Anti-Bone Scarlet Song

Chapitre 24

"And what happened... Little Chuxia threw a tantrum, and Young Master felt sorry for her. As for you, you'll just have to stay here and take your punishment." After saying that, Bai Xue lazily stretched her waist. "Alright, I'm leaving."

"Hey..." Qinglong looked at Baixue thoughtfully, "Does Young Master truly like Chuxia?"

"Can't you tell?"

"But... Chu Xia is already engaged." Qinglong felt conflicted.

"Why are you meddling in this?" Bai Xue's heart stirred slightly. "Is it any of your business?"

The boy's eyelashes were so long, blinking as if brushing against Bai Xue's heart. She suddenly sighed, held up a finger, and said, "Alright, I'll help you first—"

But then Qinglong suddenly said, "Since you don't care, then I'll like Chuxia too. At worst, I'll just stop bullying her!"

Bai Xue's expression changed slightly. She withdrew her finger just before it touched his Juque acupoint, and said angrily, "Go ahead and like it!" After saying that, she left without looking back.

Chu Xia emerged from the teahouse and walked alone, head down, gradually leaving the bustling East Market of Cangzhou. Her heart was in turmoil, not because of Qinglong's antics, but because she was concerned... Why didn't the young master tell her when he had clearly seen it? Just like that time, when he knew what he was about to face, yet he remained silent, letting her fall into a pack of wolves, her life hanging by a thread.

After wandering around aimlessly for a while, the surroundings became increasingly deserted. Suddenly, Chu Xia looked up and realized that she had unknowingly wandered back to Green Willow Lane.

The crowd had dispersed, the long alley was quiet and gloomy, dusk was just beginning to fall, and the wind whispered in her ears. She remembered what Constable He had said and felt a little scared, but when she thought of "Green Willow Alley, Big Locust Tree," she mustered up her courage and decided to go in and take a look.

She took a step forward, only to have someone take her hand.

Those hands were steady, dry, and warm. Chu Xia trembled slightly but did not look up. She saw a long, slender figure on the ground.

She wanted to shake him off, but if the young master insisted on not letting go, she was helpless and could only stare blankly at him and ask, "What are you doing?"

The young master's gaze was deep, seemingly containing emotions she couldn't understand: "Why are you suddenly angry?"

Chu Xia turned her head away and replied irrelevantly, "I'm going to find someone."

The young master smiled faintly, as if the clouds in the west had suddenly fallen, seemingly landing on his lips, making him indescribably handsome. He said, "Early Summer, if your husband's family... had perished in that fire, what would you have done?"

Chapter Twenty-Three (Part 1)

Chu Xia frowned even more, her clear black and white eyes staring at him intently, unblinking. The young master let her look at him calmly, his phoenix eyes slightly raised, his long eyebrows slanted almost to his temples, his gaze extremely captivating.

Chu Xia's gaze finally shifted away, but she murmured, "Yes... what should we do then?"

The young master suddenly tightened his grip on her hand, his eyes growing even brighter... It seemed she really cared about this.

"I remember you said that you would marry your fiancé no matter if he was fat or pockmarked, right?" The young master narrowed his eyes and continued.

Chu Xia did not hesitate and nodded.

"But you haven't even met him, and you don't like him. Are you just going to marry him like that?" he said calmly, his tone gentle and persuasive. "What if that person is a bad person?"

Chu Xia looked back at him with some confusion, and after a long while said, "Don't you people in the martial arts world value keeping your word the most?"

"But this promise was made by your father, what does it have to do with you?" the young master smiled.

The spring breeze was gentle. She remained silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "What about you? What if you are engaged, but the other person is not necessarily the woman you like?"

The young master didn't care about her deliberately provocative tone, and simply said, "If I don't want to marry, who in this world can force me?"

Chu Xia looked up at him, her feelings suddenly becoming complicated. A sentence was stuck on the tip of her tongue, and she didn't know whether to say it or not.

The young master seemed to see right through her thoughts and said in a deep voice, "What do you want to say?"

“My future husband may not be good-looking, and he may be just an ordinary person. But I don’t ask for much. As long as he treats me well, that’s enough.” She slowly lowered her head. “So what if he’s powerful and ruthless? If he’s always unpredictable, always deceiving you and taking advantage of you—what’s the point?”

