Sword Stained With Royal Blood 碧血剑 Excerpts from Chapter 3 and 6

Hiya everyone! :D

So I translated these short excerpts from Sword Stained With Royal Blood last year because I liked the character Golden Snake Warrior so much when I was little. Not that he's a hero or anything, but I was really intrigued by him and even cried over his tragic fate. :p

I didn't translate much, but I still want to share what I have because as far as I know, this novel has never been translated. These excerpts deserve to see the light of day, haha. I'm also posting them to make up for my neglect in translating Meteor, Butterfly, Sword because I've been so swamped by my workload lately.

Here goes!

Chapter 3

...

Mu Renqing suddenly shivered and said, “This belongs to the Golden Snake Warrior.”

Mu Sang said, “Golden Snake Warrior? You mean Xia Xueyi? I heard that the man already died ten or so years ago!” Immediately after saying these words he suddenly shouted, “Correct, it is precisely him.” The knife scraped down, and the abdomen of the snake awl revealed the character “Xue.” Another snake awl was engraved with the same character.

Yuan Chengzhi asked, “Master, who is Golden Snake Warrior?”

Mu Renqing said, “This matter should be put off until later. Elder Disciple Brother, how do you think the concealed weapons ended up hidden inside this cave?” Mu Sang pondered without speaking, blankly entranced. Yuan Chengzhi, seeing that the expressions of his master and master’s disciple brother were solemn, dared not ask more. After dinner, Mu Renqing and Mu Sang exterminated the candle and held a long discussion. Yuan Chengzhi did not understand much, and heard them talk entirely about revenge and murder.

Mu Sang suddenly said, “So why do you think the Golden Snake Warrior avoided revenge and came here?”

Mu Renqing said, “Given his martial arts and wit, it seems unnecessary to escape so far from Jiangnan to here, and hide within this desolate mountain.”

Mu Sang said, “Could it be that he still hasn’t died?”

Mu Renqing said, “His behavior has always been unpredictable. These years we’ve been in Jianghu, we’ve only heard his name, which really can be regarded as widespread fame in fighting prowess, yet we have never seen him. People say he’s already dead, but don’t know how he died.”

Mu Sang sighed and said, “This person’s behavior is really eccentric, at times extremely fierce and evil, yet at times chivalrous from a sense of justice. People can’t ascertain if he’s good or bad. Several times I wanted to find him, but wasn’t able to.”

Mu Renqing said, “Let’s not guess blindly; tomorrow we’ll go see the cave.”

Early the next day, Mu Renqing, Mu Sang, Yuan Chengzhi, and the mute brought ropes and bladed weapons to climb up to the top of the cliff.

Mu Sang said, “I’m going down.”

Mu Renqing nodded and said, “Be careful.”

With the rope tied around his waist, he and the mute held on tightly and let the rope down. Mu Sang held a steel chessboard in one hand and three chess pieces in the other hand. He slipped down to the cave mouth, peered down, and saw mist carried by the wind floating under his feet, but was unable to see the ground. Although his qinggong was outstanding, the high peak was dangerous and he wasn’t on flat ground, so he couldn’t help being fearful. He turned his head to look into the cave, but couldn’t see through the pitch darkness and only thought that the cave was very deep. The cave mouth was extremely small and could not be entered, so he wrapped cloth around his hand, lightly scoured the cave, and came across several sharp objects inserted into the cave mouth. Upon touching them he knew they were golden snake awls. Lightly he pulled them out; in total he pulled out fourteen. He extended his hand inside again, until his cheek pressed against the cave mouth, and was unable to touch anything else. Loudly he shouted, “Pull me up.” Mu Renqing slowly retracted the rope, pulling him up until twenty feet from the top of the cliff when Mu Sang pushed his right leg off the cliff and scuttled up. On his chessboard rested a bunch of golden snake awls. He smiled and said, “Old Mu, we brothers are rich from so much gold.”

Yet Mu Renqing’s face was extremely serious. Knitting his eyebrows together, he said, “This strange man placed these things there, who knows for what purpose. What else is in the cave? Take me down there for a look.”

Mu Sang said, “Going down there is useless; the cave mouth is too small and cannot be entered.” Mu Renqing was filled with thoughts, lowered his head, and said nothing.

...

The thin fellow, afraid he wasn’t dead, came over again and stabbed him twice in the back. He snorted, “If I don’t kill you, what’s to say you won’t kill me? Why should there be a need to be polite?” Immediately he heavily kicked the bald fellow’s corpse and said, “You say I can’t deceive those five rotten old men? Watch me!” Not knowing that Yuan Chengzhi had already awoken, he shadily laughed twice, extinguished the light from the candle, opened the secret book, and looked inside. He swayed his body slightly, his whole face cheerful. He flipped a few pages; a few pages were stuck and couldn’t be opened, so he licked a forefinger and dipped his saliva as he browsed.

