Chapter 15

Li Miao looked at Mei Qinghe and said calmly: "I have brought the person."

"But I will not kill him directly as a favor to you."

"The two of you, speak of the grudge between you; let me hear it."

Mei Qinghe, looking at the pleading Zhao Dehua, felt her thoughts snap together.

As for the grudge between Mei Qinghe and Zhao Dehua, it was actually a cliché story.

When Mei Qinghe was small, her family were merchants; they weren't extremely wealthy, but they were well-off enough to have no worries about food or clothing.

Fifteen years ago, when Mei Qinghe was five, her mother wanted to take her back to their hometown to visit relatives.

As mentioned before, traveling far in ancient times was not as convenient as it is today, let alone for a weak woman like Mei Qinghe’s mother, who was bringing a five or six-year-old child.

So Mei Qinghe’s father found the local Huwei Escort Agency, and Zhao Dehua, who was then unknown at the agency, took the job to escort Mei Qinghe and her mother back to their hometown.

This was supposed to be a simple task; Mei Qinghe’s mother didn't carry much wealth, and they weren't traveling through any dangerous territory. By rights, there shouldn't have been any accidents.

But, fortune and misfortune are unpredictable.

At that time, a great bandit in the Wu Lin was being hunted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the capital and fled to the Qilu region, where he happened to run into Zhao Dehua’s group.

He took a fancy to Mei Qinghe’s mother and demanded that Zhao Dehua hand her over.

Zhao Dehua was just a young man then; although his Wu Gong wasn't good, he was full of hot-bloodedness.

Knowing he was no match, he still drew his sword to protect Mei Qinghe and her mother, intending to delay the bandit for a while to let them escape first.

However, he overestimated himself.

Almost in an instant, Zhao Dehua’s sword was knocked away, and his face was trampled underfoot, his mouth and nose filled with dirt.

The bandit toyed with him, using his sword to carefully cut slits into his body, dislocating his joints and putting them back, and using acupoint techniques to squeeze his pressure points.

He poured insects into his ears, making him listen to the sound of the insects crawling on his eardrums.

The young Zhao Dehua finally understood that so-called Wu Lin morality could not make him strong. In the bandit’s eyes, he was just an idiot with mediocre skills who didn't know his place.

The heart of chivalry he thought he possessed was destroyed by the bandit in less than half a day.

He was afraid.

He began to beg for mercy.

He began to curse Mei Qinghe’s mother for why she had to hire him, why she resisted, and why she couldn't just submit to the bandit.

He even began to hate Mei Qinghe’s mother for why she couldn't just sacrifice herself instead of dragging him into suffering.

He hated more and more.

The bandit told him to hold down Mei Qinghe’s mother, and he did.

The bandit told him to join in abusing Mei Qinghe’s mother, and he did.

He began to vent this inexplicable hatred on Mei Qinghe’s mother.

Until Mei Qinghe’s mother died.

When everything was over, the bandit tossed a manual of claw techniques to Zhao Dehua with satisfaction and turned to leave.

Everything that happened was seen by the five-year-old Mei Qinghe.

Zhao Dehua wanted to kill Mei Qinghe to silence her and cover up everything that had happened.

But he still had a shred of conscience left and couldn't bring himself to do it. He thought that a five-year-old child wouldn't survive in the wilderness, so he took all the dry rations and left Mei Qinghe alone in the mountains before returning to the Huwei Escort Agency.

Mei Qinghe’s father reported it to the authorities, but the Huwei Escort Agency used their connections to suppress it. He spent all his wealth searching for Mei Qinghe, but eventually, the news dried up; he likely died on the road.

That bandit was later caught and killed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

From then on, Zhao Dehua stopped practicing the sword and, relying on the claw technique manual the bandit gave him, gradually became the pillar of the Huwei Escort Agency.

Zhao Dehua was kind to others, polite to everyone in the Wu Lin, and did things fairly. The Huwei Escort Agency also flourished under him, gradually developing and growing.

Zhao Dehua thought everything was in the past; his daughter had good aptitude and was now somewhat accomplished. In a few years, she would take over for him, and he could stay home, play with his grandchildren, and enjoy a peaceful life, at which point the petty squabbles of the Wu Lin would no longer have anything to do with him.

He thought fifteen years had passed, and he thought he had forgotten Mei Qinghe’s mother.

Until this very moment, when he saw Mei Qinghe’s face clearly.

Mei Qinghe looked very much like her mother; he recognized that face at a glance.

Cold sweat broke out on Zhao Dehua’s face, his hands trembled uncontrollably, and his ears buzzed, as if insects were crawling on his eardrums, making a rustling, rubbing sound.

That face, which had appeared in his dreams countless times alongside the young Zhao Dehua, questioning him, mocking him, and insulting him, had finally appeared before him again.

That beautiful face was now under the moonlight, looking at him with full hatred.

And the Zhao Dehua from fifteen years ago seemed to have returned to his body.

Zhao Dehua knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing to Mei Qinghe repeatedly.

"Lady Mei, Lady Mei, I was wrong, I was wrong!"

"Rest in peace, rest in peace, I beg you, rest in peace!"

"It was my Wu Gong that wasn't good enough, I couldn't beat him, I just didn't want to die, I had no choice!"

Mei Qinghe looked at Zhao Dehua and walked slowly toward him.

Seeing Mei Qinghe approach, Zhao Dehua fell backward with a start, crawling backward using his hands and feet.

"Don't! Don't come over!"

"Lady Mei, don't come for me, go find him, he forced me!"

"I wanted to protect you too, I told you to leave, it was you who were too slow! Don't blame me!"

"I didn't want to do those things to you either, but he forced me!"

Zhao Dehua crawled to the wall, with nowhere to retreat, and began to weep uncontrollably.

"He tortured me, it hurt so much! He cut me until I was covered in blood, he isn't human, it’s his fault!"

"He put insects in my ears, those insects were crawling in my ears!"

He slammed his head against the ground and used his fingers to dig into his ears.

"Get out! Get out!" It was as if there were still insects in his ears now.

Seeing Zhao Dehua acting as if he had suddenly gone insane, Mei Qinghe turned to look at Li Miao, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed nearby.

Having heard the story Mei Qinghe told and what Zhao Dehua said, Li Miao had roughly figured out where the grudge between the two came from.

He smiled, took a packet of medicinal powder from his robes, and threw it on the ground.

"I said it, you couldn't outplay him."

"Your Wu Gong is indeed better than his; he is second-rate, you are barely first-rate. If you used a sword, he wouldn't last thirty rounds against you."

"But if you had gone to find him tonight, the thing he prepared would have been used on you."

In Wu Lin duels, aside from fighting in the ring, Wu Gong is often not the final deciding factor.

Traps, sleeping incense, poison, and hidden arrows—each one could take an expert’s life.

Zhao Dehua had been ambushed by Mei Qinghe last night; how could he not be prepared tonight? He had long since set up mechanisms in the room, just waiting for Mei Qinghe to deliver herself to his door.

He had also prepared mind-altering poison, intended for Mei Qinghe, so he could make her reveal her background and why she held a grudge against him, so he could prepare countermeasures later.

But it was used on himself by Li Miao.

Li Miao said calmly: "I am no chivalrous hero, but at least I hope my subordinates have some bottom line."

"You are loyal to the Huashan Sect, which is good. But if you only have loyalty, I don't have much interest."

"It just so happens he prepared this stuff, so let him tell the truth, and I can hear who is right and who is wrong."

"Now I have more or less understood."

"How you want to take your revenge, you decide for yourself."

(End of chapter)