The young master sighed softly: "You still can't let go of that matter."

Chu Xia turned her head away somewhat awkwardly: "Young master, I still need to go find someone."

The young master gave her a deep look, seemingly with some regret, then released her hand and turned to the side, saying, "Come out."

Chu Xia was startled when the guard suddenly appeared from behind a large tree. She was surprised to find that someone had been following her around.

"Tell me, what did you find out?"

The guard glanced at Chu Xia and then explained in detail: "I went to the government office and checked the case files from that year. There were fourteen households in Green Willow Lane, with a total of eighty-eight people. Eighty-seven of them died that year. One person is still alive."

The young master noticed her palm tremble slightly, knowing she was nervous, and smiled, "And now? Where is that person?"

"The murder occurred eighteen years ago. The only survivor was a child at the time, and by age, he would be in his early twenties now. He was adopted by a wealthy family and now lives next to the City God Temple in the east of the city. His name is Su Fenghua."

After listening, Chu Xia murmured, "Over twenty..."

"What?" the young master asked with interest, "Does the age match?"

Chu Xia smiled bitterly: "All I know is the clue of Green Willow Lane and the big locust tree. I don't even know if that person lives in Green Willow Lane, let alone his age and appearance."

After thinking for a moment, the young master said, "In that case, let's go and ask around to see if we can get any clues."

Chu Xia nodded, then hesitated and said, "I dare not trouble you, young master... I'll just have Qinglong accompany me."

The young master smiled and said, "Is he trying to scare you?"

Chu Xia wasn't un annoyed by Qinglong's behavior, but for some reason, she preferred to endure his pointless pranks rather than... stay by the young master's side. The young master... he really was... Chu Xia lowered her head, unable to find the right words. She knew the young master treated her very well; sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, and with just a soft cry, he would appear beside her without even putting on his coat, gently comforting her. Yet, she was afraid of his closeness. Was it out of guilt, or something else? She never dared to speculate.

The next day, Qinglong accompanied Chuxia to the east of the city.

Finding out about Su Fenghua was quite easy. He'd only asked half a question when the old woman selling steamed buns said, "Scholar Su? He lives at that house!"

In early summer, turning around, I saw a dilapidated thatched hut leaning against the corner of the street, offering neither shelter from the wind nor protection from the rain.

"You...you're not here to collect a debt, are you?" The old woman looked at them suspiciously. "He only has this dilapidated house left. Burning it down won't do any good. You might as well do a good deed and let him go."

"Isn't Scholar Su from a wealthy family?" Chu Xia couldn't help but ask, afraid that she had asked the wrong person.

"That was before. When his parents were alive, his family was quite well-off. After his parents died, all the family's land and houses were swindled away by their relatives and servants! Poor Su Xiucai, he had just returned with the title of Xiucai, but his family had nothing left."

Chu Xia and Qinglong looked at each other in bewilderment, when a young man slowly emerged from the dilapidated thatched hut. He wore a coarse hemp robe, its color a dull gray, suggesting it had been washed many times; though worn, it was still quite clean.

"Scholar Su, hey, these two are looking for you!" the old woman shouted, pointing to the two people beside her.

Su Xiucai stopped and looked Chuxia and Qinglong up and down. He hesitated and asked, "Who are you two? I am Su Fenghua. I am here to greet you." After saying that, he bowed respectfully, but his headscarf fell down and covered his face. He hurriedly flipped it back up, his face turning red.

Qinglong stared at him in disbelief, then burst into laughter. Chuxia, on the other hand, merely smiled and curtsied, saying, "Greetings, Young Master Su."

The old woman was used to his pedantic behavior, reached out and wrapped two buns in oil paper, handing them over and saying, "Here, take these and eat."

Su, the scholar, hesitated for a moment, then took the gift and bowed deeply again: "In ancient times, Han Xin repaid the old woman's kindness of a meal with a thousand pieces of gold. If one day I were to achieve such a high rank and pass the imperial examinations, I would surely—"

The older woman, of course, couldn't understand his flowery language. She waved her hand and said with great enthusiasm, "You'd better hurry up and set up your stall. Sigh, a young man like you can't even afford to eat!"

Scholar Su, however, said seriously, “Auntie, you are mistaken. The ancient sage Mencius said, ‘When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it first tests his will, strains his muscles and bones, and starves his body…’”

"Hey, hey, are you Su Fenghua?" Qinglong interrupted his long speech, raising his eyebrows and looking him up and down.

