She had already firmly told herself this.
Yet in Zhao Shuning's mind,
the scene of her father lying in a pool of blood three months ago kept flashing.
The blood,
grew more and more.
The rain,
poured down harder and harder.
The voices of her father and mother from her childhood echoed in her ears.
The childhood memories kept shuttling through Zhao Shuning's mind.
Not long after her birth,
that night,
her father limped in and pushed open the creaking wooden door.
Her mother looked at him and said, "Zheng Ge, how did it go?"
Zhao Zheng shook his head and said, "The Lin family is not willing to accept Shuning."
Hearing this, Lin Min'er just smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Maybe it's better for Shuning to stay with us."
"Yeah."
"We don't ask for Shuning to be wealthy and powerful in the future. We only hope that she will live a safe and smooth life."
Shuning.
That was how she got her name.
Her father and mother really did what they promised.
They never forced Zhao Shuning to practice cultivation.
They let her have a free and happy childhood.
Even when her grandfather sent people to invite her several times, her father just looked at her playing happily in the distance, contented with a smile and shook his head.
Her father and mother didn't give her a wealthy family,
but they gave all their love
to the young her.
A peaceful and quiet life.
They only hoped that their daughter would be happy for the rest of her life.
But what about herself?
Busy with cultivation.
Busy with growing up.
Busy with revenge.
After she gained the ability, her parents were in constant fear all day long.
Now,
how many people had she helped?
But she couldn't even protect her own parents.
If she hadn't been on her way to Dongzhou and happened to meet those gossiping merchants and been more cautious, would she even have known when her parents were attacked?
Zhao Shuning didn't dare to think about it.
Once she did,
her whole heart
ached uncontrollably.
"Yang Hun, if you dare to touch my parents, I'll destroy your entire Jiangning."
Zhao Shuning stopped her tears.
Although they didn't fall,
her eyes
turned extremely red.
The red lotus between her eyebrows appeared and disappeared from time to time.
The dull pain in her chest made her steps much slower.
She carefully examined the surroundings again.
She didn't dare to miss any clues.
But so many days had passed.
The information left was really pitifully little. In the end, after half an hour, Zhao Shuning basically found nothing.
On the main road,
people still passed by frequently.
They only saw a woman walking back and forth in that area. Her face was not clear as if she was wearing a veil. The woman looked in a hurry and had a strange expression.
From time to time, her emotions would get out of control.
This woman
was really strange.
Maybe she had lost something important and couldn't find it, so she was a bit anxious.
The sky
was slowly getting dark.
Staying any longer
wouldn't help find anything useful.
So Zhao Shuning headed towards the suburban forest in the east of the city first.
She had made an appointment with Luo Qiu to meet there.
Calculating the time,
it should be about right.
When Zhao Shuning arrived,
there were already quite a few people pacing around.
It was obvious that
these people were a bit scared.
But because of the woman in front of them, they didn't dare to make a sound.
When Zhao Shuning arrived,
Luo Qiu quickly greeted her.
"Miss, how did it go?"
Zhao Shuning shook her head.
"Are these all the beggars in Jiangning?"
"Yes, Miss. You can rest assured. I was extremely careful when I gathered these people. No one noticed."
Zhao Shuning nodded.
If it were someone else trying to gather so many beggars without being noticed, it would be like a fool's dream. But Luo Qiu was different. She was a ninth - rank alchemist. As long as it was something she wanted to do, no matter how difficult it was, it would be easy for her.
"Miss, you can just ask your questions. No one will disturb you."
"Thank you for your trouble."
Luo Qiu nodded.
She walked ten meters away from Zhao Shuning.
She quietly raised her hands.
Immediately,
a huge spiritual energy shield covered everyone.
Everyone's aura
was instantly hidden.
Even their figures
couldn't be seen from the side.
This was the power of a ninth - rank alchemist.
Their abilities
were enough to change the whole space.
Zhao Shuning took a deep breath.
This was not the time to be sad.
She took out a night pearl from her Qiankun bag.
She threw it into the air.
In an instant,
the pitch - black space became as bright as day.
The people who were still panicking before
crowded together at this moment.
They looked in Zhao Shuning's direction,
on guard.
"You don't need to be afraid of me."
These homeless people might have been bullied by others all the time. And Jiangning was under Yang Hun's rule. If Yang Hun was a bit unhappy, their lives would be as worthless as grass.
So,
when facing a powerful person like Yang Hun,
the first emotion that welled up in their hearts was not admiration, but fear.
Just like,
the looks they were giving Zhao Shuning now were full of nothing but fear.
"Miss, we haven't done anything."
"Miss, if you don't want to see us begging somewhere, you just need to say a word. We will never appear in front of you again."
"We basically don't show up during the day. We only dare to go on the street at night to find some leftovers. We don't know where we offended you, Miss. We are all people who sleep in the mud and are half - way into the underworld. Please show some mercy and spare our lives, okay?"
The city of Jiangning was not small.
But
the number of beggars seemed to be a bit too large.
Judging from the way these beggars were talking, they didn't seem to have been homeless since childhood.
They seemed more like people who had lived a good life in the early years and had read a lot of books, but were later forced to beg on the street.
"Miss!"
One of them took the lead and knelt down.
The others quickly followed suit.
Zhao Shuning raised her slender hand slightly.
Everyone's legs couldn't bend. They couldn't kneel down.
"Senior, please spare our lives."
"I've gathered you here because I need your help."
Zhao Shuning's eyes were full of sincerity.
Her voice was extremely gentle.
At this moment,
she was like a clear spring in a secluded valley, refreshing.
Everyone looked at each other.
Finally, a beggar who looked like a scholar stepped forward and asked carefully, "Miss, are you really not going to kill us?"
Zhao Shuning nodded.
"Then why did you gather us here?"
Zhao Shuning said, "I heard from a friend about the general situation in Jiangning. You homeless people in Jiangning are living a hard life, and Yang Hun doesn't allow you to beg in front of him. Since life in Jiangning is so difficult, why do you still stay here?"
These words
were what Ling Xiao said.
Ling Xiao said that
the governor of Jiangning didn't like to see beggars in the city.
So, in theory,
there should be very few beggars here.
But tonight, Xiao Qiu was able to gather so many people at once, which really surprised Zhao Shuning.
"We... we do want to leave, but I can't bear to leave my wife."