Chapter 17: Despair

The sound of the footsteps slowly drew near. From within the darkness, a man finally appeared. In his hands, he held a flower.

A tiny yellow flower.

The one who came was the crazy monk.

He was still wearing that ink-splattered robe. He slowly walked over, placing the yellow flower within the midst of the bamboo patch.

“People return to their origins. Flowers return to their origins as well.”

That dense sadness remained in his eyes. “But although the yellow flower is the same as it ever was, the features of this place have totally changed.”

Fu Hongxue was also stupidly staring at the yellow flower beneath the bamboo patch. “You know where I came from. You also knew where the flower came from. Thus, you came.”

The crazy monk said, “What do you know?”

Fu Hongxue said, “I know nothing.”

The crazy monk said, “You don’t know who plucked the flower. Do you also not know who I am?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Who are you?”

The crazy monk suddenly pointed at the ink splatters on his robes. “Can you tell what this is?”

Fu Hongxue shook his head.

The crazy monk let out a sigh. He suddenly sat down in front of Fu Hongxue. “Take another look. You must look at it whole heartedly.”

Fu Hongxue hesitated, but finally sat as well.

The faint starlight gleamed down upon this originally-spotless white monk’s robe, upon the messy ink.

He quietly looked, as though he were staring at tiny bit of light from a burning joss stick in that hidden room.

If you felt as though this joss stick was no longer flickering, and was in fact as bright as a torch, then you had succeeded halfways.

And then, you would even able to see the smoke rising above the joss very clearly, as clear as the white clouds above a high mountain.

He wholeheartedly stared. He suddenly felt as though the messy ink splatters were no longer messy, as though there was a strange rhythym to them.

And then, he realized these messy ink splatters formed a painting. Within it, it seemed as though there were high mountains, flowing rivers, and sabre light which danced without ceasing, as well as tears on the face of children.

“What, exactly, did you paint?”

“That which is in your heart, is what I have painted.”

Paintings were always given birth from the heart.

This wasn’t merely just any painting. It was a superb masterpiece of art.

Light shone out of Fu Hongxue’s eyes. “I know who you are now. You must be Gongzi Yu’s subordinate, Wu Hua.”

The crazy monk laughed loudly. “There clearly is a painting. Why must you say that there is no painting? If there was no painting, how could there be a person?” [The pronunciation of the name ‘Wu Hua’ sounds exactly like the words for ‘no painting’.]

“What person?”

“Naturally, the person in the painting.”

Within the picture, there were tears on the face of children. Naturally, they were the people he was thinking of. “Where did they go?”

The crazy monk said, “There clearly is a person, but you still insist on asking. It seems the crazy one isn’t the monk, but you.”

Laughing loudly, he pointed with a finger. “Take another look. Aren’t the people right there?”

He was pointing at that small room.

The doors and the windows of the small house were always open. But at some point in time, lights were lit as well.

Fu Hongxue stared along his pointing finger. He was instantly stunned.

The room really did have two people. Du Shiqi and Zhuo Yuzhen were there, eating gruel.

The bowl of gruel which had turned cold, suddenly was steaming warm again.

Fu Hongxue’s entire body had become ice cold.

Could it be that they were the same as the ink painting on the monk’s clothes; that they were totally imaginary?

They were not!

There really were two living people in the room. They really were Du Shiqi and Zhuo Yuzhen.

After seeing the ink on the monk’s clothes, it seemed as though he could clearly see every single wrinkle on their faces, as though he could even see the pores on their faces open and close, their muscles jumping about.

But they didn’t pay him any attention at all.

Most people, in a situation like this, would jump up, rush over, or shout loudly.

Fu Hongxue wasn’t most people.

Although he had already stood up, he only quietly stood there, not even moving.

Because he not only saw them, he saw even more deeply, saw even further. In the blink of an eye, he saw the entire truth to the whole affair.

The crazy monk said, “Are the people you are looking for here?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Yes.”

The crazy monk said, “Why don’t you go over there?”

Fu Hongxue slowly turned his head. He fixed him with his gaze. His eyes, which had turned red with sorrow and exhaustion earlier, suddenly became clear and grim. He gazed at him with dagger-sharp eyes for a long time, before slowly saying, “I only hope you understand one thing.”

The crazy monk said, “Speak.”

Fu Hongxue said, “If I were to pull out my sabre right now, you will certainly die. In heaven or on earth, there is definitely no one who can save you.”

