Chapter 4: The Thumb of the Black Hand

[originally translated by Chowbeng and edited by RWX]

What was he then, if not human? Was he a wild animal? Ghost or demon? Block of wood? Or immortal Buddha?

Perhaps, not any of that. It merely was the uncannily ability to perform deeds that were beyond the limits of normal beings and at the same time able to endure far more than any normal being.

Yan Nanfei had a very good explanation, “Even if you are human, you are at the most an inhuman human.”

Fu Hongxue smiled, he actually smiled. Although he did not laugh out loud, his eyes did indeed have the hint of laughter.

This was already something very rare, like a ray of sunshine suddenly appearing in middle of a violent storm.

Yan Nanfei looked at him and suddenly sighed, “What I didn’t expect is that an inhuman human like you could also smile.”

Fu Hongxue quipped, “Not only could smile, but could listen as well.”

Yan Nanfei said, “Then, just follow me.”

Fu Hongxue asked, “Where to?”

Yan Nanfei replied, “To somewhere without rain, to somewhere with wine”

In the small mansion, there was wine and there were bright lights. In such a chilly cold rainy night, it might be even warmer than Fu Hongxue’s smile. But Fu Hongxue only lifted his head and with a single look, the laughter in his eyes immediately froze.

He coldly said, “This place might be for you but it is not for me.”

Yan Nanfei said, “You are not going in?”

“Certainly not”, Fu Hongxue replied.

Yan Nanfei said, “If I can go in, why can’t you do the same?”

Fu Hongxue said, “Because you are not me, and I am not you.”

It was because you are not me, you would never understand my pain and sufferings.

This was left unspoken, neither was there the need. Yan Nanfei had seen his pain, his face was already distorted with this pain.

This place was just only a brothel, a place where people seeked pleasures and joys. Why would it cause him such intense pain and suffering? Could it be that he had previously endured great pain and sufferings in such a place?

Yan Nanfei suddenly asked, “Did you see the person accompanying me to Phoenix Settlement, the one who carried my zither?”

Fu Hongxue shook his head.

Yan Nanfei continued, “I know that you had not seen it, because you never drink and never look at women.”

He stared at Fu Hongxue, and slowly said, “Is it because those two things had hurt you in the past?

Fu Hongxue had not moved, neither did he speak but every muscle in his face was already taut. Yan Nanfei’s words were like a sharp needle, stabbing into his heart.

– Couldn’t a place of happiness also have deep and painful memories?

– Without happiness, how could there be pain and sufferings?

– Isn’t happiness and pain separated just by a thin thread?

Yan Nanfei shut his mouth. He didn’t want to ask further, he couldn’t bear to ask further.

At this moment, two people suddenly flew out behind the high walls. One of them hit the ground with a “PU” and didn’t move an inch after that. The other however had already made his way up the mansion with the exquisite lightness skill, [Swallow Pecking Water Trice].

When Yan Nanfei came out, the windows were still open and the lamps were still bright. Under the lamp light, he could only made out a flash of delicatly agile shadow before it disappeared through the window.

The one on the ground, was a small, thin blackclothed old man. Long white beard and a wax yellow complexion. He had stopped breathing by the time he hit the ground.

When Yan Nanfei realised that he was dead, he flew up the mansion in the greatest haste, straight through the window.

By the time he passed through the window, Fu Hongxue was already inside.

There was nobody in the house, only a wet footprint. A delicate footprint. The swallow-like shadow was obviously a woman.

Yan Nanfei creased his bows and mumbled, “Could it be her?”

Fu Hongxue asked, “Who is she?”

Yan Nanfei answered, “Mingyue Xin.”

Fu Hongxue coldly, “There’s no moon the sky, and the bright moon has no heart. How could there then be a Mingyue Xin, the heart of the bright moon?”

Yan Nanfei sighed, with a bitter laugh, “You were wrong. I was wrong too. Only now I do I realize that the bright moon does have a heart.” The heartless one was the wild rose. The wild rose at the horizon.

Fu Hongxue said, “Mingyue Xin is the owner here?”

Yan Nanfei nodded, still silent. Outside, someone had already came knocking on the door.

The door was not latched properly, a redcheeked girl with a pair of huge eyes walked in. Dressed in a thin spring grown, carrying a food basket on her left hand and on her right, was a wine jar with a still unbroken seal.

With her pair of nimble huge eyes, she looked at Fu Hongxue for a long while before suddenly asking, “Are you the honoured guest my mistress is expecting?”

Fu Hongxue did not understand, nor did Yan Nanfei.

The young girl continued, “Our mistress said that an honoured guest is coming and had instructed us to prepare food and wine. But you don’t look the part of the honoured guest.”

She seemed reluctant to even take another glance at Fu Hongxue. For while talking she had already turned around to tidy up the table and arrange the cutlery.

The person just now was indeed Mingxue Xing.

The blackclothed old man was plotting to assassinate Yan Nanfei. She had killed the old man without revealing herself, most likely to lure Fu Hongxue into this mansion.

Yan Nanfei smiled, “It looks like her ability to invite guests greatly surpassed mine.”

