Le voyage d'un mendiant à travers le monde

Chapitre 1

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Parting in this world is often fleeting. Seeing the plum blossoms, I am suddenly filled with longing. How many times have we dreamt of holding hands by the window? Tonight, I find no trace of you in my dreams, I wander aimlessly. The cold seeps into my blankets, yet you remain unaware.

The ink, damp with sorrow, barely covers the seal. The zither lies empty, no geese fly. A carefree wanderer strolls through the alleys, finding only ancient trees bathed in the slanting sunlight. The old promise, a small boat, and heartfelt wishes have vanished. The song of "Ode to the Spring Grasses of Huainan" has ended, and the grasses grow lush and green again. A drifting traveler, tears soaking his clothes.

--Jiang Kui, Southern Song Dynasty, "Jiang Mei Yin"

In March, orioles fly and grasses grow tall, and peach and apricot blossoms bloom.

The string of seashell wind chimes under the eaves swayed gently in the warm sunlight, their interlocking shells making a soft, delicate sound. She was awakened by the fragrant breeze, rubbing her sleepy eyes, and stretched out her arms in her aunt's arms, wanting to touch the snow-white wind chimes.

Her aunt held her hand and said softly, "Zheng'er, you haven't thrown away the seashell you broke last time, and now you want to cause trouble again?"

She smiled, her eyes crinkling, and pointed at the wind chimes, saying, "Auntie, you said those are the sea god's treasures. When will I be able to go to the seaside?"

Her aunt hugged her tightly, gazing at the spring scenery outside the window, and said blankly, "The sea is unpredictable; when it rages, it will swallow you whole. Do you still want to go see the sea?"

"If he wants to swallow me, I'll swallow him first!" She wasn't afraid at all. Instead, she smiled and reached out to pat the seashell again, her fingers delicate and pinkish-white in the pale golden sunlight.

"Auntie, just tell me what the ocean looks like?" she said, somewhat dejected, as she still couldn't reach the seashell.

Her aunt sighed softly, bent down, and took a pure white conch shell from the treasured box. She held it to her ear and said, "Listen."

Confused yet curious, she turned her face close to the conch shell.

Sometimes near, sometimes far, sometimes rising and falling, like the sound of the wind flowing, stirring her heart.

"This is the sound of the sea." Her aunt held the young girl in her arms, her eyes distant and filled with a faint sorrow.

Volume One: Huanxi Sha

Chapter One: Several plum trees exude a subtle, far-reaching fragrance.

As the first month of the lunar calendar draws to a close, plum blossoms are beginning to bloom on the slopes of Mount Dashu in Luzhou Prefecture, their subtle fragrance filling the air. Here, nestled against the mountain and beside the water, hundreds of plum trees are planted, their branches casting long shadows, their pink and green calyxes displaying their unique beauty.

As the new moon rose, the faint sound of a zither drifted from the depths of the forest, clear and melodious, flowing like clouds and water. The zither music carried on the breeze, reflecting the shadows of plum blossoms under the moon, making the place seem like a fairyland.

But just then, a sharp whistling sound pierced the tranquility, and with that sound, a figure rushed down from Mount Da Shu, heading straight for the direction from which the zither music came.

The music, however, continued, its notes ringing out, rising higher and higher. The swiftly approaching figure twirled his short knife, aiming to slice at the throat of the girl playing the zither. The girl didn't even raise her eyes, a slight, disdainful smile playing on her lips. At that moment, a long sleeve suddenly billowed from among the white plum blossoms beside the zither stand, causing the plum petals to tremble and swirl like swords, all shooting towards the figure.

The man leaped from the plum tree, his feet barely touching the ground, and in mid-air, his short sword flashed, slicing plum petals into tiny fragments. Before the petals could fall completely, a woman in palace attire flashed out, striking his chest and abdomen while he was defending. The man pressed his sword down, aiming for the woman's wrist. But the woman shrugged, closing in on him, and with a swift movement, seized the tip of his short sword between her fingers. The man felt a soft, yin force rushing upwards from the tip of the sword, and his arm instantly went numb, rendering him unable to move.

The woman in palace attire flicked her wrist, and the man involuntarily clutched his right arm, staggering back two steps. Leaning against a plum tree, he said, "Jiang Shuying, your disciple injured one of our men, and now you're fiercely protecting him. Are you deliberately trying to oppose my Bliss Valley?!"

The woman had delicately drawn eyebrows and light makeup, her upturned phoenix eyes sparkling with a gentle charm. She stepped forward gracefully, smiled at the tall, thin man before her, and said, "Yinxi Cottage has always been law-abiding; how could it have needlessly provoked the Valley of Bliss?" She then turned to those behind her and said, "Ruzheng, come here."

The girl in purple robes at the zither platform hurried forward, gazing at the woman with eyes as bright as morning stars, and said, "Master, the Valley of Bliss truly is the one who falsely accuses first!"

Jiang Shuying put her arm around her waist and gently pushed her forward, saying, "This uninvited guest is the envoy from Bliss Valley. You can speak to him yourself."

The girl raised her arched eyebrows and chin, saying to the man, "Didn't you just try to assassinate me? Now that I'm right in front of you, how about we have another match?"

The man sneered, brandishing his short sword and pointing it at the girl, saying, "Yue Ruzheng, don't act like a scoundrel! Last month you injured two of my nephews, yet you're still here roaming freely. Are you going to do whatever you want just because Jiang Shuying is your master?"

Yue Ruzheng curled her lip and said, "If you're afraid to compete, just say so. What excuse do you need? What happened last month? It was clearly your people who slandered my master behind my back first, so I had to teach them a lesson!"

