in2ebook Chapter 249 - 156: Hong Ye (Part 2)
Chapter 249 - 156: Hong Ye (Part 2)
The girl ate too quickly, choking and continually patting her chest.
Chu Qing threw her another water bag, which she hurriedly opened and greedily swallowed several gulps, finally letting out a long breath, and looked at Chu Qing, trembling.
Under the night sky, Chu Qing saw her face clearly.
It was truly very miserable.
Knives scars crisscrossed, chaotic and unsightly, and unlike Sun Xiaoxiang’s old wounds, these injuries were untreated and inevitably festering and purulent.
Her appearance was like a fierce ghost, making one’s skin crawl.
Yet her voice was timid, hiding her fear:
"I... I don’t want to die...
"It’s just... I’m useless... I can’t avenge, living is meaningless...
"If... if someone is willing to buy me, help me avenge, I can live for that person.
"If no one... no one is willing to buy me... unable to avenge.
"Then it doesn’t matter if I die... on Yellow Springs Road, maybe they are still waiting for me..."
Chu Qing silently looked at her for a moment, speaking softly:
"Tell me your story... who is the person you want to kill?"
"Chasing Star Sword... Guo Wang!"
Without any hesitation, the girl spoke a name.
Chu Qing raised his eyebrows.
One of Lu Zhiwei’s three generals?
Nowadays Dingxing City is led by Liu Yulai, with Guo Wang in support... and this girl wants to kill this person?
No wonder, even when asked by Jianghu People, they dare not get involved.
As it involves Iron Blood Hall, how many would dare take it on?
Chu Qing narrowed his eyes slightly:
"Continue..."
"Are you... are you going to buy me?"
The girl looked at Chu Qing, her eyes full of hope.
Just a scar ran across one of her eyes, though not blind, it remained ferocious.
Chu Qing simply sat on the ground:
"Tell me clearly, I will consider buying you."
"Even if... the person I want to kill is Guo Wang?"
The girl carefully studied Chu Qing, seemingly trying to see something from his eyes.
Unfortunately, Chu Qing’s eyes held nothing but calmness.
Neither terrified by the involvement of Iron Blood Hall nor deterred at the mention of Guo Wang.
Taking a deep breath, the girl spoke again:
"I live in Red Tree Village... a small village beside Falling Leaves City.
"Falling Leaves City is managed by Iron Blood Hall’s Fourth Hall Master, Zhong Beitang.
"That day, I was with my father and brother, going to Falling Leaves City to sell vegetables.
"Caught in the bustle, I was young, eager to get close, couldn’t help but see what was happening despite my father and brother’s protests.
"Upon arrival, I heard people say...
"It was Guo Wang from Dingxing City with the Chasing Star Sword, visiting the Fourth Hall Master Zhong Beitang.
"For many years, my family always told me that Red Tree Village remained safe because of Iron Blood Hall’s protection.
"And those Hall Masters, great heroes, protected the common folk.
"To witness such legendary, aloof characters... I felt extremely thrilled.
"Especially, Guo Wang with that Chasing Star Sword actually glanced at me.
"I was so happy I nearly jumped for joy... little did I know what I would pay for that glance..."
She never dreamed, the Guo Wang she saw in daylight, would find Red Tree Village the next night.
This girl’s family treated this great hero with utmost respect.
When discussing why Guo Wang came to Red Tree Village, he only said he passed through and missed lodging, hence disturbed for a night.
No one doubted these words...
Until nightfall, when Guo Wang, whom they initially thought stayed in the guest room, suddenly appeared in the girl’s bedroom.
The girl was shocked, but her mouth was gagged by Guo Wang.
"Follow me, and you will want for nothing! From now on, you will no longer be a mere village woman selling vegetables; you shall have endless wealth and honor!"
Like a devil’s whisper, reverberating by her ear.
For a moment, the girl actually wanted to agree.
Guo Wang was a high and mighty character; paying attention to someone like her was a blessing from heaven across lifetimes.
She should agree... how could she dare refuse? What right did she have to refuse?
But... it should not be like this!
Though her family was poor, they were harmonious, with loving parents.
She had witnessed how her father treated her mother, how her brother treated his wife.
She knew what a loving couple should be.
If one is to do such things, it should be guided by proper matchmaking and ritual, married properly into the family, before taking action.
What sense is there in such unmediated union?
Thus, when rationality prevailed, she screamed aloud:
"No!!!"
Just that one word...
The parents heard it; they rushed over, only to be slayed by Guo Wang’s sword.
Her brother and sister-in-law heard it; they too came rushing.
Guo Wang laughed wildly, crippling her brother’s limbs, then defiled her sister-in-law in front of him.
The girl was too young, unable to comprehend how things had turned out like this.
Unaware why the hero who had always protected them had become an evil ghost and demon!
Only knowing her brother looked at her, urging her to escape.
But her legs were weak, her parents’ blood flowing on the ground, soaking her shoes, preventing her from standing.
She wanted to do something...
Yet what could she do?
She picked up a vegetable knife, intending to slash Guo Wang, but just one glance from Guo Wang sapped all her courage.
Until her sister-in-law was strangled by Guo Wang, and her brother was beheaded.
The girl utterly despaired.
But in that moment, she gained clarity; she understood what Guo Wang desired.
So she used the knife to slice her own face, blade after blade... unable to hurt Guo Wang, but she could harm herself.
Guo Wang could have stopped her... yet he did not believe the girl had such courage.
So when the first cut fell, Guo Wang was shocked.
Then he lost interest, just sitting there watching the girl disfigure herself entirely, blade by blade.
Afterwards, he clapped his hands:
"Good, very good, you have won."
After saying this, he turned and left.
The girl’s vegetable knife fell to the floor, blood dripped steadily onto the ground, and finally she collapsed over the corpses, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her mother was still breathing, speechless, only looked at the girl, mouthing to tell her to leave...
The girl didn’t want to leave, yet suddenly screams and flames erupted across the village.
She struggled out the room, only to find... the entire Red Tree Village engulfed in flames.
She thought she would die in this raging fire.
Yet she survived.
She wanted to go to Falling Leaves City to report... but before reaching it, learned Zhong Beitang labeled the incident a ’bandit attack on the village’.
Those high and mighty heroes she had once believed in.
Suddenly fell from their pedestal...
Turns out, they were human after all.
Turns out, some were not human at all.
She didn’t know what fate awaited her if she sought Zhong Beitang.
Perhaps, he would assist Guo Wang in killing her, a worthless ugly monster?
Later she heard, from somewhere, that Grand Hall Master Tie Lingyun had gone to Dingxing City, possibly due to some major incident at Luochun Manor...
The girl didn’t know what the major incident was... but she knew Tie Lingyun was a true hero!
Perhaps, despite potential villains among his subordinates, the person at the top might stand up for her!?
She had no assurance on this journey, merely a desperate gamble.
Yet she never dreamed, upon arriving at Dingxing City, Tie Lingyun had just left.
Leaving Dingxing City still under Guo Wang’s control.
What should she do?
She decided to gamble against fate!
Before dying, if someone could help her avenge, she would sell herself, living the rest of her life for that person.
If... she were to die.
It would be destiny, punishment for her curiosity, retribution for her scream.
In the afterlife, would her parents, brother, and sister-in-law blame her?
She dared not think of this question... she entrusted everything to fate!
After recounting everything in detail.
She looked at Chu Qing:
"My name is Hong Ye, Shen Hongye.
"Mother said, on the day I was born, red leaves floated in the sky, very beautiful.
"Mother said... I was also a beautiful girl."