Although his attire was somewhat shabby, he was quite good-looking, a quiet and slender pale-faced scholar.

"And who are you two?" Although Su Fenghua was interrupted, she was not annoyed. Adhering to the rule of not looking at what is improper, she did not look at Chu Xia, but only looked at Qinglong.

"We've come to ask you about some things," Chu Xia said with a slight smile. "Do you have some time, young master?"

Su Xiucai blushed slightly and coughed, "What is it, young lady? Please ask without hesitation."

"Hey, what's that in your hand?" Qinglong, rarely seeing scholars, was extremely interested in him. "What are you going to do with that?"

"Because my family is poor, I set up a stall every day to write letters for people to help support my family," Su Fenghua said frankly. "Shall we talk as we walk?"

"Did you live in Green Willow Lane when you were little?" Chu Xia asked cautiously.

"How did you know, young lady?" Su Xiucai was clearly surprised.

Qinglong said impatiently, "I'm asking you, isn't that right?"

Su Xiucai sighed and said, "When I was a child, I lived in Green Willow Lane. I still remember a big locust tree in the lane. My mother would hold me and knock down the locust flowers under the tree to make locust flower cakes, which she would then feed to me in small bites."

Qinglong and Chuxia couldn't help but exchange a glance.

Su Xiucai didn't notice their expressions and sighed to himself, "What a pity... Both my parents died in that fire... Now my adoptive parents have also left me, and I am truly all alone."

Chapter Twenty-Three (Part Two)

In early summer, Qinglong and Su Xiucai set up a stall outside the City God Temple, even erecting a tattered cloth, and then sat down attentively, holding a book and reading with great interest.

Should we ask again?

"Uh... but he seems really busy!"

...

Gradually, the sun moved from the east to its zenith. Chu Xia and Qinglong sat in the teahouse, occasionally glancing at the statue-like figure on the street.

"Why doesn't anyone ask him to write a letter?" Qinglong looked at him and felt a little sorry for him. "Then how does he make money?"

Chu Xia saw that the scholar Su had finally moved, taking out the steamed bun his aunt had given him that morning and silently starting to eat it. She frowned, exchanged a glance with Qinglong, and the two of them said in unison, "How pitiful!"

Before he finished speaking, a man swayed toward the stall and seemed to say something to Su Xiucai.

Looking from afar, Su Xiucai simply waved his hand, as if to refuse.

The man flew into a rage, violently overturning the stall and grabbing Su Xiucai's collar, seemingly intending to give him a good beating.

Qinglong immediately flipped over and left. Chuxia was naturally no match for Qinglong's speed, so she threw a few copper coins on the table and chased after him.

When Chu Xia arrived at the street, panting, Qinglong had already subdued the man, while Su Xiucai was busy straightening his clothes, muttering, "A gentleman uses words, not fists."

"Hey, do you want to punch this old bastard a couple of times to vent your anger?" Qinglong turned to Su Xiucai and said.

Su Xiucai quickly stood at attention, shook his head and said, "Repay evil with kindness, repay evil with kindness."

Qinglong looked at him as if he had seen a monster, turned his head blankly, and whispered to Chuxia, "Is he an idiot?"

"Uh..." Chu Xia asked, "What happened?"

"Look, this fatso asked Scholar Su to help him write a land deed. After hearing what he said, Scholar Su realized that this man wanted to forcibly seize the old man's land, so he refused to write it. That fatso then beat him up," Qinglong said resentfully.

Chu Xia couldn't help but glance at Su Xiucai. Perhaps because he wasn't getting enough to eat, he was quite thin. Now, after being punched several times, his eyes were bruised and dark, making him look somewhat ridiculous. Yet, such a frail scholar was unafraid of being bullied... He possessed a steely spirit, which was truly rare.

"Hey, are you alright?" Chu Xia asked with some concern.

Scholar Su first bowed deeply in thanks, then said with a bitter face, "Did you two come back to ask me about Green Willow Lane? I told you, I was young then and don't remember anything..."

Chu Xia shook her head and said, "Your... bun fell on the ground, you can't eat it. Here, take it."

She handed him a small packet of pastries wrapped in a handkerchief.