The Rise of the White Lotus

Reaching the farthest area of the camp, Tora and Chiharu stopped in the huge cage where there were women inside. Most of them seemed traumatized with their current situation as their shoulders slightly shuddered just the sight of Chiharu.

Seeing that another woman was held captive, Tora saw the glint of pity flashed across their helpless eyes. Yet, none of them made a single noise as they had lost all hope of their future.

Every single one of them gave up on life, that's for sure.

"Where is she?" Tora murmured. Her tone was toneless. She didn't have a single emotion that could be discerned in her voice, which made Chiharu swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Chiharu looked inside and sees that these women were the only ones inside. Knitting his brows, he pondered where they placed Churu's body. After a beat, he recalled that they somehow caged a few men merchant which their master held hostage for his own reason. 

"I — I think it's on the other side." He stuttered lowly and led the way towards the other cage.

Soon, they reached the cage that contained a few men, three to be exact. Tora glanced at the three and she caught a figure that inflicted the most injuries.

By the looks of it, they used him as a sandbag to release the frustration of whoever was upset. He had his head hanged low yet, the bruises on his arms were evident, his disheveled hair dangled down his face, and blood smeared on his stained silk clothes. 

Regardless, Tora didn't even blink an eye as her gaze shifted to the side. There, a small figure that was covered by a cloth which made her eyes softened. By the looks of it, the beaten man used his haori as the cloth seemingly matched his kimono.

She didn't wonder why Churu was placed in this cage and not in the female's cage. Regardless of the reason, Tora wanted Churu's body to be properly buried as she would set this whole camp on fire. She couldn't let Churu's body burned to a crisp along with her abductors.

"Huh," Sensing the presence of Tora and a member of this damnable group, the man who was already beaten black and blue scoffed in mockery. "After you brought a dead child, now a woman? You vermin's are truly fascinating." Slowly, he looked up, his lips mangled and his face was a little swollen.

Still, he was recognizable: it was none other than Suzuki Akihito.

Blazing flames lay beneath his eyes as a smirk formed on the side of his lips. Earlier, a group of men tossed a child inside their cage. Their reason? To mock them and witness how a child's body began to decay to make them feel powerless.

In normal days, Tora would have been surprised to hear Aki's voice. However, even after distinguishing his identity, Tora remained unfazed as her gaze locked on the small figure. Taking a step forward, Chiharu snapped as he opened the cage and let her in.

Unlike how harshly they treated their goods, Chiharu didn't push her inside and let her in as if he was merely inviting a guest over. Since the men were shackled, he was at ease to slightly open the cage with no other member accompanying him.

Still, he remained standing outside as he watched Tora approach and kneel in front of the child's body. Her hand trembled as she reached for the haori that was used as a cover of the body. 

Tora hesitated. She had seen numerous lifeless body and yet, her heart seemed she couldn't bear to see Churu just yet.

"Don't look at her if you can't." While she hesitated, Aki muttered while his sharpened gaze was set on Chiharu standing outside. Since Tora didn't speak a word and her hair covered most of her face, Aki didn't recognize her.

But he was certain that the child was Churu. The moment they tossed her inside this thick wooden cage, he recognized the little girl that was akin to a tail to Tora. He didn't know how they abducted her or where was Tora, but he discerned that the woman who came didn't emanate the same aura as Tora.

"Why are you still here?" Ridiculing the man by his tone, Aki scoffed. "Will it delight you to witness a grieving woman for losing a child? You animal." He added as his grip tightened.

For his own reason, Aki purposely let himself get captive with this group. He even found a little time to kill while being used as their frustration sandbag because he mocked them to his heart's content. However, today, upon laying his eyes on Churu's body, he already decided to stop his play pretend.

To him, he must return to the north to return Churu's body, back to Tora so she could have a proper burial. Just as Aki would exert force to break the thick rope that bound his hand, he stopped upon hearing Tora's familiar voice.

"Suzuki-Kun…" Tora murmured. She already uncovered Churu.

There was no doubt she was dead as her lips were pale, almost turning purple. Her temperature had reached the lowest point and upon checking her pulse, it wasn't beating anymore. Hence, Tora slowly returned the cloth and covered her face again.

"Will you bring Churu with you?" Slowly, Tora stood as she looked down at the surprised Aki.

"Yamada-san?" Surprised, Aki turned his head to meet the eyes of the devil. Although her whole face was hidden under the shade of her hood, he got the glimpsed of the red gleam that glowed in her pair of eyes.

"Follow Chiharu and get out of here." Ignoring his shock, Tora instructed, which made Chiharu flinched. 

"No, how —" Aki furrowed his brows, but she interrupted his sentence midway as she spoke.

"Shall I behead you too?" There was no sign of human emotion in her voice as she threatened him to follow her command. Still, there was no doubt she would kill Aki if he didn't listen to her. 

Truly, she was a tyrant.

Seeing that Aki didn't speak and just stared at her, Tora turned to Chiharu and handed her hand out. As if on cue, Chiharu passed her sword that he carried on his waistband. He knew he was now a traitor to their group and helping her even more, felt like he was going deeper and deeper on his grave.

When Tora held on her samurai, she used its sharp tip and with a slight slash up, Aki's rope fell down to the ground. "On the way, you will see my steed. He's wounded, tend to his wounds." Still not done with her instruction, Tora also entrusted Kaze's welfare to them as she knew it would take her a whole night to exterminate this whole group.