Chapter 19 – The underground old lady, Part 16
When Gongsun Zhi heard her accent, he suddenly remembered someone. He was shocked and his back broke out in a cold sweat; but he immediately thought, “It can’t be, it can’t be; she died long ago in that grotto, she’s just a pile of bones now. But who exactly is this person?” He opened the letter and read it out loud:
“To Brother Zhi and Sister Chi:
Ever since first brother died at the hands of Guo Jing and Huang Rong on Iron Palm Peak…”
When Qiu Qianchi heard this line she was filled with hurt and sorrow; she shouted, “What? Who said my brother is dead?” The sibling love between she and Qiu Qianzhang was extremely deep; when she heard news of his death her whole body shook and her voice changed. Originally she had submerged her chi into her ‘dan tian’ and it was difficult to distinguish whether her voice was a male’s or female. Now, as her feelings were brought out, the words ‘who said my brother is dead’ were said with a female voice.
Gongsun Zhi heard that the person in front of him had a female voice and said ‘my brother’, he was shocked even further; but now he was certain that this person in front of him is definitely not Qiu Qianren, he continued reading:
“…this stupid brother had been extremely shameful in not holding our sibling relationship together and creating this hostility between us; all the blame is on this stupid brother. I pondered in the middle of the night and realized all the countless evil deeds I have done. At the second Mount Hua tournament, Reverend Yideng enlightened this stupid brother; I dropped my knife of slaughter and followed the ways of Buddha. I have just begun my studies; apart from Buddha’s teachings my mind is always on the joyous days of the past with brother and sister. I wish to make up for the things I’ve done before it’s too late. Fate is a hard thing to judge.
From monk Ci’en.”
Qiu Qianchi had been sobbing during all this; by the time Gongsun Zhi finished reading the letter she could hold it in no longer and cried out, “Big brother, second brother, you need to know the suffering I’ve been through.” She took off the mask and shouted, “Gongsun Zhi, do you remember me?” This sentence was shouted out sternly, another seven or eight candles in the hall blew out while the ones that stayed alight flickered.
In the gloomy candlelight, an old woman with a long face and wretched expression could be seen; everyone trembled in fear and no one dared to say anything. The hall was silent and everyone’s heart was pounding.
Suddenly, an old servant who was standing in the corner threw himself forward and called out, “Matron, Matron, you’re not dead.”
Qiu Qianchi nodded and said, “Second Uncle Zhang, you remember me.”
This old servant was extremely loyal; when he saw his Matron alive and well, he was delighted and kept on kowtowing, calling out, “Matron, this really is something to rejoice.”
Apart from Jinlun Fawang and the others, all the guests were residents of the valley; most of the people over thirty or forty years of age could remember who she was and they all rushed forward with their questions.
Gongsun Zhi shouted loudly, “Stand back!”
The crowd was alarmed and moved back. They saw him pointing to Qiu Qianchi, shouting out, “Witch, why have you returned? You’ve actually still got the face to see me?”
Lu E had been hoping that her father would admit his mistakes and get back together with her mother. But when her father came out with this, she became emotional and rushed to her father; she knelt down on the floor and called out, “Father! Mother’s not dead, mother’s not dead. Quickly apologize and ask for her forgiveness.”
Gongsun Zhi chuckled, “Ask her for forgiveness? What have I done wrong?”
Lu E said, “You trapped mother down that grotto and let her stay down there to suffer for over ten years. Father, how could you do that to her?”
Gongsun Zhi chuckled, “It was she who first harmed me; do you know that? She pushed me in the flower thicket and let me endure the suffering of the piercing of thousands and thousands of thorns; do you know that? She placed the antidote in frosty arsenic water, putting me in a situation where if I took it I’d die, if I didn’t I’ll still die; do you know that? She even forced me to… to kill my lover; do you know that?”
Lu E cried, “I know that, it was Rou’er.”
Gongsun Zhi had not heard this name for over ten years; his face changed as he heard it and he faced the sky, mumbling, “Yes, it was Rou’er, it was Rou’er!” He pointed to Qiu Qianchi and said with revulsion, “It was that evil and cruel witch who forced me to kill Rou’er!” His face was becoming more and more mournful; he quietly called out, “Rou’er… Rou’er…”
Yang Guo felt that sinful couples were not good people. He was poisoned himself and had only a few days to live; he just hoped that he could spend these few days with Xiao Longnu in peace. He didn’t care about which one of the Gongsun couple was wrong or right; he lightly tugged on Xiao Longnu’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go.”
Xiao Longnu said, “Is that woman really his wife? Was she really trapped down in a cave by her husband for over ten years?” She could not believe that such an evil person could exist.
Yang Guo said, “That couple is taking revenge on each other.”
Xiao Longnu thought for a while and whispered, “I don’t understand this; could it be that she was the same as me and forced into marrying him?”
In her thoughts, if two people aren’t forced into marriage then they’ll be loving and compassionate towards each other; how could they harm each other?
Yang Guo shook his head and said, “There are many bad people in the world, while there’s only a few who’re good; the thoughts of these people are hard to fathom…”
Suddenly Gongsun Zhi shouted, “Move!” His right leg lifted up and Lu E’s body flew away; she had been kicked by her father.
Her body was flying straight towards Qiu Qianchi’s upper body. Qiu Qianchi could not move her arms and legs; she could only lower her head to avoid her. But Lu E was coming in too fast; a ‘peng’ sound was heard as she crashed into the shoulders of her mother. Qiu Qianchi fell backwards with the chair, her bald head crashing into the stone pillar behind her. Blood stained the stone pillar and she couldn’t crawl back up. After being kicked by her father, Lu E was on the floor as well, lying unconscious.
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