Dragon King with Seven Stars by Gu Long

[deathblade]

No, Dabei is actually 大悲, which means Great Sadness. It can also mean Great Mercy. There's actually some good wordplay in there because Laughing General is actually Big Laughing General 大笑, and at one point it says someone flew into a rage, the Chinese is 大怒, great rage. Also, Mr, Dabei told sad news, fitting given his name.


This is a good example of what inevitably gets lost in translation.

Yeah, that's true. However,

click to show/hide spoilers

This character isn't relevant to the plot, nor is he created as a foil to or comparison/contrast to the Laughing General. Had it called him 大悲将军, or if the text referred to the Laughing General as 大笑先生, I definitely would not have transliterated it. In any case, I'm pretty sure the 大悲 and 大笑 connection is just coincidence, not a literary device. Just my take though.

[deathblade]

Chapter 15

Part 1

April 19. Before dawn.

Soft wind blew across still water, the moon and stars sank. Lamplight grew brighter. In the blackness preceding dawn, lamps are the brightest thing in the world.

This is because a lamp sacrifices itself. It burns itself to shine on others.

People are the same.

If a person sacrifices themselves up, no matter how black the surroundings, light will shine forth.

***

Gao Tianjue. So, this person was Gao Tianjue.

“End the heavens, destroy the earth; wipe the whole lot out.”

This mysterious person who only appeared in legends, now sat in front of him.

Xiao Jun was an orphan. By the time he was born, Gao Tianjue was already one of the most feared figures in Jianghu.

The two of them shouldn’t have any relationship whatsoever. But now, for some mystical reason, their fates seemed to be tied together.

Gao Tianjue suddenly asked, “Do you wish to remove my mask to see what type of person I am?”

“At first, I did.”

“And now?”

“As of now, I don’t,” said Xiao Jun, “because I realized something.”

“What’s that?”

“I can’t see your face, but neither can you see mine. On the way here just now, you walked very slowly. The reason is because you can’t see.”

When people use masks, they will leave two holes which will reveal their eyes.

But the silver mask had no eye holes, only a single hole for the mouth.

He could drink tea, but could not see.

Only a blind person would use such a mask. How could the universally famous Gao Tianjue be blind?

Xiao Jun didn’t ask.

He knew the question must touch on something deeply painful to Gao Tianjue.

“You can’t see me, therefore I do not wish to see you.”

“Do you think that’s fair?” asked Gao Tianjue.

“Yes.”

“Then I suppose there’s no harm in telling you something else that’s very fair.”

Xiao Jun didn’t ask about what he referred to.

He’d noticed that this entire time, Gao Tianjue’s kept his left arm concealed in the black cloak.

But then, he suddenly stretched it out.

What he stretched out was not an arm, but a glittering, silver pincer.

“I cut off your arm, and someone else cut off mine.” Gao Tianjue’s voice contained a sneering pain that anyone could hear. “Is that not fair?”

Xiao Jun didn’t answer the question. Instead, he retorted, “Does the person who chopped off your arm resemble me? Is that why you cut off mine?”

Gao Tianjue laughed loudly.

“Laughing” is an innately joyful thing, not only for oneself, but for others.

But the face of Gao Tianjue’s gray-robed subordinate was suddenly covered in fear.

—Could this be because he knew the source of the laughter was not joy, but calamity and misfortune?

Xiao Jun’s palms grew wet with cold sweat.

He felt an indescribable fear in his heart. It was not because he had never heard such fearsome laughter before, but rather, because he had.

In that moment, he suddenly remembered many things. Some seemed real, but others seemed the stuff of nightmares.

Nightmare, not nightmares, he couldn’t tell.

***

Gao Tianjue’s laughter suddenly ceased. The gray-robed subordinate’s face grew rigid, and Xiao Jun awoke from his reverie.

Nothing had changed in the cabin. Around the boat, Daming Lake was as tranquil as ever.

But to them, it seemed as if everything under heaven had changed. They felt some type of enormous pressure in their hearts.

There was no wind in the cabin, nor had Gao Tianjue moved. And yet suddenly, it seemed as if his cloak were billowing.

The cover of the tea bowl flipped up three inches into the air, then shattered into pieces.

Then a clattering sound rang out as the window slammed shut, shredding the window paper and sending pieces fluttering about like hellish butterflies scattered about by a demon in hell.

A thrumming sound arose from a seven-stringed zither which lay on a wooden rack in the corner, and the pearl curtain in the doorway began to rattle.

Then a cracking sound rang out as the zither strings snapped. The curtain’s pearls fell to the ground like tears. All the sounds stopped. The two gray-robed men who had been standing guard outside were nowhere to be seen.

There was nobody at all on the deck. Nobody knew what was happening.

Except Gao Tianjue.

“He’s come,” he said with a deep sigh. One word at a time, he said: “He’s already come.”


Part 2

Big Boss Tang stared at Ingot, her eyes and mouth wide.

Her eyes were not small to begin with. As of now, though, they were twice as large as normal. Her mouth was not small either, but currently it seemed large enough to be able to swallow two whole eggs.

She was thirty-four years old, and had seen many things in her life, yet at the moment, she looked like a little girl who had been frightened half to death. Right now, it seemed as if she were not more than seven or eight years old.

What Ingot just said really had startled her.

“What did you just say?” She shook her head. “You didn’t say it. I must have misheard. You didn’t say anything.”

“Actually, I did say it,” replied Ingot, his face completely straight. “I said it very clearly, every single word.”

“But I didn’t hear.”

“You did hear.”

“I didn’t.”

“You absolutely did.”

“I absolutely didn’t,” said Big Boss Tang.

