by RWX
Zhuo Donglai really was a dead man. Even his corpse was ice cold.
This wasn’t strange at all. If one’s chosen profession is murder, the first thing one should learn is how to silence witnesses! So long as you join assassins in even one of their activities, you should be prepared to be killed and silenced at any point in time. In their eyes, a person’s life definitely was not worth more than that of a wild dog.
Zhuo Donglai had been killed like a wild dog, beneath the tree in the courtyard.
Fu Hongxue saw him from afar. His eyes were filled with sorrow and melancholy.
Life was originally a precious thing. Why is it that some people simply refuse to cherish it?
He pitied this man, perhaps only because he himself had been ruined by the word ‘alcohol’ before.
Alcohol wasn’t a bad thing in and of itself. The problem lies within one’s self.
If you yourself are willing to sink into vice and are unable to extricate yourself, then there is definitely no one in the entire world who can rescue you.
Yan Nanfei’s thoughts and feelings on this clearly were not as deep as his. He was still young. His heart was still filled with lofty ideals and aspirations.
Thus, he only wanted to ask, “The trap is here. Where are the huntsmen?”
Fu Hongxue was silent. Before he had a chance to open his mouth, there was a light cry from the back of the house. “Ware the dagger!”
The dagger gleamed, looking like a bolt of lightning as it flew towards his back. Fu Hongxue did not dodge, did not move. It was his sabre which moved!
With a clanging sound, sparks exploded in all directions. A dagger flash filled the sky, appearing as though it had pierced through the clouds and left the world.
Fu Hongxue’s sabre was already sheathed.
Yan Nanfei let out a breath. “Looks like at least one person remains here.”
Fu Hongxue dully said, “I can tell that he has long since learned the art of patience.”
Just as they finished these two sentences, the dagger flash fell down from the heavens. When it fell down, it fell down in two parts as the parts crashed down to earth like meteorites.
It was the handle and blade of a flying dagger!
The four inch long flying dagger had been snapped in half.
The flying dagger had attacked him, but his sabre had countered the dagger. The dagger flew many meters up into the air.
Who could imagine the speed with which this flying dagger had been sent out?
But with a backwards flip of his sabre, Fu Hongxue had deflected this knife, snapping in half its blade, which had been refined and smelted a hundred times over.
Someone sighed from within the room. “Truly an incomparable sabre technique. You did not misspeak.”
Fu Hongxue slowly turned around. “Why haven’t you left yet.”
As soon as he turned around, he saw Xiao Siwu.
Xiao Siwu walked out empty-handed. He coldly said, “The ‘four withouts’ of my name does not include ‘without shame’. Even if I were to leave, I would leave openly and with dignity.”
He had no dagger in his hands, appearing as though he were a virgin who had suddenly been stripped naked. He didn’t even know what he should do with his hands now.
But he did not flee.
Fu Hongxue looked at him. “You have only one dagger?”
Xiao Siwu said, “The person I came to fight today is you. I can only bring one dagger!”
Fu Hongxue said, “Why?”
Xiao Siwu said, “Because I know that the first dagger is the last dagger. Thus, when I strike out with that first dagger, I must use all of my strength.”
Fu Hongxue said, “You forced yourself into a deadly situation, so that when you strike, you would strike whole-heartedly?”
Xiao Siwu said, “Precisely so.”
He slowly added, “In addition, after I strike with that first dagger, I must succeed in landing the strike. Otherwise, even if I had hundreds or thousands of other daggers, none of them would land.”
Fu Hongxue stared at him. He suddenly waved his hand. “Well said. Leave!”
Xiao Siwu said, “You are letting me leave?”
Fu Hongxue said, “I am not going to kill you this time, only because you said three words.”
Xiao Siwu said, “What three words?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Ware my dagger!”
Before he sent out his flying dagger, he had given a warning. This definitely was not how a despicable, contemptible man would act.
Fu Hongxue said, “My sabre only kills evil, deceitful people. Your dagger is evil and deceitful, but you yourself are not.”
