“I’ll ask again. What did you do to my Yong-Su?”

  Just before he would faint from the pain, the pressure decreased. His breath was heavy, and from his brow, droplets of sweat were flowing down.

  “I… I’m sorry.” Chris’s voice trembled.

  “Sorry for what?”

  “Yong-Su, your son is dead.”

  The man’s visage turned white, as white as if he had turned into a marble statue. He stood like that, unmoving, not even breathing, for what felt like a century, as if time had stopped for the grieving father. Then the worst came. The pressure returned, but this time it was not focused on Chris; it was everywhere.

  The wooden posts of the pagoda were screaming under the pressure. Not just the posts, but every wooden part began to scream and crack. The pressure continued to grow. Ripples formed across the lake’s surface, spreading from the pagoda to the far shore, until they swelled into waves that shoved the water outward.

  Chris was struggling to survive the onslaught. He could barely remain conscious; his ears were ringing, and he could barely form a thought.

  The warriors of the house had rushed to their master as soon as they felt the commotion, but could only watch. But only one person risked her life and pushed through the pain: it was Rin, who returned as fast as she could. Every step was exhausting her, as the closer she got to the epicenter, the stronger the force.

  “Father, I’m begging you, please stop!”

  She screamed at the entrance of the pagoda as she took a quick break to catch her breath, but she had to push past her limits to continue walking. She managed to get to Chris, who was half-dead, and cradle him in her embrace.

  “If you don’t stop, you’ll lose another child.”

  Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped just as suddenly. Then her father spoke.

  “You knew.” His eyes were red from grief.

  “I hoped that I was wrong, but…” She looked down at Chris’s face and couldn’t finish the sentence.

  Chris’s chest was steadily rising as he could again breathe without problem, but he was not looking good. His body was in tatters.

  “We have to get him to a healer, now!”

  Her father unsheathed his sword. It was glowing in the light of the moons and was ready to finish what he had started, but the warriors had enough time to approach their master.

  “Is everything all right, my liege?” One of them spoke.

  “I had a little quarrel with my son.”

  “I understand. We’ll leave you alone then.”

  “Stop! Before you go, take the young master and confine him.”

  “But Father…”

  “And send a healer to see him.”

  The men bowed and followed their liege’s orders. Two of them carried the now unconscious Chris away.

  Rin was still on the ground when her father approached her and spoke, but not as a father, but as Baek Cheon-Do, the clan head.

  “Raise your head, child. You dared to protect that man even though you knew that he was not your brother.”

  “I…” She didn’t have an answer.

  “Leave and wait for my summons.”

  She leaned on one of the damaged posts to find the strength to get up.

  “But first, visit the healers.” His voice was now less severe.

  “As you say… clan head.” She bowed before leaving.

  Cheon-Do went to the pagoda’s rails and looked at the moon. Before, he looked back at what he had done.

  “Oh, dear, I hoped that your dreams would be just mere fantasies.” He softly spoke.

  He looked towards the way his daughter left, but she had already vanished in the night. Cheon-Do gulped down what remained of his cup of tea and made himself unseen.

  When Chris woke up, he found himself behind bars. Not the first time for him to be in a cell. His body ached all over. He was wrapped in so many bandages he looked like a museum mummy. He tried to sit up, but after a few failed attempts, he gave up.

  ‘What happened last night? I feel like a truck had run me over.’

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  -Good to have you back, Chris. Nice analogy.-

  ‘I remember the clan head getting angry and…’ A splitting headache made him stop.

  -Easy there, Chris. You took the full force of your ‘father's’ rage. He knew that you weren’t Yong-Su.-

  ‘I remember now. He lost his temper when I told him that his son had died, then…’

  The creak coming from a door at the back of the hallway made him forget what he wanted to say. So he closed his eyes again and pretended to be asleep, as he didn’t know who his visitor was. The rhythmic beat of footsteps echoed down the long hallway and stopped right in front of his cell.

  “You can stop pretending. I know that you are awake.”

  Chris didn’t answer, nor did he open his eyes.

  “Don’t make me repeat myself, or I’ll come in and undo all the hard work of the healers.”

  “I’m awake, I’m awake.” The response quickly came. He didn’t want to be hurt again. “How can you threaten your sick brother, Rin?”

  “Stop with this charade. I don’t know who you are, but you are not my brother. I came to see if you had the dignity to tell the truth, but I see that I was wrong.”

  Chris couldn’t see her, but could tell from the sound of her steps that she was getting away from the cell.

  “Please stop, Rin. I’ll talk, but I don’t know if you’ll believe my story.”

  “It is not for me to believe it, but for the council.” Her footsteps stopped. “I want to know just one thing.” Her voice cracked. “Is… is my brother dead?”

  “It is… it is the truth.”

