Lu Xiaofeng Book 7: Laughter of The Sword God [剑神一笑 Jian Shen Yi Xiao]

[foxs]

While commenting on Part 1 and Part 2 yesterday, I checked my source once again, and realized that I missed this part. So I am interrupting 'regular programming' with this 'important public announcement' ... [for those not familiar, it's usually heard on the radio when there is an emergency].

Ycb, Jaya, Anh, you are welcome. Single Whip, yes, you're right, I can see it now. Good observation. Ysabel, you are correct. DongBin, or it could be that LXF and Sha Man retired to the Island, and right now Sha Man was waiting patiently at home? I am just kidding ... Actually, from all the girls LXF loved, I like Sha Man the most, for a simple reason, IIRC, she was the first girl that LXF really wanted to marry. Kinda reminded me of Tracy Bond. I don't know why Gu Long kind of 'forget' about her, at least Ian Fleming had her killed. Peter, thanks.

EDIT: forgot to say that I am going to have the Preface at the beginning in my compilation. If you want a copy or my source document (MS-Word), send me an email. Of course I don't have Book 7 yet, but I have all the older (translated) books.

---

Preface: Sword and the Sword God

Sword, it is a kind of weapon, and also one of the eighteen arms. However, it is different than the rest of the weapons. We can even say that compared to the other weapons, there was a significant distance in term of status.

The first and foremost function of a weapon is no more than to kill and attack the enemy. But sword is some kind of a symbol of identity and honor. Monarch, generals, ministers, nobilities and scholars often use sword as elegant decoration.

This fact can already illustrate the special status of the sword in people’s mind.

Even more special is that sword and scholar and poetry and literature have extremely close relationship.

Li Bai [701-762, famous Tang Dynasty poet] wielded a sword.

He was a poetry-immortal, and also a sword-knight. Evidently his swordsmanship was not as good as his poetry. Therefore, he was known for his poetry, and not for his swordsmanship.

In the ancient China, the first person famous for his swordsmanship also happened to be surnamed Li. The Great Li General’s swordsmanship not only dazzled and stunned people of his era, making them sigh and hold their breath, but also brought about endless fantasy to the generations after him.

But the first person who combined the word ‘sword’ and ‘god’ [or divine], these two characters together, was the ‘grass-script sage’ Zhang Xu [probably early 8th century, Tang Dynasty poet and calligrapher, most famous for his grass script].

Zhang Xu was also a Tang poet. In Li Zhao’s [c. 800, Tang dynasty scholar and official] ‘National History Supplement’, there was a segment:

I began to hear about the Princess and the porter [referring to ‘carrying burden with shoulder poles’] striving for the road, like the meaning behind a brushwork [referring to calligraphy]; later on watching Gongsun Clan brandishing a sword-device [剑器 –jian qi, with ‘qi’ means device/tool/utensil] like a deity.

Some say that the sword-device mentioned was not really a sword, but a kind of dance props. Some other say that sword-device was some kind of colored ribbon [streamer] tied onto a dagger, the kind of props women during the Jin and Tang Dynasties used for dancing. But some say that it was really a weapon.

Concerning this, Mr. Jin Yong and I have had some correspondence discussion. Even a very-learned and well-informed man like Mr. Jin Yong was unable to make a definitive statement. Since this sort of thing was from a distant past of the Jin and Tang dynasties, most of it cannot be verified in our present age. Every school of thoughts has its own opinion, which other school of thoughts cannot confirm.

We can only say that if sword-device was a kind of sword, then undoubtedly the Young Lady Gongsun was the first person who was called the Sword God.

Or perhaps it was the origin of the word ‘Divine Sword’.

A person that could be called Sword God or Sword Immortal, other than their swordsmanship must already reach perfection, there must be some other conditions he must meet.

That’s is: his integrity and moral quality.

Because a sword’s standing among the weapons is unique and transcendent, because it is different than any ordinary weapon.

