There was only one sentence in Zhang Chengling's mind--I'm doomed!
In the past, when he was with Zhou Zishu, anything that could happen--good, bad, or whatever shape the situation could go--would have been predicted by Zhou Zishu, who was born to expend thought and effort. Zhang Chengling, a dumb child, naturally could not keep up with the reasonings of those two, and was happy to slack off. From day to night, he thought of nothing at all, his mind empty; here, without anyone to rely on, his brain became unusually agile.
Why did that bunch of women still want to bring Gao Xiaolian along with them, he reasoned, even though they hated her that much? Were they not hesitant that she would delay their journey, and that they even had to manage her need for sustenance? Obviously, she was useful to them. Otherwise, she would have died a long time ago--what the jianghu lacked the least was savage individuals who found a single glare sufficient reason to kill someone over. If so...now that he had been captured, did they intend to interrogate him thoroughly?
Zhang Chengling made up his mind. Even if they interrogated him, he could not reveal his true identity. Otherwise, there would be huge trouble, because there were even more matters of discord about him--but what if Gao Xiaolian recognised him?
Nonsensical thoughts roared chaotically in his brain as he was dragged out of the inn like a gunny sack by that woman in black. She brought him to an unassuming corner next to the stables, but set him down all of a sudden. Hovering between surprise and suspicion, Zhang Chengling eyed her, but the woman shifted her hand and unblocked his acupoints. She yanked down the mask on her face, and asked, "Are you Zhang Chengling, that little useless thing?"
Zhang Chengling's eyes widened, then, nearly crying out of joy, almost threw himself at her. He fought off his trembling voice, calling out, "Gu Xiang-jiejie!"
He opened his arms as though he wanted to hug her, but Gu Xiang fended him off with a hand and shoved him aside. She said solemnly, "Men and women, fat or thin, must not be improperly intimate with each other
. I have a spouse now, don't get touchy-feely with me."
Blinking, Zhang Chengling looked dumbly at her for a long while, before he said in sudden realisation, "Oh? Have you married Cao-dage? I understand now, are you and him…sharing a blanket?"
Gu Xiang's face turned red in an instant. Glaring ferociously at Zhang Chengling, she questioned, "What nonsense are you talking about? Which bastard taught you these obscene things?"
The difference between a young maiden and an old woman was that, as bold as the young maiden was, she was only bold when speaking of others' affairs; once it came to her own, she was always thin-skinned. Zhang Chengling actually had a very innocent mind--be it at the Zhang Manor, or roaming about in exile, no one had properly explained to him what those things were all about.
He could only infer some traces of it from his two flippant shifus' mutual teasing, merge it with his own imagination, and draw the conclusion that "Those who share a blanket are husband and wife". And thus, in the teenager's pure heart, the blanket had become a mystical ceremonial ritual, one like exchanging wine cups.
He didn't think there was anything impure about it, so he asked it casually. Gu Xiang's hackles rose, and she raised her hand to discipline this little ruffian who spoke impertinently. Hastily, Zhang Chengling evaded it, uttering the mantra as he did so. This had almost become his trademark--if he didn't recite the mantra, he could not perform the qinggong.
Gu Xiang made another questioning noise; earlier, when they had exchanged blows, she had sensed that this little tyke knew some gongfu. If some moves hadn't looked more familiar to her, in the dim conditions, she would have almost not recognised him. She looked Zhang Chengling up and down, and said, "I haven't seen you for some days, but you've become a little more competent. Where is my master and your shifu?"
And so Zhang Chengling related the whole process of how he had been heartlessly abandoned by that scumbag couple. After listening to it, Gu Xiang spat, reached out a hand to slap him upside the head, and reprimanded, "So you've grown old enough to leave the nest? Do you know who those people are? Not even I and…and Cao-dage dare to act rashly, what are you playing hero for?"
As she spoke, another person jumped down from the top of the wall, dressed in black clothes and a mask, in a woman's long skirt, and said, "A-Xiang, why are you taking so long? I thought you…"
Astonishingly, it was a man's voice. He noticed Zhang Chengling, abruptly stopped talking, and plucked off his mask. It was none other than Cao Weining.
Cao Weining stared at them with wide eyes for a long moment, before he pointed to Zhang Chengling and said, "Ah...you are, that little fellow Zhang Chengling. Why have you painted your face like a theatre actor? Where is your shifu and his company?"
