Chapter 17: Wang Hai

The sky grew bright. The commoners in the city woke up one after another, feeling as though they had just had the deepest sleep of their lives, and were now full of spirit.

Just as the commoners were preparing to head out for work, a shrill, mournful cry suddenly rang out from the direction of the city's only inn.

"Father—!!"

Busy-bodies gathered before the inn's entrance to watch the spectacle.

They saw over a dozen people dressed in sturdy attire, looking like Jianghu practitioners, standing outside the inn. They had surrounded the building and were shouting, demanding to investigate who the murderer was.

Inside the doors, guests who had stayed the night wanted to leave, but were forced back by these people brandishing weapons.

Seeing the other side drawing blades with bloodshot eyes, the guests who wanted to leave dared not persist and retreated into the inn's lobby, though they could not help but grumble and curse.

"Which inn doesn't have a few people die? Who knows who you provoked?"

"Exactly. Instead of thinking about your own enemies, you're making things difficult for us."

The guests huddled together, complaining one after another.

A young woman walked down from upstairs, her face covered in tear tracks, her hands and clothes stained with dried blood. It was Zhao Dehua's daughter, Zhao Ying.

Zhao Ying walked before the guests, took a deep breath, and then bowed deeply.

"Everyone—" She choked back a sob: "I have offended you greatly."

"I am Zhao Ying, the Young Chief of the Huwei Escort Agency in Yanzhou Prefecture."

There were many escort agencies in the world called Huwei, but only a few were famous. Those who frequently traveled the Qi and Lu regions had all heard the name of the Yanzhou Prefecture Huwei Escort Agency, and they all fell silent.

Zhao Ying continued, forcing herself to speak: "The Chief of the Huwei Escort Agency, my father Zhao Dehua, was harmed by villains last night and died tragically in this inn."

"His body is currently laid out in a guest room."

"My father traveled the Jianghu for over a decade, always ready to help those in need, and never did evil to others. You all should have heard of this to some extent."

"As a child, if my father is murdered and I do not investigate the truth to seek revenge, I have no face to continue walking the Jianghu."

"Today, I only ask that you all show some convenience, for the sake of my father's character over the past decade."

As Zhao Ying spoke, she fell silent for a moment and beckoned.

The dozen or so escorts surrounding the inn entered one after another, encircled the guests, and drew their weapons, looking at them coldly.

This caused the guests to retreat and huddle together.

Zhao Ying bowed deeply again and said: "This is a Jianghu vendetta. I only wish to verify if you possess Wu Gong. If not, I will immediately see you out."

"If you do possess martial arts, I must trouble you to come with me. If it is verified that you have no connection to this, our Huwei Escort Agency will naturally offer an apology!"

Although Zhao Ying was not old and had little Jianghu experience, she had been trained by Zhao Dehua for many years, and her own temperament was resilient.

Facing such a sudden catastrophe, she was immediately able to force herself to calm down.

This speech, combining threats and coaxing, paired with her delicate features and her appearance of being tearful yet forcing composure, effectively cornered the previously dissatisfied guests.

Of course, the menacing escorts surrounding them also played a significant role.

Immediately, a guest stepped forward: "Young Chief, do not blame us. We just didn't know the inside story and were reckless with our words."

"I have long heard of Chief Zhao's chivalrous reputation. If the Young Chief wishes to investigate, please start with me."

Zhao Ying thanked him, stepped forward, and grasped the man's pulse point to carefully investigate.

Seeing that he had no true energy in his body and no traces of martial arts training, she immediately bowed to apologize and sent him out the door.

Seeing this, the remaining guests all honestly cooperated with Zhao Ying's investigation.

There were not many guests who had stayed the night, and in a short while, the inn's lobby was empty. Among the guests from last night, there was not a single person who practiced martial arts.

Seeing this, Zhao Ying said nothing more and turned to go upstairs to collect Zhao Dehua's body.

Suddenly, she remembered something, ran downstairs, grabbed the innkeeper's hand, and demanded sternly: "Which room did those three people who ate at the same table as us last night stay in!?"

Upon receiving the answer, Zhao Ying immediately called the escorts upstairs and kicked open the door to Li Miao's room.

The room was already empty.

