"You still don't believe?" he asked after my long silence.
"If I may ask his lordship, how did you save my life then?"
"Try to recall, what did I do when your master threatened to take you to the orphanage?"
I remembered that too well. I had never forgotten it. "You grabbed me from my master, put me on the table, and glared at me. You said that if I don't stop crying, you'll eat me. And every time I cry, you'll crawl out of the ground and devour me."
"Exactly, and immediately, you stopped crying."
How could I not? I was five and was threatened to be eaten by a stranger with devilish eyes.
"How did that save my life?"
"Have I not stopped you from crying, your master must have ordered his other disciples to take you to the orphanage, and we all know that children in the orphanage are usually neglected. Half of them die before the age of ten, and those who survive run away to live in the streets as thugs until they're killed. Be glad I was there, or you could have suffered the same fate as those orphans."
I was speechless. It was true that after that, I almost never cried again because I was too afraid that the devil would come back to eat me alive. It left a trauma in me for years actually, but ever since then, my master had started to like me more.
But still, I wouldn't say that he had saved my life. But my upbringing had taught me to appreciate everything that had made an impact on my growth, even if it was only a coincidence.
"Let me express my gratitude to Lord Lan then," I said with a bow. "Even if it's twenty years late."
"You're welcome," he replied. "And since you acknowledge that you owe me your life, I supposed you should be willing to return the favor this time."
I was speechless. For the sake of courtesy, I had acknowledged that I had indeed owed him my life thinking it would not cause any harm to do so. Who would have known that this man was such a lecherous devil who had manipulated me into acknowledging a ludicrous debt and now he wanted renumeration?
"So," the man said casually. "Are you willing to return the favor?"
"…What favor does his lordship want from this blind commoner?"
He chuckled. "It's simple. I just need you to accompany me somewhere."
"Where is somewhere?"
"West."
I was dumbfounded. It had taken me a lot of pain to come all the way to the South. As much as possible, I did not want to return even a step closer to the western part of the continent, where Kan Empire was. "I apologize. I do not wish to return to that place."
"I won't take you back to Frost Mountain, or anywhere near the capital, if that's what you're afraid of."
"Even so, it will only make me feel miserable. I apologize to his lordship if I have to refuse for personal reasons."
"Are you sure you don't want to find out who's behind what happened to you?"
"I already know."
"What if you don't? What if… what you know isn't exactly the truth?"
I took a deep breath, suppressing all the bitterness that this man's words had evoked from within me. "My lord, forgive me that I am no longer interested to find out about it. I have been reduced to nothing. I can no longer undo what has been done. Even if I could, the betrayal has already wrecked my trust. Nothing can repair what has been broken."
He sighed as if he pitied me. "So you're just going to run away from it all and allow those who condemned you to roam free despite their crimes?"
I pondered about his words for a moment. It seemed this man knew more than I did. He knew that I was innocent.
"My lord, I am delighted that at least, there is someone who believes in my innocence, but the culprits are very powerful people. My reputation has been severely damaged. My cultivation's been nullified. What can I do against them? Who will believe me?"
"That's why I'm here."
I was speechless. What exactly is he planning to do?
"Wei Yusheng is your master," he continued. "As his disciple, aren't you even interested in uncovering the truth behind his mysterious death? Will you just take the blame?"
"My lord, I appreciate the concern. You must be good friends with my master that you are willing to go that far to uncover the truth surrounding his death. But right now, my health is poor and it keeps on declining each day. I can't even walk for too long."
Without even asking for my consent, he pulled my left hand and laid it across the table. I was about to pull away, but when he pressed three fingers on my wrist, I realized that he just wanted to check on me.
Suddenly, his fingers stiffened.
"Is there… anything wrong?" I asked. His reaction told me that he had discovered something.
"Hmm," he hummed and moved his fingers around my wrist as if seeking a particular spot. When he found it, he pressed harder.
When he sighed a moment later, I knew that it wasn't good.
"Your inner energy is empty," he said. "Your pulse is weak yet erratic. It seems that… there's a poison inside your body."
My eyes widened in shock. "Poison?"