Poussière de cœur

Chapitre 17

*** *** ***

Xiao Dao slowly stepped forward. His flat, slender hands, like sharp blades, were pressed tightly against the outside of his thighs. His walking posture was very peculiar; his upper body remained completely still, while his lower body seemed to be equipped with springs, not walking, but "jumping."

He walked to the crossroads and stood three steps away from Du Liu.

Face to face.

Du Liu slowly raised his sword, shifting from defense to offense. Xiao Dao coldly watched, his left palm suddenly rising, two murderous auras instantly surging forth. The two ordinary men instantly transformed into two desperate criminals, professional assassins.

Du Liu stepped forward, his sword held horizontally, the blade slashing diagonally towards Xiao Dao's palm.

Xiao Dao smiled, concealed his left palm, and struck out with his right palm, aiming at Du Liu's wrist holding the knife.

But Du Liu's attack was a feint. The angled slash was only seven-tenths of the way through before he suddenly took a step back, moved two steps to the left, and then swept out a sharp slash straight at Xiao Dao's waist.

Xiao Dao's concealed left palm suddenly shot out, still aiming for Du Liu's wrist holding the knife, striking first despite being slower than he could.

Du Liu's swordplay suddenly changed. "Hey!" he shouted. His sword moved like swirling clouds, unleashing five consecutive strikes, each different, but each strike abruptly changed before reaching seven-tenths of its full power.

He couldn't remain unchanged. Xiao Dao's left and right palm strikes were delivered at the most crucial moments.

Du Liu dodged and weaved, preparing for battle with circular steps; Xiao Dao moved with a smile, his eyes cold and menacing.

Suddenly, Du Liu unleashed ten consecutive slashes—a slash, a thrust, a chop, a sweep, a parry, and a parry—while his small knife met eight more slashes from the left, right, left ...

Neither strike landed properly; they retreated without even touching. Du Liu's last two strikes, however, were defensive.

"You are no match for me." Xiao Dao smiled, and suddenly a knife appeared in his palm as well. It was a sharp, narrow blade, while a thin, single-edged blade was held between the index and middle fingers of his other hand.

"One strike draws blood. The second strike will kill you!" Xiao Dao's face darkened.

"We'll die together!" Du Liu shouted in a deep voice. He concealed the blade of his sword behind his wrist, crouching in a horse stance, the tip of the blade pointing directly at his heart. His left hand slowly opened, fingers spreading out, palm down, covering his right hand that held the sword.

A trembling screen of fingers suddenly appeared.

Xiao Dao's smile froze. "—Two-Hearted Blade? Who taught you that?"

"Symbiosis!" Du Liu shouted. His left cheek turned blue and his right cheek turned red, his face strangely appearing as if it had become two faces, and under the fluorescent light, his figure suddenly appeared as a double image.

Trembling.

The leader's expression grew cold. "Little Knife, step back. Little Shovel, deal with him."

Xiao Dao retreated. Xiao Chan scooped up his sword and stopped two steps away from Du Liu, his expression full of surprise. "Hey!"

"Isn't this the right time to practice horse stance?"

Du Liu remained indifferent and silent.

"How long can you hold a horse stance? Can you do it for two hours?" Xiao Chan asked like an innocent child.

Du Liu closed his eyes.

Xiao Chan took a step back, turned his head and said, "Master, he is mute."

"Come back. Er Gou—go meet him."

Little Shovel retreats. Two Dogs emerge.

Er Gou emerged empty-handed, stopping only a step away from Du Liu. His brows furrowed, his eyes, like those of a wolf in the wilderness, fixed on Du Liu. His eyes were cold and eerie green, and he didn't smile. When he wasn't smiling, he resembled a dog. At this moment, he looked exactly like a serious, thoughtful sheepdog.

Du Liu opened his eyes. He stared unblinkingly into those dark green eyes, his face expressionless, but his fingers spread wider, and the arm holding the knife was closer to him. The tip of the knife was only an inch away from piercing the "Huagai" acupoint.

Er Gou raised his left palm to his forehead, assumed a horse stance, and chuckled, "Who are you trying to scare with that knife? I'm waiting for you to chop me down!"

He had a wolf-like smile, but at this moment he seemed to be a lecherous wolf.

