Soon after, he struggled to a sitting position and pulled on his clothes. The man standing beside him had a grave look on his face. "Young man, that looks like Heavenly Mitigation Acupuncture. It"s quite risky, you must use your internal force in correspondence with your qi. Why didn"t you explain that beforehand?"
Wenchang smiled faintly. "Since you said you said you "know a bit about this already" and told me to relax, and since you were skilled enough to rescue me from Blissful Monk and Black Zombie, what need was there to explain?"
"If I had used internal force to guide my qi…"
"Then I would have said said something before you inserted the second needle."
"You"re quite self-confident, young man."
"It"s not self-confidence, I just trust you, elder."
He was unintentionally flattering the man, but he meant it. The man laughed and shook his head over and over. "Your bit of trust is pretty ridiculous. The world is full of wise men who seem slow-witted. On the surface it"s hard to tell. You nearly killed yourself. That crafty Black Zombie Nangong Liang"s Cadaverine Palm is incredibly deadly. My medicine is not suitable for that and so won"t be very effective. You need to hurry and get the antidote soon, or else…"
"This junior will go get it. At least I bought myself some time. I"m really grateful for your help, elder. Please tell me your name."
"Uh… Er…"
Wenchang didn"t see what happened after he was. .h.i.t with the palm strike, so he didn"t know that the two of them were from Misery Valley. The man was the son of Forsaken Pilgrim, Fang Song, and the girl was his daughter, Fang Xiaojuan, the same pretty girl he had seen several times in Chang"an. The pretty maid was one of her two maidservants, Xiaolan. The last time when she had sought Blue-eyed Snow Lion, she was being escorted by Peerless Sword Huo Chunfeng and Red Sand Palm Fu Ji"an. Peerless Sword had a heavy burden to bear that time and was trying to keep the girl out of danger, so he had purposefully revealed himself and rocked the martial fraternity as a result. They chased Blue-eyed Snow Lion to Hanzhong prefecture, where the latter discovered there were too many Misery Valley people around, and he had other matters to attend to anyway, so he bit back his outrage and quietly slipped away, causing them to come away emptyhanded.
The girl couldn"t find Blue-eyed Snow Lion, so she returned to Misery Valley at once and got her father, Fang Song, to lead the next outing, this time only bringing Xiaolan along with them. To conceal their actions, they changed into common, worn-out clothes of people of the jianghu, and they slightly disguised their faces, and so the girl went from a precious daughter of a powerful family to lady xia of the jianghu. Wenchang had seen her twice in Chang"an, but one time was during the day and he didn"t pay much attention, and the other time was at night and he didn"t know who the girl was. She also knew that Wenchang was her little brother, Xiaoshan"s, friend, but she didn"t have any particular impression of him, until today"s events made her finally realize that Wenchang had an uncommon personality and his talent and charm attracted her, and so the seeds of love quietly sprouted. Fang Song didn"t want to divulge his name, but Wenchang"s questioning put him in a bind.
Wenchang saw that Fang Song was reluctant to reveal his name, so he promptly said, "There are many taboos among the jianghu. This junior was presumptuous. If we are fortunate to meet again I hope I can repay you. Until then, this junior will take his leave."
The girl was now at Fang Song"s side. She asked anxiously, "Sir Cai, where are you going? Your injury from the Cadaverine Palm…"
"I"m a jianghu exile, I can go anywhere, no hindrances, no worries. All the four seas are my home. My injury is okay for now. Thank you, Miss, for your concern."
Fang Song"s knitted his slanting eyebrows and said with some hesitation, "Sir Cai, allow me to point out a clear path. These days, the person most knowledgeable of deadly poisons among the martial fraternity is the light path leader, the head of Endless Valley"s good friend, the miracle doctor Gao Yiqing. Aside from him there"s Outcast Androgyne, Young Master Mei Lin. Dr. Gao and I are somewhat acquainted, if you wish…"
"This miracle doctor is at…"
"At Endless Valley in Wuling, Hunan."
Wenchang smiled and shook his head. "Thank you for your great kindness, elder, but this junior must decline. Endless Valley and I go together like oil and water. A xia and a bandit are as opposite as an ice cube and a hot coal. Oh! Maybe I can seek out Outcast Androgyne. See you later." He saluted and withdrew.
