Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 133: Chapter 108: It’s Her, She Has Come

Sunday morning, the weather was perfect.

Lei Ming was being discharged from the hospital today, and Wan Ze, Zhai Yu, and Zhai Jia were all there.

After finishing the paperwork, the four of them stood at the hospital entrance. Zhai Jia casually offered a cigarette to Lei Ming, but a glare from a distant nurse made him awkwardly take it back. He then smacked Lei Ming’s hand away. "What are you doing? This is a hospital, don’t you get it?"

Lei Ming was speechless.

’If this wasn’t my senior brother... who I can’t beat... I really couldn’t take this!’

"Has anything been going on at the martial hall recently?" He stretched his muscles, changing the subject. He couldn’t help but look curiously at Wan Ze; from what he remembered, his third and fourth senior brothers were both extremely busy people, so asking them would probably be useless.

"What could happen?" Zhai Jia cut in, snapping at him irritably. "You think the martial hall will collapse without you, its mighty pillar?"

Lei Ming was speechless.

’Dude, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?’

He sulked, not daring to talk back. His gaze quietly fell on Wan Ze, his lips moving. He clearly wanted to ask about the Imperial Mausoleum.

But before he could speak, Zhai Jia’s sharp eyes noticed. He reached out to rap him on the forehead. "What’s wrong with you? Your wounds have barely healed and you’re already looking for trouble?"

Lei Ming flinched back, his forehead barely dodging the hand. "That’s not what I meant," he argued. "I’m just curious about the Imperial Mausoleum..."

"Curious my ass!" Zhai Jia missed and roared in anger, "You brat! Get back here!"

"That’s enough." Zhai Yu finally spoke, his voice soft but enough to silence them both. He advised in a low tone, "Stay out of the Imperial Mausoleum affair. Master has already assigned Second Senior Sister and her team to take over."

"Huh? Second Senior Sister is involved?" Lei Ming was stunned, subconsciously looking at Wan Ze.

In fact, this was news to Wan Ze as well.

After the Tiger Talisman was used for Stealing Celestial Secret, he had lost his obsession with the Imperial Mausoleum’s future.

The Imperial Mausoleum was too distant a goal.

It had remained undiscovered for countless years; he didn’t think he had the luck to be the one to crack the case.

Besides, he didn’t have the energy for it.

But the *Mountain Ghost Patrol Hunting Painting* was different.

It was within his grasp.

And as long as that woman relented and gave him enough information, he would have a clear path forward.

Seeing Lei Ming’s lingering unwillingness, Zhai Jia let out a frustrated laugh. "Do you have any idea who’s involved in this Imperial Mausoleum business now?"

Lei Ming looked up.

"The Secret Palace, Class A," Zhai Jia said, enunciating each word. "They’re all top-tier Refining Force Level experts. Forget about you—even Brother Yu and I have no choice but to stay put, right?"

Lei Ming was flabbergasted. "Even Refining Force experts have made a move?"

He looked at Zhai Yu, who nodded calmly without further explanation.

Zhai Jia continued with a sigh, "The Secret Palace is making such a big move this time, they must have a real lead. From what I heard from Second Senior Sister, the Secret Palace has a crucial clue but is unwilling to cooperate with any other factions."

"A crucial clue? But we have the Tiger Talisman, don’t we? Could they have other fragments of the Imperial Mausoleum map?" Lei Ming frowned.

Zhai Jia shrugged. "Who knows. And who cares? If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. We should worry less and focus on staying alive."

Lei Ming stared at him for a long moment before he couldn’t help but ask, "Hold on, brother. Are you really the same daredevil Brother Zhai I know?"

"I’m bold, not stupid. I’m just at the Refining Viscera realm; rushing in would be suicide. Besides, even if we did find the Imperial Mausoleum, so what? Would I be able to snatch the treasures inside? Or would I achieve immortality on the spot just by getting my hands on them?" Zhai Jia said irritably.

Lei Ming choked on his words.

After a moment, he said sullenly, "...You’ve got a point."

After all, he was only in his early twenties.

Suddenly hearing that there was a breakthrough in such an ancient mystery, it was natural for his hunter’s spirit to be roused, making him feel that perhaps he too could take part in this mystery of the century.

But his senior brother’s words were like a bucket of cold water, shocking him back to his senses.

...

After leaving the hospital and returning to the martial hall, Lei Ming was cornered by Situ Bai and questioned at length about his condition. Then, he received a mild lecture from his master.

