Chapter 2 – An Important Head (1/2)
Chapter 2: An Important Head
Part 1
The sixteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar.
Red Flower Bazaar.
Blowing snow filled the sky.
A galloping horse braved the snow gusts to charge toward the Red Flower Bazaar, which lay approximately fifty miles to the southwest of Chang’an city.
Lantern Festival had ended, the happy days had passed.
A dilapidated lantern rolled down the snow-filled street, pushed along by the never-ending cold wind. Even though it carried with it some of the feeling of the festivities of the previous night, at this point no one even glanced at it. It was like a woman doted upon for a night, then abandoned the next day.
The rider on the horse stopped outside of the bazaar and tied his horse to an old tree. He threw off his cloak, which was stitched from fine, expensive material, to reveal a padded jacket of blue brocade. He pulled out a hemp sack out from the saddle, along with an oilpaper umbrella and a set of cleats.
He donned the cleats, opened the oilskin umbrella and hoisted the hemp sack. He looked just like any other rich country folk.
Taking one careful step at a time, he entered the Red Flower Bazaar.
**
The hemp sack held a great secret inside, something that could shake heaven and earth. He knew what the secret was, only him.
He’d come here to deliver the item in the sack to a brothel in the Red Flower Bazaar, and to a specific person.
—What was in this sack? Who was it for?
If anyone knew the nature of this secret, he would in a split second be torn to pieces by blades, his father and mother, wife and children, all relatives, would be slaughtered within three days. His entire family would be wiped out.
Luckily, the secret would not be revealed. He would not reveal it, nor could anyone find out the secret.
Because no one could possibly have guessed that “Fierce Lion” Zhu Meng would have left his heavily fortified headquarters in Luoyang to charge alone into Sima Chaoqun’s territory.
Even Zhuo Donglai, who always thought of and planned for everything, would never imagine that Zhu Meng would dare to take such a risk.
Part 2
An unsophisticated little town, a simple and crude brothel.
Zhu Meng (1) sat bare-chested on the kang (2), wearing a pair of calf skin trousers, holding a large drinking bowl filled with the establishment’s finest wine. He was playing drinking games with seven or eight of the finest women, matching everyone bowl for bowl.
He was drinking fenjiu, and had already had already downed forty-three bowls (3). And yet, his face had not changed color at all.
This petrified the onlookers.
This burly, thickly-bearded man seemed to be forged from iron. Even his belly seemed to be forged from iron.
“Whose turn is it to drink?” Zhu Meng filled another bowl. “Who’s going to go up against me this time?”
No one was willing to compete with him. Even one of the bravest girls, who was from Shandong Province and had the nickname “Sea Bottle,” wasn’t willing to have another drink. (4)
Drunk customers were usually more generous, so the girls here were obviously expert drinkers.
“But this man…” Sea Bottle would later tell people. “He was simply inhuman! A wine keg, a bottomless wine keg.”
Zhu Meng tilted his head back and laughed, then drank down three large bowlsful. Suddenly, he took the thick, porcelain bowl and threw it to the ground, where it shattered into pieces. His copper-colored eyes shone with a look as sharp as a blade as he stared at a male slave who had just entered. The man stood with legs quivering.
“Is there someone outside?”
“Yes.”
“Looking for me?”
“Yes.” The slave’s voice was shaking. “He has a very strange name.”
“What’s his name?”
“His name is Cleats.”
Zhu Meng clapped his hands together. “Good boy. You’re finally here. Tell him to get the f*ck in here!”
**
“Cleats” took off his cleats and entered the room, carrying the hemp bag. The kang was full of fuel, and the room felt as warm as if it were springtime. (5)
As soon as he entered, someone grabbed the bag from his hands and shook it. Something tumbled out, and rolled across the kang. A human head!
The girls were frightened to death, and the male slave urinated himself.
Zhu Meng laughed loudly.
“Good boy. I knew I hadn’t misjudged you. You really can take care of business for me. When we get back I’ll reward you with two concubines.” (6)
His laughter stopped suddenly, and he stared at Cleats. In a low voice, he asked, “Did he say anything to you?”
“No,” replied Cleats. “The only thing I noticed was that he had some sort of box in his hand. I couldn’t even see his face clearly.”
A strange look shone in Zhu Meng’s eyes. He let out a soft sigh, and muttered, “You don’t owe me anything anymore. I just hope that you never come looking for me later to drink together.”
He obviously wasn’t talking to Cleats. And he obviously wasn’t used to heaving sighs.
