As the young master of the Grand Commandant's mansion, few dared to cross him in Tianlong City. Thus, no matter what happened, he felt no fear within its walls; as long as he remained within Tianlong City's territory, he was safe.
"Who wants you to invite them! Go!"
Long Die didn't appreciate Xu Fengnian's goodwill. She snorted and led the two away.
"Heh."
Xu Fengnian didn't stop them. He merely watched the backs of the three figures and chuckled softly. Turning back to the guard tied up like a zongzi, his expression instantly turned cold.
"Throw him out to the dogs!"
Xu Fengnian said coldly into the air.
Immediately, three or four people emerged from somewhere, hoisted the guard from the ground, and dragged him outside. A scream then echoed from beyond.
...
Su Fan and the other two stopped only when they reached the southern district.
"Alright, he shouldn't be chasing us anymore."
Long Die knew Xu Fengnian was not to be trifled with, so she quickly found an excuse to leave.
"I didn't even get to finish my meal. What a drag," Xiao Yan smacked his lips and said.
"It seems, perhaps, we skipped out on the bill..." Su Fan said hesitantly.
The three were stunned. Suddenly, they felt refreshed, and the annoyance of their meal being interrupted vanished, replaced by a sense of exhilaration.
Nothing was more pleasing than getting something for free.
"Let's go, I'll show you around Tianlong City," Xiao Yan said to the other two.
"You guys go ahead, I have something to do."
A familiar figure passed by the street corner. Su Fan directly refused Xiao Yan's invitation to wander and then headed towards the corner, disappearing around it.
"Hey, what could possibly be so important in the middle of the day?" Xiao Yan said speechlessly.
Long Die also had no interest in aimlessly wandering and left directly.
"Why are you leaving too?" Xiao Yan asked.
"Wandering around with you is boring," Long Die waved her hand and vanished into the street.
...
Su Fan wasn't being disrespectful to Xiao Yan. It was just that he had seen a familiar figure just now.
The woman who had been his opponent on the field earlier was stumbling past ahead.
Without a word, Su Fan followed.
Regardless of anything else, he was the one who had injured her. He couldn't stand by and do nothing.
Su Fan followed Qi Ling all the way to the slums in the southern district before seeing Qi Ling enter a thatched hut.
Qi Ling's injuries were severe. The small amount of healing medicine Su Fan had left was insufficient for her to recover. She had no money or influence and couldn't even afford healing medicine.
Qi Ling lay on the wooden bed, hoping to endure with just this bit of healing medicine. Her revenge was yet to be exacted; she couldn't die like this.
*Creak~*
The wooden door of the thatched hut groaned under its own weight, and the door was suddenly pushed open.
Qi Ling was startled and immediately sat up alertly. The sudden movement aggravated the wound on her chest, and blood immediately seeped through the bandages.
The one who opened the door was Su Fan.
"Ababa?"
Qi Ling didn't relax her guard. Instead, she became more tense.
He had followed her here. Did he have another motive? Was leaving her the healing medicine just to prevent her from dying too soon for that purpose?
Su Fan frowned, taking in the surroundings of the room: dirty, messy, and chaotic.
It was unimaginable for a young woman to live in such a place.
"Your wound has opened. Be gentler," Su Fan said, noticing the blood seeping from Qi Ling's chest.
Qi Ling, however, was dismissive, watching Su Fan with suspicion.
"What is your purpose in following me?" Qi Ling asked Su Fan using sign language.
Su Fan's eyes immediately saw a line of subtitles appear above Qi Ling's head. The game even had a built-in translation system; that was quite good.
"Follow? No," Su Fan shook his head, realizing she had misunderstood.
"I just happened to see you earlier and decided to follow to check on your injuries, as I was the one who caused them," Su Fan explained.
"I'm fine," Qi Ling said to Su Fan with sign language, trying to appear strong and calm.
"Cough!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Qi Ling suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The earlier exertion had aggravated her wound, triggering her internal injuries.
Su Fan shook his head and took out another bottle of healing medicine from his backpack, a better quality one than what he had given Qi Ling before.
"Use this for now. Don't die," Su Fan said to Qi Ling, placing the healing medicine by the bed.
Qi Ling looked at Su Fan deeply.
After seeing no ulterior motives in Su Fan's eyes, she gratefully accepted the healing medicine.
"What's your situation? With all this, you're still participating in the martial arts tournament?" Su Fan asked, looking puzzled.
People of the martial world were generally in dire straits, but she shouldn't be this destitute. Living in such a place was worse than becoming a bandit in the mountains.
Qi Ling seemed to sense no ill will from Su Fan and began to tell him her story through sign language.
Qi Ling was born into a military family. Three generations of her family had served in the army. Her brothers were all officers, and her father was a general commanding hundreds of thousands of troops. Qi Ling, having admired military life since childhood, dreamed of joining the army.
However, a year ago, her family suffered a catastrophe. They were framed by the Grand Commandant, who accused her father of embezzling military funds, leading to a decree of extermination for the entire family.
Her brothers and father in the army, and their entire families, perished without exception. Only she, under the escort of the steward, managed to escape. After many twists and turns, she served in the army, disguised as a man, fighting on the battlefield and experiencing a year of military life.
Later, her true identity as a woman was discovered. Suspected of being a spy, she endured inhuman torture. Her tongue was also lost during that time, and she was forever stripped of her ability to speak.
She later escaped from the army and returned to Tianlong City, intending to avenge her family before she died. However, approaching the Grand Commandant's mansion was too difficult. The martial arts tournament presented an opportunity; outstanding performance in the tournament could lead to being recruited as a guard by the Grand Commandant's mansion. Thus, she participated in the tournament and subsequently encountered and lost to Su Fan.
After listening, Su Fan couldn't help but sigh at Qi Ling's tragic fate.
"What if you're discovered here?" Su Fan asked.
Qi Ling was not only the offspring of a criminal but also a fugitive soldier. If discovered, her fate would be death.
"It's alright. My life is worthless. No one cares, not even myself," Qi Ling smiled faintly, confiding her inner pain to Su Fan. She felt much lighter, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
"Life is not lived for others; even if it's for yourself, you must live. Otherwise, how can you honor those who risked their lives to save you? Even if you seek revenge, you must first live to have the chance. Don't you agree?" Su Fan said calmly to Qi Ling.
Su Fan didn't want to lecture. It was useless. To rekindle a person's hope for life, one only needed to remind them of what they held most dear.
Qi Ling was stunned, gazing at Su Fan in a daze.
"Thank you," Qi Ling gestured softly to Su Fan.
"You're welcome. Rest well. Leave the healing medicine to me, and don't wander off," Su Fan said to Qi Ling with a smile.
Pulling someone back from the brink of a cliff made Su Fan feel very happy.