Ingot stared at her, then, shouting in a voice like that of a drowning person crying for help, repeated himself.

“I want you to marry me.”

Big Boss Tang was yet again shocked. This little devil shocked her so badly she felt as if her soul had departed.

“My god,” she said hoarsely. “My god.”

“Did you hear me this time?” asked Ingot. “Or should I say it again?”

“I beg you, please, listen to me.” Big Boss Tang didn’t seem anything like a Big Boss now. “If you say it again, I’ll go jump into a river and drown myself.”

“Why would you drown yourself?”

“Even a deaf person five streets away could hear what you said just now.”

“What’s wrong with that?” said Ingot, staring at her. “I’m never afraid of people hearing anything I say.”

“You might not be afraid, but I am.”

“What are you afraid of?” he said, slapping his chest. “With me here, what do you have to fear?”

Big Boss Tang moaned, and it looked as if she might pass out onto the table at any moment.

“Do you know how old I am?” she said. “I’m just about old enough to be your grandmother.”

Ingot nodded.

“Right, right, right. You’re almost old enough to be my grandmother. My grandmother is only one hundred and one years old.” Then he deliberately asked, “How old are you, by the way?”

“Well I’m not that old, but I am over thirty. At the very least I’m old enough to be your mother.”

“My mother? Hahaha!”

“What does hahaha mean?”

“Hahaha means that you’re just about to really piss me off. My fourth sister is just over thirty, and you say you’re old enough to be my mother? Are you trying to get me angry?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then let me tell you something. My oldest sister is old enough to be your mother,” he said in all earnestness. “If you want to come home with me, the only way you can do it is by being my wife. And you have no other choice but to be my wife.”

Big Boss Tang covered her ears with her hands.

“I didn’t hear anything,” she said. “You didn’t say anything and I didn’t hear anything.”

“Okay, then I’ll say it again.”

And he did, in a voice even louder than the last time. “I want you…”

This time, he only got half of the sentence out, because Big Boss Tang lurched forward and used her hands to cover his mouth.

Her hands were warm and soft.

Her body was also soft.

Ingot knew, because as she lurched forward, he seized the opportunity to embrace her. She wanted to push him away, but couldn’t.

“You little devil, you’re really a good-for-nothing.”

“I’m not good-for-nothing, I’m a person. A man.”

“You’re a bullshitter,” she said. “At the very least, I’m ten years older than you.”

“My third and fifth brothers-in-law are both over ten years older than my sisters,” argued Ingot courageously. “If a thirty-year-old man can marry a girl in her teens, why can’t a thirty-year-old woman marry a boy in his teens?”

“You’re drunk.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re obviously drunk.”

“I’m not, I’m not…”


Part 3

Who was “he?” Who had come?

The glass-like waters of Daming Lake were suddenly split by a white wave.

A small boat sliced through the waters like a sharp knife cutting through silk. It sped forward like an arrow.

A tall man in a black robe stood at the front of the boat, his arms clasped behind his back. His long robe rippled in the breeze.

The stars had disappeared, as had the moon. This was the darkest period of night, and though his features could not be distinguished, anyone could sense his mighty dignity.

There was no one else on the small boat, no sail, no punt-pole, no one pulling the oars, no one at the helm.

But the boat had already arrived, faster than anyone could have imagined.

Lowering his voice, Gao Tianjue asked, “Do you know who it is?”

“Li Xiao?”

“Yes. It’s him.”

***

Li Xiao, Three Fearsome Laughs, General Li Xiao.

Xiao Jun knew that Li Xiao was Wu Tao. But this person didn’t look at all like Wu Tao.

He had become someone else, because as of now, he had no reason to conceal his identity.

Gone was his belly. All the fat on his body had miraculously disappeared.

His narrow, pointed forehead was now wide and sanguine, his previously ashen face now glowed like white jade.

—Was he really that ordinary, low-class businessman whose coin purse had been stolen away?

Xiao Jun couldn’t believe it.

He had never believed that anyone in the world could possess such miraculous appearance-changing techniques, nor had he believed that anyone could change so much.

But right now, he couldn’t disbelieve.

This was the person he wanted to kill, and yet, he suddenly felt indescribable fear and admiration for him, the kind of feeling a hot-blooded youth has in his heart upon seeing his idol.

Xiao Jun did not understand this feeling, but it caused him to realize something.

—There seemed to be two people battling inside him, battling with two swords. When one sword stabbed back, the other stabbed forth, and both chopped at his heart.

This cause his heart to be constantly filled with contradiction and pain.

“You will only have one chance, and you must take it. Your attack must hit him in a vital spot.”

Xiao Jun hadn’t forgotten what Gao Tianjue had repeated to him three times.

But when the chance came, would he attack? He wasn’t sure.

***

The little boat floated on the lake. The man had already reached Gao Tianjue’s boat.

A moment ago, the small boat had been quite some distance away.

But now, the man stood in the cabin, and Xiao Jun could see his features clearly.

He had a distinct profile, seemingly carved from fine jade. A wide face and straight nose, and a smile that seemed to contain an air of cynicism.

His eyes radiated brilliance and power, as well as melancholy and heartbreak.

He stood straight and tall, like a javelin.

It would be hard to find someone else in the world who could match his dashing air, his imposing manner, his elegant demeanor.

Why would a person like this have an air of melancholy? Could it be that his heart felt the same type of confusion and pain as Xiao Jun?

***

Gao Tianjue didn’t see him. He couldn’t see anything. The strange thing was, it seemed he could actually see more than anyone else.

Even stranger, even though no one could see Gao Tianjue’s face, it seemed this person could.

They faced off, staring at each other, as if both parties could see the other’s face.

Gao Tianjue’s silver mask glittered in the flickering lamp light.

