A Happy Hero

[aliderhamy]

Yq is setting him up.
but i get the feeling she is overly testing him a bit

[Ren Wo Xing]

Definitely another test.

[Guo Xiang ( :]

but i get the feeling she is overly testing him a bit

Maybe all of Yan Qi's family is giving him these tests to see if Guo DaLu is worthy of marrying her. Maybe Yan Qi doesn't have a choice. I don't know just guessing.

[Hoju!]

Chapter 42 continued.....
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With a squeal of fear, the girl threw herself into Guo DaLu’s arms.



Guo DaLu suddenly found the soft flesh and warm fragrance of a beauty in his embrace, and his heart started beating twice as fast. He immediately warned himself, “You are a man, not an animal. You must not take advantage of other people’s times of difficulty. You must not do that sort of thing. Not only must you not do it, you are not even allowed to think about it; otherwise, you have not just wronged yourself but you will have wronged Yan Qi too.” He reminded himself this in his heart, sincerely wanting to restrain himself. However, there are many parts on a human body that you just cannot control.

The first part was his nose.

The delicate fragrance of a virgin and the sweet scent of her hair flooded him in waves with every breath and bored into his heart.

Plus that warm, soft feeling that was in his embrace.

Plus that god-awful darkness.

“Do not take advantage of a dark room.” These words are so simple to say, but only someone who has personally experienced this situation is able to understand how difficult it actually is to do. Guo DaLu was not a saint, nor was he a god. If one was to say that at this very moment, he was able to completely keep his focus, then that would be a lie. But there was a powerful force that enabled him to control himself. This power was neither a god or anything else but rather, was the sincerity and purity of the feelings that he had for Yan Qi.

He did not push away the young girl. He did not have the heart to. The way this young girl was curled up in his embrace was like a little pigeon that had suffered through countless torments and frights and finally, amid a windy and rain-filled sky, had found a safe place to perch and rest. Guo DaLu lightly hugged her shoulders and said in a soothing voice, “You have no need to be afraid. I will take you back.”

Young girl: “Really?”

Guo DaLu: “Of course, and in fact, I can take you back right now.”

Young girl: “But… you came here in the middle of the night. It must have been for very important matters. How can you set aside your own things just to take me back?”

Guo DaLu gave an inward sigh. Reaching this place had not been easy for him, and to have him just walk away from it was not something he was really willing to do. Perhaps that pock-faced man would be arriving momentarily; perhaps he would have information about Yan Qi shortly.

However, there was no room for choice for him. For a man who is alive in the world, not only must he adhere to “things a man cannot do”, but he should also do the “things a man must do.” The choices that need to be made in the meantime will naturally be very difficult, and moreover, not only will they require courage but also self-confidence to make them.

He patted the girl on the shoulder again. “It is going to be light very soon. If your parents discover that you are missing, they are going to be very worried. If other people find out that you did not go home for an entire night, you don’t even know how much gossip there will be. You are still young now and may not know yet how scary that gossip can be, but I know.” Sometimes, that type of gossip may not only ruin a person’s reputation, it could even ruin her life. As his thoughts lead to this point, Guo DaLu’s resolve became even firmer and he declared determinedly, “And so, I must take you back now.”

The young girl suddenly hugged him tightly. After quite some time, she finally softly said, “You truly are a good person. I have never before seen anyone as good as you.”



“My house is in that lane up ahead, the third one on the right. It is the one with a willow tree growing in front.”

It was very peaceful inside the lane. In the east, the light of early dawn was just starting to show and it shone upon the dew on the bluestone tiles.

“They must not have realized yet that you are missing,” Guo DaLu observed in a quiet voice. “Are you able to sneak back inside without them knowing?”

The young girl nodded. “I can go in through the back door. My room is on that side.”

Guo DaLu advised, “It would be best if you changed the room that you sleep in and have an elderly maidservant with you.” He paused briefly in thought, then added, “These next couple of nights, I will stay nearby at all times and come to check on you. Perhaps I may even be able to help you find out who was the one who kidnapped you.” The early dawn light in the east shone on his face and on his beads of sweat, which seemed as bright and sparkling as the dewdrops. His face also seemed to be glowing.

The young girl lifted her head to gaze up intently at him. “Why haven’t you asked what my name is?” she asked unexpectedly. “Do you really never want to see me again?”

With a forced chuckle, Guo DaLu answered gently, “I am a wanderer and also someone who does as he pleases. If I have interactions with you, people will also gossip about it behind your back.”

Young girl: “I’m not afraid of that.”

Guo DaLu: “But I am afraid.”

