Horizon, Bright Moon, Sabre Page 15
The man in black also let out a breath. He slowly said, “This is the sword of the heart? Can it be a flower soul really exists in that sword?”
Yan Nanfei said, “It hasn’t come to life yet; it just briefly woke up.”
The expression on the face of man in black’s changed. “What if it really did come to life?”
A solemn look was on Yan Nanfei’s face. He slowly said, “If the flower soul were to come to life, then a long cherished dream of mine would have been achieved. I would die without any regrets.”
The man in black said, “When the flower soul comes to life, must someone die?”
Yan Nanfei said, “Beyond a doubt, someone would die.”
The man in black said, “What type of person would die?”
Yan Nanfei said, “At least two people. One person is myself. The other is…”
He didn’t finish, and the man in black didn’t push him to continue.
On both men’s faces suddenly appeared very strange expressions. Suddenly, both of them laughed.
Yan Nanfei’s laughter was more joyful.
The Rose Sword continued to rest on Gongsu Tu’s throat. He knew that he would soon be able to see Zhuo Yuzhen.
“Harness a horse to a carriage. First have Miss Zhuo escorted into the cart, then escort us out.”
Gongsun Tu totally acceded to his demands.
Smiling, Mingyue Xin rose to her feet. She couldn’t help but feel relieved as well. This time, at least, they weren’t defeated.
Xiao Siwu was still trimming his fingernails. His hand remained just as steady as before, but his cold eyes revealed a hint of impatience and anxiety.
This was because Fu Hongxue was still staring at him. Even when Yan Nanfei made his strike, Fu Hongxue’s gaze hadn’t flickered in the slightest.
It seemed as though aside from this young man’s hands, there was nothing else in the world worth Fu Hongxue paying attention to.
Faint blue veins were gradually revealing themselves on the back of Xiao Siwu’s hands. It seemed as though he were using a great deal of strength to keep his hands so steady.
His movements were still very meticulous, and even his posture hadn’t changed. This really was not easy to do at all.
Fu Hongxue suddenly said, “Your hands are very stable.”
Xiao Siwu lightly said, “They always have been stable.”
Fu Hongxue said, “When you make your move, you are very quick. In addition, even after the dagger leaves your hand, the dagger itself continues to hold variations.”
Xiao Siwu said, “You can tell?”
Fu Hongxue nodded. “I can tell that you throw your dagger using three fingers, which is why you are able to impart a circular force to your dagger. I can also tell that you throw your dagger using your left hand. First you throw the dagger, and then you aim at the target.”
Xiao Siwu said, “How can you tell?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Your thumb, index finger, and middle finger on your left hand are exceptionally strong.”
Xiao Siwu forced a smile to his face. “Good eyesight.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Good dagger!”
Xiao Siwu arrogantly said, “Of course it is.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Although it is a good dagger, it still cannot compare to Ye Kai’s.”
Xiao Siwu’s movements came to a halt.
Fu Hongxue finally stood up as well. “After Ye Kai’s flying dagger leaves his hand, there is perhaps only a single person in this day and age who can defeat it.”
The blue veins on the back of Xiao Siwu’s hand bulged. “And my dagger?”
Fu Hongxue dully said, “At the very least, there are three people in this room alone who can defeat your dagger!”
Xiao Siwu said, “Are you one of the three?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Naturally.”
He slowly turned around. Without even bothering to look back, he walked out.
Xiao Siwu watched him leave. Unexpectedly, he did not move, and did not say another word.
His knife was present! So were his hands! But his dagger would never leave his hands that easily!
He looked at the footprints on the ground and smiled coldly.
The footprints were very deep. Fu Hongxue had left them behind. When he had walked out of this door, he had already concentrated the force of his entire body.
Because only by concentrating all of the force of his body could he defend against Xiao Siwu’s dagger.
But Xiao Siwu’s dagger did not leave his hand.
Fu Hongxue walked outside. Raising his head towards the sky, he let out a long sigh. It seemed as though he felt disappointed.
Not only was he disappointed. He was worried.
He suddenly realized that youngster was more terrifying than any of the people he had met over the past few years.