By the time he got away, it was nearly noon.

He pulled Wan Ze over to a corner of the training hall and sat down, lowering his voice. "How come I’ve only been gone a month, but the atmosphere in the martial hall feels weird... Are you sure nothing happened?"

"What could happen?" Wan Ze looked up and met Lei Ming’s suspicious gaze, feeling a rare flicker of annoyance. "Damn, Brother Lei, why are you looking at me like that? What could I possibly do? I’m famously a great guy, you know?"

Lei Ming was skeptical but didn’t press the issue.

He just leaned against the wall and sighed. "What a shame... The Secret Palace guys are getting a freebie with this Imperial Mausoleum business."

Wan Ze was taken aback.

He shook his head and chuckled.

Lei Ming was really just talking big. His mouth had always been faster than his brain; if he were actually told to go, he might not dare.

Sure enough, he quickly changed the subject. "How’s your Cultivation been lately?"

Lei Ming didn’t know about Wan Ze’s fight with Jie Zhengyang, nor had he heard the rumors about the Secret Palace’s "Divinity Transformation."

His impression of Wan Ze was still stuck on the junior brother who had reached the Blood Tempering Second Transformation a month ago. He had no idea that Wan Ze was now almost as strong as a Refining Viscera Realm Martial Artist.

"It’s been okay." Wan Ze stood up, got a cup of warm water from the dispenser, and handed it to him. "What are your plans now?"

"I won’t be able to fight for a while, so I’m planning to head back to school first. After messing around for about two months of college life, it’ll be the New Year." Lei Ming took the cup, sipped from it, and his gaze unintentionally swept over to a longsword leaning against the wall.

His eyes lit up. "Ah Ze, is this... your sword?"

Wan Ze nodded with a smile. "A gift from a friend."

"Can I take a look?"

"Go ahead."

SHING! The longsword left its sheath.

Lei Ming held the sword horizontally before his eyes. The blade glinted with a faint, cold light. He tested its weight in his hand, then turned it over to examine the forging patterns on the spine, his expression growing more serious.

"This sword... is heavy."

He looked up and grinned. "But that makes sense. You have Innate Divine Power, so this is perfect for you."

Wan Ze smiled and asked, "Brother Lei, you know about swords too?"

"Me? Not a clue." Lei Ming turned back, sheathing the sword with some embarrassment. "But even though I don’t know swords, just from the feel of it... I can tell it’s a quality piece. Are you... planning to switch to the Sword Dao?"

"I practice with the sword when I get tired of practicing my fists," Wan Ze said casually with a smile. He couldn’t very well say that you can never have too many skills.

Lei Ming didn’t think much of it. He put the sword back in its place and said with a nostalgic smile, "I used to want to practice the saber. I thought it was so cool, you know? You draw your blade, and your opponent drops to their knees."

"So why didn’t you?"

"Hah, just the Iron Mountain Fist and the Secret Martial Arts were more than enough to keep me busy." Lei Ming waved his hand, a look on his face as if recalling a painful past. "I just didn’t have the energy to spare for the saber."

As he was speaking, his communicator vibrated. He glanced down, his expression changing slightly, and hurriedly stood up. "Welp, there’s the death-summons from home. I gotta go."

Wan Ze got up to see him off. Through the door, he could hear Lei Ming’s hushed, rapid-fire voice placating the person on the other end. "...I told you, I just sprained my ankle while hiking... Mom, please don’t come over. The last time you came, you scared my master so much he faked an illness on the spot, and we could barely handle it... Spare us, please, huh? Gotta go, bye!"

His voice faded until it disappeared down the hallway.

Wan Ze withdrew his gaze, turned, and walked to the wall to pick up the sword.

The training hall was very quiet.

He drew the sword from its sheath, the blade reflecting the midday sun from the window.

He turned and began to practice.

...

Just before noon, Wan Ze had just finished a shower and was drying his semi-damp hair with a towel when his communicator rang.

It was Miss Ling.

After he answered, there were two seconds of silence before her voice came through, tinged with caution. "Wan Ze... am I interrupting you?"

"I just finished. Go ahead," Wan Ze said, draping the towel over his shoulder.

Miss Ling paused, her voice tinged with excitement. "She replied to me."

Wan Ze’s hands froze.

He put the towel down, his tone inexplicably growing a few shades deeper.