The crazy monk laughed again, but his laughter seemed a bit forced. “I’ve already let you see the people you are looking for, but you want me to die!”

Fu Hongxue said, “Looking at them isn’t enough.”

The crazy monk said, “What else do you want?”

Fu Hongxue coldly said, “I want you to quietly sit here. I want you to tell the people who are hiding behind the door and in the corners of the room to come out. If they so much as harm a hair on Zhuo Yuzhen or Du Shiqi’s head, I will immediately cut your throat.”

The crazy monk no longer laughed. His eyes, which always happily stared at others with a stupid expression, suddenly became clear and ruthless. After a long period of time, he slowly said, “You didn’t see wrongly. There truly are people hiding behind the door and in the corners of the room. But they definitely won’t come out.”

Fu Hongxue said, “You don’t believe that I will kill you?”

The crazy monk said, “I do believe.”

Fu Hongxue said, “You don’t care?”

The crazy monk said, “I care very much. Unfortunately, they don’t care. Killing and bleeding have long ago become common sights to them. Even if you chop me into ground meat, I guarantee that they won’t even frown.”

Fu Hongxue shut his mouth.

He knew that these words were true words, because he already saw a face appear in the window. He already saw the sabre scars and hideous grin.

The person hiding in the corner of the room was Gongsun Tu.

The crazy monk dully said, “You should understand this person very well. Even if you chopped his own son into ground meat, I’m afraid he still wouldn’t even frown.”

Fu Hongxue couldn’t deny it.

The crazy monk said, “Right now, I only want to understand one thing.”

Fu Hongxue said, “Speak.”

The crazy monk said, “If they chopped Zhuo Yuzhen and Du Shiqi into ground meat, would you care?”

Fu Hongxue’s hands tightened, but his heart sunk.

Gongsun Tu suddenly laughed loudly. “Great! Great question! I can also guarantee that if Fu Hongxue so much as harms a hair on your head, I will immediately cut their throats.”

Fu Hongxue’s pale face had already been twisted with rage and pain.

The crazy monk said, “Do you believe the words he said?”

Fu Hongxue said, “I believe. And I care very much. I want them to keep on living, but I don’t know what you want?”

The crazy monk said, “Will you give us whatever we want?”

Fu Hongxue nodded. “So long as they live. So long as I have it.”

The crazy monk laughed again. “I just want you to take off your clothes. Take everything off.”

Fu Hongxue’s pallid face suddenly turned red. Every single vein on his body had suddenly bulged out. He would rather die than accept this sort of humiliation. However, right now he simply could not resist.

The crazy monk said, “I want you to strip right now. Strip everything off.”

Fu Hongxue lifted his hand up.

But he didn’t pull his clothes off. He drew out his sabre!

Sabre light flashed like lightning.

His body seemed even quicker than the sabre light.

During that flash of light, his body had already entered the wooden room, and his sabre had pierced into the wooden door.

A miserable wail within the room. Someone inside fell down. It was ‘If he intends to kill somebody, he abstains from nothing at all’, Yang Wuji.

He only had one hand left.

He never would have imagined that a sabre would pierce into his chest from through the door.

Stunned, he looked at Fu Hongxue, as though to say, “So you killed me just like this?”

Fu Hongxue coldly glanced at him, as though he were saying, “If you intend to kill someone, abstain from nothing at all. I learned this from you.”

None of these words were said, because before Yang Wuji could say even a single word, he stopped breathing.

Fu Hongxue only glanced at him once. When he glanced at him, his sabre turned towards Gongsun Tu.

Gongsun Tu’s somersaulted backwards, jumping out the window.

He actually avoided the chop.

Because this chop was not intended to kill. Fu Hongxue used that chop to protect Zhuo Yuzhen.

With a flash of sabre light, the sabre entered the sheath again.

Gongsun Tu stood within the bamboo patch far away. Cold sweat poured down from his scarred face like rain.

Zhuo Yuzhen put down the gruel. Her tears immediately fell down her face like pearls. Du Shiqi stared at her. There was a strange look in his eyes.

The crazy monk sighed again. “Good. What a very fearsome person. What a quick sabre!”

Although there was no expression on Fu Hongxue’s face, his heart was still thumping like mad.

He wasn’t totally certain of success in the attack he had just launched. Only, all the trump cards seemed to be held in the enemy’s hands, and he had no other choice but to make a risky, last-ditch assault.

