Chapter Thirteen of the Horned Horn Volume: Ze Xiu (Part 1)
Updated: 2008-10-04 15:08:55 Word Count: 3268
As dusk settles and twilight descends, pedestrians hurry past the Meng Hu Archway in Dunhuang. Walking along the screen wall corridor, the voices of courtesans soliciting customers carry far and wide.
At this time, Lihua Courtyard in the neighborhood was open for business. The pimps had lit lanterns early, and the madam, with a wide, gaping mouth, was all smiles, pushing the prostitutes outside to solicit customers.
The Lihua Courtyard was always a thriving business. Before long, the entire building was packed with people, clinking glasses, the cheerful laughter of the prostitutes, the smells of perfume, alcohol, and sweat—everything was a chaotic mess.
Before long, a loud laugh was heard: "What kind of heroes are those who smuggle salt! They walk on the edge of a knife. If the government is displeased, they can wipe out the whole family! What smart, courageous man would do such a thing! I say, Little Red Medicine, you have no taste at all. Of all the people you could have chosen, you had to fall for a salt smuggler! Isn't that incredibly short-sighted?"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look. It turned out that Lihua Courtyard had always been a den of iniquity; not only were there salt smugglers, but even notorious bandits and wanted criminals could be found if a search were conducted. Only because the owner had some powerful connections and the local government protected him, preventing any trouble from arising in the courtyard, had things remained relatively peaceful. His shout was clearly a deliberate show of force, and everyone immediately turned to look. In the corner, behind a Suzhou-embroidered screen, sat a young man, about thirty years old, with slicked-back hair and a pair of bulging, fish-like eyes that were darting furtively over the prostitute standing opposite him, his hand gripping her tightly, refusing to let her leave.
Regulars at brothels were used to this kind of scene. Some shameless customers would set their sights on a particular prostitute and relentlessly pester her until they got their hands on her. Normally, prostitutes weren't allowed to choose their clients, but occasionally, some exceptionally beautiful prostitutes would be booked for a hefty sum. Other customers, lacking the financial means, would simply indulge in their desires. Sometimes, when drunk, they would even try to seduce their favorite prostitutes. This man in the present was clearly one of them.
The prostitute he grabbed was indeed fair-skinned and pretty. As he tore at her like that, a hint of anger flashed across her face, but she held back her rage for a moment, only saying anxiously, "Why do this! Let go! Master Wang will be here soon! If he sees you like this, you'll be asking for trouble!"
The man spat, his eyes red and swollen, clearly intoxicated. He yelled, "What kind of master are you! Do you think I'm afraid of him?! A salt smuggler, what kind of thing is he, daring to challenge me? Little Red Medicine, I've got my eye on you, you'd better serve me today!"
Little Red Plum could only suppress her laughter and say, "Sir, if you truly love me, why resort to such crude methods? I'm right here. You can hug and kiss me as you please. But there should be some rules for brothels. Are we supposed to starve if we don't have money?"
The man chuckled and said, "Talking about money is too vulgar. We refined people don't talk about money, we only talk about romance. You prostitutes and whores, don't you love scholars and gentlemen? Su Xiaoxiao, Tan Xiaoyu... they don't talk about money all the time. Look at me, aren't I much more dashing than those old men Wang and Zhao? We pursue true love, I love you, and you love me, that's what we call fulfillment!"
He forcefully pulled her over and reached out to hug her. Seeing his shamelessness, the crowd laughed and shook their heads, ignoring him completely. Suddenly, someone chuckled softly from a corner and said slowly, "To dare to talk about romance when you have no money, his shamelessness is truly rare."
The man was groping the little red peony when he heard someone mocking him. He roared, "Who's talking nonsense?! Don't you know who I am?! Come out if you dare!"
The person in the corner remained unmoved, only chuckled softly, his voice low and seductive, "As the saying goes, you spend money to have fun, but the key is in the three words you're spending money on. If you have no money but still want fun, you'll probably only get a beating later."
The man with the goldfish-like eyes flew into a rage, slamming his hand on the table. The teapot, resting on the corner of the table, crashed to the ground and shattered with a loud crash. Little Red Pill had already taken the opportunity to run away and was now hiding at the top of the stairs, peering in their direction. The man roared, "State your name! Which gang are you from?"
The person in the corner was completely hidden in the shadow of the screen, with only one hand showing. The fingers were long and slender, and a golden thumb ring was on the thumb. He turned it around and played with it, making the hands appear even more elegant and composed.
