"Don't use Xinyu to bargain with me. I will not change my mind!"
"At least you should spare me. I have my family, my wife, and children!"
Ying smiled at him and asked, "I'm curious what's in your mind when you're killing or humiliating your victims? I wonder if you ever think that those people also have families? Or, have you ever think, what if your children become victims? What will you do when someone ruins your daughter or kill your son?"
The man's face became pale. He closed his eyes and said, "Miss, if you want to kill me, just kill me! No need to beat around the bush!"
"What if…a ghost like me kills one of your children? And in the next twenty years, I will kill one of your grandchildren, and another twenty years, kill one of your great-grandchildren. And it will be repeated over and over again until I satisfied!" Ying asked. She thought that idea was amusing. And seeing the frightened face of the man was more entertaining for her. Her face was no longer as scary as before as she was amused.
The man shook his head and said, "Let me bear my own sin! This has nothing to do with my wife or children! Just kill me."
"If I kill you..then your wife and children may think that bandits kill you. That's too easy for you! They have to know what kind of person you are!" Ying said. Her voice was soft, but it was cold and terrifying.
"What..what are you going to do to me?"
"I have told you. I want you to taste death!" Ying said. "You have killed many people and ruined many girls in your life. Now it's time for you to kill yourself!"
The man used his sword to attack Ying. Ying took the dagger she had forged in the past few days and used it to counter-attack the man. Either she's very strong, or the man was old and weaker. Either her dagger was too powerful, or the man's sword was too dull. With only two strokes, the man's sword was broken into two pieces.
"I wonder if that's the sword that you used to spill out my intestine?" Ying asked the man.
Of course, he didn't remember. He had several swords, and he had killed many people. How could he remember which sword he used to kill who? He remembered Ying – the Yue Beauty as she was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen in his life. And the way when she died, was also unforgettable. He recalled it when the girl jumped from a running horse and bled not only on her face but also on her body. Yet the girl didn't give up and she resisted. And when the blade penetrated her stomach, the girl looked at him with such hatred eyes.
Ying handed her dagger to the man and said, "Here, I made this dagger just for you! You should feel honored that a disciple of the great Ou Yezi designed and forged this dagger for you to take your life!"
The man observed the dagger. It had a very odd appearance, with two branches located on each side, it was designed to disemboweled guts.
He knew that the girl in front of him was menacing, and she was serious with her words. Killing other people and disemboweled their guts was not as scary as imagining disemboweled his own guts. He'd better attack the girl and provoke her to make her kill him right away.
The man rushed forward and pointed the dagger to Ying's neck. But before the dagger reached her neck, Ying had already moved her body while she used her left foot to kick the man. The man fell to the ground and the dagger accidentally scratched his cheek. It was just a light touch of the dagger on his right cheek, but the dagger was so sharp that even a light touch caused his cheek to bleed a lot of blood. He used his left hand to pressed his cheek to stop the blood to no avail.
"Evil man, I'm no longer the weak Yue Beauty that you could bully," Ying said. "I know what's inside your mind. You want me to kill you, don't you? Don't dream! I won't dirt my hand!"
After a while, Ying sighed and asked, "Do you know how to write?"
The man shook his head.
Ying took the dagger from the man's hand and faced the biggest tree around them. "Then I will write on your behalf!" She sighed and pondered for a while before starting to write: "I committed sins in the past. I robbed and killed, I burned houses and ruined women, and I got my wealth from other people's blood. Right now my enemy wants my life. I take my own life to redeem my sins."
Ying knitted her eyebrows and turned her head to the man and asked, "Tell me, where is the headquarter of your troupe?"
The man knew that the girl in front of him was serious with her words. He could not escape. "As long as you promise that you will not kill my wife and children, then I will tell you where it is!"
"I won't kill them," Ying snorted. "I won't kill them, since they know nothing about your evil deeds. Therefore, they should not bear your sin. Tell me where's the bandit's headquarter! And be honest to me. If you ever lie to me, then I will kill one of your children!"
The man had no choice and told the bandit's location to Ying.
After got all the information she needed, Ying returned the dagger to the man and said, "Time is up. Now you can kill yourself. First, stab the dagger into your stomach, then pull it out. This dagger is very sharp. I believe it's much less painful than the sword that you used to disembowel me last time!"
The man sweated cold sweat. He had never been so scared in his life before.
The man received the dagger and kneeled in front of Ying said, "Please forgive me, and spare my family!"
