by RWX
Fu Hongxue said, “Oh?”
The man said, “This is the ‘Great Soul-Searching Hand of Severing Heaven and Shattering Earth.’”
Fu Hongxue said, “Oh?”
That man said, “The other remaining technique, is one you have already learned: the ‘Great Acupoint Changing Technique of Shifting Heaven and Moving Earth.’”
He chuckled, then said, “For you to be able to shift your acupoints by an inch, you must have mastered at least ninety percent of this technique.”
Fu Hongxue said, “And you? Who are you?”
That man said, “I am Duo Qingzi, of the Western Region’s Xingxiuhai sect. I’m even more full of affection than you are.” [As mentioned in a previous chapter, ‘Duo Qingzi’ literally means, ‘man of great tenderness and affection’.]
Fu Hongxue finally lifted up his head. He looked at him, seeming to only just now know who the person seated before him was.
This man’s smile was very warm, very gentle. His eyebrows were delicate and pretty. He really did appear to be a man of great tenderness and affection.
“Even men of great tenderness and affection kill people?”
“When affection begins to thicken, affection turns flimsy. It is precisely because I am so filled with affection that it has become flimsier than paper.”
Smiling, Duo Qingzi continued, “However, I have never killed somebody for no reason at all before either.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Oh?”
Duo Qingzi said, “The only reason I killed these people was because I didn’t want you to die to them.”
Fu Hongxue said, “Why?”
Duo Qingzi said, “Because I want you to die to me.”
Fu Hongxue said, “You really want to?”
Duo Qingzi said, “I want to so much, I would die for it.”
The girl who was standing far away by the counter suddenly said, “Because if he kills you, I will marry him.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Look, I’m already thirty-five years old, but I still haven’t taken a wife. Naturally, I have no children either. There are three ways one can be unfilial; to not produce an heir is the greatest. You can’t expect me to be an unfilial person, can you?”
That young woman interjected, “He won’t.”
Duo Qingzi said, “How do you know?”
The young woman said, “I’ve seen him strike on three separate occasions. His sabre originally really did seem to be possessed by ghosts.”
Duo Qingzi said, “How about now?”
The young woman said, “Now, the ghosts in his sabre have instead entered his heart.”
Duo Qingzi asked intentionally, “Why did they go there?”
The young woman said, “Two things.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Wine and women?”
The young woman nodded. “Because of these two things, he had all but died once in the past as well.”
Duo Qingzi said, “But he didn’t die.”
The young woman said, “Because he has a good friend!”
Duo Qingzi said, “Ye Kai?”
The young woman let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, no one knows where Ye Kai has gone.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Then right now, he’s definitely in a perilous situation?”
The young woman said, “Extremely perilous.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Do you think I can receive his sabre blows?”
The young woman chuckled. “You can even capture real ghosts with your ‘Great Soul-Searching Hand’, much less a sabre which no longer has ghosts in it.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Even if I can catch his sabre, wouldn’t my hand break?”
The young woman said, “It won’t.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Why won’t it?”
The young woman said, “Because your catching techniques are very clever. Your hand won’t even touch the blade of the sabre, and your other hand will have caught his soul.”
Duo Qingzi said, “So what you are saying is, this man is doomed?”
The young woman said, “He still has a little bit of hope.”
Duo Qingzi said, “What hope?”
The young woman said, “So long as he tells us two things, we won’t even touch him.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Which two things?”
The young woman said, “Where is the Peacock Plume? Where is the Sorrowful Book of Yin and Yang and of Heaven and Hell Mingling?”
Duo Qingzi said, “If he had the Peacock Plume, or if he had mastered the arts in the Sorrowful Book, we would be doomed.”
The young woman said, “Perhaps his hands are no longer steady enough, and he is no longer able to use the Peacock Plume. Perhaps, despite him learning the ‘Great Acupoint Changing Technique of Shifting Heaven and Moving Earth’, he is not able to learn the other skills.”
Duo Qingzi laughed. “Judging by the look of things, he really doesn’t seem to be capable of learning other martial arts.”
The young woman laughed as well. “Now, the only skill he can train in is drinking.”
Duo Qingzi laughed. “But he seems to have trained this skill quite well.”
The young woman said, “Unfortunately, the only thing this type of martial arts can do is to turn him into an alcoholic, a dead alcoholic.”
Every single word they said was like a needle. They wanted to pierce his heart with every single one of these needles, to make him suffer, to make him weak, to make him collapse. Unfortunately, it seemed as though all of these needles had pierced a stone, because Fu Hongxue didn’t react at all. He was already totally numb.
The distance between being numb and collapsing is not great. The distance between collapsing and death is not great either.
Duo Qingzi let out a sigh. “From the looks of it, it seems he’s made up his mind not to talk.”
The young maiden let out a sigh as well. “Perhaps he is determined to wait until the point of death to speak.”
Duo Qingzi said, “Hasn’t that point arrived yet?”
The young maiden said, “As soon as you strike, it will have arrived.”
