Chapter 15
Reverend Shenxi turned around, and departed without a backward glance. Xuanyuan Sanguang smiled mockingly: “There goes a bull-nose without a heart; leaving without even a word of thanks.”
Xiao Yu’er answered: “Haven’t you ever heard: [A great kindness does not need to be rewarded by words] ?” As he spoke, he tore off his robe and started to bind up the fresh wounds on his body. Because one hand was still locked up with one of Jiang Yulang’s, Xiao Yu’er’s movements were naturally hampered.
Curious, Xuanyuan Sanguang asked: “Why are you two being so intimate?”
Laughing, Xiao Yu’er said, “If you have a way to tear us apart, I’ll be really impressed.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang grabbed the dagger in his hand and hacked at the handcuffs. With a “jeng” sound, sparks flew everywhere, and the blade snapped in half.
Jiang Yulang sighed. Xiao Yu’er joked: “Do you see now? How can we help being so close to each other?”
Xuanyuan Sanguang grinned and retorted, “That’s not necessarily true. If you don’t feel like being tied up with him, I wouldn’t mind chopping off his hand.”
Jiang Yulang instantly turned pale from fear, but Xiao Yu’er had already cut in, smiling: “Even if you cut off his hand, this piece of junk would still be hanging on me. Might as well leave him around my side, he can relieve my boredom and chat with me.”
Xuanyuan Sanguang took a closer look at Jiang Yulang, and said slowly: “If you don’t chop off his hand, I’m afraid one day he’ll chop off yours first!”
Xiao Yu’er said, “I wouldn’t worry, he’s not clever enough for that.”
Chuckling, Xuanyuan Sanguang said, “Little devil, you are really interesting! I originally wanted to enjoy your company a bit more, but that little rascal beside you- what an evil and devious face, I find it loathsome to even look at him.”
He patted Xiao Yu’er a couple of times on the shoulder, and then suddenly he was already outside the threshold. He waved a hand and laughed, calling: “Someday when you are free, by yourself, I will definitely find you to have a drink together.”
Xiao Yu’er dashed outside after him, but Xuanyuan Sanguang was already out of sight. At this point, the morning sun was just at its brightest, and the mountain scenery was as beautiful as a painting. Xiao Yu’er thought back to the underground palace; it seemed like a dream to him now.
The path descending the mountain from this Zhao Xuantan temple was not long; the two of them ran quickly along it. The sky was not even fully dark before they saw lights gleaming from a town some distance away.
Xiao Yu’er let out a sigh of relief. He smiled, saying: “I can’t believe I got off this mountain in one piece. Heaven is really smiling on me.”
Jiang Yulang had been silent all this time. Suddenly he smiled too, and asked, “Where would big brother like to go now?”
Xiao Yu’er said, “Well, wherever I go, you would have to go too.”
“Little brother would of course follow big brother wherever he wished,” Jiang Yulang replied with a smile.
“Actually,” Xiao Yu’er reflected, “I don’t really have anywhere that I have to go, I was just going to wander about.”
Jiang Yulang cried delightedly: “Since you were going to wander anyway, why don’t we first visit Wuhan? Little brother has a friend there with a special family heirloom. It is a precious sword that can cleave metal as though it were clay….” Upon reaching this point, he smiled faintly, and his voice quavered and drifted off. He knew there was no need to speak further!
Indeed, Xiao Yu’er had already seized upon his words and exclaimed loudly: “Let’s go then! We’ll go to find your friend.”
He ran a few steps, then abruptly stopped and laughed. “Do you have any money on you? We need to first stop at a town and get some clothes to wear, and also some to cover up our hands, otherwise we’ll be mistaken for escaped convicts for sure.”
Sighing, Jiang Yulang said, “If big brother had let little brother take some treasure from that dungeon, even one piece would be enough to purchase a lifetime’s worth of clothes for both of us.”
Xiao Yu’er laughed and winked at him: “Since you don’t have any money, we’ll just have to go and con some.”
He had hardly finished speaking when a person approached them with a torch. The stranger also carried a big package in his hand.
Xiao Yu’er and Jiang Yulang exchanged glances, and were about to walk over. Unexpectedly, the person caught sight of them and quickly set down the package before saluting them from afar. Without a word, he turned and left.
The package contained four sets of brand new clothes, and these appeared to have been especially tailored for Xiao Yu’er and Jiang Yulang’s sizes. The two of them could not help feeling startled as they viewed the contents of the package.