He was staring with eyes like a lecher, his left palm slowly and flatly moving towards Du Liu. Although it remained horizontal and straight with his brow, the edge of his palm was getting closer and closer to Du Liu, giving people a strange feeling that he might pounce at any moment and tear their clothes apart.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [49]: That feeling, while terrifying, was mostly disgusting.

When a pervert of the opposite sex is on the other side, it is undoubtedly terrifying, but relatively easy to accept. However, when a pervert of the same sex is about to "pounce" on you at any time, it is not just terrifying, it is downright horrifying!

Even though they were so far apart, the "Three Musketeers" still couldn't help feeling nauseous.

Strangely, Du Liu remained completely oblivious.

The hand was already close to Du Liu's face, but Du Liu remained motionless.

Xu Fangfang was shocked, horrified, anxious, and terrified. "Du Liu! ⌒模?"

The concerned cry rang out, and Du Liu's eyelids blinked involuntarily. His face flushed red and then turned pale, his reflection blurring. Er Gou laughed wildly, "You're finished!" Amidst the laughter, his left palm suddenly retracted, while his right palm swept out horizontally, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound. Du Liu immediately raised his left palm, his outstretched fingers suddenly closing. "Bang!" The two palms collided, and in an instant, their hands and legs shifted simultaneously, banging sounds echoing one after another. Their four arms and four legs moved like a thousand arms and ten thousand legs, the two becoming hundreds of shadows. Under the pale green light, it was impossible to tell how many moves they had exchanged. Suddenly, Er Gou cried out in pain and fell to the ground, while Du Liu also groaned, his short knife flying from his hand.

In an instant, Er Gou tumbled back into the air, looking utterly disheveled; Du Liu, however, somersaulted and caught the flying dagger. With the dagger in hand, he immediately assumed a horse stance, but his left palm was behind his back. "You're the one who's finished!" he sneered.

Er Gou had already stood up, swayed once, then wobbled twice before finally regaining his balance. He turned around speechlessly, walked slowly past the eldest brother and Xiao Chan, and walked to Xiao Dao's side, then suddenly swayed.

Black snow swirled, tearing away his outer garments to reveal his nearly naked body beneath a black mesh shirt. Purple blood, bathed in green light, flowed down his back, revealing countless wounds. He turned around; the blood on his chest was even more abundant, the wounds no longer merely wounds, but rather a veritable "national highway map" on his chest.

"Who else?!" Du Liu's expression was both fierce and cold.

—Victory! We've finally achieved our first victory!

—Turns out they weren't as scary as I imagined!

People immediately cheered, and the three musketeers were even rubbing their hands together, eager to try their skills. But Xu Fangfang was suddenly startled—Du Liu's left palm, hidden behind his back, was bleeding!

—Like looking at the mortal enemy who killed his father, insulted his wife, and ate his children!

The eldest brother laughed. He finally showed a smile.

He's not the type to smile easily, and even when he does, he looks quite serious. But there's still a difference between smiling and not smiling.

His face was filled with regret.

“Concern leads to confusion. A major taboo in martial arts. You shouldn’t have let your heart be moved,” he said. “Of course, you should thank this person who cared about you. Without her first cry, Er Gou would never have attacked you, much less hurt you. Without her second cry, I wouldn’t have believed that your injuries were so serious!”

"You can't hold the knife anymore. Put it down. If you keep pushing yourself, you'll only die."

With a clang, the knife fell to the ground.

Du Liu swayed and then fell straight down.

Lying on his back—thump!

That simple "thump!" signaled the end of the battle and revealed the true victor.

*** *** ***

This is truly a tragedy.

When there was no hope, Du brought them hope; but hope is so easily shattered, and the despair that follows hope is even harder to accept.

—Du Liu, why are you forcing yourself to keep going?

A blank expression.

In a daze, A-Ding slowly awoke. He struggled to lift his head, raising it slightly higher, and uttered indistinct words: "Zhu Qian... kiss... give me... a kiss..." Zhu Qian looked down at him blankly, finally understanding his words, and was surprised. After the surprise, she glanced at A-Ding.

He glanced at her coldly and with disgust. He moved away from Adin.