Masks do not display emotion or expression. But the mask did seem to carry expression, an expression that no one except the two of them could understand. Then it seemed as if the silver flicker turned into a roaring flame.

The expression on General Li’s face was impossible to describe. And then it was expressionless, as if he had suddenly donned a mask of ice.

“So it’s you,” General Li said. “I knew you would find me sooner or later.”

“You came looking for me,” said Gao Tianjue coolly. “I didn’t come for you.”

“Now that we’re here, it doesn’t really matter who went looking for whom.”

“It does.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t look for you, nor can I see you. I said before that I would never look at you again for the rest of my life.”

“So that’s why you’re wearing such a mask as this?”

“Yes.”

“And what if I decide I have to look at your face?”

“You can’t.”

General Li laughed coldly. His body had already flown into the air.

***

General Li hadn’t paid any attention whatsoever to Xiao Jun, hadn’t even glanced at him. It was almost as if he didn’t even know someone else was in the cabin.

But Xiao Jun was paying attention to them, to the expressions, to their conversation.

He awaited his chance.

He did not know when the chance would come for him to strike, so he waited.

And had no chance.

Li Xiao stood there, unmoving, off guard, like a wooden statue.

But this wooden statue had been carved perfectly. Every stroke had been carved in precisely the correct position, every line cut flawlessly. His body contained no flaws whatsoever.

So, though off guard, he was invulnerable.

To move without moving; to not move, and therefore move. Defeat tranquility with motion, defeat change with unchangeableness.

It was a state of Zen.

Even if Xiao Jun wanted to make a move, he had no chance to. But, he noticed something strange.

It seemed the two of them knew each other, and perhaps had once been friends. And yet, some irresolvable hatred existed between them.

Were they enemies or friends? Who could tell?

The motionless General Li suddenly moved.

***

No one could possibly describe this movement.

It seemed slow, and yet so fast that it couldn’t be seen clearly. It appeared clumsy and awkward, and at the same time as graceful and elegant as a soaring phoenix.

Gao Tianjue wanted him dead and in the ground. But he didn’t want Gao Tianjue dead.

He simply wanted to take off that mask, ugly and beautiful, mysterious and fearsome.

Gao Tianjue wouldn’t let him.

Gao Tianjue also moved.

The two of them, motionless, suddenly sprang into motion. They moved like the wind, like the ripples, the catkins, the clouds amidst the wind. Like the wind amidst the ripples and catkins and clouds.

Xiao Jun’s heart sank deeper.

He’d always thought of himself as one of the peak masters in Jianghu. Most others also thought this way.

But now he knew how laughable it was.

His martial arts couldn’t compare to that of these two. Completely incomparable.

He had never imagined that anyone in the world could possibly have martial arts like them.

But now he was watching it with his own eyes.

How could he make a move? How could he have a chance to make a move?

***

Their shadows flickered, and the lamp light went out.

But the darkest part of night had passed. The first rays of the morning sun shone down on Daming Lake.

The contending shadows suddenly parted, and General Li appeared directly in front of Xiao Jun. His hand shot out like lightning, and he grabbed Xiao Jun’s right arm. His only arm.

Xiao Jun had no time to react. He could only hear General Li say in a low voice: “You can’t stay here, come with me, now.”

By the time he finished speaking, Xiao Jun had left the ground, and was flying along with General Li.

He couldn’t resist.

And then, as they flew out of the cabin, he suddenly saw his chance.

In that moment, pale rays of morning sun shone onto General Li’s back.

His back was empty. This was the first time in his entire life that he had exposed his back to someone, and it would undoubtedly be the last.

He never imagined that Xiao Jun would attack, never imagined that he now had another arm.

When he saw the sun shining on General Li’s back, the short sword held in the steel pincer shot out, stabbing into the ribs below his left shoulder, directly into his heart.

The move seemed like the reflexive reaction of someone who grabbed a hot coal; it didn’t even pass through Xiao Jun’s conscious mind.

—This person was his enemy, and this was his only chance. He had to seize the opportunity to attack.

The thought had taken root in his heart, and so he didn’t even need to think in order to act.

He had finally seized his chance. Because of all his experience in life, his reaction was fast.

This reaction speed was born from his countless bitter battles and painful training.

He should have been quite pleased with the attack.

But for the rest of his life, whenever he thought about it, he felt a stab of pain.

Even though his sword had stabbed General Li, he felt as if he had stabbed his own heart.

***

The glitter of the sword was no longer visible.

General Li’s body shrank inward and he slid off the blade, writhing in mid-air.

His head turned to face Xiao Jun, and the sun shone down onto his face.

His face did not contain the dread of someone facing death, nor indignation at being plotted against. It was only filled with regret, remorse and sorrow.

Xiao Jun looked upon his face.

He would never be able to forget the expression he saw.

***

By the time the drops of blood fell onto the deck, General Li had already descended into the waters of the lake.

Water sprayed everywhere, and he sank down.

Ripples spread out, and each ripple contained the blood of General Li.

Before the ripples had subsided, Xiao Jun heard Gao Tianjue’s laughter.

He should be laughing.

General Li was finally dead, exactly according to his plan. He should be quite pleased with himself.

And yet his laughter contained not even a drop of joy, but instead was filled with pain and sorrow.

Why was this?

***

Xiao Jun would never be able to forget that sad, shrill laughter.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks deathblade

[deathblade]

@ Ysabelkid, HPC7595, theSwordoftheWest, Drak17: no problemo
@Laoren: Indeed. And as of the end of this chapter, it seems they succeeded.
@9Dragons: Good questions. And sorry, you were way off on Ingot's question. Haha ;-P

[Drak17]

AHhh..the unstoppable Laughing General Li, got back stabbed just like that. Gu Long strikes again! Thanks for the chapter!