“This…who sent this to us?” Jiang Yulang wondered.
His brow furrowed, Xiao Yu’er added, “We just left the mountain now, who could have known about it?”
They racked their brains, but could not even make a guess. The only thing they could do was change into their new clothes. By now a thousand lights were visible in the closest town. They covered their hands with a purple robe(?), and swaggered and strutted into the main streets. Although they now looked wonderful, their bellies were grumbling ‘gu gu’.
Xiao Yu’er quipped: “Well, since our benefactor was generous enough to give us clothes, why not go all the way and send us some money…”
As soon as the words fell from his lips, a man dressed like a shopkeeper abruptly came towards them and smiled: “Would you two be the young masters Jiang? Earlier a patron sent five hundred ingots which are now on the counter. This lowly servant was instructed to deliver them into your hands, and also arrange for rooms and dinner with wine.”
Once again Xiao Yu’er and Jiang Yulang looked at each other. Jiang Yulang asked in a serious tone, “What was the person’s name?”
“This lowly servant does not know,” the shopkeeper smiled.
“Then what did he look like?” Jiang Yulang persisted.
The shopkeeper merely said, “In this humble shop, there are many people who come and go during the course of a day. As for what the patron looked like, this lowly servant has unfortunately forgotten.”
He repeatedly bowed, and kept smiling pleasantly, but no matter what Jiang Yulang asked him, the answer essentially remained: “I don’t know.”
Indeed, not only were the wine and dishes already prepared ahead of time, they were exceedingly sumptuous as well.
Xiao Yu’er joked, “This patron seems to be the worm in our bellies; no matter what we lack, he has already fulfilled our need.” (1)
Although his words seemed happy, in his heart he could not help feeling worried. He was reminded of the time he was traveling with the Yellow Ox and White Sheep, the circumstances were quite similar, but now it was not yet two hours since he had left the mountain. (2) How could anyone know of his departure so quickly? This benefactor might appear considerate and kind, but who knows what evil plans he had in store. If he really had good intentions, why did he not reveal himself?
Jiang Yulang’s eyes were darting back and forth; clearly he also harboured suspicions. Although the two of them were young, they knew well that it would be wiser not to reveal their worries.
As night fell, they realized that they would have to sleep together as well.
Xiao Yu’er yawned and said, “Do you know what I’d really like to do right now?”
“Perhaps big brother would like to read a book?” Jiang Yulang smiled.
“It seems that you really know my heart well!” Xiao Yu’er burst out laughing.
Before he had finished speaking, Jiang Yulang had already taken out the text he had snatched from Xiao Mimi. If Xiao Yu’er wanted to read it, then Jiang Yulang of course would want to read it as well.
On the text were encoded many mysteries and obscure principles of martial arts. The two of them did not seem to understand what they read-one would shake his head and the other would sigh- and yet their eyes were huge, as if they wished to devour the entire text into their bellies with a single swallow.
After reading for a couple of hours, Xiao Yu’er yawned again and smiled casually: “This book is extremely difficult to read. I want to sleep now, how about you?”
Jiang Yulang also gave a couple of yawns and smiled: “Little brother wanted to sleep a long while ago.”
The two of them lay on the bed for several hours, and still their eyes were wide open, who knows what they were thinking. If you guessed that they were ruminating on the martial arts secrets buried in the text, they would probably rather die than admit it. But on the second night, after dinner, Xiao Yu’er chuckled: “Well, even a hard-to-read book is better than not reading anything.”
Immediately Jiang Yulang also laughed: “It’s perfect; once you read until your eyes are tired, you can sleep. A book that’s too engaging would actually keep you awake.”
Xiao Yu’er clapped his hands, saying: “Just so- read it early and sleep earlier. Early to bed, early to rise, that is the best way.” In reality, both of them knew that each would not trust the other no matter what, yet they insisted on pretending to be unsuspecting and honest.
In particular, Xiao Yu’er enjoyed it this way; he found it both amusing and exciting. If a person, at all times and places, even while eating, going to the bathroom and sleeping, needed to guard against an attack from others, this kind of life would be so full of suspense, tension and spice. It would be intensely thrilling.
