Chapter 14 – A Silver Mask (1/2)

Chapter 14 – A Silver Mask

Part 1

The moon this night was also full, and the silver mask glittered brilliantly in its light. The moon looked exactly as it had thirteen years before.

Masks cannot age, nor change.

But the people had changed.

Xiao Jun had grown from a young disciple of the Beggar Sect to become the Lord of the its Torture Chamber, with complete power over life and death. He’d changed from a youth full of vim and vigor, into a taciturn, cold man.

Had his arm not been severed, he would not have become this way.

He had never seen this person’s face, but this person had changed his entire life.

Was the change his good luck, or his misfortune?

Even he didn’t know.

***

What type of person hid beneath this silver mask and black cloak? Why had he chopped off his arm?

Xiao Jun had no idea.

In his nightmares, he would frequently see this person, on that same night underneath the full moon, thirteen years ago. Upon awakening in a cold sweat, he would ask himself: “Why? Why? Why…?”

The only person who could provide answers, now stood in front of him like a figure from a nightmare.

In moments, his clothes were soaked with sweat, sticking to his flesh. His tongue stuck inside his mouth; he couldn’t speak a single word.

The person in the silver mask had already sat down in front of him at the food stall. “Of course you haven’t forgotten me,” he said. “Thirteen years ago, I chopped off your arm under the light of the full moon.”

His voice was not as fearsome as his appearance. If you didn’t see him, but heard his voice, you would think he was a very gentle person.

This was the first time Xiao Jun heard his voice.

It was soft and deep, and when he spoke to Xiao Jun it sounded like a gentle mother, sitting next to her child in bed, singing a bedtime lullaby.

And yet, at any moment, he could chop off Xiao Jun’s other arm.

“Thirteen years ago, you had never seen me before, nor had I seen you,” said the person in the silver mask. “And yet, I took your arm and left you to live a life of suffering. All this time, I never came looking for you, and you had no way to look for me. And yet now, thirteen long years later, here I am. Do you know why?”

Xiao Jun shook his head.

“Do you want to know why?” asked the person in the silver mask.

Xiao Jun nodded.

He slowly turned around. “If you want to know, come with me. If you don’t want to come, I won’t force you.”

***

No one knew where he came from, and no one knew where he planned to go.

And yet Xiao Jun went with him, seemingly bewitched.

Even if this person led him down into hell, he would probably follow.

It seemed his voice had some entrancing power over Xiao Jun.

This was the first time he had heard the person’s voice, but yet, it also seemed as if he had heard it countless times before.

Why was that? Xiao Jun had no explanation.

Part 2

Fog filled the night, a dreary and hazy fog. The black cloak fluttered in the night wind, making the person look like a specter floating in the dark.

He walked ahead, at a measured pace. Xiao Jun followed, not far behind.

He carried a sword specially designed for killing, a sword that assassins during the Warring States period had favored.

If Xiao Jun drew his sword, perhaps he could plant it straight into the back of the person in front of him, piercing his heart.

But he didn’t draw the sword.

Even though he had never stabbed anyone in the back before, for this person he could probably make an exception.

He knew that if he missed this opportunity, he might never get another. Opportunities like this don’t come twice.

For years, he had been waiting for a chance like this. Now the chance had arrived. Why didn’t he make a move?

***

From within the dreary fog suddenly appeared several dim lights. Lamplight flickered on undulating water, water undulated underneath flickering lamplight.

Mirror-like water rippled.

“Lotus flowers and willow trees abound, half of the scenery in the city is this lake.” [1] Tranquil Daming Lake suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Jun. [2]

The lights came from a boat, which floated on the water some 25 to 30 meters from the shore.

The waves were beautiful, the boat was beautiful.

The person in the silver mask stood there on the shore, beneath a weeping willow. Willow branches rustled gently in the wind. He turned and looked at Xiao Jun.

“Are you getting on board?”

Xiao Jun suddenly drew his sword and chopped three chunks of wood out of the trunk of the willow tree. The sword flashed, and the pieces of wood flew out onto the water. The first piece landed nine meters out, the second, fifteen, the third, twenty-one.

