Life: A Black and White Film

Chapter 10.3

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Chapter 10.3
Chapter 10.3 — To Gaze Down with Compa.s.sion Like Bodhisattva (3)

Something was b.u.mping and moving against the back of her waist, but it was evident that it was not his hand. Instantly, a shudder tingled her scalp. “What… is moving?” Letting go of her, he felt around.

“Rat,” Cheng Muyun informed her in a calm voice.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

The look on her face shifted.<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

“Scared?” he continued to unperturbedly ask.

Gritting her teeth, she tried hard to repress the shivers that were sweeping over all of her body. She could not let him look down on her. What was the big deal about a rat anyway? But this time, it was not only one place that was moving… There were lots running back and forth, scampering here and there. She shoved him away abruptly, rolling out of the haystack in panic and shrieking in an utterly wretched state. Even after dashing out five or six steps, her whole body was still trembling. So revolting…

Cheng Muyun straightened back to his feet.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

Apparently, she had already forgotten that, in the virgin forest, she had been able to watch from her place buried in the bushes as innumerable creatures crawled by and still numbly treat it as if there was nothing. Now that she had returned to civilized society, she had once again started to be scared of even rats.

“There are many here who view rats as being holy,” he said, admiring her expression of fear that still had not dispelled, “so there is quite a serious rat infestation in the nearby surrounding area.”

Turning, he ambled toward the two-storey brick building. The meaning was obvious: if she did not want her toes bitten off by rats or something along those lines, she should hurry up and follow him.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

Exhaling a light breath, Wen Han chased after him, keeping pace behind him. There were no lights inside the brick building. There seemed to be no electricity? This reminded her of those days in Nepal, that country that was so poor many places only had a few hours of electricity a day, that holy land where it already felt as if it had been last lifetime when she was there.

“Do not look at those rooms on either side that have no doors.” His silhouette was two steps in front of her, and quietly in Russian, he warned her, “This place has been provided by the lord of this manor for sadhus [holy men; Indian ascetic, wandering monks][1].”

“Sadhus?” Wen Han immediately remembered the parade of naked sadhus she had come across in India one month ago. It had been an especially difficult sight to look directly at. They slept on steel beds and used the torment of their physical bodies as a path to enlightenment. There were even some sadhus who would pa.s.s a long blade through those lower reaches of a man’s body, and then they would parade forward, unclothed, in this state in front of a crowd of onlookers.

Here in this corridor, as she thought of these things, she suddenly felt that this entire building had become creepy.

When they arrived at the staircase at the end of the corridor, Wen Han asked in a soft voice, “Why do you want to stay here? Why aren’t you staying with us?” The lodgings arranged for her and his several friends were all very nice. She had also heard the servants mention that the lord of this manor estate was one of the top richest

men in the state.

“In the previous ten years, I became accustomed to living a harder and more basic life, so I am actually not used to staying in places that are too comfortable,” he stated.

All right, then.<>Please support the original translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

Wen Han thought, she had at least seen him rip open a vicious Tibetan mastiff with his hands.

This man had already long ago violated the precept of not killing, and had also broken… the precept of celibacy.

The second floor of the building was a flat, open s.p.a.ce. There was no corridor at all. If some modern fitness equipment were placed in here, you could view it as a gym that occupied an entire floor. However, apart from a wooden bed in the corner, as well as a long table and a few chairs, there were no unnecessary items in the room.

When they arrived upstairs, Fu Ming was in the midst of biting down on a white bandage and finishing off bandaging his arm. By his hand, there was a dagger stabbed into the long wooden table.

Cheng Muyun pulled over a chair that had been lying beside the table and sat down. “Go sit on the bed.” This sentence was directed at Wen Han.

Wen Han complied with his instructions, walking over and cautiously taking a seat. She sniffed out the atmosphere of great danger that radiated in this s.p.a.ce.

It was as if these two people were not brothers but… enemies.