"In any case, to sum it up in one sentence, Jiang Shuying, if you don't want us to raze Yinxi Xiaozhu to the ground, you'd better personally come to Jile Valley within half a month to serve tea and apologize to our Valley Master! Otherwise..." The man's gaze swept over the composed Jiang Shuying, and he said, "At that time, your disciple won't be able to act so arrogantly as she is now!"

After saying that, he glanced at Yue Ruzheng again before turning around and striding away.

Yue Ruzheng kept a straight face, gripped the hilt of her sword at her waist and was about to chase after him, but she felt her elbow stop. She turned around and saw Jiang Shuying's eyes, which were usually full of smiles, but now they were calm.

Yue Ruzheng was taken aback. Seeing the man walk out of Merlin, she frowned and said, "Master, are you really going to Bliss Valley? This whole thing started because of me, and I will take full responsibility!"

Jiang Shuying's previously calm and composed face suddenly turned cold. She said, "Ruzheng, you still don't know your own limitations! Do you think you can handle the Valley of Bliss by yourself? I told you to go and take refuge with your master for a while, but you insisted on coming back. If I hadn't stopped you just now, would you have killed this messenger?"

Seeing Jiang Shuying's sharpening gaze, Yue Ruzheng lowered her head and said, "I just felt that Bliss Valley was going too far... Master, I fought with them earlier because I heard them speak rudely to you. They said you..."

"I know." Jiang Shuying sighed, walked to the side of the zither stand, and slowly sat down in front of the zither. Her jade fingers gently plucked the strings, and the zither sound was ancient and profound, completely different from the music that Yue Ruzheng had played before.

Yue Ruzheng stood to one side, slightly disappointed. The moonlight spilled onto the zither stand, and white plum blossoms swayed gently on the branches. Jiang Shuying suddenly danced with her five fingers, and the zither music soared into the clouds. White jade-like petals fell one after another, floating on the strings.

"Like a zither," Jiang Shuying said, pausing the music with a flick of her long sleeve, and looking up, "As a woman, to gain a foothold in this martial world, one has to face all sorts of rumors and gossip. When I was your age, I was fearless, thinking that courage alone could solve everything. Now I've become more indifferent to many things. For example, I actually know that Mo Li, the Valley Master of Bliss Valley, has long coveted me, but I pretend not to know, and I won't pay any attention to him no matter what he does."

Yue Ruzheng stepped forward and knelt among the flower petals, saying earnestly, "Master, you absolutely cannot go to the Valley of Bliss this time, otherwise... someone as treacherous and cunning as Mo Li might take advantage of the situation to do something to you..." A heavy sense of guilt gradually filled her usually bright eyes. She continued, "If I had known they would cause trouble, I would have just endured it. Master, I will stay here. If they try to threaten you again, I will fight them to the death!"

Jiang Shuying brushed the plum blossom petals off the strings and said, "You're still reckless. Staying here will only distract me. As soon as I learned of this, I told you to go to Yandang to find your senior brother. Your senior uncle is also there. The Bliss Valley dares not act rashly for the time being. Ruzheng, you should set off immediately to return to Yandang and reunite with them."

"How could I have caused trouble and left you here alone?!" Yue Ruzheng exclaimed stubbornly, her eyes wide. "That's exactly what I thought when I returned to Luzhou!"

"You're just acting impulsively!" Jiang Shuying's gentle face hardened with frost, her eyes stern. "The Valley of Bliss has a half-month deadline. Although Mo Li has ulterior motives, he always likes to boast. He won't make things difficult for me beforehand. It's better for you to find Shao Yang and your master, and then go back together, than to stay here."

"But Master, it's been half a month since we came and went!" Yue Ruzheng said anxiously.

Jiang Shuying smiled faintly and said, "Mo Li knows that only when I go to the miasma-filled Bliss Valley will he have a chance to subdue me. If I stall for time, he'll be concerned about his reputation and shouldn't cause trouble here at Yinxi Cottage." She paused, then added, "Actually, I'm also worried about you. You've never been to Yandang Mountain before, and I'm afraid you don't even know the way. You can go to Master Wei of Tingyu Manor along the way and ask him to send someone to escort you."

Yue Ruzheng still had something to say, but Jiang Shuying, with her long sleeves reaching the ground, picked up the guzheng and said, "I've said everything I needed to say. If you still insist on being stubborn, you're disobeying me."

Yue Ruzheng straightened her back, gazing at Jiang Shuying's tall figure, suppressing her reluctance, and said, "Disciple dares not disobey." She lowered her head sadly, slowly stood up, gripped the Lonely Fragrance Sword at her waist, and walked alone out of the Silent Forest.

That night, Yue Ruzheng left Yinxi Xiaozhu without a sound. Luzhou City was already asleep, with only a cold, waning moon illuminating the plum blossoms covering the mountains. She changed into concealing night clothes, her breathing calm, seemingly blending into the darkness. But her bright, jewel-like eyes still shone with a resolute and unwavering light.

The journey from Luzhou to Yandang Mountain inevitably passes through Tingyu Villa in Huangshan. Jiang Shuying and Wei Qingcang, the master of Tingyu Villa, are old friends. Before Yue Ruzheng left, Jiang Shuying repeatedly warned her not to risk traveling to Yandang alone. Yue Ruzheng didn't want to trouble others, but fearing her master's reprimand later, she secretly went to the foot of Yuping Peak, where Tingyu Villa is located, while passing through Huangshan.

Night had fallen, and towering mountains surrounded them, a cold wind howling. Yue Ruzheng tightened her short coat, about to head towards the manor along the mountain path, when she heard the sound of hooves behind her. Turning around, she saw a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old, whipping his horse and forcing it up the stone steps. The boy was dressed in fine clothes, his eyebrows and eyes were bright and lively, his thin lips were tightly pursed, as if he were competing with the horse.