Chapter 108 (2/2)

Sangsang cooked a bowl of sweet-smelling noodles, with soup and lots of chive and six or seven sections of fatty intestine and two big intestine heads.

After gobbling it down enjoyably, Ning Que rubbed his mouth, put on a common but shabby s.h.i.+rt, wore a new but ordinary hat and covered most of his face with a mask, and then wrapped his podao and big black umbrella. Later, he pushed open the back door of the courtyard and went into the dark night after bidding Sangsang goodbye.

Ning Que walked through the streets and alleys in the peaceful Eastern City, accompanied by the cool night breeze. Both the tired people and vigilant dogs were sleeping soundly. It seemed as if the whole city was in a deep sleep. Only the sound uttered by the water-delivering carts pressing the slate would appear occasionally and suddenly, but they soon faded away gradually.

The weak lantern light shakingly illuminated the road before the cart.

When the water-delivering cart pa.s.sed a corner of the downtown street in Southern City, Ning Que, who had been squatting silently at the gap of the big water buckets jumped down quietly and landed on feet. He quickly ran into the dark side alley. Then, he took out of the hand-painted map Sangsang made, and had a last glance at it under the very weak light.

It was no wonder why Sangsang felt confused. Ning Que's plan to kill one person periodically was totally discordant with the peaceful, hard but happy life in Academy and also was disharmonious with the carefree but boring downtown life in Lin 47th Street. What's more, the repet.i.tive killings were indeed quite boring. However, for Ning Que, who returned to Chang'an from City of Wei, it had been a very important part in his life, even a living habit, to enjoy fatty intestine or fired-egg noodles and then killing someone for revenge, just like his meditating for several hours after practicing handwriting.

Every time he killed an enemy and erased a name from his revenge list, he could feel less weight on his shoulder and feel a little relieved. Also, the thick blood on his hand would be a little thinner. Everyone instinctively looked forward to the easy and happy life, and thus his instinct prompted him to continue with the revenge plan.

The preparation of his podao, wrapper, mask, coat, hat, map and even the target's daily schedule and habit were conducted by Sangsang. A little black-face handmaiden who walked around the alley of Chang'an, hardly attracted other people's attention. Ning Que was not worried about her safety. But most importantly, he believed in her ability.

Therefore, he never second-guessed whether his blade would fail to cut down his target's head when he was ready to pull out his podao. He had already used that person as a sacrifice to the deceased of General Xuanwei's Residence and that village while going into the downtown street silently by the cover of darkness and walking straight to the lake behind the teashop.

Today, he would erase the third name of the list on the oilpaper.

The owner of the head was Yan Suqing, 41, a former Military Clergy Appraiser.

The man excelled in tea culture and seal verification. After being expelled from the Military Ministry by the imperial court with an excuse, he was specially employed by a well-known tea merchant as a tea specialist. According to Zhuo Er's research, the ironclad proof concluding Xuanwei General's treason at that year—the three writings—was verified by the man in person, and was perhaps even counterfeited by himself.

What was more, the man had much unclear and misty relation with the village-slaughter case in the border of the Yan territory. Back then, General Xia Hou's army had attacked the Yan Kingdom. Yan Suqing was in General Xia Hou's army when the army failed to arrive at the border of Min Mountain on time. It was curious why a military clergy appraiser would appear in the b.l.o.o.d.y battlefield.

At present, Yan Suqing lived in a lakeside small house which the tea merchant bought for him. As Ning Que walked along the lake silently, the sight of the closer peaceful house beside the lake and the view of the seemingly-irregular but picturesque bamboo wall and gra.s.s house suddenly made him feel that something wrong. His eyebrows which were outside the mask rose slowly.

In a word, the lakeside small house was too peaceful and beautiful.

To settle in Chang'an was very difficult. Every inch of land in Chang'an was worth its weight in gold. Among the hustle and bustle in the whole city, the words ”peaceful” and ”beautiful” meant n.o.ble and even powerful. Though Ning Que knew that Yan Suqing was highly trusted and appreciated by the tea merchant, he also believed that it was impossible for a tea merchant to give such a lakeside small house to a tea specialist, even if the businessman was very wealthy and generous.

The morning light had yet to arrive, so the vision of the lake remained dark. Only the reflection of lamplights from someone' s house could be seen on the ripple, as if presenting a little-sequestered light. Ning Que walked to the front of the lakeside small house. Separated by the alienated bamboo wall, he looked at the large stone chair below the stone steps in courtyard and the emaciated middle-aged man in the chair. After a short pause, he pushed the door open and walked in.

A small oil lamp was lighted up. The thin middle-aged man sat on the stone chair, with his left hand holding a big but crude teacup made of mud and his right hand gently knocking a corner of the ebony tea table. He looked at the lad calmly with a cold smile suddenly showing up on his skinny face, and then said in a low voice.

”The so-called tea ceremony in tea culture is just using a complicated and repet.i.tive procedure to intensify the sense of ceremony so as to bring about a sense of dignity.”

”Many people think when I enjoy the tea at home, I would burn incense, take a shower, wors.h.i.+p Haotian for a long time and wash the cups for a while before sending the tea into my mouth. In fact, I've always enjoyed drinking the tea with a large cup best. Maybe the habit was formed in the army. I prefer a more direct way in handling affairs.”

”This is such a hot summer night. Instead of sleeping at home, you choose to stroll around a lake. You... must be here to kill me.”

<script>