Ying nodded. Her eyes were red, but there's no more anger and rage on them.
Still kneeling on the ground and with teary eyes, the man stabbed the dagger on his stomach. He felt such great pain. Now he knew why the girl looked at him with such eyes expression when he stabbed her with his sword thirteen years ago.
"Pull out your dagger now!" Ying said in a low soft voice.
The man knew that once he pulled out the dagger, his guts will also be pulled out. He choked and tried hard to pull out the dagger. But it was not easy. Killing other people was easy, but this time he's killing his own self.
"You're afraid!" Ying looked at the man and laughed. "You're afraid!"
"I will help you!" And with her word, she grabbed the man's hand and pulled the dagger out.
The man screamed as the dagger – together with his intestine-was pulled out. Ying laughed. She's laughing like a lunatic.
The man saw his intestine was pulled out. The girl was right, it's like a pig's intestine. And he could hear the odd sound, that's the first time – and definitely would be the last sound that he would hear. Blood spurted like a stream from his stomach. Now he didn't have the energy to make any sound. He could only hope that the girl would finish him off as soon as possible.
The dagger with its two branches served like anchors for hooking his intestine. The man could only hope that the girl would immediately pull the dagger firmly to sever the intestines so he could die soon.
Ying was not someone who enjoyed seeing such abominations. She hated seeing that gory scene. But at the same time, she hated that man so much. She must bring justice to herself, and also to all those who had been victims of this man's crime.
"I will grant your last wish!" With that Ying pulled hard at the dagger that cut off the man's intestines into two.
The man was shocked but also felt relief. No more pain he felt. He felt deliverance.
Not only the man felt relief. Seeing the man's dead body, Ying also felt relieved.
Ying felt the big stone oppressing her heart was now removed. There's no more hatred in her heart. She had just finished dealing with the person who connected her with her past.
She felt relieved, but did she feel satisfied? No, she didn't.
After a while Ying realized, it's not the man's death that brought her relief. It was the feeling when she could bring justice that made her satisfied.
Ying knew that her life mission was to bring justice for the oppressed people.
She didn't waste her time. The next day, she went to the mountain where the bandits headquarter was located. She's determined to wipe off all of the bandits.
She dressed up as a young man from Chu State, with her hair tied neatly and a long blue robe.
She was surprised to see, that what so-called the bandits headquarter, was just like another small village. Instead of men, there were also old people, women, and children.
Ying thought that she went to the wrong village. She saw a man and his wife were in front of their house, playing with a toddler. Ying came toward them and asked, "May I know, is there a man called Hei Ya lives here?"
The man was a bit surprised when he saw Ying. "Why are you looking for him?" he asked.
"I have something to discuss with him."
The man knitted his eyebrows, suspicious at the young man who had a sword hung on his waist. He asked, "Who told you that Hei Ya lives here?"
"Li Cong. He asked me to pass a secret message to Hei Ya," Ying lied. Li Cong is the name of Xinyu's father-in-law. The bandit who disemboweled her more than twelve years ago.
Hearing the name, the man's face changed. "I will take you to see Mister Hei Ya right away," he said.
The man held his toddler and led Ying to go to Hei Ya's house. Ying was getting confused. All along the way, she saw the ordinary lives of people. There's no sign that the village was a headquarter of bandits who plundered and killed people.
They arrived at a brick house in the middle of the village. "Mister Hei, you have a guest!" the man shouted as he entered the house.
A girl hissed and said, "Grandpa is sleeping. Wait until he's awake!"
"Oh! Alright, we will wait then!" the man said. To Ying, he said, "Just sit and wait then!" He pointed at a rug in the room.
Ying nodded, and she kneeled on the rug to sit. The man also sat down while the girl started to boil water for them. "What's so urgent?"
"Uncle Li Cong sends him," the man said. He's patting his toddler, who was sleeping in his embrace.
Ying noticed and observed the man and the girl. She wondered if they knew who Hei Ya and Li Cong were.
After a while, they heard someone was coughing, and a man dragged his sandals entered the room. "Who is looking for me?" he asked.
"Mister Hei is coming," the man said. He rose from his seat to greet Hei Ya. Ying also rose from her seat. She was surprised to see Hei Ya – the leader of the bandit. He was a man in his late fifties. He didn't look evil at all.
Deep inside her heart, Ying sighed. "Surely, you can't judge people from their looks. He doesn't look evil at all," she said in her mind.