"What's going on?!" The guard captain yelled as the village militia broke into a run towards the bandit's hideout.
"It sounded like an explosion!" Another shouted.
"I can tell that!" He was huffing as he was wearing a heavier set of metal armour compared to the rest of them, even if he was fit and trained well it was still a lot to run in.
They burst through the bushes and fauna, cutting away any branches in the way as they made a straight charge towards the commotion, as they did they could hear rocks tumbling, shouting, and screaming.
"Hurry!" He screamed as he pushed himself to keep ahead of the pack.
After a few minutes they finally arrived, but what they saw was not the bandit camp they had expected to see, in fact the buildings that should have been here were no longer in sight at all!
All that was left was rocks and rubble, the mountain cliff that overlooked the old mining camp had collapsed like someone had shaved into it, falling on to the ground below and crushing everything leaving a massive indent in the mountainside.
Dust rose into the air, from afar one might have mistaken it for smoke from a large bonfire, that's how much there was.
"What in the heavens happened…?!" The guard captain stood, gobsmacked as he took in the sight before him.
"No! My wife!" One of the men that caught up saw the scene and yelled, his voice full of pain.
The guard captain grit his teeth as he looked around before yelling "Everyone! Search for survivors! There may be someone who escaped!".
And so the militia split up, scouring the perimeter of the rock slide, turning over the smaller stones to see if someone was caught in the outer edge and alive.
It wasn't long before one person called out "I found one! One of the bastards! He's still alive!".
They all rushed over, one of the bandits was laid on his back with his legs caught under the rocks as his mind was groggy, likely having been hit by flying rocks.
"All right you rat!" The captain got his men to move the rocks covering the man and dragged him out, pushing him against a tree slumped "What happened here?!".
The bandit's eyes regained slight clarity as he began shivering slightly "T-there was an intruder… the other's went to check…."
"And?!"
"T-then… I-t exploded! I ran! I ran as fast as I could!".
"What exploded?!".
"T-t-he t-tunnel! Boss rigged it! Said we could cover our tracks!".
The guard captain punched the man, knocking him flying.
"Tie him up, we'll take him with us, keep up the search" He gave the orders.
"Those dumbass bandits, did they use the old explosives that were here? They must have used too much…" An older man walked up to him with anger lighting his face.
"No, they said there was an intruder, something must have happened that they didn't expect" The guard captain replied, looking deeply at the mountain of rubble.
"Then do you think it was the intruder that set it off?" The older man asked, trying to figure out the situation.
"I don't know, maybe there was an infight, or someone robbing them under their noses…" He then turned to look the old man in the eye "What's the chance that the inner cavern is still safe?".
"…After all this time, pretty much a zero percent chance, such large tremors would easily collapse those old tunnels with the rotting support wood" his face seemed like it gained a few wrinkles as he thought of the implications of his words.
*BANG*
The armoured fist struck a tree trunk, leaving a deep indentation.
"SHIT! WE WERE TOO LATE!"
"Don't beat yourself up, there are things in this world we are unable to prevent" The old man sighed, resigning to the truth of the facts.
"If we had dealt with them in the first place when they invaded this wouldn't have happened!".
"No one expected them to appear suddenly and breech our walls like that, in such large numbers as well… even bandits are becoming excessive these days". His old face looked into the distance at the other members of the militia pulling away rocks and searching still, his eyes reflected the vastitudes of his life, the similar experiences he had been through countless times already.
"Cap- Capt- Captain!" One of the younger guards came running, his breath running out as he had sprinted as fast as he could.
"What is it? Another rat survived?" The captain spat.
"No! The kidnapped people! They're back!" The young man finally spat out; his face full of glee.
The guard captain and old man looked at each-other, their eyes revitalised with light as they ran off without another word.
Out of the forest poured a small group of men and women, ragged and injured but alive, their bare feet rough as they had trailed down the side of the mountain from the back exit, fatigue clear in their faces.
"They're alive!"
"How did you get out?!"
"Thank goodness!"
They were surrounded by the militia, making sure they were okay and asking them how they escaped.
"Mister saved us" The young girl called Xu Meilin said, causing the crowd to ask them about this 'mister'.