So he laughed loudly again. “Zhuo Donglai, Zhuo Donglai. Everybody says you’re a freaking Zhuge Liang (7). Did you ever imagine I would be right next to your doghouse of a headquarters, drinking all night?” (8)
“Clan Leader, you always appear and disappear mysteriously when you have a mission. How could Mr. Zhuo possibly plan against you?” Cleats lowered his hands. “But he can surely figure out which path we will use to take Yang Jian’s head back to Luoyang. He’ll definitely arrange for ambushes and traps.”
“He might as well fart.” Zhu Meng glared at him. “If he doesn’t know that I’m right here, will he send his main force here?”
“He won’t.”
“Will he and Sima Chaoqun come?”
“They won’t.”
“So at the most, he might send along those two beardless brats. And he definitely wouldn’t send Guo Zhang, but Sun Tong.”
“Yes.” Cleats lowered his head. “It’s definitely him.”
He lowered his head because he didn’t want Zhu Meng to see the look of dread in his eyes.
He suddenly realized that this bearded, foul-mouthed man might appear to be crude and uneducated, but he was actually much more intelligent, and frightening, than anyone could imagine.
Zhu Meng suddenly jumped up, standing on the kang like some kind of celestial warrior. “Do you know who I am?” he shouted at the already terrified girls and the male slave.
No one dared to respond. No one dared even to open their mouth.
“I’m Great Granddaddy Zhu Meng!” He pointed at his nose with his thumb. “I’m Sima Chaoqun’s archenemy!”
He suddenly charged out into the next room and grabbed a bowl of ink from the counter. He dipped a brush into the ink until it was soaked through. In a flash, he had written ten characters onto the freshly white-washed wall, each character as large as a human head:
“Zhu Meng, the great hero of Luo Yang, was here!”
**
Ink dripped down the white-washed wall. Zhu Meng threw down the brush, laughing heartily.
“I’m here now, but it’s time to leave.” He thumped Cleats on the shoulder. “Let’s slaughter our way back, see if anyone can block our way.”
Part 3
Sun Tong actually shouldn’t be called Sun Tong.
He should be called Sun Dang. (9)
Zhuo Donglai had praised him in front of people saying, “Even though Sun Tong is young, he can block the path of anyone. No matter what happens, he can block the path and keep it blocked.”
On the main road leading out of Red Flower Bazaar, was a teahouse. If you sat at the table by the door of the teahouse, you could clearly see everyone passing by on the road.
Sun Tong sat in that exact position.
On either side of the road, standing underneath the eaves where the snow wasn’t blowing, were two men wearing black clothes. They were older than Sun Tong, and had been working in the agency longer than him, yet they were his subordinates. These two men had been specially selected for this assignment. They had sharp gazes, and were experienced experts, yet Sun Tong was their superior in every way. Even they were thoroughly convinced of this.
They had been sent here because Sun Tong needed their sharp eyes and their experience to help him inspect every person coming and going from Red Flower Bazaar.
No matter who it was, if they looked even the slightest bit suspicious, or carried in their hand anything that seemed like it could contain a human head, or rode any type of vehicle that could hide a head, they would be stopped and thoroughly searched. Sometimes this type of search was embarrassing, but no one dared to refuse. This was because everyone knew that people sent by the “Great Protection Agency” were not to be offended.
Contrariwise, Sun Tong was not afraid to offend anyone.
He had received orders from Zhuo Donglai that regardless of the situation, he was not to allow Yang Jian’s head to leave the vicinity of Chang’an.
Whenever carrying out Zhuo Donglai’s orders, he was thorough and effective.
**
Sun Tong didn’t pay the slightest attention to Little Gao as he left the Red Flower Bazaar,
After all, there was nowhere for him to conceal a head.
But Little Gao walked up to him and sat down across from him at the table, laughing. “What’s your surname? What’s your given name?”
Sun Tong didn’t laugh, and yet didn’t refuse to answer. “I’m surnamed Sun. Sun Tong.”
“How are you?”
“Not very good, but not very bad,” said Sun Tong coolly. “At least my head is still on my neck.”
Little Gao gave a loud laugh.
“Knowing that your head is still on your neck really is something to be happy about. If you knew where Yang Jian’s head was, you’d be even more happy.”
“Do you know?”
“I only know that Mr. Zhuo won’t want Yang Jian’s head to fall into Zhu Meng’s hands. He would definitely use it to show off to all his friends in Jianghu. And that’s why you’re here.”
“It seems you know quite a bit.”
