Hell's Handbook

Chapter 399

In an ordinary city within the nation of Great Yan, two men and one woman stood next to each other. One of the men looked like he was in his twenties and had a calm and composed demeanor, as though he would not panic even if a mountain collapsed right in front of him.

The other two were around the same age. The man was handsome, the woman was beautiful, like the mythical Golden Boy and Jade Girl. They turned heads wherever they went.

“Shifu! Elder brother! Can we get some candied fruit please? Pleaaaase?” The girl held onto the arms of the two men and shook them gently as she whined cutely about eating candied fruit.

“Yun Shui, if you eat too much candy, you’ll grow fat,” said Su Jin with a hearty laugh. These three were Su Jin, Yun Shan, and Yun Shui.

“That’s not true! I train every day, so I won’t grow fat! Shifu… candied fruit pleaaaaaase…” Yun Shui continued shaking Su Jin’s arm, while Yun Shan just smiled as he watched on.

“Alright, alright, candied fruit it is!” Su Jin shook his head with an amused sigh. He was normally quite strict with the two siblings, but the date he had set with the three great demons was just around the corner, so he felt bad for reprimanding them when he was about to leave. He decided to just give in to their whims and fancies, since they weren’t anything with severe consequences.

There were stalls selling candied fruit in the city, and Yun Shui came back with several sticks in no time. She held some in her own hands to eat and even got Yun Shan to hold two for her while warning him, “They’re all mine, you’re not allowed to have any!”

“I wouldn’t eat your candy. I don’t even like sweet stuff,” said Yun Shan with a laugh. He then turned to Su Jin and asked, “Shifu, why did you bring us here?”

“You’ll find out soon,” said Su Jin calmly.

The three of them found an inn to stay the night. In the middle of the night, Su Jin suddenly woke the siblings up, then brought them to stand outside the residence of the city’s castellan.

“Shifu, why did you bring us here?” asked Yun Shan puzzledly. Yun Shui had an equally curious look on her face.

Su Jin pointed at the residence and said quietly to them, “As your shifu, this is the last lesson I’m going to teach both of you. That is, to kill a person!”

“Kill a person?!” The siblings’ faces paled. They had learned a lot of martial arts techniques as Su Jin’s disciples, but he had never allowed them to kill anybody.

“Can’t do it?” asked Su Jin with a frown.

Yun Shan took a deep breath, then bowed slightly toward Su Jin and said, “Shifu, is the castellan a corrupt official?”

“No. He’s not the cleanest of officials, but I wouldn’t consider him a corrupt official. He’s alright,” said Su Jin.

“Then… does this castellan use his power to bully the people and oppress them?” asked Yun Shan again.

Su Jin shook his head and smiled. “This castellan has a fairly good reputation, actually. Over the five years he’s been in charge of the city, he hasn’t done anything to make this city flourish, but he hasn’t done anything to oppress or bully the people either.”

“So why do you want to kill him?” asked Yun Shan puzzledly.

“Of course I have my reasons for wanting to kill him. That’s quite enough, go in there and kill him,” commanded Su Jin with a frown.

The two siblings were both taken aback. Yun Shan looked at the cruel look in Su Jin’s eyes, then gritted his teeth and said, “Shifu, if there’s no good reason why the castellan must die, I… I can’t bring myself to do it.”

“Oh?” Su Jin scoffed. “A reason why he must die? Many people die every day. How many of them deserved it? Do you mean there was a good reason why your entire family should have been slaughtered back then?”

“It is precisely because the Yuns were unjustly killed, so I don’t want anybody else to suffer the same pain and helplessness as I did,” said Yun Shan as he hung his head.

Su Jin seemed unhappy as he shook his head and said to Yun Shui, “Yun Shui, if your brother refuses to go, you can go instead. You’re good enough to carry this out.”

But Yun Shui stood next to her brother and said, “Shifu… my brother is right. If you want me to kill this castellan, please give me a good reason to do so.”

“A good reason? I raised the both of you and taught you two martial arts. Now that I’m telling you to kill someone, you’re so hesitant about it? Is being grateful for what I’ve done enough reason?” snapped Su Jin angrily.

The siblings exchanged glances. Yun Shan said, “Shifu, if you want us to kill someone to repay you for taking care of us, I will go and do it. Once I’ve killed him, I will kill myself. That way, I would have both repaid you and atoned for my sins!” Yun Shan turned and marched toward the residence.

Su Jin stretched his palm out and pulled Yun Shan back before he could leap over the wall. Yun Shan couldn’t understand what in the world Su Jin was trying to do.

