MARTIAL PEAK 4694

“The medicine has been applied and the wound has been bandaged. She seems to be a cultivator, so as long as she carefully recuperates, she should be fine,” The woman said.

“Many thanks, Madam!” Zhao Yebai cupped his fists and let out a sigh of relief.

The woman looked up at him for a moment before casually asking, “You two are siblings? You don’t look alike.”

Zhao Yebai replied, “Xiao Ya and I aren’t blood siblings, but we grew up together, so we’re closer than blood siblings.”

The woman’s long eyelashes trembled slightly as she lowered her head to look at Zhao Ya, “Who did you provoke?”

Zhao Yebai shook his head and said, “I don’t know either. Today, Xiao Ya and I came here to look for a family member, but unfortunately, we were unable to accomplish our goal. On our way back, we were suddenly attacked by a powerful enemy, and in order to save me, Xiao Ya was injured.”

The woman nodded, “If that’s the case, we can’t stay here any longer. Who knows where that fierce man is hiding? Your younger sister is currently injured, if she is discovered by that man, she will be in danger.”

Zhao Yebai replied, “I’ll take her back to Qinfeng Town.”

“This place is a few dozen kilometres away from Qinfeng Town, what if you cause her injuries to worsen? If you don’t mind, you can stay at my house for a while. My house is at the foot of the mountain, not far from here.”

Zhao Yebai showed a difficult expression, “Will this cause trouble for Madam?” He was worried that if the enemy from before sought revenge and chased them to their house, it would be bad.

The woman smiled, “No, I won’t hide it from you. My son entered Spirit Sea Palace a long time ago to cultivate, and now he has some skill. That fierce man would never dare to cause trouble in my house.”

Zhao Yebai was slightly startled, “Madam is from the village head's family?”

Just now, she had said that her home was at the foot of the mountain, so it should be the small village from before. It was impossible for two people to enter Spirit Sea Palace in such a small village, so if there was no accident, this woman should be the Village Chief’s wife.

“Yes!” Sure enough, the woman nodded.

Zhao Yebai stood up and cupped his fists, “Madam, Zhao Yebai cannot thank you enough!”

“There’s no need to be so polite, I also have a daughter who is about the same age as her. If you don’t mind, you can call me Aunt Mei.”

Zhao Yebai obediently called her Aunt Mei.

The woman smiled and nodded before standing up, “It’s getting late, let’s go back first.”

Zhao Yebai responded, picked up the unconscious Zhao Ya by the waist, and followed behind Zhen Xuemei. Zhen Xuemei nervously reminded him to be careful and not affect Zhao Ya’s wound, making him even more nervous than he was.

Along the way, Zhen Xuemei asked Zhao Yebai some questions, but Zhao Yebai answered them one by one. After learning that the Seven Stars Collection was actually less than half a year away from here, Zhen Xuemei was extremely surprised.

Soon, a group of people arrived in front of the manor located at the front of the village. Zhen Xuemei pushed open the door and personally arranged for Zhao Yebai and Zhao Ya to stay in one of the courtyards. She also ordered two clever maids to serve them before turning back to rest.

Inside the room, the candlelight flickered as Zhen Xuemei stared at the dressing table, her eyes red as she silently wept.

A middle-aged man dressed in an official uniform pushed open the door and entered. It was the village head Xu Liangcai whom Zhao Yebai and Zhao Ya had met before.

Xu Liangcai’s expression became somewhat unsightly as he sat down on a chair and poured himself a pot of tea. After drinking it, he asked, “I heard from the servants that you brought two people back?”

Zhen Xuemei remained silent.

Xu Liangcai slammed his hand on the table and shouted angrily, “What nonsense! Those two clearly have some kind of grudge with someone. By bringing them back, aren’t you inviting trouble to yourself? What if their enemies come knocking on our door? Although our family has guards, their strength is only so-so, how can we resist them? Are you only willing to stop after your family is destroyed?”

Zhen Xuemei stared at Xu Liangcai through the bronze mirror and asked, “Does Master still remember Dong’er?”

Xu Liangcai’s raging aura suddenly stopped and he frowned, “Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”

Zhen Xuemei smiled bitterly, ““A child of only five days old was thrown into the mountains on a snowy day. I quickly went to look for her, but I couldn’t find anything. I don’t know what kind of wolf or tiger or leopard took her away.”

Now it was Xu Liangcai’s turn to remain silent.

Zhen Xuemei’s tears fell like rain, “The child was born from my flesh and blood. I was pregnant for ten months and finally gave birth to her, but you secretly threw her away. You’re so cruel!”

Xu Liangcai sighed, “Back then, wasn’t there nothing I could do? My family was poor, so how could I afford to feed one more person? I had no choice but to do so. If it was today, not to mention one child, even if it was ten or eight, I could afford it!”

Zhen Xuemei sneered, “How many things can a little child eat? Do you have no choice? If it was a son, would you be willing to lose him?”

Xu Liangcai said impatiently, “It’s been so many years, it’s about time you let it go. Moreover, it’s not that I haven’t searched for her all these years, but how can I find her in this vast sea of people? You said it yourself, that five-day-old child in the snow was probably killed by some wild beast.”

