Chapter 15 – Summit (1/2)

Chapter 15: Summit

Part 1

The second month, the twenty-fifth.

Chang’an.

A lamp.

A light-purple, crystal lamp, and a yellow flame. Beneath the lamp, a solitary box, a solitary, old-fashioned, ordinary box.

There was also a person beneath the lamp, but it was not the silent, ordinary person who usually carried the box.

The person under the lamp was Zhuo Donglai.

There was not yet light in the sky, and so the lamp burned, the lamplight shining on the left sight of his face, seemingly soft and gentle.

Today, this half of his face seemed just like the face of a kind father.

When someone is completely satisfied with themselves, they tend to treat others in a somewhat kinder fashion than usual.

Zhu Meng was within his grasp, the Lion Clan had disintegrated, and Gao Jianfei was dead, or at least, so he believed. Everything was under his control.

His enemies had been eliminated, and he had gained complete power. No one in Jianghu would ever again be able to contend with him. Under these circumstances, even the most insatiable person would feel satisfied.

His life’s work had reached its summit.

So, he hadn’t killed Xiao Leixue.

As of now, Xiao Leixue’s situation was exactly the same as the old man’s had been. His power gone, he sat in the small courtyard, waiting for Zhuo Donglai to squeeze the knowledge out of his mind and extract his wealth of secrets.

That of course could wait. Zhuo Donglai wasn’t in a hurry.

A professional killer with his power gone was like an old whore who no one cared about, with no road to travel, and no place to go.

These two professions were the most ancient in the world, the sorrows they spawned were also the most ancient tragedies in the world.

Xiao Leixue’s box was now in Zhuo Donglai’s hands.

He knew that this box was the most fearsome weapon in the world. The day that the Lion Clan traitor Yang Jian had been assassinated, he learned of its fearsomeness.

Many people in Jianghu would be willing to sell their soul to get their hands on it.

Luckily, he wasn’t that type of person. He was completely different.

Right now the box sat in front of him, but he had no inclination to even touch it.

That was because he had another weapon, even more fearsome. His intelligence.

When he wielded his intelligence, he was more fearsome than any person or any weapon.

—Xiao Leixue may be an unparalleled master, yet he’d never even had a chance to make a move.

—Zhu Meng might be brave and daring, and the Lion Clan strong and powerful, yet in the time it took to raise a hand, he had routed them.

He had reached this point not only because he had taken advantage of every opportunity, but also because he could create opportunities.

When others thought he was defeated, when he was in danger, he would not become flustered and nervous, but would instead devise an opportunity to rout his foe, to turn defeat into victory.

This type of person was truly strong.

Spears, axes, blades, swords were the weapons of ordinary people. So was this box.

Zhuo Qing had been standing in front of him for a very long time. Savoring victory was somewhat like savoring an olive. One needed to chew slowly for a long time to truly enjoy the flavor. And so, Zhuo Qing prepared to leave quietly.

Zhuo Donglai suddenly called to him, in a soft and gentle voice: “You worked hard all night. Why not sit and have a drink?”

“I don’t drink.”

“You can learn to,” said Zhuo Donglai with a smile. “Learning to drink isn’t very difficult.”

“But now is not the time for me to learn to drink.”

“What are you waiting for?” Zhuo Donglai’s smile had disappeared into the darkness. “Are you waiting until you’re able to …” Before finishing his sentence he suddenly changed the topic. “Have you gotten Mr. Xiao settled down?”

“Yes.”

“When you left, how was he? Did he speak?”

“No,” said Zhuo Qing. “He was the same as before, as if he didn’t care about anything at all.”

“Excellent.” Zhuo Donglai smiled again. “To submit to the will of Heaven, to resign oneself to the situation, is a sign of true intelligence. This type of person should live a long life.”

“Yes.”

Zhuo Donglai’s smile seemed to contain the sharpness of an awl. “Sometimes I feel that he is similar to me in many ways. He will not attempt to do things he is incapable of doing. He won’t even think about them.” He continued on coldly: “If someone likes to do things they are incapable of doing, they will eventually die a violent death. Gao Jianfei is a perfect example.”

“Gao Jianfei isn’t a good example,” said Zhuo Qing.

“He’s not? Why?”

“Because he isn’t dead.”

“You’re certain that he’s not dead?”

“I am. Yesterday at dusk, Zheng Cheng saw him with his own eyes, leaving the city with his sword.”

“Zheng Cheng?” Zhuo Donglai seemed to be searching his mind for the name. “How do you know that he really saw Gao Jianfei?”

“As soon as he learned of his whereabouts, he returned to report to me.”

“And you trust him?”

“I trust him.”

Zhuo Donglai’s smile yet again disappeared, but his voice was even more gentle: “Correct! You should trust him. If you want others to trust you, you should first let them know that you trust them.”

He seemed as if he suddenly wished he had not said what he just said, as he changed the topic again.

“Have you thought about where Gao Jianfei would go to?”

“He will surely go to the brothel in the Red Flower Bazaar to look for Zhu Meng. Since Zhu Meng isn’t there, he’ll return, so I didn’t have Zheng Cheng follow him. As long as he is in Chang’an, he is in our grasp.

