Retired Old Man #6

Inside of the base, several people stepped inside after cleaning up everything as instructed and stood back watching quietly.

The leader ignored them as he was focussed on some more important matters but he was relieved that they had handled the task without coming back with even more problems.

He looked at the many people who had been dragged before him and spoke. "Did any of you leak anything about this operation to anyone close to you? Last chance.."

He was tired of asking them, it was truly the last time that he would ask them.

Before entering the room, many of the people had been questioned and interrogated lightly to see if they would crack under pressure or show any signs of lying during the questioning.

This helped to identify who knew about the plans and who did not.

Those that knew must of been told by their friend or relative about some details of the plan or mentioned something small but enough to cause problems if leaked carelessly.

One man stood up and cried out. "I did it.. I told my wife. Please! Spare us. We have always been loyal! We would never betray you. Please.."

The leader looked at the many people and walked towards the man after removing his sword from its sheathe.

An ominous atmosphere spread within the room as he continued to slowly walk closer to him.

The next moment he stabbed his sword as he was within range.

The man closed his eyes out of fear but could not feel the cold metal pierce his body.

He opened his eyes with a look of bewilderment and saw the sword had passed his body towards the side and entered the side of the skull of the person next to him.

The leader coldly said. "Hurry and drain the body and do not waste any of the blood."

The man knew that he must of done something correct by the words he had said and confessed so he began to beg. "Sir! I and my wife are willing to pledge our eternal loyalty to the sect and join together and never leave. Please spare me for the blunder I have made."

The leader continued to keep his bloody sword out and raised it up high so that the blood slid down and dripped into his mouth. "Hmm.. the blood of a liar is still satisfying."

He pointed towards the various people who were with that dead person and ordered. "Chain them up and drain them too. There should be more than enough to let us all satisfy our thirst, now do you all have any complaints?"

Many of the masked or unmasked pale people shook their heads as if expressing that they had been satisfied with how the leader had handled things.

He then walked towards three others and pointed towards them. "These three and those connected to them. Drain them too. This should be more than enough."

He then walked to the man who had begged him with a cold look on his pale face and be looked down at him. "Indeed.. you are correct in the way you have asked for forgiveness. You have made a mistake in revealing information but since it has been caught, you must be truthful otherwise there will only be death. There is a loophole in the way recruitment can be done within the sect that allows a family to survive and it seems someone was smart enough to notice.."

Although the family of the two children had been killed, they had been killed because they expected to remain outside of the sect.

If it was a one person per family kind of deal in order to gain entry then one of the brothers would not survive.

From now on both of them would become permanent Blood Sect disciples and had to remain loyal to the leader and heir.

The man was smart enough to notice this fact, he and his wife had made a mistake that would result in his death but right now there were no bad repercussions from what he had leaked to his wife.

So long as he and his wife pledged loyalty and entered the sect together but also admitted their mistake, they would just have to deal with whatever punishment there was waiting for them if there was one.

He signalled his wife with his eyes earlier as he began to beg and she also remained in a begging posture while trembling in fear.

The tip of the sword was pointed towards his face then towards his limbs one after the other as the leader spoke coldly. "Time to take your punishment. One of your limbs or your face. Choose one or I will choose for you."

In the Blood Sect or within any kind of organisation, a mark is usually left on their body or a body part is removed as a sign if failure.

They would carry that mark with them for life and everyone else within the sect would know that they were one of the people who had been marked upon entering the sect.

Their treatment would be a lot less welcoming as those others who entered the sect without a mark because those that were marked must have been marked for a specific reason even if it was done with malicious intent.

It either meant that the person had failed the first task or leaked information upon entry or someone within the sect may have already targeted them and wished to have them excluded upon entry.

Most of those that are marked do not have that much of a pleasant time within the sect and face ridicule and bullying.

At first many thought that the many scars on Ki's body was from her countless failures or someone within the sect targeting her but she had briefly mentioned that she had once been captured by someone cruel which resulted in the markings on her body.

She let it be known that she wished to never revealed her face because that was what had the most damage done and others would find it unpleasant.

Some tried to attempt to grab at her mask and cause her public humiliation but by the time she had properly entered the sect, her power had already grown.

She was able to overcome those obstacles one at a time, the sect leader did once see her face because he always had a suspicious nature and did not trust her excuse but upon briefly revealing her face, he scowled in disgust and ordered he to never remove the mask again.

Ki happily agreed to his order because she could no longer face being called a monster because of her appearance.

She was content living behind a mask, it was better that way to mask her true intentions and emotions behind so that others would not see the true version of herself.

The leader waited only to see the man look panicked and unable to give his answer so made the decision for him. "Face it is."