Fu Hongxue pulled a long face and coldly said, “Too bad that I am not the type of honoured guest she expected.”

Yan Nanfei reasoned, “But since you are already here, then there is no point not staying.”

Fu Hongxue retorted, “Since I am already here, then why did you still waste such words?”

Yan Nanfei smiled again, walked over and broke open the clay seal of the wine jar. The fragrance greeted the nostrils immediately.

“Good wine.” He laughed. “Even when I was here, I didn’t get to drink such good wine.”

The young girl was pouring wine, from the wine jar to the wine pot and then from the wine pot to the wine cup.

Yan Nanfei remarked, “It looks like she not only recognise you, but she clearly also knows what kind of person you are.”

The wine cup was full to the brim. He drained it in a one glup, then turned to face Fu Hongxue and slowly said, “I had unfulfilled wishes because one person is still not dead.”

Fu Hongxue asked, “Who is that?”

Yan Nanfei said, “He is the kind that deserved to die.”

Fu Hongxue asked again, “You want to kill him?”

Yan Nanfei said, “Every single day and night.”

Fu Hongxue was slient for a long time before calmly said, “People who deserved to die would die sooner or later. Why must you kill him with your own hands?”

Yan Nanfei said, “Because apart from me, no one else knows that he deserved to die.”

Fu Hongxue questioned, “Who exactly is this person?”

Yan Nanfei replied, “Gongzi Yu!”

It was suddenly very dead still, even the young girl who was serving wine had momentally forgotten to pour wine!

Gongzi Yu!

These three characters alone was enough to frighten people into submission.

The raindrops trickled down from the roof like a curtain of beads.

Fu Hongxue faced the windows for a long time before abruptly asked, “In the last 40 years, how many people could be considered as true heroes.”

Yan Nanfei answered, “Three persons.”

Fu Hongxue, “Only three?”

Yan Nanfei said, “I didn’t include you, you...

Fu Hongxue interrupted him, calmly said, “I know I am not a hero. I know only how to kill people, but not how to save them.”

Yan Nanfei continued, “I did know that you are not a hero, simply because you have no intention to be one.”

Fu Hongxue said, “The three you mentioned are Shen Lang, Li XunHuan and Ye Kai?”

Yan Nanfei nodded, “Only those three are fit to be called true heroes. No one in the martial world could dispute that. The first decade belongs to Shen Lang, XiaoLi Flying Dagger dominated the second decade and in the third decade Ye Kai took over.”

Fu Hongxue said, “In the last ten years?”

Yan Nanfei laughed coldly, “The martial world of this age without a doubt belongs to Gongzi Yu.” The winecup was full again, he again quaffed it down in one go. “He not only have close ties with the Imperial family, he is also Shen Lang’s only successor. He is famous, charming and suave. Excellent in literary arts and unmatched martial skills. A great swordman!”

Fu Hongxue said, “Yet you want to kill him.”

Yan Nanfei slowly nodded his head, “I want to kill him but it is not for fame, neither it is for vengeance.”

Fu Hongxue asked, “Then, for what reason.”

“For justice and righteousness, because I know his secret. Only I...”, said Yan Nanfei.

He was draining his third toast when the wine cup suddenly crushed in his hands with a “BO”.

His complexion had changed, changed into a kind of ghostly dead greenish hue.

Fu Hongxue took just one look at him and shot up like wind. First, jamming a pair of silver chopstick into his mouth and then without delay sealing all the acupoints leading to his heart.

Yan Nanfei’s mouth was already clamping shut but he couldn’t bite through the pair of silver chopsticks, thus leaving a small gap. Through this gap, Fu Hongxue was then able to pour a vial of antidote into his mouth.

With his fingers, he lightly tapped a couple of times on Yan Nanfei’s forehand.

The silver chopsticks came popping out, and the antidote was already in his belly.

The young girl was already frightened to death and was about to slip away quietly. But before she could do so, she felt a pair of eyes, sharper and colder than any knife edge already boring into her.

The wine pot and wine cup were made of pure silver, the clay seal on the wine jar shown no signs of tampering.

But Yan Nanfei was poisoned, already deeply poisoned after only three cups of wine. How did the poison get into the wine?

Fu Hongxue smashed the wine jar, the bottom was exposed. Under the bright lamp, something was shining like a star at the bottom of the wine jar.

It was a three inch long needle. The jar bottom was only slightly thicker than an inch. By pushing the needle into the bottom of the wine jar, the poison on the needle would then dissolved into the wine.

He had found the answer to the question within seconds. But there was more than one question. The poison is from the needle, but where did the needle come from?

Fu Hongxue’s eyes was as cold as a knife edge, calmly asked, “You brought this jar of wine?”

The young girl nodded her head, her apple cheeks were already white with fear.

Fu Hongxue asked again, “Where did you bring it from?”

Young Girl quivering, “This is our own wine, which were all stored in the basement.”

Fu Hongxue again, “Why did you pick this particular jar?”

Young Girl replied, “It was not me who picked the wine. Our mistress told us to serve the very best for the honoured guest. That jar of wine was the best of the best!”

