Urbaner Blumentraum - Kapitel 18
Zhu Huihui frowned and said, "I don't know. The neighbors said they saw her elope with a carpenter from out of town, so Huahua and I went out to look for her, but we still haven't found her."
Listening to this kid talk is exhausting! Feng Xuese frowned and asked, "Where do you live?"
If what Zhu Huihui said is true, then his mother is really strange. A woman with the martial arts skill "Lingering Regret" not only teaches her child to steal, but also casually elopes with a carpenter. This is really interesting!
"Misty Valley".
Where exactly is it?
Zhu Huihui replied, "Then I don't know."
He genuinely didn't know which prefecture, county, or township the place where he and his mother had lived since childhood belonged to. He only knew that it was a very secluded place, nestled in the embrace of the mountains, and had a beautiful name: "Wuluo Creek".
Although he grew up in a remote mountain village, Zhu Huihui was anything but "simple and honest." This was because his mother had a truly peculiar temper. While other parents feared their children would go astray, she seemed to fear they wouldn't. From childhood, if Zhu Huihui suffered a loss outside and his mother found out, he would receive a severe beating. However, if Zhu Huihui bullied someone or took advantage of them, she would reward him with a delicious meal with a beaming smile.
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter 5 (6)
The more Zhu Huihui misbehaved, stole, bullied, and did bad things, the happier she was. To make her child thrive on his bad behavior and become even more outrageous, she taught him a lot of strange and unusual knowledge. However, if Zhu Huihui was lazy and didn't study hard, she would just smile and let him be, never forcing him to do anything.
Under her twisted educational methods, Zhu Huihui grew increasingly wicked, transforming into a spineless, immoral, and incompetent hooligan. Despite his young age, he bullied men and women, stole chickens and dogs, and did nothing productive in the countryside, making him universally hated. Even so, this guy was full of insidious and vicious schemes, making him someone the villagers dared not mess with, so they avoided him like the plague.
Zhu Huihui's mother often disappeared suddenly for ten days or half a month, and then inexplicably returned. But this time she was gone for a long time, more than two months without a trace. So the neighbors told him that they saw his mother elope with a carpenter from another town.
Under his mother's years of upbringing, Zhu Huihui's moral values are quite unique. He not only doesn't care about his mother's elopement, but is actually quite happy—without his mother's discipline, he finally has the opportunity to wander around that place called Jianghu!
From a young age, whenever his mother was in a good mood, she would tell him wondrous tales of the martial arts world, filling his young heart with a longing for that place. Therefore, he had already made up his mind that this time, under the pretext of leaving home to visit his mother, he would definitely take the opportunity to see that martial arts world.
When they heard that Zhu Huihui was leaving home for a long journey, the peaceful countryside erupted in excitement. Everyone immediately pooled together some travel money and tearfully told him that good boy should have lofty ambitions and that someone as important as him should not return to this small place in the future, as it would be a waste of his talents!
Amidst the joyous farewell of firecrackers from the neighbors, Zhu Huihui locked the gate, took the only living creature in the family—"Zhu Huahua," whom she had raised since childhood—and left her hometown village to embark on a vast and uncertain journey through the world.
He had no idea where the martial arts world actually was.
Along the way, although the outside world was vast and dazzling, Zhu Huihui, thanks to the foundation laid by her mother since childhood, had never suffered any losses, until she unfortunately encountered this old man in white—what was his name again? Oh, right, Maple Snow Color…
Zhu Huihui rarely spoke the truth, but unfortunately, Feng Xuese and the scarlet monk did not believe her.
The monk in scarlet robes tapped the table with his finger: "Zhu Huihui, I'm asking you a question, and you'd better answer truthfully. For every lie you tell, I'll take one of your fingers!"
Zhu Huihui felt incredibly wronged: "I've always been telling the truth!"
Two burly men in red came over and, without a word, threw Zhu Huihui to the ground. One of them pulled out his left arm and stepped on it, while the other drew his waist knife, the sharp blade hovering above his fingers, ready to chop them off at any moment.
Zhu Huihui was so frightened that sweat beaded on his forehead: "Hey, hey, hey, you two are supposed to be a great hero and a master, yet you're always killing people and chopping off hands!"
The monk in scarlet robes glanced at him sideways: "Are you scared?"
"Of course I'm scared!" That's obvious! The steel knife was less than three inches from my fingers; who wouldn't be scared? "Hey, brother, please hold the knife steady! Don't let your hand shake!"
Feng Xuese smiled slightly. She had known all along that although this guy was cunning and treacherous, he was also cowardly and afraid of death. He would confess anything if she threatened him.
"Do you recognize the man in black who killed the 'Eat No, Drink No' brother last night?"
“How would I know them… Ouch… Brother, please step on my arm gently, I’ll tell you the truth! Actually, I’ve seen some men in black before, and they all dressed similarly, so I don’t know if they’re all in the same group.”
Feng Xuese raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"
Zhu Huihui wiped the sweat from his forehead with his right hand, thinking: Although those men in black are very fierce, this hero and master are not to be trifled with either. With the situation urgent, I should get through this first.
Having made up his mind, he said, "Great hero Rong Lin!"
"Please allow me to!" Maple Snow Color and the Scarlet-Clad Monk corrected him in their minds at the same time.
“A month ago, I was passing by a place by boat. When we stopped to rest, I saw a group of people killing another group of people. The victims included men, women, and children. The killers were a group of men in black—very similar to the people who killed the fat man last night.”
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter 5 (7)
Maple Snow and the scarlet-robed monk exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious: "Explain yourself clearly!"
Zhu Huihui smiled wryly and said, "I...I can't really explain it clearly!"
Yes, he did witness the massacre firsthand, and not just him, but everyone on the ferry at the time did.
However, they did not know why all of this happened, when it happened, or when it ended—because they escaped in time after being discovered by the murderers and the boat captain was stabbed in the abdomen with a flying knife.
Although he managed to escape with his life, the sight of blood and flesh splattered everywhere, limbs flying off, the horrific screams, and the beach littered with bits of flesh and bones still haunts him and often wakes him up in nightmares.
So, when he saw those men in black appear at Yanhe Pagoda, he immediately guessed that they were probably there to kill him—because he had seen them kill someone, so they wanted to kill him to silence him!
The fat brothers were simply unlucky; they just happened to come looking for trouble at the same time.
However, this sentence must absolutely not be said, otherwise, if these old men get angry, they might make you pay with your life for the two fat guys, which would be a loss!
My heart sank: if that were true, the others on the ferry at the time were probably in great danger as well…
Where is that place you're talking about?
Zhu Huihui shook her head and said, "I only know it was on the Hulan River, but I don't know the exact location. I remember that although the water wasn't very wide, the current was very rapid, and there was no one on either bank. Our boat was moored in the reeds not far from the shore, and the incident... happened on the beach on the opposite bank."
The monk in scarlet robes clapped his hands lightly: "Bring me the map of the Hulan River!"
Before long, a burly man in red handed a sheepskin scroll to the table.
The monk in scarlet robes unfurled the scroll and looked at it together with Feng Xuese.
Even when Zhu Huihui was pinned to the ground, she wouldn't stay still and craned her neck to look up, but unfortunately her neck wasn't long enough and she couldn't see anything.
"The middle and lower reaches of the Hulan River are slow-moving and wide, flowing through densely populated areas. The upper reaches, however, stretch for 720 li, are winding and mountainous, with dangerous shoals and rapid currents, and are devoid of human habitation in six places..."