“I can’t let go!” Zhen Xuemei grit her teeth and shouted, “That’s my child!”

“Hao’er is also your child! How much have you cared about him all these years? Why do you always remember a dead person?”

“She’s not dead!”

“Enough!” Xu Liangcai slammed his hand on the table and stood up angrily, “I think you’re crazy. All these years, you’ve been running up the mountain from time to time. What can you possibly find on that mountain? I have a guilty conscience and can’t be bothered with you, but the more I indulge you, the more presumptuous you become! Tomorrow, you’ll make those two scram, otherwise I’ll personally sweep them out!”

As the two of them were talking, someone knocked on the door.

“What is it?” Xu Liangcai asked solemnly.

The manservant outside the door replied, “Old Master, Madam, Young Master has returned and brought some fellow disciples with him.”

Hearing this, Xu Liangcai was overjoyed and quickly got up.

Before they could leave, a loud voice called out from outside, “Father, Mother, I’m back!”

Immediately after, a young man with a strong physique walked in.

Xu Liangcai excitedly grabbed the young man’s arm, “Hao’er, it really is you!”

Xu Hao shouted happily, “Father!”

“Good, good, good, it’s good that you’re back!” Xu Liangcai looked him up and down, “After not coming back for three years, you’ve become much stronger. How are you living in Spirit Sea Palace?”

Xu Hao smiled, “Father, don’t worry, Master and Senior Brothers treat me very well.”

Xu Liangcai was greatly relieved.

Zhen Xuemei dried her eyes and walked out, smiling kindly, “Hao’er is back.”

“Mother!” Xu Hao called out excitedly, and the mother and son exchanged a few words, chatting happily.

“I heard from the servants that you have a fellow disciple?” Xu Liangcai was afraid that his son would notice Zhen Xuemei’s abnormality and interrupted their conversation.

Xu Hao nodded, “En, I’ve already arranged for the kitchen to prepare a banquet, all of them are outside.”

“You need their care. Father must go and thank them. Come with me and introduce them to me.”

“Yes,” Xu Hao nodded and turned to Zhen Xuemei, “Mother, rest early, I’ll come back tomorrow to pay my respects.”

“Go,” Zhen Xuemei smiled at him.

A short while later, in the main hall of the front hall, Xu Hao introduced his Senior Brother to Xu Liangcai one by one, and everyone returned to their seats.

Xu Liangcai saw a package placed in front of the leading Senior Brother. It was unknown what was inside.

When Xu Hao introduced everyone just now, he also emphasized this person. Xu Liangcai knew that this Senior Brother named Hu Xun had the highest cultivation among them, so everyone followed his lead.

Xu Liangcai knew about Hu Xun, but this was the first time they had met because Xu Hao had mentioned this Senior Brother many times in his letters to his family, saying that he had taken good care of him in Spirit Sea Palace. The two of them had also become disciples of the same master, so they could be considered fellow disciples.

Although Xu Liangcai was just an ordinary person, because of his son, his attitude towards Hu Xun was extremely warm.

“Nephew Hu, what is this?” Xu Liang looked at the package and asked curiously.

The expressions of everyone at the table suddenly became strange.

Hu Xun smiled at Xu Hao and the latter said, “Father, don’t be afraid, this is a head.”

Xu Liangcai was shocked, “Head? Whose head?”

“It’s the head of a thief!” Hu Xun explained, “This time, we came down from the mountain for this person. This person has committed many crimes, and the Sect has issued a mission to take his life. We accepted this mission and left the mountain, but we encountered him before. However, this person’s cultivation was quite high, so although we severely injured him, he managed to escape. After tracking him for several days, we didn’t hear anything from him. This Junior Brother invite us to come here and rest for a night before setting out, but who would have thought that on the way here, we would see this person’s corpse lying in the wilderness. It could be said that Junior Brother Xu is our lucky star!”

Xu Hao couldn’t help laughing, “I also didn’t expect such a coincidence.”

When they first met this guy, they couldn’t believe that the quest target they had been chasing for days without any clues had suddenly appeared right in front of them and was dead!

“So that’s how it is!” Although Xu Liangcai was somewhat frightened, he didn’t want to lose his poise in front of his son’s fellow disciples and embarrass him, so his expression remained normal.

Hu Xun said, “Unfortunately, I don’t know who killed him. If I knew, I would have thanked him.”

Xu Liangcai said, “Perhaps Nephew Hu had seriously injured him before, his injuries were too severe and he died.”

Hu Xun shook his head and said, “That’s not the case. I checked that man’s wounds before and found that he was stabbed by a spear and died. When we fought with him before, we didn’t cause him such injuries. The strength of the person who attacked him may not be very strong, but the timing was perfect. However, if that person killed this thief, it shouldn’t be a good thing. I’m afraid he’s also injured.”

Xu Liangcai was stunned for a moment, “Could it be them?”

Xu Hao asked curiously, “Father, who are you talking about?”

Xu Liangcai pondered for a moment before briefly explaining how Zhen Xuemei had brought two people back from the mountain today. What he knew was also what he had heard from his guards, but when Zhao Yebai had talked to Zhen Xuemei about the previous battle, Xu Liangcai had not thought about it.

TO BE CONTINUED...