Therefore, if someone could win the accolade of others as a Sword God, his moral quality and integrity must be a lot higher than most ordinary people.

Naturally the number of people who could achieve this state can’t be too many. In every three, five hundred years period, there were no more than three, five people.

Even in the martial art novels that people considered most absurd, this kind of people are not many. In a bit more conservative works, these people are few and far between.

Because ‘Sword God’ and ‘Sword Immortal’ [剑神 and剑仙, respectively] are not the same, ‘Sword Immortal’ appears a lot more in martial art novels.

Especially in martial art novels 还珠楼主 [huan zhu luo zhu], 平江不肖生 [ping jiang bu xiao sheng], even in 朱贞木 [zhu zhen mu] there are quite a number of Sword Immortal’s appearances; all could use sword aura as defense mechanism, defensive sword kills people thousand li away. [I do not have enough literary knowledge to translate all those titles, I don’t even know who the authors were.]

It’s just that they were not Sword Gods.

Because they all lacked one kind of air, the air of arrogance.

I always feel that to become a Sword God, this air of arrogance is absolutely indispensable. Just with this air of arrogance, they can even consider their own lives as worthless.

Because they have already given their lives to the way [of life] they loved ardently.

Their way [of life] is the sword.

Since they are looking for neither immortality nor enlightenment [lit. Buddhism], the success or failure, fame and profit of the secular world, are even less worthy for them to look after, are not worthy of their laughter.

All they wanted was the honor and glory when they brandished their swords, which, in their view, a split second was eternal.

In order to attain this split second peak, they did not hesitate to sacrifice their life.

In the world of martial art novels, a few are qualified to be called Sword Gods.

I dare not to be unduly humble, I always thought that Ximen Chuixue can be considered one of them.

Sword God’s laughter.

Ximen Chuixue is also a man with blood, tears, and laughter, as well as all kinds of emotion common to mankind. It’s just that he never expressed those emotions.

He can go riding alone to places thousands of li away, to fight a life or death battle in the wink of an eye with another martial art expert, simply to avenge or redress an injustice for someone who was a total stranger to him.

But if he thought that it was not worth doing, even if his only friend in the world, Lu Xiaofeng, begged him to go, he simply won’t go.

He even has a little bit of sense of humor.

There was one time, he obviously had the intention of doing something on Lu Xiaofeng’s behalf, yet he insisted on Lu Xiaofeng having this two mustache, that did not look like mustache but looked like eyebrows, shaved.

In short, this man was totally unpredictable and unthinkable.

This man’s sword has never been defeated.

To develop such an undefeated state, naturally one must undergo an unimaginably arduous and difficult training. To cultivate this kind of arrogant character, naturally one must undergo an unimaginably difficult process.

Bitter tears and miserable hardship of the past, he would never mention it in front of anybody else. Naturally others must not know.

But everybody knows one thing. Ximen Chuixue has never laughed.

A flesh and blood with emotion, how come he never laugh? Could it be that he really does not laugh?

I don’t believe it.

At least I know that he did laugh, once. In an exceptionally fantastic matter, in an extremely unusual situation, he once laughed.

I have always wanted to write about this fantastic situation, because I believe that after reading about this matter, anybody would be like Ximen Chuixue, anybody won’t be able to refrain from laughing.

To be able to make everybody laugh, is probably one of the two main reasons I write.

Earning money is, of course, the other main reason I write.

Gu Long.

70, 5, 2 between very late at night and very early in the morning, with wine without a sword. [Wuxiapedia says Gu Long wrote this book in 1981, so I don’t know what these numbers are referring to.]

[szfong]

Thanx for the Preface...

[jotaro]

Thanks for this preface to the novel. It goes to show you the intellectual depth and the amount of research that goes into writing his books. Huan Zhu Lou Zhu is the guy who wrote the "Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain" books. The depth of his detail demonstrates for me the amount of intellectual acumen Gu Long had. More than I realized. Thanks again.
J

[ycb5959]

Thanks.
The preface lets us know the title refers to Ximen Chuixue...and his laughter. I think I watched an episode before where he smiled/chuckled with similar opening background of the novel.

