Ye Qinghua shook her head after hearing this:
"You don't need to worry about that. Nobody dares to touch you right now. Even if you wanted to end your life at someone's house, that family would probably be begging you not to die."
"...How so?"
Ye Qinghua chuckled softly:
"That fat guy from last time... the one who touched you. You probably don't know, right?"
"how?"
"Lan Wuxie had his hands and feet chopped off, castrated him, and then poisoned him. Finally, he was hung on the martial arts tournament stage and left to rot for three days. No one knows what kind of poison Lan Wuxie used on him, but the fat man's eyes bulged out and his body was covered in festering sores, making him more terrifying than a ghost. Few people passed by West Lake during those days."
Hua Chongyang's smile froze.
Even if she smiles brightly, there is still a bleeding wound in her heart, a wound that belongs to Lan Wuxie.
Ye Qinghua spoke while sneering:
"After this incident, I doubt anyone will dare touch you for a while; it's obvious that messing with you is tantamount to offending Lan Wuxie. What's all this talk of good versus evil, right versus wrong? In the end, isn't the martial world all about the strong ruling? Lan Wuxie is so ruthless and skilled in martial arts, nobody in the martial world is stupid enough to easily offend him."
"...Blue and white porcelain."
Hua Chongyang stopped in his tracks, his eyes filled with hesitation.
Ye Qinghua glanced at her and immediately understood what she was thinking:
"Afraid of implicating me?"
Hua Chongyang frowned slightly.
Ye Qinghua raised an eyebrow and smiled, then, without waiting for her to nod, dragged her along as they continued walking forward.
"Don't worry. It's not surprising that anyone's afraid of Lan Wuxie. As for me, I'm not afraid of him. If he has the guts, let him come. I have ways to make him cry his way out. Oh, by the way, there's something else you probably don't know."
"What?"
"It happened last night," Ye Qinghua's smile faded, "that Elder Yuqi, the martial uncle of Lin Hanshan, the new leader of the Songshan Sect, along with dozens of his disciples, were all killed."
39. Situ Qingliu
"Elder Yuqi?" Hua Chongyang thought for a moment, "Is he a thin, short, dark-skinned old man with a white beard? I remember during the martial arts tournament, he sat next to Uncle Ji, never speaking, just nodding, with a very imposing air."
"That's him. How could he not be impressive? More than a decade ago, when he was the head of the Songshan Sect, its influence extended to several neighboring provinces. He was revered as the number one martial artist in the world besides Yan Zhao. It's just that for some reason, a few years later he suddenly passed the position of sect leader to his senior brother's disciple, Lin Hanshan, and then retired."
"Retired? Why would someone who's retired participate in a martial arts tournament?"
What's strange is that he was killed as soon as he left the mountain.
Ye Qinghua shook her head:
"Who knows why he suddenly came out of seclusion to participate in this martial arts tournament. But it seems—"
"What does it seem like?"
Ye Qinghua looks at the Double Ninth Festival flowers:
"It seems to be related to Situ Qingliu and his father, Prince Ningjing. Prince Ningjing is also attending this martial arts tournament, and many names on the invitation list were drafted with Situ Qingliu's help. And look at the result."
As Ye Qinghua spoke, she counted on her fingers one by one:
"Since the Martial Arts Conference, first, Rong Zaisheng, the acting leader of the Martial Arts Alliance who planned and organized the conference, had his entire family wiped out; then, Yue Feilong, the leader of the Qingfeng Sect, and Elder Yuqi of the Songshan Sect, who participated in the conference, were also almost completely wiped out. The perpetrators were too ruthless, wiping out entire families in one fell swoop, causing panic throughout the Martial Arts Alliance and the entire martial arts world recently, with everyone wondering who will be next."
Hua Chongyang listened for a long time before asking:
"Who exactly did it? Is there really no news?"
Ye Qinghua glanced at her and sneered:
"Don't you know whether there's any news or not? Hmph. I heard the Martial Alliance is planning to cause trouble for Lan Wuxie on the pleasure boat again today."