"Before asking others to give their names, shouldn't you introduce yourself? You just boasted that you've traveled all over the world and that there's no one you don't know but everyone who knows you—sorry, I don't know you. Who are you?"
Muffled laughter echoed from all around. Goldfish Eyes' face turned purple, and he suddenly laughed fiercely, saying, "I'll tell you today, so you can listen carefully, lest you be scared out of your wits! Have you ever heard of Mount No Return?"
Upon hearing the words "Mount No Return," the crowd erupted in a clamor, then suddenly fell silent, the hall eerily quiet. The man in the corner paused in his fiddling with a ring, then hummed in agreement, "Mount No Return is quite famous."
Goldfish Eyes sneered, "You know your stuff! I'm from No Return Mountain!"
The man seemed somewhat surprised, and said with an "Oh," "I apologize for the inconvenience. May I ask which department of the Mountain of No Return you belong to? What color belt do you wear? What kind of token do you carry?"
The man with the goldfish-like eyes immediately held back, and after a long pause, he finally said, "I am one of the Seven Envoys of the Big Dipper! Why don't you get lost? Are you trying to make me angry?"
The man laughed and said, "That's even stranger. I've heard that among the Seven Envoys of the Big Dipper, only three are young, and the rest are mostly over forty. You're so young, could you be one of those three? Yao Guang? Tian Ji? Or Tian Quan?"
Goldfish Eyes couldn't possibly answer. Judging from the man's words, he was clearly someone who knew the truth. He had really made a fool of himself by trying to teach a fish to swim. He immediately muttered, "Why should I tell you! What nonsense... I can't be bothered with you!" With that, he turned and headed to leave, intending to renege on his payment for the drinks as well.
Halfway there, suddenly, everything blurred before my eyes. The man who had been sitting in the corner playing with the gold thumb ring was now standing in front of me. He was wrapped in a dark blue cloak, covering even his head, leaving only a pair of bright, piercing eyes. The corners of his eyes were slanted and upturned, his gaze shimmering with a peach-blossom-like brilliance, as if he were deeply affectionate, yet also flirtatious and mocking, extremely seductive.
He had somehow acquired a jet-black longsword, more than a foot longer than ordinary swords, exuding a chilling aura. He placed it lightly and gracefully on the neck of the goldfish-eyed man. His elegant hand, adorned with a thumb ring, tapped slowly on the hilt of the sword with the leisurely ease of someone sipping tea, as if he were holding not a sword but an exquisite enamel teacup, hesitating between West Lake Longjing tea and Tieguanyin.
Goldfish Eyes, still blustering but weak inside, stammered, "What...what are you going to do? No Return Mountain...is not to be trifled with! Let...let me go!"
Her peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, her expression deep and affectionate. "You say you're from the Mountain of No Return, but what proof do you have?"
After staring wide-eyed for a while, he suddenly exclaimed, "How...how come it's not here! We just found the young master of Cangya City a few days ago..."
The man exclaimed in surprise, "You've found the young master of Cangya City?!"
The question was asked so urgently that the sword was pressed against the goldfish-eyed man's neck, making his legs tremble. He cried out, "Hero, spare my life! I...I'm not from No Return Mountain! I...I'm just a commoner, powerless, I was just talking...showing off...please spare my life!"
The man laughed, "You're quite honest. Since you won't say who you are, I'll tell you for you. Your name is Li Fuguang, from Lanzhou. You were in the horse trading business, but unfortunately, you had no foresight and lost all your capital in less than two years. Your widowed sister-in-law took pity on you and took you in, but you harbored ill intentions. When you failed to rape her, you killed her to cover it up, and then you took all her property and fled. So, Li Fuguang, am I right?"
Li Fuguang was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably. The man lifted his cloak, sheathed his sword, and three swords were faintly visible hanging at his waist. Li Fuguang felt a jolt in his heart and immediately remembered the man's identity. He stammered, "You...you are Zexiu!"
Only Ze Xiu carries three precious swords, only Ze Xiu can catch wanted criminals that the government can't catch no matter what, only Ze Xiu is unaffiliated with any sect or faction, roaming freely in the martial world without fear, yet no one comes to bother him.
Zexiu laughed and said, "You horse trader, you do have some knowledge. You have to pay for your life if you kill someone. Come with me to the government office so I can collect the reward money."
After saying that, he took out a rope, tied him up, and carried him away. When the madam saw him reach the door, she hurriedly chased after him, calling out softly, "Master... Master... the money for drinking and eating..." Suddenly, she felt something being thrown at her. She instinctively raised her hand to catch it, and it was heavy—five taels of silver.