She blinked at him. “What are you afraid of?”

Guo DaLu did not give her a reply, only patted her shoulder again and told her, “In the future, you will know what it is I am afraid of. Right now, though, you should be good and go back to your room and have a good sleep. It would best for you if you are able to completely erase this whole incident from your memory.”

The young girl had lowered her head. After a long time, she finally said softly, “When you walk out of this lane, it will be good if you turned right.”

Guo DaLu: “Why?”

She did not give him an answer to his question either. Raising her head suddenly, she gave a charming smile. “You truly are a good person. Good people will never be lonely.”



The morning fog had risen.

Early morning at the beginning of summer. There was still a slight chill in the air.

Guo DaLu’s heart, though, was warm because he knew he had not wronged or let anyone down – he had not let down those friends of his who were good to him, nor had he let himself down. That is not an easy feat to achieve for anyone, no matter whom it may be.

He lifted his head to the sky, gave a big stretch, and exhaled a lengthy breath. “This day was very long.” Nearly everything that had occurred this day was completely beyond what he had foreseen. That mysterious pock-faced man, that hunchbacked old man who had vanished into the darkness, that one-legged monk with the extremely high martial arts and secretive background, and also that pitiable and lovable young girl – the appearance of these people were also all beyond what he had expected.

He had encountered many dangers and been angered and frustrated, and still he had not been able to obtain any information regarding Yan Qi. But he had reaped some good already. He had not been hoping for any sort of repayment from people when he did what he did, but it had already caused his heart to be flooded with warmth and happiness.

Good people will never be lonely. One who does good deeds will also be blessed.

“When you walk out of this lane, it will be good if you turned right.” Guo DaLu did not know what this was about, but he still did turn to the right.

He immediately discovered something very strange.



End of Chapter 42

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That was very sweet of Guo DaLu. If that was a test, then Guo DaLu definitely passed with flying colors.

[fastclock]

Thanks Hoju!
I didn't realize Yan Qi was really putting Guo DaLu on the spot.

[Wanlie Tong]

I think Yan Qi tests getting rather excessive. She had the chance to observe his character while they were at the mansion together, now she is repeating tests that Guo DaLu has already passed. Thanks Hoju for another great update.

[eliza bennet]

I wholly support Yan Qi's tests and don't think they are excessive. Men can have good intentions but their minds wander if they are put in a situation where will loses over desire. Very very happy that GDL passed this test too. Even I'm convinced now that he is worthy of a woman's love

But to be fair it may also be Yan Qi's relatives who may want to test GDL so throughly.

[yeongwee]

My humble opinion: Such tests are meaningless. The best way to avoid sin is to flee from temptation. People who "pass" a test may not be so faithful the next time. People who "fail" a test may turn out to be the most steadfast in a real situation. Perhaps rather than test others, we should actively encourage and support them to do the right thing, and to forgive them when they don't.

On a separate topic. Wasn't there an allusion that Yan Qi was related to the Commander Jin fella? Can't remember which city Commander Jin's residence was. Maybe when Guo Dalu turned the corner, he recognised that he was at Commander Jin's residence

[Hoju!]

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Chapter 43 – The Strange Person in the Secret House
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Early hours before dawn. The morning fog had just risen up from the roadway made of cobblestone. The road was very narrow.

As Guo DaLu turned past the lane and to the right, he saw a very familiar-looking door. What that meant was he had once gone through this door before. But in this city, he practically did not know a single person here and did not even have a single household that he was acquainted with. He immediately recalled that this door was the same door he had barged into when he was pursuing the pock-faced man in the daytime.

There were no lamps lit inside now. Was that sallow, emaciated-looking husband doing the deed that made him sallow and emaciated?

Guo DaLu had originally intended on coming to this place during the night to investigate and see if the pock-faced man would show up there. Now, though, he had changed his mind.

He continued forward and turned right again.

This particular lane was neatly lined with bluestone slabs and appeared to be far cleaner and tidier than the other lanes. It was already into the small hours, yet several lights were still lit inside. He saw the characters on two of the lanterns, and immediately, his eyes shone.

“Liu Chun Yuan*.”

So, it turns out that MeiLan guniang’s love nest [original xiang chao; literally ‘fragrant nest’; gen. a more derogatory term] was in this lane. Unfortunately, now was not the time to go visit a brothel. MeiLan guniang’s jade-like arm perhaps was being used as someone else’s pillow right then. Even if Guo DaLu was a philanderer, he could not charge in there now and spoil someone else’s fun.