The girl stepped forward to stop him and reached a hand out. "Outcast Androgyne is vile, despised by all in the martial fraternity…"
Wenchang"s face froze. "Young Master Mei Lin is my friend. I don"t want to hear anyone speak ill of my friends."
He took a deep breath and turned took off running. Even with his injury he was still fast.
The girl was greatly concerned. She wanted to go after him, but Fang Song quickly pulled her back and said sternly, "Juan"er, calm down. That"s a stubborn, proud man of the jianghu. We mustn"t be too hasty right now."
"Hold on a sec. Dad, how can we just stand by while he"s in mortal danger? That Heavenly Mitigation Acupuncture technique can alleviate the effects of the Cadaverine Palm for a while, but it can"t expel the poison. How many days can he live? Heavens! How can we let him…"
"Child, listen. Given his acupuncture skills, he extended his time by at least a couple weeks. Maybe he will be able to find Outcast Androgyne."
"And if he can"t find him?"
"From here it would take less than five days walk the 400 miles to Endless Valley. We don"t need to go to Hanzhong. Blue-eyed Snow Lion would never be waiting for us there anyway. Besides, last time that vile monk didn"t know you were from Misery Valley and talked rudely to you, but you weren"t harmed, so why chase after him and cause a scene? There will be time later to settle things with that vile monk. For now we"ll tail Cai Wenchang, give it eight days. If he doesn"t find Outcast Androgyne by then, we"ll step in and subdue him and take him to Endless Valley, whether he likes it or not."
"Let"s go, Dad!" Xiaojuan cried happily. She tell by the look in her father"s eyes that he wasn"t against Cai Wenchang, but sympathized with him, so she couldn"t help but be elated.
"Girl, don"t get careless. We by no means can let him find out we"re shadowing him. Let"s change first, then we"ll follow at a distance. Let"s go!"
The waiters put the disarrayed wine shop back in order with long faces. But they found the four moneybags Wenchang had left behind, fifty taels of silver in all, which was not only enough to make up for the losses the shop had sustained, there was enough left for a hefty profit.
A waiter picked up the wooden bench that Chai Feng had been sitting on and flinched in shock. There were two lines of text engraved into the underside of the stool with something probably like a needle. It read: "The target has gone to Luoyang, Have Elder Nangong notify the sovereign at once. Sincerely, Junior Chai Feng."
This shop was Black Zombie"s eyes and ears. The shopkeep ran over to Black Zombie"s place at once.
Wenchang fled like mad straight for Mianchi. He had wanted to ask about the girl"s background, but Fang Song"s reluctance to reveal his name and the look on his face made him give up that idea. But he greatly admired that girl and really regretted and was despondent that he didn"t find out her name. He was proud by nature and didn"t like to press people, so he could only pack up and leave. But her beautiful image was already branded into his mind. He decided that if he had the chance some day, he would find her. And what then? He hadn"t thought that far.
Now is not the time to think about anything, he thought. I have to find Young Master Mei Lin to help get this poison out of my body. In any case, right now the most important thing is survival. Everything else can wait "til later. No use thinking too much anyway. If I can"t get this deadly poison out of me then I will have to bid farewell to this world, so what"s the point of thinking so much? He was a bit hopeless.
Black Zombie"s deadly miasma poisoning was not really as serious as he thought. His mystical ultimate breathing qigong had already reduced its strength somewhat, and the residual poison had been been forced into an insignificant corner of his meridians by his Heavenly Mitigation Acupuncture technique. The Fang family"s cleansing vacuity pills weren"t the righ medicine for the job, but they were still a little bit effective in reducing the poison and maintaining his vitality. So in fact he could not only endure it, he still felt as vigorous as before, except he was a bit uncomfortable and he had suffered a a bit of a shock to his system.
Mianchi was twenty miles from King Yu Gully. When he was about five or six miles away he spotted Black Iron PaG.o.da riding alone off in the distance, hurrying toward him.
Black Iron PaG.o.da listened to Wenchang"s advice and rescued Chai Feng and got the h.e.l.l out of there. But how could he let Wenchang face the enemy all by his lonesome? He fled eight or nine miles before he came to a white poplar grove by a hillside and beyond the grove a lot of unmarked graves, broken stone tablets scattered all over like stones on a weiqi board. He entered the grove at once, hid the horse well, and set Chai Feng down against a trunk of a tree. "Brother Chai, wait here a bit. I have to go help Brother Cai. Watch out for jackals and wolves.[1] I"m off."
