It doesn't matter what the lord is.

When I heard Heggie say this, I patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him to work harder.

In fact, if you think about it from another perspective, Heji is also under a lot of pressure. The last time Hero tried to assassinate us, Heji couldn't defend himself. This time when he went to the capital, he almost lost his life there. Now that Alayya can threaten him, he has no choice but to move forward.

After all, my relationship with Bai Huang is just that of friends. Yuxi City is not Yunhai's territory, and I am not Bai Feng's subordinate. Heji has to be on guard against us to a certain extent. Once the situation changes, he must fight his way back to Yunhai with Bai Huang, which means he must always be the strongest fighting force in Yuxi City.

Of course, he didn't know that Xiluo, who had caused him so much trouble before, was actually working for me now. Otherwise, he might have given up, because even if he reached the seventh level, there was still a big gap between him and Xiluo, who had reached the seventh level of perfection.

Realms are like climbing a mountain. At the beginning, you can rush up without thinking, relying on your passion and abundant physical strength, and there are many shortcuts to take. But the higher you go, the more effort you have to put in for each step, and the shortcuts you can use to cheat are getting fewer and fewer. The gap in a realm may not sound too big, but when you really fight, it can completely constitute a crushing victory.

But Alayya still stopped at the sixth level of perfection.

But after getting the sword from Ryuishi, she began to explore new possibilities.

Let's talk about Liushi's sword first. According to Liushi's own wishes, it was eventually named [Scarlet Fire]. The grade of this sword was set at [Lucky to See], which is a whole level higher than the long sword [Youlong] that Alaya is currently using. Moreover, among [Lucky to See], it is also considered to be quite good, far from being comparable to the equipment that is built by inlaying gems. The most important thing is that this sword is completely in line with the current Alaya, and it can be regarded as Alaya's exclusive weapon.

The new possibility that Alayya is looking for is, in simple terms, the ultimate dual-wielding skill.

Using two swords at once, she encompassed the sword techniques that Qingyun and I taught her.

I think since she has turned into a butterfly and the queen has no reaction to flying Qingyun, this path should be feasible. As for how far she can reach in the end, it depends on Alaya's own luck.

Besides Heji and Alayya, there was Filita. Filita was originally expected to reach the sixth level of magic this week, but when it came to the final push, she was scared again, and did not have the condescending attitude that she taught the two siblings, Yama and Yaqian. She stayed in her room alone, built a high wall with magic books, and locked herself in.

But when I entered the room, she poked her head out from the pile of books again, then carefully crawled to me and knelt down to admit her mistake. Because she was afraid of being hated or abandoned, she would not stand up no matter how I persuaded her, and she had to scold her to feel better. For example, I pulled her silver hair without mercy and forced her to look up at me; then I got close to her tearful and pitiful eyes and coldly said something like "You are useless, you waste", and I cooperated and did the same.

Her reaction was also complicated. She looked clearly in pain, but sounds of joy kept leaking out of her lips, and she seemed to be enjoying it a bit.

She asked me for another half a month, and after I agreed, she immediately pounced on me, rubbing her fleshy cheeks against my legs with a smile of obvious relief on her face.

I don't need to worry too much about these things. Instead, there is an ordinary little thing that is quite tricky recently.

Yayu was sent to Yuxi City.

As Bai Huang's first love, she was a former courtesan. After being bought home by Minister Tamros, she experienced many miserable things. In the previous transaction with Wu Mi, I asked him to bring this person to Yuxi City as a personal request, and he did it.

The reason why this matter is tricky is that even after Tamros died and Tamros's original wife and maids were sold, Yayu still has not returned to normal.

When she was sent to Yuxi City, she was still unconscious and occasionally crazy, just like the one I saw in the royal capital before. She kept repeating the same few words over and over again, asking people around her where they had hidden her child.

So when Yayu came to the capital, Heyue came to me first and asked me how to deal with this person.