Zhuo Donglai smiled happily.

“You definitely can begin learning how to drink. You’re qualified to drink, more qualified than most people.”

He suddenly stood and placed his wine cup in front of Zhuo Qing.

Zhuo Qing picked it up and drained it.

The wine was sweet, but his mouth was bitter and sour.

He realized that he had spoken too much, and he wished he could recall his words. It would have been better to cut off his hand.

Zhuo Donglai did not seem to notice. He took the empty cup and refilled it, then sat down and took a sip.

“Xiao Leixue knows that Gao Jianfei is fated to be his undoing. He has never broken a contract in his life. Why didn’t he kill Gao Jianfei?” Zhuo Donglai was lost in thought. “Do they have some special relationship? What relationship?”

He suddenly drained his cup, and his eyes shone. “It must be that the old man knew the nature of their relationship. Xiao Leixue wanted to ask him about it, so it was surely something very important. When the old man died, his heart became filled with murder, because no one in the world other than the old man could tell him whether or not Gao Jianfei is his son.”

“His son?” Zhuo Qing had resolved not to say anything further, but he couldn’t hold back from asking, “How could Gao Jianfei be Xiao Leixue’s son?”

“You think it’s impossible?” Zhuo Donglai laughed coldly. “Gao Jianfei is an insignificant youth. Why would the cold-blooded Xiao Leixue save him? If they do not have some special relationship, then even if there were a hundred thousand Gao Jianfeis dying in front of him, Xiao Leixue wouldn’t lift a finger.”

He looked at Zhuo Qing, his voice once again very soft. “Believe me, anything can happen. For example, how could Zhu Meng, such a stalwart man, be defeated because of a woman? And yet he was defeated, a bitter defeat. Xiao Leixue is the same. Who would ever have thought that this day would come?”

He let out a long sigh. “Actually, I’m the same. How could I ever imagine who it is that might defeat me?”

Perhaps this statement wasn’t completely true, but it did contain truths worth pondering.

Zhuo Qing suddenly left.

He knew that it was time for him to leave, because Sima Chaoqun had arrived.

He heard Sima Chaoqun’s voice: “Correct. No one could have imagined that this would happen.”

Part 2

The door was open, and Sima Chaoqun stood there. Outside was thick with milk-white fog.

He was a middle-aged man, his hair and clothing in disarray from his frantic, long-distance journey, and he appeared to be completely exhausted.

And yet standing there, he still seemed as grand, brilliant and robust as ever. He appeared to be much younger than his age, and standing there with the fog at his back, the lamplight flickering on him, he looked like a god in a painting.

In this aspect, no one in Jianghu could match up to him.

Even if his martial arts were only half as good, he would still be regarded as an esteemed and respected hero.

He was born to be this type of person.

Zhuo Donglai looked at him, and his eyes suddenly filled with admiration. He quickly stood and poured him a glass of wine.

—Why did you go to Luoyang? Why did you deceive me by pretending to be ill?

Zhuo Donglai did not ask these questions.

At times when he could sense Sima Chaoqun’s bad mood, he would carefully avoid unhappy topics like this.

“You must be very tired, and you must have pushed extremely hard. I originally calculated that you would be returning tomorrow.” He smiled. “How is the weather in Luoyang?”

Sima Chaoqun said nothing. He wore a very strange expression. A long time passed before he finally spoke. “The weather is fine, better than here. The blood on the streets dried very quickly, much more quickly than here.”

His voice was somewhat strange, but Zhuo Donglai didn’t seem to notice.

“When blood flows,” Sima continued, “it will dry eventually. It doesn’t really matter whether it dries sooner or dries later.”

“Yes,” said Zhuo Donglai. “Many things in the world are like this.”

“And there are many things in the world that are not like this.”

“Oh?”

“People live, and eventually die. But there is a huge difference between dying sooner and dying later. If you want to kill someone, can you wait until after they are dead before making your move?”

“No,” replied Zhuo Donglai. “When killing people, you must be prompt. When the opportunity passes, things will change, and the circumstances will be different.” He smiled and raised his glass. “Drinking is the same. You must drink promptly. If you wait until later to drink, the wine will become sour.”

“Correct,” agreed Sima Chaoqun. “Extremely correct. It seems that when you speak you never say anything wrong.” He lifted his glass and drained it. “This glass I drink to you, because yet again you won a beautiful victory for our Great Protection Agency.”

“You already know everything that happened?”

“I know. I’ve been back for a while, and I’ve been thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“About you.”

Sima Chaoqun’s expression was even more strange. “I’ve thought about everything you’ve done for the past thirty years. I’ve thought about everything in great detail. I can’t help but believe more and more that you are an amazing person. I can’t compare to you at all.”

There was still a smile on Zhuo Donglai’s face, but it had become stiff. “Why would you be thinking about things like this?”

Sima Chaoqun didn’t respond. Instead, he turned around.

“Come with me,” he said. “I want to take you to see some people. After you see them, you’ll understand.”

