Righteous Blood Cleansing Silver Spear - Shen Hongye' s excerpt

[Du Gu seeking a win]

ermmm actually Duan Men in Chinese means ends one's family line. in another words no descendant, not Breaking Door. i think Five Tigers Door Breaking Saber is nicer if u cant find a word for 'ends one's family line'. anyway thanks for the great translation

*
What about: 'Five tigers ending descendants sabre'?

[BeeDreamer]

Chapter 5 A Girl Named Dawan

Dry twigs burned very fast, and the fire was becoming weaker by the minute. Ma Rulong willed himself to stay calm as much as he could but his mind just wouldn’t let him. His body grew colder and would soon freeze. The fire was about to die out but he still had no idea when the pressure points on his body would be unsealed.

And now wasn’t even the coldest time of the night. If this went on, perhaps he would freeze to death in here. He’d never thought of this before. A possibility of someone like him freezing like this was truly what life was all about. No one could really predict the future, nor could he know his destiny. What a twist of fate!

Ma Rulong sighed inwardly, just realizing that his old arrogant self was gone. By this time, that girl suddenly lifted her head from the fox fur coat.

Ma Rulong’s pressure points were still blocked, but hers were not. With that pair of small mousy eyes, for a long time she looked really like a mouse surveying the area. Then she let out a long, long sigh and said, “Who would have thought that that fat person would suddenly left and that you would still be alive?”

This indeed was an unforseen incident! Nobody could have imagined that Peng Tianba would suddenly let Ma Rulong off and run away like a rabbit struck by an arrow, fleeing into the wilderness.

She stood up, putting on Ma Rulong’s fur coat. With a smile she said, “The fur on this coat is really not bad. It’s light, soft, and warm. The size also happens to be just right.”

Luckily, Ma Rulong could still speak.

He couldn’t stop himself and said, “What a pity that the coat appears to be mine.”

The girl shook her head and said, “This is not yours. It’s no longer yours.”

“How come?” Ma Rulong asked.

“Because you already gave it to that fat person, who then gave it to me,” explained the girl.

Then she added with a delightful smile, “So the coat now belongs to me.”

Ma Rulong didn’t argue. He’d never been a petty person, and he simply didn’t care about this kind of matters. But he was really very cold. So, again, he couldn’t bear it and asked, “Could you stir up the fire?”

“Why should I stir up the fire? I’m not cold,” replied the girl.

With a bitter smile Ma Rulong said, “You are not, but I am.”

“I’m not cold. How can you be cold?” The girl said.

Ma Rulong was stupified. This girl was really crazy, so crazy that he couldn’t cry even if he wanted to. He couldn’t laugh either. There suddenly was no air in his stomach. This was just his luck.

To his surprise, the girl continued, “Young people must be able to endure hardships and hard work. What’s the big deal with being a little cold? You are young. If you can’t bear a bit of discomfort, how do you think you will accomplish anything big in the future?”

Ma Rulong shut his mouth. He eventually learned that explaining things to this kind of person was not only futile, but downright stupid. When a man met a woman like this, the best he could do was to keep his eyes and mouth shut.

The girl suddenly let him off and muttered, “Don’t know if the sky’s already cleared up. I’ll go and take a look.” She talked to herself while walking out the door. But she suddenly gave out a loud cry and ran back in, looking as if an arrow had hit her in the butt.

Ma Rulong actually didn’t want to pay her any attention. But even though this girl was nasty, she was pretty good to him.

Not only did she say he was a good person, she risked her life trying to hold Peng Tianba so he could flee. As long as he lived, he had to live with a clear conscience, being able to distinguish between gratitude and resentment.

And so, Ma Rulong had no choice but to ask, “What’s the matter?”

“Outside.. .. there’s someone outside.” The girl said in fright.

The weather was cold, the earth was frozen, and it was late at night. How could there be anyone outside of this abandoned and tumbledown temple?

Again, Ma Rulong had to ask, “Who?”

“It was that fat person just now,” replied the girl.

Ma Rulong’s expression changed. He said, “He didn’t leave?

The girl replied, “No, he didn’t.”

He hadn’t left, but why didn’t he come in?

Ma Rulong asked, “What was he doing out there?”

The girl replied, “Who knows what he was doing? He just lay there by himself, looking like he was sleeping.”

Surprisingly, she could still reason, “Fat people always like to sleep.”

But no matter how fat one was, or how much one liked to sleep, he couldn’t possibly be sleeping in the snow.

Ma Rulong said, “Maybe you saw something else.”

The girl said, “I certainly did not. Not only can I see far into the distance, my eyesight is also the best.”

Her eyes didn’t look so ugly from afar, at least they looked a little better than those of a mouse.

“Could you go out and take a look again?” Ma Rulong requested.

“Why don’t you go see for yourself?” The girl asked.

The girl looked at him and suddenly laughed. She said, “I got it. You are like me. You got kicked by that fat person, so right now you can’t move.”

Ma Rulong said nothing.

Unexpectedly the girl said, “Okay, I’ll go check it out for you. You’ve been quite nice to me anyhow.”

But just after her exit, she screamed and ran back into the temple again, looking even more frightened than a moment ago.

“He wasn’t there?” Ma Rulong asked.

She gasped for breath and said, “He.. ..he was there. He wouldn’t be leaving anymore.”

“Why?” Ma Rulong asked.

The girl replied, “Because he was already dead!”

How could Peng Tianba die? A moment ago he was still very much alive. Besides, he was healthy, without illness or pain, looking like he would outlive anybody.

“He was really dead?” Ma Rulong asked.

The girl replied, “Dead as dead can be, totally dead, absolutely dead.”

“Did you find out how he’d suddenly died?” Ma Rulong asked.

The girl said, “Of course, I did.”

She appeared to be trembling. “No matter who it was, I would certainly know that he couldn’t possibly live after his throat was slashed!

Ma Rulong was even more puzzled. Peng Tianba’s saber had ranked among the best and most famous in the martial realm. How could someone slash his throat? Who did it? Was there anybody in the world who had a faster and more famous blade? And why would such a person cut his throat?

There was only one explanation. Peng Tianba was not the real culprit. There was another person behind this scheme, who gave orders to him. And this person had just killed him to eleminate another witness. Who was this person? After killing Peng Tianba, why didn’t he come in to finish off Ma Rulong?

Except ‘this person,’ no other people could answer these questions. Ma Rulong finally found out that this plot was even more complex, more terrifying that what he had originally thought.

The girl suddenly said, “This is bad.”

“What is?” Ma Rulong asked.

“We really can’t stay here,” explained the girl.

Ma Rulong agreed with her. They definitely couldn’t stay here any longer. Too bad he couldn’t walk.

Suddenly the girl said, “I’m a woman.”

“I know,” said Ma Rulong.