"Wait for me. I’m on my way."

...

The room was quiet.

Miss Ling sat across from Wan Ze, her legs together and her hands on her knees. She waited obediently, like a student waiting for a teacher to grade their homework. Her back was ramrod straight, and she kept stealing glances at him.

Wan Ze stared at the paper.

The line "Hello" was in Miss Ling’s handwriting—neat, with a rounded, student-like quality.

The reply below it was in a different script, like the autumn rain from that morning.

It read... "Hello, I apologize for contacting you this way... This was not my plan. I wanted to protect you... and him."

The "protect you" part was easy enough to understand.

But that "him"...

Wan Ze’s gaze lingered on the last two words, his expression becoming inscrutable.

’Could she be talking about me?’

’Protect me?’

’This makes no sense at all.’

It was baffling.

But this woman definitely had her own logic behind her actions; she just wasn’t willing to share it.

"What should I do now?"

Miss Ling asked, her voice extremely cautious.

Wan Ze looked up from the notebook. "What do you think?"

"I’m angry."

Miss Ling blurted out.

"Angry?" Wan Ze was taken aback.

"Yes!"

The floodgates opened.

Emotions that had been suppressed for who knows how long burst forth.

Miss Ling stopped holding back completely. "I can’t understand this ’protection’ of hers. Am I a child? Do I not have my own judgment? I don’t understand why she can’t just be clear! If she had just explained things, would I have been living in fear for so long?"

It was as if she suddenly had endless grievances to air.

The truth was, she had been holding it all in.

Ever since that first nightmare, she had been tormented to the point of complete emotional fragility.

If Wan Ze hadn’t stepped in, she didn’t know what would have been waiting for her.

Perhaps... death.

And now that she finally knew... that another soul was living inside her body.

She was already in a state of extreme caution, and it had been a rare leap of faith for her to trust this other person.

And the result...

"Ever since the day of the nightmare, I’ve been moved to strange places, my communicator has been swapped... I never know where I’ll be when I wake up... I don’t know what she’s doing, or where she’s trying to take me! I don’t even know if I’ll be in danger the next time I open my eyes! And she refuses to tell me anything!"

"Now, I finally... I want to trust her, I’m trying to understand her... and what’s the result? She still won’t say a thing!"

Wan Ze didn’t speak, simply pushing a glass of water toward her.

"I’m not angry... I’m just..."

Miss Ling held the glass but didn’t drink.

She paused for a long time.

Seemingly composing herself.

"I’m just an ordinary person. I never wanted to get involved in any of this, but since I am involved, I should have the right to know what’s going on! That’s not too much to ask, is it?"

Miss Ling looked up, her eyes already red-rimmed.

She was completely powerless.

Now that she was dragged into this, she felt like a trapped animal waiting to die.

"Wan Ze, help me."

Three words, concise and to the point.

Wan Ze looked at her.

Miss Ling took a deep breath, forcing back her feelings of grievance. "I’ll communicate with her and set a time. You can talk to her for me. I’m just an ordinary person, after all. I might not understand what she says, but you’re a Martial Artist. You should be able to gauge the danger of this situation more easily than I can..."

She paused.

"This is my body. She can’t... do dangerous things without my permission. Otherwise, I’d rather die than let her get her way."

"Okay. I’ll wait for your message."

Wan Ze swallowed the words of comfort that had been on the tip of his tongue, because the woman across from him, whose eyes had been red-rimmed just a moment ago, now wore a cold and stern expression.

The tear tracks were still on her face, not yet wiped away.

But her gaze had silently undergone a world-shaking transformation.

Miss Ling... no, it was *her* now. She silently raised a hand and wiped away a tear that was about to fall. The gesture was light, as if brushing away a speck of dust.

"You really are something else."

She sighed, a mix of emotions in the sound.

"Decided to come out, have you?" Wan Ze leaned back in his chair.

The woman didn’t answer. She just sat there, looking down at the tearstain on her fingertip, as if amused and exasperated, yet also a little fond... her expression was caught somewhere between a laugh and a cry.

After a moment of silence, she looked up again. The complex emotions were gone, her expression completely calm. "Wan Ze, from the very beginning... I did intend to hide things from you. But now, I can tell you. The only question is, are you sure you’re ready?"

"...The slightest misstep, and both of us could die without a burial place!"

Her voice was quiet, but it carried a new hint of resolve.

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