Chapter 718: Has She Really Returned?

"Second Master, the doctor said you shouldn’t talk." Ma Liu patted his back to help him breathe.

Huo Tu’s face was flushed from holding his breath. His left cheek was swollen like a steamed bun, and he’d even lost a few molars. He had never been so humiliated in his life. He slammed a fist into the sand, his voice garbled and halting. "What... Ye... Ye Qianning... father, Ye..."

Ma Liu held Huo Tu down. "Second Master, don’t talk, I get it. This Miss Ye is really strange. That last man said he was her father, and this Beili man also says he’s her father. Just how many fathers does she have? Could it be a case of mistaken identity, someone with the same name?"

Huo Tu nodded emphatically. They had taken this beating for nothing.

"Damn it... Ye... Qian... nngh... nngh... HISS..."

"Second Master, calm down, calm down."

Huo Feng, who was sitting nearby, had a grim expression. "Second Uncle, you should stop talking."

"I... j-just... s-saying... Ye... Qian... nngh... These two... beatings... I’ll... I’ll... remember... her..."

"Are you talking about Ye Qianning?"

An icy voice rang out.

Huo Tu shuddered.

Ma Liu shuddered as well.

Every hair on Huo Feng’s body stood on end. He snapped his head up toward the source of the voice.

The man was dressed in white and wore a conical bamboo hat. He appeared refined and gentle, but his eyes were utterly frigid. A mere glance from him sent a shiver down one’s spine.

"Were you just talking about Ye Qianning?" The icy voice grew heavier.

Ma Liu nodded subconsciously.

"Where is she?"

Again, Ma Liu subconsciously looked at Huo Tu.

The man in white’s cold, sharp gaze landed on Huo Tu. "Speak."

Huo Tu flinched again, his courage failing him. He pointed to his throat with both hands, indicating he couldn’t speak.

"Is there no one who can talk?" With a flick of his foot, the man sent the longsword hanging from his saddle into his hand.

"M-Miss Ye is at the Yan Hui Inn in the city," Huo Feng said hastily.

The man in white reached up to adjust his bamboo hat, then pulled on the reins. His horse galloped wildly toward the city gates, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

The members of the Huo family watched helplessly as the man in white rode away.

Huo Tu, Ma Liu, and Huo Feng withdrew their gazes and silently exchanged glances.

An unspoken agreement passed between them, and they all fell silent. No one dared to speak, let alone mention Ye Qianning’s name.

Huo Tu shrank back, thoroughly cowed, all his previous bluster gone.

How strange. What was so special about the name Ye Qianning?

Why did everyone who heard it ask where she was?

Huo Feng had suffered too many shocks today and now felt completely drained. Those three people... not a single one of them was to be trifled with. ’Just who is this Miss Ye?’

「Around midnight, at the Yan Hui Inn.」

The Shopkeeper was woken by a series of urgent knocks. Before he could even speak after opening the door, a group of people in black robes stormed in.

"This inn is full. I suggest you all find lodging elsewhere." The Shopkeeper rushed forward to block Xiang Minghou’s path.

"We’re looking for someone."

"Even if you’re looking for someone, you can’t just force your... AHEM. Sir, who are you looking for? I can go and call them down for you." The Shopkeeper knew how to read people.

"Ye Qianning. Which room is she in?"

"Ah? You’re looking for Miss Ye? Miss Ye is on the fourth floor, in Celestial Room Seven, but..." Before the Shopkeeper could finish, he was shoved aside.

Xiang Minghou strode up the stairs, his every step urgent. He took the stairs two at a time, his excitement growing with each floor he ascended.

He couldn’t stop his body from trembling. ’My daughter is just upstairs...’

’It’s been ten years...’

’Has she really come back?’

’Ten years ago, when that terrible incident happened, I wasn’t by her side. Will she resent me for it?’