Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Zou Wu had always been proud. He was unwilling to perform on the streets for money, and equally unwilling to hire himself out as a guard for some household. He wanted to join an escort agency and run armed escorts.

But once he entered an escort agency, signing a contract would bind him there for years.

Qu He disagreed. She felt that would make it impossible to avenge their master quickly, so she planned to survive by performing martial arts on the street. Once she had enough money, she would go after Gu Feiyan.

In my last life, when Gu Feiyan learned that they were looking for her, she had people ambush them and beat them half to death. It was only when I descended the mountain from Jingnian Nunnery that I found them and brought them home.

After they recovered from their injuries, they began working for me.

I hired renowned teachers to instruct them.

Once the two completed their training, they searched everywhere for Gu Feiyan.

Later, Zou Wu returned carrying a human head and said he had already killed Gu Feiyan.

But Gu Feiyan’s lips had been sealed tight. She would rather destroy the antidote than hand it over.

He failed to bring the antidote back. Most regrettably of all, Qu He lost her life because of it.

At the time, I suspected nothing. I gave Zou Wu a sum of money to thank him for helping me take revenge, then let him leave.

I only grieved that Qu He was dead.

At night, when I offered incense and looked at the benevolent, compassionate face of Guanyin, I wanted so badly to ask: this thing called revenge, trading one life for another-was it truly worth it?

Qu He had once said it was.

She said Song Yishan and His Wife had treated her like their own daughter. There was no reason in the world for children to remain unmoved when their parents had been murdered.

Yet in the end, I still could not sleep at night.

For years, I kept an eternal lamp burning for her.

That resentment in my heart, thread by thread, had never once been severed.

I believed vengeance should be taken, but I believed she should have lived too.

Even if a life had to be traded for a life, then one’s own life should be used to trade for many.

But later, when I set fire to Gu Feiyan’s villa, I saw Zou Wu rush into the flames in utter anguish, desperate to save Gu Feiyan.

Only then did I understand. Zou Wu had deceived me.

That human head had not been Gu Feiyan’s at all. It might even have been Qu He, disguised through altered features.

That heartless, ungrateful beast had most likely killed Qu He.

In this life, I found them in advance.

I hoped Qu He would see Zou Wu’s true colors sooner.

Also, I very much wanted to know how Lu Yu would react if he discovered that Gu Feiyan had always kept another admirer hidden by her side.

The thought of it was simply hilarious.

Zou Wu shot Qu He a cold glare, then turned and strode away.

After resting for a while, Qu He began calling out to draw a crowd again.

I watched her keep busy until the sun sank behind the western hills, yet she earned only a dozen or so copper coins. The road she had to walk if she wanted revenge would be a very long one indeed.

When she closed up her stall, I had my maid invite her over and asked whether she was willing to become my bodyguard.

Qu He refused at once.

I dipped my finger in tea and wrote three words on the table: Gu Feiyan.

She instantly froze, her face filling with wariness.

I smiled and said, “Miss Qu, our goal is the same. She is my enemy as well. However, with your current skills, I’m afraid you are still not enough.”

She immediately dropped to one knee and cupped her hands in salute. “Please instruct me, my lady. As long as I can avenge my master and mistress, I am willing to serve you as a slave for the rest of my life.”

I helped her up, silently thinking to myself,

Good girl, I do not want you as my slave.

I only want you to live in this world as freely and thoroughly as I do.

On the way back, I made a trip to Jingnian Nunnery and donated a sum of money to Abbess Jing’an, who was still young at this time.

Abbess Jing’an asked me, “Benefactor, would you like to draw a fortune stick? This humble nun is willing to interpret it for you.”

She was already quite famous now and no longer interpreted fortunes for others lightly.

But I shook my head and declined.

My wish was not something a fortune stick could resolve.

What makes people unafraid of poverty is becoming wealthy.

What would truly allow me to let go of the knot in my heart was the fulfillment of my great revenge.

The person I was now could not see through everything, nor did I wish to.

Abbess Jing’an smiled and said, “Then this humble nun will offer you a word instead. Fate is by no means fixed. In every word you speak and every action you take, destiny is hidden. Destiny is changing; the only unchanging thing is change itself. This humble nun hopes that your wishes will be fulfilled.”

I pressed my palms together and returned the courtesy, then descended the mountain with calm composure.

At the foot of the mountain, I still had a hard battle waiting for me.