Chapter 5 – Extraordinary Meetings, Extraordinary Adventures (1/2)

Part 1

The twenty-fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar.

Chang’an.

Gao Jianfei wasn’t dead.

His judgment had been correct, and he’d had enough guts, so he hadn’t died.

The only thing he was sorry about was that he had no idea how he ended up leaving that place, and no idea where the mysterious cave was located.

**

After drinking the alcohol from the bottle, he had immediately fainted and passed into a coma. Later, he found himself back in the cheap inn, sleeping on the plank bed in his small room.

How had he returned? When had he returned? He didn’t know.

No one else knew, either.

No one knew where he had been for the past two days, and no one cared.

Luckily, this was evidence that his experiences in the last two days were not a dream.

—A solitary box. A solitary, dark brown, oxhide box.

**

When Little Gao awoke, he found the box.

It had been placed on the little table next to his bed. The color and shape was exactly like the box he had opened before. Even the spring lock was the same.

If this box was really as unique as the other box, how could the man possibly leave it here for him?

Little Gao didn’t believe it was, but he couldn’t help but be intrigued, and couldn’t help but open it to take a look.

Thankfully, he hadn’t forgotten the lesson he learned last time.

It wasn’t very fun to get knocked out every time you opened a box.

So by the time the box opened, Little Gao was already standing outside the window. Cold wind blew in through the window like a knife. Whatever type of knockout powder there was, it would definitely be swept clean away by the wind.

This time, Little Gao slowly entered through the window and circled around the room.

As soon as he saw what was in the box, he was a little bit disappointed.

The only things inside were some pearls, jewelry and jade, along with a pile of gold leaf.

It was enough to buy the whole street, enough to be able to hire a whole city of people to devote their lives to him.

**

Three days had passed.

During the three days, he’d gone out carrying the solitary box, but his life hadn’t changed at all.

He still lived at the cheapest inn, and ate the cheapest boiled cabbage noodle soup.

It seemed as if he didn’t know what he could do with the contents of the box, and didn’t know that he had already become filthy rich.

Because he hadn’t thought about it and didn’t want to know.

He really had no concept of the value of money. And he wasn’t willing to let his lifestyle be changed by anything.

But on the twenty-fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, his life changed. It changed in a very strange way.

Part 2

It was a bright day. After eating noodles at the noodle shop, he began preparing to go back and sleep.

There had been no word from Sima Chaoqun and Zhuo Donglai, and he didn’t know when exactly he should prepare to duel.

But he felt no nervousness.

After giving him the enormous gift, the mysterious black-clothed man had not sent any messages either.

He was prepared to give the box back to him at any moment, so he carried it with him at all times. But he was afraid he might never see the man again, and so the box had turned into a burden for him.

But Little Gao wasn’t too worried about it.

There didn’t seem to be anything in the world that could affect his mood.

If someone wanted him to wait for two days, he would wait for two days. If they wanted him to wait for two months, he would wait for two months. In any case, he knew that eventually in life he would reach a time when he had to wait for news about something, so what was the point in getting anxious?

He had already made a firm resolution; before this decisive battle, he wouldn’t do anything.

He must definitely keep his body in top physical condition, and maintain a good, balanced mood.

**

This afternoon, as he walked back along the long, snow-packed street, he realized that someone was watching him. Little Gao didn’t need to turn back and look; he had already guessed who the person was.

Last night when he was eating, he had noticed someone staring at him, the way a cat stares at a mouse.

The person wore raggedy clothes and a floppy hat; his body was not very tall, and he had a big beard; his footsteps when he walked were very light. It seemed he practiced kung fu.

Little Gao had never seen this person before, and had no idea why he might be watching him.

He never thought of himself as the type of person who would attract the interest of others.

After walking for a bit he couldn’t hear the footsteps behind him, so he let out a relieved sigh. And then suddenly, from the alley right next to him, flew forth a rope.

It was a coarse rope, tied by slipknot into a noose. In an instant, it had encircled Little Gao’s neck, wrapping around it in a strangely accurate fashion.

When a person’s neck is encircled by a noose, one’s eyes will bulge out, one’s tongue will protrude, and one’s breathing can be cut off at any moment.

Little Gao understood all of this. So when the rope pulled, he flew along with it, like a kite.

The person in the alley pulling the rope was the man with the beard.

He pulled hard, but unfortunately the rope had already snapped, and the part wrapped around the neck of his target already thrown back toward him.