Xiao Siwu’s hands suddenly clenched. A strange expression suddenly appeared in his eyes. After a long time, he slowly said, “If I had not said those three words, would you have been able to defeat my dagger?”
Fu Hongxue said, “You regret it?”
Xiao Siwu said, “Not regret. I just want to know the truth.”
Fu Hongxue stared at him for a long time. He coldly said, “If you had not said those three words, you would be a dead man right now!”
Xiao Siwu did not say a single word further. He turned around and left. He walked very quickly, and did not look back.
Someone else sighed in the room. “Even if he does not regret it, you will regret it.”
A man slowly walked out, dressed in black clothes and white socks. It was Gu Qi.
Fu Hongxue said, “Regret it? Regret what?”
Gu Qi said, “Regret not killing him!”
Fu Hongxue’s hands clenched tightly. He had two chances to kill that arrogant youngster, but he had given up both of them.
Gu Qi said, “Once a golden opportunity is missed, it will never come again. If you want to kill someone, abstain from nothing.”
He laughed, then continued. “This time, you did not kill him. I fear that next time, you will die to him.”
Fu Hongxue stared at him. He suddenly laughed coldly. “And you? Should I kill you this time?”
Gu Qi said, “That depends. Do you want to kill my central pieces, or the great dragon I have to the right? Are you playing the white pieces, or the black pieces?” [These are, obviously, all chess references.]
Fu Hongxue did not understand. He did not play chess. Only people of leisure played chess. Whenever he had free time, he gripped his sabre.
Thus, Gu Qi could only laugh alone. “What I meant to say is, you cannot kill me, you can only kill my chess pieces, because I only know how to play chess. In addition, this chess game is between you guys. I am not involved. You cannot even kill my chess pieces.”
Smiling, he walked past Fu Hongxue. He knew that Fu Hongxue definitely would not strike, because he did not guard himself at all and anyone could kill him. But Fu Hongxue was not anyone. Fu Hongxue was Fu Hongxue.
Yan Nanfei watched as he walked away. He suddenly laughed. “Looks like you didn’t make the wrong move.”
Gu Qi said, “But I lost three games in a row today.”
Yan Nanfei said, “You lost to Yang Wuji?”
Gu Qi said, “He is the only one who can beat me.”
Yan Nanfei said, “Why?”
Gu Qi said, “Because he treats killing chess pieces the same way as he treats killing people. He abstains from nothing at all, whereas I have burdens on my mind.”
Yan Nanfei said, “Burdens on your mind?”
Gu Qi said, “I am afraid of losing at chess.”
Only people who fear losing at chess will lose chess matches that they should not have lost. The more they are afraid, the more they will lose. The more they lose, the more afraid they become.
Only people whose hearts are filled with fear will kill people they should not kill. Fear of justice. Fear of truth.
The night was very deep.
Gu Qi walked out the door. He suddenly turned around, then said, “I recommend that you two leave as well.”
Yan Nanfei said, “There is no longer anyone here?”
Gu Qi said, “None living. Only the dead.”
Yan Nanfei said, “Gongsun Tu and the others are not inside?”
Gu Qi said, “They didn’t even come, because they were impatient to go to another place.”
Yan Nanfei said, “Where did they go?”
Gu Qi said, “Wherever you came from, that is the place they went.”
Yan Nanfei wanted to ask further, but Gu Qi had already departed. Yan Nanfei chased out the door, but he had already disappeared.
He could only hear Gu Qi’s voice float towards them from far away. “The legends say that when the peacock dies, the bright moon [Mingyue] will sink down as well. It will sink to the ground, sink to the sea…
Chapter 11 - Where Did the Bright Moon Go?
The night was deep. The world was covered in darkness.
Because tonight, there was no bright moon.
Was tonight’s bright moon already dead?
Yan Nanfei whipped the horse into a mad gallop, while Fu Hongxue sat next to him, unmoving.
