Suguru Geto settled the children on a clean pile of hay in the corner, stood up, and turned toward the door.
"Geto." Qingxiao called out to stop him, his brow tightly furrowed.
He wanted to say that settling the score with the few ringleaders would be enough. The others were merely cowards who had followed the crowd; there was no need to kill them all.
He wanted to say this was too rash. Lumping every debt together had already strayed far from their original agreement to "only deal with scum."
But when the words reached his lips, he saw Geto's tightly clenched jaw and swallowed them all back.
In the end, all he said was, "I'll go. Stay here with the children."
Part of him wanted to take on the dirty work; part of him wanted to keep things within bounds. Even if they had to kill, there should be a limit. They couldn't simply vent their anger however they pleased.
Suguru Geto paused for half a second. Without turning back, he left him with a quiet reply that allowed little room for argument:
"This time, I'll do it."
With that, he pushed the door open and walked into the night.
The door curtain swayed, then slowly settled.
Qingxiao walked over to the hay pile and sat down, watching over the two girls huddled together. The room was so quiet he could hear their faint breathing.
Occasionally, brief, muffled thuds came from the distant village, along with a startled cry or two. The night wind soon swept them away, leaving deathly silence.
Qingxiao rubbed the protective charm in his pocket with his fingertips. The embroidered patterns pressed against his skin, hurting a little.
In his heart, he disagreed.
He did not approve of such rash slaughter, settling every score without