[theSwordoftheWest]

Thank you deathblade.

Obviously Xiaojun strike his own father, daaaa.

Gao Tianjue cut Xiao Jun because he is resemble his father.

But where Ingot fit in all of this?? Jenng jeng jeng

lolz, really really want to knows what happens next. SO many mystery, not enough conclusion.

[Laoren]

Thanks deathblade,
@the SwordoftheWest: I tend to agreed with you, what a treachery for Xiao Jun! if true.

Looks like Ingot is not a youth, maybe a dwarf?

Can't wait for the next update.........

[HPC7595]

Thanks deathblade

[sainuu]

Thanks deathblade.

[LuDongBin]

Another heart breaking story? ... Thks deathblade.

[deathblade]

Chapter 16 - Big Boss Tang’s Adventure

Part 1

April 19. Daybreak.

Pale rays of morning light seeped in through the window, allowing Big Boss Tang to gaze upon Ingot’s face.

He was drunk. Back when he said “I’m not drunk,” he had instantly fallen asleep, and now that he slept, he looked like a child.

He was a child, an intelligent, mischievous, charming, annoying boy, just like a boy she had known when she was young.

She had called that boy “bro,” and he had called her “kid brother.” He really had regarded her as a kid brother. Every day they would go hiking or tree-climbing together. They would curse and fight, ride cows and chase dogs, steal chickens and go fishing.

All the things that adults forbade children to do, he would take her to do. All the tricks that boys played, she had played.

Eventually, she almost forgot that she was a girl.

Then one summer day, he took her to the forest behind the mountain to go splash around in the brook.

It was a hot day, and she wore a thin outfit of woven grass cloth. The water in the brook was cool and refreshing. The two of them had shouted up a storm as they played, until her clothes were soaked through.

The clothes were tight on her body, and the afternoon summer sun shone down on her in its warmth.

She suddenly realized that he wasn’t shouting any more. He was staring at her stupidly with his large eyes.

It was at that moment that he discovered she was definitely not a boy, and furthermore, she had grown up.

She had started to get nervous.

And then she saw something on his body changing, changing in a very scary way. She wanted to run, but her legs had already grown weak.

***

By the time they returned home that day, the sky was dark, and dinner had long since been eaten.

From that day forward, even though he still called her “little brother,” he never again took her to play like the boys play.

From then on, she was his, all the way to the day that he decided to leave and roam Jianghu. He told her not to play with other boys, to wait for him until he returned.

But he had never returned.

***

She was seventeen that year, and now she was thirty-four.

In these seventeen years, she had never had a second man. And never had there been a second man who could move her heart.

She had never imagined that after those seemingly endless seventeen years, she would suddenly meet a young man like this, so intelligent, mischievous, charming and annoying.

She felt her heart beating.

Just now when Ingot had embraced her, a familiar heat had flushed her body, the same feeling she had felt on that summer evening.

If Ingot hadn’t fallen asleep drunk, what would have happened?

She didn’t dare think about it.

—How could this little scoundrel act like this? How could he be so pernicious?

***

Even though it was only April, it seemed to be getting hot. Uncomfortably hot.

She was sweating, sweating uncontrollably.

She couldn’t wait for the little scoundrel to wake up. She couldn’t give him another chance to mess with her, to confuse her, to hurt her.

A woman of her age should not have done something as stupid as this.

She quietly picked up her woven, golden shoes from under the bed, then pushed open the door to leave. But then she walked back quietly and covered Ingot with a thin blanket. Finally, she left.

The dimly lit courtyard outside was cool and humid. Milky, morning fog drifted about. Someone sat on the stone steps of the corridor opposite her, cheek resting on her hand, staring at her.

“Little Cai,” said Big Boss Tang, surprised. “What are you sitting there for? Why aren’t you asleep?”

Little Cai ignored her, instead staring dully at the golden shoes in her hands.

—This young girl was already growing up, and was already at the age where she would have flights of fancy. The more she shouldn’t thing about something, the more she liked to think about it. And she would always thing about the worst things.

Big Boss Tang knew what she was thinking, but couldn’t devise a way to explain herself.

—When a women stays all night in a man’s room, then leaves in the morning, disheveled, carrying her shoes, half drunk…

What would people think? What could she say?

“Go back to your room and go to sleep!” she said, avoiding Little Cai’s eyes. Then in a very level voice she said, “You should have gone to sleep a long time ago.”

“Yes, I should have. And what about you?” She stared at her. “The entire night, you didn’t go back. Why?”

Big Boss Tang couldn’t think of anything to say.

With a cold laugh, Little Cai said: “I advise you to put on your shoes as quickly as possible. Walking barefoot can lead to a cold.”

With that, she stood, turned, and walked off without a backward glance. It seemed as if she had no intention of ever looking at Big Boss Tang again.

There was a chill in the early spring air.

Big Boss Tang stood there stupidly on the stone walkway, feeling cold spread from her feet all the way into her heart.

She hadn’t done anything wrong whatsoever, but she knew that what she had done was broken a young girl’s heart.

***

Dawn light spread, but the fog did not dissipate.

She let out a deep sigh from her heart, and was about to head back to her bedroom when she suddenly noticed that she was once again not alone in the courtyard. Someone sat on the stone steps in the spot that Little Cai had just vacated, check resting on hand.

The big difference was, it was not a young girl, but an old man.

A weird, little old man.


Part 2

Big Boss Tang didn’t recognize the little old man, and had never seen someone as weird-looking as him before. She had never imagined she would ever see someone like this.