The girl said, “All heroic true men are men. Gentlemen are also men. So.. ..”

“So what?” Ma Rulong asked.

“So I’m not a gentleman, nor am I a heroic true man.” She said with a sigh.

“So although you can’t walk, I actually have to go.” She added.

For her, Ma Rulong had stopped at this place, built this fire, and run into this trouble.

Right now she said she had to go, alone.

Surprisingly Ma Rulong replied, “All right, you should go.”

Yet, the girl added, “But I can’t just walk. I definitely need your horse.”

Ma Rulong unexpectedly said, “Fine, you ride away.”

The girl eventually felt that this person was little peculiar. She was still human after all. Unable to stifle a sigh she said, “You are really a good person. It’s only too bad that.. ..”

Ma Rulong asked, “Too bad that.. what?”

“Too bad that good people always die young,” said the girl.

Surprisingly, she really left. She put on Ma Rulong’s fox fur coat, climbed on Ma Rulong’s white horse, and left. The fire had already burnt itself out. She didn’t add any more firewood for him either. What the girl did was really merciless, 100 times more merciless than what the merciless monk would ever do.

It was a cold and quiet night. Even before the sounds of hoof beats faded into the distance, along with the cold wind came the sounds of extremely light and quick footsteps. They were the footsteps of two people, coming to stop right outside the ruined temple.

“There’s a dead body here,” a voice said. “Peng Tianba’s body”

“Can we save him?”

“The wound is fatal. Even a god would’t be able to bring him back to life.”

Ma Rulong’s heart sank. Having heard the voices, he knew that the two people were precisely the merciless monk and Feng Chaofan. They had just seen Peng Tianba’s dead body. If finding him in here, they wouldn’t give him a chance to explain again. Anyhow, nobody would have thought they wouldn’t walk into the temple. This was because they’d seen his white horse speeding away just a moment ago.

“That was definitely the white dragon colt from the Hall of Celestial Horse.”

They also saw someone on the horse, wearing fox fur.

“This was a fatal blade. He killed and left. What a cruel hand! What a vicious person!”

“He won’t get away.”

“But Peng Tianba.. ..”

“Peng Tianba will wait here. Ma Rulong won’t. We’ll go after him!”

After those words were spoken, the sounds of footsteps and gown sleeves flapping in the wind disappeared into the distance. They all mistook that rider in fox fur as Ma Rulong, not realizing that there was someone in the ruined temple.

If that girl hadn’t left, or if there had been a fire, or if that white horse had been here, what would have happened just now? Ma Rulong of course hadn’t thought about all these things. He suddenly realized that the girl was not just merciless, but also ingenious and mysterious. He also found out that she was not a difficult and irrational female as she appeared to be. Instead, she was perhaps much smarter than other people.

No matter how cold or how long the winter nights, dawn would always come. No matter how excellent one’s acupoint sealing technique, sealed acupoints would eventually become unsealed.

Right now, dawn already broke the sky. Blood and chi flowed through the sealed acupoints.

Peng Tianba certainly hadn’t used a heavy acupoint sealing techique. He didn’t mean to seal Ma Rulong’s acupoints for very long because he’d expected him to die quite shortly. Who would have imagined that at the moment Ma Rulong was still alive but he himself had turned into an ice-cold, stiff corpse. That blade slashed the left side of his throat from front to back, severing all the major blood vessels on his neck.

This was a lethal blade, which had just killed someone. This someone was the most famous saber master of the martial realm. It seemed that nobody could ever dodge his saber strike. And there certainly was no blade in the world that he wouldn’t be able to deflect. But this blade had already taken his life.

Not even in his dream did it occur to him that this person would turn against him, or that the blade would slash his throat. This was because this person was his friend -- his very close friend -- his loyal and trustworthy friend. They had plotted all this together. He hadn’t expected that this person would silence him after everything was all done. Who was this person? Ma Rulong couldn’t guess. Actually, he had no clue, no clue at all. Really, nobody knew the answer to this question.

The easier questions would be – After the plan succeeded, what would happen? What would be the consequences? Who would most benefit from it?

Surely, this person had concocted the plan for his own benefit. After it was executed, Ma Rulong would become the culprit. The families and friends of Du Qinglian, Shen Hongye, and Qiu Fengcheng would all come after Ma Rulong.

If they couldn’t find Ma Rulong, they would go look for him at the Hall of Celestial Horse. And if they succeeded in killing Ma Rulong, the Hall of Celestial Horse would certainly retalitate. And so, eventually this would become a feud, a feud between the Hall of Celestial Horse and the Du, Shen, and Qiu families.

The feud between these powerful families would of course result in mutual destruction. When a kingfisher and a clam fought, the fisherman would profit. Who was this fisherman?

Under the cloudless sky, hoofprints in the snow were so clear that they looked like someone had drawn a line for other people to follow. Had they already caught up with the girl?

Ma Rulong could even imagine the not-knowing-whether-to-laugh-or-to-cry expression on the two people’s face when they found out what kind of person that girl was. He suddenly thought that this very ruthless, very ugly, and very strange girl was actually very interesting.

This was the first time he thought she was very interesing.

Whatever, he didn’t owe her anything, and later he would probably never see her again. She went east. He would definitely go west. Right now, he was awfully cold, and awfully hungry. He knew that to the west there was a big town with a very good inn. At this inn, the rooms were always very neat and clean, with freshly changed linens and luxurious fires! In the kitchen, there were always very tasty mutton stews, along with some fragrant and soft sesame seed cake. And those were exactly what he needed right now.

This was a lively, busy town, with clean and tidy streets. That inn servant was standing at the entrance, trying to pull business. About to walk into the inn, Ma Rulong suddenly remembered that he didn’t have any money, not even for a piece of sesame seed cake, and so he didn’t dare to go in. That inn servant didn’t try to invite him in either. In a severely cold weather like this, this person didn’t even have a piece of fur on his body. He couldn’t possibly be a good customer.

Getting a cold shoulder from people left a bad taste in his mouth. This was the first time Ma Rulong had experienced this kind of treatment. He’d finally discovered that people valued money, much more than they did him. And so, despite being cold, hungry, and broke, he straightened himself and kept moving in big strides.

Although he didn’t know where he was going, his feet never stopped. Suddenly, he saw a white horse. He recognized the horse, and it seemed like the horse also recognized him.

The horse raised its hoofs and softly neighed. This was his own dragon colt.

The horse was tied up under a restaurant. Suddenly someone stuck her head out of a restaurant window, beckoning to him.

To his surprise, this someone was that strangely ugly girl, who was all merciless, mysterious, and interesting. Obviously, she’d gone east. How come she suddenly appeared in this west side town?

In a loud voice she called out, “Come up. Come up, quick.”

Ma Rulong hesitated. She demanded again, “Are you going to join me up here, or do I have to go get you?”