Hua Chongyang remained silent.
Ye Qinghua sneered again:
"However, it's pointless to search. First, there's no solid evidence; Lan Wuxie won't admit it, so no one can accuse him. Second, the various sects aren't united; they all want to seize the Yellow Spring Martial Arts Manual and the Azure Sky Heart Sutra, and are secretly scheming against each other. Third, and most importantly, those incompetent fools can't defeat Lan Wuxie or destroy the Lan Shadow Palace, so what's the point of going to them!"
Ye Qinghua spoke eloquently, as if she were giving Hua Chongyang a crash course on the latest martial arts news, but she couldn't stop talking about Lan Wuxie, leaving Hua Chongyang bewildered. Finally, he chuckled and changed the subject:
"Enough of this, enough of this nonsense. Why bother with such pointless江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world) tales? Let's think about what to drink later!"
"I'd rather die than drink with you! You go, but I'm not!"
"Qinghua, how can you not go? I'm penniless. How about this, I'll have them put the cost of the drinks on the brothel's tab, okay?"
"……"
Despite her words, Ye Qinghua still followed Hua Chongyang to the tavern; Hua Chongyang knew that Ye Qinghua wouldn't dare to leave her alone.
But less than half an hour later, looking at the nearly empty wine jar on the table, Ye Qinghua began to regret it.
I've seen people drown their sorrows in alcohol, but I've never seen anyone do it like this. Hua Chongyang wasn't just drinking; he was treating the wine like an enemy. At first, he poured cup after cup of wine from the wine pot into the wine cups, but later, not satisfied, he switched to bowl after bowl. He looked like he wouldn't stop until the tavern closed down.
Seeing that the second jar of wine was almost empty, Hua Chongyang beckoned for the shopkeeper to bring more wine, but Ye Qinghua stopped her:
"Alright, Hua Chongyang."
Hua Chongyang smiled, holding a wine bowl:
"How much wine is this? I haven't even felt anything yet--"
"I told you not to drink!"
Hua Chongyang put down his wine bowl, reached out and hugged Ye Qinghua's arm, chuckling foolishly.
"Qinghua, I know you're the best. You knew I was upset, so you came to drink with me and even paid for my drinks."
It was just past noon, and the tavern wasn't crowded. The few people there all stared at Hua Chongyang and Ye Qinghua, the striking couple in red and green. Ye Qinghua, unconcerned about being watched, began haggling over the cost of the drinks with Hua Chongyang, glaring at him resentfully.
"I wasn't planning on paying for your drinks!"
"Alas, this world—Qinghua, we are like fish on a chopping board! Corrupt government officials protect each other, thieves and prostitutes disregard human life, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, colluding with each other to commit heinous crimes and rob and plunder—where can we find someone as righteous as you?"
Hua Chongyang put his hand on Ye Qinghua's shoulder and rattled off almost every idiom he knew, leaving Ye Qinghua dizzy and disoriented.
"What nonsense are you spouting? I know you're upset, but no matter how bitter your life is, you can't blame the government."
This was the first time she had ever seen Hua Chongyang drink himself into such a state.
"I know I can't blame the government—the government can control everything, but what right do they have to interfere with men and women's love affairs?" Hua Chongyang grinned, straightening up unsteadily. He lifted his hand from Ye Qinghua's shoulder, picked up the wine bowl again, and took a big gulp of wine. "I don't blame heaven or earth for where I am today; I blame myself—I'm such an idiot!"
"……"
"But actually—well, actually, I don't really like Qinghua that much—he's just a man, isn't he?"
Ye Qinghua rolled her eyes to the sky.
If you didn't like it that much, would you have gotten yourself drunk like this?
But Ye Qinghua stopped responding. Even an idiot would see that Hua Chongyang was clearly drunk. What good would it do to argue with a drunkard?
