Chapter 8 (2/2)
Fan JiJing replied, ”Maybe that person really had his own difficulties.”
”What kind of person do you think your master is?” asked Hua HuaiXiu.
He was expecting a speech from Fan JiJing blabbering on how kindly his master had treated him, but after a long wait, he only found himself greeted by a face full of stress.
”Wavering now?” Hua HuaiXiu sounded happy.
Fan JiJing slowly raised his head. His furrowed eyebrows smoothed out little by little. ”By the end of the day, my thoughts are still just mine.”
Hua HuaiXiu sighed. He still couldn't think out of the box.
”Not to mention, murder is never the right solution.”
”Bu LouLian was the leader of a sect.” Hua HuaiXiu said, ”Just like your s.h.i.+di, even though he clearly knew that the martial arts your master taught him was questionable, he could only be angry and not voice it out. Not only was he unable to reveal the truth, but he also needed to constantly look out for your master's next move. If he is the murderer, isn't this also an act of self-defense?”
Fan JiJing said, ”But why would Master try to kill him?”
”Actually, there is something. I don't know if I should tell you or not.” Hua HuaiXiu said slowly.
Fan JiJing looked at him with stars in his eyes.
”I’m afraid you are going to be mad again if I say it.”
Fan JiJing's eyes slightly dimmed: ”Are you going to speak ill of Master again?”
Hearing him using the word ”again”, Hua HuaiXiu propped his head on his elbow and started to count how many ill remarks he had given so far.
”If it's helpful to the case…” Fan JiJing struggled, ”then say it implicitly.”
Hua HuaiXiu wondered what the appropriate degree of implicit would be as he spoke slowly, ”I'm just thinking that if it's a dispute between two people, then one of them could be at fault or both of them could be at fault. But if different people have different disputes with the same person, then it's most likely that person's fault.”
Listening to him winding back and forth, Fan JiJing was completely befuddled by his words: ”What is Cousin trying to say?”
”Maybe your master is…” Remembering how Fan JiJing had demanded him to say it implicitly, Hua HuaiXiu finally came up with something a while later: ”Not very well liked.”
Fan JiJing was speechless.
Hua HuaiXiu continued, ”At least we now know that out of the five disciples of his, except you, the rest all have motives to kill him. The two s.h.i.+shu of yours kept saying that they wanted to find the murderer in front of everyone. However, from what I observed in their demeanors, instead of doing your master justice wholeheartedly, they were more like…”
”More like what?”
Hua HuaiXiu muttered, ”More like fishermen.”
”Fishermen?”
”When the snipe and the clam grapple, it is the fisherman who profits.” Hua HuaiXiu said, ”Now that the snipe has already eaten the clam, all the fisherman wants to do is catch that snipe when the chance arrives.”
”s.h.i.+shu, they…” Fan JiJing wanted to make an argument but felt like there was nothing he could start with.
Hua HuaiXiu thought for a moment, then suddenly said, ”By the way, I remember you once said that you had three s.h.i.+shu. Where's the other one?”
”The other one is Bian s.h.i.+shu. He has been in seclusion since I was young and pays no heed to worldly matters now,” Fan JiJing explained while frowning.
”Do you know why?” Hua HuaiXiu suddenly had an indescribable feeling, as if everything happened in the Jiuhua Sect was somewhat related to Bu LouLian who was already dead. When he was alive, these things were like seeds buried underground, and after he died, they finally started to sprout and appear under the sun.
Fan JiJing said, ”Master said that Bian s.h.i.+shu has a natural disposition of never striving against anything, therefore he doesn't like to walk about in the sect.”
”What is worthy enough to strive for in your sect?” Hua HuaiXiu felt there was more to it than what Bu LouLian had said.
When Fan JiJing first heard Bu LouLian say that sentence, he never thought much of it, but now after Hua HuaiXiu had brought it up in such a way, he felt that it was a bit strange as well.
Hua HuaiXiu shook his head: ”I feel like we haven't found the real end of the thread yet.”
”The real end of the thread?”
”For example…” He paused for a moment before continuing: ”How many murderers are there?”
Fan JiJing froze.
”Or maybe…”
A mountain-keeper disciple of the Jiuhua Sect hurried over and said, ”Fan s.h.i.+xiong. Hua Gongzi.”
Fan JiJing was a bit over-anxious recently. He asked nervously, ”What's the matter?”
The keeper disciple said, ”There is a young miss outside looking for Hua Gongzi.”
”A young miss?” Hua HuaiXiu's fine eyebrows furrowed into a knot.
Fan JiJing asked, ”What's the young miss' family name?”
The keeper disciple replied, ”Lü.”
Translation Notes
The phrase means suspecting others without sound evidence, implying that prejudice can become an obstacle that blocks one's perception from the objective truth. It is derived from a story. One day, a person lost his axe. He suspected the neighbor's kid had stolen it, so he began to observe the kid. The way the kid walked was suspicious; the way the kid looked was suspicious; the way the kid spoke was suspicious. In a way, the kid's every move looked suspicious to him. Not long after, he found his axe inside a pit. The truth was he had forgotten it there himself. From that day on, he didn't suspect the kid anymore. [back]
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