The little old man was not just extremely old, he was also extremely small. Some parts of him seemed older than anyone else in the world, and some parts smaller.

His head was almost completely bald. Only a few white hairs stuck out of the top of his head, and they looked almost like they had been glued on. Even the strongest wind wouldn’t blow them away.

Almost all of his teeth were gone. From the top of his mouth to the bottom, from left to right, he only had one tooth. But his tooth was not like the usual teeth of old men, dirty and yellow.

His only remaining tooth was bright white, so bright it seemed to glow and shine.

He was truly old, and yet the skin on his face was like that of an infant’s, white and soft. It was a rosy white, and a soft like tofu.

He wore a set of red clothes with gold lining, embroidered with gold flowers. Only nouveau riche playboys on their way to a brothel would wear something like this.

Wouldn’t you agree that an old man such as this is truly incredible?

***

Big Boss Tang just about laughed.

But she didn’t. Because this courtyard should in no way have a person such as this in it.

And yet, there he was sitting in front of her, looking at her. He gazed at her with a twinkle in his eye, the look you might expect to see on the face of a man who was twenty, or thirty, or forty or maybe fifty years old.

Luckily, Big Boss Tang knew how to keep her cool. She could do it despite being shoeless. So she nodded at him and smiled.

“Hello, how are you?”

“I’m very good,” said the little old man. “Extremely good, good beyond belief.”

“May I ask your honored family name? And what distinguished business brings you here?”

“‘Honored’ is not my family name,” he said. “And I didn’t come here on any distinguished business. What I came here to do is absolutely not distinguished at all.”

“And what is it?”

“Guess.” The little old man gave her a child-like wink. “If you guess right I’ll kowtow to you three thousand six hundred times.”

Big Boss Tang shook her head. “That many kowtows would be too tiring. I don’t need your kowtows, and I have no way to guess what you’re here to do.”

“Of course you can’t guess,” said the little old man with a hearty laugh. “If you spent your whole life you wouldn’t be able to guess correctly.”

“Then why don’t you tell me yourself?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Give it a try.”

“Okay, I will. I’m here because my wife wants to strip off all your clothes and take a close look at you.”

***

Big Boss Tang laughed.

She should have been angry, but instead she laughed, because she had never in her entire life heard something so absurd and ridiculous.

She had never imagined she would ever hear something like what he’d just said.

The little old man sighed. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me. I knew all along you would refuse to believe.”

After he sighed, he flew into the air, like a child who had been wrenched into the air by an adult. He flipped ceaselessly.

Big Boss Tang was not the type of person who was easy to bully.

A woman who everyone truly believed to be a Big Boss was obviously not the type to be easily bullied.

She practiced martial arts. The martial arts she practiced were sort of a random assortment. Some she had learned after formally being accepted by a master. Some had been taught to her by men who hoped to get close to her, to flatter her. To earn her admiration, they would reveal many of their most treasured secrets.

Flying Blossom Fist, Double Duckweed Palms, Mantis Kung Fu, Flying Phoenix Finger, Greater and Lesser Qinna, Five Animals and Seven Transformations, 36 Path Long Fist, Yellow 72 Path Legs, Chain Locking Legs…

She could do at the very least thirty or forty types of martial arts. But when facing up against this little old man, she couldn’t use any of them.

***

There was a person in mid-air flipping constantly. But it wasn’t the little old man, it was Big Boss Tang.

She had no idea how she had ended up in the air flipping in circles.

She really didn’t know.

She only knew that as soon as the little old man had landed on the ground, she suddenly felt herself being tossed up.

And then she started spinning, ceaselessly, in mid-air, until everything began to go black.

And then she didn’t know anything at all.


Part 3

By this time, Ingot had awakened.

He had slept like a rock, so deeply that even if someone had beat him and kicked him and dumped him in the gutter, he still wouldn’t have woken up.

But now he was awake, and as he awoke, he saw the morning sun shining on the window.

He groaned, quickly covering his head with the blanket. Any slower and his eyes would have been stabbed to death by the sunlight, his head split into two pieces.

When someone gets truly drunk for the first time, then awakens to a room full of sunshine, they will usually have a reaction like this.

But, not too long after, Ingot slowly stuck his head out from underneath the blanket.

This was because, before his eyes had been covered by the blanket, he had seen someone else in the room.

A person who was definitely not Big Boss Tang.

He hadn’t been mistaken.

It was a person wearing a black cloak and a glittering silver mask. Despite being in a room filled with sunlight, he seemed to be a shadowy demon.

Ingot laughed.

He wasn’t the kind of person to fear scary people. The more scary the person, the less afraid he would be.

“That’s a great demon mask you have there,” he said. “Could you lend it to me for a day or two? I’d love to go around scaring people.”

“I’m not here to scare you,” said the person in a warm voice. “I know that you’ve been gutsy since you were small.”

“You know who I am?”

“I do.”

Ingot laughed again. “Fortunately, I also know who you are, otherwise I would really be in a predicament.”

“Who am I?”

“You’re Gao Tianjue,” said Ingot. “You’re the person who sapped the power from my limbs, made my whole body weak, then brought me here.”

“Correct,” said Gao Tianjue. “That was me.”

“If you know who I am, how do you dare treat me this way?” Ingot’s voice suddenly became fierce and malicious. “Aren’t you worried my family will come seeking revenge?”

“They won’t come looking for you.”

“Why not?”

“Because they know what I did was for your own good. I think you understand that, too.”

“Sadly, I don’t understand.”

“We can never see the light of day, and should have died long ago,” said Gao Tianjue. “We carry with us cruelty and hatred which can never be dispelled.”

