~~~

“Are you well?” Liu Jin asks when Lei Kong visits him the following day.

“Yes, my lord,” Lei Kong replies. “I have not encountered any incidents thus far. It seems my identity has gone undiscovered.”

“Good, but that is not what I am asking about,” Liu Jin says. “The memory of Murong Bang has haunted you all this time, and I cannot imagine being in such close proximity to the man has helped you any. So again I ask, are you well?”

Lei Kong stays kneeling on the floor, saying nothing. Liu Jin closes his eyes and sighs softly.

“If you will not answer because I worry for your well-being, then answer because your mental state directly affects how useful to me you are.”

Lei King flinches. Liu Jin wishes he didn’t have to use this sort of argument, but Lei Kong is unlikely to open up otherwise.

“I am…not well, my lord. When we were in the arena with Murong Bang… I forgot to breathe. I see my past, and I am frozen, my lord. I could not even think of helping you when you saved those men,” Lei Kong says. His body trembles lightly. It is too faint for most people to notice, but Liu Jin has known Lei Kong for a long time.

“And yet… it is a relief that he did not recognize me,” Lei Kong continues. “I feared he’d notice who I was at a glance and drag me back into his army. Never have I been so glad to be trash not worth putting in someone’s eyes.”

Liu Jin frowns. “You are not trash.”

Lei Kong smiles sadly. “That is kind of you to say, my lord.”

It is not the answer Liu Jin wants. Unfortunately, even if Liu Jin were to argue with Lei Kong all day, he wouldn’t gain any ground on this issue.

People can be thoroughly annoying sometimes.

“While I cannot claim to be at my best, I am still fully capable of performing my duties, my lord,” Lei Kong says. He hesitates, then adds, “As long as I am not in that man’s presence, at least.”

“What of the Lei Clan?” Liu Jin asks. “Should we worry about them?”

While Lei Kong has never told him the full story, Liu Jin knows the Lei Clan are ones responsible for the injury that left Lei Kong crippled. Having him join Murong Bang’s army in such a sorry state was essentially an attempt to get him killed.

“My uncle is the Clan Master. Learning that I am alive and free of injuries might cause him to try to assassinate me,” Lei Kong admits, grimacing. “However, most members of my clan seem to be in Thunder Blade Fortress right now, so that’s unlikely to happen.”

Unlikely but not impossible. Another potential problem to take into account. How many of those does Liu Jin have by now?

Sometimes it feels like there are too many to count.

“There is also another matter, my lord,” Lei Kong says. “You ordered me to see to the well-being of the men you saved yesterday. I am pleased to inform you they woke up this morning.”

Liu Jin considers this for a moment.

“Take me to them.”

~~~

The two men are clearly underfed. They have sunken cheeks, and it’s easy to make out their bones through their skin. Their hair is dark and messy, likely cut with a rusted knife or some other low-quality instrument.

The only positive thing Liu Jin can say about them is that they are clean and dressed in clothes rather than rags. Liu Jin suspects Lei Kong is responsible for that. Perhaps sensing he would want to meet them right away, his servant ordered the men to wash themselves and procured clean robes for them.

They are in the Foundational Realm.

In Eastern Port City, someone who failed to leave the Foundational Realm before turning eighteen was looked at with scorn and was a frequent subject of mockery. Reaching the Inner Realm and even the Nascent Realm are things normal people are expected to be capable of within their lifetimes.

The men in front of Liu Jin look to be about thirty, though considering the life they have led, they could easily be in their early twenties. Not that it matters. Even that is far too old. Their cultivation is shockingly meager by any standard.

And yet, how could they possibly have done better? In a world where even something as simple as a daily meal is taken by those stronger, how can they be expected to do anything but wilt?

Liu Jin feels the beginnings of anger brewing inside him and takes a deep breath.

“What are your names?” He asks. The two grown men flinch at his voice, and Liu Jin reminds himself to lower his Qi.

“T-they call me Rust, my lord,” says one.