Big Beard turned around and ran. He ran for a while, and then had a strange feeling.

Because, as it turned out, Little Gao was not chasing him.

He ran two more paces, and then stopped, looking back to see if he was being pursued.

He turned around and looked at Little Gao, shocked. “Why aren’t you chasing me?”

The question was very clear, and Little Gao’s response even clearer. “Why should I chase you?” he retorted.

Big Beard started. “Don’t you know that I just tried to use that rope to strangle you to death?”

“I know.”

“If you know, then why would you let me go?”

“Because you didn’t actually strangle me to death.”

“But you must at least want to ask who I am, and why I want to strangle you to death.”

“No, I don’t want to ask.”

“Why not?”

“Because I really don’t want to know.” When he finished speaking, he turned around and started walking away, not even looking back.

Big Beard was speechless.

He had never met a single person in his life like Little Gao.

And Little Gao had also never met a person like him before. Even though Little Gao didn’t chase him, he chased Little Gao, and once again pulled out the rope. He quickly tied a noose and threw it around Little Gao’s neck.

He threw accurately, and Little Gao was once again caught.

Unfortunately, even though he was caught, it didn’t do any good.

No matter how hard the man pulled, Little Gao just stood there. Not only was his neck unharmed, but he didn’t move an inch.

“What kind of a person are you,” asked Big Beard. “How come I can’t strangle you?”

“Because in addition to my neck, I also have fingers.”

When the noose slipped around his neck, he had simply used a finger to block it, right in front of his larynx.

He flexed his finger, and Big Beard was suddenly pulled toward him. He turned around, and Big Beard’s head bumped into his chest.

“Your rope game isn’t very good,” said Little Gao. “Can you play any other games?”

“I can play blade games,” said Big Beard.

He still wasn’t standing firmly, but a dagger appeared in his hand, stabbing toward Little Gao’s soft midsection.

Sadly, his blade wasn’t fast enough. Little Gao used a finger to tap his wrist, and the dagger went flying away.

“It looks like you’re letting me go again.” Little Gao sighed and shook his head. “Whatever game you play, they’re all useless against me.”

Big Beard had already fallen onto the ground. He suddenly used a move called “Straightening Carp.” His body flipped up, and his two legs wrapped around Little Gao’s head like a mahua dough twist. (1)

Even Little Gao never thought this would happen.

Big Beards legs were extremely nimble and flexible, and also very strong. Little Gao almost couldn’t breathe. The odor from the pants that covered the legs was quite ripe.

Little Gao couldn’t take it any longer. Using a very strange method, his body twisted, rolled, turned, and heaved; Big Beard was thrown off and slammed onto the ground. His pants split open, revealing his two legs.

His pants had been about to split from the very beginning, and when they split they were nearly completely destroyed, and revealed almost all of the two legs.

And now, Little Gao was shocked into speechlessness. It was as if he had just seen a beautiful fresh flower blossom out from a pile of muck.

**

Everyone has legs, but Little Gao had never before seen a pair of legs that looked as good as these.

Not only had Little Gao never seen anything like them before, most people in the world had never seen anything like them.

Only a few people in the world had ever laid eyes on these legs.

They were slender, long and fit, their contour even, soft and graceful, the muscles flexible, the color of the skin milky white, like that of fresh milk.

Little Gao would never have dreamed that a dirty, stinky person like Big Beard would have legs like these.

What was even more unimaginable was that this bearded man who had just tried to use a rope to strangle him to death, and then tried to use a blade to kill him, would suddenly start crying. He covered his face with his hands and cried like a child, sounding grieved and heartbroken.

Little Gao had planned to leave without even turning his head, as he had moments before, but couldn’t hold back from asking, “Why are you crying?”

“I like crying, I’m happy to cry, I want to cry. It’s none of your business!”

A grown man with such a big beard, speaking words that sounded like as unreasonable as a child, so much so that his voice seemed to have changed to that of a child’s… What kind of freak was this, and how could Little Gao possible continue to worry about him?

Little Gao decided to ignore him and leave, but Big Beard suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

“Why should I stop?”

“You’re going to leave just like that? It’s that easy for you?”

“Why can’t I go? Don’t you still want to strangle me to death, or stab me to death? Leaving like this, I’m actually treating you very well. What else do you want?”

“I want you to dig your eyeballs out,” Big Beard said. “Take your two eyeballs and dig them out of your eye sockets!”

Little Gao laughed again. “I’m not insane, why would I dig my eyeballs out?”

