Chapter 14. Escape

Zhou Zishu looked him over before replying unhurriedly, "I don"t see how you"re near death."

He hadn"t finished when Wen Kexing, as if responding, cried out in pain with his back bent. One of the blades pierced through his body to the hilt; and his face went pale as he could only utter, "You…"

Zhou Zishu was initially shocked, but soon enough he rushed toward the opposite direction. In the corner was a fleeting shadow which caught Zhou Zishu"s eyes thanks to the incredibly narrow path. The shadow was unable to dodge his attack in time, and they coughed up blood which stained their whole mask. They staggered back a few steps, but still had it in them to get back on their feet and run.

There was an "Oh" from Zhou Zishu as he realized the pine cone last time didn"t stop them not because he didn"t put enough strength into it; but rather because this one was good at being a punching bag.

All of a sudden, a ghostly figure appeared from nowhere to grab at the person"s neck, propping them against the wall.

The man in black said in horror, "You…"

Wen Kexing tilted his head and smiled, his other arm raised. The blade, which was held under his arm pit, fell to the ground. His clothes didn"t suffer a single scratch.

Zhou Zishu spoke in a lethargic manner, "Did you really believe his hoax? This is the first time I"ve seen a killer this dumb."

At that, Wen Kexing looked at him thoughtfully. "It"s not that he"s awful, your eyes are just way too sharp, my friend. If you aren"t injured, he might…"

He cut himself off right there and shook his head, strengthening his grip on the black-clothed man"s neck. There was a gurgling sound from his throat while his eyes shone with unspeakable fear. Wen Kexing felt his upper body with his other hand and hummed, "Gold-threaded armor… This is some good stuff, a shame that it"s wasted on you."

The man forced out broken words with great difficulty, "Mas… "s… m…"

Wen Kexing"s lips curled, and with a "Crack!", the man convulsed and went still.

Zhou Zishu watched his companion killing off this person without any interrogating, his eyes darkened a little. He took one step back and leaned onto the wall, arms crossed while thinking about something.

Wen Kexing removed the man"s mask to completely reveal his ident.i.ty.  He looked around forty with a small physique and high, cruel cheekbones; on his right cheek was a big red birthmark. His eyes were small, his nose was big, and he had buck teeth.

Wen Kexing commented after examining, "Seeing how he looks, he deserves to die after all."

Then he raised his head to smile at Zhou Zishu, "Do you agree, Brother Zhou?"

Zhou Zishu replied, "You"re so full of nonsense."

Wen Kexing held up his arms in a gesture of appreciation, "I"m very incredibly honored that you thought of me so."

Zhou Zishu laughed mockingly and went past him to look at the body. There were many burning questions inside him, such as: How did the famous Golden Armor, which disappeared from jianghu many years ago, end up in this person"s hand? Was this one the true Xue Fang the Hanged Ghost? How were those underwater creatures made? Were they human?

He undressed the corpse in a blink of an eye and found a daunting tattoo of a ghost face on his back. Zhou Zishu paused; he could be no one else but one of the Ghosts.

The Hanged? Hanged Ghost Xue Fang apparently had buck teeth?

Ugh… This isn"t right, and Zhou Zishu immediately abandoned this very Wen Kexing-like train of thought. Were those the actual Ghosts that chased after him and Zhang Chengling along the way? Impossible—the Ghosts of Qingzhu Ridge couldn"t possibly make a name for themselves if that was all they could do.

Why did the Hanged Ghost want to kill Yu Tianjie? And was the person who went the other way the Delighted Mourning Ghost?

The act of killing renowned figures on the outskirt of the Zhao"s Holdings was a direct confirmation that they were the ones responsible for the Zhang family ma.s.sacre, what good would it bring the Ghost Valley?

And… He looked up at an amiable Wen Kexing, questioning him suddenly, "Didn"t Brother Wen proclaim that you"d never murdered anyone ever since you left home? Why went against that just now?"

Wen Kexing glared. "He wanted to end me first; if I hadn"t been smart and clever enough, I would"ve died under those blades."

