Everlasting

Chapter 7

One hour prior:

When the tables turned.

Being beaten up and tied upside down, the leader of the attackers could only beg for mercy. The branch he was tied to, wouldn't hold for long and if he fell, his head would fall directly on the fire Xiao Zhan was about to lit.

If that man were some wild edible animals, the scenario would be like a starting of a feast but since he was a human; it looked more like a sacrificial ceremony— to offer him to some Satan.

Satan there, Xiao Zhan himself.

"Tell me, who is your master?" Xiao Zhan questioned adding firewoods in the fireplace he had made. Just a little flame and it would soar up to burn that man alive.

"I really don't know his name. He never shows his face to us." Cried the man. Scared to the point that his throat had dried up.

Being the last one alive after witnessing everyone being killed in one strike; that leader of the attackers felt himself being left to breathe, only to be tortured till death.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk" Getting up, the Second Prince of Nān looked anything but kind as he extended his hand, "Zhang."

The called one took out a dagger from his sleeve and handed it over to his master, "We will wait for your order."

Saying so, Xiao Zhan's men walked away leaving him alone with the toy he was playing. And as soon as they left, they could hear a heart wrenching cry.

Xiao Zhan stabbed that man's stomach and kicked the dagger deeper, "Sushhh!!"

Blood oozed out from where the dagger split the flesh open. Few drops fell down in the firewoods wetting them. Yet Xiao Zhan didn't give a damn.

If it didn't lit, he still had more ways to burn that man.

Therefore, hushing him, Xiao Zhan asked another question, "Tell me every detail you remember of your master. Or— I will pull the dagger out. Would you want that?"

"No!" Panicking at that, the man let his tears fall down with pain and fear. If Xiao Zhan were to pull that dagger, his intestines would be cut and brought out together with it.

He'd die at that point.

But if the dagger wasn't touched, he could still be saved.

"Then speak." Roared Xiao Zhan.

Feeling Xiao Zhan replace the wet firewoods beneath him and understanding that he didn't have long enough to live if he stayed silent, the man chose to speak, "He is as tall as you. He changes his voice everytime he meets us. And-and he always warns us to never be seen by Panther's men."

"Panther?"

Hearing an interesting name, Xiao Zhan stopped what he was doing and stood up; lessening the threat on that man's life. "I will not lit the fire if you tell me more."

Having a point to bargain with, that man spoke with the greed to live more, "He was the one who planned to throw you off the cliff that resulted to your partial memory loss. But he didn't know someone called Panther would be born by his actions. —Panther has been searching for him for ten years now. He never gave up. And we all know what extent of brutal death will he bestow to the one who had hurt you. So he fears him."

"Panther? There was no Panther before that?" Xiao Zhan's voice was surprisingly softer, "He was born for me?"

"Yes. Please spare me. Have some mercy. I will serve you till the end if you let me go. I can—I can even help you. I'm the only one who can summon my master now. If you kill me then you might never find a way to know who in real is a permanent threat to your life." A good pitch at a good time made Xiao Zhan nod at that man. It was indeed true that all the searching and investigation he did from his side as well, hadn't let him find his mortal enemy.