Le voyage d'un mendiant à travers le monde

Chapitre 21

Yue Ruzheng and Shao Yang dared not step forward, standing solemnly to one side. Yu Hezhi suddenly flipped his palms and struck Jiang Shuying's Jianjing acupoints on both shoulders. Jiang Shuying's body shuddered, and she fell forward weakly. Yue Ruzheng rushed forward, and Yu Hezhi had already helped her up. There was a faint trace of blood seeping from the corner of Jiang Shuying's lips, which made her face look even more like snow.

Yue Ruzheng, supporting Jiang Shuying's arm, said to Yu Hezhi, "Uncle-Master, didn't you say yesterday that the poison in my master's body was gone?"

Yu Hezhi's forehead was also slightly sweaty, his face solemn. He said, "Although I have forced out the poison your master was poisoned with, the snake tail venom will flow backward along the meridians once it seeps into the blood. So I wanted to use my internal energy to merge these toxins together and then find a way to neutralize them. But after trying just now, it didn't work as I hoped."

Yue Ruzheng asked worriedly, "Then how exactly can we restore Master to his former state?"

Jiang Shuying shook her head and said, "Your senior uncle and I have lived in seclusion for many years, and we don't know anything about poisoning and antidote."

Shao Yang pondered for a moment and said, "Master, I've heard that Master Wei of Tingyu Manor is quite knowledgeable in medicine. How about Ruzheng and I go to Huangshan?"

Yu He said, "I summoned you here for this very reason. It seems that internal energy alone is insufficient to neutralize this poison; only by seeking an antidote can your master truly recover."

Jiang Shuying sat leaning against the carved railing of the waterside pavilion, and said to Shao Yang, "You can go to Tingyu Manor and consult with Master Wei. Your senior uncle is here to protect you, so you should be fine." She paused, then turned to Yue Ruzheng and said, "Ruzheng, don't go out with her, lest something unexpected happens!"

Yue Ruzheng, feeling frustrated, frowned and said, "Master, you still don't trust me? With my senior brother here this time, I definitely won't act recklessly and cause trouble!"

Jiang Shuying said unhappily, "I know your personality best. How can Shao Yang keep an eye on you? Last time I asked you to go see your master, but you went and got to know Lian Haichao's son from Seven Star Island instead... However, your master and I also talked yesterday that Lian Haichao only has a daughter, and we still don't know the background of that boy you know."

"But Lian Junqiu herself said that Xiao Tang is her younger brother!" Yue Ruzheng said aggrievedly.

"Then why is his surname Tang? Why does he live alone in Nan Yandang Mountain and not contact his family? I also heard from your senior uncle that the boy has no hands. What's going on?" Jiang Shuying looked up at her, her face haggard but her eyes still sharp.

"I...I didn't ask him." Yue Ruzheng was disheartened by the series of questions, and her voice lowered.

"You stayed there for over ten days and knew nothing!" Jiang Shuying sighed. "Ruzheng, I've always treated you like my own daughter; it seems I've spoiled you far too much. How can you have absolutely no experience in handling things? Being with that suspicious young man—aren't you afraid of being ridiculed? Regardless of whether he's from Seven Star Island or not, you're never allowed to go to Nan Yandang again!"

"He saved me and took me in to recover. If it weren't for him, I would have been taken away by the people of Bliss Valley long ago! Why can't I go back..." Yue Ruzheng was both indignant and heartbroken. In her anxiety, her tone hardened. Seeing this, Shao Yang quickly grabbed her arm and said, "Junior Sister, how can you talk back to Master?! Step back now and let Master rest properly!"

Yu Hezhi frowned and stepped forward, standing between Jiang Shuying and Yue Ruzheng. He said to Jiang Shuying, "Ruzheng is still a child at heart. How could she understand the dangers of the martial world... However, when that young man came to me that day, I saw that he had come overnight in the rain and his words were sincere. He didn't seem like someone with ulterior motives, so I allowed Ruzheng to stay with him temporarily."

Jiang Shuying leaned wearily against the railing and sighed softly, "Ruzheng, in short, you must respect yourself!"

Yue Ruzheng felt a mix of emotions. Seeing her master's exhausted expression, she dared not argue with her any further and could only swallow her anger and bow her head to retreat.

After Yue Ruzheng and Shao Yang left the waterside pavilion, they remained silent the entire way. Halfway there, Shao Yang stopped her and said, "Ruzheng, your master is only thinking of you. Don't be so gloomy."

Yue Ruzheng lowered her eyes, gazing at the green grass by the roadside, and said, "I just feel sad. Why don't you feel any gratitude towards Xiao Tang at all? Instead, you're questioning his identity and his motives?"

Shao Yang said unhappily, "Didn't I already tell you that we could give him money and gifts? What more do you want?"

"I told you he wouldn't want it!" Yue Ruzheng raised her voice, yelling at him, "I told you to wait until he came back before leaving, but you insisted on dragging me down the mountain!"

"Don't you think he deliberately went to the deep mountains to avoid us? He didn't want to say goodbye to you, why are you still so foolish?!" Shao Yang was annoyed to see that she was still holding a grudge. He walked up to Yue Ruzheng, looked her over, and said, "Yue Ruzheng, your master has lost all his internal energy, yet you're still thinking about that Tang Yanchu. I think you're really being unreasonable!"