"The money for two people, the rest can be considered a tip." As soon as he finished speaking, Ze Xiuren had already drifted away and walked past the street corner.
"Hey, you said you've found the young master of Cangya City, is that true?" He suddenly asked halfway through the journey.
Li Fuguang said dejectedly, "I dare not lie... I... I only heard it from someone from No Return Mountain the other day. No Return Mountain found the young master of Cangya City and took him to the sect for protection..."
Zexiu nodded, took him to the government office, received two hundred taels of silver as a reward, went to town to buy two camels, rode the horse and led the camels towards the outside of Yumen Pass.
Having found the young master of Cangya City, this matter was of utmost importance, and he had to go to Mount Bugui to get to the bottom of it. Last time, he wrote to Tianquan, originally hoping to ask Mount Bugui to help find the young master, but he didn't expect that they had already taken action without making a sound and quietly accumulating wealth.
Hey, could it be that Mount Bugui also wants to benefit from Cangya City's fame?
He suddenly remembered something, took out paper and ink from the leather pouch behind his waist, licked the tip of the pen with his tongue, wrote a line, hesitated for a moment, then tore the paper to shreds and threw it away—it's better not to tell them beforehand, he can see for himself.
Chapter Fourteen of the Horned Scroll: Ze Xiu (Part Two)
Updated: 2008-10-04 15:08:56 Word Count: 3742
The yellow sand rolled like lifeless waves, churning beneath our feet, surging around us, and howling overhead.
Xiao Man was completely disoriented, unable to distinguish east from west, north from south, or even see the sky and the earth. All she could see was the demonic sandstorm raging across the land. It seemed they were right; despite the desert's usual quiet, pampered demeanor, it was more ferocious than a madwoman when it went berserk. Right now, this madwoman was trying to kill her.
The Mountain of No Return wanted her revenge, and the desert wanted her life. Comparing the two, Xiaoman regretted it so much that she was turning green with remorse. She should have known better than to sneak out in a moment of impulse. After wandering around for most of the night, she had no idea about the terrain of the desert. She had no camels with her and no water. She could only wait to die.
How strange. She clearly remembered that there should be an oasis and tents if she walked this way, but it felt like she was walking further and further away.
Her arms were stuffed full of pearls, gems, and gold, heavy and painful, making it hard for her to straighten her back. In the desert, carrying these things was a huge burden. Xiaoman was half-dead from the sandstorm and hesitated several times to throw them away, but at the last minute she couldn't bear to part with them—the only thing she had now was these glittering and beautiful valuables.
The distant yellow sand, like a rabid beast with its mouth wide open, hissed and bit her, covering her body in sand.
Xiao Man stumbled and almost fell.
She knew she couldn't fall; if she did, she would be buried alive by the sand and die in this godforsaken place in no time.
The sand whipped up by the wind cut her face like knives, the pain so intense it made her numb. Her eyes were also completely blinded by the sand, and she couldn't open them at all.
At this moment, she suddenly remembered something from long ago.
The sand hitting her skin really hurt, like the freezing cold of winter when water freezes instantly. She was dressed in thin clothes and left outside the door, her skin feeling like it was about to crack open.
She didn't cry out, but silently huddled on the floor, gazing almost greedily at the warm light inside the room, as if that would bring her some warmth. A figure approached from afar, spotted her, and immediately showed impatience. He kicked open the door and snapped, "Such a small child, in this cold weather, you're leaving her outside? Are you trying to freeze her to death?!"
The woman inside the room flew into a rage, like a wild beast. The two women wrestled and roared at each other. Her voice, hoarse and rough from years of shouting, was broken and intermittent, like a rough knife: "You have a conscience! Your conscience has been eaten away by that vixen! You know the child is young! That's your seed! Aren't you going to take her away? Let her see what shameful things you've done!"
The two people inside were rolling around and twisting about, making a mess, and no one paid any attention to them.
It's always the same; she's almost sick of it. After the injection, they both say it's all for the child's good, as if she's some kind of jinx. Strange, if it's for her own good, why don't they let her go inside first? Is letting her freeze to death really for her own good?
She sighed. She was a dutiful and good child. To avoid being blamed for killing her son later, it was better for her to take care of herself. While the two of them were smashing things around the house, she sneaked back into her room and sat down by the brazier to warm herself.
The noise outside came and went, until finally, they were both too exhausted to fight anymore, their voices weak and feeble. Suddenly, someone walked in, placed a roll of fine silk fabric and several strings of wrapped candied hawthorns on her bedside table, hugged her, kissed her forehead, and said, "Dad is leaving. Take good care of yourself. Dad will come to see you again later."