Ma Rulong could only force a smile. He said, “I’m coming up. I’m coming up by myself.”

The restaurant was spacious and warm, filled with the smells of mutton stews, fried fish, and sesame seed cake.

By herself, she was occupying a table that could seat eight people, and there were so much food and wine on the table that even eight people couldn’t possibly finish them all. She still had on Ma Rulong’s fox fur coat.

She looked at him and said, “Sit down. Sit down, quick.”

Ma Rulong could only sit down.

Again she ordered, “Eat. Eat, quick.”

And so, Ma Rulong ate. He didn’t want her to drag him, nor did he want her to shove mutton into his mouth. She didn’t look like the type that would let other people have their own way.

Seeing that Ma Rulong had swallowed a small piece of stewed mutton, her eyes twinkled with laughter. But she put on a serious expression and said, “Young people must be able to bear hunger, and they must be able to eat. If you don’t finish this bowl of mutton stew, no matter what you say, I’m not going to listen.”

Ma Rulong did finish that big bowl of mutton stew, and two pieces of sesame seed cake.

The girl poured him a big bowl of wine and handed it to him. She said, “You’ve eaten. Now you can drink. Drink, quick.”

“I don’t drink.” Ma Rulong actually shook his head.

The girl said, “Do you want me to hold your nose and pour it down?”

Ma Rulong ignored her. He really didn’t believe that a girl could pinch his nose in public. But he was wrong. She really squeezed his nose with her fingers.

Although her face was ugly and strange, her hands were beautiful, smooth and delicate.

Soft and supple hands. This was the first time Ma Rulong had discovered that there was a beautiful thing on her body. He ended up drinking that bowl of wine.

He hadn’t touched a drop of wine since his three-day drinking spree at the Zhenzhu restaurant. He had decided to quit drinking. Anyhow, no matter how determined one was, after going through a series of unfortunate events and having a girl squeeze his nose in public like this, one’s determination was likely to waver.

The girl finally laughed and said, “Now, you look like you are still alive. If a man doesn’t dare to drink, he’s not a real man.”

She poured him another bowl and said, “But don’t worry. There’s no poison in this wine. I surely don’t want to poison you to death.”

Now that Ma Rulong resumed drinking after abstinence, he drank jollily, wanting to get drunk. No matter who it was, if they were in his shoes, they would all want to be drunk. After three big bowls, he started to loosen up. He finally asked, “Am I allowed to speak now?”

The girl said coldly, “If it’s something good, speak. If it’s bullshit, shut up.”

“How come you are here?” Ma Rulong asked.

“I felt like coming so I came,” The girl replied.

“But you originally went east, didn’t you?” Ma Rulong asked.

The girl replied, “I suddenly wanted to come west.”

“Were you spying on me?” Ma Rulong continued.

“Do you think you are so handsome that every girl has to spy on you?” The girl retorted.

With a sneer she suddenly said, “I’m not Du Qinglian’s mother, nor am I Shen Hongye’s. I’m not that stinky monk’s ancestor grandma either. Why on earth would I spy on you?”

Ma Rulong’s expression changed. He asked, “Do you know about this too?”

The girl made a noise, “Humph.”

“How can you possibly know?” Ma Rulong asked.

“Humph,” replied the girl.

Ma Rulong asked, “Did you run into Feng Chaofan and the merciless monk? Did they tell you all this?”

The girl no longer made noises. She just slowly poured another bowl of wine for him, a big bowl.

With a sigh Ma Rulong said, “Must you always drink with a big bowl?

“Yes,” finally replied the girl.

Ma Rulong asked, “Why always a big bowl?”

The girl said, “Only Xiaowan would drink with a little bowl (xiao wan). I’m not Xiaowan.”

Xiaowan? Ma Rulong felt like he’d heard the name before. He had heard it from Qiu Fengcheng, who said his sweetheart was called Xiaowan. And that piece of jade in his pocket was given to him by this Xiaowan.

Ma Rulong couldn’t stop himself. He asked again, “Do you know Xiaowan too?”

The girl said coldly, “You ask too many questions.”

“But you are not answering any of them,” said Ma Rulong.

The girl said, “That’s only because you kept asking questions that shouldn’t be asked, and you are not asking what you should ask.”

“What should I ask then?” Ma Rulong said.

The girl replied, “You’ve eaten my food. You’ve drunk my wine. At least you should have asked me my name!”

“What’s your name?” Ma Rulong asked.

She said, “Xiaowan drinks with a small bowl (xiao wan). I drink with a big bowl (da wan). What should be my name?”

“Your name is Dawan?” Ma Rulong said.

The girl let out a hearty laugh and said, “Your intelligence has finally improved.”


[END of CH5]

[ProtoM]

Thanx for the big update. This girl is very interesting. I am guessing that she will turn into a beautiful girl later?

[fastclock]

Thanks Bee...
It's getting more and more interesting now.
Certainly an interesting girl who seems to be much cleverer than Ma Rulong.

[”~‹á�á]

Thanks, haha. Learn another word today.

But um, you said 'ends one's family line' as in

- the saber is so vicious that it kills everybody who happens to run into it -- no chance for the victims to continue their family line..

or

-The saber master Peng Tianba is the last one in his family???

yeah your 1st answer is exactly what it means. i was thinking about explaining this in my previous posting, but ha my english fountation is poor, can't phase it like u did.

btw thanks again for translating this novel, it is one of my favorite novel, i even brought this book

[BeeDreamer]

btw thanks again for translating this novel, it is one of my favorite novel, i even brought this book

Nah, thank YOU. In fact, it was you who told me about Shen Hongye and this book when I asked about Ah Fei some time ago..

But um, the ugly girl is certainly smart.. can't tell you if she'll turn out pretty tho.. Actually, I think it's one of the reasons I like Ma Rulong.. he's like so snobbish and obnoxious you want to slap him silly... but he's not one for pretty faces.. so it's sorta like a break from all those incredibly gorgeous women of the JY and GL universe..

[Laviathan]

ermmm actually Duan Men in Chinese means ends one's family line. in another words no descendant, not Breaking Door. i think Five Tigers Door Breaking Saber is nicer if u cant find a word for 'ends one's family line'. anyway thanks for the great translation

No, it's not like that.

Wu Hu Duan Men Dao (Five Tigers Breaking Door Saber) is a martial art style which really existed, IIRC. The Door here refers to the defense of the opponent, and the different areas of the enemy's body.

In HSDS however, Wudang has a martial art called Huzhao Juehu Shou (Tiger Claw Ending Bloodline Hand) which attacks the opponent's groin.

[PrincessRydia]

No, it's not like that.

Wu Hu Duan Men Dao (Five Tigers Breaking Door Saber) is a martial art style which really existed, IIRC. The Door here refers to the defense of the opponent, and the different areas of the enemy's body.