“N-nail, my lord,” says the other one, the one Liu Jin saved from dying.

Nail and Rust. Not real names, but ones they went by. Perhaps they were never given names. Or perhaps people stopped using their real names a long time ago. It matters little. The end result is the same.

“Rust and Nail,” Liu Jin says. “General Murong has decided to give you to me. Perhaps you might have harbored some hopes of becoming a Hundred-Man Commander. That will not be happening. Had Murong Bang given you what he promised, you would have been killed by your new subordinates. The path of a Hundred-Man Commander was never open to you.”

It is obvious to him, but it might not be that way for Rust and Nail. Best that he makes it clear to them now. Indeed, the two men look slightly confused by his words before nodding.

That angers Lei Kong.

“You ungrateful curs!” Lei Kong shouts. “My lord is making you understand you owe your lives to him and-”

“Lei Kong. Lower. Your. Qi.”

Liu Jin does not raise his voice, yet Lei Kong immediately kneels down and completely lowers his Qi.

“My deepest apologies, my lord,” Lei Kong says. His eyes show clear regret as he looks at the quivering Nail and Rust.

He had not been trying to intimidate them with his Qi, but the two are so weak and in such poor health that just lightly raising his Qi caused them harm.

“Do you have any skills?” Liu Jin asks them once they have stopped trembling.

“I-I am good at fixing things,” Nail says, his voice quivering.

“I can use a knife,” says Rust.

“No,” Liu Jin tells him, remembering the man’s movements in the arena. “You cannot.”

He decides to take Nail’s fixing skills with similar lightness.

“You two will be in charge of keeping the Flame-Wheeled Wagons clean from now on,” Liu Jin decides after a moment of thought. He looks to the side. “Lei Kong?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“You are in charge of them for now.”

“Naturally, my lord.”

“I will prepare medicine and create a diet for them. You are to make sure they follow it,” Liu Jin tells him. He looks off to the side. “Ten, you can come out.”

A yelp and a crash follow as a young man a little older than him wearing the robes of the Eternal Flame Clan stumbles out of a corner and falls to the ground.

“Sorry, Senior Brother Qing,” Ten says as he stands up and dusts himself off. Unfortunately, there is no dusting the embarrassed blush on his face. “I did not mean to spy. I just saw you walking by and…”

“You wanted to see if I was going to have Lei Kong do anything dangerous and wanted to offer your services,” Liu Jin says.

Still blushing, Ten nods.

“While I appreciate your attitude, I do not think these two can benefit much from your care. They are not remotely ready to learn how to use a forge. Maybe once they have recovered enough, it wouldn’t be a bad skill for them to learn, but…”

Liu Jin trails off. He glances to the side and sees Rust and Nail still bowing on the floor, completely silent, doing nothing but waiting for them to decide their fate.

He frowns.

“I am doing this wrong,” he says.

“Senior Brother?”

“My lord?”

Liu Jin sits on the ground, so he is at eye level with the two men.

“Murong Bang gave you to me,” he repeated. “However, you are not things or pets for me to keep. You are people, and if you do not wish to stay, you do not have to. Once your bodies are fully healed, you are free to leave this place and do whatever you wish.”

He knows what is best for these men, so they should stay with him. How easy it is to think like that. He had been so caught up in his desire to help that he had completely stopped thinking of these two as individuals.

“If you stay with me, I will do my best to help you. However, I will not force you to stay or punish you for leaving. The decision of what to do with yourselves is yours and yours alone,” Liu Jin tells them.

Rust and Nail look at each other and nearly instantly come to a decision.

“We choose to stay, my lord!”

And really, what else could they have said?

No matter what Liu Jin said just now, these two men cannot see anything other than a powerful cultivator. How can he expect them to act without fear? No matter how unassuming and unthreatening he tries to make himself, no matter how much he reassures them he won’t do anything bad to them, the reality of power won’t disappear from their interactions.

They are too afraid to deny him anything.

Liu Jin sighs.

“Very well.”

