Having been unable to even follow the movements of the young girl in front of them, Huo Yan Er knew he would be inviting a tragedy unto his Sect if he antagonized her. They had already heard the reports of someone wiping out the Fen Clan and, as it was likely related to the person who killed his nephew, Huo Yan Er had allowed his brother to go investigate. The fact that she was here, while none of their members had returned, meant that his younger brother was likely dead. However, though he would have normally sought vengeance, Huo Yan Er knew what kind of person his nephew was and it wasn"t worth sacrificing their Sect trying to avenge the father-son pair of fools...Lowering his head in a subservient manner, Huo Yan Er deferentially stated, "Forgive us, Senior, but it was never our intention to seek trouble with you. Though you have the right to redress the offenses that were brought upon you, please do not direct your anger towards the innocent. If it would please you, allow us to compensate you for your troubles...I believe we would both benefit from a mutual friendship..." With their Second Elder bowing, the other four men also bowed, even the one who was desperately using his energy to keep blood from squirting freely from his arm.
Fenrir snorted but didn"t take any action to bring harm to the men, realizing they had already given up the fight before it even began. She didn"t want to be the type to bully the weak and, unless they offended her, Fenrir didn"t want to kill people arbitrarily. Instead, she pointed to the jade rings on each of their fingers and said, "I will take those rings as compensation. Since I would have taken them from your corpses anyways, it shouldn"t cause you any significant loss to part with them willingly..."
Huo Yan Er felt like he was going to choke on his own blood when he heard the young woman"s words. The majority of his personal wealth and collection was contained within his interspatial ring, much like most cultivators. However, knowing there was truth in the woman"s words, Huo Yan Er begrudgingly took off his ring and tossed it over, prompting the other four men to follow suit. When one of his friends was going to help the one-armed man remove his ring, Fenrir furrowed her brows slightly and said, "You have already paid the price...keep your ring..."
This small mercy that she had given them came as a surprise to all five of the men, including Huo Yan Er. He realized that the girl before him wasn"t actually a ruthless and domineering expert, but someone that their Clan had likely wronged unjustly. Now, instead of feeling grief towards the loss of his brother and nephew, Huo Yan Er was cursing them for offending someone they likely would have been able to befriend. Having such a young expert on their side would have been able to elevate their entire Sect to a higher status. Now, however, he had to part with more than a century"s worth of acc.u.mulated wealth to pay off the debts of a dead man...
(Fenrir"s Commentary: "Hmph...it seems there are some smart people in this world...")