Reliably, Zhang Chengling was about to retell his account of what happened, but Gu Xiang interrupted them hastily, "Don't waste time talking about the old days now. Hurry and get that maiden Gao out, then we'll talk."
She fished out a sheet of paper from the front of her robes. On it, lines and a few talismanic scribbles, missing strokes here and there and understood by no one, were crookedly drawn. Gu Xiang said, "I have sketched out the rooms in this inn. There's a place circled here, it's where Gao Xiaolian is locked up--hells, at first, I thought that they were taking turns with her surveillance, but who knew that these women are so wary that they don't even trust their own people? Only a few close confidantes of that old woman are allowed to go near Gao Xiaolian."
Cao Weining came close, tapping his chin as he asked, "What should we do?"
Eager to test out his plan, as though he had grown addicted to taking risks, Zhang Chengling volunteered a terrible idea, "Why don't we go and cause some disturbance, I'll distract them and lead them away while you two go and rescue her. Then we'll meet up afterwards."
Cao Weining said, "Good idea!"
Gu Xiang said coolly, "If one out of the three of us is as skilled as your shifu or my master, we don't have to think of a plan. We can charge in to fight them and grab her right away--kid, you've only spent a few days learning qinggong, and you want to 'lure someone out'?"
Cao Weining immediately changed his mind and supported the opposition. "Yes, what A-Xiang says is sensible."
Zhang Chengling looked at him silently, and felt that even if Gu Xiang had said, "Cao Weining is a scoundrel and a bastard", he would also nod his head, bow, and reply without any consideration for his principles, "What A-Xiang says is sensible."
Gu Xiang analysed strategically, "Those old women are not ordinary people. That one leading them, people call her 'Black Poison Hag'. Rumour has it that she came from Nanjiang, and practices gu poison, constructs miasmas and the like…"
Upon hearing the word "Nanjiang", Zhang Chengling couldn't help but interject, "How can that be, the Great Shaman is a good person…"
Gu Xiang rolled her eyes at him. "What about the Great Shaman? He rules over the great Shiwan mountains of Nanjiang. Can he care about even the insignificant worms and grasses that live within them? Also, I already said that it was only a rumour…"
Cao Weining immediately said, "That's right, that's right. We who live in the Central Plains have always avoided discussing Nanjiang, we're actually not very clear about what goes on there."
Zhang Chengling could only give Cao Weining a wordless look.
Gu Xiang continued, "I can't say for sure how skilled this old woman is either...but anyway, I can't defeat her. As for Cao-dage, if it's normal combat, he might have a few ounces of confidence, but after tracking them for this journey and observing them from afar, I feel that the Black Poison Hag must have other tricks. This is even more difficult, also, they have many people."
Cao Weining suggested, "How about...we scatter some sleeping powder?"
Gu Xiang said, "Do you think that the Black Poison Hag will fall into your trap, or fall into mine? Those from the Central Plains are no match for those from Nanjiang at this sort of thing in the first place, you…"
She looked like she was about to cuss him out, but she took one look at Cao Weining, and swallowed her words back down. He was, after all, her man. She couldn't bear to.
Cao Weining hurriedly changed his tune. "That's sensible, it is indeed so. I'm really too dumb, we'll listen to whatever you say."
The three cobblers decided that Gu Xiang was their only commander, and she started directing them like one.
After enduring the pain forty-five minutes after midnight, Zhou Zishu found that the agony from the Three-Autumn Nails of the Seven Acupunctures was no longer as fierce. It was only then that he discovered that the positions the two men were in were amiss, coughed, and fought his way out of Wen Kexing's arms. Wen Kexing looked at him placidly, asking with the insinuation of a smile, "A-Xu, your erotic pictures are so extraordinarily life-like. Completing them with just a few strokes of the brush like so--in truth, you were unleashing a bit of your long-repressed desires, weren't you?"
With the same insinuation of a smile, Zhou Zishu replied politely, "You give me too much merit, too much merit. Those were merely casual scribbles."
Wen Kexing said, "Oh? Even a casual scribble of yours can capture the very essence of its subjects so divinely?"
Zhou Zishu turned his head away, and exited the small alley. Bending to examine the bloodstains on the ground closely, he changed the topic. "Looks like she ran in that direction. Although, why is Liu Qianqiao here?"