After taking another swig, the heavily drunk Hua Chongyang patted Ye Qinghua's shoulder, a dazed smile on his face:
"But—I didn't want to either! He was so good to me—so good! I never imagined he would lie to me! How could I have imagined it? He—hiccup! He was so good to me…"
The wine bowl was placed on the table, and she leaned back and half-slumped onto it, laughing groggily.
"His eyes were smiling as he looked at me... When he held me in bed, he never said a word, just looked intently into my eyes while holding my waist and wanting me to—"
"Hua Chongyang! Shut up!!"
Ye Qinghua rubbed her forehead, her composure completely gone, and helplessly roared at her.
Hua Chongyang seemed not to hear, a thin layer of tears welling up in his eyes. He raised his hand to touch his forehead, then lowered his face and smiled faintly to himself.
"...At those times, I feel like the whole world is mine."
She suddenly stopped speaking.
The tavern was silent.
The street outside the gate was bustling with noise.
Once, he smiled and held her hand as they walked under the lanterns in Shangping Garden; looking back now, it feels like a lifetime ago.
After a long while, tears fell drop by drop onto the table, leaving dark stains.
Hua Chongyang is crying.
Ye Qinghua gritted her teeth as she listened to her soft voice, tears streaming down her face:
"...Every time that happens, I can't help but think, even if I have to go to the ends of the earth with him, even if it means death--"
She paused, then smiled, and raised her hand to wipe away her tears:
"--What good will it do to die? Blue and white porcelain, if I die drunk today, make sure this is the inscription on my grave--"
Hua Chongyang, supporting himself on the table with both hands, slowly stood up. Dressed in a bright red robe with wide sleeves, his thick, messy black hair wrapped around his pointed chin, he glanced sideways at Ye Qinghua and, with a drunken air, recited each word earnestly:
"I, Hua Chongyang, was born without a father, lost my mother at six, entered Shaolin at seven, went to Wudang at nine, and spent my days wandering the martial world at eleven. At fourteen, I met my soulmate, Ye Qinghua, and at sixteen, I found my way back to Huajian Garden, finally finding a place to stay. At eighteen, I ventured into the martial world for the first time and fell in love at first sight with the peerless Zhaoyang Pavilion Master. I treated her with all my heart and slept with her, only to discover later that I had been deceived. I then angrily abandoned her."
"Treat her with all your heart, and sleep with her—," she repeated, chuckling softly, her thin shoulders trembling slightly with the laughter. She looked down at Ye Qinghua, "and now, with a life of wandering, utterly alone, drifting through half a lifetime, without any ties—Qinghua, see, wasn't what I said good?"
"...What a load of rubbish!"
Ye Qinghua cursed under her breath, turned her face away, and hid the tears in her eyes.
In the silence of the tavern, three or five people, along with the waiter, stared at Hua Chongyang, dumbfounded, as did the tall, slender figure that had appeared at the door at some unknown time.
This was the first time Situ Qingliu had seen Hua Chongyang since that night at Lake Moon Villa.
The first thing he saw was Hua Chongyang standing up with a grin, his hands on the table, drunkenly reciting a passage from his life story:
"I, Hua Chongyang, was born without a father, lost my mother at six, entered Shaolin at seven, went to Wudang at nine, and spent my days wandering the martial world at eleven. At fourteen, I met my soulmate, Ye Qinghua..."
That's all he heard. As for the rest, he only clearly heard one sentence—
"He immediately became angry and abandoned it."
...What does that mean?
Then, when he came to his senses, he saw Hua Chongyang smiling and slumping softly against the table.
Without a second thought, he rushed forward.
Everyone knows that Prince Jing, Situ Qingliu, is a weak scholar who can't even kill a chicken. But after that night at Lake Moon Manor, rumors began to spread that Situ Qingliu's martial arts skills were superb and hidden. The reason was that when martial arts masters were dueling, he actually stepped forward alone and rescued Hua Chongyang from the sword formation.
Ye Qinghua, sitting next to Hua Chongyang, narrowed her eyes slightly at this moment.