What a beautiful horse-carriage. What a somber carriage interior.
“Why must we ride the carriage?”
“Because we have a carriage!”
“The horse is already tired. An exhausted horse can’t carry two people, but it can pull a carriage!”
“Because the carriage has wheels?”
“Correct. We have legs as well. Why can’t we walk?”
“Because we are tired as well. We need to conserve our energy.”
“Conserve it for killing?”
“As long as they are people to kill, as long as there are people who should be killed.”
The peacock was dead.
The Peacock Manor was no longer the Peacock Manor.
There were a few spots of light in the darkness. The faint light of the stars shined down upon the ruins, making the scene appear even more desolate.
The horse which had galloped to and fro for hundreds of li finally collapsed.
Nobody was in the underground cellar. There was nothing at all in there. Everything which could be removed had been removed!
The torch light was flickering, because the hand with which Yan Nanfei was holding the torch was shaking.
It is said that when the peacock dies, the bright moon would go down with it as well.
Yan Nanfei gnashed his teeth forcefully. “How did they know? How did they know that there would be people here?”
The hand with which Fu Hongxue was gripping his sabre did not tremble, but the muscles on his face were twitching. His pallid face had already begun to turn red, a bizarre red, a frightening red.
Yan Nanfei said, “When we came, there was definitely nobody following us. Who was it…”
Fu Hongxue suddenly howled, “Get out!”
Yan Nanfei was startled. “Are you telling me to get out?”
Fu Hongxue did not speak again. His lips were already closed tightly.
Astonished, Yan Nanfei looked at him. One step at a time, he retreated from the cellar. Before he had fully exited, Fu Hongxue suddenly collapsed, as though an invisible whip had struck him.
As soon as he collapsed, he started to go into convulsions.
That invisible whip seemed to continue to strike him, lashing him without end.
Fu Honxue’s entire body was contorted and twisted in his agony. Low growls constantly emanated from his throat, sounding like the dying growls of a wild animal. “I was wrong, I was wrong…”
With one hand, he scratched and clawed at the floor, appearing as though he were a man about to drown to death who was trying to grab an invisible wooden log to hold on to.
The ground was strewn with stone rubble. His fingernails disintegrated. His hand was starting to bleed.
His other hand continued to tightly clench his sabre.
The sabre was still the sabre!
The sabre is heartless, and so it endures perpetually.
Yan Nanfei knew that he definitely did not want anyone to see his current agony and his chronic illness.
But Yan Nanfei did not leave, because he knew that although the sabre was still the sabre, Fu Hongxue was no longer Fu Hongxue.
Right now, anyone who walked in could kill Fu Hongxue.
Why must heaven torment him so? Why must a man like this suffer an illness such as this?
Yan Nanfei was just barely able to control himself, preventing himself from shedding tears.
He extinguished the torch. He no longer could bear to watch any more.
But his hand was already gripping the hilt of his sword, hidden under his clothes.
In the middle of the darkness, the hole in the middle of the stone cliff appeared as though it were the mythical evil eye of some vile beast.
He swore an oath. If anyone wanted to charge into that hole right now, that person would immediately die underneath his sword!
He was certain of himself.
No one entered from the hole. But suddenly, the darkness was split by torch light.
Where did the torch light come from?
The torch light entered from the door. The door was opened. Five people came out.
Two of them held torches high. They stood at the entranceway. The other three strode inside.
The first person’s right wrist was wrapped in white cloth. He wore a ribbon around his neck. His left hand was carrying a scimitar. His eyes were filled with hatred and enmity.
The man by his side was wearing a pitch-black Daoist robe. His footsteps were very sure and stable. He gave the appearance of being fully prepared for anything.
The last person’s face was criss-crossed with scars. Although a hint of a smile played about his lips, it only made him look all the more insidious and cruel.
Yan Nanfei’s heart sunk, while bile rose from his stomach. It tasted both sour and bitter.
He should have realized that although others might not be able to open those thirteen locks, Gongsun Tu was able to open them. The hole in the wall wasn’t the only way by which one might enter or depart from this cellar.
