Chapter 116

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

The girl still had a wad of cloth stuffed in her mouth, her hair disheveled and face grimy, but beneath her long lashes a pair of innate Rui Phoenix Eyes were exceptionally bright, strikingly conspicuous in the thin moonlight.

Shaowei was slightly stunned.

When they first met, this little girl wore a mask to scare her; and though she had occasionally fed her in passing these past days, she had never had the chance to examine the girl's features so closely — seeing those eyes now, she suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

"What is your name?" Shaowei asked.

The girl hurriedly answered: "Mmph!"

After answering she reacted, only then remembering to pull the cloth wad from her mouth, yet she still kept one hand tightly hugging her Benefactor's leg; once the cloth was out she hastily resumed hugging with both hands, tilted her head up, and answered: "Xiao Yu! Benefactor, my name is Xiao Yu!"

Another voice overlapping with it popped into Shaowei's mind: 【Benefactor, please tell Xiao Yu your name; Xiao Yu will erect a stele for Benefactor!】

It really was that child.

Before Shaowei's death in her previous life, she used her last strength to hurl the Three-foot Sword gifted by Liu Qi, killing one person and saving that child.

Before her soul completely dissipated, Shaowei could faintly sense that the child, only seven or eight years old, though unable to erect a stele for her, had still painstakingly dug a pit and buried her corpse.

But back then their meeting was outside the city in the coming summer; this child now appears in the southernmost part of the city — had she not acted, this girl would tonight have fallen into the hands of those two Wang Hun, and once imprisoned in the Fat Powder Tower, she would absolutely never escape; how then did she manage to flee the city next year?

So Shaowei asked again: "You have no family to go to?"

Not far off, the servants had already tossed the corpses of that man and woman onto a cart and were pushing it away.

Xiao Yu glanced over in shock, then answered: "I have been an orphan since childhood, adopted by a kind midwife outside the city; she told me to call her Medical Aunt; Medical Aunt had no children and treated me very well, but Medical Aunt died of illness last year... Before she died, she secretly told me to run away; she said if I didn't run, her older brother and sister-in-law would sell me off!"

The girl's eyes showed fear and rejection: "I don't want to be sold off and eaten!"

Shaowei was also startled: "Eaten?"

Xiao Yu nodded heavily: "Mm! They sold the pigs and sheep Medical Aunt raised first; I saw with my own eyes them being killed and divided up and eaten!"

Shaowei was speechless; a child is a child after all, actually believing that a person sold off would meet the same fate as sold-off pigs and sheep... though, a person is not necessarily any luckier than pigs and sheep.

Shaowei asked again: "Then after you ran away, you've been wandering around here all this time?"

"Not exactly." Xiao Yu said with some guilty conscience: "Because you kept feeding me, I didn't leave."

Hearing this, Shaowei finally understood completely.

This child originally wandered everywhere; only because she had fed her a few times did she linger in this place, thereby attracting the Wang Hun's attention.

In the dark, it was she who brought this variable to the child; fortunately the variable concluded with the deaths of those two Wang Hun.

So Shaowei no longer felt indebted; she lifted her foot to leave, but that child clung on and refused to let go, and was thus dragged two steps by her.

Being pestered like this, Shaowei said angrily: "If you don't let go I'll be impolite; didn't you see just now? I kill people like killing pigs!"

Xiao Yu: "But you also save people like an immortal!"

Shaowei was inexplicably stunned; she had just ruthlessly killed someone — shouldn't this child be afraid like a fish fears a leopard cat?

This child of at most seven years spoke with clear logic, not chaotic at all; and to survive wandering outside, she truly deserves to be called innately intelligent and resolute.

This resolute child now looked up at Shaowei, her eyes holding no fear, only reverence and pleading, like a fledgling bird giving birth to dependence: "Xiao Yu wants to follow Benefactor! Xiao Yu can do many things, can learn anything, doesn't eat much either; Benefactor just treat it as raising a little dog, a few scraps each day will be enough!"

The child feels not the slightest humiliation; on the contrary she speaks more and more smoothly, her face already full of loyalty: "Xiao Yu just wants to be Benefactor's little dog! Whoever dares offend Benefactor, Xiao Yu will bite them!"

Such surging loyalty left Shaowei completely at a loss; she widened her eyes and flatly refused: "Nonsense, no! You're a perfectly good person, why would you want to be a dog to someone!"