In this fashion, two or three days easily flashed by. These three days were surprisingly without incident and were very peaceful indeed. However, during this time, Xiao Yu’er felt that he was being followed at every moment. It felt rather like the feeling a child gets while walking on a road at night. The child would always feel that a ghost was pursuing behind. If he turned his head, of course there would be no-one. But once he turned back to walk forward, the pursuer would still be at his back.
Xiao Yu’er could not figure out who this person was. Still harder to guess were the person’s motivations. He only knew that whatever he lacked, would immediately be brought to him.
Somehow Xiao Yu’er felt that this mysterious stranger had a favour of sorts to ask of him, and wished to butter him up. But as for what this person might request, Xiao Yu’er had no idea.
The two of them followed the course of the Minjiang (?) River south, and today had reached Xuzhou. In the river region, the people were numerous and the natural resources bountiful. Naturally, the scenery here differed vastly from the barren northwest.
Xiao Yu’er gazed at the rushing river, and felt his spirits rise. Laughing, he turned to Jiang Yulang: “Why don’t we go by boat for a bit?”
Jiang Yulang clapped his hands: “Perfect- this was exactly little brother’s desire.”
Upon his words they noticed a black, brand-new boat sailing towards them. As they prepared to hail it, a boatman, wearing a bamboo hat and a raincoat made of straw, waved and called: “Would the two of you be the masters Jiang? A patron has already hired the boat for your use.”
Xiao Yu’er exchanged a glance with Jiang Yulang and smiled wryly. “If this person isn’t the critter in our bellies, that would be strange.”
He decided that he would not bother to ask who had hired the craft, since he knew that he would not be able to extract the information. Might as well not worry about it, and just board the boat.
The cabins turned out to be surprisingly pleasant, with clean tables and bright, clear windows. Besides the white-haired old boatman, the only other passenger was a young girl of about fifteen or sixteen. A pair of huge eyes kept darting over in Xiao Yu’er’s direction. But Xiao Yu’er did not even cast a glance at her- at this point, the mere sight of any beautiful woman was enough to give him a headache.
In the evening, Jiang Yulang gave a quiet chuckle: “It appears that this Miss Shi has taken a fancy to big brother.”
Xiao Yu’er yawned and murmured lazily, “You’re far more handsome than I, the one she fancies would naturally be you. It’s just too bad you have to be chained to my side, otherwise you could have enjoyed some carnal delights, you little pervert.”
Jiang Yulang’s face flushed. He muttered: “Little…little brother did not mean to say that…”
Xiao Yu’er laughed: “Forget it, if you weren’t thinking about it, why did you mention her, and how do you even know her family name?”
The blush deepened on Jiang Yulang’s cheeks. He stuttered: “Little brother just happened to hear her name by chance.”
Xiao Yu’er’s grin widened: “What are you getting so embarrassed for? Being fond of a girl is nothing to be ashamed of.” Upon these words he grabbed a pillow and covered his eyes, as if preparing to fall asleep.
Jiang Yulang murmured: “Big brother, you are not reading tonight?”
“Well I’m not feeling sleepless tonight, so I won’t need to read. How about you?”
Hurriedly Jiang Yulang laughed: “Since big brother is not reading, of course little brother won’t read either.”
The two of them slept side by side on the bed covers. Jiang Yulang fixed his eyes on Xiao Yu’er for who knows how long, until Xiao Yu’er’s breathing gradually deepened and he fell asleep.
Quietly Jiang Yulang pulled out the martial arts text. Lightly and soundlessly, he flipped through a few pages, and had just settled on the spot where he wanted to read, when Xiao Yu’er abruptly flipped over in his sleep. One arm slammed down on the book, while a leg landed on Jiang Yulang’s belly.
Jiang Yulang ground his teeth in frustration, but dared not awaken Xiao Yu’er. He could only hope that Xiao Yu’er would turn over again and move his hand away.
Unfortunately it seemed that this time Xiao Yu’er had really fallen into a deep sleep. He remained as motionless as a dead pig.
By now Jiang Yulang’s face had grown white from anger. He looked as though he could shoot fire from his eyes. One hand groped under the bedding, then suddenly pulled out a kitchen knife. The blade immediately sliced down toward Xiao Yu’er’s head!
At precisely that moment, he heard “sough sough” followed by a “dong” sound. Two dried lotus seeds flew in through the window. One hit the kitchen knife and the other struck Jiang Yulang’s wrist.
Whether judged by accuracy of aim, or force on impact, this display was impressive, almost as if these projectiles had been released by a hidden weapons expert!