All he can do right now is make it so these two never regret their choice.

~~~

That night, someone tries to kill Liu Jin.

Liu Jin detects this attempt on his life, not through the protective talismans he placed in his room but through the sounds of battle right outside his window.

“You craven dog!” Lei Kong shouts as he exchanges hits with a dark-clothed assassin across the rooftop. The assassin seems to be trying to escape now that his attempt has been discovered, but Lei Kong hammers at him with lightning-coated fists.

Liu Jin opens his window and jumps into the fight.

“My lord!” Lei Kong shouts as Liu Jin kicks the assassin down to the streets. “There is no need for you to involve yourself in this.”

“Two is better than one,” Liu Jin says, still moving. “Help me capture him.”

Rather than trying to argue, Lei Kong nods and joins in. Faced with two powerful cultivators, the assassin quickly finds himself overwhelmed. Whenever he tries to defend himself from one foe, the other one attacks him from the side. When he tries to flee, there is always someone ready to cut him off.

Despite being outnumbered, the assassin tries to fight conservatively, perhaps in some vain attempt to keep his identity a secret or to stop the fight from being noticed. This only hinders him further. Liu Jin and Lei Kong score more and more hits with every exchange. Liu Jin can feel a tinge of desperation in the assassin’s Qi as he finds himself increasingly overwhelmed. It grows until it has completely colored his aura.

Desperation turns to anger.

The assassin’s Qi surges violently as he fires a deadly blade of pure cutting Qi. The technique is on a completely different level from his previous attacks. However, Liu Jin dodges it, and Lei Kong kicks him from behind.

“Severing Palm,” Liu Jin notes. “Have you given up on hiding your identity, Yun Han?”

Han growls and rips the mask from his face.

“Don’t you dare call me by that name!” Han shouts but grimaces when he sees how many people their battle has attracted. Members of the delegation and soldiers of Murong Bang alike have come out of their rooms to watch.

Han’s attempt at a quiet assassination has undoubtedly failed.

“Well, well, well! It seems you have been having fun tonight!”

Han pales. He is not the only one.

“General Murong!” Han squeaks out as Murong Bang walks out of his home. All the people who came out to watch immediately flee the scene. “I was just… I had to…”

Murong Bang rolls his eyes.

“Do you think I need explanations? You wanted to kill someone. Why does that need to be explained? You’re young! You fight to death. You eat to death. You fuck to death. That’s the way it is.”

Murong Bang shakes his head.

“Look at me talking about young people. Have I become old, Bright Sword?”

“Nonsense, General Murong,” says the man who was definitely not at Murong Bang’s side just a second ago. “You kill with the vigor of a man in the throes of puberty.”

“That’s a lie, but I appreciate you saying it.”

“It is my pleasure.”

Murong Bang sighs and glares at Han, who immediately freezes in place. “Do you know what you did wrong?”

Murong Bang does not wait for Han to reply.

“You acted before I was done with them. That’s not your place, Han.”

Han does not say anything in his defense. Before he can even react, Murong Bang blurs over to him and rips a chunk of flesh from Han’s side with a single swipe of his arm. Han cannot do anything other than collapse screaming and bleeding.

“Put him out of my sight until he learns proper behavior,” Murong Bang says, tossing aside the chunk of flesh he ripped from Han. Bright Sword nods and vanishes with the wounded Han.

“As for you,” Murong Bang tells Liu Jin. His eyes drift over to Lei Kong. “I see you have picked up more than one piece of garbage.”

Lei Kong does not reply. The man’s skin has gone pure white, and he trembles like a child caught in a snowstorm.

Liu Jin moves in front of him.

“He is not the subject of this discussion.”

“The Lei Clan might have something to say in the future, but you are right. He is not important.” Murong Bang smiles. “What is important is that I have already made up my mind.”

Liu Jin blinks. Already?

“Go to the arena the day after tomorrow,” the general tells Liu Jin, chuckling. “You’ll find the show a bit more meaningful this time.”

~~~