"The guards who escorted her here said that this woman named Yayu is crazy for an average of six hours a day, regardless of day or night. I don't recommend that you place her in the City Lord's Mansion like you did with Liushi, because Liushi is relatively self-aware and will live quietly in a dark corner. Although it is not difficult to open a room for her, considering that she spends a quarter of the day yelling, the atmosphere in the entire City Lord's Mansion will become very bad. And she doesn't seem to like being locked up. I heard that she escaped no less than twenty times on the way to transport her here, so many times we had to tie her hands and feet with hemp ropes to successfully bring her back."

He Yue said as he walked to Ya Yu who was tied up with ropes, and brushed away the hair stuck to her face. He looked at her for a while, then turned back and said to me:

"Even if you like this type of thing, it's not appropriate now. Or do you actually like some perverted ways that are not allowed to be seen in public? It's really a headache... But don't worry, I will keep it a secret for you and Alayya and the others."

42. A sudden farewell

I was just thinking about Bai Huang and Ya Yu at the beginning, and didn't react to what He Yue said next.

Seeing that I was stunned for a moment, He Yue explained calmly:

"When I was very young, children playing outside often went missing. At first, everyone would look for them, but later, seeing that their parents looked calm, they stopped looking. Later, every time a child went missing, the family would often buy a few kilograms of rice and have a full meal. There was a little girl who occasionally talked to me, but one day she disappeared. I went to her house to look for her, and her mother brought me a bowl of porridge. I was hungry, so I gulped it down. Her mother told me not to look for her again."

At this point, He Yue adjusted her bangs and said:

"Later, I learned that the little girl had been sold. Just like other missing children, she was sold to some big shots. Her family used the money from selling her to buy some rice to keep living. The little girl knew she was leaving, so she told her mother that if I came to play with her, she would give me a bowl of porridge as a farewell gift. I never saw her again after that. Not long after, I was also sold to the Tiancheng Lord's Mansion."

He Yue's voice was flat, as if he had already taken these things lightly. He held up Ya Yu's face and said softly:

"Every big shot has repressed desires that they don't want to show to others. So buying some cheap people and venting these desires on them is an unspoken secret among everyone and it's the most normal thing."

I walked behind her, squatted beside her, and observed Yayu's expression.

Even though her eyes were distracted, Yayu was still alert and stared at me quickly for a while.

Her mouth was still sealed with cloth, so she couldn't say anything.

I asked He Yue:

"Speaking of which, regarding the [welfare home] I mentioned to you last time, do you have any plans?"

He Yue asked:

"Is it the welfare home in Yuxi City's infrastructure? I made a prototype. I previously allocated a piece of land in the slums east of Yuxi City and built a simple courtyard. It takes in childless elderly people, abandoned babies, and disabled children. However, Yuxi City's medical and educational resources are too scarce at this stage. We cannot provide support, treatment, and education at the same time as you said. We are still at the stage of support."

I nodded and said to her:

"Then let Yayu go to work there."

He Yue was stunned for a moment:

"Eh?"

I pulled He Yue aside and explained to her:

"Isn't she always talking about her child? I can't have one, and it's hard to say whether you can have one. We can't give birth to a child for her, right? In this case, let her go to the welfare home to take care of the child. Anyway, they are short of staff there now, right?"

He Yue held his forehead:

"That's right...but are you sure it's okay?"

I glanced at Yayu, who was glaring at us, and said simply:

"No problem. This is the best solution. How many people are currently being taken in by the orphanage?"

He Yue thought about it for a moment, and without looking up any information, he immediately answered:

"There are about twenty abandoned babies and about thirty abandoned disabled children. There are more elderly people without support, about 160. This number is considered small. I looked up the records of Yuxi City. When the situation was bad in previous years, dead babies could be seen on the road every day. In comparison, the current situation is very optimistic."

I calculated the number in my mind. There were more than 20 abandoned babies. Of course, Yayu couldn't take care of them all, but if she was assigned to three or four people, she should be able to take good care of them. If it goes as expected, she should calm down as soon as she sees those babies without relatives. Of course, if she is still crazy, she will have to be transferred away.