None of them thought of this. All of them had been too certain of themselves. Thus, they had committed a fatal error.
Gongsun Tu suddenly stretched his hand out. He opened his palm, revealing a golden object sparkling in it. It was the awe-inspiring Peacock Plume.
The Peacock Plume was in his hands. What about Mingyue Xin?
Yan Nanfei was barely able to restrain himself and prevent himself from vomiting.
Gongsun Tu laughed. “You shouldn’t have let her use this hidden projectile weapon to guard the hole. We are men, not mice. We don’t know how to burrow through the ground or dig holes.”
His laughter was extremely joyful. “If it hadn’t been for the fact that she whole-heartedly focused on guarding that hole, it wouldn’t have been easy for us to enter.”
Yan Nanfei was unable to prevent himself from letting out a long sigh. “I was wrong.”
Gongsun Tu said, “You really were wrong. You should have killed me!”
Yang Wuji lightly said, “Thus, in the future, you must remember my words. If you want to kill somebody, you should abstain from nothing at all.”
Gongsun Tu said, “You shouldn’t remind him. If he has a second chance, I’m a dead man for sure.”
Yang Wuji said, “Will he have a second chance?”
Gongsun Tu said, “No.”
Yang Wuji shook his head. He leisurely said, “The only person he is now capable of killing is himself.”
Gongsun Tu said, “He could kill Fu Hongxue at least.”
Yang Wuji said, “Fu Hongxue belongs to Zhao Ping. He isn’t even able to move.”
Yan Nanfei looked at them. He suddenly felt as though their words were coming from far away!
He should have concentrated all of his energy to defend against them.
He should have known that this was a critical, life-and-death point for him. They definitely wouldn’t let him off, nor could he cower back.
Even if there were a place he could retreat to, he would not.
But he suddenly felt very weary.
Was it because, in his heart, he had already admitted that he wasn’t a match for these two?
The bright moon had sunk and vanished. The undefeatable god of sabres had fallen. What hope could he still have?
Gongsun Tu was asking Zhao Ping, “Who cut off your hand?”
Zhao Ping said, “Fu Hongxue.”
Gongsun Tu said, “Do you want to gain revenge?”
Zhao Ping said, “I do.”
Gongsun Tu said, “How do you plan to handle him?”
Zhao Ping said, “I have a way.”
Gongsun Tu said, “Why haven’t you made your move yet? Can’t you tell that this is your best chance?”
Yang Wuji said, “When a good opportunity is missed, it never comes again. If you wait for Fu Hongxue to wake up, it’ll be too late.”
Gongsun Tu said, “At this moment, you no longer need to worry about Yan Nanfei.”
Zhao Ping couldn’t help but ask, “Why not?”
Gongsun Tu said, “Because if he moves, Fu Hongxue will immediately turn into a peacock.”
Zhao Ping said, “A peacock?”
Gongsun Tu said, “No matter who is struck by this Peacock Plume, that person will turn into a peacock. A dead peacock.”
Zhao Ping laughed. “But I don’t want for him to die so quickly.”
Gongsun Tu laughed as well. “Neither do I.”
Zhao Ping suddenly set down his scimitar, then charged in. He grabbed Fu Hongxue by his hair, lifted up his knee, then slammed it against his jaw. Next, he launched a chopping attack against his neck.
Just as Fu Hongxue’s head was drooping down, Zhao Ping sent out a kick. It sent Fu Hongxue flying into the stone wall.
Next, he rushed over and put his right elbow across Fu Hongxue’s throat. In a fierce voice he said, “Open your eyes and see who I am!”
The blue veins on Fu Hongxue’s forehead were bulging out. He could neither resist nor breathe.
Zhao Ping sneered, “You chopped my right hand off, but I intend to use my left arm to break your neck.”
The blue veins on Yan Nanfei’s forehead were beginning to bulge out as well, as though he was unable to breathe as well.
