"I don't need or want to be commended," Huaisang says, his eyes narrowing. "It is not as if I have been telling people what I did. I simply did what needed to be done. That is all."

Huaisang takes a long drink from the jar and stares at the fire pit. "I don't regret anything I did for him. I only wish I had known sooner there was a viper in my own home and we all would have been spared many losses."