Back to the Village
'Perhaps they are right. Those treants may think I am the Giant Cursed Tree and treat me as their lord,' Liu Kai thought to himself.
They remained in their positions for a few minutes, calming themselves. And after a while, they decided to move to come back to the village.
"Uhm... I'm sorry, I remember what I did when I wasn't in my right mind," apologized Liu Kai, running and looking to his right where Jin Chow and Sergio were.
Jin Chow and Sergio narrowed their eyes, remained quiet for a while, recalling what had happened.
Sergio took a deep breath and mumbled, "That's not important right now," he continued running without taking a glance at Liu Kai's face, not wanting to see Liu Kai's face pitying himself.
"The fact that you still sacrificed yourself there for all of us will not change, even though you're not in your right mind," stated Jin Chow.
King Lee heard it and thought, 'That argument is valid. I should be ashamed of myself. Pointing someone for my failure.'
Liu Kai just remained silent. He felt awkward and sorry for what had happened.
Liu Kai secretly wondered about the skills he had learned. 'What would have happened if... No, I shouldn't be thinking about that now,' he tried to empty his head and not to think too much about what's going to happen.
They all continued running back to the village. King Lee is building his courage to face his failure that causes the lives of his students. Most of them might be older than him, but they are still his students who work hard to become a powerful martial artist.
As they return, Karden and other survivors are waiting for them outside the entrance of the village. They entered the village together with no discussion made. And inside the village, Chief Brashford with other dwarves and families or acquaintances of those who are included in the hunt are waiting for all of them at the entrance with delightful faces, carrying instruments, ready to welcome the heroes who worked hard for the village's sake and rejoice their accomplishments.
But instead, the village's people noticed their awful complexions and started scanning if their family members arrived safely.
Someone from the crowd stepped forward and asked, "Where are the others?"
King Lee's head is down and shaking as he builds up the courage to speak.
Liu Kai noticed it and took charge to speak up instead of him, "Everyone that is not here didn't make it," he quickly announced.
"What is it?"
"Did he just say they didn't make it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The crowd gossiped about Liu Kai's announcement, not ready to acknowledge what's already apparent.
King Lee's entire body trembled and lost his composure. He fell on his knees and touched the ground, positioning himself to bow down as he started crying.
"Shifu King Lee! What happened?"
"Where are the others?"
.
.
.
King Lee said, "They...*sobs* they... *sobs* THEY ALL DIED BECAUSE OF ME!!!"
"No... that... can't be."
"My husband... he's alive, isn't he?"
The village's people started shouting the names of the people who didn't make it back and began to burst out crying, too.
"I'M SORRY!"
"I'M SORRY!"
"I'M SORRY!"
"I'M SORRY!"
King Lee repeatedly said while crying and punching the ground.
"This is the result of my stupidity and recklessness."
"What I have done is just... unforgivable."
King Lee admitted with all his heart, still sobbing and having a hard time breathing. He knew how they felt because he treated everyone in the dojo as his kin. He can't face them now because of what happened.
He mustered all his courage to lift his head, only to see a familiar woman carrying a baby, crying for their loss.
He instantly recalled who the woman was, a wife of one of his students who recently had a child. He bit his lips as he burst out crying again, looking back at the ground. He recalled how they died. They are all screaming as they all call his name to rescue them from the insects' mandibles, but he froze and didn't know who he would save first.
I STILL HAVE A FAMILY, I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!
His student's last words played on his head after seeing his wife and newborn baby.
'This is... painful,' thought Liu Kai, who's observing King Lee. Jin Chow and Sergio began to recall what had happened, thinking about what they could do better to prevent it. But now it's all pointless, things already happened, and they can't bring back the dead.
A granny approached him in the middle of chaos and asked,
"But, m-my son..."
"H-he... at least did something for our village, didn't he? All his efforts... it didn't go to waste, right?" The granny asked while crying.
King Lee shrieked because of the question.
"Yes, of course..." His voice trailed off.
Thinking about it, all of their lives went to waste because they got nothing to help the village.
King Lee mustered his courage to answer.
"We... we... WE HAVEN'T GOT ANYTHING!!!"
"THE GIANT CURSED TREE'S RANGE CHANGED AND WE DON'T HAVE A PLAN DEVISED FOR IT. WHY I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT THAT POSSIBILITY??? I'M SO STUPID, AND THIS IS THE RESULT OF IT. THIS IS ALL MY FAULT."
King Lee pulled his hair, crying his heart out.
The villagers cried for their loved ones. The dwarves approached Karden, the remaining member of the Trio De Terrible, and cried with him.
The others didn't even try to say a word and only look at their Shifu. As much as they want to console him, they also lost their brothers, friends, or family members and have different feelings about the outcome of the raid.
Chief Brashford felt miserable about King Lee. He is somehow feeling his emotions right now as he treated him like his own son.
Liu Kai, Jin Chow, and Sergio Von Croy felt the same for King Lee.
'What would they feel if they saw me summon the treants?' Liu Kai asked himself.
"That doesn't matter now, I guess," he quickly added.