But there seemed to be a very particular feeling in his heart, almost like the feeling a poet gets right before the perfect line of a verse has come to him.

Picking up his speed, he turned right again. He was now on a main street. He walked along the street for another ten steps or so and then, he saw that grain shop as well as Hui Bin Liu’s gold-lettered shopsign diagonally across the way.

A few stone blocks were set along the side of the street. Guo DaLu sat himself down on one to ponder.

Let’s say that the line of houses that made up the household the young girl lived in was the first line. The rooms of that husband and wife couple would be the second line. The rooms that made up Liu Chun Yuan would be considered the third line. And the grain shop would of course be the fourth line. Within each of these four lines of houses was someone who somehow had connections to the pock-faced man.

If the pock-faced man had not wanted him to go to the Dragon King Temple, how could he have encountered the young girl? Was this coincidence? Or was it an intentional arrangement? Was it because she knew some sort of secret but could not tell him so she deliberately used this way to drop him a hint? What secret could she know? Had she deliberately hidden beneath the table and deliberately allowed Guo DaLu to discover her presence? Could this all have been arranged by the pock-faced man ahead of time? What would his motive for doing that be?



Guo DaLu rose to his feet, retraced his steps, and then walked back along the same route once again.

These four lines of houses formed a quadrilateral with sides of unequal length. In any city’s streets, the line of houses in front always pressed up against the line directly behind it. However, between the first and third lines of houses here, there was actually a very wide distance. It was the same for the second and fourth ones as well. Therefore, in the middle of these four lines of houses, there must be an open space.

Guo DaLu’s heart leapt suddenly. Was there some sort of special reason that these four lines of houses were deliberately constructed in this way? There was only one way to find out the answer to this question.

Guo DaLu soared up onto the roof of the grain shop.



The room at the front of the grain shop was the front sales counter. In the back, there was also a courtyard. The rooms on either side of the courtyard appeared to be the bedrooms of the master of the household, and the one at the back was the storeroom for the grains. There should have been no other rooms beyond that.

Guo DaLu was already on the roof of that back storeroom, and he instantly saw that, sure enough, there was another house in the middle of the four lines of houses. The four households were like four walls, surrounding that house in the center so that it neither had an exit or a front entrance. Who in the world would actually build their home in this sort of place? If Guo DaLu flew over the roof of that house, he would be on the husband-wife couple’s property, or the second line of houses. Unless one was paying particular attention, anyone would think that this house was joined to one of the other properties. Even if there was a nightwalker passing over on the roof, that person still would definitely not notice what was unusual about this house.



But Guo DaLu had discovered it now.

Could it be that the master of this house was the pock-faced man? Naturally, to build this house in a place like this must have required a lot of effort and a very large price, but why would he do that? Could he be like the one-legged monk and have a secret that could not be divulged to anyone? Or perhaps he was trying to elude the pursuit of a very powerful enemy and so he needed to build such a house to hide away in? This house was indeed much more concealed than any other place Guo DaLu had seen before, but why did he seem to deliberately, yet not quite deliberately, allow Guo DaLu to discover this secret? If he had not exposed a trail of clues, Guo DaLu would definitely not have been able to find this place.

Guo DaLu pondered over this. The more he thought about it, the more he found this whole matter to be extremely mysterious and complicated. In order to find out the answer to everything, there was only one thing that could be done.

He jumped down.



Between the storeroom of the grainshop and this house, there was actually another wall. On the inside of this wall was a very long and narrow courtyard. The spring flowers had not withered away yet, and they gave off a delicate fragrance amidst the morning mist. Beyond the courtyard was a long gallery, and the light of the early morning was shining upon its spotless floor.

All around, it was very quiet. Not a sound could be heard. Even the wind could not blow into this place. It was completely isolated from all the worries, grudges, joys, and sorrows of human society. Only someone who had experienced the rise and falls of life and seen beyond the ways of the world and whose heart was like still water could live in a place like this – was worthy of living in a place like this.

The pock-faced man did not appear to be such a person. Could Guo DaLu have been mistaken? His speculations were wrong? He nearly wanted to retreat out of there.

But at that instant, he saw a person step out quietly from the very end of the gallery. It was a young girl, beautiful as a spring flower, dressed in a snow-white gown, wearing no rouge or powder and without shoes, only a pair of white stockings on her feet, as if for fear that the sound of her footsteps would shatter this peaceful quiet that allowed people to forget about worldly things. In her hands, she carried a “sunshine after the rain” porcelain [phrase used to describe the unique lustre of this famous porcelain] dish as she stepped quietly through the gallery. If she had not suddenly turned around to cast a glance in Guo DaLu’s direction, Guo DaLu nearly did not recognize her.


