Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation
72. Brave Little Brother

The next morning, the siblings were awakened at the crack of dawn by Chanshi’s kindly smiling face, a sight Jinshu found deeply unsettling.

They were led to a grand dining hall, where a long table was piled high with delicacies. The tantalizing aroma of roasted meats, fresh pastries, and spiced teas filled the air, making their stomachs growl in unison.

The siblings exchanged wary glances, wondering if this was the beginning of Aunt Zui’s experiments.

Their musings were interrupted by a sharp tap on their backs. Long Zui had appeared behind them, her mischievous grin on full display. “Don’t worry, I haven’t poisoned the food… yet,” she said with a laugh before seating herself at the head of the table.

The siblings hesitated, staring at the feast as their unease warred with hunger. Eventually, the rumbling of their stomachs won out. Reluctantly, they took seats around the table. Jinshu chose the seat opposite Long Zui, reasoning that as the most level-headed of the group, he should handle whatever conversation came next.

At first, they picked at the food cautiously, glancing at one another for reassurance. But the moment the rich, heavenly flavors hit their tongues, they couldn’t stop themselves. One bite led to another, and soon, they were devouring the meal with abandon.

The dining hall fell quiet, the only sounds the clinking of chopsticks and the occasional slurp of soup.

A few minutes later, Jinshu pushed his plate forward, signaling he’d had enough. Straightening his back, he watched Aunt Zui take a long swig from her ever present wine gourd. Once she finished, he seized the moment to speak.

“Aunt Zui,” he began, his tone calm but firm, “how about you let my sisters leave? I’ll stay and willingly accept your experiments.”

Bang!

“What—!” Yanjiang’s chopsticks clattered to the table as she slammed her hand down. Her exclamation was cut short when she began choking on her food. Bing jumped up, patting her back to help dislodge the obstruction.

Long Zui leaned forward, her gaze narrowing as she studied Jinshu. For a moment, she said nothing, as if weighing his offer. Only after Yanjiang coughed up a piece of meat—along with a small burst of flames that charred her plate—did Aunt Zui finally speak.

“You know you’d need to undergo at least three times as many experiments to make up for your sisters, right, little nephew?” Long Zui said, her eyes gleaming with both amusement and menace.

Jinshu nodded silently, his expression unreadable.

“No! Absolutely not!” Yanjiang shouted, slamming her hands on the table again. “We’re not leaving him here with a psychopath like you!” She jabbed a finger toward Long Zui’s face, her fiery qi beginning to swirl around her in small, crackling sparks.

Long Zui rose from her seat, her smile unshaken as she approached her fiery niece. “Oh? And how exactly do you plan to stop me, little dragon?”

Yanjiang stood firm, her jaw tight as her qi flared more intensely.

Before the situation could escalate further, Yuetu stepped between them. Her calm presence was a sharp contrast to her elder sister’s fury. “We’ll leave… if you’ll let us,” she said quietly, addressing Long Zui with a steady gaze.

“What!?” Yanjiang’s voice rose in disbelief. “What the hell are you saying, Yuetu? Have you lost your mind? We’re not leaving our little brother here!”

Bing shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting between her sisters. She bit her lip, clearly unsure who to side with.

Long Zui chuckled, a hint of admiration flickering in her gaze as she looked at Yuetu. “Hmm… at least one of you has a sensible head on her shoulders. But even if you leave, you won’t be able to save your brother.” She smirked knowingly, as if certain she had the upper hand.

Her words hung heavily in the air, but Jinshu didn’t waver. While part of his plan was to send his sisters away to alert their father and others, he couldn’t deny his curiosity about how Long Zui intended to awaken the Azure bloodline.

“Alright,” Long Zui said suddenly, waving her hand. “I'll send them back.”

Yanjiang’s qi flared again, but before she could protest, a ripple of energy surrounded her and her sisters.

“Wait! No—!” Yanjiang shouted, but her voice was cut off as she vanished along with Yuetu and Bing.

Long Zui turned back to Jinshu, her smile widening into something sinister. “Now, little nephew… I hope you’re ready for what I have in store for you.”

“I’m ready,” Jinshu said, his voice steady despite the unease in his chest. “But before we start, could I ask you a favor?”

Long Zui stopped mid-step and turned to him again, one brow arched in curiosity. “Didn’t I already do you a favor by letting your sisters leave?”

“True…” Jinshu admitted, pausing to carefully consider his next words. He needed a request she wouldn’t refuse. Finally, he looked up and said, “I want you to train me. I want to become as strong as you—someone who can make my father, the Azure Dragon, a peak Saint Realm cultivator at the cusp of Immortality, look like a fool.”

