by RWX
The old man said, “Who?”
Fu Hongxue said, “You.”
The old man said, “Why would I know?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Because you are the real Gongzi Yu.”
The old man laughed. Laughter wasn’t necessarily a denial. At least, his type of laughter definitely was not.
Fu Hongxue said, “The fame and wealth which Gongzi Yu has, definitely was not easily acquired.”
There was no such thing as reaping without sowing in the world. Especially when it comes to fame, wealth, and power.
Fu Hongxue said, “A man will find it very difficult to part with things which he already owns.”
All people were like that.
Fu Hongxue said, “Unfortunately, you are already old, and your physical strength is failing you. If you want to preserve everything you have, you must find someone to take your place.”
Gongzi Yu was silent.
Fu Hongxue said, “Naturally, you must find the strongest person, and so you found Yan Nanfei!”
Gongzi Yu smiled. “He definitely was very strong, and also very young.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Thus, he couldn’t resist your lures and became your substitute.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Originally, he was a very good one.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Unfortunately, at the Phoenix Market, he was defeated by my sabre.”
Gongzi Yu said, “To him, that truly was a great pity.”
Fu Hongxue said, “And to you?’
Gongzi Yu said, “The same.”
Fu Hongxue said, “The same?”
Gongzi Yu said, “Since there was already a stronger person to replace him, why should I use him?”
Fu Hongxue sneered.
Gongzi Yu said, “But I promised him that if he could defeat you within this year, he could still have everything!”
He once more reiterated, “I wanted him to defeat you, not to kill you.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Because you want the strongest person.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Right.”
Fu Hongxue said, “He believed that the most fearful part of my sabreplay is my drawing of the sabre.”
Gongzi Yu said, “So he bitterly trained in drawing his sword. Unfortunately, after a year, he still wasn’t certain of beating you.”
Fu Hongxue said, “So that made him want the Sorrowful Book and the Peacock Plume all the more.”
Gongzi Yu said, “So he was wrong.”
Fu Hongxue said, “This was his mistake as well?”
Gongzi Yu said, “Yes!”
Fu Hongxue said, “Why?”
Gongzi Yu said, “Because he didn’t know that these two things had long ago fallen into my hands.”
Fu Hongxue shut his mouth.
Gongzi Yu said, “He also didn’t know that these two things simply weren’t as terrifying as the legends made them out to be. Even if he had obtained them, he still wouldn’t be assured of victory against you.”
Legends made everything in them better than they actually were. Fu Hongxue understood this.
Gongzi Yu said, “I could tell long ago that you were stronger than him, because you have a strangely tough and resilient sabre.”
He explained, “You can resist pain which others cannot endure, and can withstand attacks which others cannot handle.”
Fu Hongxue said, “So you hoped that I would win this battle from the start.”
Gongzi Yu said, “So I had Zhuo Zi keep you company. I didn’t want you to be too tense before the final battle.”
Fu Hongxue shut his mouth again. Now, he finally understood everything. All of the unexplicable mysteries suddenly became very simple in the blink of an eye.
Staring at him, Gongzi Yu said, “And so, you are now Gongzi Yu.”
Fu Hongxue said, “I am only Gongzi Yu’s body double.”
Gongzi Yu said, “But you already have everything!”
Fu Hongxue said, “No one can truly have this ‘everything’. This ‘everything’ will forever be yours.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Therefore…”
Fu Hongxue said, “Therefore, right now I am still Fu Hongxue.”
Gongzi Yu’s pupils suddenly contracted. “You aren’t willing to accept everything?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Right.”
His pupils contracted, and his hand tightened again. The hand with which he drew his sabre.
After a long time, Gongzi Yu suddenly laughed. “You can already tell that I am an old man.”
Fu Hongxue admitted to it.
Gongzi Yu said, “You are thirty-five or thirty-six years old this year, yes?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Thirty seven.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Do you know how old I am?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Sixty?”
Gongzi Yu laughed again.
A very strange laugh, one filled with an indescribable cynicism and sorrow.
Fu Hongxue said, “You aren’t sixty yet?”
Gongzi Yu said, “This year, I am thirty seven.”
Fu Hongxue stared at him in shock, looking at the wrinkles on his face and his snow-white hair.
He couldn’t believe it. But he knew that a decrepit-looking person wasn’t necessarily decrepit because of the passage of years. Many things could make someone old.
Longing could make one old. Sadness and pain could as well.
Gongzi Yu said, “Do you know what aged me?”
Fu Hongxue knew. If a person lusted after too much, he would age very soon. Desire is the greatest pain which man can know.
He knew, but he did not say it. Since he already knew, why say it?
Gongzi Yu did not explain either. He knew that Fu Hongxue definitely understood his meaning.
“It was precisely because I desired too much that I aged. It is precisely because I am old, that I am stronger than you.”
He spoke very tactfully. “If you will not be Gongzi Yu, then you will no longer be Fu Hongxue.”
Fu Hongxue said, “I will be a dead man?”
Gongzi Yu said, “Yes.”
Fu Hongxue sat down, on top of a low table in front of the short couch.
He was very tired. After going through that earlier battle, anybody would feel tired.
But his heart was very energetic. He knew that there must be another battle, and that this battle must be more dangerous than the earlier one.
Gongzi Yu said, “You can consider it a bit longer.”
Fu Hongxue said, “I don’t need to.”
Gongzi Yu was sighing. “You certainly know that I am very unwilling for you to die.”
Fu Hongxue knew. To find another body double such as he, definitely would not be very easy.
Gongzi Yu said, “Unfortunately, I already no longer have any room to do otherwise.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Neither do I.”
Gongzi Yu said, “You have nothing.”
Fu Hongxue couldn’t deny it.
Gongzi Yu said, “You don’t have wealth, you don’t have power, you don’t have friends, and you don’t have loved ones.”
