Chapter 10 – Changes (2/2)

Zhuo Yuzhen gritted her teeth. “I hope he will kill others. It’s better to kill others than to be killed.”

Fu Hongxue said, “You are forgetting one thing!”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Go ahead.”

Fu Hongxue said, “Killers will themselves be killed, sooner or later!”

The room was gloomy and dark. Even the tables and the chairs were made out of stone. They were both hard and cold.

Mingyue Xin, however, was seated very comfortably, because before he left, Fu Hongxue gave her all of the mattresses in the carriage.

Zhuo Yuzhen also was given one of the soft mattresses from the beautiful carriage.

As soon as Fu Hongxue left, she couldn’t help but sigh. “I didn’t imagine he was such an attentive person.”

Mingyue Xin said, “He’s a weird person. Yan Nanfei is weird as well. But both of them are people, and both of them are men, real men.”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “It seems that both of them treat you pretty well.”

Mingyue Xin said, “I treat them pretty well as well.”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “But in the end, you’ll have to choose between them. One woman can’t be married to two men.”

Mingyue Xin forced out a laugh. “I’ve already made my choice.”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Who have you chosen?”

Mingyue Xin said, “Myself.”

She lightly continued, “Although a woman can’t be married to two men at once, she can refuse to marry either.”

Zhuo Yuzhen shut her mouth. Naturally, she could tell that Mingyue Xin was unwilling to discuss this any further.

Mingyue Xin gently stroked the Peacock Plume. Her hands were even colder than gold. Something was weighing on her mind.

Did the words of Zhuo Yuzhen provoke her thoughts?

After a long time, Zhuo Yuzhen suddenly asked, “Is the Peacock Plume in your hands real?”

Mingyue Xin said, “It is not.”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Can I see it?”

Mingyue Xin said, “You cannot.”

Zhuo Yuzhen couldn’t resist asking, “Why not?”

Mingyue Xin said, “Because even though it isn’t the real Peacock Plume, it is still a tool for killing people, and it carries a murderous aura. I, too, am unwilling to allow the child in your stomach to be contaminated with a murderous aura.”

Zhuo Yuzhen looked at her. She suddenly laughed, “Do you know why I am laughing?”

Mingyue Xin said, “I do not!”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “I suddenly feel as though your speech mannerisms are absolutely identical to those of Fu Hongxue. Therefore…”

Mingyue Xin said, “Therefore?”

Zhuo Yuzhen laughed again. “Therefore, if you absolutely had to marry someone, I think you would definitely marry him.”

Mingyue Xin laughed as well, but her laughter was very forced. “It’s a good thing that I do not absolutely have to marry someone.”

Zhuo Yuzhen hung her head. “But I do.”

Mingyue Xin said, “Why?”

Zhuo Yuzhen sadly said, “Because of my child. I can’t allow him to be without a father.”

Mingyue Xin also couldn’t resist probing further. “Who do you want to be his father?”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Naturally, I would want a real man, a man who could protect me.”

Mingyue Xin again couldn’t resist asking, “A man like Fu Hongxue?”

Zhuo Yuzhen actually did not deny it.

Mingyue Xin’s laughter became even more forced. “Do you know how heartless he is?”

Zhuo Yuzhen faintly smiled. “Sentimental or heartless. How can one really tell?”

“Are we still riding this carriage?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Who should be the driver now?

“You.”

Yan Nanfei finally couldn’t control his anger. “Why is it still me?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Because I don’t know how.”

Yan Nanfei started. “Why is it that whenever I hear your words, I am startled?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Because I speak the truth.”

Yan Nanfei could only leap onto the front of the carriage. Whipping the horse, he said, “See? This isn’t very hard at all. Everyone knows how. Why don’t you learn how?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Since everyone knows how, then anyone can drive for me. Why must I learn?”

Yan Nanfei was startled yet again.

“You really do speak nothing but the truth.” He shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. “But I wish you would tell a lie once in a while.”

“Why?”

“Because the truth never seems to be as comfortable as a lie.”

The carriage moved forward. It travelled for a very long time. Fu Hongxue was meditating the entire time. He suddenly said, “You recognize the person who was playing chess with Yang Wuji?”

Yan Nanfei nodded. “He is called Gu Qi. He one of Gongzi Yu’s major subordinates.”

Fu Hongxue said, “I hear he has four master martial artists in his employ. Together, they are known as ‘Zither [Qin], Chess [Qi], Calligraphy [Shu], Art [Hua]’.”

Yan Nanfei said, “There are five master martial artists. Yu Qin, Gu Qi, Wang Shu, Wu Hua, and Xiao Jian [Sword].”