Though his voice was mild, it was filled with a hatred which could make one’s hair stand on end: “No matter who runs into us, it’s not a good thing for them, because what we carry with us is murder, disaster and blood.”

“You, plural?” asked Ingot. “Who are you people?”

“Perhaps we are not even people, but rather evil spirits. Therefore, I don’t wish for you to get wrapped up in our grievances and struggles.”

“In other words, you don’t want me to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“Yes,” said Gao Tianjue. “Because you come from a different background. That is why I brought you here.”

“Otherwise, you’re worried that eventually you would have to chop my head off?”

“I won’t chop your head off,” said Gao Tianjue coolly. “If you want to kill someone, you don’t necessarily need to cut off their head. There are many ways to kill someone, and that is one of the silliest.”

“How do you usually kill people?”

“I use a kind of pain.”

“A kind of pain,” said Ingot. “You cause them pain, or cause pain to yourself?”

Gao Tianjue suddenly grew silent.

“That’s not a good method,” said Ingot. “The person you want to kill is already dead, and not painfully. Therefore, the pain must be yours. Only the living can feel pain.”

Gao Tianjue said nothing, nor did he move. And yet, his cloak billowed violently like turbulent waves of a furious ocean.

Ingot kept talking: “There was a day once when I was really happy. It was like a giant meat bun had fallen from the sky straight into my mouth. I was super happy. And therefore, everyone around me was happy too. Everyone was extremely happy.”

He sighed. “Pain is the same. When you make others feel pain, then you yourself will definitely feel hurt.”

Before he even finished speaking, he felt an ice-cold hand gripping his throat.


Part 4

By that time, Big Boss Tang had also awakened.

When she opened her eyes, she saw no sunlight, nor did her head hurt. But similar to Ingot, she wished she had never woken up. In fact, she wished she could drop dead and forget everything.

[deathblade]

@Drak17: Yes. Gu Long, Gu Long, ah how you love to mess with our minds.
@theSwordoftheWest: No comment regarding how close or far you are from the truth. Wahahaha.
@Laoren: I think after this update it should be pretty clear that he is actually just a young boy. Based on all the clues so far, I would guess that he is a bit older than 17. I myself have somewhat of a baby-face. Even into my early twenties, people would still guess my age as 18 or 19. I think he's supposed to be like that.
@HPC7595, sainuu: my pleasure!
@LuDongBin: Stay tuned. Like I mentioned in my original post, there's definitely some good drama in this story.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks deathblade

More intrique .................. wahaha .....

[HPC7595]

Thanks deathblade

[deathblade]

Chapter 17 - Congratulations!


Part 1

April 19.

Big Boss Tang had awoken, and her eyes were open, but in front of her was a sheet of darkness. She couldn’t see a thing. It was as if her eyes were closed.

How long had she been unconscious? What time was it? What was this place? Why had the weird old man brought her here?

She had no idea.

She only knew that all important acupuncture points on her body had ben sealed in a unique and ingenious way. Her tendons, arteries, Qi and blood were all undamaged, but she couldn’t move even so much as her pinky finger.

If that old man had been a bit younger, perhaps she could have guessed what he had in mind for her. She would have thought of it immediately.

But the old fellow really was just too old, old enough that she could comfort herself because of it.

—He wouldn’t do something like that. He couldn’t be interested in a woman like herself. He couldn’t handle it. When old men want to chase women, they always chase the young, naive girls.

This was how she comforted herself, and yet thinking about it made her sick.

Fortunately, she could still hear.

Not long after she woke up, she heard the sound of two people conversing. The first was a woman, her voice thin, shrill and loud, as if she took everyone around her to be deaf.

The second person spoke at a leisurely pace and in a very eccentric tone. It was none other absurd old man.

“Did you bring that woman back?”

“Of course I did,” said the little old man. “Having been dispatched on such a duty, I achieved immediate success, as simple as stretching out my hand.”

“I know you like this kind of thing,” said the woman, her voice growing louder. “You old wretch, pervert!”

“Who likes this kind of thing? You sent me to do it. Had you asked someone else to do it, I wouldn’t go even if you knelt down and begged me.”

“Shut the hell up. You take advantage, then try to show off your cleverness?”

“Took advantage of what?”

“You… I know without doubt that you molested her.”

Suddenly, a “whap” sound rang out. The little old man had just been slapped across the side of the face. He cried out.

“Unjust treatment, unjust treatment!”

“You dare to claim unjust treatment? You dare to say you didn’t molest her?”

“If I did, then call me a son of a *****.”

“You’re definitely a son of a *****. And elderly son of a *****.”

“If I’m a son of a *****, then what are you?”

“Beat it! Beat it and get as far away as you can! The farther the better. And don’t come back until I call for you.”

“As you wish.”

The old man sighed, muttering to himself: “You live to seventy or eighty and still get as jealous as a little girl. You’ll drive me to my death.”

***

The old man’s voice faded into the distance. He seemed to be afraid of receiving another slap across the face.

Big Boss Tang finally breathed a sigh of relief. She could tell that the old man and the woman with the thin, shrill voice were husband and wife.

The man had gone, leaving behind the woman, and she was seventy or eighty. How would an old lady treat her? However she ended up being treated, it would definitely be better than what she had been imagining moments before.

Just when she began to think that she could set her mind at ease, she saw lantern light shining.

The light was exceedingly bright. Anyone’s eyes would have a hard time adjusting to such a bright light amidst the darkness.

Big Boss Tang closed her eyes. Then she opened them, and then closed them again. When she opened them again, she didn’t see a person, but only several lanterns, each and every one much brighter than the lanterns in her gambling hall.

All of the lanterns hung directly above her. By use of covers, all the light of the lanterns was directed directly onto her body. Everything else in the room was pitch black.

