Xia Mengying said, "The head of the family never told me anything!"

I looked at Xia Mengying and said, "Think carefully, is there anyone or anything related to you?"

Xia Mengying thought for a long time before shaking her head, "No! I don't have much contact with people in the martial world. The only people I have some friendship with are you."

Wang the Butcher asked Xia Mengying several questions in a row, but she kept shaking her head.

Wang the Butcher said helplessly, "I've asked everything I can. It seems that Xia Chuan letting her come out was just an unintentional move. We're overthinking it."

"Perhaps not," I said, looking at Xia Mengying. "Are there things the Ru School doesn't let you do? Or people you're not allowed to see?"

"It seems... no... no, that's not right, there is." Xia Mengying shook her head first, then nodded immediately. "I remember now, there is indeed such a person."

"He lives not far from here."

My eyes lit up, "Let's go, get in the car first, we can talk about the details on the way."

After Xia Mengying got in the car, she said, "I remember when I was little, about seven or eight years old! I was reciting in the woods with the other children from the Banxian Manor when I met someone."

"That day, it rained heavily, but we still recited in the woods as usual."

Hearing this, Lin Zhao couldn't help but ask, "It was raining, and you still had to go to the woods to recite?"

Xia Mengying sighed, "That was a required course for Banxian Manor disciples. From the age of five, we recited in the woods, rain or shine, sitting properly in our places."

"Only when we could clear our minds and focus on reciting could we leave there and attend normal school."

"Some people could leave the Forest Study in a year or two, while others couldn't leave until they were ten years old."

"Those people would be eliminated by the Ru School, sent away from their parents, and never allowed to return to Banxian Manor."

"What supported us to leave the Forest Study was not the desire to learn, but the fear of being taken away from our parents."

Xia Mengying seemed unwilling to say more about this, and quickly brought the topic back to the main track, "That day, the temperature suddenly dropped, and we were shivering from the cold, but no one dared to leave the desk, or even rub their freezing hands."

"Because we were all afraid of the supervisor who might appear at any time. If he saw us, we would be punished."

"At that time, a person suddenly appeared in the woods. We all thought the supervisor was coming, and quickly recited loudly, not daring to look at him."

"That person walked back and forth around us several times, saying as he walked, 'Why bother? Who are you trying to show these things to? What's the use?'"

"'The Ru School! Sooner or later, it will be ruined in the hands of these people!'"

"'The roots of the Ru School are rotten, what are you talking about promoting Ru learning.'"

"'Preserve heavenly principles, extinguish human desires! What a joke, what a joke!'"

Xia Mengying couldn't help but shiver as she said this, "At that time, we didn't know what 'preserve heavenly principles, extinguish human desires' meant?"

"But, we had never met someone who shouted so loudly in the Forest Study, so we all looked at him."

"That person was wearing a set of black Ru robes, but there was no trace of Ru School demeanor on him. He looked like a madman."

"That person said to us, 'Come, come with me.'"

"We didn't want to go at first, but somehow we followed him out of the Forest Study. He led us to a room far away from the academy. Pointing to the room, he said, 'Go and see, what's in the room?'"

"We didn't know what was happening, so we walked into the room according to his words."

"Only after we went in did we realize that it was the place where the supervisor rested. The room was filled with wine and dishes, and a stove was burning. The supervisor and a woman were drunk."

"That person said, 'Look, he makes you recite in the woods, but he's having a good time here. Don't you want to ask why?'"

"'When you grow up, don't you want to be like him?'"

Xia Mengying said, "I remember clearly that at that time, the oldest senior brother among us swallowed his saliva and said, 'I want to too. When I grow up, I want to be this comfortable too, and watch the children recite.'"

"That person laughed and said, 'That's right, that's right, go back! Go back and ask your parents and teachers, why they can do things that they don't let you do, go!'"

"The children of the study didn't know whether they believed his words, or because they were afraid, they all ran away at once. Only I stood there and didn't leave."

"That person asked me, 'Why aren't you going back?'"

"I said to him, 'I think what you said is wrong. But, I don't know where it's wrong.'"

"That person patted me on the head twice, 'If, one day you don't know what to do, come to Shanglin Village to find me, I live there.'"

"Then that person left."

"I went home in the heavy rain. After I got home, I found out that all the children had been arrested and locked up in the Si Guo Tang (Hall of Reflection)."