  Chris could hear her tears hitting the stone pavement, then she stormed out. After that day, she never visited him again. The only visitors he had were the servants who came to deliver him food and the healers who came to change his bandages. The latter were amazed at his quick recovery, as they had expected it to take a few weeks. At their last visit, when they made sure that he had recovered, one of them told Chris that the next morning, he would be taken to have an audience with the elder council.

  That night, Chris was too restless to sleep. So he walked in circles in the cell. The room was dark, as it was a cloudy night. A few times, he hit the bed with his feet until he adjusted to the darkness.

  “What do you think is going to happen to me?”

  -I don’t know, but I don’t think it is a good idea to speak out loud with me.-

  “Why does it matter? As I can see, there is no one watching me. They already think that I’ve killed their young master. I don’t think that it is going to be a problem if they think that I’m crazy too.”

  -…..-

  Chris yawned and stretched his hands.

  “If you don’t have anything else to say, I think that I’ll try to get some sleep. Hear you in the morning. Good night.”

  -Good night, Chris.-

  Sunrise quickly came, and with it came the sound of footsteps and the clinking of keys opening the cell. A group of eight guards came to retrieve him. The one leading them was Jin-Mu. Chris changed into the plain clothes that they brought him and followed them outside. His hands and feet were shackled. He was just behind Jin-Mu and tried to attract his attention. As he didn’t succeed, he spoke directly to him.

  “I can’t see Young-Pil and Jun-Bok anywhere.”

  Jin-Mu stopped and faced Chris.

  “I’m not allowed to speak with the prisoner.”

  Chris wanted to say something, but the guard behind him yanked his chains and told him to stop talking and continue walking.

  As they walked, Chris realized that, strangely, no one was outside. Neither guards nor servants could be seen moving around. The manor looked like a ghost town.

  Jin-Mu’s duty to escort Chris ended when they got to an enormous building, whose imposing doors were guarded by two black-clad guards. The only one who was allowed beyond was Chris.

  Inside, the hall was crowded with Baek family members, servants, and guards alike. As he walked, he recognized a few faces, but could not see Rin or Suni. He hoped that he could at least see them for the last time. In the back, there was the clan head, Baek Cheon-Do, standing above all the others, and a few steps under him were four other people obscured by paper panels. Chris could only see their playful shadows on the paper.

  -What is this place?-

  ‘A court.’

  -How do you know?-

  ‘Trust me. I had the displeasure of wasting my time in one of them in my old life. If it is going to be like last time, I’ll be found guilty.’

  Chris dragged his feet on the wooden floor, his chains clinging, until a second pair of black-clad guards stepped in and stopped him. Then someone spoke, his voice thundering in the hall.

  “Here we have the one who dared to deceive us and take the young master, Baek Yong-Su’s, place. Our clan head foiled his ploy, and the culprit was apprehended. Today, in front of you all, we will pass judgment over this wretched soul.”

  “Wait, I…”

  A quick jab from one of the guards hit him in his ribs and made him kneel, rasping for air.

  “You can speak only when you are allowed!” the voice barked.

  Chris pushed himself up and nodded to acknowledge the man.

  “This man right here, if we can call him a man, as from the healers we have heard that he had an unusually fast recovery, which would not be strange for a martial master, but he is no such thing. He is barely in the Mortal Realm.”

  “Demon.”

  “Monster.”

  “Freak.”

  The crowd began to shout.

  “Quiet.” The clan head spoke calmly, but imbued his voice with Qi, so everyone could hear.

  “Please, everyone, calm yourselves. We still have more to talk about. He not only dared to deceive us, but he even dared to hurt our people. Please, come over here.”

  The man pointed to the crowd, and from it a servant moved forward. It was the one whose wrist he had sprained, but she had her whole hand stuck in a cast.

  -What is going on? You’ve barely touched her.-

  ‘Theatrics. They have already made their choice. Now this is just a circus to make me the bad guy.’

  -We have to do something.-

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  The servant testified that the impostor wanted to assault the young master’s servant, Suni, and she had jumped to stop him, but he severely injured her. There came other accusations that had nothing to do with Chris, but he was now the perfect scapegoat. After hours and hours, the clan head finally spoke again.

  “We have heard enough. The council will decide the culprit’s fate.”

  Only the clan head and the four elders had remained with Chris. The four elders had whispered among themselves since the trial began. When they finally stopped, each of them stepped forward to speak with the clan head. Now Chris saw them for the first time. They were older than he expected: three men and a woman, but he could feel that they were as strong as Baek Cheon-Do. Then the four of them left.

  Then there was only Chris and his judge, Baek Cheon-Do. There was grave quiet. Chris didn’t dare to speak, but finally, the clan head spoke.

  “They all advised me to execute you and be done with it.”

  “I…”

  The man made a gesture for Chris to stop.

  “Let me finish. But I won’t do it. Now, if you please, follow me, young Reaper.”

  He didn't wait to make sure that Chris would follow him.

  “What!”

  -What!-