“Because you saw my legs,” said Big Beard. “These legs are not for just anyone to see.”

Little Gao had to admit that the legs were very special, and especially good-looking.

But he hadn’t looked on purpose, and looking at someone’s legs didn’t count as something incredible.

“If you’re not happy,” he said, “You can look at my legs. Look at them as long as you want.”

“Dog farts!”

“I’m not a dog, and I didn’t fart.”

“Of course you’re not a dog, because you’re stupider than a dog. All the dogs under heaven are smarter than you, whether they are big dogs or small dogs or male dogs or female dogs, they are all one hundred times smarter than you. Because you’re a pig.” Big Beard was getting more and more angry. Suddenly he jumped up. “You pig, don’t tell me you still can’t tell I’m a woman?”

“How could you be a woman? I don’t believe it,” he said numbly. “How could a woman have a beard?”

Big Beard appeared to be on the verge of going crazy with anger. Suddenly, she ripped the beard off and threw it at Little Gao’s face.

Her body flew forward as well, waist twisting, her two legs once again entangling Little Gao.

Two smooth legs, completely lacking any hair.

This time Little Gao really couldn’t move, he could only look at her and force a smile. “I have no hatred or enmity with you, why do you have to treat me like this?”

“Because I’ve taken a fancy to you.”

Little Gao was petrified. Luckily the beardless Big Beard quickly went on: “Don’t feel full of yourself. What I’ve taken a fancy to isn’t you yourself.”

“What did you take a fancy with?”

“That box of yours,” sad the beardless young woman. “If you just give me this box, I won’t come bother you again. You’ll never even see me again.”

“Do you know what’s inside this box?”

“Of course I know,” said the young woman. “Your box has gold and jewels worth at least eighty to one-hundred thousand pieces of silver.”

“How do you know?”

Little Gao was obviously astonished, because he had never opened the box in front of anyone.

Not only did she not answer the question, she asked one: “Do you know who my father is?”

“No.”

“He’s a god among thieves. A thief god with miraculous hands. He’s stolen things from everywhere under heaven, and has never been caught.”

“Great! Great skill!”

“But, he falls short of my grandfather. Do you know who my grandfather is?” she asked Little Gao.

“No.”

“He’s a great robber. If he sees people, he robs them. If he sees ghosts, he robs them.”

Little Gao let out a sigh. “So it turns out your family has three generations in the same profession.”

“You’re finally smartening up,” Lady Big Beard said. “How could a third generation member of this profession not know what things are inside your box?”

“I’ve heard before that masters of this profession have that ability. From the way someone walks, they can figure out the value of what that person is carrying.”

“Absolutely correct,” said the young woman. “But, I can’t tell what type of person you are.”

“Oh!”

“Your box has gold and jewels in it, but the only thing you eat every day is a bowl of boiled cabbage noodle soup that costs three or four coins. Are you some kind of miser? Or just some freak?”

“The box I have might be full of gold and jewels, but unfortunately they aren’t mine. Even if I wanted to give them to you, I couldn’t. And I can guarantee you, even if your skill was ten times greater than it is, you should forget about trying to steal it.”

The young woman suddenly sighed.

“I know I can’t steal it from you. But regardless, I had to give it a shot, even at the risk of my life. I’ll keep trying even if I die!”

“Why?”

“Because if I don’t come up with fifty thousand pieces of silver in the next three days, I’m dead for sure.” Her eyes rolled as tears streamed out. “I’m thinking that, other than you, where else can I get fifty thousand pieces of silver?” Her tears fell like raindrops. “I can see that you’re a good person. Please, help me. I’ll be grateful to you for my entire life.”

Little Gao was already starting to soften. “Why do you have to come up with fifty thousand pieces of silver in three days?”

“Because Sima Chaoqun’s Great Protection Agency will definitely require fifty thousand to escort me home safely. My home is in Northeast China, without them to take me there, I’ll be dead on the roadside at any time, with no one to take care of my corpse.”

Little Gao laughed coldly. “Charging fifty thousand to escort someone to Northeast China. I think that’s just too dark-hearted.”

“I don’t blame them,” said the young woman. “Escorting me won’t be easy. If I was Sima Chaoqun, my starting fee might even be higher.”

“Why?”

“Because the people who want to kill me are too fiendish and terrifying. Nobody is willing to go up against them. You would never believe that there is anyone under heaven as brutal and ruthless as them.” Her body began to quiver, and even though ash covered her face, you could still see that it twisted with panic-stricken terror.

