Chapter 12 – Even Just a Dance can Overwhelm Emotions (1/2)
Chapter 12: Even Just a Dance can Overwhelm Emotions
Part 1
The second month, the twenty-third.
Luoyang.
Blowing snow filled the sky.
Sima Chaoqun wore a wide bamboo hat and a felt cloak. He whipped his horse to charge faster through the winter’s last snowstorm, charging from Luoyang toward Chang’an.
He knew that Zhu Meng was most likely already in Chang’an.
The Great Protection Agency’s power was abundant, but too widely dispersed. Most of its top-rate talent was comprised of various Jianghu bosses, most of whom would not readily leave their bases of operation to travel to Chang’an.
The men Zhu Meng had led to Chang’an were soldiers prepared to die, each one worth more than ten men, with no intention of returning to Luoyang alive.
Zhuo Donglai would realize this, and wouldn’t enter into an open battle.
But he would have a plan to deal with Zhu Meng, and his plan would certainly be extremely effective.
Deceitful, ruthless, contemptible, but extremely effective.
No one understood Zhuo Donglai better than Sima Chaoqun.
He wanted to get back as quickly as possible, and prevent Zhuo Donglai from doing something he would regret for his entire life.
He had climbed high enough, and felt extremely tired.
He didn’t want to have to climb over Zhu Meng’s carcass to get to the next level.
What method would Zhuo Donglai use to deal with Zhu Meng and Little Gao?
Sima Chaoqun didn’t know, and hadn’t thought about it. Fluttering snowflakes filled the sky like countless dancing butterflies. (1)
His heart suddenly sank, because he knew what Zhuo Donglai planned to do.
Part 2
The same day, Chang’an.
Chang’an Restaurant.
The first pavilion of Chang’an Restaurant, amidst sheets of cold, fragrant plum blossoms.
No fire burned in the building, as it was improper. To admire plum blossoms requires cold. The colder, the more fragrant; the colder, the more elegant.
This was something that could only be understood by a person who wears marten coats and drinks fine wines and has never felt the bite of hunger and cold. People who didn’t eat well and couldn’t dress warmly would never understand.
“I never thought the two gentlemen would arrive earlier than me.”
When Zhuo Donglai entered the pavilion, Zhu Meng and Little Gao were already seated, and had already finished half a jug of wine.
“Stick your head out, there’s a blade waiting. Tuck your head in, there’s also a blade waiting. We decided to come, so why not come early? Freaking drink some of the free wine and have a good time.”
“Of course. Clan Leader Zhu is correct, arriving early is better.” Zhuo Donglai smiled. “The earlier you arrive, the more there is to see.” One by one, he opened all the windows. “Other than the plum blossoms, what else did the Clan Leader see?”
“I saw a huge pile of dog shit. I’m not sure which stray mutt shitted it out.”
Zhuo Donglai’s expression didn’t change, and he didn’t appear to be upset.
“I’m not too sure, either,” he said. “But I can guarantee that the mutt wasn’t sent by me to ambush you, and wasn’t a member of the Great Protection Agency.”
“How do you know it wasn’t from the Great Protection Agency?” Zhu Meng laughed coldly. “Did you ask it? Did you have a discussion with it?”
Zhuo Donglai was still wearing a smile.
“Some things don’t need to be asked,” he said. “For example, the pile of dog shit that Clan Leader Zhu saw, we know it was a dog who shitted it out, so there’s no need to ask the shit if it came from a dog, because neither dogs nor dog shit can speak.”
Zhu Meng laughed heartily.
“Well said, well said. I can’t measure up to you.”(2) He laughed and raised his cup. “I can only drink with you.”
“I can accompany you.” Zhuo Donglai raised his cup and then drained it. “But, there’s something both you and I understand in our hearts.”
“What’s that?”
“Clan Leader Zhu’s willingness to accept my invitation here was not because he wished to have a few drinks with me.”
“Oh?”
“Clan Leader Zhu came because he wants to see what trick Zhuo Donglai has up his sleeve.”
Zhu Meng laughed. “You’re right again. You’re completely freaking correct.”
His laughter suddenly ceased. His bloodshot eyes shot forth an expression as hard as lightning. “What trick do you have up your sleeve?”