Fu Hongxue said, “You have met all five of them?”

Yan Nanfei said, “I only met three. At that time, Gongzi Yu hadn’t met Yu Qin and Xiao Jian.”

Fu Hongxue stared at him. “When was that?”

Yan Nanfei shut his mouth.

Fu Hongxue refused to let it drop. He continued to ask, “Was it when you and Gongzi Yu often met with one another?”

Yan Nanfei’s mouth was still shut.

Fu Hongxue said, “You know all of his secrets. You are very familiar with all of his highest ranking subordinates. Naturally, the two of you had many dealings in the past.”

Yan Nanfei did not deny it. He could not deny it.

Fu Hongxue said, “What type of relationship do the two of you have, exactly?”

Yan Nanfei coldly said, “Everyone always says that you value your words as highly as gold. Why do I always feel as though you are an overly talkative person?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Because you will not lie, but are afraid to tell the truth.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Right now, I am talking about you, not me.”

Fu Hongxue said, “But the one I am talking about is you.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Can we talk about something else? Even now, I still have no idea where you are taking us!”

Fu Hongxue said, “You know. In order to kill a hunter, you must go to the place where he has set his traps.”

Yan Nanfei said, “The home of Zhuo Donglai then?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Originally.”

Yan Nanfei said, “No longer?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Dead people have no homes.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Zhuo Donglai is already a dead man?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Thus, that place is now nothing more than a trap.”

Yan Nanfei let out another sigh. “I only hope that those hunters are still there and have not left.”

Fu Hongxue said, “They probably have not yet left. To be a hunter, the first thing one must learn is patience.”

Zhuo Donglai really was a dead man. Even his corpse was ice cold.

This wasn’t strange at all. If one’s chosen profession is murder, the first thing one should learn is how to silence witnesses! So long as you join assassins in even one of their activities, you should be prepared to be killed and silenced at any point in time. In their eyes, a person’s life definitely was not worth more than that of a wild dog.

Zhuo Donglai had been killed like a wild dog, beneath the tree in the courtyard.

Fu Hongxue saw him from afar. His eyes were filled with sorrow and melancholy.

Life was originally a precious thing. Why is it that some people simply refuse to cherish it?

He pitied this man, perhaps only because he himself had been ruined by the word ‘alcohol’ before.

Alcohol wasn’t a bad thing in and of itself. The problem lies within one’s self.

If you yourself are willing to sink into vice and are unable to extricate yourself, then there is definitely no one in the entire world who can rescue you.

Yan Nanfei’s thoughts and feelings on this clearly were not as deep as his. He was still young. His heart was still filled with lofty ideals and aspirations.

Thus, he only wanted to ask, “The trap is here. Where are the huntsmen?”

Fu Hongxue was silent. Before he had a chance to open his mouth, there was a light cry from the back of the house. “Ware the dagger!”

The dagger gleamed, looking like a bolt of lightning as it flew towards his back. Fu Hongxue did not dodge, did not move. It was his sabre which moved!

With a clanging sound, sparks exploded in all directions. A dagger flash filled the sky, appearing as though it had pierced through the clouds and left the world.

Fu Hongxue’s sabre was already sheathed.

Yan Nanfei let out a breath. “Looks like at least one person remains here.”

Fu Hongxue dully said, “I can tell that he has long since learned the art of patience.”

Just as they finished these two sentences, the dagger flash fell down from the heavens. When it fell down, it fell down in two parts as the parts crashed down to earth like meteorites.

It was the handle and blade of a flying dagger!

The four inch long flying dagger had been snapped in half.

The flying dagger had attacked him, but his sabre had countered the dagger. The dagger flew many meters up into the air.

Who could imagine the speed with which this flying dagger had been sent out?

But with a backwards flip of his sabre, Fu Hongxue had deflected this knife, snapping in half its blade, which had been refined and smelted a hundred times over.

Someone sighed from within the room. “Truly an incomparable sabre technique. You did not misspeak.”

Fu Hongxue slowly turned around. “Why haven’t you left yet.”

As soon as he turned around, he saw Xiao Siwu.

Xiao Siwu walked out empty-handed. He coldly said, “The ‘four withouts’ of my name does not include ‘without shame’. Even if I were to leave, I would leave openly and with dignity.”

He had no dagger in his hands, appearing as though he were a virgin who had suddenly been stripped naked. He didn’t even know what he should do with his hands now.

But he did not flee.

Fu Hongxue looked at him. “You have only one dagger?”