She didn't say anything, but snatched the candied hawthorn as if her life depended on it and stuffed it into her mouth—she hadn't eaten for almost two days and was so hungry that her vision was blurring.
After finishing the string of candied hawthorns, no one was left in the house. The woman was crying softly outside. Suddenly, she realized something was wrong, and quietly slipped out, only to see her father's receding figure.
He left and didn't return for more than three years, until his mother died.
Suddenly, yellow sand slammed down on her head like a giant hand, slamming Xiaoman to the ground in an incredibly ugly position, like a cockroach struggling to survive, her limbs sprawled out, her neck still stretching forward with all her might. The gold and silver jewelry on her body weighed her down, making it hard for her to breathe. She was still fantasizing about escaping the desert and finding a beautiful place to become a rich woman.
Clearly, that's the fate of the main character; she, the imposter protagonist, the extra, will never see that day.
In the distance, another figure seemed to be slowly approaching, its features mostly obscured by the wind and sand. She remembered that snowy day when her father came and went, using a roll of silk and three candied hawthorns as his way of showing his love for her.
Xiao Man suddenly sprang up from the sand, grabbed a furry leg, and bit it. A painful hiss came from above her head, followed by a man's surprised shout. Then, she was kicked by a foot, and everything went black as she passed out.
*****
Zexiu never expected to be so unlucky. He rarely ventured into the desert, and he encountered a sandstorm. Fortunately, he had brought two camels with him beforehand, and this sandstorm wasn't too severe. He managed to keep going and search for shelter.
Unexpectedly, another unexpected event occurred. Just as they were hurrying along, a monster suddenly jumped out of the sand, grabbed his camel's leg and bit it. Startled, the camel kicked the creature far away, and Zexiu was almost thrown off its back.
He quickly called to the frightened camel, leaned on his sword, walked over, and looked down. He discovered that it was not a monster at all, but a girl covered in sand. Beneath her, pearls and gems were scattered on the sand, sparkling, but were quickly buried by the sandstorm.
Zexiu quickly picked her up, disregarding the precious items; saving lives was the priority at this time.
Fortunately, the sandstorm gradually subsided. Although the surrounding terrain had changed, the camel knew the way and moved forward at a leisurely pace, soon arriving at a small oasis nearby.
Zexiu fetched water and washed the girl's face. To his surprise, after washing, her dirty face was fair and delicate, with two arched eyebrows that seemed to be furrowed but not quite, making her look extremely pitiful. She had been kicked in the shoulder by a camel, breaking her bone. Judging from the situation, even if the bone was set immediately, a fever was inevitable.
Zexiu immediately tore off her top. Saving lives was the priority, and who cared about the boundaries between men and women? Besides, he had never been such a conventional person. But when he took off her top, he saw an ornament hanging around her delicate neck, tied tightly with a red string. It was clearly a small, exquisite, semi-transparent horn made of some unknown material.
Zexiu was shocked and quickly took off the small horn and examined it carefully—the horn of a young dragon! There was no mistake, it was definitely the horn of a young dragon! He was still a little doubtful, so he tore open the collar of her inner garment and sure enough, he saw a dark blue flame-shaped birthmark on her snow-white skin.
It's her! It really is her! The young mistress of Cangya City, coveted by the entire martial arts world!
Zexiu was extremely shocked. He grabbed her face tightly, scrutinizing it from every angle—this skinny, dirty girl who could even gnaw on camel legs was the young mistress of Cangya City?
The girl seemed to be hurt by his rough actions, and suddenly frowned and cursed, "You bastard!" in a fierce tone.
Zexiu couldn't help but chuckle, hung the dragon's horn back up, and took a board and bandages to set her bones.
The young mistress of Cangya City was clearly rescued by Mount Bugui, so how did she suddenly appear in the desert? Hmm, recalling the numerous gold and silver jewels scattered beneath her, he immediately concluded: she didn't trust Mount Bugui, so she stole the jewels and escaped. Mount Bugui must have done something to anger her; otherwise, why would a young, lone woman risk her life to cross the desert alone?
It seems he made the right decision this time. No Return Mountain, oh No Return Mountain, you've finally shown your true colors.
When Xiaoman woke up, she felt as if her whole body was about to fall apart from the pain. The first thing she did was touch her chest; her banknotes, jewelry, and all her belongings were there.
To her shock, she found it empty. She jumped up, screaming, "Where's my money?!"
Then came another scream. It turned out that the wound on the severed arm had been aggravated, causing the person to tremble with pain and fall back down.