[LuDongBin]

That Preface somehow sets the right mood for what is to come ...XMCX ... thks foxs

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs for the update and also thanks for your other materials. Will send you an email.

[Drak17]

Foxs, you're on a roll! Done with Book 6 and now to the final Book! Nice!

Thanks.

[Jayariyin]

So XMCX was a Sword God in Gulong's wuxia universe. This may be off-topic but in relation to Sword Gods: This is not to downgrade Gulong's characters but in my own opinion, XMCX was only at the level of Bixie Swordplay Wielders in Jin Yong's wuxia universe and that Dugu 9 Swords practitioners (LHC & FQY except Dugu Qiubai himself who could be called a Sword God although he was nicknamed Sword Devil) would be at a higher level and so was Xialongnu's ambidextrous swordplay and they're not Sword Gods/Goddess in Jin Yong's stories. However, I do think that the Sword God in DGSD is undeserving of the monicker Sword God as he was just played around by the not yet expert XZ (he was still a beginner in the carefree sect martial arts at that time). Sorry for comparing characters in different wuxia worlds.

Thanks, foxs, for the preface. Enlightened me some on Sword God's origin.

[kyss of the sword]

sword god refers to your skill in swords skills, not other skills like inner power or boxing or palm skills. lhc was a sword god but his bare handed skills sucked big time. in dgsd there were two swordgods, zhuo bufan who made an appearence, another character who killed xys's wife at yamen pass was also tittled sword god. he died with the other first class fighters. lu xiaofeng isn't know for his sword skills but his finger skills are world famous, so he's a finger god.

[Grundle]

sword god refers to your skill in swords skills, not other skills like inner power or boxing or palm skills. lhc was a sword god but his bare handed skills sucked big time. in dgsd there were two swordgods, zhuo bufan who made an appearence, another character who killed xys's wife at yamen pass was also tittled sword god. he died with the other first class fighters. lu xiaofeng isn't know for his sword skills but his finger skills are world famous, so he's a finger god.

Maybe this somehow explains LXF popularity with the ladies?

[foxs]

Szfong, Ycb, DongBin, Drak, you are welcome. Jotaro, do you also know the other stories he was talking about? Looks like we in this forum never mention those names. Ysabel, received your pm, will send you the file(s). Do you want just Book 6, or other books as well? Jaya, I don’t think you need to apologize for comparing characters (although some purists will say that your post belonged to the wuxia fiction forum). IMHO, those characters you mentioned do not necessary fit the characteristics of Sword God. Gu Long defined Sword Gods not only by their godly swordsmanship, but by their other traits as well, e.g. haughtiness, their sacrifice to attain that state, their putting more value to the sword than their own lives, sword is their way of life, etc. Linghu Chong, for example, I can’t picture him to meet those criteria. He was too carefree to dedicate his life to the sword. Plus, Ximen Chuixue already attained the ‘without sword’ state. The only other person that I can think of is Dugu Qiubai. Kyss, you are right, but as I mentioned above, it’s not just skills. Especially skills that Grundle mentioned …

---

Chapter 3 - Wang Dayan’s Grocery Store
(Translated by Foxs)

(One)
Every day when the evening arrived, there were always a lot of people in Wang Dayan’s grocery store.

Because not only this store sold all kinds of daily necessities, it also carried miscellaneous goods from north and south, also served pot-stewed dish, and wine. Outside, underneath a thatched awning, there were three wooden tables with seven, eight wooden benches.

Everybody sat down, left hand holding half-eaten piece of duck head or a piece of dried tofu, right hand holding a half bowl of aged wine, while chatting and babbling with each other on all kinds of topics, from north to south and east to west. Even if they have had a bad day, after drinking and chatting like that, they would inevitably feel deliriously happy.

This place was probably the only place in town where people find entertainment.