In HSDS however, Wudang has a martial art called Huzhao Juehu Shou (Tiger Claw Ending Bloodline Hand) which attacks the opponent's groin.

thats a scary kungfu, attacking the groin to end the family line!!!

[Yang Guo]

Why would WuDang have such an attack?

[Laviathan]

The original martial art was Tiger Claw developed by Zhang Sanfeng. His second disciple, Yu Lianzhou, created a few variations within the techniques, all aimed at the opponent's groin. Zhang Sanfeng was not happy about it, becuase he did not like the vicious nature of the techniques. He therefore named the new style Tiger Claw Ceasing Bloodline Hand, and told Yu Lianzhou and his brothers not to use it unless their lives are truly in danger and there's no other way out.

[”~‹á�á]

The Door here refers to the defense of the opponent, and the different areas of the enemy's body.

i think u are refering the 'men' [door] here from the word 'kong men' [an 'open' in an enemy's defense/attack]. however i think this is very unlikely as in Chinese 'kong' and 'men' are 2 diff meaning words, only when they are together means [an 'open' in an enemy's defense/attack]. In chinese, we aren't to seperate a word with 2 chinese characters which have its individual meaning which is diff from the word formed. therefore the word 'men' here has high probability of refering to 'mie men' [kills everyone in the family]. 'mie' means eliminate, 'mie men' means eliminate the whole family. in this case, the word 'mie' alone has the same meaning as the 'mie' in the word 'mie men'. thus the 'men' in this case can be extracted out with the meaning of 'whole family' and replace the word 'eliminate' by 'end'.

#For those who don't understand chinese - when naming something, chinese characters are sometimes rephase to make it sounds nice. that's the beauty of chinese

[Ian Liew]

It'd have to be a very delicate and accurate sabre to end one's line. While I can picture (quite disturbingly) the Hu Zhao (I used it for a while in the online game Jin Yong Online before I got round to Taijiquan - I proposed to the moderators that if you're hit by that skill you should automatically qualify to learn the Sunflower skill and Pixie sword without having to do it manually but they didn't think much of that proposal) I can't for the life of me picture a sabre slash that accurate.

Or did you mean 'duan men' as in 'I kill your whole family' rather than 'stop your line there and there'?

[Laviathan]

i think u are refering the 'men' [door] here from the word 'kong men' [an 'open' in an enemy's defense/attack]. however i think this is very unlikely as in Chinese 'kong' and 'men' are 2 diff meaning words, only when they are together means [an 'open' in an enemy's defense/attack]. In chinese, we aren't to seperate a word with 2 chinese characters which have its individual meaning which is diff from the word formed. therefore the word 'men' here has high probability of refering to 'mie men' [kills everyone in the family]. 'mie' means eliminate, 'mie men' means eliminate the whole family. in this case, the word 'mie' alone has the same meaning as the 'mie' in the word 'mie men'. thus the 'men' in this case can be extracted out with the meaning of 'whole family' and replace the word 'eliminate' by 'end'.

#For those who don't understand chinese - when naming something, chinese characters are sometimes rephase to make it sounds nice. that's the beauty of chinese

As a practitioner of Chinese martial arts, I have encountered several names of techniques and forms with the character "Men" (Door/Gate).

In the Tongbei Style 通背拳 there's a Gates Breaking Spear (Duan Men Qiang) 断门枪, its name meaning to break through the opponent's defense.

In Cantonese Hung Gar Kuen, there's the Tie Men Guan (Iron Gate).

Also there's a Chinese martial arts saying which states "The hands are like two gates, while the attacking power is derived from the legs".

So I am pretty convinced that the Door here refers to the enemy's defense.

Just my 2 cents.

[”~‹á�á]

Or did you mean 'duan men' as in 'I kill your whole family' rather than 'stop your line there and there'?

what i mean is it ends the victims' family line by ending the victims' lives. not by chopping which part of the body

As a practitioner of Chinese martial arts, I have encountered several names of techniques and forms with the character "Men" (Door/Gate).

In the Tongbei Style 通背拳 there's a Gates Breaking Spear (Duan Men Qiang) 断门枪, its name meaning to break through the opponent's defense.

In Cantonese Hung Gar Kuen, there's the Tie Men Guan (Iron Gate).

Also there's a Chinese martial arts saying which states "The hands are like two gates, while the attacking power is derived from the legs".

So I am pretty convinced that the Door here refers to the enemy's defense.

Just my 2 cents.

hmm.. in that case, u may be right too.

[BeeDreamer]

Chapter 6 Broken Bowl

The girl’s name was Dawan. Although her face was stern and ugly, her hands were actually more beautiful than those of many girls. And although her eyes were small and narrow, when smiling, they actually were quite gentle, like flowing spring water in sunlight.

Her words were mean and cutting, but if one really thought about it, it was as if they conveyed deeper messages.

And despite the fact that she had this not-sure-whether-to-laugh-or-to-cry effect on people and that she was incredibly irrational, people would realize later on that what she did, she did it for their own good. If she hadn’t put on Ma Rulong’s fox fur coat and ridden away on his white horse, he might not have lived until now.

It was very much possible that she’d heard about this matter from Feng Chaofan. Still, she didn’t treat him like he was a cold-blooded murderer. Right now if there was only one person in the whole world who was willing to be his friend, perhaps she was that person. But, really, who was she?

All of a sudden Ma Rulong said, “You are a good person.”

He sighed again, “Before I always thought you were unreasonable. Only now I know you are a good person.”

“How do you know I’m a good person?” Dawan asked.

“I can’t put it into words but I know,” replied Ma Rulong.

Then he poured her a bowl of wine. He said, “Come, I’m using a big bowl (da wan) in your honor.”

Surprisingly, Dawan actually drank that big bowl of wine. She drank jollily.

Suddenly Ma Rulong asked again, “You are Dawan. Are you related to that Xiaowan?”

“Nope,” replied Dawan.

“It’s a pity,” said Ma Rulong.

Dawan asked, “What is? Is it because you want to see that Xiaowan?”

“I really want to see her,” replied Ma Rulong.

Dawan said, “What a pity that you can’t find her.”

Ma Rulong forced a smile and said, “A pity is that she isn’t named Dawan.”

“What’s there to pity?” Dawan said.

Ma Rulong replied, “If her name was Dawan, it would be relatively easy to find her. It’s such a pity that she’s called Xiaowan.”

Then he explained, “There can’t be a lot of girls called Dawan but those named Xiaowan were actually fewer. I only know that her name is Xiaowan. How will I be able to find her?”

Dawan said, “Although you can’t find her, there is always someone who can.”

“Who can find her?” Ma Rulong asked.

Dawan did not reply. Instead she asked, “How much have you drunk today?”

Ma Rulong said, “Eight bowls, eight big bowls.”