It seemed she truly feared for her life.

“Who are they?” blurted out Little Gao.

It seemed like the young woman didn’t hear his question. Tears pouring down, she said, “I know they won’t let me go. I know that they can kill me any time they want.”

It seemed as if she had some evil and inauspicious premonition, like a wild animal who knew a snare lay ahead, with hunters coming from behind to complete the kill.

Although premonitions of this sort of usually unexplainable, they are often correct.

At that moment, from the tops of the short walls on either side of the narrow alley, hidden weapons shot forth. From the left, a rain-like cluster of silver needles, from the right, several shining flashes.

**

Gao Jianfei’s reaction was extremely fast.

He used the box in his right hand, as well as his cloth-wrapped bundle, to block the rain of needles coming from the left side.

He was already carrying the young woman, who was still had her legs wrapped around him, so he tilted to the left and flew up.

But at the same time, he heard her emit a sighing moan, and he felt her two legs slacken. She fell to the ground.

Little Gao wasn’t pulled down with her. On the contrary, he shot up, tapping his left foot with his right, borrowing strength to create strength. He flew up nearly nine feet into the air. Behind the walls on either side of the narrow alley he could see a person fleeing. They were extremely agile, their lightness kung fu not weak.

By the time they had fled several meters away to stand on the eaves of the buildings, Little Gao had alighted onto the top of the wall. Suddenly, the two figures spun around and stared at him. Hideous masks covered their faces, and their eyes brimmed with fierce, ruthless maliciousness. One of them spoke to him in a cold, raspy voice: “Friend, your kung fu is good. To master a lightness kung fu like ‘Climbing the Cloud Ladder’ is not an easy thing. It would really be a pity for you to die at such a young age.”

“Thankfully, I don’t want to die at the moment. And in fact, I can’t.”

“Then you’d better listen to some friendly advice. You shouldn’t get involved in this matter.”

“Why can’t I get involved?”

“If you provoke us, it’s like getting tangled up with the devil. Whether you’re eating or sleeping, no matter what you’re doing, you could suddenly find a hidden blade pressed against your throat. Or when you wake up, you might find a meat cleaver slowly slicing your neck.” His voice was sinister. “No matter who involves themselves in this matter, they won’t meet a happy end.”

Little Gao let out a sigh.

“This thing doesn’t sound very fun. But sadly, I have an innately strange temper.”

“Oh?”

“When people don’t want me to get involved with things, it just makes me want to get involved more.”

The other man let out a cold laugh. “Then you can go back and await death.”

In unison, the two men flipped up into the air and flew away.

Their technique was fast, but Little Gao could still catch them. However, there was someone lying on the ground. After she had fallen, she hadn’t moved at all. Her long, glistening legs were quickly turning purple from the freezing cold.

Actually, she had nothing to do with Little Gao, but Little Gao couldn’t let her and her two bare legs freeze to death in the snow of the narrow alley.

Her injury was on her back. A very, very tiny wound, it was already swelling up and burning.

—The hidden weapon was poisoned, definitely poisoned.

But luckily, she had met Gao Jianfei, who from a small age had lived on a remote mountain infested with poisoned bugs, ants and snakes. He would definitely have a poison antidote on his body.

So, she didn’t die, and in fact, she regained consciousness almost immediately.

Part 3

When she regained consciousness, she found herself laying on Little Gao’s wood plank bed in the small inn. The wound was spread with medicine and covered with a strip of coarse cloth.

She looked at Little Gao for a long time, and then softly asked, “You’re not dead yet?”

“Not quite yet.”

“Then, I’m not dead yet either?”

“Not quite yet.”

“How could I not be dead?” She seemed surprised. “They already chased me down, how could I not be dead?”

“Your luck was good, you met me.”

The beardless young woman suddenly got angry. “I’ve been forced to the end of the rope by these people, chased everywhere like a wild dog, hiding everywhere. Then I got poisoned by hidden weapons. How could say that my luck is good?” She stared at Little Gao. “I really want to hear your explanation. How could this possibly count as good luck?”

Little Gao could only smile wrily.

The young woman stared at him for a long time, then sighed. “I know you won’t give me the box. So you might as well leave me alone.”

“Why?”

“You shouldn’t get involved in this matter. My life or death has nothing to do with you. You don’t even know me.”

“I didn’t know you before, but now I do know you a little bit.”