"What kind of person do you take me for? I wasn't thinking about him at all. I was just speaking up for him..." For some reason, Yue Ruzheng felt her face getting hot as she spoke angrily.

Shao Yang sneered, put his hands behind his back, and said, "That's for the best. I'm going to Tingyu Manor now. You stay in Xiaozhu and don't make Master angry again."

Yue Ruzheng originally wanted to go with him, but the atmosphere between the two of them was awkward. She also thought of the arrogant manner of the young master of Tingyu Manor that she had met that day, so she replied listlessly, "I know," and went back to the small building alone.

Watching her departing figure, Shao Yang suddenly realized that since she had stayed in Nan Yandang for the past ten days, she had become unpredictable and even more enigmatic. The Yue Ruzheng of the past was easily angered, but also easily forgiven. She seemed to have no worries, acting like a child who never grew up, but Shao Yang knew that deep within her heart, inexplicable shadows often lingered. It was like her deepest fear of stormy, dark nights; she herself didn't know why, yet she couldn't shake this fear, which was quite inconsistent with her background of practicing martial arts since childhood.

Shao Yang still remembers the first time he met Yue Ruzheng.

It was a spring night ten years ago. He was practicing his sword by the stream at the foot of Mount Dashu, while his master played the zither in the nearby forest. The new moon was rising, pure and white, and the entire city of Luzhou was bathed in its tranquil light. Under this moonlight, a little girl in tattered clothes came from a mountain path, looking dazed and alone.

Shao Yang, who was only twelve years old at the time, was startled when he first saw the girl who seemed lost in thought. The girl stopped under a plum tree not far from him, and without a word, sat down, hugged the tree, and closed her eyes to sleep. Her face was covered in dust, and her hair was loosely combed into two buns, making her look quite disheveled. But her sleeping expression was very peaceful. Accompanied by the sound of a guzheng drifting from the silent forest, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she had traveled thousands of miles, endured countless hardships, and finally found a place to rest temporarily.

Shao Yang sheathed his sword and tiptoed into Merlin to find his master. When Jiang Shuying led him to the girl, she was still fast asleep, her small body leaning tightly against a plum tree. Her bare feet, exposed outside her skirt, were either due to lack of money for shoes or because they had been lost while wandering. Her feet were covered in wounds, and her thin ankles were somewhat bluish, likely from the chill of early spring.

So the master and apprentice sat quietly by the plum tree, accompanied by the bright, pale moonlight, the intermittent fragrance of plum blossoms, and the girl who seemed like a lost goose.

Much later, the girl rubbed her eyes and woke up. By then, the moon was high in the sky, and the city was completely silent. The sudden appearance of the master and disciple in front of her did not surprise her much. She still stared blankly at the people in front of her with her bright but bewildered eyes.

"What's your name? Where are you from?" Jiang Shuying asked softly.

The girl sat there blankly. In the moonlight, her features were actually quite beautiful. But she seemed lost in deep memories, yet unable to find the direction of those memories.

Seeing her sitting silently in front of him, Shao Yang leaned closer and asked, "You don't even know your own name?"

The girl instinctively stepped back, leaning against the plum tree. After a moment's thought, she whispered, "Zheng'er."

She wasn't speaking the Luzhou dialect; it sounded like she had a southern accent. Actually, Shao Yang and his master weren't sure what name she was using—maybe Zhen'er, maybe Zhen'er, or maybe it wasn't pronounced that way at all…

Later, Jiang Shuying brought this girl, who couldn't even say her own name, back to Yinxi Xiaozhu.

"The moonlight was serene that night, and you arrived amidst the sound of the zither. From now on, I'll call you Yue Ruzheng," Jiang Shuying said, bending down to the girl who had already changed into clean clothes.

Little Yue Ruzheng looked up at the bright moon, her eyes suddenly welling up with crystal-clear tears. Shao Yang, unsure what to do, stroked her hair, wanting to comfort her, but she clung to his arm, trembling, and asked, "Can I... stay here?"

...

From then on, Yue Ruzheng stayed at Yinxi Xiaozhu. Besides knowing her nickname, she also knew she was born on the first day of the Lunar New Year, a day for bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. Yue Ruzheng always said she had an aunt, a beautiful and gentle aunt who had a large box filled with many small seashells and a conch shell that could hear the sound of ocean waves. But she couldn't explain why she had come to Luzhou alone, nor could she say where her aunt was.

Sometimes, young Shao Yang even wondered if this girl with beautiful big eyes that would easily fill with tears, but who would forget all her worries when she smiled, might be a fairy who had secretly descended from the moon palace but had accidentally forgotten the way home.

Chapter Fifteen: Searching for the Dragon's Heart Amidst Countless Chaotic Mountains

As twilight fell, Yue Ruzheng sat on the swing in front of the small building, resting her chin on her hand, gazing at the layers of sunset clouds on the horizon. Qian'er came down from upstairs, tiptoed behind her, and peeked out, calling, "Miss!"

Yue Ruzheng turned around and pinched her, saying, "Trying to scare me again?"

Qian'er quickly dodged and pushed the swing hard, sending Yue Ruzheng swinging forward.

"Miss, why do you always look so gloomy lately? Is it because Master won't let you go out?" Qian'er asked while pushing the swing.

Yue Ruzheng's skirt fluttered gently on the bluestone pavement. She sighed and said, "Qian'er, do I really understand nothing?"