Wang Dayan always acted like the most gracious host, always laughing and joking around with these people. Not only they were his patrons, they have already become his friends.

But the number of people who saw him for the first time and was not startled by his appearance was probably not many.

Wang Dayan was tall and big and thick and fat, plus he was a hunchback. His left eye probably did not differ too much from ordinary people’s eyes, but his right eye looked like a chicken egg protruding outside the socket of his eye.

Later on someone asked Lu Xiaofeng, “When you first see him, how did you feel?”

Lu Xiaofeng’s feeling toward him was: “At that time, I only felt that this man was ugly, the kind of ugliness that it’s rarely seen in the world. But after you talk to him for about an hour, you will immediately forget that he is ugly.”

Lu Xiaofeng then added, “That’s why he was able to marry a s1utty wife who, when most men see her, they would want to take her to bed.”

Behind the grocery store, there was a small wooden cabin, most probably it was originally a firewood storage shed, but now a wooden bed was put in there. It even had a white bedsheet on it. At least some time in the past the bedsheet was really made of plain white cotton cloth.

A sheet of red paper was pasted above the headboard of the bed. The paper said:

“Lodging rate: Single person, fifty qian per night. One diao[1] per month. Two persons, eighty qian per night.”

It was the lady boss, who could not stop swaying her hip, who brought Lu Xiaofeng here. With narrowed eyes she looked at Lu Xiaofeng and said with a laugh, “Gongzi Ye [basically it also means ‘young master’], I seemed to hear just now from that old son of a b1tch of our house that you are surnamed Lu.”

“Correct, I am surnamed Lu.”

“Lu Gongzi, that litle beggar son of a b1tch brought you to our place here, he really brought you to the right place.”

Lu Xiaofeng suddenly laughed. He looked at the tariff pasted on the wall above the bed and laughed.

“But I really thought that I have come to the wrong place. Looking at your price, I thought I have come to a black inn [inn that kills and robs guests].”

“Lu Gongzi, then you are greatly mistaken. Here, not only we can take care of your food and lodging, we can also take a good care of your other needs. Would you still say that this price is expensive?”

Lu Xiaofeng looked at the wooden bed, which looked like it would collapse at any time, and at the bedsheet, which looked somewhat yellow, somewhat grey, and somewhat black, practically it was impossible to tell what the original color was; with a wry laugh he said, “No matter what, if I have to spend fifty qian every night to sleep in this kind of bed, I will slightly feel that I am indeed someone with more money than sense.”

As if it was an afterthought, the lady boss used her unexpectedly pretty and slim finger to point to the two characters ‘two persons’ on the red paper, while her pair of coquettish eyes was smiling like silk, “What if I want you to spend eighty qian a night?”

Lu Xiaofeng looked at her eyes, he looked at her hands, he looked at her waist; suddenly he sighed gently. “In that kind of circumstance, even spending eight hundred qian, it is still worth it,” Lu Xiaofeng said, “It’s just too bad …”

“Too bad what?” the lady boss inquired.

Lu Xiaofeng did not reply, he did not open his mouth at all. The lady boss fixed her gaze at him, her silk-like pair of coquesttish eyes suddenly opened wide like apricots.

“Lu Gongzi, I shouldn’t ask you this, but my heart could not bear not to ask.”

“Then by all means, ask.”

“Such a rundown place like ours, a man of your stature, why did you come here?”

“So what kind of man would come here?” Lu Xiaofeng asked.

“Usually there are two kinds of men,” the lady boss replied, “The first kind are money grubbers, who believe that around this place somewhere, there is indeed a very large silver treasure, so they come here wanting to make a fortune. This kind of men are our most welcomed guests. Because although they cannot make a fortune, they always make us make a small fortune.”

She sighed, “Too bad for the past few years this kind of men is getting more and more rare,” she added.

Lu Xiaofeng could not resist asking, “And the second kind?”

The lady boss fixed her gaze at him, “The second kind are those that are on the run and cannot find any other place to hide. They are wanted by the authority or being pursued by avenging family to be killed, and could not find any other way to run, hence they come here to lie low for a while.”

