A red glow erupted from Sha Roma's skin – a sign that the demon was hitchhiking a ride inside his body like an unwanted leach.
At least, according to the Temple Master. Maybe it was unfilial of him, but Yaru didn't believe adults, especially ones that held his life and death in their hands. Adults had no problem with withholding information or lying if that benefited them – demon, no demon, it didn't matter because the Temple Master reigned.
Sha Roma will have to take it.
Now that there was 'evidence' none can protest if the boy was killed, maimed, or tortured. In a single move, the Temple Master absolved Sha Roma of all his rights, reducing him to something akin to a demonic accessory.
That said, Yaru was unsure if none of the disciples will protest the treatment the Temple Master planned for the teenager, for they could be next. It would do them no good. Not when they're powerless to change their fast-approaching fate.
This was something Yaru used to like seeing – the hopeless look on his tormentors' faces as their power gets ripped from their grasp. Not now, not that it was Koryn that stood to lose everything.
(And there's nothing to do but watch.)
The Temple Master dismissed his Qi-knife and it dissolved into red, shimmering particles.
There was silence, a tension that hovered around the room like an unseen halo, as the Temple Master locked eyes with Sha Roma.
"N-No-" the teen stuttered as he turned to run at the resigned expression on the temple master's face. The Temple Master lightly pierced the teen's legs with a Qi-coated hand, breaking them both and preventing further attempts to escape.
Yaru never wanted to hear such a bone-crushing sound ever again. The pain in the teen's voice had everyone frozen in disbelief. It sounded like death itself.
The remaining disciples stared at the Roma and his bent legs in horror.
Yaru covered his mouth with his shaking hands and his eyes moved to Koryn without his say – pale complexion, slight shaking, and blown-wide obsidian eyes. Terrified.
Yaru nibbled on his lower lip.
His heart drummed hard enough to cover all other sounds.
That's when it happened.
Roma formed a Qi needle – it was thin and sharp and black like the night – and stabbed it right into his enemy's eye, but the Temple Master manipulated his Qi to form a shield around him, and the needle broke into tiny pieces.
The teen looked at the Temple Master with hate-filled eyes – molten gold in color, which was strange, but Yaru had only seen them change for a second before Sha Roma detonated like a human bomb.
The explosion wasn't big, or more like, it was contained around Sha Roma and the Temple Master. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left of the teen, but the Temple Master only dusted himself off.
(He's really unharmed?!)
He turned to the next closest teen, a girl that was still kneeling on the ground. She looked up at him with terrified eyes.
The Temple Master's eyes seemed to be asking her the same question that Sha Roma answered. Her eyes moved to the still clearing smoke, but she was not cowered, and there was no way that the demon would be able to possess her so quickly. Better get this examination over with as soon as possible and get the hell out of this place.
The same gruesome scene repeated, and her screams surrounded Yaru from all sides. 'Was it going to be the same for every one of those here?' God, he hoped not.
Still, she didn't move until the Temple Master finished, bearing the pain like a true cultivator. Yaru felt nothing but admiration for the girl until the moment she glowed red.
Yaru was shocked, as was everyone else in the room. No… not everyone.
The Temple Master didn't look surprised.
Yaru didn't know what to think, but he didn't want to watch the girl die. He prayed that she'd get over herself and move – Roma had done it. She should be able to do it too.
She didn't, and the Temple Master, without remorse, pulled her close and high. With one hand, he held her above the ground, legs dangling uselessly, and then the Temple Master [Kissed] her. The girl started resisting, but it wasn't just an ordinary kiss.
Yaru froze – he'd read about that terrible technique. The Kiss of Death, it was called. A truly evil technique that needed human sacrifices.
Yaru had only ever read about this, so his knowledge is purely theoretical, but he could recognize it as soon as the Temple Master executed it.
This was an evil technique that was used to pull the Qi out of a living person. No one righteous would use it since it meant the target's death.
(Still, it was good to know.)
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