"How did Fa kill your dad?"
Lu Xi’an asked. He was very curious about this question.
A mere little kid, so small in stature, was able to kill the leader who ruled an entire human organization. Even for someone as brutal as Fa, it shouldn’t have been that easy, right?
Chai Xin laughed bitterly and said, "The thing is... my dad wasn’t exactly a good person... and back then, Fa seemed like a good guy..."
As she spoke, she briefly recounted the past to Lu Xi’an.
Back then, the other people were just like those in the city today, all living under the oppressive rule of Chai Xin’s father, Chai Lei, daring not to speak out.
But at that time, none of them dared to take action against Chai Lei.
Finally, until the day of the incident, Chai Lei summoned all the people in Tongzhou county to discuss matters.
What was called a discussion really only had one topic—demanding that others increase their offerings to him.
Fa was present, too, and acted very much like he was trying to please everyone, saying nice things and mediating to prevent everyone from getting angry.
—Of course, at the time, it looked like he was trying hard to persuade everyone to give offerings so as not to anger Chai Lei.
Fa, though tiny, with his careful demeanor of trying to soothe the crowd’s emotions while secretly helping Chai Lei, naturally made Chai Lei let his guard down.
Then, as Fa approached Chai Lei, he suddenly drew out a knife and stabbed Chai Lei in his vital area.
Fa was kicked away, but the crowd still dared not move.
It was Fa who shouted, "He’s badly wounded now. If you don’t act, when will you?"
Seeing Chai Lei stagger, weakened by blood loss after trying to retaliate, the crowd finally sprang into action and collectively killed Chai Lei.
Afterward, Fa didn’t immediately take over, and others struggled amongst themselves, fighting for quite some time.
During that period, Chai Xin lived in the city, although not as before, it was slightly better.
—Because during Chai Lei’s tyrannical reign, Chai Xin was relatively kind to the others, so they didn’t take advantage of her downfall, but just ignored her and let her be on her own.
Later, people realized that continuous fighting wasn’t a solution, as everyone was living harder. Returning to the old way of life seemed better.
So they came up with an idea, propping Fa up as a puppet and holding discussions as before.
Lu Xi’an was speechless upon hearing this, feeling powerless to comment, "What are these people doing? What’s the point of setting up a puppet? Why not just organize a council themselves?"
Chai Xin sighed and said, "They don’t understand... Even I only understood what a council meant after visiting Mengxin City.
"Well... they don’t call it a council but a gathering. It should mean the same thing, right? It’s where everyone comes together periodically to discuss things like hunting areas."
Apparently, Mengxin City was also divided into several organizations similar to Tongzhou county.
Chai Xin said, "They just want to return to the old patterns, never having seen other ways, how could they figure out anything else?"
Lu Xi’an said, "Then they should have propped you up. Fa dared to act against Chai Lei and even incited others to do the same. That’s not a good arrangement!"
Chai Xin said, "They thought about it, even approached me, but I’m Chai Lei’s child, you know. They feared me... and then just dropped the issue."
Lu Xi’an laughed, "Such a little Tongzhou county is actually concerned with legitimacy..."
Chai Xin scratched her head, seeming to understand the meaning behind Lu Xi’an’s words, but not fully comprehending it.
But Yao Wei understood.
—At least she thought she had figured it out.
She sensed that Lu Xi’an was mocking the people of Tongzhou county.
Because Lu Xi’an understood so much, he could scoff at the people of Tongzhou county, while those people, including Chai Xin, did not understand.
Lu Xi’an was really smart!
She didn’t know why, but she felt a bit proud.
Chai Xin continued to talk about what happened afterward in Tongzhou county.
In reality, there wasn’t much left to discuss after that incident. Once Fa ascended to power, he manipulated his position, forming alliances and exclusion, and surprisingly developed his own faction, bringing the four brothers of the Liang Family under his control.
And other groups were unknowingly swayed by Fa, leaving people with Fa, and by the time they realized it, they had already given up their hostages, and it was too late.
Thus, Fa began his brutal rule, and everyone got their wish to return to the past. And Chai Xin’s good days came to an end.
Fa didn’t ignore Chai Xin as much as he did with the others. He saw Chai Xin as a threat, and so Chai Xin was imprisoned.
Fa didn’t even give Chai Xin food, wanting to starve her to death. The reason he didn’t kill her immediately was his fear of others seizing the opportunity to raise Chai Xin to power.
Fortunately, Chai Xin had previously treated everyone well, including Liang Da and Liang Er.
Even though Liang Da and Liang Er were living well by following Fa, they still remembered Chai Xin’s true heart from back then.
So, they secretly took Chai Xin out, sent her outside Tongzhou county, and let her go, also giving her a bow and some arrows for her survival.
With that, Chai Xin wandered alone across the steppes and mountainous areas near Mengxin City, living on her own, and became who she is now.
After hearing Chai Xin’s account, Lu Xi’an couldn’t help but sigh, unexpectedly, in these apocalyptic times, Tongzhou county had slowly evolved and showed signs of ’imperial legitimacy’, truly making one sigh.
Could this person that he and Yao Wei encountered be considered the Exiled Princess?
This curiosity was satisfied, and Lu Xi’an asked another question he was curious about, "How did you manage to survive alone for so long and become so strong, driving away wolves just by yourself?"
Chai Xin said, "I don’t know... I just practiced slowly, I guess.
"When I first left Tongzhou county, I walked and hid all the way, and when the weather turned cold, I found a cave and hid inside.
"But I didn’t expect a deer inside to butt me with its antlers. I nearly got killed, but I fought back and killed the deer with an arrow.
"I lived off that deer for a long time, and when the meat ran out, left with no choice, I ventured out of the cave.
"Later, I wandered to Mengxin City by accident and nearly died again before being expelled.
"That’s when I encountered the wolves. I shot at them with arrows; they came after me. Several times I was near death, but each time I survived.
"I lived by fending them off and eating wolf meat until now. Gradually, I noticed I was getting stronger, and the wolves grew more afraid of me."
This specific process, she herself found confusing, hard to articulate clearly.
But as Lu Xi’an listened, a sudden inspiration hit him, thinking of something.