He had already seen through the dagger style of the youngster, and wanted to provoke him into striking.
If the youngster were to strike now, Fu Hongxue would be able to handle it. He was certain of it.
Unexpectedly, this youngster was even colder and more fearful than the dagger in his hands.
“Three years later, if he throws his dagger at me, will I still be able to handle it?”
The neighing of horses could be heard in front of him. The courtyard was still very peaceful and secluded. Fu Hongxue was gripped by a sudden impulse to go back and kill that youngster, but he did not turn back.
He slowly walked out of the courtyard.
Gongsun Tu and Yan Nanfei were walking in front of him.
The Rose Sword was still resting on his throat. Yan Nanfei was facing Gongsun Tu, and slowly walking backwards step by step.
Gongsun Tu was unwilling to face him. He had already closed his eyes. It was as though Yan Nanfei was using a bamboo cane to beat a blind man.
But this blind man really was too dangerous. He couldn’t slacken off in the slightest.
Mingyue Xin was the last to leave the guest room. She was just about to hasten her steps and catch up to Fu Hongxue.
At this moment, Yang Wuji appeared by her side. He said, “Do you know what is behind that wall?”
Mingyue Xin shook her head.
Yang Wuji grinned at her. “You’ll find out soon.”
Watching him smile, Mingyue Xin’s hands were covered with cold sweat.
Yang Wuji took two steps back. Smiling, he nodded. Just at this moment, nine people appeared from behind the short wall.
The nine of them wielded thirteen different hidden projectiles. Each type contained at least three projectiles. The sound of bowstrings and springs being released sounded together in unison, as thirty flashing points of light streaked towards her like raindrops in a torrential storm.
Mingyue Xin’s reaction speed wasn’t slow. As soon as the sounds were heard, she immediately used her skills to try and dodge.
A flash of sabre light flew towards her, sweeping away most of the projectiles for her.
She had already moved her body, retreating to the left. None of the remaining projectiles were able to land on her.
Just as she was about to let out a sigh of relief, a sword suddenly pierced into the left side of her chest. She barely felt the pain at all.
The edge of the sword was cold and sharp. She only felt a sudden chill, and saw that a strange expression had appeared on Fu Hongxue’s pale face. He suddenly stretched out his hand and pulled her towards him.
And then, she fell into Fu Hongxue’s bosom.
Yang Wuji used an ancient, soft-lined sword. His sword had left the scabbard, and was still dripping with fresh blood.
As he stared at the fresh blood on his sword, his face suddenly became totally emotionless.
His attack was sure to land!
He had calculated from the very beginning that Fu Hongxue would pull out his sabre, and had calculated where Mingyue Xin would dodge to.
His sword was there, waiting for her.
Everything which had happened was withi
n his calculations. He had already calculated that this attack of his was sure to land!
The nine men had disappeared. Fu Hongxue did not pursue them. He only coldly stared at Yang Wuji.
Yan Nanfei also came to a stop. The hand he was wielding his sword with seemed to tremble.
Yang Wuji suddenly said, “You had best be careful not to hurt him. If he dies, so does Zhuo Yuzhen.”
Yan Nanfei gritted his teeth. “You are a famous swordsman with a lofty reputation, and this is your very own monastery. Yet you would actually use this sort of despicable method to plot against a lady? What type of creature are you?”
Yang Wuji lightly said, “I am Yang Wuji, and I am going to kill her!”
From far away, the man in black was standing in the middle of the guest room’s doorway. He sighed. “If he intends to kill someone, he abstains from nothing at all. Yang Wuji really is Yang Wuji.”
Yang Wuji said, “If I don’t kill her right now, I’ll have missed a golden opportunity. In the future, I’m afraid I won’t have a second chance.”
Fu Hongxue stared at him. With one hand, he clenched his sabre. With the other, he held the fainted Mingyue Xin to him.
He could feel that Mingyue Xin’s body was slowly growing cold.
Yang Wuji said, “Do you intend to take revenge for her?”
Fu Hongxue didn’t say another word. He was already beginning to walk backwards.