Zhao Ying stepped forward and touched the bedding; it had long since lost its warmth.

"The bedding is ice cold; they have been gone for at least half an hour. The city gates have only just opened; if they were traveling, why leave so early?"

"We were all drugged last night and only woke up half an hour ago to find my father dead. Those three had already left by then, proving they were definitely not drugged."

"We met them the night before last, and coincidentally, we were attacked. Last night, when my father met with disaster, coincidentally they were not drugged and left early."

"Among the guests staying at the inn last night, besides us, only those three possessed Wu Gong."

"This matter definitely has something to do with them!"

"It must be those three!"

She ran to the stables and saw that Li Miao's group's horses were already gone.

"If they were still in the city, leading horses would be very conspicuous. People are easy to hide, but horses are hard to conceal. They must have ridden out of the city to escape!"

Thinking of this, Zhao Ying immediately shouted sternly: "Mount up! Out of the city! Pursue!"

The group immediately flipped onto their horses and chased toward the outside of the city.

————————

On the official road, Li Miao, Wang Hai, and Xiao Si, plus Mei Qinghe, were riding their horses.

Wang Hai looked at Mei Qinghe, who was lagging behind and silent, and whispered to Li Miao: "Thousand-Household, which girl did you capture?"

Li Miao had been busy half the night and had watched a good show; he was satisfied and was currently closing his eyes for a nap while riding.

Hearing this, he replied lazily: "The one seeking revenge the night before last, from the Huashan Sect."

"Her Wu Gong is only a little worse than yours; her talent is good, and her character isn't bad either. Perhaps I'll give her a secret agent badge later; she can count as half a colleague of yours."

Wang Hai immediately looked troubled: "So she was the one seeking revenge on that escort chief the night before last... Thousand-Household, I smelled blood when I woke up this morning."

"You didn't play that escort chief to death last night, did you?"

Wang Hai was certainly not questioning Li Miao.

Having followed Li Miao for many years, he knew his Thousand-Household's temperament: he liked to "play" with villains, and usually, they ended up dead. Toward good people, he basically held an attitude of keeping them at a distance and would not take their lives.

Wang Hai himself practiced claw techniques, named "Leaf-Stripping." Although the name sounded elegant, it actually meant "stripping the branches and leaves off a person until only a human stick remains," which was ten times more cold and ruthless than the claw technique Zhao Dehua practiced.

Putting himself in others' shoes, he naturally knew that with the claw technique Zhao Dehua practiced, his temperament would not be one of kindness toward others.

What troubled him was how to deal with that team of escorts if they caught up. Li Miao would certainly be too lazy to act, and he would definitely have to handle it.

"Kill them all?"

"It's not that I can't, it's just that I'm afraid the Thousand-Household won't be happy."

Li Miao glanced at Wang Hai sideways.

He had been in service for twenty years, and people under him came and went, but there was a reason he kept Wang Hai by his side.

Firstly, he was very loyal, one could even say blindly loyal.

Secondly, he only recognized Li Miao; no one else could suppress him.

Thirdly, don't let Wang Hai's harmless, follower-like appearance by Li Miao's side fool you, or the fact that he would blush when teased by Li Miao.

In reality, his temperament was extremely extreme, and his methods were ruthless and poisonous; he would often cut weeds and pull up roots. If let loose, he would sooner or later be a great disaster.

To those he recognized, he was submissive. But to others, Wang Hai was a vicious imperial hound, just like in the model operas. Everyone in the Embroidered Uniform Guard knew that Li Miao kept a wolf cub that ate people without spitting out the bones.

Li Miao knew what Wang Hai was thinking and said: "If they catch up, you go and reason with them."

"You are not allowed to kill anyone."

Wang Hai said: "Thousand-Household, I don't even know what this is all about..."

"Otherwise, why don't you let Miss Mei go with me."

"That works too." Li Miao turned his head and shouted.

"Little Mei! You go with Wang Hai and reason with Zhao Dehua's subordinates."

Mei Qinghe nodded silently, pulled the reins, and stopped by the roadside with Wang Hai, waiting for Zhao Ying and the others to catch up.

Li Miao and Xiao Si continued their journey slowly on horseback.

(End of chapter)