Empire (Xichen X OC)

Chapter 26

"Mrs Mo. Calm down or you will do something, you will regret in the end," Guan-yin said, as servants pulled her slightly back or at least they tried. She let go of her wrist.

"Let me go! I will avenge him!" she shouted, trying to escape the pull.

"Avenge him? But I did not kill him!" the accused said, now lowering his hand once he realised he was safe.

"What? What did you say?"

"Mrs Mo," Sizhui said, taking a few steps towards her. "Your son's flesh and blood have been sucked dry. It must have been evil spirits".

"That lunatic killed him!"

"And how would he have managed that?" Guan-yin asked, standing between the angry old woman and the accused. "No person, even a cultivator, is not capable of such work".

"No, he did it! You all heard him! You all heard him threatening my son, saying that he would cut off his arm! I will kill you!"

"Don't kill me!" Xuanyu suddenly shouted, covering his head. He then started to run like a lunatic, shaking his hand on the air. That was until he 'stumbled' upon the body and caused it to move.

The movement exposed a familiar blag and red flag that was hidden inside the clothing of the deceased son of Mrs Mo.

"A blackwind flag?" Sizhui exclaimed as he noticed, Guan-yin approaching the body.

Her purple eye was narrowed as she bent on one knee next to it, attention on the stolen flag that was partially exposed now.

"What? Why is that here? Why would it be on him?" Mrs Mo asked as Xuanyu climbed on the ledge and sat there, proud.

Guan-yin took the flag, quickly recognising it is one of theirs. She would know her strokes everywhere. Standing up, she passed it to Sizhui as Jingyi joined.

"Mrs Mo. I believe I know how your son died" Sizhui said and showed her the flag. "This is used to summon ghosts and evil spirits. Your son carried this flag and in doing so, he made himself a target. The ghost this flag summoned, killed your son".

"Nonsense!" Mrs Mo said and grabbed the torn left-over piece of the flag. "It is just a worthless piece of fabric. How could it...how could it..." she started to sob again.

"Mrs Mo. You asked for our help to deal with a problem, therefore, you believe in our techniques. You are well aware this piece of fabric is capable of things you do not understand. It would be wise to accept the fact that your son messed with it and paid the price" Guan-yin said, not affected at all by the situation the woman was on.

No sign of empathy could be seen at that moment, having taken it personal by the accusation that her flag was a useless piece of fabric. She understood her grief, but she was acting inappropriately, and unlike her fellow disciples, she was lacking the patience to deal with it.

"How dare you!" Mrs Mo said, now her anger directed on them. "You useless cultivators! You talk about cultivator and demons! You cannot even protect a child! What good are you to me?! It's all because of your stupid flag, that my son is now dead" she accused, grabbing the robes of Sizhui.

Even the boy had tried keeping his cool at the situation, not like being insulted straight on his face. Guan-yin wanted to make a move, ready to pry the woman off him but he gave her a look; showing he was handling it just fine.

Xuanyu watched, shaking his head slightly. After all these years, the Lan clan has not changed. Why bother being so polite? At least...she does not seem to be like the others, he thought as he looked at her.