Yan Nanfei looked at Mingyue Xin, held in Fu Hongxue’s embrace. Then he looked at Gongsun Tu, who was still pinned by his sword.
Gongsun Tu’s eyes were still closed. His scarred face looked like a mask.
Yan Nanfei suddenly began to walk backwards as well.
Yang Wuji wasn’t surprised at all. He lightly said, “The carriage has been prepared. Zhuo Yuzhen is waiting for you in the carriage. I wish you a pleasant trip.”
Yan Nanfei couldn’t resist saying, “Aren’t you afraid that I’m going to kill Gongsun Tu after I get on the carriage?”
Yang Wuji said, “Why should I be afraid? What does his life and death have to do with me?”
He suddenly turned around and went back to the guest room. Arriving at the doorway, he tugged on the man in black’s sleeves. “Let’s go play some chess.”
The man in black immediately nodded. Smiling, he said, “My purpose in coming was to play chess, after all.”
The horse carriage really had been prepared. A young maiden, six months pregnant or so, was sitting in a corner of the carriage, crying.
Fu Hongxue brought Mingyue Xin into the carriage, but the Rose Sword remained on Gongsun Tu’s throat.
Yan Nanfei said in a ferocious voice, “Open your eyes and look at me!”
Gongsun Tu immediately opened his eyes.
Yan Nanfei glared at him with hate-filled eyes. “I really wanted to kill you.”
Gongsun Tu said, “But you won’t, because you are Yan Nanfei, whose word is as good as gold.”
Yan Nanfei glared hatefully at him for a long time. Suddenly, he kicked Gongsun Tu in the stomach.
Gongsun Tu’s body immediately crumpled inwards, as though he were a shrimp. Tears, snivel, and cold sweat began to flow.
Yan Nanfei didn’t even spare him a single glance. Turning around, he said to the carriage driver, “Whip the horse and go. Don’t stop for even a moment. If you want to try any tricks, do remember that my sword is at your back.”
The carriage was very large, and the seats were very soft. The carriage driver was very skilled.
This was a carriage which people should be very happy to ride in. But there wasn’t a single happy person in the carriage.
Fu Hongxue suddenly said, “I should have killed Xiao Siwu.”
Yan Nanfei said, “You didn’t move against him.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Because I had some misgivings, therefore…”
Yan Nanfei said, “Therefore, you were too slow.”
Fu Hongxue slowly nodded. “If you intend to kill someone, abstain from nothing at all. When a golden opportunity is missed, it won’t come again.”
He spoke very slowly, as though he had already carefully pondered every single word.
Yan Nanfei was silent for a long time, before he let out a sigh. “I’m afraid I won’t have many more chances to kill Gongsun Tu either.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Fortunately, Mingyue Xin is not dead yet. Miss Zhuo is also safe and sound.”
Zhuo Yuzhen, who was seated in a corner, was no longer crying. She looked at him, then suddenly said, “You are Fu Hongxue?”
Fu Hongxue nodded.
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “I’ve never met you, but I often heard Qiu…big brother Qiu talk about you. He often said that you were the only friend who could be trusted. He also said…”
Fu Hongxue asked, “Said what?”
Downcast, she said, “He told me time and time again that if something happened to me where he wasn’t able to help me out, I was to seek you out. That’s why he carefully described you to me and had me memorize your features.”
She lowered her head. Tears falling, she said, “I never imagined that I would still be alive, but he would already…”
At this point, her sobs overwhelmed her voice. Bowing down in her seat, she began to bawl loudly.
She was a beautiful girl. Her beauty was of the delicate and weak type, which easily lent itself to making others empathize with her.
Although Mingyue Xin was smart and tough, if it weren’t for the fact that Fu Hongxue had staunched the flow of blood in time, she would have died by now.
Gazing at them, Yan Nanfei couldn’t help but let out a light sigh. “No matter what, at least we have now done right by manor-master Qiu.”
Fu Hongxue said, “We have not done right by him!”
Yan Nanfei was very astonished. “We haven’t?”
