Chapter 3 – Surprise Attack (2/2)
The person had no reaction at all, as if they hadn’t even noticed someone had sat down in front of them.
The dark brown, oxhide box sat on the other side of the table. Little Gao could just reach out his hand and grab it.
If he really reached out and grabbed the box, then ran away, what would happen?
Little Gao wasn’t willing to try.
He was a courageous person, and there weren’t many things under heaven that he wouldn’t try.
But this seemingly sick, dying person seemed to have some sort of unfathomable power that made people incapable of making any move to annoy or encroach upon him.
Little Gao stared at him for a long time, then lowered his voice so that no one else could hear, and said, “I know who you are. I know that you killed Yang Jian.”
The person finally lifted their head and looked at him, his previously expressionless eyes suddenly flashing. It was as if lightning had suddenly fallen from a murky gray sky.
And yet after the lightning fell, no sound of thunder rang out.
The listless expression returned. He slowly put some coins onto the table, lifted up the box, and left.
Little Gao followed.
Surprisingly, the person didn’t vanish like he had the previous three times.
He walked ahead, very slowly, as if afraid that Little Gao couldn’t keep up.
After walking for a long time, Little Gao suddenly realized that they had returned to the same little dirty alley as the night before.
There was nobody in the alley, which was actually a dead end.
Little Gao’s heart suddenly began to beat harder and harder.
—Could it be that because he knew the man’s secret, he’d brought him here to silence him using his mysterious box?
Little Gao didn’t know what kind of weapon this box was, and he didn’t know if he would be able to use the sword in his hand to defend against it.
And because of this lack of knowledge, his heart filled with a kind of dread that he had never felt before.
But, it didn’t seem that the person planned to kill him. He didn’t look like he could kill anybody, actually.
He turned around and faced Little Gao. A long time passed. Then he spoke, in a mild, hoarse voice. “Do you know who I am?”
“No.”
“Before the 15th day of the lunar calendar, had you ever seen me?”
“No.”
“Do I look like someone who can kill people?”
“No.”
“Have you ever seen me kill anyone?”
“No.”
“Then why do you think I killed Yang Jian?”
“Because of your box,” said Little Gao. “I know that there’s a mysterious, fearsome weapon in it.”
The person stared at him.
Little Gao’s expression, bearing, posture, breath rate, the material of his clothing, the cloth-wrapped sword in his hand, every part of his person from top to bottom, was taken in by his gaze.
His gaze appeared to be more attentive than Zhuo Donglai’s, and the gray, expressionless eyes seemed to contain the ability to see any type of secret hidden weapon a person might be concealing.
He used the same mild, raspy voice to ask Little Gao, “You said your name is Gao Jianfei?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you from?”
“A mountain.”
“Was it a very high mountain? The place you lived, did it have a cool spring and an ancient pine tree?”
“Yes.”
“The clothes you’re wearing, are they made from hemp that you grew on the mountain and spun into cloth?”
“Yes.”
Little Gao was very surprised. This man seemed to know more about him than anyone.
“Was there an old man on this mountain who loved to drink tea?” he asked Little Gao. “He liked to sit underneath the ancient pine and make tea with the spring water?”
“Yes,” said Little Gao. “He was the one that told me about this solitary box.”
“And did he tell you about me?”
“No.”
He stared at Little Gao, his dark gray eyes flashing. “He never mentioned me? Not even one time?”
“Never. He just told me that the most fearsome weapon in the world is a solitary box.”
“Did you tell anyone else about this?”
“No.”
“Does anybody know about your past?”
“No. Zhuo Donglai tried to investigate my clothing. He thought he could figure out where I came from by analyzing the material. But he couldn’t figure out a thing.”
He had grown the hemp himself, weaved the fabric himself, sewn the clothing himself. The mountain was not famous; other than he and the old man, no one had ever set foot on it.
Little Gao laughed. “Even though Zhuo Donglai has some amazing abilities, he couldn’t figure out anything about my past.”
“And your sword?” the person asked. “Has anyone seen your sword?”
“A few people.”
“A few people? What kind of people.”
“A few dead people. Everyone who has seen this sword of mine has ended up dying under it.”
“Is there something special about your sword?”
“There is.”
“What?”
“On the back of the blade are some strange marks. They look like exactly like tearstains.”
**
A strange and mysterious look suddenly filled the eyes of the person with the box.(4) The expression was indescribable, as if it were filled with both sorrow and happiness.
“Tearstains, tearstains,” he said quietly. “So it turns out this sword really does exist. Why does a killer’s sword have tearstains on it? Why does the world have a sword like this?”
Little Gao didn’t know how to answer.
It was a really strange question, and perhaps no one could provide an answer.
Little Gao couldn’t hold back from asking, “So, can you finally tell me who you are? How do you know so much about me?”
The person said nothing. He placed his thumb and first finger into his mouth, and a piercing sound rang out.
Little Gao suddenly heard the sound of carriage wheels and horse hooves.
He turned around and caught sight of a black horse and carriage, waiting just outside the dirty alley.
The man with the box walked over, opened the carriage door, and sat down. Then he looked at Little Gao. “Are you getting in?”
—Where did this carriage come from?
Little Gao didn’t know.
—Where was the carriage going?
Little Gao didn’t know.
But he got in. Even if he knew that the carriage had come from hell, and would deliver him back to hell, he would still get it.
Part 3
The inside of the carriage was spacious, comfortable and luxurious. Its moved extremely quickly and stably; the four horses that pulled it, as well as the driver, had all received excellent training. The yoke and the carriage itself were extremely well constructed; even the stable of a wealthy nobleman wouldn’t have a carriage as fine as this.
How could this ordinary looking person, wearing homespun clothes, have such a resplendent carriage?
Little Gao had many questions he wanted to ask, but as soon as he entered the carriage, the man closed his eyes and fell fast asleep.
The mysterious box sat next to him.
Little Gao’s heart starting pounding again.
—What would happen if I just opened it and took a quick look? Even if I took a look and he noticed, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
The temptation was just too much, too much for anyone to resist.
Little Gao couldn’t hold back any more. He reached out his hand.
His hands were extremely dexterous, and had received extremely strict training. One time during a test, he had picked eleven locks crafted by different master craftsmen, all in a row.
Most people would have a hard time opening those locks even if they had the key, but all he used was a slender metal wire.
He quickly found the lock spring; a “geng” sound could be heard as it released.
The owner of the box still slept soundly.
—What exactly was in the box? Why was it the most fearsome weapon in the world?
The secret would finally be revealed. Little Gao’s heart beat faster and faster.
Slowly and carefully, he opened the lid. Inside were a set of strangely shaped metal tubes and pieces. There seemed to be about thirteen of them, each one a different size and shape.
Unfortunately, Little Gao couldn’t see them all clearly.
When the box opened, he suddenly caught scent of a fragrance like that of jasmine.
And then he passed out.
**
(1) The narrative literally says that it looked like the person had been sick with a disease for 17 or 18 years.
(2) This is a Chinese idiom which contains the same character “Gao” as his surname. Here is a link if you’d like to learn more about it:
(3) Don’t forget that the character from his name “jian” means “gradually” and “fei” means to fly.
(4) As I’m sure most of you know, Chinese contains measure words for everything. Sometimes Gu Long uses the measure word for box to describe it specifically as ONE box. It’s in these situations that I’m describing it as the solitary box. Other times he leaves out the measure word and just describes it as a box.