First, there was the under - the - table manipulation of the martial arts competition. Then, there was the malicious attempt to deal with him. Now, the white - bearded old man had thrown his own disciple into the sea, seemingly not caring whether he would drown or not.
Miaomiao's impression of the white - bearded old man had hit rock bottom.
"Yes, it's him." Liao Che gave a bitter smile. He had never expected things to turn out like this.
"He's your master. Why did he throw you into the sea?" Miaomiao continued to ask.
"It all started when you defeated me..."
Liao Che slowly told them about his experiences over the past few years. After hearing his story, the little friends were all filled with indignation.
Before Liao Che's martial arts competition with Miaomiao, the white - bearded old man had a heart - to - heart talk with him.
The general meaning was that he must win this match and not lose. If he lost, he would receive severe punishment when he returned to the sect. As for the poisoned dart, it was also given to him by the white - bearded old man.
The old man said that if he couldn't win in the end, he should use this despicable means to win the match. The poison on the dart wasn't extremely lethal. It would just make people feel dizzy, their vision blurry, and their bodies weak.
During the competition, Liao Che originally didn't want to use such a means to win. But at the last moment of the match, seeing the warning look from his master, he had no choice but to use the poisoned dart.
In the end, he still lost the competition. After returning to the sect, the white - bearded old man hung him on a tree in the yard as a warning to his fellow disciples. This was his punishment.
Originally, Liao Che had the best martial arts talent among his peers and was also the most hard - working. So the white - bearded old man had high hopes for him. Losing this match made the old man very disappointed in him, and he no longer paid as much attention to Liao Che.
After receiving the punishment, Liao Che thought about practicing martial arts hard and one day winning back his honor with his own strength. But because he had been favored by the white - bearded old man in the past, many of his peer disciples were jealous of him. Seeing that he was no longer in the old man's good graces, they bullied and tormented him. They constantly brought up the fact that he had lost to a little girl.
Liao Che became less and less confident and his enthusiasm for learning martial arts gradually faded. As a result, the white - bearded old man paid even less attention to him.
Now he was almost like a handyman on the periphery of the sect.
Actually, Liao Che could endure all this. But later, when he was on the street, he saw a photo of himself as a child on a small advertisement. The words on it were "Searching for a lost son with a large reward".
All the disciples taken in by the white - bearded old man were orphans. Liao Che always thought he was a child abandoned by his parents. So no matter how badly his master and fellow disciples treated him, he could endure it. After all, besides the sect, he had nowhere else to go. The sect was his only home.
But the moment he saw that small advertisement, Liao Che yearned for a better future. He wanted to return to his biological parents, to live a normal life like other children, to go to school, take exams, and make friends, instead of living in a world full of intrigue, deception, and endless training.
Liao Che planned to run away. He secretly wrote down the phone number on the small advertisement. When no one was paying attention, he quietly left the sect.
But he underestimated the old man's control over them. The whole sect was constantly brainwashed with the idea that they were the sect's people in life and in death. This wasn't just an empty slogan.
After being caught and brought back, Liao Che thought that if his master still remembered their old feelings, he might let him go free after knowing that he had found his biological parents. So he told the truth about why he had run away.
When the white - bearded old man heard the reason, he seemed very kind. He even told Liao Che that if he wanted to find his biological parents, he could just go. There was no need to run away and be mistaken as a traitor of the sect. That would be a huge misunderstanding.
Liao Che believed the old man's words. Hearing what the white - bearded old man said, allowing him to contact the people who might be his biological parents and decide whether to stay or leave if they really were his parents, Liao Che was so touched that he shed tears. He even felt guilty for a long time, thinking that he had wrongly thought his master was so bad.
But instead of his biological parents, he was taken on a boat and thrown into the sea. He almost lost his life.
"At this point, I have to ask. Do you have an ID card?" Tao Jing smelled a hint of conspiracy and asked.
"No, none of us are registered. Master just took us in, not adopted us legally." Liao Che shook his head and replied.
"So you're all unregistered people. Don't you think it's strange?" Tao Jing frowned, her mind racing.
Including Miaomiao, everyone present looked at Tao Jing, waiting quietly for her next words.
"It's like this. Although the concepts of taking in and adopting are different, every citizen should have identity information. Taking in is when a member of society supports orphanages and welfare institutions. That means they only take care of these children but don't register them in their household register to make them legal heirs. Adopting is really taking the child home and registering them in the household register. Legally, this child becomes the adoptive parent's own child. Even if all of you were taken in by your master out of kindness, your household registrations and identity information should still be in the orphanage or welfare institution. That means under normal circumstances, you should all have ID cards. So do you know which orphanage you came from?"
Tao Jing often helped her family with charity work, so she knew a little about this.
"I... I don't know. I only know I'm an orphan." Liao Che was stunned for a moment and stammered.
It was really terrifying to think about. He had never thought about these things before. He had trusted his master whole - heartedly, believing whatever the master said without asking any questions. Of course, he never had the chance to ask.
Now that he thought about it, his origin might really be problematic.
"Have you contacted your biological parents, the ones on that small advertisement?" Tao Jing continued to ask.
"I didn't have the chance. In the sect, we don't have our own mobile phones. When I went out and wanted to use a public phone to call, I was caught and brought back before I could do it."
Liao Che shook his head and replied.
"Here, I have a phone. Just call them and you'll know what's going on."
Miaomiao quickly reached into her pocket, took out her phone, and handed it to Liao Che.