Min hugged Ying, who sat on her left side and said, "Ying is a very kind woman. Of course, she's not destined to die. At least…not in the hand of those evil men."
"Ying is a great woman! She's not destined to die easily!" Min's husband said. " Do you know…that Ying is the one who forged the weapons for our king? Without Ying and her swords…probably we still unable to win the war against Wu State! Probably it will take another three or four years for our Yue State to be able to conquer Wu!"
"My teachers saved me and taught me swordsmanship. Also, later, I learned sword forgery. So I guess; indeed it's my destiny that I'm not destined to die that day."
"Good and evil will have their rewards and punishments!" Min said.
"Aye…actually in these past few years, I've seen so many girls and women who are not as lucky as me," Ying sighed. "There's a young girl I met. She's less than twelve years old when she was raped. And then she got a baby from that bastard!" She paused awhile and continued, "I killed those bastards! With my arrows and hands! I don't regret it at all. If I see injustice, then I will kill those who do evil! I guess that's my purpose in life now!"
"You are a hero!" Min said. "You always want to be a hero. A hero is someone who helps people who are oppressed. Even if the person only saves a girl or a baby, that person is still a hero!"
"Yes, Auntie Ying is a hero!" the groom and Xinyu said.
Ying laughed. "If you were me,…what would you do if you meet that bandit who stabbed you on your stomach and caused your guts spilled?" Ying asked in a mischievous tone.
"I will also spill his guts!" the groom's mother said in an angry tone.
Ying laughed when she heard it. "But that man is your husband, woman!" she said in her mind.
"I will skin his head, disembowel his stomach, and then chop his neck!" Min said. "Agree!" Her husband said.
"I will boil him until he dies," Xinyu said.
"When you're boiling him, I will prick his body with a knife and put a lot of salt into the water. Let him die slowly in a painful way!" Xinyu's husband - the groom, said.
Ying laughed. "Aye, that's your father and your father-in-law. Poor Xinyu and her husband. They didn't know how evil the person they called as a father." She pondered in her mind. "I am really curious…what if his wife or children know what kind of person her husband or father is. And I want to ask that man…what is in his mind when he kidnapped, raped, or killed innocent people? I wonder if those bandits ever think of their own family when they're doing their crime?"
"Is there any chance that you could find the bandits who attacked you?" Min asked.
Ying nodded. "I have found one of the bandits. When the time is right, I will deal with him!" She laughed and smiled at everyone, including at the groom's father. The man looked uneasy.
"How are you going to deal with him?" Min asked.
"I don't know. That's why I asked opinions from you all!" Ying put on a funny face and continued, "Come, let's drink and be merry on this happy day! I could take revenge even ten or twenty years from now. But my niece Xinyu only marries once. Therefore, let's just have a good celebration today!"
"Agree! Let's have a toast!" the groom said.
They had a good celebration party.
Ying had learned how to conceal her feeling. She didn't look emotional at all. But when she returned home, Ying broke down into tears. She was angry and furious. She would deal with the man who killed her thirteen years ago. But, what if Min or Xinyu knew about it? How's she going to tell them?
Every time she practiced with her sword, was not she imagining herself chopping that man's head for all of these years? When she's practicing her archery with a bow or crossbow, was not she imagining the man's head as her target? Now her target was right in front of her eyes. And with her current sword skill, killing that man was very easy for her.
For seven days, Ying almost didn't sleep or rest. She used her time to design and forge a short dagger.
On the eighth day, Ying went to Min's house. Her hair was messy, and she looked devastated.
"Ying, what happened to you? You look pale and tired!" Min said.
Ying looked at her best friend and about to tell her what's inside her heart. Just as she opened up her mouth, her voice could not speak up the words she had prepared. She was stuttered and lost for words.
"What happened?" Min asked.
Ying started to cry, and Min hugged her asked, "What happened?" Min could not guess what happened to Ying.
Ying released Min's hugging and wiped her tears. She calmed herself and, in a low voice, said, "Min, the bandit who stabbed me to death, is Xinyu's father-in-law!'
"Huh?" Min was shocked. "Ying, are you telling me…"
Ying nodded, "Thirteen years ago, he was one of the bandits that plundered our troupe. He and his friends….were about to humiliate me! I resisted…then he stabbed me with his blade!" Tears flew from her eyes, and Ying started to sob. "He stabbed me with a blade…right to my stomach, on this part," Ying pulled Min's hand and put it on her stomach. "The blade stabbed in my stomach, and then he twisted his sword before he pulled the blade out!"
Min screamed and cried. Now she knew why Ying looked troubled.
"And every time I recall that day, I still feel the pain of the blade penetrating my stomach and how my guts were pulled out. I saw my own intestine, Min! I saw it…," Ying said in a weird tone. She was half crying, half angry. "It's slightly bigger than pig's intestine…but…they looked a bit similar. And then…I heard blood spurted…like a little water stream…"
Min cried, and she ran outside the house. She threw up. She was shocked and could not believe what she just heard.
Ying followed Min and patted her shoulder said, "Min, this is nothing to do with you, or Xinyu, or her husband. This blood debt is between that man and me! Actually, I don't want to tell you about this….but you are a sister to me! And I just can't take revenge on him and then left you forever!"
"Ying, if only I knew he was one of the bandits, I would not let Xinyu marry her husband!"
"Should a son bears his father's sin? That boy is a good young man. And didn't you see Min? He looked like a good father and a good husband. His wife and children know nothing about his evil deeds!"
Min cried and said, "Ying, this blood debt is between you and him. It has nothing to do with Xinyu or her husband or me. If you want to kill him…I won't blame you. And I will not say anything to Xinyu or her husband!"
Ying nodded and said, "Thank you, Min! You always understand me and so kind to me!" She made a kowtow in front of Min.
Ying didn't waste any time. She immediately went to the village where Xinyu's father-in-law lived.
Ying decided not to kill that man in his house. No matter what, his wife and children were innocent. She didn't want to scare them all, especially Xinyu and her husband.
Like a lone wolf, Ying waited patiently for her prey in the nearby forest. Waiting for the man to return home from his business trip.
The man was pretty wealthy. He had a granary where he did trading with the people from other territories. That day was almost sunset when he walked home alone, passing the forest.
The forest was safe. There's no robbery for many years, although sometimes some people were attacked by wolves at night.
Therefore the man was off-guard. He was humming a song as he was walking home. He just made quite a lot of money that day.
"It seems that you make a lot of money today!" a voice suddenly appeared.
There's no one in front of him. The man looked around and saw no one. He turned his body and looked back – there's no one. He became alert. He gripped his sword hung on his waist, and turned his body. He shouted as he was shocked to see a girl was standing not far in front of him.
The man saw Ying with her long messy hair and angry red eyes. She looked like a ghost. He knew that the girl wanted his death.
He ran as fast as he could to avoid her. And after a while, he thought he was safe. He was out of breath stopped to rest for a moment.
"You know, even if you have the energy to run to the edge of the world, I will find you," a voice said.
The man turned his head and saw Ying stood not far from him.
"You…are you a ghost?" he stuttered and moved backward a few steps. He didn't hear any footsteps or saw her chasing him. How could she be in front of him now?
"You disemboweled intestines! You're the one who should tell me if I'm a human or a ghost!" Ying said.
The man released his sword scabbard. He pointed his sword to Ying and said, "What do you want? Go away and leave me alone!"
"I want you to taste what death means."
"I only followed my chief's instruction to plunder your chariot! I'm innocent!" The man said.
"You decided to be a bandit and follow him! You're not innocent!"
"Please, spare me! I'm Xinyu's father-in-law!"