Chapter 785 — If She Isn't Treated Soon, She'll Die
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Only after all the children had gone did the old woman turn to look at Wei Zhao. "Xiaoke stole your money, didn't she? But your hand was far too cruel... you even chased her all the way here... If she took your money, I can make it up to you, so I beg you to let Xiaoke go... She's a good child, and I'm sure you can see that. She stole money purely for this orphanage; if this old woman weren't so useless, I'd never have let the child go out..."
The old woman did not want the children of the orphanage to know that their beloved Sister Xiaoke went out every day to earn money for them when in truth she was going out to steal. This was a matter only the old woman knew; no one else was aware of it.
This was also why the old woman had called all the children inside. Such things were best kept from the children if at all possible; it would be best not to let them learn of it too early, for that would hardly be good for their upbringing.
Hearing the old woman's words, Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback, then at once understood that she had misunderstood. She had taken him for the person who had lost something, and Yu Xiaoke's injuries as his doing, and his pursuit to this place as clearly in service of that same matter.
And Yu Xiaoke's skill was something the old woman knew well. Though not terribly formidable, anyone capable of wounding her was no common hand. Since Wei Zhao could wound Yu Xiaoke, he plainly possessed martial skill himself. The old woman could not see through Wei Zhao's strength, but she was exceedingly cautious.
So the old woman put in a few words on Yu Xiaoke's behalf, hoping Wei Zhao might understand.
"You've misunderstood. She didn't steal my money." Wei Zhao shook his head.
"She didn't?" The old woman was startled, and looked at Wei Zhao with some astonishment. "She didn't steal it, so why did you strike so ruthlessly?"
The old woman's tone turned grave, and a wary look came over her face. In an instant, her whole aura rose.
"A Yellow Rank expert?" Wei Zhao was slightly startled, then shook his head. "Your strength isn't Yellow Rank... but your aura is. How strange..."
The old woman raised her aura, and Wei Zhao instantly sensed her strength: early Yellow Rank. Yet aura was aura. What Wei Zhao sensed next was something amiss: though her aura was Yellow Rank, the true qi in her body was not dense. At present she was lucky to have half a Yellow Rank expert's strength; it was as if half her true qi had been sealed away by something.
"You... you know of the Yellow Rank?" The old woman's expression changed abruptly, and she stared hard at Wei Zhao. She had not expected Wei Zhao to see through her strength at a glance. Was Wei Zhao an expert too?
"I didn't wound Xiaoke. Her injuries were dealt by Qiu Lingshan." Wei Zhao did not answer the old woman's question about the Yellow Rank, but instead explained Yu Xiaoke's injuries.
"Qiu Lingshan? Qiu Lingshan of the city bureau's criminal investigation squad?" The old woman had evidently heard Qiu Lingshan's name before.
"Yes. Step aside for a moment; Xiaoke's injuries are severe. If she isn't treated soon, she may die." Wei Zhao paid the old woman no further mind and crouched down of his own accord, taking Yu Xiaoke's hand.
The mood had been taut as a drawn bow, and the old woman had already resolved to fight Wei Zhao outright, but Wei Zhao seemed to have no intention of fighting her at all. He crouched down, exposing his body's weak points completely before the old woman, and for a moment she did not know what to do.
To strike or not to strike? The old woman felt that from this angle, launching an attack on Wei Zhao gave her an absolute advantage, or at least let her seize the initiative and gain the upper hand. But Wei Zhao had said that he had not wounded Yu Xiaoke, and that he had come to save her.