The Young Swordsman of Dalu

Wenfei rode his horse along the beach, shouting, "Lu Maohan, swim towards the sea! Swim this way!"

Lu Maohan, in the sea, saw Wen Fei riding a horse on the shore. He heard Wen Fei's voice but didn't understand what he was saying. He thought Wen Fei was sent by the Hai family to capture him, so he desperately swam into the sea. Soon, he ran out of strength and slowly sank.

"This is terrible!" Wenfei said anxiously.

Wenfei immediately dismounted and jumped into the sea with a "plop," swimming towards the depths. It took Wenfei a great deal of effort to pull the half-dead Lu Maohan from the sea to the shore.

Lu Maohan drank a lot of seawater and fainted. Wen Fei called the horse, made it lie down, and pulled Lu Maohan onto the horse's back. Seawater came out of Lu Maohan's mouth, and after a violent coughing fit, Lu Maohan woke up.

"You're awake." Wen Fei looked at Lu Maohan's disheveled appearance, then glanced at himself, who was also soaking wet and not much better off.

"Who are you? Why did you save me?" Lu Maohan was so frightened that he fell off his horse.

“I’m not one of them, don’t be afraid!” Wenfei helped Lu Maohan up and sat him on the beach.

"Thank you for saving my life!" Lu Maohan bowed to Wen Fei.

"Why did they arrest you?" Wenfei asked.

"It's a long story!" Lu Maohan said dejectedly.

"When I came out of Haifeng Villa just now, I heard a woman crying inside," Wen Fei said.

"Hai Yitian is a bastard. He's not human, he's worse than a beast," Lu Maohan cursed through gritted teeth.

"If you hate Hai Tianyi so much, why don't you leave Haifeng Manor?" Wenfei asked, puzzled.

“My Yingmei is still there, I can’t bear to part with her.” Lu Maohan cried.

Wenfei couldn't stand seeing men cry and whine; it made him feel that they had no manliness at all.

"Why are you crying? Tell me what's going on between you and your Yingmei?" Wenfei said disdainfully.

“A year ago, Yingmei and I came from the South China Sea to the East China Sea to stay with my cousin. Unexpectedly, not long after we arrived in the East China Sea, my cousin’s family was driven to ruin by Haifeng Manor, and their property was seized by Haifeng Manor. Yingmei and I were also implicated. Hai Yitian actually took a fancy to Yingmei and insisted on forcibly taking her to Haifeng Manor to make her his fourth wife. Yingmei said that she would only marry Hai Yitian if I came to Haifeng Manor with her, otherwise she would die. In order to get Yingmei, Hai Yitian agreed. From then on, I entered Haifeng Manor with Yingmei as a member of her family,” Lu Maohan said.

"How shameful it is for a dignified manor lord to steal someone else's love! Why was your cousin's family driven to ruin by Hai Yitian?" Wenfei asked.

“My cousin’s family has a cousin who is not only beautiful, but also proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. When she reached marriageable age, Hai Huashan, the second young master of Haifeng Manor, met my cousin by chance. They fell in love at first sight, and my cousin insisted on marrying Hai Huashan. Hai Huashan insisted on marrying her, but my uncle felt that the two families were not a good match and refused. The Hai family also disagreed, so the situation remained deadlocked. Later, the two young people eloped without their families’ knowledge. Hai Huashan even went so far as to have his men drive my uncle’s family to suicide.” Lu Maohan’s eyes were filled with hatred.

"Haihua Mountain has returned to Haifeng Villa. Where is your cousin?" Wenfei asked.

"My cousin was captured by the people from Haifeng Manor, who forcibly put her in a bamboo basket and threw her into the sea to drown her." Lu Maohan cried again.

"I never imagined that the world-renowned Haifeng Manor would do such a despicable thing." Wen Fei angrily slammed his fist into the beach.

"My poor Yingmei is still suffering in that hellhole! Hai Yitian is a devil!" Lu Maohan said painfully.

“You should have found an opportunity to secretly run away from Haifeng Manor with your Yingmei, but what did you do?” Wenfei said.

“We’ve run away so many times, but every time we get caught and brought back. I get a beating, and Yingmei is tortured beyond recognition by that devil Hai Yitian. We were originally husband and wife, but Hai Yitian broke us up. Whenever Hai Yitian goes out, we secretly meet. I think Hai Yitian knows this in his heart, but he just doesn’t expose our relationship. Isn’t that ridiculous?” Lu Maohan said with a bitter smile.

“But he’s not going to let you off the hook today,” Wenfei said.

"It's all because his son saw what happened between us, he lost face, and he got angry!" Lu Maohan said smugly.

Looking at Lu Maohan's smug expression, Wen Fei immediately felt disgusted with the man in front of him. His beloved woman was being taken by someone else, and instead of doing everything he could to save her, he chose to run away at the first opportunity. It was truly infuriating.

"What are you going to do next?" Wenfei asked.

"I'm going to find the most powerful assassin in the world. I'm going to kill Hai Yitian and rescue my Yingmei," Lu Maohan said.

“Very good! But have you thought about it? By the time you find the killer, your Yingmei might have been tortured to death by Hai Yitian. Oh, and maybe your Yingmei won’t live past tonight,” Wenfei said.

“You’re talking nonsense. I’ve already told Yingmei to wait for me to rescue her,” Lu Maohan said.

“When I left Haifeng Manor just now, Hai Yitian had already hung up your Yingmei and beaten her severely. Do you think your Yingmei can survive tonight? She might already be beaten to death,” Wenfei said.

"Impossible! Yingmei! My Yingmei! It's all my fault! I shouldn't have brought you to this East China Sea! It's all my fault!" Lu Maohan cried, beating his chest and stamping his feet.

"What exactly happened?" Wenfei asked.

“A year ago, I was greedy for my cousin’s family’s money, which forced Yingmei to come to Donghai. My cousin’s family has no sons, only my cousin. I thought that after my cousin and his family passed away, my cousin would be married and I could inherit his vast wealth and enjoy a life of luxury. It was all my greed that ruined my Yingmei,” Lu Maohan said.

“I initially felt sorry for you, but it seems you have only yourself to blame!” Wenfei said.

"Benefactor, please save my Yingmei!" Lu Maohan knelt down in front of Wen Fei with a "thump".

"Haifeng Manor is truly despicable! But I can't just stand by and watch him die. Here's some silver. Go to Donghai City and find an inn to stay in. Wait for my news." Wen Fei looked at the disheveled Lu Maohan and took out some silver from his pocket to give him.

Lu Maohan accepted the silver, thanked Wen Fei profusely, and then headed towards Donghai City.

Wen Fei mounted his horse, turned it around, and looked towards Haifeng Manor. A feeling of disgust welled up inside him. However, he had to go to Haifeng Manor again immediately; he wanted to confront Hai Yitian head-on.

Wenfei patted the horse's rump, and the horse neighed loudly before heading towards Haifeng Manor.