Fu Hongxue followed up, “Where is she?”

Young Girl replied, “She was changing because...”

Before she could finished, someone from outside already continued for her, “ ... because when I returned just now, I was also completely drenched”

Her voice was pleasant, her smile was attractive. Her bearing was graceful and elegant while she dressed very softly in pale hues.

Perhaps she could not be regarded as a beauty who could break up dynasties or take over cities with a bat of her eyelids. But when she walked in, she was like a light ray of moon shinning through the window in a lifeless night. Emitting a sense of unspeakable beauty and a sense of indescribable tranquil happiness.

Her eyes were gentle, just like the moon in spring. But they became much keener upon seeing the poison needle in Fu Hongxue’s hand.

“Since you are able to find this needle, then you would surely know its origins.” Her voice had also became much more incisive. “This is Tang Family of Sichuan’s unique hidden projectile. The dead old man outside is the disgrace of the Tang Family, Tang Xiang. He had been inside here before, since this mansion was hardly a heavily guarded place. In fact, the wine storage at the basement wasn’t even locked.”

Fu Hongxue didn’t seem to hear a single word of what she said. He only stared at her blankly, his pale face turned into a crimison red, his breathing ragged and urgent. Torrents of cold sweat had replaced, the rain that had only just dried on his face. Mingyue Xin looked up and only then saw these odd changes on his face. She exclaimed loudly, “You are poisoned as well?!”

Fu Hong held both his hands tightly together, but still he couldn’t stop himself from trembling. Without warning, he flipped in the air and shot out of the window like an arrow. The young girl looked in surprise as he vanished from view. Raising her eyebrowns, “This person seems to have quite a few problems”

Mingyue Xin exhaled lightly, “Indeed, his sickness is very severe.”

Young Girl said, “What sickness is that?”

Mingyue Xin answered her, “Sickness of the heart.”

Young Girl blinked, “How could his heart be ill?”

Mingyue Xin was slient for a long while before sighing again, “It is because he is a man of great grief.”

Only the wind and the rain, no light.

The town in darkness was just like a barren wilderness.

Fu Hongxue had collapsed beside an alley sewer, his body curled with spasms and was vomiting nonstop.

He perhaps did not vomit out anything but the pain and sorrow in his heart. He was indeed sick.

To him, this sickness was not only pain and suffering that he could not be freed from, but also a source of shame and humiliation. His sickness would manifest itself whenever he was in extreme anger or sorrow. He would then hide away and torture himself the most cruelly.

All because he hated himself, hated himself for having such sickness.

The icy rain pounded his body like lashs of whip. His heart was bleeding, his hands were also bleeding. He dug hard into the gravel, shoving the mixture of blood and dirt into his mouth.

He had a deep fear that he would wailed and howled like a wild animal. He much rather bleed than to let others see his suffering and humiliation.

Unforunately, someone came into this empty alley.

The delicate shadow slowly walked over and stopped in front of him. He didn’t see her person, only her feet. A pair of dainty and elegent feet. A pair of soft satin shoes, that totally matched the rest of her attire.

The colours she wore were always very soft, very pale. Pale like the moon in spring.

Fu Hongxue suddenly let out an animalistic howl, like a tiger with a belly wound.

He would much rather anyone else in the world but her, to see his suffering and humiliation.

He struggled to get up, but somehow every single muscle in his body shook violently in convulsion.

She sighed, sighing as she bended on her knees.

He heard her sigh, and felt a pair of icy hands lightly carassing his face.

Then he lost conscious. All his sufferings and humiliation were instantly erased.

When he came to, he was already back in that small mansion.

She was looking at him by the bedside. Her gown was pale like the moon in spring, but orbs in her eyes were shinning like the stars in autumn.

Seeing that pair of eyes, he felt another spasm deep inside his heart trembling like a zither chord.

Her expression was however very cool, softly said, “You need not say anything. The only reason I brought you back here is to save Yan Nanfei, the poison had already worked deeply into him.”

Fu Hongxue shut his eyes. Not only to escape her gaze but also to hide the pain in his eyes.

Mingyue Xin continued, “To my knowledge, there are at the most only three person in the martial world who can counteract the poison from Tang Family. And you are one of them.”

Fu Hongxue shown no reactions at all. But all in an instant, he already stood up, facing the window and away from her.

He was still wearing his original clothes, his sabre still by his side. These two things put him somewhat at ease, thus he didn’t shot out of the window this time. Calmly he asked, “Is he still here?”

“Still here, just right inside.”

“I go in, you wait here.”

She stood there, watched him walked in slowly. Seeing his walking posture, the orbs in her eyes could not help but to betray a kind of unexplainable grief and anguish.

It was quite some time before she heard him from beyond the door curtain, “Antidote is on the table.” His voice was still ice cold, “He is no longer deeply poisoned. After three days, he will regain conscious. After seven days, he will recover.”

“But you can’t leave now!” She said in a great hurry, as if knowing that he was going to leave immediately, “Even if you are very unwilling to see me, you still shouldn’t leave now!”