I had almost figured it out in my mind when He Yue suddenly said:

"Speaking of which, although I am in charge of the welfare home, the supervision work is handed over to Fang Shisan. After the welfare home was completed, she has always made time to go there. For the children living in the welfare home, daily life is very monotonous, but Fang Shisan will tell them some stories. The last time I went there, I heard the children discussing that they liked the stories told by Fang Shisan, such as... the Daughter of the Sea. It doesn't sound like a story recorded in the literature. I don't know where she heard it from."

I was stunned for a moment, and my eyes felt a little sore for a moment.

Yayu was sent to the welfare home to work, and I finally had some free time.

In my free time, I thought seriously about Liushi. From the level of Tufalu, Nichi Gormo and other blacksmiths, it can be seen that among the blacksmiths willing to come to Yuxi City, Liushi's level is already the highest. Compared with the top blacksmiths in other territories, he may still be inferior, but he is a typical gifted blacksmith. He can be said to be an absolute genius in this field and is very worth cultivating.

But the problem now is that I may not care about his reputation, but Liu Shi himself no longer has the motivation to live.

I can help him clear the obstacles in the future, but I can't create a future path for him out of thin air. So at this point, I am also somewhat helpless.

However, what I didn't expect was that while I was still thinking about these questions, Liu Shi suddenly came to me on his own.

"I'm planning to leave. During this time...thank you for taking me in, Lord City Lord."

He bowed to me, and the Naru beside him looked apologetic.

Seeing that he was determined to leave, I did not try to persuade him to stay, but instead asked:

"Is there any place you want to go? Like a journey to find yourself?"

Liu Shi raised his head and said without any emotion:

"The Yoshihirata family contacted me. Amo is sick and wants to see me. As the child's father, I should go back to visit her... Even though she will despise me if I go back in my current state. I killed her mother with my own hands, and I still remember the look she gave me on the day I left. Ha... That was a look of indifference to the bone, and I am not worthy of being her father at all. Why do they want me to go back? Those guys obviously don't want to see a scum among blacksmiths like me again..."

I looked at Naru, and he respectfully handed me a letter. It was indeed a letter from the Yoshihirata family, asking about Ryuishi's recent situation and mentioning that Ryuishi and Carissa's daughter Amo was ill, asking Ryuishi to return to the Yoshihirata family to visit her as soon as possible.

I returned the letter to Naru and said to Liushi:

"If you want to see Amo but don't want to have to face the faces of those people from the Yoshihirata family, I have a way."

43. It’s too late to forgive

All I can offer Liushi are two merchant certificates from Yuxi City.

With these two forged IDs, they can pretend to be merchants from Yuxi City, leave here, and head all the way to the territory of King Huai. I also prepared a carriage for them as a means of transportation, a cart of demon materials as cargo, and some cash as currency.

If nothing goes wrong, Liu Shi and Naru can enter the city where the Ji Ping Tian family is located [Yo Feng City] without being discovered. Then find a hotel there to live and find a chance to meet his daughter Amo without being discovered by the Ji Ping Tian family.

Although the Anbu of the Huaiwang Territory is also very powerful, Liushi and Naru have lived in Fengcheng for a long time and can handle some inquiries. As for the complicated interrogation, there is no need to worry. After all, Liushi and Naru just want to hide from the eyes of the Jipingtian family and will not do anything to harm the Huaiwang Territory. They themselves are also people of the Huaiwang Territory.

In return for giving these things, I asked Liushi one last question:

"During this not-too-long period of time, I have had a pleasant time with you. Before we part, I have a question for you. Why do you think you killed Carissa?"

This time, Liu Shi was silent for a very long time.

He answered hoarsely:

"Although I was not conscious at the time, I clearly remember that I always had some unfavorable thoughts towards her during that period. It was my jealousy that was as ugly as mud that harmed her. I would feel anxious and uneasy when I saw her with other young boys, and I would feel angry when I saw her fake smile. In the final analysis, these were all my fault. She was obviously a stray dog ​​that was picked up, and she had no right to have such emotions..."

His lips trembled a little and he didn't finish his words.

His last sentence sounded familiar to me at first.

After he left, I realized that it was exactly the same as what he had used to describe Alayya.

