Chapter 279 - One Line To Change The Tide
"Did you steal the Clan's Magic Artifact?"
"You escaped from the place to save your skin."
"You aren't trustworthy."
"You have caused the death of our kin."
"Why did you return?"
"How come only you are safe?"
"With what face did you return?"
Even if they weren't explicitly stated, the one statement from the Central Clan Head made all these intentions appear in the gazes of everyone that were directed at Re'Kha. And, it seemed those who were in favour of the Central Lake had decided to oppose Re'Kha openly, deciding to find out the contradictory points.
Even if she wished to prove otherwise, Re'Kha didn't have enough proof. Moreover, the incident was veiled with too many issues that she couldn't reveal to them. Rather, revealing the information would further endanger her life and her family. And just to save herself, she couldn't lead to the death of her family.
If it was her mother alone, she wouldn't have been troubled. Considering her abilities, her mother would be absolutely safe. But, she cared about the rest of her family and didn't wish to cause them harm.
Even though she could just pay up for the Magic Artifact, Humming Waves, she couldn't reimburse the lives lost. And among them, only two were traitors. The rest were loyal followers of her family.
The West Lake consisted of many families that served under their family. And among them, only two had betrayed them. The rest were still as loyal as before. So, Re'Kha couldn't just make up stuff that would further worsen their situation.
And, she couldn't speak anything that would put down the lives of those lost to the Blinded Ghost. If she did that, she wouldn't ever be supported by her Clan members. So, she had to keep her wits about her and manoeuvre through the situation to the optimal solution.
Re'Kha bowed, "I won't offer any excuses. The lives of the six Harmonisers, I'll bear them. The tasks they would have done if they were alive, I'll shoulder them. The amount of money they earned for their families, I will earn that and compensate them every month."
She looked at those that were glaring at her, the families of the Harmonisers that had lost their lives to the Blinded Ghost, "I never ran away, nor did I abandon them. As for the reason for my disappearance…"
She bowed further, gazing at the Elders, "Elders, please."
"Yes, we know of it already. You aren't at fault for that." The head Elder spoke, having already been notified of her exploits by the Burfuna Ki Clan's head Elder. "You did well in killing the Blinded Ghost, even after it had matured."
His statement caused the atmosphere to turn sombre, as if a boulder had been smashed on the minds of everyone. The gazes directed to Re'Kha were instantly replaced with shock and wonder.
The Blinded Ghost had been prowling Burkurel City for almost three years. And during the time, it had terrorised them a lot, claiming numerous lives. And all along, it was never found. It struck people without warning and disappeared as quickly.
No matter how many Harmonisers fought against it, they were unable to kill it, only managing to injure it. And, no matter of injuries would ever threaten a Sha, as it could easily recover by absorbing fear from the people.
Among all the Harmonisers, only Re'Kha had been able to track it numerous times using the clues she had discovered, showing exceptional talent in the field. Only because of that was she allowed to use their Clan's Magic Artifact to attack it.
After that, she had used Humming Waves for almost a year before it was eventually lost. And during that one year, the damage inflicted by the Blinded Ghost on Burkurel City was the minimum most. It showed that whatever she did was effective.
But despite everything, the Blinded Ghost was only a fledgling Sha. It hadn't even developed enough to possess any strong abilities. At the start, it was only able to cause people to become blind temporarily.
After some days, they recovered their sights. And over time, its ability developed. Only during the latter half of its third year since its first appearance did the Blinded Ghost rob its first pair of eyes. And the moment this happened, its danger was elevated to a higher level.
So, a team had been formed, with Re'Kha and another Harmoniser—a subordinate of Re'Bah—taking the lead. They were solely maintained to be dispatched the moment the Blinded Ghost made an appearance. And they had clashed with it on numerous occasions, getting severely injured every time this happened.
But due to the injuries they inflicted on it, the Blinded Ghost's frequency of appearance was toned down to a minimum since it needed a lot of time to recover.
All in all, despite trying everything, the Blinded Ghost proved to be a terrifying Sha. And having faced it at least once, all the Harmonisers knew of its fearsomeness. And hearing the fact that it managed to mature, that too within three months, they felt fear, wondering the extent of lives it had harvested in that short time.
And the fact that Re'Kha had managed to kill such an entity shocked them further. If Re'Kha had been a Martial Master, it would have been believable. But, she was just a fledgling Harmoniser, having been one for only 4 years and only possessed 12 units of Water Qi.
So, it was hard to believe. But, the fact that their Clan's head Elder had spoken about it meant that it was the truth. Just the fact that she had killed the Blinded Ghost meant that she had contributed immensely to their city, not just to their Clan.
The Central Lake Head's face paled in anger as she was desperately holding in her emotions, trying to appear according to her role externally without any personal bias. But, when she noticed Re'Bah subtly smirk, she lost her cool.
Her eyes emitted killing intent as she looked at the calm posture of Re'Kha, for a moment hallucinating that the one she was facing wasn't the young Re'Kha, but Re'Bah instead.