“Actually, I don’t have any trick. Even if I did, the person to play the trick isn’t me.”
“If it’s not you, then who is it?”
Zhuo Donglai poured another cup and took a sip. Then, in his unique one-word-at-a-time way of speaking said, “I invited Clan Leader Zhu here tonight because someone is going to perform a dance for the king.”
The expression on Zhu Meng’s face flickered.
What feeling was he experiencing in his heart at this moment?
No one could imagine, and no one could describe it. The scraping of a blade, the stabbing of a needle, the burning of a fire; none of these could sufficiently describe the feeling.
Zhuo Donglai raised his glass to Little Gao.
“Die Wu’s dancing ranks best under heaven. It’s something not many people are able to see. You and me have a great privilege tonight.”
Little Gao didn’t say anything.
Zhuo Donglai laughed. “Although, what I invited Brother Gao here tonight to see is not a dance.”
“What did you invite me here to see?”
“A person.” Zhuo Donglai spoke one word at a time. “A person that Brother Gao very much wants to see.”
Little Gao’s expression also flickered.
—A woman whose name he didn’t know, and a relationship that could never be forgotten.
Zhuo Donglai gave a carefree laugh. “It seems Brother Gao has already guessed who I’m talking about.”
There was a crack as the wine cup in Little Gao’s hand shattered. Fragments of the cup stabbed into his palm.
Zhu Meng suddenly growled like a tiger, his hand shot out, the veins protruding. He grabbed Zhuo Donglai’s jacket. “Where is she? And where is this other person you’re talking about?”
Zhuo Donglai didn’t move at all. He looked coldly at Zhu Meng’s hand and waited until it released his jacket. Then he slowly said, “The person I’m talking about will arrive at any moment.”
It seemed his words were directed at Zhu Meng, and yet his eyes were fixed on Little Gao.
Part 3
At that moment, a glittering black carriage came to a halt in front of Chang’an Restaurant.
The faint sound of a stringed instrument could be heard from within the nearby trees. The music was beautiful, the accompanying lyrics sang of the vicissitudes of life, and were filled with a sort of helpless sorrow.
“Spring comes and spring goes, the flowers bloom and the flowers fall; when it comes time to part, who can remain behind?”
Die Wu sat mutely in the carriage, listening. In the wind, a dead, withered leaf fluttered out of nowhere like a butterfly, before landing lightly onto the snowy ground.
After pushing open the carriage door and stepping out, she picked up the leaf and stared at it dumbly, for a long time.
A drop of water fell down out of nowhere and landed on the leaf. It was impossible to tell whether it was a teardrop or a raindrop. It looked just like a dewdrop on a freshly bloomed flower petal in the middle of spring.
Part 4
Frigid wind filled the fragrant pavilion. Zhu Meng loosened the front of his jacket more. It seemed as if he wanted the cold wind to stab into his heart.
Neither he nor Little Gao said a word. Their throats had been stopped up by a sweet, strong, sour, bitter feeling.
A grizzled, white-haired blind man walked up into the pavilion, using a bamboo pole to tap the ground in front of him.
A little girl, her long hair tied in a braid, grasped the old man’s robe and walked along with him.
The old man carried a bamboo flute, and the young girl held a pipa.(3) It seemed they were to provide musical accompaniment for Die Wu’s dance. Even though the old man’s wrinkled face was expressionless, it seemed as if every wrinkle were a tomb that contained countless sufferings and sorrows.
The world has too many sorrows.
The little girl saw nothing, because she was blind. Blind from birth, she had never seen light, and had never experienced the joy of youth.
Two people like this, how could they play music filled with happiness and joy?
The old man walked in quietly and sat in the corner where he usually sat.
It wasn’t his first time here, and every time he came, he played sad songs.
When you play sad songs for people who usually laugh a lot, the sound of the music can arouse their hidden sorrow.
Some people want this.
—People really are strange creatures. Sometimes they view sorrow and suffering as something to enjoy.
From downstairs could be heard more footsteps.
They were quick and light and distinct.
As soon as he heard the footsteps, Little Gao swept past the table toward the staircase and rushed down.
Zhu Meng didn’t move at all.
His body seemed stiff, as stiff as the corpse of a rock, a corpse that had been dead for countless ages.