“Unfortunately I still don’t really understand. People going to Luo Yang might not necessarily take the main road. Even an out-of-towner like me knows of at least two or three side roads to take.”
“I’m only watching the main road, not the side roads.”
“Why?”
“People who take the side roads don’t have guts. They wouldn’t need me to handle them.”
“Well said! Very well said!”
Little Gao poured himself a cup of tea from Sun Tong’s teapot. He suddenly lowered his voice. “Have you seen anyone suspicious?”
“One person.”
“Who?”
“You.”
Little Gao laughed again. “If it was me, it wouldn’t bode well.”
“Bode well for who?”
“You!” Little Gao looked at Sun Tong. “If I was trying to escape with Yang Jian’s head, his Excellency would suddenly find that his Excellency’s head was not on his Excellency’s neck anymore.” He suddenly felt the need to explain. “When I say his Excellency, I mean you.”
Sun Tong wasn’t angry, and his facial expression didn’t change. He didn’t even blink.
“I can see that you don’t have Yang Jian’s head! But I can also see that you are carrying a sword.”
“You’re right.”
“Why don’t you draw your sword and test it out?”
“What do you mean test it out?”
“Test out whose head will fall off.”
Little Gao gently stroked the rough material that never left his side. He smiled and shook his head. “I can’t test it out. I definitely can’t.”
“You’re scared?”
“It’s not that I’m scared, it’s that I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because this sword isn’t made to use on you.” With a very respectful tone of voice, he continued, “Because you aren’t worthy.”
**
Sun Tong’s expression still hadn’t changed, but his eyes had suddenly filled with red.
Many people look like this before they kill someone.
His hand had lowered, grasping the hilt of his sword, which rested on a stool next to him.
Little Gao stood up and turned away, preparing to leave. If he wanted to make a move, no one could stop him. If he didn’t want to make a move, no one could force him to.
But before he could walk off, the thunderous sound of a galloping horse could be heard.
Another sound could be heard amidst the sound of the horse hooves, a sound that might be made by someone wearing cleats, running along ice and snow.
He had just differentiated between these two sounds when suddenly he caught sight of a horse charging down the street.
On the horse was a rider with a thick beard, wearing an unfastened sheepskin coat. The sharp, icy wind battered his chest, yet he seemed not to notice.
Behind the horse was another person, wearing a pair of oilskin cleats. With one hand he grasped the horse’s tail, and in the other he held a bamboo pole, affixed to the end of which was a hemp sack. He dashed along behind the horse, shouting, “Yang Jian’s head is right here. This is the end fate of a traitor!”
The man on the horse laughed, a crazy laugh, so loud that the eaves shook, dropping sheet after sheet of snow onto the ground.
**
Little Gao definitely wasn’t going to leave.
He had never seen Zhu Meng before, but he knew this was him.
Other than “Fierce Lion” Zhu Meng, who else could be so impressive and awe-inspiring?
He had never imagined that Zhu Meng would appear here, but he really hoped that Sun Tong would let him pass.
Because he saw that in Zhu Meng’s hand was an enormous gold-inlaid broadsword. (10)
The broadsword was nearly five feet long and was wider than a butcher’s chopping block. The blade tip was thinner than paper.
Sun Tong was still young.
Little Gao really didn’t want to see someone so young beheaded and trampled by a horse.
But sadly, Sung Tong had already begun moving forward, his sword shining like white snow. He leaped up from behind the table, the light from his sword glimmering like a rainbow as it flew toward Zhu Meng’s throat.
This attack was like a gambler’s last gambit, in which you put everything on the line in one move.
It was a fatal attack, fatal either to your opponent, or yourself.
Zhu Meng laughed wildly. “You’ve really got guts, kid.”
As he laughed, he raised his broadsword high. The gold glowed, the blade edge shone like the moon. The dazzling brightness of the reflected snow pierced the eyes like needles.
Little Gao saw the blade flash, and then suddenly everything turned scarlet.
Bright red droplets of blood spattered everywhere, as if fireworks had splashed out from within the shining light of the sword and intermixed with the silvery, white snow to create a painting that once gazed upon could never be forgotten.
The beauty was indescribable. It was a beauty filled with sadness, filled with cruelty, filled with heroic tragedy.
In this moment, it seemed as if all the living creatures in the world were shocked into motionlessness from the beauty of it.
Little Gao felt as though his heart had stopped beating, and that he couldn’t breathe.
Even though it had only taken a split second to happen, it seemed as if that split second lasted an eternity.
In heaven and on earth, only “death” lasts an eternity.
**