“Forget it. It seems like everything I’ve done for you doesn’t amount to much. I’m only asking you to kill someone and you want to kill yourself over it,” said Su Jin with a scowl.

Yun Shan fell to the ground with a thud and his eyes teared up as he said, “Shifu, I respect you and I’m very thankful for what you’ve done, but I will not kill an innocent man. If you insist I do that, I will do it, but I must kill myself in order to stop the cycle of karma. That’s the only solution I can think of.”

Su Jin sighed heavily and said, “Get up, get up. I hope you will always remember what you said today. We must not kill innocent people. Of course I know that.”

“Then… why?” asked Yun Shui.

Su Jin glanced at the residence, then murmured, “It’s true that as a castellan, the man who lives in there has not done anything deserving of death. But before he became the castellan of this city, he had slayed the entire Yun clan seven years ago on Yun Hill!”

Yun Shan and Yun Shui’s eyes widened upon hearing these words. Yun Shan trembled as he said, “Shifu… the castellan… is the enemy who killed my entire family back then?”

“That’s right.” Su Jin nodded, then went on, “I’ve brought both of you here to give you a chance for revenge. He killed your entire family back then, so today… it’s payback time!”

Yun Shan and Yun Shui immediately leaped over the wall and entered the residence. Su Jin did not walk away and waited quietly. Less than a hundred breaths later, Yun Shan and Yun Shui emerged from the residence and leaped over the wall. Yun Shan was holding a head in his hand.

“Only killed one person?” asked Su Jin.

Yun Shan nodded. Tears welled up in his eyes as he said through gritted teeth, “We will not kill innocent parties!”

“Excellent.” Su Jin gave them a pleased nod. The two children were very kind children to begin with, so even though they knew some of the most invincible moves in martial arts, they never saw themselves as superior beings to other people. And as long as they continued to have that sort of attitude, Su Jin was sure that they would not become a menace to this world.

“Strength has never been the source of evil or a threat to mankind. The hearts of man are the real problem. As long as both of you remember who you are, I don’t think you’ll have any problem in the future,” said Su Jin with a heartened look on his face.

“Of course I know who I am! I’m Yun Shan! Su Yunshan!” said Yun Shan without hesitation.

“Me too! I’m the young mistress of Yun Hill, Yun Shui, Su Yunshui!” Yun Shui chimed in.

Su Jin stared at them. The two of them had actually placed his surname in front of theirs. Yun Shan noticed the expression on Su Jin’s face and quickly explained, “You’ve been like a father to us, bringing us up and teaching us martial arts. You’re also our only family, so… you don’t mind, do you?”

Yun Shan and Yun Shui looked so nervous, as though they were afraid that Su Jin would not agree to this, but Su Jin nodded and said, “It’s just a surname. If it makes you happy, I’m fine with it.”

“Yay! Shifu’s the best!” Yun Shui cheered and jumped excitedly, while Yun Shan let out a sigh of relief.

Su Jin’s expression grew serious as he said gravely, “Both of you have avenged your family today, and it is also time for me to say goodbye. I hope you will always remember what you said today, and to maintain that attitude for as long as you live.”

“Say goodbye?” Yun Shan’s eyes widened, while Yun Shui went into a panic.

“Actually, we should have parted ways six years ago, but I was worried, since both of you were still children, and I insisted on staying here for another six years. Now, both of you are independent and there’s no reason for me to stay any longer,” said Su Jin with a sigh.

The two of them quickly realized what he was saying. Tears welled up in Yun Shui’s eyes as she said, “Six years ago… that’s when our three martial uncles came to visit. And that’s also when you were supposed to…”

“That’s right. I should have left back then,” Su Jin smiled and nodded. He suddenly looked up at the sky and shouted, “Alright, time to go!”

Fire, a whirlwind, and a gust of fragrant air suddenly appeared in the sky. The already dark sky seemed even darker than before.

A slit appeared in the darkness as the entrance to a different space was opened. Yun Shan and Yun Shui could see many demons in that space and it looked terrifying.

Su Jin patted their heads and said, “Live well and don’t make me worry about you. If the fates allow it… we might meet again!” Su Jin looked reluctant to leave, but he turned and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The siblings searched for him anxiously, only to see him appear in that slit with Daitengu, the nine tailed fox, and Bifang. They walked into the slit and disappeared completely.

“NOOOOO!” The siblings wailed in agony, but there was nothing they could do. Su Jin was gone.