow that?

"I have lived here far longer than you have, I was there as our race declined so don't speak to me about our pride."

Ren Shuya didn't budge, his tone deep and strong as his gaze cooled. The relationship between these three siblings was… strange to say the least. Liang Chen would be the oldest based on birth, but he was sent forward in time so by age he was the youngest. Xiao Ping was the next to be born, but it ended with her being sent forward in time as well. And then Ren Shuya was born, last of them all. But he wasn't sent forward in time so he had actually lived quite a few more years than the rest of his siblings, despite being the 'youngest.' As such, he was also the only one of them who actually had to live through the decline of their race.

Xiao Ping knew that, hence she sucked in a deep breath of air, which felt like ice when it reached her burning lungs. She swept her hair back, her palms wet with sweat from how tightly she had clutched them. Ren Shuya looked down at her as she drew in breath after breath, he was very clear on how he felt about their pride.

"We've clung to our pride for countless years while sheltered by the Nine Star Demon God, but what good has it done us? Has it restored any of our lands? Has it brought back any of our dead? That pride you speak of, it has done nothing for our race but hold us down."

The Sebettu had done nothing but lose people and land ever since their decline started, all the way until they were reduced to this bare minimum. And at no point in time had their pride, be it in their race or bloodline, done a damn thing for them. Nay, it only made them lose more as they engaged in foolish ventures.

Xiao Ping let out the breaths she had sucked in, the air sticking to her throat like mud as she spat it out. She felt clogged up as she looked back at the scene outside the window.

"Fine, let's ignore pride for now then, let's look at it from a different angle. He just killed one of our elders, one of the people leading our race, one of the men our citizens look up to. Are we just supposed to allow him to keep killing our leaders like that? Is that how you want us to rise again, like headless chickens scrambling for the seat of king because our leaders are dead?"

Elder Shouru Mang, he had served their race for countless years. He was already a Vice-Elder during the time of their parents, he was ancient, a true pillar of their race. If they lost everyone like that… what would the citizens do? But Ren Shuya's answer was anything but reassuring.

"He won't kill many more of our leaders, only three or four more, depending on how strict his standards are. And we can manage just fine without them, maybe even better than before."

He was casual, nonchalant, dismissive even. His pupils didn't even waver as he spoke of the likely, nay, certain, deaths of their elders. It was as if they were set in stone. And it was because of this that Xiao Ping understood something.

"…You knew he would kill the elder?"

The one who prepared the list of elders that would greet Liang Chen was Ren Shuya, Xiao Ping was still against bringing him in so she didn't want anything to do with it. The anger she had just barely started to suppress, she could feel it surge forth again, especially as Ren Shuya nodded.

"Of course. When you bring a bomb into your house then you need to make sure you know what's going to set it off."

He hadn't told the elders, but how could Ren Shuya not have investigated ahead of time? Not that he had to investigate much, he had been friendly with Yan Ling for years and she practically never stopped talking about her Little Freak. He knew what sort of people would send Liang Chen into a murderous rage before the two even met for the first time. But still, he sent out Elder Mang.

"You knew, yet still sent out Elder Mang?"

Xiao Ping's voice was low, the temperature in the room dropping sharply as the air started to vibrate softly. Ren Shuya recognized the look in her eyes, it was that of a beast about to pounce its prey. But he still stood his ground, and he didn't deny the truth.

"I sent him out specifically because I knew. He was a peace-offering, a showing of goodwill. If we want his help, then we need to show that we're willing to change, willing to purge."

Elder Mang, a respected elder that had served the race for many years, Ren Shuya had treated him like a sacrificial lamb. And he wouldn't be the last, Ren Shuya would offer up as many as was needed to achieve his goal.

"He was one of our elders! He helped raise our father! He protected our race during the decline!"

Xiao Ping practically exploded, the room around her getting torn away in large chunks, as if a beast was eating away at it. Only the area around Ren Shuya maintained a sliver of calm, a pale blue shimmer lingering in the air around him as he kept talking.

"He was a vicious man who only became further twisted by war and loss. There would be no path to the future for the Sebettu as long as he was around. There would be no peace to be had."