“Can you still drink another bowl?” Dawan asked.

“Don’t know,” said Ma Rulong.

Dawan said, “Don’t know as in.. you can still drink a lot more?”

Ma Rulong said, “Don’t know as in.. I usually don’t use bowls when I drink.”

“What do you use?” Dawan asked.

“I drink from a wine jug,” said Ma Rulong.

Dawan laughed.

“You think I’m bragging?” Ma Rulong asked.

Dawan said, “If your alcohol tolerance is really pretty good, I can take you to see someone.”

“Who?” Ma Rulong asked.

Dawan replied, “Someone who doesn’t drink from a small bowl (xiao wan) but can certainly find that Xiaowan person.”

“What does he drink from?” Ma Rulong asked.

“A broken bowl,” Dawan replied.

Ma Rulong said, “He drinks from a broken bowl so he’s called Powan (broken bowl), right?”

“I’m amazed that you are getting smarter,” said Dawan in delight.

With shining eyes Ma Rulong said, “This broken bowl of yours, is he or is he not the Broken Bowl Yu Five?”

“Who else but him?” Dawan said.

Except him, there certainly was no one else. There absolutely would be no other person like him. Nobody could drink like he could, and nobody understood wine better than him. Nobody could match him when it came to eating, and nobody was as fastidious as him either.

But drinking and eating were not the only things he was reputed for. Years ago, the number one hero of Jianghu – Ye Kai — had described him with sixteen characters.

They read, “As poor as dirt, as rich as a country, famous throughout the world, none could recognize.”

Using these sixteen words to describe him was really most appropriate. Salt was the world’s largest source of wealth, and the most money-making businesses were those related to oil and rice, silk, lumbers, and pawnshops. Not only was the Yu family of Jiangnan the biggest salt trader, the family was also powerful in the other four industries. They certainly were the wealthy of the wealthy people. They were as rich as a country.

The Yu family of Jiangnan was made up of five brothers, and Yu Five was the fifth master.

The world’s poorest person was of course a beggar. Yu Five was also one of the elders of all beggars, and the current chief of the beggar clan. Also, although his name was prominent in the martial world, there were not that many people who had really seen him, and he usually wasn’t recognized by people. Anyhow, his subordinates had inumerable beggar brothers everywhere, be it on both sides of the Yellow river or the northern and southern sides of the Yangtze. And so, if one wanted to find a person that couldn’t be found, one should go look for him.

“You can find him?” Ma Rulong asked.

“If I can’t, who can?” Dawan replied.

Ma Rulong asked, “You know where he is?”

Dawan said, “You should know. He’s certainly at a place where he can eat and drink.”

To beggars, the world was their home. If there was food, they ate. Any place was a good place to eat, and any place was just as good to drink. There were many places where one could eat and drink, and there were all those many little food and wine shops.

Dawan brought him to a very small restaurant. It was a really tiny restaurant, with only two broken tables and a few battered chairs inside.

Ma Rulong walked through the door and was hit by a foul odor. Placed on one of the small tables were several kinds of salted vegetables, which had already been discolored. On top of that, they looked dry and hard like a pile of stones dug out from a sewer. Even if one was about to starve to death, he surely wouldn’t have the courage to try them. Just looking at these salted vegetables, one wondered how a restaurant could run in this manner. Although Yu Five was a beggar, he was actually the cleanest and the most fastidious chief of the beggar clan. When it came to eating, he’d never been sloppy. How could he come to this place to eat and drink?

There was no customer at this place, and an old restaurant keeper was taking a quick nap. Dawan walked over and whispered a couple of things into his ear. He immediately sobered up, his pair of weary senile eyes suddenly burning bright. Jianghu was filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Could this old man be another great master of the martial realm living in disguise?

He continued to look at Dawan in a very strange way. Obviously, he was half in awe and half in excitement, like a child suddenly meeting a long-admired idol. Ma Rulong was handsome, and throughout Jianghu gorgeous men like him were rare. He usually attracted attention from people wherever he went. But, to his surprise, this old man didn’t even give him a glance. Standing there by Dawan, he was completely overshadowed. Ma Rulong found this experience to be very interesting.

The old man suddenly let out a deep sigh. He muttered, “I didn’t think. I didn’t think. I didn’t think at all.”

Dawan said, “You didn’t think I’d be here?”

The old man replied, “I have a chance to be in your esteemed presence, my life will not perish in vain.”

Suddenly he knelt down, throwing his body on the ground, and crawled over to kiss Dawan’s foot. His manner looked very much like a loyal government officer paying respect to his empress. Then he stood up and said, “Master Five is in the kitchen in the back. Please follow me.”

Ma Rulong thought it was quite interesting. What was the origin of this strange and incomparably ugly girl? That man paid his respect to her in this manner. She accepted it without any awkwardness as if she knew it was expected.

Dawan knew what he was thinking so she blandly said, “The old man used to work for us as a kitchen servant. Our family custom is always grand.”

Ma Rulong wanted to ask, “So the servants in your family must kiss your foot when they see you? Even the royal palace doesn’t have such a custom.” But he didn’t get to say it because they were already walking into the kitchen.

Nobody could have thought that this stinky small restaurant would have this kind of kitchen. It was spacious, clean, and sparkling bright. Everything was tidy. Dishes and bowls were shinier than a mirror, and not even a speck of ash was seen on the fire stove. The Hall of Celestial Horse was the home of an aristocratic family, where people were fastidious about their food. Yet, its kitchen was not this clean and spacious.

Someone was cooking in the kitchen. When one was frying something, his posture usually wasn’t elegant. But this person was an exception. He had a spatula his hand but he looked like Wu Daozi -- the greatest painter of all time -- holding a paintbrush, or Ximen Chuixue -- the unique and renowned swordman -- holding his sword. Not only were his posture and movement exquisite, he was totally absorbed in his cooking.

He was frying tofus, shrimp tofus. As of now the tofus were not done yet, and so the old man just stood behind him, not daring to interrupt. Surprisingly, Dawan did not disturb him either. He was a medium-sized man, with a fair and bright face. And even with patches, his long cotton gown was actually spotless clean. He looked like a gifted scholar.

Ma Rulong couldn’t bear to keep quiet. He asked, “He’s Yu Five of Jiangnan?”

With a sigh Dawan said, “Who else but him?”

The tofus were now done, and the pot was removed from the fire. He used the spatula to scoop the tofus out one by one. Each piece was fried just right. Cooked over low heat, the tofus were yellow, piling on a snow-white porcelain dish, looking like gold nuggets. But gold nuggets did not smell good and inviting like this. He looked at the tofus and seemed very pleased with himself. He used both hands to place the dish on a spotless wooden table. Then he sighed and lifted his head.

He finally noticed Dawan and said, “It’s you.”