"Xiao Yu doesn't just be anyone's dog! Only because it's Benefactor!" The child has her own reasoning: "I know Benefactor keeps a little bird; Benefactor treats her own little bird this well, so Benefactor's treatment of her own little dog certainly won't be bad either!"

Finished speaking, Xiao Yu hugged Shaowei's leg even tighter, pressing her dirty little face against it.

Shaowei only felt clung to; she reached out to tear this dog-skin plaster off, but the child refused to let go dead or alive; if Shaowei used force, she feared she would tear this "plaster" to pieces.

When the servants returned, they saw Shaowei unable to shake her off or tear her away, dragging the child who kept shouting about wanting to be a little dog along a stretch of road, dragging out a pressed mark in the grass bush.

The servant pushed the cart closer, saying: "Already dumped at the chaotic grave field. I saw these two before; they've come to scout several times, they're old hands. They do shady business that can't see the light; the people behind them wouldn't dare report to officials easily. Even if reported, the corpses wouldn't be easy to find. Even if found, no clues could be uncovered. Once the nearby wild dogs help clean up a bit, it'll be thoroughly clean."

Shaowei gave a worried "Mm."

Xiao Yu seized the chance to interject and raise her presence: "Dumped so close, aren't you afraid they'll turn into ghosts and come seeking?"

"The grave field is haunted anyway; might as well let it be haunted to the end." The servant's tone was hoarse and flat: "If there truly are ghosts in the world, down below there are many vengeful ghosts waiting to settle scores with them; the underworld's accounts can't be settled, so they likely won't have leisure for the living world's grudges."

Shaowei then said: "If they truly dare come seeking, I'll scatter their souls together."

Better not to have said that; once said, she felt her legs hugged even tighter.

Shaowei could only look at the servant: "I really can't shake her... are you willing to take her back and raise her?"

The servant was silent for a while.

He wanted to say he wasn't willing.

This situation is very much like one's own child bringing back a stray dog wagging its tail for dear life; the child's heart is already moved, but she can't raise it herself and isn't home often, so she wants to foist it on the parents to manage and serve.

Once cast into such a role, the essence of the problem reveals itself — this appears to be a choice question, but if he dares refuse, it will certainly make the child secretly harbor all sorts of sullen resentment, extremely detrimental to family relations.

For the sake of the small picture, the servant nodded with a complex mood: "Either is fine."

Xiao Yu was overjoyed, immediately let go of Shaowei, and kowtowed to the two: "Thank you Benefactor for taking me in; I will definitely be obedient!"

Finished speaking, she climbed up to sit, proactively rushed forward to snatch the cart-pushing duty; a tiny person pushing a huge cart, pushing until the wheels and frame twisted and swayed in chaos, hands and feet flustered yet unwilling to give up.

The servant's expression showed a slight headache; he silently followed.

Shaowei then patted the grass debris from her hands and strode away.

Xiao Yu followed the servant back to the small courtyard, ran in and out familiarizing herself with the environment, excited by everything she saw, including seeing Mo Li emerge from the ground chamber entrance like a ground squirrel.

Her jacket was very tattered, two ragged cloth pieces fluttering in the wind as she ran, truly resembling a little fish swimming happily.

Zhao Qie'an sat in the hall continuing to eat his unfinished meal, letting Xiao Yu scramble about wildly.

Not long after, Xiao Yu darted in front of him and asked curiously, "Benefactor, what are you doing outside? Why don't you live at home?"

Zhao Qie'an looked at the food in front of him and answered, "She is busy hunting to make a living."

She must hunt back abundant food, and also capture and kill fierce prey.

After Shaowei returned to Shen Ci, she still practiced the Shangsi Festival sacrificial dance under Yu Si Wu's strict supervision.

Two days passed like this, and Shaowei planned to go back tonight to check on how that little fish was adapting.

However, when she returned to the small courtyard where she was staying, she saw the Spider Woman and A Yan waiting outside the courtyard gate, wearing Taiyi Shu robes.

"Hu Li, you're back!" A Yan went up to meet her, while the Spider Woman followed silently behind A Yan without a word.

Shaowei nodded to them, opened the courtyard gate, and invited the two people in.

A Yan walked one step behind Shaowei, unable to hide her excitement and shame: "Hu Li, you are truly amazing, actually possessing the ability to summon spirits! I heard you even received an audience with His Majesty! Before, we truly were blind..."