Jiang Yulang’s hand had been knocked askew by the blow. Although he had still managed to keep his grip on the knife, he was gritting his teeth against the pain, and beads of sweat erupted on his forehead.
Xiao Yu’er appeared to still be half asleep; he mumbled: “What’s going on, was somebody banging a gong?”
Jiang Yulang rapidly hid the kitchen knife again and answered: “No, nothing happened.”
Luckily Xiao Yu’er did not ask any further questions, but merely fell fast asleep again.
But as for Jiang Yulang, how would he be able to even catch a wink?
Exactly who had fired those two lotus seeds?
How could there be such a skilled projectiles expert on this boat?
Could it possibly be that the old white-haired boatman, whose every cough was accompanied by a running nose and watery eyes, was in fact secretly a martial arts expert?
Or perhaps…the flirty young girl, who never seemed capable of doing anything other than flashing her beautiful eyes at them, was she actually the one? Could she have the ability to use two light and flimsy lotus seeds as stealth projectiles?
This was something Jiang Yulang could never believe!
But if the attacker was not either of them, who was it? There were no other people on this boat!
Besides, even if it was the old man or the young girl, why would they be keeping a secret watch on Jiang Yulang and Xiao Yu’er’s movements? For what reason would they try to protect Xiao Yu’er? As far as he could tell, they were total strangers to Xiao Yu’er.
With these thoughts, Jiang Yulang’s eyes stayed wide open, staring at the cabin ceiling. Now he had pondered the entire night- dawn was breaking, and he still had not come up with an explanation.
Just when he was drifting off to sleep, Xiao Yu’er began to awake, and pushed at him to wake him up too. Xiao Yu’er laughed and asked: “Did you sleep well?”
With a forced chuckle, Jiang Yulang replied: “Marvelous, I slept through until the sun came up.”
“Well, better get up then, sleeping too much is not healthy,” Xiao Yu’er said.
Jiang Yulang could only say: “You’re right. I should get up now.”
Although his face wore a cheerful expression, his heart desperately urged him to strike out at Xiao Yu’er with his fist. When they got to the bow of the boat, Jiang Yulang’s eyes watched Xiao Yu’er, who seemed refreshed and full of energy, and his legs itched to boot Xiao Yu’er into the river with a single kick.
The young lady was already fetching a basin of water for face-washing. Her face was cheerful, her eyes danced, and two deep dimples appeared as she smiled. What was she smiling at? freew(e)bnove(l)
Jiang Yulang’s eyes were fixed on her two hands carrying the basin. The hands were white and tender- they truly did not appear capable of releasing a projectile with such force!
The boat was new, as were their garments. Clearly then, they had only recently acquired this craft and become its crew members. Perhaps this had been done for Xiao Yu’er’s benefit.
But what would be their motive for doing so?
Xiao Yu’er gave no sign of being aware of any of this; he appeared to be in a very good mood. As soon as he finished washing his face, he ate four giant bowls of gruel with four fried eggs.
Jiang Yulang, on the other hand, could not eat a single bite. He heard Xiao Yu’er chatting with the boatman: “And what is your name, sir?”
The boatman said: “My family name is Shi…cough-cough…people call me old man Shi…cough-cough. My grand-daughter, her name is Shi Shuyun.”
Jiang Yulang shook his head and smiled wryly to himself. This old man could hardly speak a sentence without coughing and sneezing- how could he be any martial arts expert?
Old man Shi called to his granddaughter: “Little Yun, don’t eat so many lotus seeds. If you do, your heart will grow bitter.”
Jiang Yulang whipped his head around in shock. Little Yun’s small hands, which were so white and tender, were indeed grasping lotus seeds. As she ate them, she smiled sweetly at him.
Suddenly his heart began to beat wildly “ping-ping”- as he turned his head back the other way, he saw Xiao Yu’er gripping and waving a book about, using it as a fan. Unbelievably, it was the martial arts text.
Jiang Yulang thought back and recalled that last night Xiao Yu’er had slept with his arm and leg flung over on top. This morning when he got up, he must have seized the opportunity to sneak the martial arts text out from Jiang Yulang’s grasp.
The mere sight of Xiao Yu’er using this rare, highly sought-after martial arts text as a fan, was enough to send Jiang Yulang into an exquisite rage. He could not decide if he was more furious or more anxious about the book’s safety.