Lu Xiaofeng stared back at her, “And to which group do you think I belong to?” he asked.

The ladyboss sighed again, “I think you don’t look like you belong to either group, but after careful consideration, you also look like you belong to both groups.”

Lu Xiaofeng looked at her again, from head to toe, from toe back to head, he swept his gaze over her one more time, while shaking his head, and ran his fingers over his moustache that looked like a pair of eyebrows.

“Lady Boss,” he said, “I know that you are a woman who understands men very well. But this time you are mistaken.”

“Oh?”

“Whether I belong to one of those two groups you are talking about, even if I originally belonged to one of those, now I have become the third kind.”

“The third kind?” the lady boss asked, “Tell me, which third kind is that?”

“The third kind is naturally also some kind of criminals.”

“What kind of crime do they usually commit?” the lady boss asked.

Lu Xiaofeng deliberately did not look anywhere else on her body or her face, he stared intently at her legs. “What’s your guess?” Lu Xiaofeng deliberately narrowed his eyes as he asked again, “What’s your guess on which crime they did?”

A tint of blush seemed to suddenly appeared on the lady boss’ face, coupled with a seemingly unstoppable urge to clamp her legs together, her long, thick, sturdy, yet well-proportioned legs.

“That kind of person,” she said, “I do not like.” Her eyes shone coquettishly, “I believe you are not that kind of person.”

Most men know that there are a lot of times women would say something contrary to what they were thinking in their hearts. When they say they did not like it, there’s a good chance that they actually like it; not only that, they might like it so much.

Naturally Lu Xiaofeng was not the kind of man who did not understand women. If he said that he did not understand the real meaning behind what a woman told him, his friends would absolutely refuse to believe.

Yet right now he just seemed not to understand at all; moreover, his expression suddenly became very serious.

“That kind of person,” he said, “I don’t like them either. I assure you that I am definitely not that kind of person.”

“Oh?”

“I came here, simply to look for a friend.” Lu Xiaofeng went on, “… a money grubber friend.”

“You have money grubber friend too?” the lady boss asked.

“Everybody wants to get rich, of course I have some money grubber friends; who don’t want to get rich?” Lu Xiaofeng said, “That friend of mine also heard the legend that there are treasure around this place, he asked me to finance his endeavor five hundred taels of silver. Who would have thought that as soon as he came here, his shadow disappeared.”

“And you are looking for him?”

“Not only I want to look for him, I want to retrieve the five hundred taels as well.” Lu Xiaofeng stared at the lady boss’ legs again, “Five hundred taels, even if I used it to sleep on the double bed, I can sleep well for several hundred nights.”

The lady boss suddenly turned around; without looking back she walked away. It was as if she did not even feel like giving Lu Xiaofeng one more look.

Lu Xiaofeng was about to run after her when suddenly he realized a big eye was looking at him.

(Two)

If one had not seen Wang Dayan but only know his manners toward people and his voice with which he spoke to other people, one would certainly think that he was a jovial gentleman.

“Lu Gongzi, I know whom you are looking for.” Wang Dayan said, “The friend that you are looking for, wasn’t he surnamed Liu, Liu Daxia [great hero]?”

“How do you know?”

“Before you came here, the one staying in this room was precisely Liu Daxia.”

“And where is he now?”

Although Wang Dayan’s as-big-as-crytal-ball eye did not show any emotion, the other eye was brimming with sorrow and regret.

“Liu Daxia was indeed a real man; he was magnanimous, and full of yiqi. Too bad you are one step too late.”

“One step too late?” Lu Xiaofeng struggled hard to maintain his composure. “Is he dead?”

“Uh huh.”

With a very gentle and polite voice Boss Wang said, “Lu Gongzi, you are a sensible person, you ought to know that no matter who, when one died, his body is usually kept inside a coffin.”