She squinted her eyes, trying to block the light with her eyelashes. By tilting her head, she could just barely make out the shadow of a person.

It was a woman, skinny and tall.

Big Boss Tang actually couldn’t see the person. She could only see the skirt she wore.

It was a gaudy, pleated skirt, not the type that a seventy- or eighty-year-old elderly woman should be wearing.

Seeing the skirt, Big Boss Tang could tell that this woman was taller than anyone she had ever seen before. That was because the skirt was longer than any skirt she had ever seen. And it was very tight.

The skirts Big Boss Tang wore when she was thirteen years old were more loose than this dress.

What kind of figure did you need to be able to wear such a skirt? Big Boss Tang simply couldn’t imagine.

The woman was definitely looking at her, from head to toe. After a long time passed, she asked a question with her thin, shrill voice: “What’s your surname? And what’s your given name? How old are you? Are you the one who started the As You Wish Gambling Hall?”

Big Boss Tang refused to answer. This woman didn’t have the right to interrogate her, so she felt no need to respond.

Instead, she retorted, “What is your surname? And what’s your given name? How old are you? Why don’t you tell me first?”

“I can tell you,” said the woman. “I’m surnamed Lei, and people call me Grand Miss Lei.” [1]

“Well then, I can tell you that I am surnamed Tang. People call me Big Boss Tang.”

“How old are you?”

“Did you tell me how old you are?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then why should I tell you how old I am?”

“You can tell me. You definitely can.” In a cool voice, Grand Miss Lei said, “I like your disposition. You have the kind of spirit which would rather die than be at a disadvantage. I have the same type of disposition.”

“Well that’s excellent, then.”

“Unfortunately, there is a bit of a difference between us.”

“What’s that?”

Grand Miss Lei didn’t respond. Instead, she slowly extended her hand, and then slapped Big Boss Tang across the face.

Her had moved out slowly, and yet Big Boss Tang couldn’t clearly see what the hand looked like before the palm slapped her face, then disappeared.

The slap happened very quickly.

“I can hit you, and you have no way to hit me. That is the area of difference. Do you understand now?”

Big Boss Tang said nothing.

“I can do more than slap you,” Grand Miss Lei continued. “Anything that you could possibly imagine, I could do. Even things you can’t imagine, I can do.”

Big Boss Tang’s heart began to sink. She knew that what Grand Miss Lei said was not intended to frighten her. The things women can do to women are far worse than the things men can do, and she had already imagined a few horrifying things that could be done.

Grand Miss Lei sighed. “I’m confident that you understand my meaning. So, can you tell me now? What is your name?”

“Tang Lanfang.” [2]

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-four.”

“You’re only thirty-four? That’s good. You’re still a young girl, you’ll make a good match.”

In her eyes, a thirty-four year old woman was still a young girl. Exactly how old was this Grand Miss Lei?”

Big Boss Tang really wanted to see her face, see what she looked like.

“You’re not too old, and you don’t look too bad. Even though your temper isn’t too good, it can’t be considered bad.” Grand Miss Lei’s voice grew soft. “To be frank, I’m already quite satisfied. However, I still need to take a close look at you.”

“Take a close look?” cried Big Boss Tang. “Why do you need to do that?”

She had cried out because she had suddenly remembered something quite horrifying.

She had remembered what the little old man had said.

—If I tell you, you won’t believe me. I came here because my wife wants to strip off all your clothes and take a close look at you.

At that time, she’d thought it quite ridiculous, and had actually laughed. She had never heard something more absurd before.

But she wasn’t laughing now.

Back then, she hadn’t believed the old man to be speaking the truth. Now she believed.

Grand Miss Lei’s hands stretched out again. This time, it wasn’t to strike her, but rather to unbutton her clothes.

All of Big Boss Tang’s clothes were tailored by master tailors; the clothing was of the highest quality, the cut perfect, completely unique—

And the buttons were specially crafted. Even were she motionless, it would be difficult for another person to undo them.

That’s not to say that it was a frequent occurrence for a man to attempt to undo her buttons. Even if someone wanted to do that, no one would dare to try.

Rather, it was her preference.

She had always believed that the buttons on a woman’s clothing were like the outposts on a battlefield, and should have the ability to protect things carefully.

And yet now, the battlefield outposts collapsed in a moment, disintegrated by Grand Miss Lei’s fingers.

Big Boss Tang had never seen anyone with fingers as dextrous as hers.


Part 2

Gao Tianjue’s hand was ice cold, as cold as the edge of a blade, seemingly as cold as the steel of his pincer.

Anyone who felt such a hand wrap around their throat would be frightened, if not to death, then at least half to death.

But no look of fear appeared on Ingot’s face. Instead, it a look of sympathy filled it as he looked at Gao Tianjue. He sighed, and continued with what he had been saying: “You really are quite pitiable. I really sympathize with you.”

It seemed he actually felt sympathy for him, as if he didn’t know that this person could crush his throat like a walnut in a door jam.

“You sympathize with me?” blurted out Gao Tianjue. “Why would you sympathize with me?”

“Because you fear that you don’t have very long to live.”

His own life was being held in another’s hand, and yet he talked about that person not having long to live, and quite earnestly at that.

Gao Tianjue had roamed unhindered across Jianghu for twenty or thirty years, but had never met a person like this.

“Who doesn’t have long to live; me, or you?” he asked Ingot.

“Of course it’s you.”

“And how will you be able to continue living for a long time?”

“Because you’re sick, and quite seriously.”

“Oh?”

“If I were you, I would have gone home a long time ago, had a bowl of steaming soup, and climbed under two or three blankets to sleep for three days.” He spoke in complete earnestness. “If you listened to my advice and do as I say, perhaps you could be saved.”