Xiao Siwu said, “The person I came to fight today is you. I can only bring one dagger!”

Fu Hongxue said, “Why?”

Xiao Siwu said, “Because I know that the first dagger is the last dagger. Thus, when I strike out with that first dagger, I must use all of my strength.”

Fu Hongxue said, “You forced yourself into a deadly situation, so that when you strike, you would strike whole-heartedly?”

Xiao Siwu said, “Precisely so.”

He slowly added, “In addition, after I strike with that first dagger, I must succeed in landing the strike. Otherwise, even if I had hundreds or thousands of other daggers, none of them would land.”

Fu Hongxue stared at him. He suddenly waved his hand. “Well said. Leave!”

Xiao Siwu said, “You are letting me leave?”

Fu Hongxue said, “I am not going to kill you this time, only because you said three words.”

Xiao Siwu said, “What three words?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Ware my dagger!”

Before he sent out his flying dagger, he had given a warning. This definitely was not how a despicable, contemptible man would act.

Fu Hongxue said, “My sabre only kills evil, deceitful people. Your dagger is evil and deceitful, but you yourself are not.”

Xiao Siwu’s hands suddenly clenched. A strange expression suddenly appeared in his eyes. After a long time, he slowly said, “If I had not said those three words, would you have been able to defeat my dagger?”

Fu Hongxue said, “You regret it?”

Xiao Siwu said, “Not regret. I just want to know the truth.”

Fu Hongxue stared at him for a long time. He coldly said, “If you had not said those three words, you would be a dead man right now!”

Xiao Siwu did not say a single word further. He turned around and left. He walked very quickly, and did not look back.

Someone else sighed in the room. “Even if he does not regret it, you will regret it.”

A man slowly walked out, dressed in black clothes and white socks. It was Gu Qi.

Fu Hongxue said, “Regret it? Regret what?”

Gu Qi said, “Regret not killing him!”

Fu Hongxue’s hands clenched tightly. He had two chances to kill that arrogant youngster, but he had given up both of them.

Gu Qi said, “Once a golden opportunity is missed, it will never come again. If you want to kill someone, abstain from nothing.”

He laughed, then continued. “This time, you did not kill him. I fear that next time, you will die to him.”

Fu Hongxue stared at him. He suddenly laughed coldly. “And you? Should I kill you this time?”

Gu Qi said, “That depends. Do you want to kill my central pieces, or the great dragon I have to the right? Are you playing the white pieces, or the black pieces?” [These are, obviously, all chess references.]

Fu Hongxue did not understand. He did not play chess. Only people of leisure played chess. Whenever he had free time, he gripped his sabre.

Thus, Gu Qi could only laugh alone. “What I meant to say is, you cannot kill me, you can only kill my chess pieces, because I only know how to play chess. In addition, this chess game is between you guys. I am not involved. You cannot even kill my chess pieces.”

Smiling, he walked past Fu Hongxue. He knew that Fu Hongxue definitely would not strike, because he did not guard himself at all and anyone could kill him. But Fu Hongxue was not anyone. Fu Hongxue was Fu Hongxue.

Yan Nanfei watched as he walked away. He suddenly laughed. “Looks like you didn’t make the wrong move.”

Gu Qi said, “But I lost three games in a row today.”

Yan Nanfei said, “You lost to Yang Wuji?”

Gu Qi said, “He is the only one who can beat me.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Why?”

Gu Qi said, “Because he treats killing chess pieces the same way as he treats killing people. He abstains from nothing at all, whereas I have burdens on my mind.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Burdens on your mind?”

Gu Qi said, “I am afraid of losing at chess.”

Only people who fear losing at chess will lose chess matches that they should not have lost. The more they are afraid, the more they will lose. The more they lose, the more afraid they become.

Only people whose hearts are filled with fear will kill people they should not kill. Fear of justice. Fear of truth.

The night was very deep.

Gu Qi walked out the door. He suddenly turned around, then said, “I recommend that you two leave as well.”

Yan Nanfei said, “There is no longer anyone here?”

Gu Qi said, “None living. Only the dead.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Gongsun Tu and the others are not inside?”

Gu Qi said, “They didn’t even come, because they were impatient to go to another place.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Where did they go?”

Gu Qi said, “Wherever you came from, that is the place they went.”

Yan Nanfei wanted to ask further, but Gu Qi had already departed. Yan Nanfei chased out the door, but he had already disappeared.

He could only hear Gu Qi’s voice float towards them from far away. “The legends say that when the peacock dies, the bright moon [Mingyue] will sink down as well. It will sink to the ground, sink to the sea…