“It’s me.” Dawan said with a hearty laugh. She’d rarely revealed her repugnant appearance. “I’m surprised that Master Five recognized me.”

Yu Five was warm towards her. He said, “Have you had anything to drink today?”

“Just a little,” replied Dawan.

Yu Five said, “Good, really very good. I was just going to find someone to drink with me.”

With a chuckle he said, “Drinking is like playing chess. It takes two people to make it interesing.”

Dawan said, “Three people drinking is even more interesting than two. I have another person here who can drink with you.”

Yu Five finally looked at Ma Rulong. He asked, “Does he drink too? Can he drink?”

“I’ve heard that his alcohol tolerance is pretty good,” replied Dawan.

“Said who?” Yu Five asked.

Dawan said, “He said so himself.”

Yu Five asked, “He said so and you believed it?”

“Why don’t you try and see for yourself?” Dawan said.

“Good, really very good,” Yu Five chuckled.

The tofus were wonderful. Ma Rulong forgot his manner. In one breath he ate three pieces. Each piece was followed by a bowl of wine. In a flash he’d drunk three bowls, three big bowls. Yu Five also had three bowls.

Yu Five was really using a broken bowl, a very big broken bowl. It was broken into three pieces which were glued back together. The bowl was light blue, blue-sky-after-storm kind of color.

Suddenly Ma Rulong said, “Good bowl.”

“You know this is a good bowl?” Yu Five asked.

Ma Rulong replied, “It was baked by Chaifu. Besides, it’s the best that came out of the kiln. Except one in the royal palace, there’s absolutely no other bowl like this in the world.”

Yu Five said, “Right, there are only two such bowls in the world.”

He looked at Ma Rulong and chuckled, “As it turns out, you’ve got pretty good eyesight. Not only can you see through people, you can see through bowls.”

“When it comes to people, his eyes aren’t that good.” Dawan said coldly.

With a hearty laugh Yu Five said, “If he can’t see through people, how come he likes you?”

Dawan acted like she didn’t hear him. Ma Rulong’s face actually turned a little red.

Yu Five suddenly said, “You two are here. Your goal surely isn’t to drink with me.”

“I want to find someone but I don’t know where she is,” said Ma Rulong.

“You want me to help you find her, right?” Yu Five asked.

“Correct!” Ma Rulong replied.

Yu Five asked, “Who do you want to find?”

“Her name is Xiaowan,” said Ma Rulong.

Yu Five roared a laugh. He said, “Xiaowan isn’t as good as Dawan. You’ve already got this ‘wan’ girl, why do you have to look for Xiaowan?”

This famous hero’s observation obviously was not very good. He thought that Ma Rulong was Dawan’s sweetheart.

Looking at the two people, one was incredibly ugly, and the other very handsome. He should have been able to see that they definitely were not a match.

Dawan deliberately asked, “Why isn’t Xiaowan as good as Dawan?”

Yu Five said, “Whether you want to eat or drink, a small bowl (xiao wan) can’t hold as much a big bowl (da wan). So Xiaowan is of course inferior to Dawan.”

“What about a broken bowl (po wan)?” Dawan asked.

“A broken bowl is even better than a big bowl.” Yu Five said.

Dawan asked, “Why?”

Yu Five said, “A broken bowl means it has gone through the goods and the bads. Like people, one must weather life’s challenges to become old. An old man’s experience is always richer that that of a child, like old ginger is always more pungent.”

He lifted his broken bowl, draining the wine. With a big laugh he said, “And that’s why a broken bowl is better than a big bowl.”

Dawan also laughed. She said, “Luckily, we are talking about people, not bowls. Not only is this Xiaowan better than Dawan, she is also better than Powan (broken bowl).

“Oh, yeah?” Yu Five said.

Dawan said, “See, this Xiaowan is a really very beautiful girl. On top of that, she is gentle and passionate.

“How do you know?” Yu Five asked.

Dawan explained, “Because she is Qiu Fengcheng’s sweetheart. Of course, the Silver Spear’s woman can’t be an ugly and strange creature like myself.

Yu Five laughed and said, “This Xiaowan belongs to someone else. No wonder you let me help him to find her.”

He didn’t let Ma Rulong argue, nor did he ask any more questions.

He suddenly said, “Let’s make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Ma Rulong asked.

Yu Five replied, “You stay here and drink with me, using big bowls. Then, I’ll tell you how to find this Xiaowan.”

“Okay,” said Ma Rulong.

“Within three days, I’ll surely have the news for you.” Yu Five said.

“I’ll stay here drinking with you for three days,” confirmed Ma Rulong.

Yu Five said, “Using big bowls?”

“Definitely using big bowls,” said Ma Rulong.

Yu Five said, “And you match me drink for drink?”

“Sure,” replied Ma Rulong.

Yu Five gave him a look, a long look. Then he asked again, “Do you know what my greatest skills are?”

“Do tell,” said Ma Rulong.

Yu Five said, “My greatest skills are eating, drinking, and sleeping.”

Ma Rulong said, “I don’t know about eating and sleeping, but drinking.. I’ll match you drink for drink.”

Yu Five asked, “You aren’t afraid of getting drunk?”

Ma Rulong replied, “Even drunk to death, I will still drink.”

Yu Five boomed a laugh. He said, “Good, really very good.”

There were some people in the world who would rather die than surrender. Ma Rulong was undoubtedly one of those people.

Seeing the two of them constantly downing their drinks, Dawan let out a sigh and said, “When I left home, my mother warned me over and over again not to get drunk or mix with drunk people. She said – all the drunkards in the world are the same. Not only do they not know who they are, they are always stupid and unreasonable to others.”

Dawan continued, “And then she said – when running into a drunkard, the best thing an intelligent girl can do is to quickly slip away.”

Ma Rulong said, “True.” He drank up another bowl and said, “Extremely true.”

“Two drunkards are definitely worse than one,” said Dawan.

Yu Five said, “True.” He also drank up another bowl and said, “The only thing worse than one drunk person is two people getting drunk.”

With a sigh Dawan said, “What a pity that I will soon run into two drunkards.”

Yu Five asked, “Where? Where are the two drunkards?”

Dawan said, “Looks like it’s going to be here, right in front of me.”

Yu Five looked at Ma Rulong. Ma Rulong looked at Yu Five. And the two of them burst into laughter.

“My mother only told me to run when meeting a drunkard. She didn’t tell me what to do if I encounter two.” With a giggle she said, “Luckily, I’ve actually found a way out.”

Yu Five asked, “Which is?”

“I should get drunk too.” She downed a big bowl, swiftly. “If I’m drunk, I don’t have to fear drunkards anymore.”

Yu Five clappped his hands and said, “True.”

“But there is one thing,” said Ma Rulong

Yu Five asked, “What thing?”

Ma Rulong said, “Aren’t three drunkards worse than two drunkards?”