They were in the Imperial streamer, so naturally they had heard the rumors of Hu Li summoning spirits on the second day of the second month, but they simply had no chance to return to Shen Ci and express their excitement in person until it was their turn for rest this time.

It was a pity that they had previously always treated Hu Li as someone just idling through life, who knew that after being apart for only a few days, the other party had become a spirit-summoner known to everyone in the capital, while they themselves, having gone to Taiyi Shu with great ambitions, had accomplished nothing...

A Yan looked back at the Spider Woman silently following behind, and sighed soundlessly.

She had originally hoped to find a place for the family snake's spider mistress to stay soon, but now one snake and one spider were instead following Hu Li to live the days they had imagined.

The small courtyard was quiet and secluded, the flowers and grass had sprouted early, a stretch of green.

Hearing Master's voice, the black snake and the spider crawled out of the small flower bed one after another, then stopped halfway up; a bird cry rang out from a nearby plum tree, and the snake and spider immediately stopped moving, as if they had been struck by a stopping spell.

A Yan was astonished; as someone who had dealt with flying birds, insects, and beasts since childhood, how could she fail to see at this moment that the snake and spider were actually listening to this bird's commands?

Zhan Zhan raised its head and cried out once more, spreading one wing like waving a military flag, and only then did the snake and spider continue walking peacefully.

A Yan crouched down; the black snake coiled around her arm. She stared closely and felt that after not seeing it for such a short time, her own snake's appearance had become much more innocent and guileless.

The spider also quickly crawled onto the Spider Woman's left shoulder. The Spider Woman silently raised her right hand to gently touch the spider, but Shaowei saw that the Spider Woman's right index finger was wrapped in bandages.

The Spider Woman had not spoken a word until now, and her expression was also depressed and uneasy. Shaowei carefully observed that injured hand for a moment, then couldn't help but ask: "Spider Woman, what happened to your hand?"

Shaowei and the two were not exactly on good terms, but they were acquainted. And the Spider Woman's finger was not just a simple injury; it was more like a defect. Otherwise, Shaowei, who was always taciturn in front of outsiders, would not have asked specifically.

The Spider Woman was suddenly asked, and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She was originally tall and slender, but at this moment her body trembled slightly like a leaf.

Mentioning this matter, A Yan's expression was also very sad, her attitude showing reluctance. She answered for the Spider Woman: "It was cut off by someone with a blade. More than half of one whole index finger was cut off..."

Shaowei was greatly shocked: "Who did it? On what grounds?"

Even if a mistake was committed, why go so far as to cut off a doctor's finger? How important the right index finger is to a doctor, especially since what the Spider Woman was best at was the art of acupuncture.

A Yan glanced at the quiet courtyard outside, then lowered her voice: "That former Commander of Jingyi Guard, Lord Zhu Zhi..."

"He heard some rumor from somewhere, saying that witches in the South can perform a secret art of divine needles to regenerate severed arms! He had people go to Taiyi Shu, and the Taiyi Ling ordered me and the Spider Woman to go. It just so happened that the Spider Woman knew acupuncture..."

A Yan said this and looked at the Spider Woman.

The Spider Woman finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly: "I said I didn't know that secret art, but he suspected I was unwilling to pay the price of using the secret art, so he cut off one of my fingers on the spot, and also said... also said that if within five days my severed finger did not show signs of regeneration, he would cut off another finger, until all five fingers were chopped off. By then, if I still said I didn't know, he would finally believe my words! I had long heard that the interrogation methods of Jingyi Guard were terrifying, and indeed it is true..."

"But you are not a criminal, and he no longer holds an official position now!" Unbelievable anger welled up in Shaowei's eyes: "He hurt you like this and forced you, does Taiyi Shu just sit by and watch?"

"He naturally said it was 'accidental injury,' and also had people give much 'consolation medical money'..." The Spider Woman lowered her head and closed her eyes trembling, her voice full of despair: "People in Taiyi Shu privately advised me, saying His Majesty is very likely to employ him again for errands, and opposing him will not end well."

The Taiyi Ling did not want to offend that terrifying madman, or perhaps for this reason pushed her and A Yan, two new apprentice medics, out to stand forward.

The Spider Woman's voice was low and trembling, speaking incoherently: "Mother and Father often praised me as the most talented needle master in the clan..."

