Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The next stretch of road was fairly quiet. Or maybe I was being too silent, because in the end, Liu Wu was the one who couldn’t hold back and spoke first.

“I went back and looked into it carefully. I never expected something from twenty-six years ago to involve Mr. Long’s family. I was wondering why Mr. Long just so happened to get mixed up in our affairs again.”

I glanced at Liu Wu. Peng You had been the one who called me over, so it really had been that much of a “coincidence.”

“But please don’t misunderstand, Mr. Long. What happened twenty-six years ago had nothing to do with us.”

“That was done by an heir of the Heavenly Medicine Sect. She insisted on giving birth to a child who should have died in infancy. I heard it was for her man, too.”

Liu Wu shook his head with a look of contempt. “In my opinion, those people who claim to be the orthodox line of the Mystic Arts aren’t any better than us behind closed doors.”

“So afterward, you were the ones who hid the crib and preserved Maternal and Child Hospital No. 3 in its original state?” I asked, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

“The Life-Soul Seizing Art is a forbidden art that defies the heavens. That woman not only used it, she succeeded. We weren’t the only ones watching. Plenty of people had their eyes on it.”

“The talismans and power she left behind were all top-tier treasures. We just moved a little faster than the rest.”

Liu Wu looked at me earnestly. “Of course, I understand how you feel, Mr. Long. As long as this matter goes smoothly, we guarantee we’ll immediately hand over all the information we have on the Heavenly Medicine Sect. If you want to seek revenge, we of the Second Hall will absolutely do our part without hesitation.”

I glanced at Liu Wu in the rearview mirror. “Then can you tell me why that Elder Council of yours has been paying so much attention to me?”

It was only recently that I’d learned the Elder Council of the Sky-Watching Sect had strictly ordered its subordinates to kill me. They seemed very concerned with whether I lived or died.

But aside from the Soul-Whip, I had no real connection to the Sky-Watching Sect at all.

If they wanted the whip, they could just come and take it.

No matter how tough my life was, two fists were no match for four hands, let alone an entire organization.

Liu Wu gave me an apologetic smile. “I really don’t dare say anything about that. These days, the Elder Council doesn’t interfere much in the affairs of the various halls, but its authority is still there. Just look at Zuo Hao and the others. At most, they dare bare their teeth at the Elder Council. If you asked them to actually do something, they wouldn’t dare.”

“And what about you this time?”

I raised an eyebrow. “How many children’s lives are you planning to trade for Mr. Chen’s descendant?”

Liu Wu’s smile stiffened. Instead of answering directly, he said in a soft voice, “Does Mr. Long know how many good deeds Mr. Chen and his wife have done? How many jobs they provide in a single year?”

“Looking at it another way, those children in Ruihe Hospital might not even have lived this long without Mr. Chen’s support.”

“Most of them were born sick. Living is painful for them, and they drag their parents down with them. In truth, plenty of parents won’t say it out loud, but deep down, they’ve long wished it would all end sooner.”

“We’re different from that woman surnamed Feng back then. We went through a strict screening process. Those children’s bodies are almost impossible to cure, and their families are on the verge of being crushed.”

“We give Mr. Chen and his wife the descendant they’ve been longing for. We let those children leave without pain, and their parents receive a generous condolence payment, enough for them to start a normal life over again. Isn’t that a good thing?”

I turned to look at Liu Wu. The expression on his face at that moment looked unusually sincere, as if there wasn’t the slightest hint of falsehood in it.