"Our benefactor… oh, there he is!" Her father looked around, spotting Shu He walking out of the darkness dragging a bundle behind him.
"You were the one who saved our people?" The old man walked forward with the guard captain at his side.
Shu He walked forward but stopped at the perimeter of the trees shadow before he tugged and threw the load he was carrying.
*SLAM*
It landed before the militia, it was a rugged long-haired man with his hand missing, completely unconscious.
"Who is this?" The captain asked, startled seeing the small figure in front of him toss the large man with ease.
"The boss of those thugs, he'll wake up in a day or so; I hear he has a bounty on his head, do with him as you please" Shu He's voice echoed, it lacked emotion like a machine fulfilling a task.
The militia immediately fixated on the unconscious man, their anger peaking.
'This was the man that caused this?!' was their thought.
"Benefactor, what can we do to thank-" The old man looked up, but Shu He was gone like the wind.
Not a trace of him remaining.
The people looked at each-other, unsure what to say before the old man turned around "It doesn't matter, you're safe now! We have carts a little while away, you guys support them on the way back, we're returning home!".
The guard captain, added, speaking to his fellow guardsmen "Drag that one with us, and the other survivor, we'll make them suffer for what they did".
"Yes, sir!".
…
Shu He ran, ran and ran as fast as he could, he could feel his façade cracking by the second, his heart that beat steadily was now threatening to burst out of his chest.
He landed next to a large river, crouching down on his hands and knees as his body began shaking, shivering and he began whimpering until-
He threw up, emptying the contents of his stomach into the clear water, disrupting the peaceful stream that reflected the white moon.
It wasn't just once, he felt like he was being kicking in the stomach over and over as he heaved again and again, even when there wasn't any liquid to expel his stomach cramped, ripping its seams so blood could fill in for the stomach acid.
Memories fluttered in his mind, the ones he had repressed and distanced himself from.
The splatter of brain matter pasted on the rocks.
The lifeless faces filled with panic and fear.
The scent of torn bowels spewing their filth.
The fountain of blood from a cut artery.
The repugnant smell of a leaking stomach burning away flesh with its acid.
They seared themselves deep in to his mind, he would never forget them from now on.
He had pushed himself to state of self-hypnosis, his mind ignoring any and all disturbed thoughts, all because of one thought he had.
'I have to save them'.
To do that, he made himself commit acts he never would have before, he convinced himself that it was right, that he would be fine.
But he wasn't.
He hadn't just killed one person.
He had massacred nearly 100 people with his own two hands.
Shu He heaved, blood dripping from his mouth as he stared at his reflection in the water, he held up his hands, his eyes fixating on the small stains of blood that covered his lightly tanned skin.
"AAAAAGH!" He dunked his hands in the water, the cold liquid chilling his body that was heated from head to toe with panic.
But that wasn't enough.
His face, his clothes, his shoes.
Everything was covered in proof of his actions.
*SPLASH*
He jumped in, flailing until the brown robe he had fell away, floating downstream.
All that was left was Shu He breathing heavily, barefoot in his sect robes, his long bronze hair had come loose as it drifted upwards while he floated on his back, his eyes watching the moon in the sky.
'I'm a murderer' Was what part of him was telling him.
'What I did was right, because I saved their lives' Was what another was telling him.
"Which one is right? Are both true?" He asked the moon that stared down at him, as if revelling in his insanity.
He ran because he couldn't bear the weight of his actions anymore.
And because he didn't want to be thanked.
'Thanking me for killing all those people?' It didn't feel right to him.
But at the same time, he understood that it was the truth of this world, and as he walked further on this path he'd witness more and more spectacles.
But it still wasn't right to him.
He didn't like it.
He laid still in the water like a lily, basking in the bright silver light until his chest began to calm, his mind cooling down.
He still felt sick to his stomach.
In the eyes of this world, maybe his actions today will have little consequence, the people he killed will be forgotten.
Maybe he will be pat on the back and told 'good job'.
But he made a resolution.
No matter what happens in the future, he would never become someone who treated lives of mortals lightly.
He would never forget this feeling that entwined his heart at this very moment.