There was a candle on the table. With the faint light that it cast, she could see there was blood on Fu Ming’s white, b.u.t.ton-up shirt. Could it be… the wound on Cheng Muyun’s face had actually been put there just earlier by Fu Ming?<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

From behind his waist, Fu Ming pulled out a gla.s.s bottle of liquor. “Want to drink?”

Cheng Muyun shook his head. “I do not want to violate the precept[2].”

“Monk,” Fu Ming spoke, staring through the flickering candlelight at the outline of Cheng Muyun’s face that was in the shadows, “out of the four people here, we should be the ones who knew each other the earliest.”

“That is correct.”<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from [dot]wordpress[dot]com

“Even the eldest son of this manor was rescued by the two of us together.”

“That is correct.”<>Please support the original translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

“Nineteen. I’ve known you since I was nineteen years old.” Tilting his head back, Fu Ming took a swig of liquor, his eyes somewhat narrowed. That overly soft-looking face was delineated by androgynous lines, and with the strong liquor and candle flame, there was a bewitching feel to it. “You were the one who convinced me to trust you, to sell out my older sister. You said you would save her, but in the end, you caused her to die by the death penalty. Do you still remember?”

“I remember.”<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from [dot]wordpress[dot]com

“You tell me, what happened to your promise of saving her?”

“Being removed from the karmic sea is having one’s soul saved.”

“Then what about yourself? Back when you were in Moscow, when you were a teenager, you were not any pure, clean person. You should know most clearly that my sister was forced!”

“And hence I have served time in prison, according to the law. And hence I shaved my head and entered into monkhood. No one knows more clearly than you that at age fifteen, I began keeping the precepts.” Each sentence given in reply by this man sitting on the chair was very direct.

This was a different side of Cheng Muyun.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

This was… what Fu Ming had said, that to truly understand a man, the shortcut was to go through his brothers?<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

Suddenly falling into silence, Fu Ming carried on drinking his liquor, sip after sip, until the liquid in that small, rectangular flask was done. Only then did he set down the empty bottle and rise to his feet. “Ten years ago, you said you were leaving and then you just up and left. It has not been until this day that you have given me the opportunity to say these words and lay everything in the clear. All right, come on now. Let’s continue.”

Fu Ming took off his shirt, tossed it onto his chair, and yanked the dagger out of the table. His entire body arched forward, like the most primitive of beasts poised for attack.

“You are not tired?” Cheng Muyun was actually smiling.

Fu Ming gave a slight tilt of his chin. “Hurry it up.”

With a spread of his hands, Cheng Muyun also began slowly unb.u.t.toning his shirt. Removing the garment, he stood and, while he was at it, tightened his belt by a notch. “You know me. I never raise my hand against a brother.”

There was derision in Fu Ming’s sneer. “Brother? Have you gone daft after being a monk for ten years? You and I have not been brothers for a long time already.”

Fu Ming pounced forward, not uttering a word, each thrust of his knife stabbing straight for a fatal point on the body. Cheng Muyun’s arm took the blow of several attacks, but Fu Ming sent a vicious kick into his abdomen. The silver dagger grazed diagonally from Cheng Muyun’s abdomen to his left shoulder—

“Ah!” Wen Han screamed.<>This is an UNAUTHORIZED copy, taken from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

Glinting with the light of the candle, the silver blade made a b.l.o.o.d.y slice beneath Cheng Muyun’s collarbone. The two men instantly pulled apart. With a lick of his lip, Cheng Muyun touched the wound. Blood stained his entire hand.

Fu Ming licked the blade with the tip of his tongue.

Fright had overcome Wen Han.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

She could not believe it. Cheng Muyun truly had not tried to fight back, and Fu Ming truly had attacked him.

She instinctively stood.<>Please support the original translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

“Sit down!” Cheng Muyun’s voice came at her in a gravelly growl.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

Before his words finished echoing out, Fu Ming was charging forward again. This time, it was not a short exchange of blows. In her spot not far away, Wen Han’s heart was chilled as she watched, as if with each gleam of silver light, the blade would take Cheng Muyun’s life. He did not strike back and truly was merely deflecting the attacks, the whole time only trying as much as possible to avoid getting struck in any vital points, until eventually, the certain result occurred and he was pinned to the ground.