Liu Shi left Yuxi City on an ordinary morning, and set out on the road back to the territory of King Huai with Naru. After he left, one day I saw Bai Huang hanging around the door of the forging room, so I walked over to ask her what was wrong.

Bai Huang was startled and asked me:

"Why are you here?"

I said unhappily:

"I should be the one asking you this."

Bai Huang put his hands on his waist and said proudly:

"Why would I need to write an application report to you when I'm here? I came here to check around. Has the gloomy forger gone back?"

I nodded:

"Yeah, I'm going back. I think it's out of sight, out of mind for you."

Bai Huang said perfunctorily:

"Well... it's okay."

She thought for a moment and said to me:

"You didn't leave him in Yuxi City? That doesn't suit your style."

"My style?"

Bai Huang said with a wicked smile:

"Yes, you are popular with both men and women, and you accept everyone who comes. It's as if everyone in the world is your harem. Isn't this your style?"

"Don't talk so gay..."

I complained, Bai Huang looked away and said:

"Actually, I was thinking whether I should apologize to him. During this period, I felt that he was not as bad as I thought. When I first came here, I was a little too harsh in my words. Now that I think about it, he is quite pitiful."

I couldn't help but think of Liu Shi's comment on Bai Huang, saying that she was the kind of person who would never realize her true feelings at this stage, and would wait to regret it later. This is really accurate, and I couldn't help but tease:

"Why is it pitiful?"

Bai Huang leaned against the door of the forging room and said:

"Some time ago, something happened in Yuxi City. Did you know that a blacksmith from outside treated the apprentice he recruited from Yuxi City like an animal? He required him to work eighteen hours a day, getting up before dawn to forge iron, and not resting even when the moon was high. The apprentice did odd jobs for him every day, but had almost no time to rest. Moreover, the blacksmith did not teach him any skills, and simply used him as a tool. In the end, the apprentice could not help but question the blacksmith, and his arm was broken. This matter became more and more serious, and it came to me."

Bai Huang frowned and said:

"I don't care about his status. He is wrong. So I sentenced the blacksmith to pay compensation. Guess what happened? The blacksmith came to me to argue, saying that this is the rule in their industry! Other blacksmiths from outside also chimed in. Then I learned that blacksmiths basically don't teach their apprentices anything in the first two years, under the pretext of letting their apprentices get sufficient training, but in fact they treat them as non-human beings. If I sentenced this blacksmith, the other blacksmiths would just leave. They said that they were getting involved in such trivial matters, so they might as well just leave."

Bai Huang became angrier the more he thought about it, and punched the wooden door, making a dent in it.

She had no awareness of destroying public property at all. Instead, she continued with an expression of hatred:

"What can I do? I can only give in and give each of them fifty lashes. To be honest, if someone in Yunhai dared to talk to me like that, I would have beaten that bastard up and sent him back to where he came from. Let's see if he dares to be arrogant again! But you found these people with great difficulty, so I'll give you face this time. Looking at it this way, Liu Shi is obviously much more pleasing to the eye. At least he doesn't have so many problems."

I strongly agree with this point.

Before Bai Huang left, he sighed a few words:

"I heard that he was kicked out when he was an apprentice. Sure enough, there is something wrong with this industry. So many people criticized him before, I thought he was a bad person to the core. Now it seems that just because he openly rebelled against his master when he was an apprentice many years ago, he is no longer tolerated by this industry."

When I heard this, I narrowed my eyes.

It was more than twenty days later that I received news about Liu Shi again.

The source of the news was none other than the members of the Anbu I sent to monitor the Jipingtian family and collect clues. According to them, the Anbu organization in the Huaiwang territory is not too difficult to deal with. With the rich anti-reconnaissance methods taught by Shuang, they can still cope with it. After all, the Huaiwang territory is famous for its beautiful assassins, and is good at attacking but not good at defending.

The reason why it took so long to contact them was that although they had not been discovered before, they had not obtained any useful information. It was difficult to get into the Yoshihirata family, and the people did not know any secrets at all. After asking for a long time, although the stories were different, they were all the same as the Yoshihirata family's claims to the outside world.

The reason you contacted me this time was because something important happened recently.