As he flipped a few pages this way, Yuan Chengzhi suddenly recalled that deadly poison was smeared on the book, so as he flitted through the book, he was bound to be poisoned; he couldn’t help but shout out “Ya.” The thin fellow heard this, turned his head, saw that Yuan Chengzhi’s face was full of fright, and slowly stood up. He pulled out the knife from the bald fellow’s back, walked forward two steps, and said, “I have no enmity with you, but today I cannot spare your life.” As he said this his eyes exposed a fierce light. He raised the knife, laughed maliciously, and said, “If I kill you now, it’s very likely that even when you reach the netherworld you won’t know the reason. To tell you the truth, I am Zhang Chunjiu from the Shiliang Sect in Quzhou, Zhejiang. Our Shiliang Sect and the Golden Snake Warrior are sworn enemies because he raped our disciple sisters and fled to whereabouts unknown. We searched everywhere for him for ten or so years; who knew that his belongings are actually in your hands, young fellow. Where is the Golden Snake Warrior?” As he said this he looked out the window, and involuntarily his face exposed dread, as if afraid that the Golden Snake Warrior would suddenly show up.

If Yuan Chengzhi had a little experience in Jianghu, he would speak menacingly, and definitely not walk frightened and cause his heart to have scruples. Not daring to casually injure himself, but now overwhelmed with panic, how would he think of deceiving him? He only said, “The Golden Snake Warrior died long ago, his...his skeleton was buried by me.”

Zhang Chunjiu was exalted, and also asked, “Is the Golden Snake Warrior really dead?”

Yuan Chengzhi nodded his head. Zhang Chunjiu shouted loudly and asked, “How did he die?”

Yuan Chengzhi said, “I don’t know, I really don’t know.”

...

Chapter 6

...

Wen Yi glanced at Yuan Chengzhi and said distressingly, “His skeleton was buried by Master Yuan, so I will not conceal anything from you, but I ask that Master Yuan tell us mother and daughter the circumstances of his death, so...” she spoke until here, her voice was choked again. After a moment, she said, “At that time I didn’t understand why he was so fierce, and actually didn’t want to understand. Daddy forbade us to take one step out the door. I felt very bored; every day I could only play in the garden. Daddy even said that without brothers accompanying us, we girls couldn’t even go to the garden in broad daylight. That day was in the third month, and the fragrance of flowers in the field blew in through the window. I really wanted to go to the hillside to see the flowers and smell the fields, but that murderer Golden Snake Warrior kept me indoors in such wonderful weather. I really wanted to slip away alone for a while, but upon recalling daddy’s severe expression, I didn’t dare. That afternoon, the five of us played in the garden - I and second house’s third older sister, fifth house’s sister-in-law, Brother Tianba, and you, Brother Nanyang. I was on the swing, swinging higher and higher. My body was floating and I peered over the wall, seeing lush green willow trees and beautifully blooming peach blossoms. I was truly happy. Suddenly, Brother Tianba shouted strangely and I fell down face up, scared to death. Only later did I realize that his chest had been hit by a golden snake awl; he had died on the spot. What about you, Brother Nanyang? I remember you had immediately run inside, leaving us three women outside.”

Wen Nanyang’s face turned red and he argued, “I was no match for him; if I didn’t leave I would’ve died for nothing. I was going to bring help.”

Wen Yi said, “I still don’t understand how it happened, but only saw someone jumping down from the wall and stand exactly above my swing. He swung with force, the swing started flying, and he held me by my waist. I felt like soaring through clouds and sailing through fog as I flew away. I thought that we would both fall to our deaths, but unexpectedly while his left hand held me, his right hand pulled on a branch outside the wall. He flicked again, lightly landing more than ten feet away. At this time I was scared silly and raised my fists to randomly strike his face. He pressed his finger on my armpit, my whole body immediately became limp, and I couldn’t move at all. I only heard the loud shouts of many people chasing us, but later their voices became more and more distant. Holding onto me, he ran quickly for half a day and arrived at a cave above the precipice of a cliff. He unsealed my pressure points and laughed at me maliciously. I suddenly thought of my two sisters-in-laws, thinking that it was better to die cleanly than be humiliated, so I rushed to strike my head on a mountain rock. He pulled me by the middle of my back so that I didn’t die, leaving me this scar.”

As she said this she pointed at her forehead. Yuan Chengzhi saw the scar hidden in her hair, an inch exposed, penetrating deeply through the top of her head. It seemed that the injury at that time was indeed not light.