Fu Ming showed no grat.i.tude for his goodwill of only evading and defending himself. Turning his hand over, he pressed the dagger’s blade against Cheng Muyun’s collarbone.

With one knee on the ground beside Cheng Muyun, Fu Ming leaned forward. His voice came out, little by little, from between his clenched teeth. “Cheng Muyun, you are not G.o.d. If your judgment turns out to be wrong, that will be one life gone! Have you ever thought, if you end up being wrong about who the mole is, you will have killed one of your own. If I die, fine, but what about other people? There’s even a kid in there!” The person he was referring to was the not-even-twenty-year-old Xiao Zhuang, whom Fu Ming had personally handpicked into the team a few years ago.

“If I do not do this, even more people will die. I do not want you to be like me ten years ago and watch countless brothers die right in front of you.” Cheng Muyun’s voice was also very low.

The person before him was a brother, yet also not a brother.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

This was the person Cheng Muyun had known for the longest period of time, and also the man who had been with him through countless perils for the longest. Even more so, this was the person he had personally entrusted and pa.s.sed on all the responsibilities to ten years ago. But it was also because of him that Fu Ming had lost his older sister.

Each one of those four people in the manor shared a different story with Cheng Muyun. Yes, it was true; with each one, there had been an opening up of one’s heart and offering up of one’s life to each other.

“Then let me kill you, how about that?” Fu Ming’s voice dropped even lower, and very lightly, he said, “I will use my own methods to find that person. The casualties will not be that many. I don’t want even one person out of the people here to needlessly become a soul who died a wrongful death. I am not as hardhearted as you.”

Cheng Muyun’s brows drew together. It seemed Fu Ming was genuinely angry.

In that fight just now, Fu Ming’s movements and attacks had been haphazard and chaotic, and he had completely lost his coolness of mind. Normally, Fu Ming’s fighting abilities were not that far from his—

“Fu Ming!” a voice screamed.<>Please support the original translation at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

Reflexively, Fu Ming turned his head. And—smack!—a slap landed on his face.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

At this moment, Meng Liangchuan was sitting on a windowsill. Suddenly, he stubbed out his cigarette b.u.t.t.

Wait, no. There was something wrong with the information.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com

He had been having too much fun deducing things out yesterday that he had not even thought of one problem: age. Be it the now-dead Zhou Ke, the youth on the train who had acted as a cover for Cheng Muyun, or even the girl who had been Cheng Muyun’s contact in Kathmandu and also given the rabies vaccinations to all the travellers, the age was not right—they were all too young.

It was not possible that they had taken part in what happened ten years ago.

If that was the case, the ones Cheng Muyun was trying to purge were not only people from ten years ago? Due to Zhou Ke’s death, he had discovered that there were problems with the new recruits within the last ten years?<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

Meng Liangchuan leaned back against the wall of the little room where he was staying.

Out of those four people, one of them was the person who was now in charge—Fu Yiming, otherwise known as Fu Ming. Between him and Cheng Muyun, one was the current person in charge, the other was the former leader. These two people… Would any major issues arise between them in this whole matter?

But he truly was powerless to help in anything.<>Please read this at hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com instead

He feared that what was happening and what would be happening within those walls were things that even Cheng Muyun himself could not predict.<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the translation has been taken without consent of the translator.

[1] 苦行僧 “ku xing seng.” Sadhus are the holy men of Hinduism who remove themselves from earthly attachments and live simple lifestyles apart from everyday society, practicing asceticism to attain spiritual liberation and enlightenment. They are viewed by Hindus as being holy and representatives of the G.o.ds and are therefore generally revered.

[2] In the precepts of abstinence that Buddhist monks usually practice, there is a precept of not drinking.

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