Blades of Secrets: The Endless Night

CHAPTER 21

He walked into the academy in complete silence. It felt like he was reliving the moment Qiu Lin died. Da Qiang saw him as Cheng Xing walked towards him. His eyes flashed, and for a moment Cheng Xing thought he was going to punch him. But in the end, he merely nodded, and they turned around in unison. To pay their respects.

People stood at the graves. They looked at him as he walked past. He reached the front, the name Da An was engraved in the stone. Da Qiang looked over at him, dark eyes glistening with unshed tears. Cheng Xing blinked a few times, making sure to maintain a stone-cold facade. Assassins were supposed to be tough. Emotionless tools for the Master to use, nothing more. Not to mention he was supposed to be the next assassin's leader in the academy.

People slowly left one by one back down the hill. There was barely anyone left standing there. Cheng Xing turned to see Fen Yuhang standing behind him.

"Is it true that you killed Da An?"

Cheng Xing watched, outwardly impassive as a tear dripped down Fen Yuhang's cheek. His brother in all but blood, staring at him with an unreadable look in his eye. Cheng Xing stayed silent, emotionless. A tool, nothing more.

He wasn't meant to harm Da An. He needed an Alibi with the police. To do that, he was going to tell Li Ming that Da An was the culprit. This wasn't supposed to happen. Why? WhywhywhywhywhyWHYWHYWHY-?

He took a deep breath. A tool, nothing more. In and out.

Fen Yuhang had no words, shoving past him as he walked down the hill. Cheng Xing slowly headed down when he met Ping Heng. Ping Heng headed straight to Cheng Xing and punched him in the face. Cheng Xing let it hit him, let the sound of the fist meeting his face resound. It hurt, a bit. Good.

"Anything else?" Cheng Xing asked, face stony and cold. Ping Heng's eyes flared with anger. Ping Heng gripped Cheng Xing by the collar and shoved him into a tree. Cheng Xing breathed in deeply, still showing no emotion.

"Now I really want to see you suffer," Ping Heng gritted out.

Master stood above Cheng Xing, her black cloak and dress with the sharp fake talons. The raven mask covering her face.

"Although you have made progress on your list, you still killed Da An. You broke one of the golden ruled of the academy: Not to kill our own. Your punishment shall be 30 lashes to the back."

Cheng Xing bowed. A tool, nothing more.

The sound of the whip cracked against his skin. Cheng Xing gripped tightly and clenched his jaw, biting on the cloth in-between his teeth as pain struck again. Fen Yuhang watched, flinching each time the whip was brought down, knowing he couldn't do anything. Angry and disappointed he may be, Cheng Xing was still family.

Cheng Xing breathes out sharply as the pain increased, each whip became more painful as it sliced into already made wounds, tearing them deeper. The ropes held his hands and feet down tightly. Ping Heng stood in the corner a small smile twitched at the edge of his mouth.

"That's 30, you're done," Fen Yuhang said, starting to walk over to him.

"Not yet."

Fen Yuhang turned to Ping Heng.

"Can't you count? That's 30."

"He killed Da An. He should be accounted for his death. He needs at least 5 more."

"That's-"

Cheng Xing weakly grabs Fen Yuhang's hand.

"Just 5 more."

"Cheng Xing, you-"

"-It was my fault," Cheng Xing said, panting through cracked and dry lips. His chest heaved with exhaustion, skin sweaty and pale. Ping Heng stood back, Fen Yuhang hesitantly moving back. The sound of the whip cracking on the skin was sickening. Fen Yuhang gritted his teeth. The fifth whip had finished. Fen Yuhang rushes to Cheng Xing and unties the ropes. His back flared with fiery pain as he got up on shaky legs, his body protesting. Fen Yuhang pulls him up and takes him to the nursing area.

There were different tools on a high tray table with bandages and scalpels. The nurse held up a white powder inside a bottle.

"This will heal the wounds, you'll only need to put this on three times a day, but the damage caused shows there's likely to be scars. This will heal it better, making it less of a defiant scar. Plus, this will hurt."

She placed powder on his wounds which made him scream out. Sweat dripped from his forehead. She bandaged it up quickly and Fen Yuhang helped Cheng Xing put on a shirt.

"Put this on in the morning and afternoon and evening, by then most of it should be healed," she said as she hands him a small bottle of white powder. Cheng Xing turns to Fen Yuhang as she leaves.

"I have to get back to Li Ming's house before dawn, he'll know if I'm not back," Cheng Xing said, face drawn and panting, wiping away the sweat gently from his forehead with his sleeve.

Fen Yuhang drives Cheng Xing over to Li Ming's house. They halt to a stop. The lights remain on, the dust particles floating in front of the lights. Cheng Xing turns to Fen Yuhang.

"Fen Yuhang, I'm sorry about Da An. I know you were close when you were kids. It was an accid-"

"I don't want to hear it. It doesn't matter, you lost Qiu Lin, and I lost Da An."

Cheng Xing gave a sad glance towards Fen Yuhang. Fen Yuhang chuckled.

"To be honest I already had lost the Da brother's friendship, they followed Ping Heng. They knew if they did that, we would no longer be friends."

"People come in and out of your life, you don't choose who stays or leaves. It's fate."

Cheng Xing nodded and hopped out the car, walking to the house. He walked into the house and laid down on his side on the bed in pain.

There was a flash of white powder and bandages with a hand doing them up. It quickly changes to a big round moon in the night sky before ending with a dagger being dropped on the floor with blood. Cheng Xing woke up with panic and fear rising again for what was to come.