She was over twenty and still unmarried, and had come to Chang'an with one heart to deploy her ambitions. But her so-called talent—was it actually to deliver herself into the hands of those powerful and influential people, to be destroyed and trampled upon by them at will?

She was injured the day before yesterday. When that Zhu Zhi's guards sent her out of the residence, they even specially "comforted" her, saying: If it were in the past, she would have been killed with a single blade. Now her life was spared because after the Head of Household lost his arm and was removed from office, his actions had become much more restrained. But if she continued to not know what was good for her, the Head of Household's patience would eventually run out. So it was better to produce her true ability as soon as possible.

The Spider Woman was blank and terrified. How exactly could she produce something she simply did not have?

The other party didn't even listen to reason at all, only to force a vague and illusory hope out of her.

Shaowei suppressed her emotions and agreed to the request to let the two stay here for one night.

The two had their day off tomorrow. The Spider Woman really did not want to return to Taiyi Shu; she just wanted to stay with her spider for a while longer.

In her sleep, the Spider Woman dreamed of that brutal and sinister face, and the blood-stained dagger in his hand.

The Spider Woman woke up with a start. Only one thought in her mind: Three days left, she would lose another finger.

The Spider Woman was dazed and confused, barefoot and muddle-headed as she walked out.

She left the small courtyard and stood before a deep well. She closed her eyes and stepped out with one bare foot.

The feeling of hanging in midair she had imagined did not have time to happen. Suddenly a hand grabbed her from behind and yanked her back hard.

The Spider Woman stumbled backward, too weak to stand, and fell to the ground. She turned her head and saw a white figure quickly round from behind her to stand in front of her: "Why suddenly seek death?"

The girl had a head full of black hair and wore only a lead-white undergarment, clearly having come in a hurry.

"Hu Li, I'm afraid..." The Spider Woman looked up with tears, gazing at the sky that was neither bright nor dark: "In Shen Ci there are so many ghosts and spirits watching. If I die here, I will surely be taken in by them as a believer. Then I won't have to be afraid anymore."

"Is all you want to exchange death for simply not being afraid?" Shaowei looked at her. "You were bullied, so why don't you want revenge?"

"Revenge?" The Spider Woman showed no emotion at all, speaking numbly: "Revenge with what... I don't want my fingers cut off one by one, and in the end become a burden and disgrace to the clan."

Shaowei: "You are wrong. If you just die like that, that is the clan's disgrace. Ghosts and spirits would not take in someone who commits suicide as a believer at all."

After saying this, Shaowei felt her words were a bit heavy. She sat down on the ground in front of the Spider Woman, facing her eye to eye, and said with a serious expression: "You must not die. I will take this revenge for you."

The Spider Woman stared blankly: "Why help me?"

Shaowei looked at her severed finger: "Because the responsibility for this matter lies with me."

The Spider Woman was even more puzzled: "Hu Li..."

"I shouldn't have left him the chance to continue harming people." The girl sitting with loose hair before her had a cold glint in her eyes, as if she had become a different person.

The Spider Woman couldn't help but feel confused. Although she didn't understand, she still said: "How could it be... evil people will always harm people..."

"Once dead, they can no longer harm people." Shaowei asked seriously: "Don't you want to see him die with your own eyes?"

The girl's changed gaze and aura made the Spider Woman even more confused and alarmed. Could it be... that she had summoned spirits again?

A thread of heavenly light bloomed behind the unadorned girl, like a miracle. The Spider Woman felt confused, as if she had already become a believer of ghosts and spirits, and nodded slowly as if driven by ghosts and gods.

"Then live, and listen to my arrangements."

Shaowei finished speaking, stood up, and extended her hand toward the spider woman.

The spider woman trembled as she offered her hand; Shaowei pulled her up and led her back to the Small Courtyard.

On the Road, Shaowei once again concealed her Breath and Attitude, recovering her usual demeanor before others.

A Yan, who had just chased over, had already realized what had happened; weeping, she lunged forward and grabbed the spider woman: "How could you be so foolish!"

The three returned to the Small Courtyard; before long, Shaowei had just finished washing and dressing neatly when she suddenly heard a Wu Nu come to deliver a message, saying someone wanted to see the Flower.

Shaowei asked first: "Who is it?"

That Wu Nu answered in a low voice: "It is the Subordinates of the Former Commander of Jingyi Guard, Zhu Zhi."

?? A very large chapter, good night!