Duo Qingzi had already made his move. His hand was both white and delicate, like a woman’s hand. His hand movements were soft and graceful, as though he were plucking a flower, a very fragile and tender flower.
No matter how tough and vigorous the opponent, underneath his hands, they would turn as fragile and as tender as a flower.
It seemed as though his hand didn’t move very quickly. In fact, it was like a very gentle light. By the time you saw it, it was there.
But this time, before his hand arrived, the sabre left the sheath.
When the sabre light flashed, his hands opened just like a flower. It really did seize that sabre. Was his other hand going to seek out Fu Hongxue’s soul? Just like how he had withered the flesh and the blood of those five people earlier!
A flower-petal like hand. A soul-searching hand.
The sabre which no one could catch was actually caught by his hand. Unfortunately, no matter how fearsome the hand, when it came underneath this sabre, it would become as tender and fragile as a flower petal.
Sabre light flashed. Blood sprayed about.
His hand had already been chopped in half. His head had also been chopped in half.
The young woman’s eyes widened, but her pupils contracted.
She didn’t see the sabre at all. The sabre was already sheathed. It was like how lightning flashed across the dark firmament of the sky. No one could see it afterwards. She could only see Fu Hongxue’s deathly pale face.
Fu Hongxue had already stood up and walked over. His gait was still very clumsy and awkward, so clumsy it was terrifying.
He walked very slowly. He was already drunk. So drunk, it was terrifying.
In her eyes, every single place on his body and his every single movement had become unspeakably terrifying. She was so frightened, she felt as though her blood had coagulated. But she suddenly laughed. “Can it be that you no longer recognize me? I am the second young miss of the
Ni family, Ni Hui. We are friends.”
Fu Hongxue ignored her.
She watched as he walked past her, her eyes still filled with dread. She definitely couldn’t let this person stay alive. If he were to live, she would die. Die in his hands.
This conclusion wasn’t perhaps correct. Originally, she was an extremely intelligent person, but right now, terror had stolen away her mind. But she hadn’t forgotten her ‘Celestial Maiden Flowers’. Aside from her, it seemed as though there was no one else in the martial world who could use this vile type of hidden projectile.
Once the hidden projectiles left her hand, not only could the flower petals shoot out and wound, there were lethal poisons hidden within the petals as well.
She only carried thirteen ‘Celestial Maiden Flowers’ on her, because she simply didn’t need to carry too many.
She had only used this hidden projectile a total of three times. Each time, she had only used one petal. One petal is enough to take a man’s life.
But right now, she actually shot out all thirteen of the petals, and then her body immediately flew backwards. Even if this strike didn’t land, she could at least retreat with her body intact. She always had a great deal of faith in her lightness kungfu.
But at this moment, the sabre had already left its sheath!
Chapter 19 - Executioner
A flash of sabre light. A splash of blood.
She saw the flash of sabre light. She even saw the splashing blood.
The pearls of blood seemed to splash out from between her eyes. When she saw these pearls of blood, it was as though she had seen her own ghost, or seen her two legs leave her body and then give her a kick.
She even felt as though her left eye could now see her right eye.
Who can truly understand her feelings?
Nobody. Only living people can understand other people’s feelings. A dead person’s head definitely can’t hold these thoughts, because it has already been chopped in half. A person whose head had been chopped in half originally shouldn’t be able to see anything, unless the sabre was simply too fast. When the sabre blade chopped down, the sense of vision hadn’t died yet. She could still see what happened in that split second.
This very last split second.
How long is a split second?
There are sixty split seconds in the snap of a finger. The strange thing was, the last split second before a person dies, they can think of some things which they normally wouldn’t think through in an entire day and night.
Right now, nobody knew what she was thinking, and she naturally would never be able to say it.
Ni Ping. Thirty three years of age.
The second son of Ni Baofeng, ‘Master of the Pavilion of Hidden Treasure’, he wielded a long sword. He was one of the more famous quick swordsmen of the next generation of martial artists.
He was single and had never wed.
After the Ni Family Garden had been destroyed, he often stayed with the famous prostitute, Bai Ruyu, in her ‘Courtyard of Jade Fragrance’.
On April 19th, Fu Hongxue killed Ni Ping.
Ni Hui, twenty years old.
The second daughter of the ‘Master of the Pavilion of Hidden Treasure’, intelligent and resourceful, with extremely high skills in lightness kungfu. She alone practiced the overpowering hidden projectile skill, ‘Celestial Maiden Flowers’. She had killed three people.
She was single and had never wed.
On April 19th, Fu Hongxue killed Ni Hui.
Duo Qingzi, thirty-five years old.
Originally, his surname was ‘Hu’. His background was unclear, but he entered the Xingxiuhai sect in his infancy. Even as a youth, his martial arts proficiency was very high, and the ‘Great Soul-Searching Hand of Severing Heaven and Shattering Earth’ was one of the seven great Secret Skills of the martial world. He had killed an innumerable number of people.
He was single and had never wed.
Before March had ended, he had evilly killed six married women.
On the night of April 19th, Fu Hongxue killed Duo Qingzi.