Fu Hongxue said, “I only have my life.”
Gongzi Yu said, “You have one more thing.”
Fu Hongxue said, “What?”
Gongzi Yu said, “Your reputation.”
He laughed again. “If you refuse me, not only will I take your life, I will destroy your reputation. I have many ways!”
Fu Hongxue said, “You seem to have everything.”
Gongzi Yu did not deny it either.
Fu Hongxue said, “You have wealth, you have power, and the experts under your banner are innumerable like the clouds.”
Gongzi Yu said, “To kill you, I might not need them.”
Fu Hongxue said, “You have everything, save for one thing.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Oh?”
Fu Hongxue said, “You no longer have joy in life.”
Gongzi Yu was laughing.
Fu Hongxue said, “Even if Gongzi Yu’s fame shall last into perpetuity, you
yourself are already a dead man.”
Gongzi Yu’s hands tightened.
Fu Hongxue said, “Without joy in life, one does not have a fighting spirit. So if you were to fight with me, you would be defeated without question.”
Gongzi Yu was still laughing, but his laughter had become very stiff.
Fu Hongxue said, “If you dare to stand up and fight me, and if you can defeat me, I will give my life to you without any complaints.”
He smirked, then continued, “But you don’t dare.”
He fixed his gaze upon Gongzi Yu. There was a sabre in his hands. There was a sabre in his eyes. And there was a sabre in his words as well.
Gongzi Yu truly did not stand up. Was it because he truly could not stand? Or was it because of Madame Zhuo’s hand? Her hand had already pressed down on his shoulder.
Fu Hongxue had already turned around. He slowly walked out.
Gongzi Yu watched him walk away.
His walking posture was still as clumsy, as stupid as ever, but when others watched him, their eyes would still be filled with reverence.
No matter who watched him, it would be the same.
His hand tightly clenched the sabre the entire time, but he did not draw it.
I am not going to kill you, because you are already a dead man.
If a person’s heart died, even if his body was still fine, it would be of no use. He knew why she pressed down on Gongzi Yu’s shoulder. Because she, too, didn’t want to keep on living this sort of life.
She would always be Gongzi Yu’s woman. In her heart, there was only one, real, Gongzi Yu. No one could ever replace him. Regardless of if he became old, or if he died, no one could ever replace him. So she was willing to do anything for him.
Could he understand this? When would he understand this? Why was it that the silkworms of spring were only able to release their silk after dying?
The sun set in the west. Fu Hongxue stood before the setting sun, in front of the ruins of the Peacock Manor. The twilight was cold and mesmerizing, revealing wounds and trauma everywhere around him.
He pulled out a white letter and placed it in front of the graves of his friends.
A snow-white letter. Deathly black words.
This was Gongzi Yu’s obituary notice. It was an obituary notice which had spread around the entire world, and without question, stunned the entire world.
Dust to dust, earth to earth. People will always die.
He let out a long sigh, then raised his head to look at the sky. Dusk had began to darken, and night was about to arrive.
He suddenly felt an inexpressible peacefulness in his heart, because he knew that just before the darkness arrived, the bright moon would rise.
The wine was within his cup. The cup was within his hands.
Gongzi Yu placed the cup facing the window. Outside the window, there were green hills, emerald gorges, and water flowing underneath a small bridge.
A pair of hands pressed down on his shoulder. So beautiful. So gentle and soft.
She lightly asked, “When did you make up your mind to do this?”
“When I really understood everything.”
“What did you understand?”
“What is the purpose of life?” His hand lightly pressed on top of hers. “The purpose of a person’s life is to be happy and content. If he doesn’t even have joy in life, even if his fame, wealth, and power shall forever endure, what’s the use?”
She laughed. Such sweet, warm, gentle laughter.
She knew that he really had understood.
Although others believed him to be dead, he was still alive. Truly alive. Because he had learned how to enjoy life.
If a person truly understood how to enjoy life, even if he could be alive for but a day, it would be enough.
“I know that Gongsun Tu and the others shall not be alive long.”
“Why?”
“Because I have already sown poisonous seeds in their heart.”
“Poisonous seeds?”
“My wealth and my power.”
“You believe that they will die due to fighting for these things?”
“Definitely.”
She laughed again. Her laughter was even gentler, softer, and sweeter than before.
She knew why he was doing this. It was because he was atoning for his crimes for her. He whole-heartedly hoped for their joy and peace.
Now, everything had succeeded.
He raised the cup to the wine sky, but no longer asked where the bright moon was.
He already knew where his bright moon was.
A lonely little room. A lonely woman.
Her life was lonely and arduous, but she didn’t blame heaven, because her heart was at peace. She already was able to use her strength to make a living for herself, and no longer needed to sell herself. Perhaps she wasn’t happy, but she had learned how to endure.
There are many things in life which are not as one wishes. Everyone should learn how to endure.
Another day had passed, a very dull day.
Carrying a basket of clothes, she walked to the head of a small stream. She definitely had to wash these clothes before she could rest.
She wore two small jasmine flowers on her own clothes. They were her one and only luxury items. The creek’s water was clear and clean. She lowered her head down and gazed into it. Suddenly, she saw that someone had appeared in the clear, clean water.
A lonely man. A lonely sabre.
Her heart began to jump. She lifted up her head and saw a pallid face.
Her heart immediately seemed to stop moving. She had long since no longer hoped for any more happiness in her life, but now, happiness had suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.
They silently stared at each other for a long, long time without opening their mouths. Happiness came to life between their mingled gazes, like a flower coming to bloom.
At this moment in time, what words could possibly suffice to express their happiness and contentment?
At this time, the bright moon rose up in the sky.
Where is the bright moon?
So long as your heart is alive, the bright moon is within your heart!
