Horizon, Bright Moon, Sabre

by RWX

Zhuo Yuzhen naturally could see his pain. Crying, she pulled him onto the bed. Pressing his shoulders, she said in a soft voice, “Right now, you must do your best to relax. Don’t think about anything. Let me treat your wound.”

  She gently caressed his face, then forcefully sealed seven of his acupoints.

  No one could think of this change. Even if everyone in the world could have thought of this, Fu Hongxue definitely could not have thought of it.

  Shocked, he looked at her. But his surprise was far inferior to his pain.

  When you truly have treated someone whole heartedly, only to have that person to sell you out…this sort of pain is indescribable.

  Zhuo Yuzhen laughed. Her laughter was very soft and gentle, very sweet.

  “It seems you are very unhappy. Is it your wound which hurts, or your heart which hurts?”

  Her laughter became even more cheerful. “Regardless of which place is hurting, it won’t hurt very shortly.”

  Because dead people can’t feel pain.

  Smiling, she asked, “Originally, I thought you had the Peacock Plume, but now it seems that I was wrong. So, I will kill you immediately. By then, you won’t have any troubles or worries at all.”

  Fu Hongxue’s lips were chapped. He couldn’t even say a single word.

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “I know you must want to ask me why I have treated you like this, but I refuse to tell you.”

  She looked at his sabre. “You said that nobody is allowed to touch your sabre, but right now, I insist on touching it.”

  She stretched her hand out and pulled out the sabre. “Not only am I going to touch it, I am going to use this sabre to kill you.”

  Her hand was only an inch away from the sabre.

  Fu Hongxue suddenly said, “It’s still best if you don’t touch it!”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Why?”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Because I still don’t want to kill you.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen laughed loudly. “I insist on touching it, and I want to see what sort of method you will use to kill me.”

  She finally touched that sabre!

  His sabre suddenly flipped up, striking the back of her hand. The pitch-black scabbard felt like a piece of extremely hot metal.

  A red mark immediately appeared on her hand. It was so painful, her tears almost immediately came out, but her terror was far greater than her pain.

  She clearly remembered forcefully sealing seven of his acupoints, and her movements had always been very accurate.

  Fu Hongxue said, “Unfortunately, there’s something which you never could have imagined.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen forced herself to ask, “What?”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Every single acupoint on my body has already been moved aside by one inch.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen was stunned.

  She hadn’t left any room for error in her calculations at all, and her acupoint sealing techniques were correct. The person who was wrong was Fu Hongxue. But even in her dreams, she wouldn’t have imagined that his acupoints were in the wrong place as well. This one-inch difference caused her entire plan to fall apart.

  She was annoyed and bitterly remorseful, blaming everything and everyone but herself. But she forgot to think about where this one-inch difference came form.

  Twenty years of bitter training. An inexhaustible amount of blood and sweat. A steadfast, unsurpassable determination. A teeth-grinding restraint.

  This is what he had traded for that one-inch difference. There is no such thing as ‘luck’ in the world.

  She didn’t think of any of this. She only thought of one thing. After this defeat, she definitely wouldn’t have a second opportunity.

  She had totally fallen apart as well.

  But Fu Hongxue had already risen to his feet. He coldly stared at her, then suddenly said, “I know you are hurt as well.” Zhuo Yuzhen said, “You know?”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Your injury is beneath your ribs, between your first and third bones. The wound is four inches long and seven tenths of an inch deep.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “How did you know?”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Because that was my sabre.”

  Outside the main hall of the Ancient Monastery of the Heavenly Dragon, blood dripped from the tip of his sabre.

  Fu Hongxue said, “The person who ambushed me outside the main hall of the Ancient Monastery of the Heavenly Dragon with Gongsun Tu was you.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen actually managed to restrain herself. “Right. It was me.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Your sword skills are very good.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Not bad.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “After I went to the monastery, you immediately followed after me.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “You didn’t move too quickly.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “The reason why Gongsun Tu and the others were able to find this place, naturally was not because Du Shiqi gave away the secret.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Naturally, it wasn’t him. It was me.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “So you killed him to silence him.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Naturally, I could not let him expose my secret.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “They were able to find Mingyue Xin. Naturally, this was because of you as well.”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “If it wasn’t me, how could they have discovered that Mingyue Xin had returned to the secret room within the Peacock Manor?”

  Fu Hongxue said, “You admit to all of this?”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Why wouldn’t I admit to it?”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Why did you do these things?”

  Zhuo Yuzhen suddenly removed a pearl flower from her clothes. It was the same pearl flower which he had taken off the body of ‘Forefinger’ Zhao Ping then given to her in the Peacock Manor.

  Looking at this flower, she said, “You certainly must remember where this came from.”

  Fu Hongxue remembered.

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “That day, I didn’t want anything. All I wanted was this pearl flower. You must have thought that I was like other women; once I saw pearls, I forgot everything else.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “You aren’t?”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “I insisted on taking this pearl flower, because I was afraid that you would see the Peacock Insignia on it.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Peacock?”

  Zhuo Yuzhen said, “This pearl flower was a token of love from Qiu Shuiqing to Zhuo Yuzhen. Up to her death, she was still wearing it.”