---

[1] 1 qian is approx. 1/10 of a tael, or 5 grams (of silver). 1 diao is a string of 100 coins, not sure the equivalent value.

[Jayariyin]

When Wang Dayan was described, the hunchback of Notre Dame came to mind.

Thanks, foxs.

[Clown Prince]

Thank u Foxs.....
I am starting to think I should read all of LXF books, just that I am worried that its only ur translation that makes the books interesting....

[LuDongBin]

Foxs, isn't there another Sword God in Gu Long's world -Xie Xiaofeng - Sword of the Third Young master - and Sword Sage, Yan Shisan?

[ycb5959]

Thanks!!!!

[Clown Prince]

Hi Guys...

I have been searching, but couldn't find books 1, 2 and 3 of Lu Xiaofeng. Anyone can provide me a link?
Read book 5 but it seems abit stuck ... So reading 4 now, thanks again Foxs!

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs for the update. Whatever you got will be very welcome. Many thanks.

[LuDongBin]

Hi Guys...

I have been searching, but couldn't find books 1, 2 and 3 of Lu Xiaofeng. Anyone can provide me a link?
Read book 5 but it seems abit stuck ... So reading 4 now, thanks again Foxs!

You can read Book 1 and 2 here: http://wuxiapedia.com/Novels/Gu-Long/Lu-Xiao-Feng

And book 3 in this forum here: http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthre...After-the-Duel

All splendidly translated by Moinllieon. Fight scenes in Book 2 are particularly engaging.

[foxs]

Jaya, I never read the book, the only Hunchback I saw was the Disney version. Clown, I am afraid the opposite is true, once you read Moin's work, you may not like mine. Those translators are people who are 'real' translators, Chinese literate with real knowledge of Chinese culture and history. If you still cannot find it, send me a pm. DongBin, I have nor read that one. I saw the thread somewhere in this forum, but I don't think it is completed. Ycb, you are welcome. Ysabel, I sent you Book 6 the other day. Let me know if you have not received it, perhaps I mis-typed your email.

---

Lu Xiaofeng was silent for a long time. “In that case, I came here this time, most probably I won’t be able to see him.”

“You are most probably right.”

“I wonder, is it possible for me to see his body and his coffin?”

“Of course it’s possible.”

“Where is his coffin?”

Wang Dayan’s voice was even more gentle, even more polite, “It seems to me that coffins should be located in a coffin shop.”

(Three)

Naturally a coffin shop is not as ubiquitous as a grocery store, unexpectedly a Godforsaken little town like this also had a coffin shop. As soon as Lu Xiaofeng went to the town’s main street, its only street, he saw the coffin shop.

There was an old and worn out large high-back chair outside the coffin shop, and on that bench lay a dead man.

Later on Lu Xiaofeng found out that that man was not dead, moreover, he was the owner of the coffin shop. Perhaps he had taken care too many dead men, so that he had sixty, seventy, or eighty percent appearance of a dead man.

His name was very weird as well.

This coffin shop was located right opposite to the grocery store. The owner of the grocery store was called Wang Dayan, the coffin shop’s owner was called Zhao Xiazi [lit. ‘blind man’].

All along he was sitting quietly like a dead man on the chair, as if he did not dare to expect anybody would visit his business. Such a small town, maybe the number of living persons was already dwindling, naturally the number of dead persons couldn’t be much. Therefore, seeing Lu Xiaofeng, he immediately sprang out of his chair.

“This young master, who died in your honorable home? What kind of coffin do you need?”

His face also looked like a dead man, completely without any trace of blood, without any emotion, yet he was making an attempt to fawn on the customer, albeit without any success at all. As a result, his face looked even more mysterious and creepy.

Lu Xiaofeng could only smile wryly, “These days there is no more people that can die in my home,” Lu Xiaofeng said, “I just want to see someone.”

Zhao Xiazi’s face was downcast, he returned to his seat. Even his voice became cold and indifferent. “In that case, I am afraid you have come to the wrong place.” He said, “Here, apart from me, everybody else is dead.”

