Dance of the blades

Chapter 60 Suspicion

"Shixiong, what do you mean you don't know?" Lan Sizhui exclaimed in pure disbelief, his voice unusually high. Unable to restrained his distress, he subsequently lost his posture and placed his face an inch away from Xiao Xingchen's; forgetting all courtesy between seniors and juniors. 

Xiao Xingchen face wore a grave expression, his eyes stared off to the distance, trapped in a daze.

Having placed down the soaked cloth into the water basin, his free hands clutched in on itself instead, leading to small red crescents at the palms of his hands. His sealed lips quivered, flickering open for a brief moment before ultimately sealing itself again.

Seeing that he was not going to receive an answer if he remained silent, Lan Sizhui continued probing, "Is her absence related to your arrival here? Shixiong pardon my bluntness but this  mission is far below your station. Although the demon slayer corps issued for a mass gathering of demon slayers to eliminate the threat plaguing this village, the mission was confirmed to be within the capabilities of juniors to handle, by no means should a senior like you be needed here."

"That's right!" Ouyang Zizhen loudly agreed, his eyes widen as the oddity of the situation suddenly dawned on him. Frantically, his hands reached into the folds of his robes and pulled out the issued report they were given to examine.

"Senior Xiao's ranking should already be at Yi only two ranks below a pillar! With his strength one of him is already equaled to more than thirteen of us Gui! If that's the case then there would be no need for us in the first place!" Ouyang Zizhen exclaimed. His surprise evident in his eyes. And rightfully so!

After all in the demon slayer corps Gui was the lowest rank amongst the slayers with Ren and Xin following close after. In the demon slayer corps their ranking system followed the ranking of the heavenly stems; Gui, Ren, Xin, Geng, Ji, Wu, Ding, Bing, Yi and Jia respectively. 

Ouyang Zizhen couldn't help but scurried his gaze to Xiao Xingchen. His head conjuring all sorts of wild theories to explain his arrival. 

Throughout this whole ordeal Jin Ling remained silent, not contributing a single word. Slouching to the side of the wall, his eyes remained vigilant on Xiao Xingchen, scrutinizing Xiao Xingchen every move to determine the man's reaction.

However despite the three prying eyes boring into him—Jin Ling with a razor sharp glare, Ouyang Zizhen with opened eye stare and Lan Sizhui with solemnly respectful gaze—Xiao Xingchen remained nonchalant through it all. 

"Whether or not if one is a Gui or Yi," Xiao Xingchen sighed, his lips slowed when forming the 'Yi' character, "it shouldn't correlate with one's choice in assisting the weak."

"So your saying we're weak." Jin Ling tilted his head. His lazily swayed along his face.

"I said no such thing." Xiao Xingchen replied. 

A smile cracked from Jin Ling's face. "Really?" He snickered, leisurely striding forward. With one hand tucked behind him, he raised his hand and pointed at the window.

"Then were you talking about the inhabitants living here?" He snarled, raising his head to gaze straight into the clothed eyes of the man in white. "Because as far as we can tell there hasn't been a single damn soul running around here. In fact the closes living thing other than the undead corpses thousands of li from here is you! Odd isn't it how is it that out of the thirteen demon slayers sent here only one unaccounted Yi rank has greeted us!? "

"Jin Ling!" Ouyang Zizhen admonished and rushed forward, but his path was halted by the scabbard of Lan Sizhui's sword.

Startled Ouyang Zizhen raised his gaze to meet Lan Sizhui's. Returning the gaze Lan Sizhui frowned and silently shook his head.

"It's alright young junior there is no need to step in." Xiao Xingchen gently reassured.

"But—" 

Like gentle zephyr the strip of a white sleeve flew before him, silencing him.

Perplexed, Ouyang Zizhen lifted his head and met the sleeve's owner's charcoal orbs. A momentary exchange of emotion conveyed through them. 

Lan Sizhui stood aside, refraining from intervening.

Although Xiao Xingchen was Lan Sizhui's senior martial brother, Lan Sizhui's relationship with him was not overly familiar enough for him to devoid Xiao Xingchen of suspicion. Thus he remained situated where he stood.

"Young junior from the Jin clan does not speak without reason. You are right to be suspicious after all my circumstances leading me here are peculiar. However I truly mean no harm. It's simply that the target of elimination in this village is one that has a history with me." Xiao Xingchen smiled, but the white fabric wrapped beneath his brows obscured the subtle glint in his eyes, rendering his emotions abstruse to the naked eye.

Jin Ling raised his brow, "And what sort of history would senior have with an insignificant vermin in a small village?"

Xiao Xingchen's lips curved, laughter
emitted from his throat, the sound carried through the room like a gentle breeze.

"Young junior Jin has a sharp tongue. This is first I've heard anyone calling him a 'vermin'. Alas the 'vermin' you speak of is not who you think he is. I'm afraid the demon slayer corps has made a grave oversight and underestimated the severity of the situation. And now we demon slayers are paying the price." As Xiao Xingchen said this his gaze lowered to Lan Jingyi's body sprawled on the floor.

"An oversight? Shixiong do you mean to say that the demon has devoured above twenty humans?" On the surface Lan Sizhui remained a composed demeanor, his voice was steady and even like the tranquil waters of a lake. 

However beneath that exterior, a ragging maelstrom of emotions brewed within its depths.

Although the aptitudes of demons varied, their strength could be measured by the number of humans they have consumed. Naturally the larger the number, the stronger their strength. 

Demons of weaker rank —those whom had not gained demon blood arts usually have not exceed the consumption of ten humans. These demons were highly recommended for Xin and below to handle. Those whom had already gained demon blood arts and had consumed over twenty were on their way to match the strength of a lower moon. 

Sending juniors like them to face someone like that was begging for an absolute slaughter! It was no different from placing freshly groomed cubs against an adolescent tiger!

The demon slayer corps truly had made a huge mistake. Unfortunately there was no turning back now. With a heavy heart the three young boys looked at each other in dismay.

We're doomed!