Chapter Forty-Five: The Originator

The appearance of Zhao Shuihe caught me off guard, but her actions left me utterly stunned.

Just moments ago, she had managed to make the cat demon, "King Mingdeng," spare my life using nothing more than five ancient copper coins. Not only that, but she had then led me brazenly through the traps and blockades set by the cats. In a daze, I even began to wonder if this young girl was human at all.

I was desperate to ask her for the full story behind these events, but she gave me no such chance. Once we had broken through the layered encirclement of cats, Zhao Shuihe grabbed my hand and we ran frantically. I have no idea how long we ran or how many alleys we passed before she finally released my hand. We stood there in the deserted alley, gasping for air, staring at each other.

In the silence of the alley, our eyes met for a long time. In her gaze, I could see the relief of surviving a disaster and a hint of... smugness.

Once Zhao Shuihe’s breathing had steadied, I immediately asked, "What on earth is going on?"

Instead of answering, Zhao Shuihe retorted with an indignant look, "I should be the one asking you that! How did you manage to track Zhao Haipeng's corpse right into a 'cat formation'? If I hadn't reacted quickly, you’d be dead! Do you realize that?"

Her words made me smile bitterly. Yes, it was entirely thanks to her, but why... why her? Why did the cat swarm "obey" her? Shouldn't she be the one explaining that to me?

At that moment, Zhao Shuihe seemed to sense my suspicion. She waved her hand dismissively and said, "Don't look at me like that. If I wanted you dead, I would have just put rat poison in your noodles this afternoon. It wouldn't be worth this much trouble!"

What she said was perfectly logical, yet it cast a dark shadow over my mind. Earlier today, while we were "testing each other's wits," I had eaten more than half a bowl of her noodles. If she had wanted me dead... I dared not think further.

I shivered involuntarily and immediately changed the subject. "That's not what I meant. It's just... how did you find me? Why haven't Xian Hongye and the others arrived yet?"

Zhao Shuihe looked me up and down, then replied with profound disdain, "With the way you drag your feet, anyone could find you!"

Following that, Zhao Shuihe briefly explained what had happened on Xian Hongye's side since I left the Zhao compound. After I had chased off after that old woman who made dough figurines, Xian Hongye had quickly found Zhao Hong, who was suffering from a stomachache near the restroom.

As soon as the rotund Zhao Hong heard that I had gone out alone to pursue the former squad leader's corpse, he acted with great loyalty. He immediately called for the dwarf, A-Si, and began gathering rope and rooster blood with Hongye, preparing to lead a full force to support me.

However, although the big man was anxious, his actions were anything but swift. That was not his fault; it was my own comrade's doing—he had eaten too much "mirabilite-braised beef" at lunch and was suffering from a recurring stomach upset.

It was during this interval that Zhao Shuihe had slipped out of the Zhao compound alone, beginning her quest to find me and Zhao Haipeng's corpse.

Young Mistress Zhao was both bold and clever. After chasing after me, she navigated through the twists and turns and first spotted my shattered mobile phone on the side of the main road running north to south through Zhaojialou. Following that clue and tracking the sound of the cats, she eventually found me. When she arrived, I had just stepped out of Li Douniu's doorway, trapped in the center of the courtyard by a swarm of cats.

The rest of the story aligned with my own experience.

Listening to her, I felt a lingering fear and asked, "You were all by yourself? Weren't you afraid of the danger?"

"Afraid of what?" Zhao Shuihe told me, her eyes flashing. "This is Zhaojialou! The ancestral home of the Zhao family. No matter when I return, I am the mistress of this place. Besides... I had this!"

As she spoke, she triumphantly held up the five ancient copper coins.

I was deeply impressed by the coins that had managed to hold back King Mingdeng, and I was curious about their special properties. I couldn't help but ask, "Why were you able to make the cats bow down to you... Do you know the origin of the 'Fire-Tailed Lian'?"

My question caused Zhao Shuihe to fall silent. A moment later, however, she suddenly said, "I can tell you, but you must not harbor any misunderstandings about our Zhao family... Do you understand?"

Her tone was commanding, carrying an indisputable sense of authority. Honestly... I found it quite awkward. Why should I believe her just because she said so? Her statement seemed logically flawed. But since she was willing to talk, I didn't bother arguing. I nodded and listened as if I were a primary school student.

The first sentence she spoke startled me.

Zhao Shuihe told me, "Whether it is King Mingdeng or the Fire-Tailed Lian, they all refer to the leader of the wild cat pack near Zhaojialou. And this exceptionally powerful beast was actually 'created' by the ancestors of the Zhao family."

These words were sensational. Why would the Zhao family of southern Lu create such a monster? To kill people? And who was this "monster" taking orders from now? The Zhao family? But the Zhao family... only Zhao Haijun was left!

Zhao Shuihe's words left my brain struggling to keep up. It was all too complex—too complex for anyone to sort out in an instant.

Fortunately, Zhao Shuihe seemed to see my inner turmoil and quickly helped answer many of my questions. She first told me that the method to control King Mingdeng had been lost over a hundred years ago. She did not know whether the current King Mingdeng was "wild" or being controlled from behind the scenes. All she could do was use the coins in her hand to temporarily save my life.

As she spoke, Zhao Shuihe handed the coins to me and said, "These are not ordinary coins. These are 'tokens' that our Huainan Zhao family brought with us when we fled from southern Lu. Holding them is supposed to allow one to control King Mingdeng."

Hearing this, I asked excitedly, "Then why didn't you take the opportunity to wipe out that beast?"

Zhao Shuihe shook her head with difficulty. "I only have the tokens, but I lack the method to control King Mingdeng, so there is nothing I can do. Saving you was just a lucky guess!"

Her words filled me with a sense of embarrassing despair—the feeling of holding a legendary sword only to realize I had no idea how to use it. Even with the treasure in hand, we could do nothing more than bluff.

Feeling helpless, I asked Zhao Shuihe to explain in more detail why the Zhao ancestors had created such a monster in the first place, and why the means to control it had been lost. Unexpectedly, she agreed to my request and briefly shared some of the history known to the Huainan branch of the Zhao family.

It was because of her words that the origin of the Huainan Zhao family and their connection to King Mingdeng were finally laid bare before me.