"How did we get here?
Why did the people of the Purple Sword Sect call you 'master'?
Who on earth are you?"
Maple asked, her questions bombarding Austin.
"Maple, he is dangerous! We should stay away from him!"
her brother said, putting himself between Maple and Austin, his grip tightening on his sword as he
glared at Austin.
"It doesn't matter who I am.
Your clan is in trouble and
I can help you get through this,"
Austin said, smiling faintly.
"What? Are you...
Are you saying you can help us?"
Maple and her brother were dumbfounded, disbelief written large on their faces.
"Our enemy is the Purple Sword Sect. Do you know who they are?
How do you think you are going to help us?
Do you think you can handle the Purple Sword Sect?
Okay, hold on! Let me guess. You are probably from a powerful force.
But only the Sky Sword Sect, the Xi'men Clan, the Flying Immortal Sword Sect, and the Long Sword
Sect can defeat the Purple Sword Sect!
What's more, the Purple Sword Sect has sided with the Long Sword Sect for a long time now.
You can't help us!
Don't talk big when you can't do anything."
Maple ended her monologue with a sigh.
"Maple, we can't trust him. We don't even know him. Let's get out of here,"
the young man voiced out his thought.
"The Purple Sword Sect is nothing.
I'm not even afraid of the Long Sword Sect!
Let me put it this way. Now that you've met me, your clan is destined to survive all of this.
I can help you if you can find it in yourself to trust me,"
Austin said, flashing them a mysterious smile.
"Well..."
Maple looked Austin in the eye. She could tell that he was confident as he offered his help.
Despite this, she was not sure if this stranger could help her clan fight the Purple Sword Sect.
"Look, Maple! There's no point talking to him. You're just wasting time here!
We should leave right now!"
the young man said to his sister urgently.
But Maple hesitated, her eyes not leaving Austin.
"Even if you can do something about the Purple Sword Sect, why do you want to help us?"
Maple asked, biting down on her lower lip.
"Because I am also a Lin,"
Austin said, a cautious, friendly smile creeping up on his lips.
"Plus, I have issues with the Long Sword Sect. The members of the Purple Sword Sect bully the weak
and I don't like the way they deal with things. Which is why I want to teach them a lesson.
I will also settle scores with the Long Sword Sect soon,"
Austin said calmly.
"What are you saying?
Are you planning to come to the Long Sword Sect? Do you realize what that means?" Maple
exclaimed.
Both she and her brother were shocked at Austin's statement.
The Long Sword Sect was one of the most powerful forces in the Sword Cosmos.
They couldn't believe that someone, a young man at that, had the guts to provoke the Long Sword
Sect.
"Maple, you heard what he said. He's not in his senses.
Don't trust him!
We should get out of here as soon as possible!"
The young man looked at Austin, his eyes full of distrust.
"How can you talk like this? How can you be so confident?"
Maple stared at Austin in disbelief, convinced that he was lying.
But she could feel the mystery radiating off the young man before her.
He appeared to be self-confident, which increased his attractiveness multifold.
She started to believe, deep within, that this mysterious young man might be able to help her clan out.
"The opportunity is right in front of you. You can seize it or let it slip through your fingers," Austin said.
He was composed as he watched her, tying his hands behind his back.
"Well..."
Maple said doubtfully, struggling to make a decision.
"Maple, don't tell me you believe him!"
her brother said impatiently.
Maple sized Austin up before turning to look at the people of the Purple Sword Sect who were standing
behind him.
"I believe you.
Our clan is in grave danger and you are willing to help us fight the Purple Sword Sect. I will not refuse
your kindness.
This is probably our last chance,"
Maple said, finally making up her mind.
"You have made a wise decision. You've saved your clan,"
Austin said.
"What did you just say?" the young man shouted, but stopped short, unable to speak further as he
panted with emotion.
"Have you lost your mind, Maple?
I can't believe you're choosing to trust this brat!"
he continued, his voice rising and his eyes popping out in surprise.
"Don't be rude, brother. Call him Mr. Lin,"
Maple said, frowning at her brother.
"But..."
the young man sputtered, wanting to retort intelligently but not finding the words.
"Do you think we have any other choice?
Mr. Lin is willing to help us fight the Purple Sword Sect. We should be grateful to him irrespective of
whether or not we get through this.
It's better to have more men on our side,"
Maple said, trying to reason with her brother.
"Well... All right, then,"
the young man said, nodding in agreement, unable to think of anything to snap back.
"You are really a smart girl.
Now, talk me through your current situation,"
Austin said, smiling at Maple.
"Okay.
Our clan is not very powerful in the Sword Cosmos.
We are probably on par with a third or fourth class force.
Despite this limitation, however, our clan is respected in our place.
The Purple Sword Sect used to be equivalent to our clan in terms of strength.
But the Purple Sword Sect and our clan have been enemies since time immemorial.
However, later, the leader of the Purple Sword Sect began to fawn over the leader of the Long Sword
Sect, and became one of the latter's subsidiary forces. And ever since, they have developed at an
alarming rate.
In this process, it annexed many weaker sects and occupied many territories.
And since we are sworn enemies of the Purple Sword Sect, they couldn't let us go.
They made a move against us half a year ago and
went to great lengths to weaken our influence.
Today, they sent an army to ambush our headquarters and planned to rip us out, root and stem.
My father covered for us and we managed to escape.
There are a lot of people from the Purple Sword Sect searching for us at the moment."
Maple filled Austin in with the goings on.
"Oh?
So you are important members in your clan?"
Austin asked.
"Our father is the chief of the Lin Clan,"
Maple said, nodding.
"Oh, I see,"
Austin said pensively.
"Now our headquarters have been besieged by the troops of the Purple Sword Sect. Our people are in
grave danger,"
Maple said, staring intently at Austin.
What she wasn't saying was that they needed to act now if they wanted to save her clan.
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