Book 9: Chapter 60: The Price of Survival
Yunhan and Liwen stared at him with scared, confused expressions. Sen supposed that was to be expected after everything he’d done. He’d earned those looks, and he had to fight his instinct to put them at ease. He needed them scared. Not terrified to the point that they’d try to fight him for fear of their lives, but scared enough that they’d listen and do what he needed them to do. He let the silence drag out until Yunhan worked up the courage to speak.
“What things?” asked the core cultivator.
“Several, but they mainly come down to the price of survival. Your survival. Your unplanned survival.”
“What does that mean?” ventured Liwen.
She didn’t look at him when asking the question, choosing to keep her eyes lowered. He didn’t know if she was feigning deference or meant it, and it probably didn’t matter if she was feigning it.
“It means that I intended for everyone who had even a chance of resurrecting the Twisted Blade Sect to die last night. Or as many as I could reach. That included the two of you. Clearly, that didn’t happen, which puts me in an awkward position. So, I’m going to need other assurances that you won’t become a problem for me later and that you won’t try to bring this terrible excuse for a sect back.”
Liwen did look at him then, anger burning through her fear.
“You need assurances,” she hissed. “After you murdered all those people? You need assurances?”
“Murdered?” asked Sen in a flat voice. “Do you want to have a conversation about your sect and murder?”