By the time the flashing of the blade dissipated, Xiao Jun had already landed on the first piece of wood.

The chunk of willow began to sink, and he flew up. His left foot tapped the second piece of wood, his right foot tapped the third.

By the time the wood sank and reemerged, he was on the boat.

This was the result of years of bitter training. Xiao Jun believed his lightness arts to be among the top ten in all of Jianghu.

And yet, as soon as his foot touched the planks of the deck, he saw the person in the silver mask walking slowly into the cabin. A curtain of pearls hung in the doorway.

The curtain swayed in the wind, and the strings of pearls clinked against each other, producing a sound reminiscent of wind-bells on a the eaves of a temple.

The pieces of willow still floated on the surface of the water, but Xiao Jun’s heart had already sunk.

In his life, he truly hated only two people, and lived solely for the purpose of seeking vengeance against them.

Now, he had found both of them.

And yet he had also found out that he had no chance or hope whatsoever in going up against either of them.

***

Two men in gray robes stood outside the door, looking at him. Their faces, seemingly carved from limestone, contained no trace of color or expression.

Each used a right arm to part the pearl curtain, keeping their left arm concealed in their sleeve. It seemed as if they did not wish anyone to see that arm.

That hand was their secret weapon, and a deadly one at that. It was for killing, not to be shown off to others.

Xiao Jun had seen people like this before.

They all had deadly steel pincers, along with nine hundred and ninety-nine lives.

And their lives all belonged to the fearsome person with the silver mask.

***

The ship’s cabin was not large, but was decorated resplendently. The person in the silver mask had already sat down in a large, soft chair, and sat waiting languidly.

Another gray-robed man brewed tea on a crude clay furnace. The water in the copper pot was already boiling.

“This water is from Baotu Spring [3], one of the most famous springs under heaven,” said the man in the silver mask. “It has flowed unceasingly for millenniums. The color, fragrance, aroma and flavor of tea brewed with this water is no different from tea brewed with the best spring water from Jingshan [4].

His voice had grown even more gentle as he spoke about such refined matters.

Were it not for the frightening silver mask, anyone would assume that Xiao Jun had come here upon invitation to partake of fine tea.

“I don’t drink alcohol,” said the man in the silver mask, “only tea. I happen to have a fondness for it. People who drink tea are always much more clear-headed than people who drink alcohol.”

Xiao Jun stood by the window, staring at the distant shadow of Thousand Buddha Mountain. [5] He suddenly asked, “What happened to their arms?”

“Whose arms?”

“The people here,” he said. “These men with nine hundred and ninety-nine lives.” He continued with another question: “Are they truly men with nine hundred and ninety-nine lives? Or are they nine-hundred and ninety-nine men with one life each?”

“Do you really care about their lives?” asked the man in the silver mask with a cool expression. ”It seemed as if he were laughing. “It really doesn’t matter how many there are, or how many lives they have. It’s the same either way.”

“The same? How so?”

“Because they are mine, as are their lives. I can make them do anything I wish, even die.” His voice was still gentle and mild. “Their arms are like yours, severed by me. Every one of them the same.”

It was truly inconceivable for someone to use such a gentle tone to talk about such horrific matters.

“But they are not like you,” continued the man in the silver mask. “Even though I cut off their arms, they don’t hate me.”

“Oh?”

“Because I also gave them arms, arms that are much better than the original.”

“Why don’t you show your arm to Chamber Lord Xiao?” he said said to the man making the tea.

The gray-robed man stood up, then rolled up his sleeve, only a bit, to reveal a steel pincer.

The construction of the pincer was precise and complex, although Xiao Jun could only see a bit of it.

“This is not an arm,” said Xiao Jun, “it’s a pincer.”

“It is an arm,” said the man in the silver mask. “Anything that can be done with an arm, this arm can also do. The water is boiling, the tea cups are on the table. Why don’t you serve Chamber Lord Xiao a cup?”

The gray-robed man gently lifted the teapot with his pincer, then poured a cup for Xiao Jun.

A tea leaf stalk floated up from within the tea. The man softly plucked it out.

The movements of the pincer were dextrous and nimble beyond imagination.