Chapter 67: Asking About Hatred

A greenish hue suddenly rose on Xu Weizhou's face, and he lowered his voice: "What joke is Master Xing making? Even the Ming Ming Jianzhu cannot contend with it; what ability do I have to lead it around?"

"It is not a question of whether you have the ability, Vice Minister Xu. You have been an official of the Great Tang for three years; is your brain still left on the southern peak of Kunlun?" Sister Xing Zhi said coldly.

It was the first time Seeing Pei Ye had seen Sister Xing Zhi be so merciless. He wondered if the Black-Ribbon Operatives of the Immortal Platform were higher in rank than a Prefecture Vice Minister. He glanced at the silent Chang Zhiyuan, pondering this question with his meager common sense.

"It is that this matter ought to be done by you, and only you can do it. You are a court official eating the imperial salary. Now that danger is imminent, you say you have no ability, so who has the ability to stand up? Inspector Zhao? The several Commandants? County Magistrate Chang? Or the soldiers? It certainly cannot be the thirty thousand commoners of Fenghuai, can it?"

The greenish hue on Xu Weizhou's face deepened, mixed with a touch of paleness. Suddenly, his eyes lit up: "Ming Ming Jianzhu! With the Ming Ming Jianzhu's character, she can—"

Xu Weizhou felt something was wrong halfway through his sentence. He stopped, lowered his head, and twisted his teacup in silence.

Xing Zhi looked at him coldly and let out a laugh: "I didn't know the 【Kunlun Sun-Swallowing Palace】 had this kind of confidence, or perhaps your Xu family members have two more brains than others—daring to ask the Sword Master's only beloved disciple to die for you, Xu Weizhou."

These words truly made Xu Weizhou feel somewhat ashamed and angry. He had said what he said before, knowing full well he was here to enjoy himself. If he really wanted to seek a future, would he use such credentials to come to this remote prefecture?

When he was seeking pleasure in the prefecture city, his spine had long been poked without feeling any pain. Sister Xing Zhi saying a few words really didn't matter; his expression just now was only because he was pressed by the severe situation.

But the family background, origin, sect, and talent he prided himself on—things he always relied on to view others with superiority—being mocked like this truly made him angry. Yet, he had nowhere to vent—he had said stupid things first, and in front of that Ming Ming Jianzhu, these things were indeed just a pile of rotten mud.

Seeing Pei Ye watched this Lord Xu's expression from the side, thinking that he probably couldn't master 【Cloud-Heaven Obscuring-Eyes Feather-Loss】.

When "stripping away everything," the lighter and fewer these "things" were, the easier it was to succeed. He himself had been in a destitute situation at the time; no wonder Old Man Yue said, "At least you have the possibility of learning it now."

But, the things Old Man Yue stripped away back then must have been much more than what this Vice Minister Xu had.

Thinking of this, Seeing Pei Ye looked up at the sky, feeling it was time for the old man to wake up. He had said everything he needed to say, and the subsequent response would naturally be "let the meat-eaters plan it."

He stood up and bowed to the three lords to take his leave.

He went to the hot water room to fetch a basin of hot water. While carrying it through the courtyard, he was surprised by the number of people gathered under the pear tree. He saw the clerks from the county and the prefecture gathered together, whispering in low voices, so quiet that Seeing Pei Ye suspected he had gone to the wrong place.

He looked at them strangely, found a familiar face, and asked in a low voice: "What are you doing?"

"Shh—" This person didn't even turn his eyes, only holding up a finger to Seeing Pei Ye.

Seeing Pei Ye followed his gaze and saw that in the side room with the door open, a figure in white was leaning on the table, flipping through a book with one hand and gently stroking a black cat with the other.

"Ming—Qi—Tian—" the person mouthed.

"Oh..." Seeing Pei Ye realized.

It was truly because his information had been too blocked these past few years. Even though he already knew the shock of being "third on the Crane List," he still hadn't personally experienced the person's reputation.

The weight of the sentence "I am Ming Qitian."