Wen Yi sighed, “Supposing that he had let me knock myself dead, he would have benefited himself immensely; who knew that this pull would actually harm him devastatingly. At that time I fainted, and when I woke up I saw my body wrapped with a blanket, and was so frightened I fainted dangerously again. Afterwards when I saw that my clothes were perfectly intact, I relaxed a tiny bit. I thought that because he saw me attempt suicide, the bandit developed kindness, and thus didn’t harm me. I shut my eyes tightly, not daring to glance at him, and even didn’t dare to think about the matters at present.

“Afraid that I would attempt to commit suicide again, he watched me closely day and night for the next two days. When he spoke to me, naturally I didn’t respond. When he cooked food for me, I only cried and ate nothing. On the fourth day he saw me completely famished, so he stewed a huge bowl of meat soup, and quietly and gently urged me to drink it. When I paid no attention, he suddenly grabbed me, pinched my nose, and poured the meat soup down my mouth. In this way he forced me to drink most of the soup. As soon as he loosened his hand, I spouted a mouthful of hot soup at his face. I wanted to provoke his anger, so that he might as well kill me with one strike of the blade; I could avoid being bullied and then sold to a brothel to live in suffering like my two sisters-in-laws. Who would have imagined that he didn’t get angry, but only smiled and wiped the liquid off his face with his sleeve. He looked at me blankly, unable to resist sighing.”

Yuan Chengzhi and Qingqing glanced at each other, and Qingqing suddenly blushed red across her whole face.

Wen Yi said, “That night, he slept at the cave mouth and said to me, ‘Shall I sing a little tune for you to hear?’ I said, ‘I don’t want to listen.’ He happily jumped up and said, ‘I regarded you as a mute, but you can actually talk.’ I scolded, ‘Who’s mute? I don’t talk to evil people.’ He spoke no more and happily sang a mountain song, singing for most of the night. He was still singing when the moon emerged. I always lived in a great house, so of course I had never heard this kind of...this kind of mountain song.”

Nanyang shouted, “You were scared to listen yet wanted to listen, right? Who has the patience to listen to your shameless matters?” In large strides he walked out of the pavilion.

Qingqing said, “He definitely went to tell the grandfathers.”

Wen Yi said, “Let him go talk; I’ve long since not cared about anything.”

Qingqing said, “Mother, continue talking.”

Wen Yi said, “Afterwards I hazily fell asleep. The next morning when I woke up I didn’t see him, so I thought of escaping home alone. But this cave was at the mountain summit, the peak was very steep, and there was no road down. Only those with utmost high qinggong skills like him could come down. At noon he returned, having brought me a lot of jewelry and cosmetics. I didn’t want them and tossed them all down the valley. He didn’t get angry, and at night he sang to me again.

“One day, he brought many chicks, kittens, and tortoises up to the mountain peak, knowing that I didn’t have the heart to throw living things down the mountain. He spent the entire day with me playing with the kittens and feeding the tortoises, and at night he sang to me. I slept in the cave, while he never set foot in the cave. Knowing that he didn’t violate me, I felt a bit relieved, and was willing to eat. But for about a month I didn’t talk to him. He was gentle and polite to me all along; even daddy and mama never treated me this well.

“After a few more days, his face suddenly stiffened and he looked at me very fiercely. I was very scared and started crying. He sighed and coaxed me to stop crying. That night I heard him crying brokenheartedly. Not long after, it began to rain heavily, yet he still didn’t enter the cave. I couldn’t bear it, and called him to enter the cave to take shelter from the rain, but he didn’t pay attention.

“When I asked him why he was crying, he told me roughly, ‘Tomorrow is the anniversary of my father’s, mother’s, older brother’s, and older sister’s deaths. My entire family was killed by your family’s people. Tomorrow no matter what I should kill one person for revenge. Your home is now strictly guarded against, and they have invited Kongtong Sect’s Taoist Li Zhuo and Shifang Temple’s Buddhist monk Qingming as helpers. Humph, although those two are powerful, don’t tell me that I would thereupon give up?’ Fuming with rage between gritted teeth, he braved the heavy rain and descended the peak. The next evening, he still hadn’t returned; I felt somewhat concerned, and secretly hoped that he would return safely.”

After listening up to this point, Qingqing furtively looked towards Yuan Chengzhi to see whether or not he appeared contemptuous. But she saw that he was sitting solemnly and respectfully, listening carefully, so she was relieved and slowly sighed.

Wen Yi said, “The sky was nearly dark, and I went to the mountain peak several times to scan from afar. Several times I didn’t know where I was gazing at, but at last I saw on the opposite mountain peak the shadows of four people chasing each other vigorously. Their martial arts motions were extremely fast. I looked carefully: sure enough the first person was him, behind him was a Taoist priest, another one was a Buddhist monk, and the fourth was actually my daddy. In his hand he held the golden snake sword, one person fighting against three, battling and fleeing simultaneously. After fighting for a while, the monk’s staff swept over horizontally, and he could not avoid it right away. In my heart I was worried and shouted loudly, but unexpectedly his golden snake sword returned and actually chopped off a section of the staff. Daddy heard my shouting and spotted me when he turned around. He stopped fighting and hurried over to my mountain peak.

