Chris leaned against the wall, gasping heavily, his heart still racing as he stared at the empty interrogation room with lingering fear.
Thankfully, that guy went berserk and then just left immediately; otherwise, he really feared that Aierwei would lose control and kill him on the spot.
After calming himself down, he began to think through the current situation with a clear mind.
As he had expected, Aierwei’s emotions were on the verge of collapse.
“What a show she put on.”
Chris clicked his tongue, then suddenly remembered something.
He called over a Knight casually and handed him a piece of paper, instructing, “Take this to Miss Aierwei.”
Watching the Knight leave, Chris chuckled softly, “Then let me give her a little push…”
Li Ang silently watched Chris muttering to himself.
As expected, this guy couldn’t stay; luckily, he left a backup plan.
He wouldn’t last more than a few days.
Thinking that, Li Ang shifted his gaze toward Aierwei.
What he saw made even him slightly stunned.
That was the Little Yard where he and Aierwei once lived, but now it had long since turned to ashes in the raging fire.
Aierwei stood there like a walking corpse before the ruins, her eyes hollow and empty as if nothing existed anymore.
She had burned down their home with her own hands, erasing every trace of her master as well—everything reduced to ashes.
“Nothing’s left… nothing at all…”
Aierwei crouched down slowly like a wounded young beast, covering her face helplessly with both hands, each hoarse word escaping her throat painfully.
“Sorry…”
“Mom, what is she doing?”
A passing child curiously pointed at the girl.
“Shh, her home is gone.”
A woman pulled her daughter’s hand, giving Aierwei’s back a strange look before hurrying away with the child.
Her home… her home was gone again…
Instinctively, Aierwei gripped the sword tightly in her hand.
It was given to her by her master.
Suddenly, she remembered something and carefully took out a small wrapped package from her bosom.
She slowly unwrapped it, revealing a tiny sugar cube inside.
She carefully enveloped the sugar cube with her magic, holding it in her palm as if she could feel her master’s presence through it.
This was given to her personally by her master.
She had kept it all this time without eating it.
Staring at the small sugar cube, she seemed to be transported back to the moment she first met her master.
Back then, she had been nothing but a filthy little beggar.
The girl looked around warily, then carefully put the sugar cube back into her bosom.
Wrapped in magic, it could be preserved for a very long time…
Next, Aierwei searched her body, trying to find something but found nothing.
Her expression grew more frantic as she became more helpless.
“The badge… the badge Master gave me…”
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but no matter how hard she searched, she couldn’t find the badge.
Where… where was it…
Suddenly, Aierwei’s movements froze as she remembered something.
Then she stumbled madly toward the ruins.
Ignoring everything else, she frantically dug through the ashes, her fair hands quickly stained black, her cheeks dirtied as well.
But Aierwei didn’t notice any of it, as if possessed, obsessively searching the wreckage.
Until her fingertips touched a pitch-black metal object.
She clasped it like a treasure, wiping the ashes off it repeatedly.
No matter how much she wiped, some ash always remained.
“Found it… I found it.”
Tears glistened at the corners of Aierwei’s eyes as she smiled.
Her strange behavior had already drawn quite a bit of attention, but the dirty, disheveled girl didn’t look like the famous Knight known in the city.
“Um… Miss Aierwei?”
The Knight who had received Chris’s order cautiously called out to the woman among the ruins.
Hearing that, Aierwei glanced behind her with suspicion, afraid someone would take away her master’s keepsake.
“Uh… this is from Sir Chris. He told me to give it to you…”
The Knight felt a chill under Aierwei’s gaze.
He placed the paper on the ground and quickly retreated.
Aierwei carefully tucked the badge into her bosom, placing it close to her chest, then picked up the paper.
It depicted portraits of two people who had died in the previous sacrifice.
Her heart tightened as she stared at the portraits and froze completely.
She knew those two people very well.
She clearly remembered that during the Knight Order’s examination, they had reported her identity to the Order.
They were also the ones who had cornered her in the alley.
Of course, someone as kind as her master would never harm civilians.
He had simply drained the last of his own value to avenge her.
Or rather, he had done so to keep Aierwei’s hands clean of blood.
A gentle breeze swept through the girl’s dark hair, like her master once stroking her head.
Silently, she wept, tears falling uncontrollably onto the paper.
How she wished this were just a dream, that when she woke up, her master would be there again, gently patting her head.
There were still so many things she hadn’t done with him…
The sunset slowly sank behind the mountains as Aierwei stared blankly at the ruins until nightfall.
Day after day, the girl hugged her sword in despair.
Until one day, following the lead from Li Ang’s badge, Chris found Aierwei and demanded the forbidden book, but the girl whispered, “It’s mine…”
Then, with one sword stroke, she cut it.
Such a commotion naturally attracted the Knight Order’s attention.
But Aierwei’s power had long since changed; no one could stop her.
She left Ashen City—there was nothing left for her there anymore.
Li Ang silently watched her wander after becoming a wanted criminal.
Upon learning that her father’s name had been cleared, she headed to the capital.
But the capital was full of powerful elites.
The moment she set foot there, she was captured.
Fortunately, the orphanage director—someone connected to Li Ang—intervened and saved Aierwei.
Still, the charge of killing the Knight Order’s commander was grave.
Thanks to the director’s influence, her sentence was reduced to exile in the borderlands.
The girl learned the full truth from the director—her master had paved a path for her with his death, and the one who had killed her parents was the old man before her.
She wanted to kill the old man but was stopped by another girl.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t defeat her.
Seeing Aierwei battered and bruised, Li Ang sighed helplessly.
Luckily, the director didn’t intend to kill the girl but instead planned to make her stronger before seeking revenge.
Then he sent her off to the borderlands.
Li Ang knew the old man must have some scheme.
In the borderlands, the girl suddenly realized her original talents were never enough to become a Knight.
From beginning to end, it was her master’s life that had supported her training.
The forbidden book was always with Aierwei.
She constantly tried to find a way to resurrect her master, placing all her hope in it.
Aierwei achieved multiple battle honors in the borderlands and quickly advanced to Seventh Rank, earning her title: Blue Knight.
After reaching Seventh Rank, she discovered residual fragments of Li Ang’s memories within herself.
From them, she saw conversations between her father and master, pictures of her master holding her close, and his decision to sacrifice his lifespan to make her a Knight.
She saw the silent suffering he endured every day, the painstaking plans he made for her future, and how he always looked at her with that same gentle gaze—even in death.
That day, the girl wept with a heart-wrenching pain, like a child who had lost her favorite toy.
“I don’t want this future…”
“I don’t want to get stronger… I don’t want to be a Knight… Can you come back…”
“Master… please, trick me one more time…”