Zhou Zishu smiled, "Were you also adamant that this disaster would never befall you, Mister Good-hearted Wen?"

Wen Kexing replied with sense, "Look at this one and the ghost face on his back; then look at the young man we found—he lost his head before he could even get hitched! Don"t you see? It proves the fact that this man was of the extremely vile sort, did he need a reason to take the life of a good-hearted one?"

Zhou Zishu looked at him, not saying anything.

Wen Kexing shook his head, voice full of conviction, "How sad for an adult like you to be completely ignorant of such principles; I can"t even imagine how you grew up."

Zhou Zishu was silent for a good while. Then he spat out, "Grateful for the education."

Wen Kexing was quick to reply, "It"s nothing at all, don"t be so formal."

Zhou Zishu looked down, back to searching the body. While he was removing the armor, a small pouch fell out from the area near the chest. He carefully took it off, and found a sparkling piece of lapis lazuli inside. It was as big as the palm of his hand and meticulously crafted, seemingly engraved with patterns.

He held up a broken piece to examine it under the light, "Lapis?"

There was an "Ah" from Wen Kexing as he took a closer look and received it from the other with both hands, as if he was afraid of breaking it. "No wonder he wore the Golden Armor, I would have done the same if this was in my possession."

Zhou Zishu was curious at the other man"s serious att.i.tude. "What is it?" He couldn"t help but ask.

Wen Kexing replied, "This looks like one of the five pieces that make up the legendary Lapis Armor… I thought them to be rumors, but seems like they"re real after all. It"s said that once you gather all five pieces, you will rule over the entire pugilist scene in Zhong Yuan no matter who you are. Some say those pieces have the guide to the greatest martial art style hidden within them; some say they hide a map instead, and when you follow the directions it will lead you to the object of your dreams and desires."

He put it back in Zhou Zishu"s palm somewhat reluctantly, curling the other"s fingers around it. "It"s the good stuff." He said softly.

Zhou Zishu nodded in understanding, then immediately batting Wen Kexing"s hand away. He put the piece of lapis back into the pouch and carelessly threw it aside to continue searching the Hanged Ghost"s body. After turning the corpse over and over and finding nothing else, he stood up with a frown, "Well, this is troublesome. How do we get out now?"

He stared down upon the still-sitting Wen Kexing, continuing in annoyance, "I"m asking you, Mister "Good Person" Wen! You killed this man way too quickly, do you want us to dig our way out like mice?"

Wen Kexing pointed to the lapis, "You… don"t you want that?"

Zhou Zishu replied with a solemn face, "If the completed piece is made of real lapis then it does worth a fortune, but there is only one part of it here so it"s entirely useless. Not even the p.a.w.n shop would take this thing."

At that, Wen Kexing laughed softly and stood up. He followed Zhou Zishu while asking, "Seeing how cautious Brother Zhou is, why won"t you believe in the rumors? Don"t you have any wishes or desires?"

Zhou Zishu didn"t bother to look back. "There is no such thing as a free lunch; and even you don"t want it yourself, so why must I? Don"t you have desires too, charitable Brother Wen?"

Wen Kexing turned his head away at that, carefully putting the pouch in his chest pocket. "What if I want it?" He asked.

Zhou Zishu glanced at him, then replied, "Ah."

And nothing else.

They walked back and forth in the cave, revisiting both the spot from where they jumped down and the entrance with blades sticking out. Zhou Zishu felt the wall surrounding them with his hands, "This gate closed when we tried to get out, so at that time the Hanged Ghost was definitely near. The controlling mechanism might be around this spot too."

But they were both completely clueless about divination, so the search was fruitless. The seven nails started to stir slightly, informing Zhou Zishu that it was nearing midnight again. Another full day had pa.s.sed with them trapped under here, and considering that he was in a worse condition than before, eating that dog-like beast might be inevitable.