“He was very anxious, and in two sword strokes pushed aside the monk and the Taoist priest, giving chase soon after. Thus, it became my daddy in front, him in the middle, and the monk and Taoist in the back. Soon the four people had jumped down the valley. He overtook my daddy, barring him from coming to my side of the mountain peak. After they fought a few rounds, the monk and Taoist caught up, and my daddy found the time to jump out and climb up to my side. These four people fought and ran simultaneously, chasing until they reached the mountain peak I stood on. I was really happy and shouted loudly, ‘Daddy, hurry here!’ At this time he rushed over as if mad, three sword strokes in succession, forcing daddy to have no choice but to retreat. Daddy couldn’t defeat him and was in a dangerous situation. The monk and Taoist also arrived. Daddy shouted, ‘A’Yi, how are you?’ I replied, ‘I’m very good, daddy, don’t worry.’ Daddy said, ‘Good, let’s handle this bandit first.’ The three people encircled him again.

“The Taoist said, ‘Golden Snake Warrior, our Kongtong Sect has no enmity with you, but it’s just that your actions are too unreasonable. Thus I came forward as a peacemaker. I won’t help anyone, so if you agree to give up and in the future do not cause trouble for the Wen family, I will thereupon benevolently dismiss today’s matter.’ He shouted loudly, ‘How can I not seek revenge for my parents, older brother, and older sister?’ The Buddhist monk said, ‘You’ve already killed many people; it should be enough. On the behalf of the two of us, I urge you to stop!’ He suddenly thrust his sword at the monk and the four people started fiercely fighting again. The Taoist’s bladed weapons were a bit strange, and it could be assumed that his martial arts were extremely powerful. The monk’s staff thrust out and caused the wind to blow ferociously, also very formidable. He fought more and more poorly, sweating freely, and suddenly swaggered and tumbled dangerously.

“The monk hit with his staff, but he dodged it on his side. As he leaned his body on one side, he saw my face. Later he told me that at that time, his muscles were wary and his strength exhausted, but upon seeing me express extreme concern for him, he suddenly roused himself. His sword strokes became faster and faster, the valley in the fog rose, and only the flash of golden light could be seen in the mist. I only heard him call out, ‘Wen guniang, don’t be afraid, watch me!’ The monk shouted out loudly, rolling down the mountain, the center of his forehead pinned with a golden snake awl. My father and the Taoist were both alarmed. As he straightened his sword and thrust it at my father, the Taoist took advantage of his weakness and attacked the middle of his back. He abruptly shouted loudly, two fingers of his left hand aiming at the Taoist’s eyes. As the Taoist lowered his head, he brandished his sword and chopped the Taoist’s waist into two sections.”

Qingqing shouted out, “Ya!”

Wen Yi said, “He withdrew his sword and then thrust it at daddy. Daddy, having seen him kill two martial arts experts in succession, had long since been so scared that his face was an inhuman color, and he used his steel rod awkwardly. I hurriedly ran out of the cave and shouted, ‘Stop, stop!’ He heard my shout and stopped. I said, ‘He’s my daddy!’ He looked at my dad ferociously and said, ‘Leave. I’ll spare your life!’ Daddy was surprised and turned around to leave. At this moment, because I hadn’t eaten anything all day, was in shock from worry, and happy that he spared my daddy, I suddenly fell. He hurriedly came over to support me. I looked over his shoulder and saw daddy with a murderous glint in his eyes, suddenly lifting his steel rod to violently strike the middle of his back.

“He was wholeheartedly concerned with whether or not I was injured, and completely didn’t expect that my daddy would actually instigate a sneak attack. I couldn’t help but yell out, ‘Be careful!’ He looked distracted; it was already too late to get out of the way, so he leaned his head to the side and the rod hit his back. He seized the steel rod with his hands, tossed it down the valley, and charged at daddy with two palms. Daddy was unable to make a move, and closed his eyes awaiting his death. Unexpectedly he turned around to look at me, sighed, and said to daddy, ‘Hurry up and leave. Don’t make me change my mind to not spare you!’ Daddy said nothing and ran down the mountain. His back suffered from daddy’s rod, and his injuries were indeed severe. As soon as daddy left, he spouted out a mouthful of blood on the front of my clothes.”

Qinqing grunted and said, “Grandpa has no sense of shame; he knew that he couldn’t win so he secretly carried out an evil scheme!”

Wen Yi sighed, “It is reasonable to say that he is my family’s great enemy, having killed more than ten people in my family. But upon seeing him being jointly plotted against, I couldn’t help but side with to him; this is called the sin of past life.