Long Zui froze, her mouth slightly agape as she processed his bold statement. For a moment, there was silence. Then she threw her head back and laughed, a loud, genuine sound that echoed throughout the dining hall.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming with delight. “I think I’ve come to like you, little nephew.”

“So… you agree?” Jinshu asked, cautious but hopeful.

“Un,” she grunted with a firm nod, her grin as wide as ever. “After today’s experiments, I’ll train you. I’ll even generously teach you everything I know.”

With that, she turned and strode toward the exit, her voice floating back over her shoulder. “Come along now! We have a long day ahead of us.”

Jinshu sat frozen for a moment, his fists tightening slightly as he steeled his resolve. Let’s do this! he thought, rising from his seat and following her out of the dining hall.

“Argh!” Jinshu’s screams reverberated through the cramped chamber, the sound bouncing off the stone walls like a tortured echo. He lay on a small table in the center of the room, his body convulsing as agony coursed through him. The drugs his aunt had administered were relentlessly reshaping his bone structure, and his mind teetered on the edge of collapse. According to her, this was only the third of ten experiments planned for the day.

Even through the haze of pain, a single thought grounded him: his sisters were safe, spared from these horrors.

“Hold on a bit longer. We need your body in peak condition for the subsequent experiments,” Long Zui said matter-of-factly, seated at his side with a scroll in hand. Her brush scratched against the paper as though she were merely cataloging the weather, not her nephew’s suffering.

“H-how much longer?” Jinshu managed to gasp through clenched teeth, his jaw straining under the pressure. He half-expected his molars to crack at any moment.

“Ten more minutes,” she replied without looking up, her voice devoid of sympathy. “Then you can rest for an hour.”

Jinshu didn’t respond. His bones twisted beneath his skin like writhing serpents, the unnatural movement tearing at his flesh. His aunt had instructed him to maintain his human form, and it was taking every ounce of his willpower to comply.

According to her, strengthening his human physique to its peak would make the following experiments less excruciating and more efficient. Jinshu doubted that as another sharp wave of pain jolted through him.

In the final moments of the ten minutes, he nearly blacked out when an errant bone splintered through his skin before twisting painfully back into place. Blood dripped down his arms and legs, pooling on the floor beneath the table.

Panting, his vision blurred, Jinshu barely noticed when the pain finally began to ebb. His hour of reprieve had begun.

He turned his head slightly, catching sight of his aunt still absorbed in her notes, her brush moving with practiced precision. A faint glimmer of resentment flickered in his chest as he wondered where she came up with these torturous ideas. The first two experiments had been relatively benign—simple measurements of his blood and qi levels. But this one? This one had come alarmingly close to killing him.

Jinshu let out a shuddering breath, his resolve hardening despite the pain. He had agreed to this path, and he wouldn’t falter now.

“Aunt Zui…” Jinshu called out weakly, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Long Zui glanced up from her scroll, her brush pausing mid-motion. “Hm?”

“You did send my sisters back, didn’t you? They aren’t somewhere else… undergoing these same tortures, right?” His voice wavered with the weight of the question. The mere thought of his sisters enduring what he had was unbearable.

Long Zui smiled, and for once, it wasn’t mocking or wicked—it was oddly gentle. “You really do love them, don’t you?”

Jinshu blinked against the exhaustion pressing on him like a heavy blanket. “Of course. Should I not?”

Shaking her head, she chuckled softly. “No, it’s quite admirable. I certainly wouldn’t feel the same if my father had sired children with so many women.”

His brows furrowed at her words. “But aren’t all clan leaders meant to take multiple wives to ensure the continuation of their line?”

“That’s how they justify it,” she replied with a shrug. “Though, let’s be honest, most of them are just lustful brutes.”

“Is my father one of those lustful brutes?” Jinshu asked hesitantly.

“Hmm… no? Probably not. He at least genuinely loves each of his wives.”

The tension in Jinshu’s body eased at her answer, a soft sigh of relief escaping his lips. But as the moment passed, his eyes narrowed with realization. “Wait—what about my sisters?”

“What about them?” she replied, feigning confusion.

“Are they safe?” he pressed.

“Oh, yes, yes, they’re safe,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “Now stop worrying and rest.”

Her words soothed him, if only slightly. He let out another sigh, his battered mind and body finally succumbing to exhaustion. As his vision blurred and the world dimmed, he caught a fleeting glimpse of his aunt approaching.

She leaned over him, her hand brushing softly against his hair. “Sweet dreams, little nephew,” she murmured, her tone uncharacteristically tender.

And with that, Jinshu’s consciousness slipped into darkness.