Wen Kexing followed behind him like a shadow. Upon hearing this, he sighed, "A-Xu, why do you have to be so courteous with me? If you have such thoughts in mind, we can talk about it openly and have an honest chat about it, and discuss the issue of the roles too."
Zhou Zishu said coolly, "There is no need to discuss this matter."
Wen Kexing smiled lecherously. "That's even better."
Zhou Zishu interrupted his beautiful fantasy. "You can stop dreaming."
He immediately gave chase in the direction of the bloodstains. Wen Kexing followed behind him, obviously not paying attention--at present, his mind was currently too preoccupied with sex to care about whether Liu Qianqiao was alive or dead.
Following the blood trail, the two men gave chase. All of a sudden, Zhou Zishu asked, "The Long-Tongued Ghost wants to kill you, and so do the people behind him...why?"
Wen Kexing, who was still chattering non-stop earlier, suddenly fell quiet and was silent. Just as Zhou Zishu thought that he would not answer his question, he heard Wen Kexing say, "Why do you think I am the Master of the Ghost Valley?"
Zhou Zishu cast a glance at him, and said offhandedly, "Because you're infinitely capable."
Wen Kexing smiled slightly. This smile of his was a little forced, and astonishingly, had something demented vaguely lurking in it. He said, "I am the Valley Master because they can't do anything about it. Whoever enters the Ghost Valley will have their debts from the world outside cleared entirely. If it is a paradise apart from the world, won't its borders burst from the masses swarming in?"
This reason was one that Zhou Zishu could deduce even if he reasoned with his toes, but in that moment, he still remained silent...almost as though he only wanted to hear it coming from this person's mouth.
Wen Kexing continued, "At the foot of Fengya Mountain, there is no morality and justice. Either devour others, or be devoured. No one can do anything about me--I can kill anyone who I wish to kill, and that is why I am the Master of the Ghost Valley. At the moment, they are unable to kill me, and can only do as I command. However, this does not mean that they don't want to kill me. If there's a chance to do so, they will still make trouble...for example, some people think that once they obtain Rong Xuan's secret manual from back then, they can slay me, this supreme demon, with their own hands."
Looking at him, Zhou Zishu asked, "The Ghosts are willing to risk the chance of the sun 'corroding' them as they exit the Valley against the rules and fan the flames to get rid of you?"
Wen Kexing laughed soundlessly. "That's because the Ghosts are not very patient. Of the preceding Valley Masters, none of them have survived three years on that seat. This is already my eighth year, and I still refuse to read the situation and kick the bucket. Won't you say that they are very anxious?"
Zhou Zishu was silent for a long while. Then he said, "If I had longer to live, I could think of a solution so that you never have to return to that place. I'd keep you as a young, pretty face in my house."
Wen Kexing paused, and turned his head to look at him, as if to ascertain that he was not joking. After a long while, he finally said, "You said...you want to keep me?"
Zhou Zishu laughed, and said, "It doesn't matter what seat you are on. If one has been trapped by a particular post, it is discomforting. This feeling…"
He stopped, the rest of his words vanishing into a very slight smile--no one understood this feeling more than he did.
The break of dawn was nearing. Not long after, Liu Qianqiao's trail went cold; the two men searched the spot for a while to no avail. Just as they were preparing to turn back, a woman's tragic shout suddenly rang out. Zhou Zishu frowned, and headed in that direction in a show of physical skill.
The two men concealed the sounds of their breathing, and walked with lighter footsteps. As they watched, hidden off to the side, they saw Liu Qianqiao, an arrow embedded in her shoulder, still fighting another person with her all. Surprisingly, that person was also someone familiar to them--it was Cangshan Sect's Huang Daoren.
The author has something to say:
*cough cough*, I updated late tonight, mostly because I had a little accident = =
When I came out of the shower I felt a little faint, and I thought I was very persistently standing upright on my own. But when a girl came to help me up, I discovered that I was horizontal...
In the process of this, I forgot to switch on the third-person omniscient perspective, so I can't verify the details of how I fell flat on my face. Although, luckily, I, as an adult who weighs ninety-plus catties (45+ kg), my centre of gravity moved downwards by more than half the distance under gravitational acceleration, and I didn't get any bruises anywhere. Evidently, my character is still decent…