Yu Five said, “Definitely.” Then he sighed, “In the world I’m afraid the only thing worse than two drunkards is perhaps three drunkards.”

“And right now I’ve met three drunkards,” said Ma Rulong with a sigh. “Because I’m one of them.”

He was not drunk yet, so this was not alcohol talking. He was overwhelmed by a multitude of feelings. A man could not run away from himself. His own mistakes, inadequacies, and responsibilities all could not be avoided. Because they were like his own shadow, from which no one could ever run away.


[END OF CH6]

[bliss]

Keep up the good work Bee'er. This is shaping up to be a very good story and translation.

[Encaitar]

Impressive translation. Keep up the good work!

[eliza bennet]

I'm caught up in the web of this story Thank you so much for the translation Bee!


It is so obvious that Da Wan is wearing a mask to make her look ugly.


And their first interaction reminded me of the meeting of GJ and HR (although not as good)

[BeeDreamer]

Thanks for encouraging words

I feel that Ma Rulong is a little like GJ too.. He's like he has a code of conduct that he's got to live by.. and he's clueless most of the time!

But his kungfu is probably not very good.. well.. he's among the best in Jianghu in this story.. but you can kinda sense that he's nowhere near lethal as other GL heroes.. And oh.. he's supposed to be gorgeous.. and arrogant.. nothing like GJ in these areas

Ch. 7 coming right up!

[BeeDreamer]

Chapter 7 A girl named Xiaowan

Ma Rulong was drunk. When one was drinking with the people he could trust, it was quite easy to get drunk, and he trusted Dawan and Yu Five.

When one was heavy-hearted, suffering from injustice, it was also easy to get drunk. Although he believed that this wrong would one day be righted, he couldn’t help feeling gloomy.

If one drank wine using big bowls, and if he drank bowl after bowl relentlessly, he would always get drunk.

He had been drinking for two, three days, and so he was hammered. And when one was in this state, whatever he said or did, he wouldn’t remember very clearly. Even if he did remember, it would be fuzzy like a dream, or like somebody else said it, or did it, rather than himself.

He seemed to remember himself saying something that made him jump out of his skin when thinking about it right now. At that time, everybody had been boozed up. He’d grabbed Dawan’s hand and said, “Will you marry me?”

Dawan had laughed. She’d laughed non-stop, until running out of breath. Then she’d asked, “Why do you want me to marry you?”

“Because I know you are very good to me. Because while other people all suspect me, treat me like I’m the worst of all the murderers, and try to kill me, you trust me. You are the only one who’s willing to help me.”

Ma Rulong had spoken his heart. When one was drunk like this, he always spoke what he truly felt.

But Dawan hadn’t believed him. “You only want to marry me because you are drunk. Wait until you sober up, you’ll regret it.”

She’d laughed, but not without a twinge of pain in her voice. “Wait until you see a girl prettier than me, you’ll want to kill yourself out of regret.”

She’d said, “I’m all ugly, and strange, and wicked. There are countless girls who are prettier than me.”

Now that he was sober, he couldn’t remember if Dawan had agreed to his proposal. He couldn’t help asking himself, “If she said yes, am I or am I not already regretting it? Right now, do I still want to marry her?”

But he had no answers to these questions.

Then he saw a girl, a girl who was far prettier than Dawan.

When he woke up, he was not in that kitchen, and Yu Five and Da Wan were suddenly nowhere in sight. He found himself lying in a quite small but soft bed, which was also perfumed and very comfortable. This bed was placed in a small but very clean, very cosy, and very sweet-scented room.

In this room, one could see a few flower trees outside a window. Beneath the window was a tiny dressing table. On the dressing table was a tiny bronze mirror. By the mirror was a vase of plum blossoms. And standing by the plum blossoms was this girl.

The plum blossoms were elegant and magnificent, and so was this girl. And like the flowers, she was delicately beautiful. But although she was dressed in red, her face was actually bluish pale. While her eyes were bright and beautiful, they looked unspeakably melancholy.

She was looking at Ma Rulong. She was looking at him with very strange lights in her eyes, as if she was half-curious and half-afraid. Ma Rulong was having a hangover. He couldn’t recognize the girl, nor did he know how he himself got here.

Suddenly the girl asked, “Are you Young Master Ma, the ‘White Horse Master’ Ma Rulong?”

Ma Rulong replied, “Yes, I am.”

“Did you go to the Winter Plum Valley a few days ago?” The girl asked.

“I did,” said Ma Rulong.

The girl asked, “Did you see Qiu Fengcheng?”

But Ma Rulong said, “Do you know him too?”

The girl nodded. Her brows creased with sorrow. She softly said, “My last name is Su, my given name Xiaowan. You wanted to see me.”

“What is this place here?” Then he finally asked, “How did I get here?”

“A certain ‘Master Five’ brought you here.” She chose to answer his second question first.

Then, to explain why she sheltered a drunk, male stranger, she said, “Master Five said that you were Qiu Fengcheng’s friend and that only you knew where he was.”

Ma Rulong forced a smile. Yu Five was still able to deliver him here. A drunk man certainly couldn’t do such thing. He had never thought that anyone could drink him under the table. He suddenly discovered that he’d been overestimating himself.

He politely asked, “This is your home?”

Xiaowan replied, “I don’t have a home. This place can’t be called home.”

Ma Rulong understood what she meant.

Of course a home was not just a house. No matter how beautiful a house was, a house and a home still were not the same thing.

Xiaowan said, “I used to work at the Garden of Joy in town as a.. ..a prostitute. Since I was young I’ve never had a father or a mother. Fengcheng got me out of that place and bought this house for me.”

She let out a smile, a smile that revealed her unspeakable pains. Then she continued, “But if he’s not here, how will this place ever be home again?”

Ma Rulong let out a sigh and said, “I didn’t know he was such a passionate person!”

For a youngster from a famous, aristocratic family like Qiu Fengcheng to be crazily in love with such a worn woman like her, it was really extremely touching.

Xiaowan said, “Even though he’s hard and unyielding, he’s actually a good person, and he’s never allowed wrongs to go unrighted.”

Speaking of Qiu Fengcheng, her eyes were filled with soft emotions. She continued, “He’s been so good. He’s done everything for me. And he’s never been reckless with me, a woman like this..

I’ve got a chance to be with a man like him, I.. I can die content.”

Ma Rulong said, “You two are still young, how can you die?”

Xiaowan let out a bitter smile, “Had you come a little later, you wouldn’t have seen me.”

Ma Rulong suddenly recalled how Qiu Fengcheng had dug that hole in the ground.

Xiaowan said, “Before leaving, he promised me he’d come back last night at the latest.”

Ma Rulong asked, “What if he never comes back?”

Downhearted, Xiaowan said, “That means he’s already left this world. I will certainly accompany him in death.”