“He staggered into the cave, took out injury medicine from his pocket, and ate it. Again he spouted out a lot of blood. I was so scared that I could only cry. Although he was injured, he was in a cheerful mood and asked me, ‘Why are you crying?’ I answered tearfully, ‘You’re wounded.’ He asked smilingly, ‘Are you crying for me?’ I didn’t reply and only felt very grieved. After a while he said, ‘Ever since my entire family was killed by your sixth uncle, nobody has ever cared for me. Today I killed one of your older male cousins, and before that killed forty people altogether. Originally I was going to kill ten more people, but for the sake of your tears, I will thereupon cease killing.’ I only cried and said nothing. He also said, ‘I also won’t harm your family’s women. After my wounds heal, I’ll take you home.’ My heart felt an indescribable feeling, and I only thought it was good that he had agreed to not kill people. But he vomited blood incessantly and sometimes in a daze kept saying ‘mama.’ One day he passed out for the entire day, and at nightfall he wouldn’t make it. I cried until my eyes were swollen. Suddenly he opened his eyes, smiled, and said, ‘It’s not serious; I won’t die.’ After two days, sure enough he slowly got better. One night he told me that on the day he was hit by the rod, originally he couldn’t have survived, but he anticipated that if he died, I could not descend from the summit. My family was afraid of him and wouldn’t dare search for me, so I would die of starvation. For me, he had to survive no matter what.”

Qingqing interrupted, “Ma, he treated you well; this person was really conscientious.” As she said this she ferociously looked at Yuan Chengzhi. Yuan Chengzhi’s face became hot and turned his head away.

Wen Yi said, “Afterwards his body gradually recovered and he began telling me about his childhood: how his mother and father doted on him, how his older brother and older sister cared for him. One time when he was sick, his mother stayed by his bedside for three days and nights without sleeping. Who would have imagined that one night, sixth uncle actually killed the entire family. At that time I felt that although this person’s methods were cruel and malicious, but when he talked about his relatives, it seemed like his heart was kind and gentle. He took out an embroidered red chest undergarment and showed it to me, saying that his mother embroidered it when he was a week old.”

She spoke up to this point, took out a child’s chest undergarment from her bosom, and spread it on the table.

Yuan Chengzhi saw the chest undergarment with red satin on the outside, white satin on the inside, and embroidered with a naked, fat baby sleeping on a plantain leaf. The fat baby’s naïve expression was cute, the embroidery was exquisite; he wanted to receive his mother’s wholehearted love for her son as she embroidered. Yuan Chengzhi grew up without a father or a mother, so as he looked at this chest undergarment and thought about his life experience, he couldn’t refrain from feeling sad.

Wen Yi continued, “He frequently sung mountain songs for me to hear. He also carved from wood little dogs, horses, and dolls for me to play with, saying that I was a naïve girl doll. Later when his injuries completely healed, I saw that he became more and more unhappy, and couldn’t help but ask him why. He said that he hated to part from me. I said, ‘Then I’ll just live here to keep you accompany!’ He was extremely happy, shouted loudly, jumped up and down the two great trees on the mountain peak, and somersaulted like a monkey.

“He told me that he had obtained a map that indicated the location of a great treasure trove. Inside it were so much gold, silver, and jewels that it was difficult to estimate. It was said that when King Yan seized the throne, he fought from Beijing to Nanjing. Emperor Jianwen fled in a panic and buried the inner depository’s treasures in a secret place in Nanjing. After King Yan took the throne, he searched the entire city of Nanjing but was unable to find it. He dispatched three palace eunuchs to sail West several times, firstly to seek the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen, and secondly to probe for the treasures.”

Yuan Chengzhi thought, “So what I had discovered in the golden snake manual was actually the map of this treasure trove.”

Wen Yi continued, “He said that Emperor Chengzu couldn’t find the map throughout his life, yet several hundred years later, he had accidentally obtained it. At present he had already sought his great revenge, so he only wanted to search for these treasures. After he found them, he would pick me up, but for now he would send me home.”

She spoke until this point and quietly sighed, “He hated to part with me, and actually I hated to leave him too. But...but...I couldn’t just follow him there. After I returned home, everyone actually looked down on me. I was really resentful; they didn’t have the ability to protect their own daughter, I returned home pure, but everyone humiliated me instead. So I just took no notice of them and didn’t talk to them.”

Qingqing interrupted, “Mama, you’re very right, what did you do wrong?”

Wen Yi said, “I waited at home for three months. One night, I suddenly heard someone singing under the window. I immediately recognized his voice and knew that he had arrived, and hurriedly opened the window to let him in. We were very delighted to see each other. That day he and I were well, and had a child, you. I was willing, and until now I still don’t regret it. Others say he forced me, but that’s not true. Qing’er, your daddy treated your mama well. We always loved each other. From beginning to end he respected me and never forced me.”

