Aqing held back her lips and said, “Chang Sheng, did you recognize me all along?”

Yan Huanglou reacted at this moment and said, “You’re not, you’re not that one!”

He widened his eyes and said, “You’re not…”

Aqing said, “It’s me, the girl who raised insects back then.”

Yan Huanglou suddenly realized and said, “You’ve all grown so big.”

Chen Changsheng only said calmly, “Sit down and talk.”

Several people sat down.

Then Aqing started to speak to Chen Changsheng about her experiences back then.

She had indeed been captured then, locked in a woodshed, and at that time, it wasn’t just her locked there; there was also a decent girl.

“That girl’s surname was Pan, and I called her Pan Jiejie. She was also captured like me, against her will.”

“We both knew what terrible treatment we would face later, and since it meant death anyway, we thought we might as well die clearly, so we used Pan Jiejie’s hairpin to cut our faces. This scar on my face came from that.”

“That night, both she and I got beaten, but our thoughts had been too simple. Some people could not even be called human any more. Even with our faces cut, that man still would not stop.”

Yan Huanglou asked, “How did you survive later then?”

Aqing said, “Later, someone saved us. That person was a healer. He heard our cries and sneaked into the woodshed to rescue us.”

“He sent us out of the city. He did not want any reward. Pan Jiejie had a younger brother in Qingshan City, so after kowtowing three times, she left. I had no home to go to, so I followed him into a deep mountain.”

“Oh, so that’s how it was,” Yan Huanglou paused, then asked, “So those people, that man who healed others killed them?”

Aqing shook her head and said, “I killed them.”

“Ah?” Yan Huanglou was stunned.

Aqing glanced at Chen Changsheng and said, “My dad died. Back then, I only thought about revenge, so I started practicing the guzu poison arts.”

Yan Huanglou was shocked inside. He opened his mouth and said, “This, this is what he said about that…”

“I caught hundreds of poisonous insects in the deep mountains and gave them some medicines to make them fight and eat each other. After I took out the poisonous insect, I disguised myself and sneaked into Qingshan City the next day. When night fell, I released that insect in the yard. Those military men who fought wars had very heavy Blood Qi, and the insect recognized them at once…”

As she spoke, Aqing glanced at Chen Changsheng’s face.

Chen Changsheng only listened for a long time, drinking tea quietly without saying anything.

“I went back to the mountains first thing the next morning. He asked me what I had done, and I told him all I knew.”

“After hearing it, he got very upset and had me kneel on the ground. Then he went out and later brought back that poisonous insect.”

Aqing murmured, “It was good that it was him. Otherwise, many might have died, even some innocent folk.”

She sighed softly and said, “At that time, I only thought about revenge and did not think about the results at all…”

Seeing Chen Changsheng still silent, Aqing went on, “After that, I stayed with him to learn medicine. As for the guzu poison arts, he warned me again and again not to use them, saying they went against the way of heaven.”

“It went on until the warfire broke out at Abyss River. Then he took me south to heal the sick, and we walked for two whole years.”

Yan Huanglou said, “I hear you keep talking about this healer, why haven’t you ever said his name?”

“I do not know his name.”

Aqing said, “He never told me. I usually just called him ‘big brother.’ But I heard many people call him Physician Wenzhu. I know that is not his real name.”

“Shouldn’t you call him Master?”

“He did not accept me as a student. He said my methods were too cruel, and I was not fit to be a healer. But he allowed me to stay by his side.”

At this point, Chen Changsheng said, “Perhaps he did not wish for you to go astray.”

“Yes,” Aqing nodded and said, “All along, he guided me just so I would not use that evil guzu poison art.”

She sighed and said, “But I failed to meet that goal.”

“When I came across things I could not handle, I often wavered. Some people I had to kill, or I could not calm the anger inside me. So I cannot call myself a healer.”

Chen Changsheng nodded and said, “True healers focus solely on their art and hardly meddle in the right and wrongs of the Mortal World. The one you met must have been highly skilled in healing.”

“He was very powerful.”

Aqing said, “He could cure any illness. Some even offered a thousand pieces of gold for his help.”

“Physician Wenzhu…”

Chen Changsheng murmured this. Under the table, his fingers pinched as he made a calculation. Then he seemed to understand.

“He did not travel with you?” Chen Changsheng asked.

Aqing explained, “When we passed through a deep valley, I used a poison insect to kill some bandits who captured women. After that, he and I parted ways.”

“Why was that?” Yan Huanglou questioned, puzzled. “Wasn’t that a good deed?”

Aqing said, “He argued that we did not need to kill all those bandits. Sometimes people ought to have a chance to change their ways. Besides, in a big bandits’ lair, not everyone was truly evil. He said it was clearly wrong to kill a thousand wrongly rather than spare one.”

Hearing this, Yan Huanglou paused and said, “That does sound reasonable.”

Aqing said, “But I thought that since they all took part, not one should be spared. I do not have eyes to see through hearts. For such villains, I would rather kill them all than risk sparing any.”

Yan Huanglou paused, thought a moment, and said, “Put that way, it also seems right.”

Chen Changsheng said, “Both views are valid. He was a true healer as his role, while you have a spirit of the Jianghu, so naturally your paths divided.”

Hearing this, Aqing nodded and said, “Chang Sheng is right.”

She had seen her dad die before her, and since then, she deeply felt the world’s ill will and lost much liking for it.

“But still, I am very grateful to him.”

Aqing took a deep breath and said, “Had it not been for him, I might never have known the path I would have taken.”

Yan Huanglou looked at Aqing and thought inside.

Yes…

If that had become her fate, she might have become more violent, even a person who kills like a Demon Sovereign, losing all reason.

Chen Changsheng sipped his tea and said, “Now grown up, you really have changed.”

Aqing smiled and said, “I have changed.”

She lowered her head but muttered, “I thought you would scold me for speaking about the guzu poison art.”

Chen Changsheng said, “Why would I scold you?”

Aqing said, “Several years ago, you and I sat right here, and I listened to what you said back then. But I did not figure out which peach was the best.”