Yes, Elder Mang had served the Sebettu for many years, before the downfall even. But he had seen too much war, he had lost too many people. He had become someone whose mind would be forever trapped in the war, the peace Ren Shuya sought could never be achieved if he was still there. Ren Shuya had seen parts of the war, that was why he could speak like that. But Xiao Ping…

"Peace! When the hell did the world ever give us peace? It kicked us down and trampled us when we were down! Were it not for the Nine Star Demon God then you wouldn't be here! Our parents wouldn't be here, your friends wouldn't be here. The world would have trampled them all while they were down and weak."

Xiao Ping hadn't gotten to see any of the wars, she had been sent through time before she could suffer such a fate. As such, how could she possibly understand? She only understood what little she knew, what misery she had been told of, what glory she knew was lost. And that was why she couldn't stand on the same side as Ren Shuya.

"We can have our peace, but only when we've become strong enough to grasp it with our own hands. Strong enough to scare everyone else away from touching us."

The Nine Star Demon God, they needed to become akin to an existence like that. Able to trample those who robbed them of their glory, able to trample those who stole their friends and family, and above all, able to do so without anyone daring to stand against them. And if there was one thing she knew then it was…

"And we don't need that ingrate down there for that! We need our elders, we need our citizens."

Her body turned, a sharp finger pointing through the ruined window. Liang Chen did not accept his heritage. Their parents had sent him through time to ensure his survival, but he did not take them as his parents. No, he clung to those who adopted him afterwards, forsaking his birth family, his race. He was an ingrate, someone who couldn't understand what he had been given. The Sebettu didn't need him. She didn't need him.

"No, Xiao. We need him."

Naturally, Ren Shuya didn't agree with her. If the Sebettu wanted to rise then they needed Liang Chen, if not his strength then his mindset. He had something they needed, the willingness to bear sin, the strength to move forward without regard, the strength of mind to accept nothing less. They had lost that while clinging to their petty pride over the years. And he would be the spark that would once again light their fire.

"Wasn't he weaker than you when you first met? By a lot even?"

Ren Shuya knew. Yan Ling had told him, his parents had told him. Liang Chen's strength, or at least his cultivation. The pace at which it moved was unnatural. And his bloodline… Ren Shuya couldn't really feel it anymore, he just felt an instinctual dread when he tried to pry into it. But Xiao Ping…

"He's still weaker than me, barely within the Transcended Immortal realm. His fiancee may be a Sovereign God, but haven't I already killed three Sovereign Gods?"

Could she not sense it or was she just repressing it because she refused to accept it? Yes, she was strong enough to kill some Sovereign Gods even though she was only at the late stage of the Transcended Immortal realm, she had all right to be haughty and proud. But how could she not understand it?

"And what was his realm when you first met, hm? Wasn't even a Primordial Immortal, right? And the way the elder just died, do you really think his strength is just in the Transcended Immortal realm?"

It hadn't even been that long since their first meeting, not even a decade if he recalled correctly. Yet he shot up in cultivation, he shot up in bloodline, he shot up in strength. Ren Shuya hadn't been able to find any records or traces of recent fights that he had taken part in, but surely Liang Chen would be stronger than his cultivation realm showed, he had to be.

"Don't belittle him, Xiao. He is strong, probably far stronger than we can guess. We, as a race, need him if we want to rise. And if the cost of that is some of our elders and more twisted citizens then its a price I am more than willing to pay."

Ren Shuya had made up his mind. The spark was a necessary existence to the kindling that was the Sebettu. To raise the Sebettu out of their squalor, their unconsciously accepted misery, he would be wiling to sacrifice as many as he needed. Let them be purged so that they could all rise from the ashes.

"We don't need him, Shuya. And if the cost of us rising is sacrificing our elders and citizens then we don't deserve to rise."

But wherever there was one side there would be another. And in this case, Xiao Ping was the other side. Those who had seen war and those who hadn't, those who had lost and those who hadn't, those who were willing to sacrifice and those who weren't. The divide started there, Liang Chen was merely the wedge that would finally drive them apart.

Xiao Ping pushed out her hand, an unseen force pushing Ren Shuya back while simultaneously pushing her towards the broken window. She left the premises of the building and stepped onto thin air, the siblings locking eyes before she started to descend.

"I won't let you stop me, Shuya. We don't need him, I won't let us be dependent on him, just you watch."