Chapter 18

Li Miao and Xiao Si walked and waited, not to mention their leisurely pace.

Let us speak only of Wang Hai and Mei Qinghe here.

They had left the city half an hour early; even if Zhao Ying and the others galloped at full speed, the two would still have to wait here for a while.

Wang Hai saw Mei Qinghe standing silently, sword in hand, her gaze hollow as she looked into the distance, saying nothing, and he did not know what she was thinking.

He thought to himself, "Could this girl have been played into stupidity by the Battalion Commander as well?"

Of course, the "played" he referred to did not mean anything lewd.

Li Miao was cynical and played with people regardless of good or evil, but while good people would not suffer too much at his hands, they would certainly suffer psychological trauma.

Wang Hai had been in Xiao Si's room all last night and was unaware of the situation on Li Miao's side.

How could he know that Mei Qinghe was merely "dejected" because her great revenge had been fulfilled and her future was uncertain, and she simply did not want to speak.

Since they would have to work under Li Miao together in the future, and Mei Qinghe was someone Li Miao had affirmed, Wang Hai thought to strike up a rapport, making conversation for the sake of it: "Miss Mei."

Mei Qinghe turned her head: "Lord Wang." She already knew the identity of Li Miao and the others as Embroidered Uniform Guards.

"No need to call me Lord; from now on, we all work for the Battalion Commander. I am slightly older than you, so you may call me Brother Wang."

"I heard that Zhao Dehua's scream last night; it must have been you who killed him on the roof of a civilian house outside."

"You could have just thrown the body somewhere or burned it; why go to the trouble of carrying it into his room?"

Wang Hai was indeed very curious about this question.

Mei Qinghe was silent for a moment and said: "Jianghu rules: when a person dies, the accounts are settled."

"I have a blood feud with Zhao Dehua, but I have no grudge against his family."

"Once a person is dead, they are nothing but a pile of rotting meat."

"Returning this piece of rotting meat to his family does me no harm, and it saves his family from having their lives delayed."

Mei Qinghe's father had gone missing and his whereabouts remained unknown while searching for her, so it was not strange that she made this choice.

"Besides, he did indeed risk his life to protect us once back then, and he did not kill me."

"I return him a death without closure, and then return him a burial for peace; it can be considered that our grievances are settled."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hai looked Mei Qinghe up and down.

"This girl... is she a bit pedantic?"

"This personality... it actually suits the Battalion Commander's temper, but it's a trouble when getting things done."

He did not know the grudge between Mei Qinghe and Zhao Dehua, so he could not say much, only secretly planning to help Li Miao polish Mei Qinghe's temper.

Someone who is so rigid even when taking revenge is unlikely to live very long.

Now was just such an opportunity.

Wang Hai spoke up: "When Zhao Dehua's daughter chases after us in a while, what do you intend to do?"

Mei Qinghe replied: "I will explain the situation to her first; if it cannot be reasoned out, I will not sit idly by and wait for death."

"I will have to trouble Brother Wang to hold the line for me then."

Wang Hai nodded: "Easy, easy." But in his heart, he was determined to use this opportunity to teach Mei Qinghe a lesson.

The two waited by the roadside for a while before hearing the sound of violent hoofbeats coming from afar.

Mei Qinghe placed her sword on the ground and walked empty-handed to the middle of the road to stand.

Wang Hai asked curiously: "Aren't you a Huashan Sect disciple? Why don't you use your sword?"

Mei Qinghe said: "This is my private grudge; the Huwei Escort Agency is not an evil cult, so I cannot use Huashan sword techniques and disgrace the reputation of my sect."

Wang Hai was speechless and muttered to himself.

"This girl's brain is indeed not very functional."

A short while later, Zhao Ying and the Huwei Escort Agency group arrived on horseback, and seeing Mei Qinghe and Wang Hai standing in front, they slowly slowed down.

Zhao Ying first glanced at Wang Hai, then carefully looked Mei Qinghe up and down.

"You... are the person who raided my father's room the night before last."

Zhao Ying had been drugged at the time and did not see it with her own eyes. But Zhao Dehua had described Mei Qinghe's physique to her afterward, so she was certain that Mei Qinghe was that masked woman.

"You are the one who killed my father."

"Yes."

"Why!?"

With her enemy before her, Zhao Ying's eyes turned red, and she drew her sword, dismounted, and asked through gritted teeth.

"A grudge for killing my mother."

"You lie!!!"

Zhao Ying pointed her sword at Mei Qinghe: "My father was kind to others and never made enemies; sometimes he would rather suffer a loss himself than resort to violence."

"If your mother was killed by my father, it must be because she forced my father to act!"

Mei Qinghe glanced at Zhao Ying's sword and said: "Zhao Dehua did not let you learn his claw techniques, but let you learn the sword."

"You are about the same age as me; fifteen years ago, when he killed my mother, you should have already been old enough to remember things."

"Have you ever thought about where he got that sinister claw technique?"

"Have you ever thought about how, with Zhao Dehua's natural talent, he was able to practice that sinister claw technique so well?"

Stymied by these few words, Zhao Ying choked.

Zhao Ying had been raised very well by Zhao Dehua.

It is strange to say, but no matter how much evil a person does, even if they have earned immense wealth through evil, they often still teach their children to be good people.

Zhao Dehua did not teach Zhao Ying that sinister claw technique, but let her learn the sword, the kind of upright, straightforward sword technique.

And Zhao Ying did not disappoint Zhao Dehua's expectations, becoming an upright, straightforward person who matched her sword technique.

She did not speak at first, making a gesture to the escort agency group, and only after they had surrounded Mei Qinghe and Wang Hai did she ask.

"Do you have... any witnesses for what you say?"

Mei Qinghe shook her head: "Of those who survived back then, I am the only one."

"Do you have any physical evidence!?"

Mei Qinghe still shook her head: "Years have passed, it has long since rotted away in the mountains."

"Then why should I believe you!?"

"You killed my father; do you want me to abandon this blood feud based on your one-sided words!?"

Zhao Dehua had never mentioned the events of that year to anyone, so of course Zhao Ying did not know.

"For more than ten years, whether it was me, my mother, the entire escort agency, or even fellow Jianghu practitioners, everyone knew my father was a good man!"

"With one light sentence, you want me to believe that for more than ten years, everyone has been wrong about my father!?"

Mei Qinghe said blandly: "I don't think you will believe it, but I must say it."

"Remember, my name is Mei Qinghe; your father was killed by me alone last night, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."

"If you want to seek revenge, come find me. Whether I live or die, I accept it."

Zhao Ying stared fixedly at Mei Qinghe's eyes: "Fine!"

"I will not doubt my father because of your baseless words."

"But if you have a clear conscience, then kill me; there is no need to hold back."

"And in this life, I will definitely hunt you to the ends of the earth! I will not rest until one of us is dead!"

"Fine." Mei Qinghe responded, raising her palms into a stance.

"Kill!" Zhao Ying let out a sharp cry, lunging forward with her sword, and together with the escort agency group, they attacked Mei Qinghe.

(End of chapter)