Part 3

The first rays of morning sunlight began to appear, and the color of the fog grew thicker.

Inside the small courtyard were no flowers, but instead cabbage, green peas, radishes, lettuce, cucumbers and garlic.

The vegetables had all been planted by Wu Wan, as Sima Chaoqun loved to eat freshly picked produce.

This was why the courtyard had no flowers, only vegetables.

Everything Wu Wan did was for her husband. For her husband and her two children.

Their children were very obedient; from the time they were young, Wu Wan had educated them very well. She had never allowed them to come into contact with the affairs of adults, and had never allowed them to wander around outside of the house.

Outside was the territory of the Great Protection Agency. Those people and the things they did were not for young children to see.

Arriving here, Zhuo Donglai suddenly realized that he hadn’t seen Wu Wan or the children for several days.

That was carelessness on his part.

For the sake of his friendship with Sima, and for the sake of the future prospects of the Great Protection Agency, he made a resolution to never again bring up the matter of Guo Zhuang. He would treat Wu Wan and the children better in the future.

Part 4

The bottom floor of the small building contained halls; a main hall, and a smaller parlour for drinking. Even though guests rarely came to visit, Wu Wan had decorated the two halls to make them feel very quiet and peaceful.

Her room and the children’s room was on the second floor. They all lived together with a wet nurse and two serving girls who had been provided as part of her dowry.

Her husband didn’t live in the house.

Sima treated her well, and treated the children well, but at night he didn’t stay here.

The sky was not yet bright, and the second floor lamps were not lit. Wu Wan and the children must still be deep asleep.

—Why would Sima Chaoqun bring him here to see them?

Zhuo Donglai didn’t understand.

When the wind blew the milky white fog in through the open bedroom window, it became a deathly gray color. It transformed the previously elegant and peaceful house into something unspeakable gruesome. It was also cold, bone-chillingly cold.

The braziers had long since burned out.

Why would such an attentive mother not keep the braziers lit for her children?

No light, no fire, just wind.

Looking into the room from the ghastly, gloomy fog, it appeared as if within, someone was floating in the wind.

Floating in mid-air.

—How could someone be floating in mid-air? Who was this person?

Zhuo Donglai’s heart suddenly sank, and his pupils constricted.

He had trained his eyes for many years to be as sharp as an eagle’s.

He could now see that it was a person hanging in the air, hanging from a rope.

It was Wu Wan.

She had tied the rope into a noose and attached it to the roof beam, then wrapped it around her throat.

As soon as her legs left solid support, the noose would embed itself into her neck.

She was dead.

From time immemorial, death has been difficult to avoid. To do so is truly challenging. But sometimes death is so easy.

In addition to Wu Wan, there were others in the room. An old wet nurse with hair as white as frost, two young servant girls as young as flowers, and two adorable children.

Two adorable children with limitless prospects in life. Just looking at them would make one feel joy in one’s heart.

But now, the wet nurse’s white hair would grow no longer. The slave girls would never have a chance to grow old. And the children would never again make people feel joy in their heart in a single glance. Instead, they would make people feel knife-like pain and misery.

—The children, so adorable, so miserable.

“I let you down, and so I die. I must die. I can only die. But the children shouldn’t die.

“And yet, I must let them accompany me in death.

“I don’t want them to be children without a mother, and I don’t want them to grow up and become people like your friend Zhuo Donglai.

“Old Miss Cui is my wet nurse. When I was small, it was her breast milk that raised me. She always treated me like her own daughter.

“Little Fen and Little Fang are like my little sisters.

“If I die, they don’t wish to keep on living.

“And so we will all die.

“I don’t want your forgiveness, I just want you to keep on living. I know that without us, you will be able to have a good life.”

So cold, so cold, so cold. Zhuo Donglai had never felt this cold before.

This elegant little room was actually a tomb, and he was in the tomb.

It felt as if all the muscles and veins and even the marrow in his whole body was completely frozen.

“What happened? When did this happen? Why did Wu Wan want to die?”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know,” said Zhuo Donglai. “I really don’t.”

“They’ve been deed at least three or four days, and yet you don’t know.” Sima Chaoqun’s voice was as cold as ice. “You really looked after them quite well. I should be very grateful to you.”

His words were like a long, cold needle stabbing from the top of his skill to the bottom of his feet.

He had many of reasons to offer in explanation.

—These days he had been completely engrossed in dealing with the Lion Clan. This place belonged to Wu Wan and the children, he and other Great Protection Agency men rarely came here.

He didn’t explain.

In this situation, no explanation that could be offered. Any explanation would be meaningless.

Sima Chaoqun hadn’t looked at him the entire time, and he couldn’t see the expression on Sima’s face.

“You asked me, why did Wu Wan want to die?” said Sima Chaoqun. “At first I didn’t understand either. She was not old, she had a good figure, she always loved the children. Even though she wasn’t completely faithful to me, she always fulfilled her duties as a wife.” His voice was strangely calm. “But I didn’t fulfil my duties as a husband. So the person in the wrong is me, not her.”