Yuan Chengzhi secretly admired her courage; hearing her talk about her past deep love, he couldn’t refrain from distressing.

Qingqing suddenly sang in a low voice, “A flock of wild geese came from the south, some in pairs and some alone. The pairs were wild with joy, their voices loud and clear, the loners fell behind and couldn’t fly up. Not regarding the pairs, only looking at the loners, delicately considering your misery, you are the same as me! Delicately considering your misery, you are the same as me.” Her singing voice was soft and sweet, full of grief over love.

Wen Yi said distressingly, “That is a small tune her daddy sang to me before. This child grew up in my embrace listening to these songs and has heard many. Unexpectedly she has also remembered them.”

Yuan Chengzhi asked, “It seems that Senior Xia had already found the treasure trove at that time?”

Wen Yi said, “He said he hadn’t found it yet, but already had clues. His heart was concerned with me, and he was unwilling to delay time for the treasure trove. When he talked about the treasure trove, I didn’t pay attention. We discussed secretly leaving the second morning. We were delighted, didn’t guard against anything, and didn’t think that others had eavesdropped on our conversation.

“The second day when it wasn’t yet light out, I packed clothes, left a letter for daddy, and was just about to leave when suddenly someone knocked on the door. Of course I was very afraid. He said it was all right; even if there were thousands of men and horses we could fight our way out. He held the golden snake sword and opened the door. The three people who entered were actually my daddy and two elder uncles. They were all empty-handed, wearing gowns and jackets, their faces actually smiling happily without the slightest bit of hostility. Upon seeing the three people with such appearances, we were astonished.

“Daddy said: ‘I know all about your matters; this is also the sin of past life. Last time you didn’t kill me, so I owe you one. In the future let’s become relatives by marriage, but you must not use weapons again.’ He thought that daddy was afraid he would kill people, so he said, ‘Rest assured, I’ve long since promised your young lady that I will no longer harm your family’s people!’ Daddy said, ‘Leaving in private won’t do; you must marry openly and righteously, and properly kneel to heaven and earth.’ He shook his head distrustfully. My daddy said, ‘A’Yi is my only beloved daughter; I can’t let her elope and not be able to lift her head for her entire life.’ He thought that these words weren’t wrong. Who would have imagined that for the purpose of being considerate to me, he was actually tricked by my daddy.”

Yuan Chengzhi asked, “So your father deceived him, and wasn’t sincere?”

Wen Yi nodded and replied, “Daddy just let him rest in a side room and began to plan for the wedding. From beginning to end he was distrustful, and he gave the food and drink that my family sent him to the dogs first. The dogs were fine after eating, but he was still not reassured and hardly ate anything. At night he threw them away and went to Shiliang town to buy food.

“One night, mama brought a bowl of lotus soup and said to me, ‘Give this to your husband to eat!’ I was naïve, thought that mama empathized with him, and cheerfully brought it to the room. He saw me personally bringing it and was fond so he didn’t guard against anything. He ate it in a few mouthfuls and was just talking with me when suddenly his complexion changed drastically. He stood and shouted, ‘A’Yi, your heart is so cruel!’ I was scared, panicked, and asked, ‘What?’ He asked, ‘Why did you poison me?’”

Although Wen Yi said the words “Why did you poison me?” in a soft voice, it was still full of immense terror; she thought of that time when Golden Snake Warrior was so angry and deeply hurt.

When Yuan Chengzhi and Qingqing heard this, they couldn’t help but be absolutely terrified. Wen Yi’s tears fell drop by drop on the lapel, and she was unable to say anymore. In the midst of quiet, suddenly they heard a torturous, strange laugh outside the pavilion. The three people hastily turned their heads and saw the Five Wen Elders walking closer side-by-side. Behind them followed twenty to thirty people holding bladed weapons.

Wen Fangshan shouted loudly, “A’Yi, have you no shame in telling your own scandals to strangers?”

Wen Yi’s face swelled red; she intended to reply, but presently endured it. She turned and said to Yuan Chengzhi, “In the past nineteen years, I haven’t said a word to daddy, and in the future I will also never speak a word to him. Originally I shouldn’t have lived in the Wen family, but I had Qingqing, so where could I go? Moreover, I always hoped that he hadn’t died, and that he would one day return to find me. If I had left this place, then how would he find me? Since he’s already dead, I don’t have any scruples. I’m not afraid of them; are you afraid?”

Before Yuan Chengzhi replied, Qingqing already rushed to say, “Brother Chengzhi won’t be afraid.”

