Chapter 1 – The Man at the Horizon (2/2)

The skies had darkened even further; it was almost pitch black.

Fu Hongxue walked slowly to a corner and sat down unhurriedly, with his back towards the door.

That was the corner he sat when he came here a year ago. But the place was presently like a grave; there was no place for any living person to hang about.

Why did he still choose to sit down? Was he reminiscing about the past? Or was he waiting?

If he was reminiscing, what could have happened that was worthy of his reminiscence?

If he was waiting, who or what was he waiting for?

Was it Death? Was it really Death?

…..

The colour of night had finally wrapped her arms around all of the land.

There were no lamps, candles or fire; only darkness.

He hated the darkness. However, darkness was similar to death in that they were both inescapable.

Now that darkness had arrived, what about death? He sat there without moving, his hand still clenched tightly to his sabre. Perhaps you could still see the pale hand, but certainly not the sabre, for it had melted into the darkness.

Was his sabre as inescapable as death?

The night was as silent as death. Suddenly, the wind brought the melodious strains of string instrumental music.

Under such depressing circumstances, it was as though the music came from the heavens.

His empty eyes had a strange expression after hearing this heavenly music. – Many adjectives could be used to describe this expression, but joyfulness was not one of them.

The music steadily increased in volume. Amongst the raising music volume, the creaking of the wheels of a horse carriage could also be heard.

Who other than Fu Hongxue could be rushing to this God-forsaken place?

Fu Hongxue’s eyes were slowly returning to their original coldness, but the hand that was on his sabre clenched even tighter.

Could it be that he knew the person that was coming?

Could it be that he was waiting for this person?

Could it be that this person was Death himself?

What kind of music did heavenly music sound like? Nobody had ever heard how heavenly music sound like!

But if there existed a form of music which could melt one’s heart, and even one’s soul, this music would be as close to as heavenly music as it could be heard on earth. The music that Fu Hongxue was listening to would certainly qualify to be heavenly music.

But Fu Hongxue did not melt.

He sat there listening, but remained still and silent. All of a sudden, eight men dressed in black coats with colourful silk sashes tied to their waists walked into the tavern in quick steps. All of them were carrying bamboo baskets; these baskets contained peculiar items, including cloth rags and brooms.

None of them stopped to give Fu Hongxue a glance. Once in the tavern, they began to clean and tidy up the tavern. All of them worked briskly.

Not only did they work briskly, they were also worked very efficiently.

The dilapidated tavern had a miraculous make over in a very short period of time.

Every nook and cranny was cleaned up until not a speck of dust remained. Wallpaper was put up, and beads hung in front of the door frames. There were table cloths on all tables, and even a red carpet on the floor. Only the corner that Fu Hongxue was sitting at remained untouched.

Once the eight men were done cleaning up, they stood in attention near the tavern entrance. Four women who were dressed in bright colours walked into the tavern, holding bamboo baskets. They placed fresh flowers, food and wine on a table.

A row of string ensemble players strolled in, playing beautiful music.

A single drum beat could be heard amongst the music. It was already mid-night. From the window, a solitary figure could be seen dressed in white, holding a watchman’s drum. He looked like a spirit standing alone in the darkness.

Where did this night watchman come from?

Was he constantly reminding people of the coming of death?

Who was he reminding this time?

After the reverberation of the watchman drum ended, the song began:

“The road to the horizon,

A path of no return,

Man broke his soul at the horizon ,

But the soul was broken before reaching the horizon……”

The song had not yet ended. But a seemingly drunk Yan Nanfei was already walking into the tavern.