Gao Tianjue seemed to be shocked to the core. Ingot rolled his eyes, and then suddenly grabbed hold of the man’s hand.

“Feel for yourself,” he said. “Your hand is too cold. It’s as cold as the hand of a dead person.” He sighed. “So, I advise you to be good and listen to me. Get home as quickly as possible.”

Gao Tianjue’s hand was cold and smooth, while Ingot’s was warm and soft.

He gripped Gao Tianjue’s hands with his two, and softly said, “A person like you should really take good care of yourself. If you don’t care for yourself, then who will? And if you die, I’m afraid there won’t be anyone to shed even a single tear for you.”

He didn’t laugh. It seemed as if his words sprang forth from his heart, and that he actually hoped Gao Tianjue would be moved by them. He wanted to move others’ hearts, because he himself was often moved by others.

In fact, it would be hard to find another person who was so easily moved by others.

Gao Tianjue showed no reaction whatsoever, and yet he also did not remove his hand from Ingot’s throat.

This was a truly strange reaction. If anyone else had said such things in front of him, that person’s tongue would already have been sliced off. And if any other person had dared to touch his hand, then that person would no longer have an intact skeleton.

Ingot waited for a long time, and, seeing that he did not appear to be moved at all, asked another probing question, “Did you hear what I just said?”

“I heard,” responded Gao Tianjue. “I heard every word very clearly.”

“So are you prepared to go home?”

“No.”

“What are you prepared to do, then?”

“I’m prepared to kill you,” he responded coldly. “I’ll start by slicing out your tongue, then I’ll cut off your hands, and finally I’ll kill you and feed you to the dogs.”

“Why?” asked Ingot, looking surprised. “I’ve treated you so well, why would you want to kill me?”

“Because I know that of everything you said, not one bit is the truth,” said Gao Tianjue with a cold laugh. “You’re just trying to use words to move me, so that I will let you go.”

Ingot seemed completely unwilling to deny this. He just sighed and laughed a bitter laugh. “It seems it really isn’t very easy to fool you.”

“So you admit it?”

“Well, since I can’t fool you, there’s no use in denying it. Go ahead and just kill me.”

“I was always going to kill you.”

“How exactly are you planning to kill me? Can you kill me using only this one arm?”

His own hands still held Gao Tianjue’s. He suddenly kissed the hand with his soft, warm lips. Then he closed his eyes, appearing to wait for death.

“I’ve heard that death row inmates get a last request before they die,” he said. “So this is my last request, you definitely have to grant it.”

With that, he closed his mouth, and prepared to die.


Part 3

Big Boss Tang didn’t cry, nor kick up a row. She did not shriek or struggle. She knew those things were useless.

She wished she could die. If death were not an option, she wished she could pass out. But unfortunately, she wasn’t dead, and in fact completely sober. So she could only lay there underneath the lights while Grand Miss Lei, who did not seem like a Grand Miss at all, looked at her from head to toe in extreme detail.

She had a slender waist, a large bust, and long, slender legs. She had no blemishes whatsoever on her body, nor any fat whatsoever. Her body was no different than when she was seventeen years old.

For a thirty-four year old woman to maintain her body in this way was no easy task. It was the result of years of hard work, and something she was immensely proud of.

On spring nights, after bathing, standing alone in front of the mirror, Tang Lanfang would sometimes visualize an impossible fantasy in which someone gazed upon her flawless figure, just like that other spring night seventeen years go when she had offered herself up for the first time.

She really had thought about such things, and she believed that many other women had had similar thoughts.

Not willing to eat this, not willing to eat that, looking horrified at the sight of fat, expending all effort to remain slim: wasn’t it all for others’ enjoyment?

And yet, at the moment, what she really wanted to do to the person who was “enjoying her,” was to dig her eyes out.

Even more annoying, as Grand Miss Lei examined her, she kept muttering things to herself.

“Not bad, she’s taken good care of herself, no flabby skin at all, no defects whatsoever. She can definitely give birth to children, lots of sons and daughters, for sure.”

In the end, Big Boss Tang couldn’t handle it any more, and cried out: “There is no enmity between us, why do you treat me like this?” she screamed. “Who are you? Why are you doing this? Tell me!”

***

Who could explain such a preposterous thing? Who could understand it?

Grand Miss Lei didn’t explain at all. Instead, she just said something incredibly unbelievable.

In a very happy voice, she said to Big Boss Tang: “Congratulations!”


**

[1] Her surname ‘Lei’ is also the word for thunder. Also, her title is hard to translate in English. It’s a title used with young women from powerful, rich families.
[2] Lan means orchid and fang means fragrant, or virtuous.

[deathblade]

@Ysabelkid: yes, and more to come, wahahaha!
@HPC7595: you're welcome!

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks deathblade for another update!!!!

[9Dragons]

"her body had ben sealed" > "been sealed"
"If you listened to my advice and do as I say" > "If you listen to my advice and do as I say" ?

Pretty obvious that Granny Lei is inspecting Tang to determine if she is marriage material. Yeah, I can't come up with a suitable title, maybe Countess?

So who's the lucky groom? If it's Ingot, then that would be scary crazy. He's only met like three people since he fell lovestruck. That would explain why he's so confident in danger, as someone powerful is shadowing him at all times.

[theSwordoftheWest]

Thanks deathblade.

This chapter is torturing, I mean literally.

I'm on edge of my seat the entire chapter.

[Laoren]

LOL... thanks deathblade, look like the Grand Miss Lei is checking out Boss Tang for Ingot since he wants to marry her. Only parents will do so. Are they Ingot's parents?