  Fu Hongxue said, “Zhuo Yuzhen is already dead?”

  Zhuo Yuzhen coldly said, “If she didn’t die, how could this pearl flower be on Zhao Ping’s body?”

  Fu Hongxue suddenly fell silent, because he had to control himself.

  After a long time, he lightly let out a sigh. “You really aren’t Zhuo Yuzhen. Who are you?”

  She laughed again. Her laughter was ruthless and sly. “You ask me who I am? Have you forgotten that I am your wife?”

  Fu Hongxue’s hand went ice cold.

  “I married you. Although it was only because I wanted to give you a burden and hang on to you, to tire you to death, to fight others to the death for me at any place and any time, anybody would have to admit that I still married you.”

  “…..”

  “I caused Mingyue Xin’s death. I caused Yan Nanfei’s death. I killed Du Shiqi. I wanted to kill you. But I am your wife.” Her laughter was very brutal. “I just want you to remember this. If you kill me, then go ahead and make your move now!”

  Fu Hongxue suddenly charged outside. Without even looking back, he charged into the darkness.

  He could no longer look back.

  Darkness. A darkness which caused one to lose all hope and fall into despair.

  Fu Hongxue charged like a madman. He couldn’t stop, because as soon as he stopped, he would fall down.

  He didn’t think about anything, because he couldn’t think.

  The Peacock Manor was destroyed, but Qiu Shuiqing did not complain at all. He only begged o
ne thing of him, only begged him to protect the very last heir to the Qiu family bloodline.

  But now, Zhuo Yuzhen was already dead.

  ‘She’ knew that the Peacock Insignia was on the pearl flower, and so ‘she’ was definitely one of the killers.

  But he was wholeheartedly taking care of her, protecting her, and had even taken her as his wife.

  If it weren’t for her, how could Mingyue Xin have died?

  If it weren’t for him protecting her, how could Yan Nanfei have died?

  But he always thought that what he had done was correct. Only now did he know how horrible were the things he had done.

  But now, it was too late. Unless a miracle happened, dead people would never come back to life.

  He never believed in miracles.

  So aside from running about in the darkness like a wild dog, what else could he do right now?

  Even if he killed ‘her’, so what?

  He didn’t dare think about this, couldn’t think about this. His mind had slowly become chaotic, a chaos which approached insanity.

  After he used up all of his energy running, he collapsed. When he collapsed, he began to twitch and spasm.

  That invisible whip once again began to rain blows on him without stopping. Now, not only all the deities of heaven and demons of hell were punishing him and making him suffer, he himself was tormenting himself as well.

  This, at least, he could still do.

  The small room was silent.

  It seemed as though there was someone speaking outside, but the voice seemed to come from far away. Everything seemed very blurry, very distant. Even he himself seemed to be very far away. But he clearly was here, in this narrow, cramped, stuffy, vulgar little room.

  What place, exactly, was this?

  Whose room was this?

  All he seemed to remember was that before he collapsed, he charged into a narrow alleyway.

  He seemed to have come here before. But his memory was very blurred, very distant.

  The voices outside suddenly became louder. It was a man talking to a woman.

  “Don’t forget that we are old lovers. How can you give me the cold shoulder like this?” This was the man’s voice.

  “I told you, today we can’t. I beg you to come again another day, okay?” Although the female voice was imploring, she sounded very adamant.

  “Why isn’t today suitable?”

  “Because…because today, I’m on my period.”

  “Blow your mother’s as*hole.” The man suddenly became furious. “Even if your period really came, you’d still have to take your pants off and show me.”

  When a man was at a point where he couldn’t give vent to his lust, his temper usually became very bad.

  “Aren’t you afraid of the smell?”

  “I’m not afraid! I f***ing have money. I’m not afraid of anything! Here’s five silver coins. Why don’t you take it first, then take your pants off!”

  Five silver coins could solve lust?

  Five silver coins could humiliate a girl?

  What place was this? What type of world was this?

  Fu Hongxue’s entire body went cold, as though he had suddenly been sunk into cold water, all the way to the bottom.

  He finally remembered what place this was. Finally saw that small ancestral shrine in front of the bed. Finally remembered that girl with the jasmine flowers.

  Why did he come here? Was it because she had said to him, “I will wait for you!”

  Was it because he was now just like her, without any place to go?

  Was it because he had restrained his lust for too long, and this place could let him give vent to it?

  Only he himself could answer these questions. But the answers were hidden in the deepest, most secretive recesses in his heart. Perhaps no one would ever be able to pull them out.

  Perhaps even he himself could not. He no longer thought about it, because at this moment, a large, drunken fellow charged into the room.

  “Ha! I f***ing knew you were hiding a man in here. I f***ing caught you!”

  His large hand had already reached towards Fu Hongxue’s bed, but the one he grabbed was not Fu Hongxue, but the girl wearing jasmine flowers.

  She had already rushed forward, standing guard in front of the bed. She loudly said, “I won’t let you touch him. He’s sick.”

  The big fellow laughed loudly. “Out of all the men you could find, you had to find a sick sot?”