Xu Fangfang, however, was not numb. Du Liu's glance, though leaving her speechless and stunned, still held a sway of concern. She cried out and ran to Du Liu's side, accidentally pulling the backpack containing food and "water" with her. Reaching him, tears welled in her eyes. "Du Liu, you..." she choked out, cradling Du Liu's head in her arms. Only then did she notice that Du Liu's right hand was covered in blood; his palm was a tangled mess of countless tiny wounds; the skin on the back of his hand was cracked and bleeding. Blood was seeping out. His left hand also had at least twenty tiny wounds on his palm; she couldn't fathom how their fight had resulted in such a state. Her tears finally streamed down uncontrollably. At that moment, she suddenly thought of Tong Rong, of that pitiful girl who used tears as water. That too was love; but if Tong Rong could use tears as water, what could she use as medicine?

Tears streamed down her face. Du Liu, however, could no longer utter a sound. Blood began to seep from his lips and nostrils. His eyes widened, pupils dilating, yet his gaze remained fierce as he stared at Xu Fangfang, as if trying to recognize her.

"Put him down! Let him lie flat! Don't help him up!" The powerless A-Ding managed to utter the loudest sound he could, "Help me up..." He spat out another mouthful of blood.

Xu Fangfang was furious.

Enraged.

"—They're all injured like this, and they won't let her help them? They actually expect her to help them? (Who do they think they are?!)" But she had no time to curse, no time to even glare. She glared at the terrified three musketeers, at these three men who were trembling with fear yet remained perfectly composed, and roared, "Aren't you going to help us?!"

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [50]: The three musketeers stared at each other, hesitated to take a step forward, but then stopped and took a big step back.

Xu Fangfang was so angry that she wanted to rush out and slap this good-for-nothing every time, but she could only lower her head.

Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably as she tried to help Du Liu up from the ground—and through her blurry vision, she saw again those hateful eyes that seemed to be glaring at an enemy.

Why, why are you looking at me like that?!

Huang Zilan also noticed that look. She suddenly froze. Although she didn't understand martial arts, let alone its intricacies, she knew her husband did, and she knew he had always been afraid of A Ding. Her husband had once said, "—This man is simply not human! He's a devil! If he were to do evil, his terrifying power would be no less than the combined might of all my men; because he has a special skill: he can see through people's weaknesses at a glance!"

She thought of what her boss had said again.

—If Du Liu's failure was due to Xu Fangfang's exclamation, then what is the meaning of A Ding's warning now?

—Could it be that Xu Fangfang's actions are actually hurting Du Liu?

Without thinking, she cried out, "Fang! Put him down!"

"Please...don't..." A Ding cried out with difficulty, spitting out another mouthful of blood. Before he could finish speaking, he was already spitting out blood repeatedly. Although he could hardly finish his sentence, the meaning of his words was clear.

But Xu Fangfang wouldn't listen.

She can't listen.

One of these two men, having been insulted, stood there refusing to return, and no one had ever liked him before; the other was even more suspicious of committing evil, and claimed that their relationship was over and their love was gone—how could she listen to him? How could she possibly listen?!

She just wanted to get Du Liu to safety as quickly as possible.

Lying here, what if the other side suddenly attacks?! Du Liu would definitely be the first to die. It's better to be far away from the other side than close.

However, Du Liu seemed to weigh a ton, and she was powerless to move him. All she could do was pull Du Liu into her arms.

Huang Zilan looked at the eldest brother.

The eldest brother said calmly, "Xu Fangfang, if you still refuse to let go, I'll kill him right now and rape you. — Get back here!"

Xu Fangfang was stunned, but then suddenly smiled.

A chilling smile.

She suddenly grabbed the dagger from the ground, knelt down, pulled Du Liu into her arms with her left hand, pointed the dagger at her leader with her right hand, and cried out in grief and anger, "—Come on!"

It was a beautiful smile. The eldest brother suddenly froze. For some reason, he thought of his parents. He had never met his mother, yet somehow he felt that even her expression when she angrily threw herself into the well couldn't have been more striking.

His expression was one of confusion.

However, Du Liu suddenly looked up.

He slammed his head into Xu Fangfang's face, knocking her to the ground. "Get out!" he mumbled incoherently, suddenly spitting out a mouthful of black blood. His body went limp, and he collapsed.

Xu Fangfang sat up, tears streaming down her face.