Luo Xiaohu, forty years old.
He had robbed and plundered the lands west of the river. He wielded a sabre and thought very highly of himself. He considered himself the best sabre-wielder in the world.
He was single and had never wed.
On April 21st, Fu Hongxue killed Luo Xiaohu.
Yang Wulu, forty four years old.
The cousin of Yang Wuji, ‘Master of the White Clouds Temple.’ A disciple of the Kunlun sect. He had a very high attainment in the ‘Eighteen Stances of the Flying Dragon’. He was very narrow minded, and would definitely take vengeance when slighted. He really rather had Yang Wuji’s attitude of ‘abstain from nothing when killing’.
He became a Taoist priest when young, and was single.
On April 22nd, Fu Hongxue killed Yang Wulu.
Yin Rudi, thirty years old.
Jin Rumu, thirty three years old.
The two worked together and had killed people without number. They were nicknamed the ‘Twin Killers of the Five Elements’. Their martial arts techniques were extremely secretive.
They had very unkind temperaments and were very stingy. By this year, they were fabulously wealthy.
Yin Rudi was a lecher.
Jin Rumu was castrated at birth.
On April 23rd, Fu Hongxue killed Yin Rudi, Jin Rumu.
Zhuge Duan, fifty years old.
He was the Buddhist disciple of Guanxi’s ‘One Sabred Luo’. He was unfeeling and skeptical, and loved to kill people.
He had long since become a widower.
He had married three times, but all three of his wives had died to his sabre.
No children.
On April 24th, Fu Hongxue killed Zhuge Duan.
‘A Flower Branch’, Qian Lixiang. Twenty nine years old.
A rapist and an expert in using knockout drugs.
He was single and had never wed.
On April 25th, Fu Hongxue killed Qian Lixiang.
There was a great deal of material left in the thick folder in front of him. It had all been obtained from various places by the two men in front of him.
He only flipped a few pages. Then he no longer read.
One of the two standing in front of him was Gu Qi, him of the black shirt and white socks. The other wore a moon-white monk’s robe that was totally spotless. It was the crazy monk from the Ancient Monastery of the Celestial Dragon.
Right now, he didn’t seem crazy in the slightest.
His attitude towards the two was very gentle and mild. They, on the other hand, were very respectful towards him, just like how loyal ministers would act towards their monarch.
Although they were standing facing him, there was a very large, very broad table between them.
Regardless of the time or place, he would always keep an appropriate distance between himself and others.
Although his smiling face was very amiable, no one ever dared to annoy him, because he was the most legendary figure in the martial world of this day and age.
He was Gongzi Yu.
The room was tasteful and secluded. Every single item had been selected with the greatest care and placed in the most suitable place. But there weren’t many things on the table. Aside from that folder, there was only a long sword wrapped in yellow silk.
From outside the window, the shadows of flowers flickered about. No voices could be heard, and there were only the three of them inside.
When he wasn’t speaking, they didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. They all knew that Gongzi Yu liked silence.
The folder was shut.
Gongzi Yu finally let out a sigh. “Why do you always want me to look at these things?”
With two fingers, he gently flicked the folder back to them, as though he were afraid of being contaminated by the bloody acts and murderous aura described within.
Only then did he continue, “Why don’t you directly tell me, how many people
has he killed over these past few days?”
Wu Hua looked at Gu Qi.
Gu Qi said, “Twenty three.”
Gongzi Yu wrinkled his forehead. “Seventeen days, twenty three people?”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu sighed. “Hasn’t he killed just a little too many people?”
Gu Qi said, “It is too many.”
Gongzi Yu said, “I hear that your chess buddy, Yang Wuji, also had his hand chopped off by him.”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu chuckled. “Fortunately, one can still play chess with his left hand.”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Did Yang Wulu seek out Fu Hongxue in order to get revenge for his cousin?”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Luo Xiaohu naturally fought in order to compete to see whose sabre was faster.”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Why did Zhuge Duan kill all three of his wives?”
Gu Qi said, “Because they smiled once at other men.”
Gongzi Yu said, “Out of these two people, one thought too highly of himself, and the other was too skeptical of others. Those types of people can do more harm than good. From now on, you must not accept those sorts of people into our organization.”
Gu Qi and Wu Hua simultaneously said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu’s countenance became mild again. “But I know that their sabre techniques weren’t weak.”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu said, “The Great Soul-Searching Hand of the Xingxiuhai sect can also be considered a very powerful martial arts technique.”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu said, “I hear that Fu Hongxue has always been depressed recently, and has drowned himself in alcohol.”
Gu Qi said, “Yes.”
Gongzi Yu said, “And yet, none of these experts you sought out were able to block even a single sabre chop of his.”
Gu Qi did not dare to open his mouth. He didn’t dare to say ‘yes’ again.
But Gongzi Yu was waiting for him to respond. When he asked a question, the answer must be concise, but there must be an answer. A lack of an answer would be an indication that his question was not worth being taken seriously.
Anyone who didn’t take him seriously was guaranteed to receive a suitable punishment.