Gongsun Tu suddenly laughed coldly. “Although this gamble of yours paid off very well, you still haven’t won this game.”

Fu Hongxue said, “Oh?”

Gongsun Tu said, “Because the very last trump card is still in our hands.”

What was his last card?

Gongsun Tu said, “Actually, you yourself should be able to think of it. If nobody guided us here, how could we have found this place?”

Fu Hongxue’s hand tightened again.

Who, exactly, had sold him out?

He suddenly heard a cry of alarm. Du Shiqi suddenly reached out, seizing Zhuo Yuzhen’s arm, grabbing her over and placing her before him.

Fu Hongxue suddenly turned around. “It was you!”

Du Shiqi looked at him. There was still a very strange look in his eyes, as though he wanted to speak, but couldn’t bear to.

Fu Hongxue said, “Originally, you were a bold man. How could you do something like this?”

Du Shiqi finally couldn’t resist saying, “You...”

He only said that one word, but his eyes suddenly bulged out. Fresh blood suddenly flowed out at the same time from his eyes, his nose, and the corners of his mouth.

Zhuo Yuzhen hit him with her arms, and he fell down. A sharp knife stuck out from between his ribs. A foot-long blade without a handle. His face was skewed with pain, and his lips were spasmodically jerking, as though he were still saying, “I was wrong, wrong...”

It would be difficult for any human being to avoid making a mistake. Nobody was an exception to the rule.

As soon as Zhuo Yuzhen’s hands released the knife, she immediately retreated. She suddenly turned around and hugged Fu Hongxue tightly. She cried out, “I killed someone ... I killed someone!”

To her, it seemed as though killing someone was worse than being killed.

This clearly was the first time she killed someone.

Fu Hongxue had this sort of experience before. The first time he killed someone, he vomited out all the contents of his stomach.

He understood this feeling.

It was definitely not easy to forget this sort of feeling.

But people continued to kill other people. Only people would kill other people, because some people would force others to kill.

This sort of affair sometimes became like a pestilence. Nobody was able to avoid it, because if you don’t kill him, he will kill you.

The one who was killed would have peace. The killer would be embroiled in torment.

Isn’t this another satirical tragedy?

TWO

Everything became peaceful again.

Too peaceful.

The blood had already stopped flowing. The foe was far away now. The world was now dark, and no sound at all could be heard.

Even the wailing cries of the children had stopped.

“The children?”

Fu Hongxue’s entire body became cold. “Did the children fall into their hands?”

Zhuo Yuzhen suppressed her pain and instead comforted him. “The children will be fine. They don’t want the children.”

Fu Hongxue immediately asked, “What do they want?”

Zhuo Yuzhen hesitated. “What they want is...”

Fu Hongxue said, “Is it the Peacock Plume?”

Zhuo Yuzhen could only admit it. “They believe that Qiu Shuiqing has already given the Peacock Plume to me. As long as I am willing to give them the Peacock Plume, they will return the children to me.”

Her tears began to drip again. “But I do not have the Peacock Plume. I’ve never even seen that damn thing.”

Fu Hongxue’s hands were so cold. So cold, it was frightening.

Zhuo Yuzhen clenched his hands. She gloomily said, “I didn’t want to tell you this at first. I know that there is no one in the world who can go and get the children back for me.”

Fu Hongxue said, “They are my children as well.”

Zhuo Yuzhen said, “But you don’t have the Peacock Plume. Even if you can kill them all, you still won’t be able to get my children back.”

Fu Hongxue shut his mouth.

He couldn’t deny that he himself couldn’t solve this problem. He felt as though there were a dagger slicing his heart.

Zhuo Yuzhen consoled him again, “They won’t harm the children for now. But you...”

She gently held Fu Hongxue’s pale white face. “You are already too tired, and you are injured as well. You must rest well, and think of a way to temporarily forget about these worries.”

Fu Hongxue did not open his mouth, nor did he move.

He was totally numb, because he did not have the Peacock Plume, and he could not rescue his children.

He had personally delivered them into this world, but now he could only watch and do nothing as they suffered. Watch as they die.

Zhuo Yuzhen naturally could see his pain. Crying, she pulled him onto the bed. Pressing his shoulders, she said in a soft voice, “Right now, you must do your best to relax. Don’t think about anything. Let me treat your wound.”

She gently caressed his face, then forcefully sealed seven of his acupoints.