“In that case, I have not come to the wrong place.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “The one I wanted to see is a dead man.”

Zhao Xiazi even closed his eyes, the eyes that looked more like belonging to dead people than living people, with more white than black. “Too bad that even dead people, only one remains here right now.”

“Most probably the one I wanted to see is him,” Lu Xiaofeng said.

Zhao Xiazi suddenly sprang on his feet again, “You knew Liu Daye [big master], are you going to retrieve his remains?”

Lu Xiaofeng nodded, “Yes.”

Zhao Xiazi heaved a very long sigh, as if a very heavy burden has just been removed from his shoulder.

“I’ll take you to see him,” Zhao Xiazi said, “Follow me.”

The chair where Zhao Xiazi sat was situated outside the coffin shop, in the shade under the eaves. Inside the door, the room was filled with coffins. There were two that were already painted, and five, six others that have not been painted. Passing through this room, there was a small courtyard with piles of logs of wood. There were bent nails everywhere, and curly wood shavings from the carpenter’s plane. There was also an exceptionally big saw leaning against a strange looking wooden shelf. This saw looked like one that would be used by a giant. Next to the saw there was an unfinished coffin.

Lu Xiaofeng’s interest was piqued; he could not resist asking, “Such a big saw, only people with big strength can use it, right?”

“Must be so.”

“Where is he? How come I haven’t seen him?”

“You have already seen him.” Zhao Xiazi pointed to his own nose, “That person is me.” He casually said, “Each coffin sold in this place, I personally make them all.”

Lu Xiaofeng discovered that although the boss of this coffin shop spent his days like a dead man outside the shop, that although his face looked like a dead man, and his appearance was ugly, he was actually a big and tall man. Although he was a bit slouching, but comparatively speaking, he was still a head taller than ordinary men, plus the muscles on his entire body looked solid and springy. Only a man who is used to physical labor would have such muscles.

The first time you saw him, you may think that he looked like a dead man; but the longer you look at him, the more he did not look like a dead man.

Behind the courtyard there were two rows of rooms, the row on the left had two rooms, the row on the right also had two rooms. The rooms on the left looked like a kitchen and a firewood storage, the kind of room a servant would use. The rooms on the right looked gloomy and dark, even the window-covering papers were very dark green, almost black. The two rooms appeared to be enveloped in some kind of black hue, even on a bright day like today the rooms gave a man some kind of gloomy and eerie feeling.

“This is where we put the coffin before burial.” Zhao Xiazi lighted a fire, “When people in here died, before burial the body is usually placed in this room, that’s the reason I call these two rooms ‘haunted house’.”

“Haunted house?” Lu Xiaofeng asked, “So the house is haunted?”

Under the light from the fire, Zhao Xiazi’s pale face looked a bit like a ghost’s face; but he shook his head and said, “Coffin shop does not have any ghost in it, coffin shop takes care of dead people. Dead people become ghosts, taking care dead people means taking care of ghosts. I am taking care of them, how can they come to haunt this place?”

What he said was actually very reasonable and fair, even if Lu Xiaofeng wanted to disagree, he simply could not. But as Lu Xiaofeng walked toward the two rooms, he felt a dark cold chill creeping up from his back to his head, and then down to the soles of his feet.

Lu Xiaofeng was certainly not a faint-hearted man, his guts was big; practically these four characters ‘dan da bao tian’ [lit. guts so big it wraps the sky; definition: reckless/extremely daring] can be used to describe him, even his enemy had to admit. In this world, there was nothing Lu Xiaofeng did not dare to do.

Yet led by Zhao Xiazi, with torch in his hand, into one of these two rooms on the right, he felt as if the arch of his feet was clammy with cold sweats.

The light of the torch was dimmer than candle light. Under the glow of this kind of light, the interior of the room simply looked like the inside of a tomb.

When he walked inside, his feeling was like walking into a grave.

