Retired Old Man #2

As usual he welcomed his guests but this time his brother, wife, son and daughter in law did not being their children with them.

He could feel that today was a little different than usual but he shrugged off his doubts as he never took his family as a danger to himself.

Enjoying an afternoon meal with them he found out that the children were busy studying and preparing to enter an academy.

Delighted over the news he invited them to stay longer and celebrate their good fortune.

Since the children were busy with their carers and tutors watching over them, they would be kept busy for the whole day anyways and then put to bed when it is late.

Enjoying his family time, he ate and drank merrily unsuspecting if his relatives intentions.

Later in the day, they showed signs of hesitation among them as they looked towards him but as he was aware, this was their usual look as they were holding back from asking for help so he did not suspect them.

He expected them to speak up soon and waited for their usual routine of praising him and bringing up old times.

They prepared more food and drink for him which he began to eat and drink while expecting them to begin their speeches on how they are in a bad way again.

He had not heard it for a while but he expected that it would be very soon that they would slip up again in some way.

Suddenly he could feel his strength draining and himself becoming drowsy but he still did not suspect anything until he looked up during his final moments.

He saw the guilt but also a sense of relief in his brothers and his families eyes right before he passed out. "Y.."

His brother stood over his body for some time and checked if he was truly asleep then said. "Sorry brother but I am so tired of having to beg for handouts from you. Even now you have been hesitant to give us any more of what you have so I have no choice but to take this path."

As his brothers only close blood relative, after his death he and his family would receive everything so long as his brother had planned ahead for his death.

The only way he would not get the inheritance would be if his brother ever suspected something and changed the will to remove everyone from it or donate it some place else.

He had always been the failure of the family with the brother who was praised by his parents as someone to be proud of because of his sacrifices for their lasting safety.

Any attempts to integrate with other families and start up his own way of earning money were usually going well at first but as he slowly found others distancing themselves from him after they got annoyed that all he seemed to do was talking about his ideas and looking for them to invest in him.

His ideas were not original and he always seemed to use his brothers name to strike up relations with them, his actual worth was very low and it was never worth interacting with him as he was self centred.

He would never listen to others and do research on the people he met or on the people he was supposed to appeal towards so he could be successful enough so naturally he was destined to be unfavored and his plans were bound to fail eventually.

After meeting a couple of scams, bad investments and poor company, he had fallen on hard times and his parents and brother had to help him out of it.

His inferiority complex was built from his parents worry and praise for his brother who was away from home all the time participating in life and death struggles but also from his constant failures only to be helped out by them one time after another.

After his parents deaths and having his own family, he no longer could ask his parents for help so everything reached a point where he was in a desperate situation a long time later as he was becoming a grandparent.

His brother had just retired and decided to move so he suggested moving with him which allowed an opening for them discuss his debts.

Again he had that feeling of inferiority but he kept becoming more and more bold as he asked for more since his brother has nobody to leave his wealth to after his death.

Over the past couple of years, his family had fallen in with a bad crowd and he had been introduced with them.

His happy family had transformed from a warm family into one that had strong ties to certain bad people and also participated in their actions.

Their children were also brought up with their ways and told to keep everything a secret from their great uncle and any money they had gained from him would be put towards supporting this group within the town.

Suddenly a request came forward not that long ago about his brother, after hesitating for a while he and his family decided that it was also in their best interests to agree otherwise the group may turn against them but also because of the inheritance after he has gone missing or is declared dead.

Their children were kept with those people for insurance as they carried out the task assigned to them,that was the true reason why they were so nervous and hesitant during the meal.

They could of asked for help but instead chose to betray him for the benefits and because they feared the background behind these people.

How could a retired and old veteran stand up to them?

They put him inside a carriage and headed towards the destination, they were met with a larger group of people this time rather than the smaller group that looked even more intimidating.

The group seemed to partly be core disciples and older members within the sect mixed with some recruiters and recruits.

Due to the nature of the mission and the fact that the family had already long been recruited by them and the towns security was lower, they identified this task as a lower difficulty so sent out a team of transcendent martial artists to work with those outside of the sect.

The Blood Sect is spread far and wide, whether it is their various smaller branches, their main headquarters, their secret bases, their recruiters, their middle men or handlers but also the recruits…

The more they spread and corrupt, the more they have control over and are able to influence the world as they like so long as they do not constantly cause conflicts with various other influences like the Unorthodox Alliance, Martial Alliance and Devil Sect after being exposed for their lower subordinates actions of being exposed while acting against one of their people.

The brother came along with his family as previously instructed with him and walked forward. "My children?"

A cloaked man stepped forward among the group and indifferently answered him. "They are kept at the location safely so you do not heed to worry. Did you bring him?"

The brother nodded. "Yes.. he is in the carriage. Now that I have done what you have asked, is it possible for my children to enter the sect?"

He had greater ambitions in mind, he hoped his grandchildren would be accepted into one of the branches or main headquarters of the sect.

If his grandchildren become strong like these people then he would have no more worries and he could rely on them until the day he dies.

His imagination of the situation lead him to believe that he would become untouchable if his grandsons became important figures there.

Unfortunately reality was not like that, even the people in front of him were foot soldiers of the sect leader.

No matter how strong they were, they would be bound to the sect and could not deny the wishes of the sect leader, expose themselves or bring trouble to their sect otherwise they would be put to death without mercy.

The cloaked man who seemed to be the leader among them replied with a silent nod and then turned around. "Follow closely behind, you will be reunited with them soon."