The boat had already left the dock, when unexpectedly another boat came towards them. Old man Shi used a long bamboo pole and lightly touched the other boat with it. The two boats narrowly missed each other and both felt a shock.
Xiao Yu’er cried out in alarm: “Oh no, it fell in!”
The martial arts text had fallen from his hand into the river. In his shock, Jiang Yulang felt as if his heart had fallen in with it. He could only see the swirls of the river water- in the blink of an eye, the book had been completely swept away from view.
With a miserable face, Xiao Yu’er faltered: “What…what do we do?”
Although inwardly he felt as though his heart were bleeding, Jiang Yulang’s face was smiling. He said mildly: “It’s nothing but a worldly treasure; losing it is of no consequence.”
Of course, he knew that Xiao Yu’er had discarded the text on purpose. Obviously Xiao Yu’er had already learned the text by heart. Not only that, but he was sure to know that Jiang Yulang was aware of this.
But the fact that neither of them even said a word about this matter, this was the most interesting point of all. Except for the two of them, there was not a third person in this world who could guess what lay in their hearts at this moment.
The depths of the sky were deep blue, and the river sparkled like flowing gold. On both shores of the Yangtze River, the scenery was as beautiful as a painting.
Xiao Yu’er smiled contentedly: “Going slowly by boat isn’t bad at all, especially since we’re not in a hurry anyway.”
“Exactly, we’re in no rush at all,” Jiang Yulang agreed.
Suddenly, a boat rapidly approached them from behind. There was an escort agency flag flying from the bow. It unfurled as it met the wind, and there appeared a beautifully embroidered lion in gold.
Immediately Jiang Yulang’s face brightened. He stood up, his eyes alight, and called out loudly: “Who is the leader from the Gold Lion escort agency on this boat?”
Upon his words, the boat slowed down at once. There were many bare-chested, strong men aboard who were clearly experienced sailors. One of them leaned out of a cabin and shouted back: “Who are you?”
Jiang Yulang waved and answered: “It’s me, Jiang Yulang, do you still remember me, Uncle Li?”
The man had a short mustache and wore a stern, fierce expression. But when he recognized Jiang Yulang, his face immediately broke out in smiles. He cried out in surprise: “Ah, it can’t be hero Jiang’s young son, how did you come to be here?”
Throughout this exchange, old man Shi acted as if he had seen and heard nothing. He continued to steer his craft through the water, but the Gold Lion agency boat lunged forward, and with a single leap, the man crossed over.
Xiao Yu’er laughed lightly and joked: “This fellow’s lightness kung fu needs a little work.” He spoke softly; the man appeared not to have heard him and approached them in a friendly manner.
Jiang Yulang smiled and introduced the man: “This is the leader of the Jiangnan Gold Lion agency. He is known in wulin as the ‘Purple-faced Lion’. With respect to swimming ability, he is number one.”
This statement was clearly meant as a retort to Xiao Yu’er’s disparaging comment about the man’s lightness kungfu. Xiao Yu’er acted as if he hadn’t heard it, and went on drinking tea.
He heard Jiang Yulang and Li Ting loudly chattering, then abruptly the volume of their conversation dropped. They began to softly whisper, as if they did not wish Xiao Yu’er to hear them.
Xiao Yu’er could care less. Although he was aware that Jiang Yulang was up to no good, he didn’t try to stop him. In fact, he wanted to see exactly what tricks Jiang Yulang would try.
From the age of three, he had never been afraid of anyone or anything. He didn’t know what “fear” meant. The more dangerous something was, the more he found it interesting.
Finally he heard the “Purple-faced Lion” Li Ting say: “After Yunhan(?), I will have to go by land. But your wishes will be carried out without delay, young master Jiang. You can depend on me.”
The two of them exchanged a few jokes, and then with another leap, Li Ting left.
Xiao Yu’er laughed and called after him: “Be careful now, you wouldn’t want to land in the water.”
Li Ting turned his head back to glare at Xiao Yu’er. He seemed to say something which sounded like “You’d better be careful yourself…” But before he was finished, the two boats were already far apart.
Jiang Yulang’s spirits had inexplicably risen since this encounter. He laughed and said: “The men of the Jiangnan Gold Lion agency are like lions and tigers united together- they are true friends and honourable men.”
Old man Shi muttered: “Honourable men? A pack of scoundrels is more like it.” Both Xiao Yu’er and Jiang Yulang had heard his words, but the two of them did not react.
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