Even though her voice was soft, it was filled with an irreversible determination to die. They had sworn an oath to be together in life and in death.

Ma Rulong kept his mouth shut. He didn’t know where Qiu Fengcheng was either. At the time Peng Tianba, Feng Chaofan, and the merciless monk were pursuing him, Qiu Fengcheng certainly wasn’t with them.

Although he didn’t die from Jin Zhenlin’s spear, his injury was surely not light. Where could a severely wounded man have gone to?”

On that day they all went to the Winter Plum Valley because of Madame Jasper’s appointment. Did she show up there afterwards? Did she take Qiu Fengcheng with her to the Jasper mountain village?

Ma Rulong was not sure.

Xiaowan stared at him, waiting for him to reply. He actually couldn’t speak his mind, not wanting to hurt this passionate girl even more.

Xiaowan let out a soft sigh. She said, “I know if he’s still alive, he’ll return. Why are you deceiving me?”

Ma Rulong said, “I.. ..”

Xiaowan didn’t let him speak. She interrupted, “You actually can’t fool me. I know this – he and I have been in love. That’s good enough for me.”

Her manner suddenly became cold. She said, “It’s going to be dark very soon. Familiarity between a man and a woman is frowned upon. I don’t dare to delay Master Ma.”

As soon as she said this, there was no way one could prolong the conversation.

Ma Rulong could only leave. But just before departing, he actually said, “I understand your determination and I won’t force you. But I do hope you can wait for three days. Within these three days, I can definitely tell you more about Qiu Fengcheng.”

Xiaowan hesitated. Then she finally complied, “Good. I’ll wait for three days.”

The sky had turned dark. Xiaowan’s house stood at the mouth of a long, narrow alley. Ma Rulong pulled up the collar of his gown before stepping out into the wind.

He had wanted to find Xiaowan because he needed to confirm if Qiu Fengcheng was telling the truth on that day. He didn’t really doubt Qiu Fengcheng but he really had no other clue. Just like a drowning person, he had to hold on tight to whatever he saw at hand.

Now that he had confirmed that Qiu Fengcheng was really a sentimental person, their love actually moved him. He wanted to help them. He hoped that he could find out the whereabouts of Qiu Fengcheng within three days.

He hoped he could help reunite this pair of lovers.

Still, he felt as if something was not right but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He always thought there was something too little and too much about that house of Xiaowan. But what was missing? What was too much? He really couldn’t say.

Had Dawan woken up by now? Was she having a hangover headache like he was? He suddenly realized that he was missing her. This unbelievably strange, ugly, irrational girl appeared to have some loveable traits.

What a pity that he didn’t know where she was from, nor did he know where she had gone to. They met by accident. Naturally, they would go their own separate ways. Maybe he would never see her again. Ma Rulong let out a sigh, deciding that he would no longer think about her.

It was late winter. As the end of the year was drawing near, each and every family had to buy New Year’s clothes and other items. At this time, everybody had money in his pocket and was busy making transactions. Just outside the alley, there was also a tiny flower market. Daffodils and wintersweets were just blooming for the occasion.

A petty merchant’s wife and her young maid had just come back from shopping for New Year’s items – needle mushrooms, wooden ear mushrooms, red jujubes, white fruits, maidenhair ferns, and bamboo shoots – which were all packed in a basket. That girl was holding the basket in her hand but her eyes were actually fixed on a branch of plum blossoms. Would there be any girl of fifteen, sixteen who didn’t like pretty things? How could one not like the bright and fragrant plum blossoms?

The girl couldn’t bear it. She asked, “Mistress, should we buy a few branches of plum blossoms?”

“No.” The mistress in silk replied firmly, with a stern face.

The young maid was not discouraged. She asked, “These flowers aren’t expensive. Why don’t we buy some so we can look at them at home?”

“Because I’m not in the mood.”

With a sigh that young maid muttered, “Mistress is really too much. Master has only been away for a few days and she isn’t in the mood to look at flowers.”

Although the maid didn’t get what she wanted, she could still backtalk before following that moody mistress home. This was a trivial matter, and nobody paid attention to them.

But Ma Rulong actually did.

The wife of a petty merchant had a young maid by her side. Considering Qiu Fengcheng’s family background and how he’d treated her, how come Xiaowan didn’t have any servant in her house?

And there was a vase of plum blossoms on that small dressing table. The flowers were freshly cut.

If Ma Rulong hadn’t shown up, she would have killed herself for love. How come she’d been in the mood to cut flowers?

Now he knew what was wrong with that room. It lacked a young maid. And that vase of flowers shouldn’t be there.

So he turned around. Most people who lived in this alley were petty merchant families. Xiaowan’s house was larger than theirs, with higher walls. The gate was made of hard and thick wooden planks, with a lock on the inside.

But if Ma Rulong wanted to go in, it really was not difficult.

He could have jumped over this kind of walls in his teens. In Jianghu, the Hall of Celestial Horse ranked extremely high for its lightness kungfu and sword techniques. He suspected Xiaowan hiding something from him, he should have just jumped over the wall to investigate her secrets. He also knew that if he wanted to see someone’s true colors, he had to look when that person didn’t realize he was there.

Too bad he couldn’t do it. He’d never done it before, and never would.

He decided to knock on the door. But just when he was about to knock, he suddenly heard a strange sound.

He’d heard someone laughing. A laugh itself was certainly not strange. Although bad things did often happen in the world, people would still hear someone laugh, everywhere.

The strange thing here was that this was a man’s laugh. Besides, it came from inside this house, which Qiu Fengcheng bought for Xiaowan. There was only one person – Xiaowan – in there, how could there be a man laughing?

The night was quiet, and so was the alley. Although it was a short laugh, he heard it very clearly.

Everybody, who had been involved in this matter, died a violent death, one by one.

Some people laughed before killing.

Right now, was it someone trying to kill Xiaowan to silence her?

Ma Rulong was no longer worried about scruples. He jumped over the wall.

Inside that room, a big fire was blazing, and a window was left open. Hiding in a pine tree outside, he could see through the window that Xiaowan was standing in the room.

Ma Rulong jumped in from the other side of the wall. It so happened that he fell onto this pine tree. He didn’t want to violate people’s privacy. But.. .. he had already seen them. He saw Xiaowan, and a man.

He could not see the man’s face.

This man had his back to the window. Facing Xiaowan, he was reclining on a soft chair.

Ma Rulong could only see a foot hanging from the chair. On this foot was a really very elegant boot, the kind that was worn only by distinguished, extravagant gentlemen.

Xiaowan was standing in front of that man. She gave him a very strange look. Suddenly, she coldly said, “Do you really want me to die?”

In the same tone the man replied, “Do you think I wouldn’t dare? Do you think I’m afraid of you?”

Xiaowan said, “Good. You want me to die. I’ll show you.”


[END of CH7]