The Rebirth of an Orphan

Zhao Xihua suddenly raised his head and looked forward. A group of people were coming from the southwest. They were carrying families with them, young and old. They were obviously herdsmen who had migrated from the west. When they saw Zhao Xihua and his group, they were a little panicked and scared.

No matter how many caravans they met along the way, Zhao Xihua would personally interrogate them. Seeing that this group of people was not a caravan, a subordinate from the Tianmen Camp nearby told Zhao Xihua to rest and let them go over to interrogate them.

But Zhao Xihua shook her head. Even if there were dozens of herdsmen, she would not take it lightly. She walked up to the herdsmen and looked over. There were about a dozen families, dozens of people, old and young, with a few skinny horses and a few dilapidated ox carts. The last ox cart was tied with some felt cloth for tents.

The leader was an old man in his fifties, and there was a muscular young man in his early twenties.

So she ordered someone to pass a glass of water to the old man and said with a smile: "Old man, why are you still on the road so late?"

The man looked at Zhao Xihua and smiled, "Thank you, young lady. There was a heavy rain in the grassland to the west these days, and the road over there was washed away. That's why we had to go this way."

Zhao Xihua's heart skipped a beat. West? Heavy rain? Flood?

So she took some thought and invited these people to sit down and rest for a while and drink some water, and she also gave some snacks to the children.

Now this group of people relaxed their vigilance towards Zhao Xihua and others, so the girls sitting on the ox cart also came down and took some cakes they made themselves to give to Zhao Xihua.

Zhao Xihua noticed that one of the girls, who was about seventeen or eighteen years old, was still looking at them warily. She felt inexplicably that the girl was being too wary.

After watching Zhao Xihua take a closer look at the girl, the old man in the lead smiled awkwardly and said, "That's my daughter, Wangzhu. She is naturally timid and shy. Don't mind it, girl."

"Oh, so that's it." Zhao Xihua looked at the old man and asked with a smile, "Speaking of which, I have something to trouble you, old man. I am not bringing so many people here to do business, but my husband came here for business half a year ago and encountered a war, and then there was no news. I am worried that he has an accident, but I don't know where to find him, so I want to ask you, old man, have you seen a tall and handsome man about 27 years old along the way?"

The old man's face froze, then he smiled in a sophisticated way: "Girl, I can't help you with this. I haven't met a man like you mentioned along the way."

Zhao Xihua looked at the old man in front of her. Although she tried to remain calm, she always felt that he was hiding something.

Zhao Xihua had seen these herdsmen before, and they were usually very honest and never lied. This expression showed that he was hiding something.

Zhao Xihua continued, "Uncle, please help me think about it. I have been out looking for my husband for some time. My husband is very tall, with a high nose bridge, handsome eyebrows and eyes, and there is a scar under his earlobe. It was caused by playing around when he was a child..."

Before Zhao Xihua finished her words, Wangzhu, who was sitting silently on the ox cart, shivered suddenly and knocked over the lantern next to her. Because she moved with such a large swing, the lantern fell to the ground, and the surroundings suddenly became dark.

The old man and the panicked girl had completely attracted Zhao Xihua's attention. She walked to the oxcart where the girl was sitting, picked up the lantern that had fallen to the ground, handed it to Wangzhu and said, "Little girl, why are you so careless? Do you want to get off and sit for a while?"

As he was speaking, there was suddenly a muffled sound coming from the ox cart loaded with tents at the back, and Zhao Xihua walked over quickly.

"Come back here and don't touch my things." Wangzhu took off the whip from his waist like crazy and whipped Zhao Xihua.

Zhao Xihua didn't expect Wangzhu knew martial arts, and she didn't dodge the whip that hit her on the back. At the same time, she quickly pulled off the felt cloth on the ox cart, revealing a wooden cage. In the cage was curled up a person, tied up tightly. His clothes were neat, but his hair was messy and his mouth was blocked. He was staring at Zhao Xihua.

Zhao Xihua took a step forward, half-knelt beside the cage with a trembling body, and murmured in an unbelievable low voice: "Gu Lun..."

Gu Lun looked at Zhao Xihua in front of him, feeling a little dazed and a little bit unbelieving of his eyes. He thought he was dreaming when he heard Zhao Xihua's voice before, but he didn't expect it to be real.

Zhao Xihua's hands were shaking, and she hurriedly took out the thing stuffed in Gu Lun's mouth: "Someone, water!"

Zhao Xihua fed Gu Lun some water. In such hot weather, he was put in a cage covered with felt.

She immediately became angry: "Catch all these people."

"Yes," the bodyguards of Tianmen Camp were also very angry. When had their camp leader ever been bullied like this? Being locked in a cage like an animal was simply courting death.

Wangzhu completely lost his composure and started fighting with the people from Tianmen Camp while waving his whip. After all, they were just ordinary herdsmen. Even if they knew a few tricks of Kung Fu, they were just a joke in front of the people from Tianmen Camp. Soon, Wangzhu and others were tied up.

Zhao Xihua hurriedly ordered people to smash the cage open and help Gu Lun out of the cage. Gu Lun's body was a little hunched and he couldn't stand straight. It was obvious that it was the result of being locked in a cage for a long time.

Gu Lun was laid flat on the felt blanket against the poplar tree, and then he slowly stretched out his body. Zhao Xihua half-knelt beside him to check his pulse, then looked at Gu Lun and said, "Did they poison you?"

Zhao Xihua's eyes suddenly turned cold: "Come here, kill all of them except those children and the sick old man."

"Wait a minute," Gu Lun drank some water and regained some strength. Zhao Xihua hurriedly ordered the man to slow down, but unexpectedly the old man burst into tears.

"Girl, please spare us. We were wrong, but since we saved your husband, please spare us."

He pointed at the tied Wangzhu and said in a crying voice: "This girl's mother died early, so she grew up to be arrogant. She saved your husband on the grassland before, but she fell in love with him. When he recovered from his injury and wanted to leave, this girl refused to let him go. Now...forgive her for her young age and ignorance."

Zhao Xihua had imagined countless times why Gu Lun was tied up, but she never expected that he would fall into the hands of a little girl. The women on the grassland dare to love and hate, but it is disgusting enough to bury someone and trap him like this.

Gu Lun took a breath and looked at Zhao Xihua and said, "Give them some money and let them go."

Zhao Xihua nodded. If the girl who trapped Gu Lun had a little kindness instead of being blinded by selfishness, Gu Lun would give them more than just money. It would be possible for him to help them enclose a large piece of land and make them nobles.

It's just human nature! Zhao Xihua ordered his men to give the old man a stack of banknotes and told them to leave quickly.