He didn"t wait for Chai Feng to respond, but leapt onto his horse and headed back.
Wenchang ran five or six miles and had consumed a lot of energy in the process. He was dripping with sweat, and his pale, ashen complexion had not fully returned to normal. He was ecstatic when he saw it was Black Iron PaG.o.da coming toward him. "Big bro, I"m over here."
Black Iron PaG.o.da leapt down and hugged him. "Heavens, brother! Your face, you"re all sweaty, you"ve been hurt…"
"Help me onto the horse. I was. .h.i.t by Black Zombie."
"Black Zombie? s.h.i.+t. Even if he didn"t hit you full-on, with that poisonous miasma of his, if you don"t get his special antidote within an hour…"
"I"m alright, let"s go. They might be coming for us."
Black Iron PaG.o.da said no more and pushed him up into the saddle and climbed on after him. He turned the horse and galloped off and they soon reached the poplar grove.
Chai Feng"s shoulder injury had been treated by Lonehill Crane"s antidote, but the Five Tiger Give Up the Ghost Nails were potent, heavy concealed weapons. Not only was his flesh torn, but it had pierced all the way into the bone. Half an inch over and his shoulder well acupoint would have been ruined. He would need at least a month or two to recover, and the seriousness of his injury made him weak all over. His chest hurt every time he moved, so once Black Iron PaG.o.da was gone he just lay there under the tree gasping for breath.
In his dizziness he suddenly saw from the corner of his eye a strange apparition rise up from behind a deserted grave in the distance. He was startled and he bit back the pain and clambered to a sitting position and grabbed his pipa and collected himself as he watched.
Strange! The apparition he had seen before was gone. It was only a small wild jujube sapling swaying in the wind behind the grave.
"Ah s.h.i.+t! This is no good, I"m seeing things! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Lan"s nails are something else. I might not live much longer." As he mumbled to himself he kept his eyes glued on the jujube sapling, unable to shake the image he was sure he had seen just a second ago. A martial artist"s eyes and ears deceiving oneself after so much training was really hard to believe, so he fixed his eyes on that spot in the hope of verifying his suspicions.
But in his heart he hoped he had just been seeing things. An habitually rotten person like him was often afraid of his own shadow, filled with suspicions. He was the sovereign"s underling, he had done many bad things among the jianghu. His misdeeds piled up like a mountain, so how could he afford to get careless? Besides, Three-eyed Immortal and his other two sworn enemies had run off he knew not where. If they happened to be hiding out nearby, wouldn"t he be finished? Three years ago he had been a notorious bandit in the capital, called Ghosthand Pipa. He had once murdered a household of twelve and had been pursued by a gang of government-appointed masters to the ends of the earth. He had had no choice but to go south and throw in with Black Flag Sovereign, then abandon his wife and child and flee far to the northwest, not daring to return to the capital. Three-eyed Immortal was a hero within the capital, and was appointed by the local authorities to pursue and capture Ghosthand Pipa. If he ended up in Three-eyed Immortal"s hands, he would be hauled back to the capital to stand trial for sure. What would result from that was too horrible to think about.
There was an abandoned graveyard not far off, the white poplars there already putting forth glossy green shoots and the glossy privets there, unpruned for so long, had become overgrown into a wild thicket. The stone figures along the cemetery path had decapitated heads and broken off feet, which lay littered among the weeds. It was a desolate sight. But the large tombstone behind the platform seemed unharmed from years of wind and rain, standing erect before the other crumbling tombstones. Even its tomb wall had not fallen over.
The right pillar of the granite entrance gates of the graveyard was loose, and the entire gateway was overtaken by the more than ten-foot high thicket so that only the stone roof was visible.
An eight-inch triangular flag, white with seven black stars on it, was fluttering lightly on the left side of the stone roof.
If one went for a closer look, through the brambles to the left pillar one would be able to see the original writing there had already been sc.r.a.ped off, and seven new words were added: "Seven Spells Maze, Intruders Will Be Killed."
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1. I translated this literally as jackals and wolves, but it also is a metaphor for cruel and evil people. Personally, I think this was Black Iron PaG.o.da intentionally pa.s.sive aggressively calling Chai Feng out, cause all along I"ve suspected that Black Iron PaG.o.da has seen through Chai Feng. Just my theory.