Fu Hongxue’s dagger-like gaze was focused on the girl beside him. He coldly said, “This girl is not Zhuo Yuzhen. She definitely is not!”
Chapter 10 - Changes
The crying sound suddenly stopped.
Zhuo Yuzhen raised her head. She stared at Fu Hongxue with an astonished look on her face. “I’m not Zhuo Yuzhen? Why do you say that I am not Zhuo Yuzhen?”
Fu Hongxue did not answer her. Instead, he asked a question he should not have asked. “How many months pregnant are you?”
Zhuo Yuzhen hesitated for a while, before finally saying, “Seven months.”
Fu Hongxue said, “You’ve already been pregnant for seven months, but your father only just found out about it today? Is he blind?”
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “He isn’t blind, but he also isn’t my real father.”
Her voice was filled with hatred. “He knew about this all along. He was the one who arranged for me to meet with Qiu Shuiqing, because Qiu Shuiqing was a famous figure of the martial world and the master of the Peacock Manor, as well as the person whom escort-chief Liu admired the most.”
Yan Nanfei interjected, “Escort-chief Liu? Liu Zhenguo, of the Zhenyuan escort agency? Your father is a trainer for the Zhenyuan escort agency?”
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “He used to be.”
Yan Nanfei said, “And now?”
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “He drinks too much alcohol. No escort agency wants a martial arts instructor who is drunk all the time.”
Yan Nanfei said, “Escort-chief Liu dismissed him from his service?”
Zhuo Yuzhen nodded. “Escort-chief Liu wasn’t necessarily against drinking alcohol, but after drinking, father actually mistook one of his fellow dart-instructors for a thief and even chopped off one of his hands. That was too excessive.”
Yan Nanfei said, “He wanted to make use of the relationship you had with Qiu Shuiqing to return to the Zhenyuan escort agency?”
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “He really wanted to! Even if I truly was his daughter, he still would have done the same thing.”
Yan Nanfei said, “Unfortunately, Qiu Shuiqing wasn’t willing to do this. In addition, Liu Zhenguo wasn’t a person w
ho showed favoritism.”
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “Thus, even though Qiu Shuiqing gave him a hundred taels of silver as drinking money every month, he still was not satisfied. Whenever he became drunk, he would think of ways to torment me.”
Yan Nanfei said, “And it wasn’t until today that you felt you could take no more?”
Zhuo Yuzhen forced herself not to cry. “I am female. Officially, I am his daughter. No matter what he does to me, I can take it. Only, this morning…”
Yan Nanfei said, “What did he do this morning?”
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “He wanted to beat the baby in my stomach to death. He didn’t want me to give birth to Qiu Shuiqing’s child, because…because he knows about the destruction of the Peacock Manor.”
Yan Nanfei’s face changed. “But that happened only last night. He shouldn’t have known about it.”
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “But he did know.”
Yan Nanfei’s face sunk. Fu Hongxue’s face became all the more pale.
Only one type of person would get the news so soon.
Even if he himself hadn’t personally gone to the Peacock Manor to kill people last night, he definitely was a lookout.
Yan Nanfei said, “If I saw so many innocent people being wrongfully killed, when I got back home, I would’ve wanted to get really drunk as well.”
Fu Hongxue was silent. Suddenly, he said, “Do you know Liu Zhenguo? What type of person is he?”
Yan Nanfei said, “The Zhenyuan escort agency covers a lot of territory. It isn’t an easy task to become the leader of the agency.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Is he good at using human resources?”
Yan Nanfei said, “All of his subordinates are experts and first-class experts.”
Fu Hongxue’s hands tightened.
Zhuo Yuzhen said, “My foster-father’s martial arts abilities are not weak. If alcohol hadn’t harmed him, he might have become the leader as well.”
Fu Hongxue coldly said, “It is very hard to be the leader of an escort agency. It is very easy to kill people.”
Yan Nanfei said, “You believe him to be one of the killers?”
Fu Hongxue said, “Not a killer, an accomplice!”
Yan Nanfei said, “Then we should go find him right now.”
Fu Hongxue said, “When we got into the carriage, I already issued orders to the driver. We are already headed in the right direction.”