"The last time I saw a Crane List figure was five years ago, when the twenty-fourth generation 【Blade Ghost】 Qi Wuming of the Bai Lugong passed through our prefecture. At that time, it was truly impossible to meet. Who would have dared to think that today, waking up, Ming Qitian would actually be right before our eyes."

"That person was much uglier."

"But the person is still quite good, not like the title."

"This title is passed down, not modeled after the person."

"Ming Ming Ming Jianzhu is different." A prefecture clerk said in a low voice, "The Bai Lugong is deeply involved in the world, and for many years, their social circle has been broad. Yunlang Mountain is not. It is said that last year, the Ninth Prince wanted to invite Ming Ming Ming Jianzhu to discuss the sword path, but Ming Ming Ming Jianzhu didn't even give him face."

"Ha, was he trying to discuss the sword path..."

"Shh—"

"Mainly, there was no connection, you know?" An older one said, "Yunlang Mountain, I haven't heard of any involvement with any family, and I haven't heard of Ming Ming Ming Jianzhu being close to anyone. My aunt in the Divine Capital said that the Ninth Prince entrusted Yan Feiqing to bridge the connection, just because it was rumored that Ming Ming Ming Jianzhu went to watch Yan Feiqing practice the sword once. It is said that when Yan Feiqing received the invitation, his face turned black."

"Hahahaha."

Seeing Pei Ye found it interesting. He originally wanted to find Ming Qitian to ask how to deal with the enemy. After all, in his simple concept, no matter how Sister Xing Zhi and Xu Weizhou talked, if there was anyone who could contend with the Immortal Lord, it could only be Ming Qitian. Asking the principal directly was the most efficient step.

But now, under the gaze of everyone, he was embarrassed to step forward, so he just carried the basin to the old man's room.

He only heard the second half of the sentence behind him: "I wonder if there isn't even a cup of tea on Ming Ming Ming Jianzhu's table..."

Then there was a sound of people unable to sit still.

Seeing Pei Ye walked into the quiet little room. It was much cleaner and more refined than at home, and the bed was also much softer.

He pushed the old man on the bed, and the old man opened his eyes.

"Back?" the old man said hoarsely.

"Yeah, how have these two days been?"

"Eating well, sleeping well, don't want to go back." It seemed that because the youth had returned unscathed, the old man was in a good mood.

"When things are done, we'll use the reward money to buy a good house to live in." Seeing Pei Ye poured the boiling water into the large bathtub, "Take a bath, it's been several days."

The old man nodded, struggling to support his body.

Seeing Pei Ye helped him, turning to fetch well water from the courtyard.

Returning to the room, he helped the old man take off his sleeping robe, and more heart-trembling scars were exposed.

This was a body that had reached the limit of fragility in every aspect. Even though he had seen it many times, every time Seeing Pei Ye looked closely and thought about it, it always provoked an irrepressible anger.

It was by no means something that could be described by the words "serious injury," because these were simply not traces left in battle.

It was the result of hooking a person up, locking their hands and feet, and using all kinds of means and instruments to cruelly damage this body for the purpose of making them endure the greatest pain.

Every piece of skin, every bone, every tendon had been carefully processed. For a month, or two months, in the darkness, in the stench of his own excrement and blood, living a life worse than a ghost, he had spent those days more terrible than hell to leave such traces.

Seeing Pei Ye silently picked up the old man's terrifyingly light body, slowly placing him into the water at the right temperature, his fingers stroking the old, wrinkled, soft skin, gently washing him.

"Why don't you tell me." Seeing Pei Ye suddenly said.

"Tell you what?"

"Who did it." After witnessing so many things that broke his horizons these past few days, although Seeing Pei Ye hadn't stepped out of Fenghuai, he felt the world had become much smaller, and many things were no longer out of reach.

"You tell me, and sooner or later, I will cut off his head."

The old man leaned back against the barrel wall, the corners of his mouth seeming to curve slightly.

"Relying on you, who knows how long that would take." he said hoarsely. ===== CHAPTER 68 =====