  The girl wearing jasmine flowers ground her teeth. “If you insist, I can go somewhere else with you, and I won’t even charge you those five silvers. I’ll do it for free this time.”

  The big fellow looked at her, appearing very surprised. “You’ve always demanded payment first. Why are you willing to do it for free this time?”

  She loudly said, “Because I am happy.”

  The big fellow was suddenly angry again. “Why the f*** should I care about if you are happy or not? If you’re happy, I’m not f***ing happy.”

  He exerted his strength. Like a large eagle snatching a little chicklet, he carried her entire person off.

  She did not resist. Because she could not resist, would not resist. She had long since become accustomed to being humiliated by men.

  Fu Hongxue finally stood up. “Release her.”

  The big fellow stared at him in astonishment. “Was it you who spoke?”

  Fu Hongxue nodded.

  The big fellow said, “You diseased sot, did you actually f***ing tell me to release her?”

  Fu Hongxue nodded. “If I f***ing refuse to put her down, what is a diseased sot like you going to do?”

  He finally saw the sabre in Fu Hongxue’s hand. “Punk, so you have a sabre? Do you dare to kill me?”

  Killing. More killing!

  Why must men force other men to kill?

  Fu Hongxue quietly sat down. He felt as though his stomach was contracting. He almost couldn’t resist the urge to vomit.

  The big fellow laughed loudly. He was tall, large, and robust. Muscles bulged from his arms. With a light movement, he tossed the girl onto the bed. And then, he gripped Fu Hongxue’s clothes, loudly laughing, “Sick bastard, do you think you can be a prostitute’s bodyguard? I want to see how many f***ing bones you have!”

  The girl wearing jasmine flowers shrunk away on the bed, shouting in alarm.

  The big fellow was preparing to lift Fu Hongxue up and throw him outside the door.

  With a thudding sound, someone was heavily thrown to the ground outside, but it wasn’t Fu Hongxue. It was the big fellow who wanted to throw him.

  He clambered to his feet, then charged towards him again, slamming his fist towards Fu Hongxue’s face.

  Fu Hongxue didn’t move.

  The big fellow clutched his hand, bending his waist in pain so great that cold sweat began to flow. Shouting loudly, he rushed out.

  Fu Hongxue closed his eyes.

  But the eyes of the girl wearing jasmine flowers were wide open. Shocked, she looked at him, appearing both amazed and admiring.

  Fu Hongxue slowly stood up, then slowly walked out. His clothes had already been soaked through with cold sweat.

  Restraint wasn’t an easy thing.

  Restraint is pain. A pain which very few people can understand.

  Outside the door, the sunlight was dazzlingly bright. Underneath the light of the sun, his face seemed almost translucent.

  Underneath this fresh, brilliant sunlight, what could a person like him do? Where could he go?

  He suddenly felt as though there was an unspeakable feeling of dread in his heart. The one he feared wasn’t another person. It was himself.

  He also feared the sunlight, because he didn’t dare to face this dazzling, fresh sunlight. Nor did he dare to face himself.

  He collapsed once more.

  Chapter 18 - When Affection Begins to Thicken, Affection Turns Flimsy

  Fresh, warm, and sweet fluid flowed into his mouth. His convulsing, spasming stomach
immediately relaxed and smoothed out, as though it were dry dirt which had gained nourishing water.

  Fu Hongxue opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a very white, very small hand. A very white, very small hand, holding a very white, very small soupspoon. One spoonful at a time, it was feeding him a bowl of thick, warm, fragrant, and refreshing soup.

  Upon seeing him awaken, a look of pleasure immediately appeared on her face. “This is the chicken broth which I especially requested from the old lady who washes clothes next door. It’s dark boned chicken. I hear that it’s very effective in replenishing the body. Looks like it really does have a little effect.”

  Fu Hongxue wanted to shut his mouth, but another spoonful of thick chicken broth once again arrived at his mouth. He simply couldn’t resist.

  She was still laughing. “Don’t you think this is strange? All my life, I’ve never taken care of anyone else, nor has anyone ever taken care of me.”

  There was a tiny window in the room. Outside, the sunlight was still as glorious and as bright.

  Her eyes had already left Fu Hongxue’s face, and she stared foolishly at the sunlight outside.

  Although the sunlight was very bright, her eyes were very dark and gloomy. Did she remember all those long-distant memories of times when there was nobody to take care of her?

  Those times clearly did not pass underneath the sunlight. Perhaps her entire life, she had never spent a single day underneath the sun.

  After a long time, she slowly continued. “Only now do I know that taking care of others or being taken care of is such…such a good thing.”

  She wasn’t a girl who understood many things. She had to think a long time before coming up with the word ‘good’ to describe her current feelings.

  Fu Hongxue understood her feelings. It definitely couldn’t be described with the word ‘good’. It also included the words ‘content’, ‘peaceful’, and ‘happy’, because she felt as though she was no longer lonely.

  She didn’t necessarily demand that others take care of her. So long as she had someone to take care of, she would be satisfied.

  Fu Hongxue suddenly asked, “What is your name? Your real name.”

  She laughed again. She liked it when others asked her name. At the very least, this signified that they were treating her as a person.