While they were thinking hard, all of a sudden, a faint voice could be heard from somewhere far away from the cave entrance, "Hurry up, I found this place, let me call out to them— Master! Master! Can you listen to me… Master, are you still breathing? If you are, I"m gonna dig you out of this grave; but if you want to go see the King of h.e.l.l, I won"t bother you!"

It was Gu Xiang!

For some unknown reasons, after being chased by a big dog, bitten by a monster, terrified by the Hanged Ghost"s appearance; Zhou Zishu felt incredibly grateful for her voice.

Gu Xiang continued to whisper, "Did you not hear me or are you dead already? Master, I"m gonna leave for real if you don"t speak up!"

Only then did Wen Kexing speak up leisurely. "Ah-Xiang, do you know what happens to girls who talk too much and do nothing?"

This seems to be a special kungfu of delivering sounds. Zhou Zishu had seen it from the other man several times; no matter where he was or how quiet he talked, he could make his target hear what he said very clearly.

Gu Xiang made a whining sound, urging someone, "Hurry up, didn"t you hear Master telling me to do more and talk less? Let"s get him out of there."

The sound of grave digging started afterward.

Zhou Zishu suddenly realized: Rather than not doing much, Gu Xiang just didn"t do anything at all.

It took nearly four hours to dig them out, like digging out two big turnips.

Beside Gu Xiang was a crowd of men who looked like regular workers. She shouted, "Look! They"re crawling out!"

Zhou Zishu didn"t want to get out anymore at her words.

Wen Kexing remained calm, making his way out with his face full of dirt and grime. He glanced at Gu Xiang, ordering her, "You can shut up now."

Gu Xiang stuck out her tongue, making an ugly face at Zhou Zishu"s direction.

A "worker" walked towards them and formally greeted Wen Kexing, "Master, we"re late."

Gu Xiang cut in, "We actually saw the marks you left behind long ago, but the Zhaos made quite a ruckus since there were two mysterious deaths going on, and all those cowards who came here after that stalled our progress—how did you two end up like this, anyway?"

Wen Kexing replied, "We saw a laughing owl."

Zhou Zishu glanced at every other direction at once, like being dragged into this was the last thing he wanted.

"Huh?" Gu Xiang asked confusedly.

Wen Kexing explained, "A laughing owl signifies incoming misfortune, including death. That"s why we had to hide underground, that way the ghosts will think that we"re already dead and they will leave us be."

"Oh!" Gu Xiang exclaimed in enlightenment.

Wen Kexing patted her head, continuing shamelessly, "Mm-hm, bear it in mind, it may save your life one day."

Then he looked over to the worker-dressed man. "Old Meng, these clothes don"t suit you at all. Dress like a butcher next time."

Old Meng replied dutifully, "Yes, Master."

Wen Kexing waved his hand, "Go, we don"t need everyone gathering here and making people think that we"re a gang of criminals."

Old Meng whistled, and the rest disappeared into thin air in a very organized fashion, their traces completely vanishing.

Zhou Zishu also said goodbye, but Wen Kexing told him, "Brother Zhou, how about I follow you?"

Zhou Zishu used silence to proclaim his objection, only for Wen Kexing to continue, "I"m a good man, so I can teach you the art of merit gathering on the way."

Zhou Zishu remained silent.

Gu Xiang, currently watching this staring contest, felt like the atmosphere had gone very strange. Eventually, Wen Kexing delivered the killing blow, "And I"m gonna follow you whether you want me to or not."

There was a stiff smile on Zhou Zishu"s face as he replied, "Then be my guest, Brother Wen."

Looking at Zhou Zishu, Gu Xiang finally understood what the saying "a mule is only obedient when it received a beating"1 was all about. As for when she looked at Wen Kexing, she finally knew how a person could be so unabashed they would put the rest of the world to shame. She followed the two men, feeling extremely proud of herself for learning so much in just one night.

Footnotes.

1 The idiom is used for people who are stupidly stubborn and only harsh treatment will make them conform to something.

Translator"s notes. Happy Lunar New Year everyone!! I"m sorry this came a little late, holiday activities are really distracting ?