Wen Yi said, “Good, I’ll continue speaking.” Raising her voice, she continued, “I cried worriedly and didn’t know how to explain or act properly. Suddenly, someone kicked the door and sent it flying. Many people grasping weapons rushed inside.” She pointed outside the pavilion and said, “At that time, it was precisely those people who stood outside the door. They...they all held concealed weapons. Daddy at least had some father-daughter feelings and shouted, ‘A’Yi, come out!’ I knew that after they waited for me to come out, they would immediately launch concealed weapons at him. The room was such a small area; where could he hide? I shouted, ‘I won’t come out; kill me too, then!’ I blocked his body and had only one thought in my heart: to protect him and not let him get injured.

“Originally his brows were deeply creased as he sat in the chair; he thought that I had colluded with my family to poison him, and he was utterly heartbroken and pained. He hadn’t wanted to fight and resist, but upon hearing me speak that way, he suddenly jumped up and very happily said, ‘You didn’t know that the lotus soup was poisonous?’ I held the bowl, saw that the bowl still had some soup left, drank it in one mouthful, and said, ‘I’ll die together with you!’ In one slap he sent the bowl to the ground, but I had already drunk it. He smiled and said, ‘Fine, let’s die together!’ He turned around and insulted at them, ‘Are you people not afraid of being shameful for using this sort of despicable hidden poison?’ Elder uncle said angrily, ‘Who used poison? Those who use poison are not heroes. You think your skills are so great, so come out and fight!’ He said, ‘Fine!’ and went out to fight against the five brothers. Although the lotus soup he drank hadn’t been poisoned, it contained the Wen family’s secret ‘intoxicated immortal honey.’ Once drunk, he would slowly lose strength in his entire body, sleep as if dead, and only wake after one day and night. These people were even reluctant to use poison to kill him because they wanted him to faint and then slowly torture him. They...they were heroes all right!”

She spoke up to here, her tone full of fierce blame; only because her natural disposition was gentle did she not maliciously swear at them.

Wen Fangshi angrily said, “This shameless **** should have been killed long ago; we raised her to this day, but instead she bites the hand that feeds!”

Qingqing said, “My mother has eaten more than ten years of food at the Wen home. But fourth grandpa, over the last two years, how much wealth have I found and given you? Can even one hundred people eat so much in a lifetime? The debt we mother and son owe you has long since been paid back in full!”

Wen Fangda, who didn’t want to mention the family’s scandals in front of a stranger, shouted, “Hey, the one named Yuan, do you dare to fight against us five brothers?”

The past two days Yuan Chengzhi was respectful and considerate to them because they were Qingqing’s elders, but upon hearing Wen Yi tell of their treachery, he was unconsciously full of anger and shouted, “Humph, don’t mention five brothers, even if you had ten or more brothers altogether, what do I have to fear?”

Wen Yi smiled coldly and said, “That night, it was also five brothers fighting against one person. Originally he could have resisted against the enemies, but after he drank the ‘intoxicated immortal honey,’ his hands and feet became increasingly limp and painful as he fought. The five brothers had already perfected the Five Elements Formation; upon fighting, the five brothers became one...”

Wen Fangshan shouted, “A’Yi, you live on us but help outsiders secretly, divulging the Wen family’s background?”

Wen Yi ignored her father’s words and told Yuan Chengzhi, “He urgently wanted to knock down one of the five so that he could break the Five Elements Formation, but he swayed and staggered more and more. I shouted, ‘Leave quickly; I’ll never lose you!’”

Her yelling voice was sad and shrill, seemingly shouting the same way as on that night.

Qingqing was scared and shouted repeatedly, “Mama!”

Yuan Chengzhi said, “Auntie, return to your room to rest. I will talk with them and come visit you again tomorrow.”

Wen Yi pulled on his sleeve and shouted, “No, no, I stifled this in my heart for nineteen years; today I must let it out. Master Yuan, listen to me speak!”

Yuan Chengzhi, hearing her words carrying the sound of weeping, nodded and said, “I’m listening.”

Wen Yi, still tightly grasping his sleeve and not letting go, said, “They wanted his life, but even more importantly, they wanted to get rich. He fought for another while, his body was injured, he couldn’t support himself, he fell to the ground, finally...finally he was captured by them. I threw myself over his body, but I was kicked aside by one of my uncles. They forced him to hand over the treasure map. He said, ‘The map is not with me; whoever has the guts come with me to get it.’ They searched his body carefully and sure enough the map wasn’t there. This was difficult for them: if they released him, once the drug’s properties faded, there would be no way to catch him again; if they killed him, they could never get to the huge treasure trove. At last it was my daddy’s brilliant plan, haha, so clever, isn’t that so? At that time he had already lost consciousness, and I had also fainted. By the time I awakened, they had already broken off all the tendons of his arms and legs. They caused him to lose his entire body’s martial arts, and he could never exert strength again. Then they forced him to get the map and search for the treasure. Truly clever, isn’t it? Haha, haha!”

Yuan Chengzhi saw that her eyes were deranged, her breathing was hurried, and her speech was abnormal. He urged her, “Auntie, you should still return to your room and rest.”