Naturally there was no coffin in the grave, but this room had one coffin in it. The coffin was supported by a set of dark purple bricks like a stage. In front of the stage, there was a simple memorial tablet. The writing on the memorial tablet simply said, ‘A friend, Liu Rugang’.

Seeing this memorial tablet, Lu Xiaofeng’s heart died within him. Whoever saw this memorial tablet would definitely believe that Liu Chengfeng, Liu Rugang was really dead.

The strange thing was, perhaps driven by the gloomy, eerie and bleak atmosphere, or perhaps Lu Xiaofeng had some weird, mysterious, almost supernatural feeling in his heart that Liu Chengfeng might jump out of the coffin at any time and be resurrected, he said, “Please open the coffin lid.”

“What did you say?” Zhao Xiazi shouted in disbelief, “You want me to open the coffin lid? Whatever for?”

“Because I already told you, I want to see a dead man, not a coffin.”

(Four)

When the coffin was opened, Lu Xiaofeng immediately saw Liu Chengfeng.

Although the face of a dead person is not the same as the face of a living person, in one glance Lu Xiaofeng was able to ascertain that this dead man was indeed Liu Chengfeng; not only that, he could see clearly the remaining expression Liu Chengfeng had on his face at the moment of his death, an expression of shock and fear.

“Is he the friend you are looking for?” Zhao Xiazi asked.

Lu Xiaofeng did not reply, because he already identified the fatal wound that took Liu Chengfeng’s life.

The wound was located on the chest, just above the pit of the stomach, a blade wound. One fatal blade, neat and tidy.

Lu Xiaofeng was absolutely certain of this fact.

He has seen a lot of dead people, his experience in this matter was quite extensive. In fact, no one could see more clearly than he did in this kind of situation. If he was unsure of this fact, no one else could.

Yet the expression on his face was that of an extremely strange and confused one; moreover, he kept shaking his head while his mouth did not stop mumbling, “This is impossible, this is absolutely impossible.” He even repeated those words over and over.

Undoubtedly Zhao Xiazi was a very patient man, if he was not patient, how could he deal with dead people? Therefore, all along he waited until Lu Xiaofeng had repeated those sentences five, six times before asking, “What’s impossible? Why is it impossible?”

Lu Xiaofeng did not answer that question; he asked him instead, “Do you know who is this dead man in the coffin?” Without waiting for Zhao Xiazi to answer, he answered his own question, “He was the ‘One Sword Riding the Wind’ Liu Rugang. His qinggong and swordsmanship, even if can’t compare with Ximen Chuixue, he was not too far behind. If you say that someone was able to stab him to death head-on, without any chance to fight back at all, even if you chop my head I won’t believe you.”

However, the fact in front of his eyes was exactly that.

The body inside the coffin has already fixed with burial clothes, the cut wound has also been dealt with very well. The length of this cut wound more or less was only about one cun and three fen [1 cun is approx. 1 inch, I am not sure how much 1 fen is]. Undoubtedly the blade that killed him was a very narrow blade; furthermore, it ‘pierced’ directly from the front, if the blade was ‘chopped’, the cut wound would lengthen.

That was the reason Lu Xiaofeng thought it was impossible; because on this earth, there was no one who was able to use the blade like that, able to pierce Liu Chengfeng’s heart in one stab, unless this person was Liu Chengfeng’s friend, whom he was very familiar with, so that Liu Chengfeng practically did not guard against him at all.

How could Liu Chengfeng have friends in a small town like this?

Lu Xiaofeng’s gaze finally moved from the wound to Zhao Xiazi’s face. “Do you know where he died?”

“Of course I do,” Zhao Xiazi answered, “It is a very dark alley. When he died, it was already after the third watch of the night [between 11pm-1am], by that time, there was not a single lantern in that alley.”

“Who was the first person to find him?”

“It’s the little beggar, with whom you already talked.”

[Grundle]

Hmm...the mortician just met Liu Xiao Feng, but already knows he talked to the little beggar? Seems like a small plot hole right there.

Thanks for the translation foxs