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* Original text actually says "Liu Xiang Yuan." It looks like Gu Long slipped-up. The previous chapter had called MeiLan's brothel "Liu Chun Yuan" and it is obvious that is what GL is referring to here. I kept "Liu Chun Yuan" to be consistent.

[davidY]

First to post Yan Qi right!? Too suspenseful. Though nice to see Gu Long introducing yet another amazingly beautiful lady.

[Wanlie Tong]

I wholly support Yan Qi's tests and don't think they are excessive. Men can have good intentions but their minds wander if they are put in a situation where will loses over desire. Very very happy that GDL passed this test too. Even I'm convinced now that he is worthy of a woman's love

But to be fair it may also be Yan Qi's relatives who may want to test GDL so throughly.

What has Yan Qi done to prove herself worthy of GDL?

[eliza bennet]

What has Yan Qi done to prove herself worthy of GDL?

A very good point. My explanation would be that GDL is a person like yeongwee who said

Such tests are meaningless. The best way to avoid sin is to flee from temptation. People who "pass" a test may not be so faithful the next time. People who "fail" a test may turn out to be the most steadfast in a real situation. Perhaps rather than test others, we should actively encourage and support them to do the right thing, and to forgive them when they don't.

To be honest it is not easy to forgive betrayal. Even though I want to do it, I don't think I can forgive someone who cheated on me. I like the idea of testing since she put him into situations where a regular guy would be tempted even if his intentions are good. So it will be easier for her to trust him and that would make their relationship more harmonious as a result.

[Guo Xiang ( :]

Yan Qi hasn't proved herself yet but she's such a cool character I don't really care. I hope that Guo DaLu doesn't test Yan Qi and the book is dragged out even longer. I do really hope that this new girl is Yan Qi!

This book is great and Hoju, you're doing a WONDERFUL job translating it!

[Han Solo]

To be honest, although YQ-GDL couple is pretty cute, if a real girl keep repeatedly trying to test me- i will consciously try to fail.

Who are you as a person to try to test another person? Are you willing to be tested as well? Am I not worthy enough without being tried?

These would be the questions that would be raised by me if such thing were to happen.

Han Solo

[Ren Wo Xing]

I don't think Yan Qi is testing him. Yan Qi isn't the type. I think Yan Qi's family is.

[patricia n]

i hope it's finally yan qi, but i'm afraid it could also be Mei RuNan. oh, where is yan qi??? i want her to appear and sweep guo off his feet.

[eliza bennet]

Who are you as a person to try to test another person? Are you willing to be tested as well? Am I not worthy enough without being tried?

hypothetically, if someone asks these questions to me I'd say

1- I'm a person who can not easily trust someone

2- Sure, anytime anywhere

3- People are different, as far as I'm concerned loving someone and trusting them are two different things - but if I want to start a relationship I need to have trust, and this seemed like an easy way to do it (but to be honest I really don't think it would be possible to do this in this day and age with the budget I have)

[Han Solo]

hypothetically, if someone asks these questions to me I'd say

1- I'm a person who can not easily trust someone

2- Sure, anytime anywhere

3- People are different, as far as I'm concerned loving someone and trusting them are two different things - but if I want to start a relationship I need to have trust, and this seemed like an easy way to do it (but to be honest I really don't think it would be possible to do this in this day and age with the budget I have)

Shouldn't the trust then be gained with time and events rather than some artificially derived tests?

Han Solo

[Guo Xiang ( :]

Shouldn't the trust then be gained with time and events rather than some artificially derived tests?

Han Solo

I would agree with this. In my view there are several problems with tests in addition to be artificial. If the tester doesn't inform the person being tested that they are going to be tested then the tester is being dishonest and manipulative. The test thus reveals more about the character of the tester than the person being tested.

On the other hand, if the tester is upfront and lets the person being tested know that they are going to have to prove themselves, then person being tested can adjust their behavior so as to pass the test in which case the test fails to reveal the tested's true character. In either case the test fails to accomplish its intended purpose. A person's character will only be revealed over time.

[Wanlie Tong]

A very good point. My explanation would be that GDL is a person like yeongwee who said



To be honest it is not easy to forgive betrayal. Even though I want to do it, I don't think I can forgive someone who cheated on me. I like the idea of testing since she put him into situations where a regular guy would be tempted even if his intentions are good. So it will be easier for her to trust him and that would make their relationship more harmonious as a result.

There is always a risk when you give your heart to another. No test can remove that risk.