NTR: Choice Based System

Ye Yang's thoughts echoed with Min Kai's warning, "She was right, they're far too powerful for us to take on." He instinctively looked towards the First Elder's tent, hoping to find a way out of this precarious situation.

The young man in the centre, clearly the leader, addressed Min Kai with a scornful tone, "Min Kai, is this your supposed saviour? Ha-ha, just one glance at our formation and he's already trembling with fear. Do you honestly believe he can offer you any assistance?" His gaze and words oozed contempt, ridiculing Ye Yang's ability to help.

Min Kai's gaze burned with intense anger as she glared at the man, her heart seething with rage. The revelation hit her like a thunderbolt: there was a traitor in their midst. "Tan Shui, so you're the one," she spat, her voice venomous. "You're the traitor who exposed our traces, who betrayed our trust."

Min Kai's expression turned fierce, her eyes blazing with a mix of anger and anxiety as she demanded, "Tan Shui, where are other sect members?!" Her voice rang out, laced with worry for the well-being of her clan.

Tan Shui's smile grew wider, his face twisted in a cruel amusement as he toyed with Min Kai's emotions. "You don't have to worry about them," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "Once we capture you, they'll surrender to us."

Initially, she felt a surge of relief, knowing that the protective formation had shielded her clan members from capture. But this respite was fleeting, as a nagging sense of sorrow and worry began to take hold. Her gaze swept across the faces before her, searching for a familiar figure, her eyes filled with a poignant mix of hope and apprehension.

One of the men in the front met her gaze, his smile twisted in cruel amusement as he asked, "Are you looking for this?" With a flourish, he revealed a grisly trophy: the severed head of a middle-aged woman, fresh blood still trickling from the severed neck.

Min Kai's anguished wail echoed through the air, "NOOOOOOO! Aunt Savi!" Her body went rigid, her gaze transfixed on the gruesome spectacle of her aunt's severed head, clutched in the hands of the sadistic man.

The man guffawed, "This bitch was quite the fighter, I'll give her that. She managed to hold her own against us two, but..." He trailed off, turning to Tan Shui with a sly grin. "Thanks to Tan Shui's help, we were able to neutralize her."

The men callously rolled the severed head towards her, Min Kai's hands shook as she picked up the severed head, her eyes locking onto the familiar face.

Aunt Savi's features, once so full of love and warmth, now seemed frozen in time, her eyes vacant and still. Min Kai's tears flowed uncontrollably as she mourned the loss of the woman who had been like a mother to her.

Min Kai's grip on the severed head tightened as she was consumed by regret and "what ifs". If only she hadn't left Aunt Savi and Tan Shui to fend off the enemy, if only she hadn't prioritized the thing in her hands, perhaps Tan Shui's betrayal wouldn't have led to Aunt Savi's brutal murder. The thought haunted her, a constant reminder of the devastating consequences of her choice.

She gazed at Min Kai, her eyes streaming with tears, and asked a heart-wrenching question: "Why?" The simplicity of her query belied the depth of her sorrow. Why had they resorted to such brutality? Why had they taken Aunt Savi's life for something as seemingly insignificant as a map?

She knew the map's significance all too well, but was it truly worth the cost of Aunt Savi's life? Her eyes, red and puffy from crying, searched for answers as she struggled to comprehend the brutality of their actions.

The map's importance couldn't justify the senseless killing, could it? Her gaze seemed to plead for a reason, a justification that might ease the pain of her loss.

Tan Shui's hands shot up in a feigned gesture of innocence, but the smirk on his face told a different story. "We didn't take her life," he said, his voice laced with deceit. "She took her own." The words hung in the air, a cruel and twisted justification for the brutal act.

Min Kai's eyes flashed with a murderous glare, her face twisted in anguish and anger.

She took a step forward, her voice low and menacing, "Tan Shui, you deceitful fiend. We shared the same sect, the same brothers and sisters. How could you betray that bond? Why are you standing with the people who seek to destroy us?" Her voice rose to a thunderous crescendo, "WHY? WHY DID YOU BETRAY US?"

The trio erupted into a menacing laughter, their voices dripping with malice and contempt. The sound was like a cold wind that sent shivers down Min Kai's spine, and it was soon joined by the mocking laughter of the others, creating a deafening cacophony of cruelty. The laughter seemed to feed on her anguish, growing louder and more sinister with each passing moment.

One of the men in the front, a sneer twisting his face, spoke up, "Ha-ha-ha-ha, Shui, what's she blabbering about? Why can't I understand?" His words dripped with mockery, his tone implying that Min Kai's questions were ridiculous. "When did you become one of them?" he jeered, his voice laced with disdain, as if the very idea was absurd.

Tan Shui's gaze met Min Kai's, his voice dripping with audacity. "Senior, I've been loyal to my god and my sect all along - the Demon God and the Holy Demonic Sect." The truth spilled from his lips like venom, confirming Min Kai's worst fears: Tan Shui was a traitor, a spy planted within their midst.

Min Kai's voice caught in her throat, her eyes widening in terror as she whispered the only two words she could muster: "Holy Demonic Sect!" The name hung in the air like a dark omen, her fear and shock palpable as the truth sank in.