Wen Yi said, “No, once you leave, they will kill me. I need to finish speaking before I die...they dragged him along. Two experts from the Kongtong Sect also went. They both wanted undeserved fortune. But somehow, he still escaped. Most likely he gave them a map and they became so happy that they neglected to guard against anything. They were very clever, but my husband was also not stupid. When the seven of them got ahold of the treasure map, they snatched and seized among themselves. The five brothers conspired together and killed the two people from the Kongtong Sect first.”

Wen Fangyi sternly scolded, “A’Yi, you keep talking nonsense and should be careful!”

Wen Yi smiled and said, “Why should I be careful? Do you think I’m scared of death?” She turned and told Yuan Chengzhi, “Who would have thought that the treasure map was actually fake. The five of them dug here and there in Nanjing for more than half a year, spending several thousand taels of silver, yet didn’t find a single coin, haha, truly there’s nothing more amusing.”

The Wen brothers were freely darting looks of hatred from outside the pavilion, but they dreaded Yuan Chengzhi and didn’t dare to charge into the pavilion. Wen Yi spoke up to this point and blankly slipped into a trance. In a low voice she slowly said, “After he went, I never received news of him again. The tendons in his arms and legs were broken, so he was already a cripple. He was so proud and arrogant; if he hadn’t died of pain he would have died of anger.”

Wen Fangda shouted again, “The one named Yuan, this little **** already mentioned the Five Elements Formation and you already heard about it, so if you have the guts then come out and try it!”

Wen Yi said quietly, “You should leave; don’t fight with them.” Sighing softly, she said, “Golden Snake Warrior faced such injustice and grievances; at last someone knows of it.”

Yuan Chengzhi had already competed with the Wen brothers one by one before. He knew that if they fought one on one, none of them were a match for him. But as for the five of them together, plus the perfected Five Elements Formation, it was likely that he could not easily defeat them. The first time they crossed swords, both sides had no enmity so they went easy on each other. But now that he already knew their secrets and they believed that he and Golden Snake Warrior had a considerable relationship, this sort of people could use any secret and malicious methods. If he wasn’t careful, a terrible tragedy would immediately occur. But he had no desire to be their murderer, so momentarily he couldn’t help but be rather hesitant.

Wen Fangyi shouted, “What, you don’t dare? Obediently kowtow three times to grandpas and we’ll let you go.”

Wen Fangshi said gloomily, “At this time kowtowing won’t do.”

Yuan Chengzhi thought, “I need to calm down and properly think of the best solution.” It was his first time coming out of a thatched cottage and his experience was very shallow. He didn’t seem like an experienced person in Jianghu, so as soon as he encountered a difficult problem, he would immediately need to come up with a plan. Consequently he said in a clear voice, “Since the Wen’s Five Elements Formation is formidable and matchless, I would actually like to try it out. However I am currently very exhausted, so can you let me rest for two hours?”

Wen Fangyi said casually, “Two hours is two hours, but even if you stall for ten days or half a month you won’t be able to escape.”

Wen Fangshan said in a low voice, “This young fellow had better not use some crafty scheme. Let’s kill him immediately.”

Wen Fangda said, “Second brother has already promised him, so just let him live for two more hours and let him die without complaint.”

Wen Yi said worriedly, “Master Yuan, don’t be fooled, their conduct has always been cruel; how could they have such good intentions and be willing to let you rest for another two hours? Over the past few years, they keep the treasure trove constantly in mind. They want to devise ways to harm you; they want to break off the tendons of your arms and legs and force you to help them find the treasure. Quickly leave together with Qingqing, the farther the better.”

Wen Fangda heard her hit the mark on his own intention and his complexion became ashen. Coldly smiling, he said, “So the three of you want to leave, the farther the better? Humph, the reverse of my intention sounds rather pretty. The one named Yuan, go rest in the martial arts practice hall. Later when we fight, it’ll be more convenient for everyone.”

Yuan Chengzhi said, “Fine!” He stood up.

Wen Yi and her daughter, knowing that the Five Elements Formation was formidable, were anxious but unable to obstruct it. They had no choice but to follow him and leave the pavilion at the same time.

...

Cool. I wonder when someone will take up translation for this novel. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xaari

These excerpts deserve to see the light of day, haha.

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:) And this novel does precede http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthre...bridged-Thread

Well, foxs is committed (for the next 6 years perhaps) to translating something else... Any translators keen to tackle Sword Stained with Royal Blood for us ?

up up..
bump

who knows someone volunteer to translate this novel

Quote:

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Originally Posted by a_tumiwa

up up..
bump

who knows someone volunteer to translate this novel

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Given the faux-critical diatribes the last translating effort here attracted, I wouldn't hold my breath...

Here I thought Patudo was going to volunteer ... :( :D