Chapter 17. Lapis

Cao Weining asked in a stupor. "He… He"s that deplorable thief Fang Buzhi?"

The young maiden nodded, pointing at the corpse"s left hand. "It is said that Fang Buzhi is a man in his thirties and has a deformed left hand. There is also an unconfirmed rumor that…"

Her face went pink as she stopped there.

Zhou Zishu studied the body"s face and clean-shaven chin. He continued in her stead, "Also, there is a rumor that Fang Buzhi has another deformity on his body. Should our young lady feel uncomfortable, it is better that you go outside first or turn your back to us. Removing his pants will confirm whether he is the legendary thief or not."

The girl glanced at her male companion in embarra.s.sment. He coughed lightly, "Xiaolian, you should go."

She went outside and waited by the door, her back facing the room.

The moment she turned away, Wen Kexing expertly stripped down the dead"s trousers to reveal that a particular part of the body had been cut off. He rubbed his chin in thought. "So it is him, no wonder I couldn"t feel anything out of the ordinary when he touched before."

Unwavering and completely unbothered, he continued to remove Fang Buzhi"s clothes entirely and searched around. He found his money pouch among a big pile of a.s.sorted items and opened it, overjoyed when he found out nothing had been lost. With perfect contentment, he put in back in his chest pocket, not forgetting to tell Cao Weining politely, "Brother Cao, come over here and see if your stuffs are still here."

Cao Weining and the other young man stared at him, dumbstruck.

Zhou Zishu reminded him with a cold tone. "The dead is more important right now, Mister Charitable Wen." He ignored the stranger"s appraising look, adding, "Can you pay me back now?"

Wen Kexing"s face was full of grief. "We already belong to each other, why are you still haggling over that?"

As the young man"s expression became even more entertaining, Zhou Zishu gripped Wen Kexing"s collar and threw the nuisance of a man aside. He squatted down to examine the body from head to toe. He frowned and concluded, "He died after a single blow. The attack went through his body from chest to back; clearly the result of the Raksha Palm."

The stranger exclaimed, "You"re talking about the Delighted Mourning Ghost"s Raksha Palm?"

"I"m afraid so." Zhou Zishu nodded, covering the body. He turned to the girl outside the door. "You can come in now, young miss."

The man sized them up, then made a salute, "My name is Deng Kuan, disciple of Gao Chong, and this is my junior-apprentice sister Gao Xiaolian. We are travelling to acc.u.mulate experience, but a few days ago a message was received from my Master, so we had to rush back before Dong Ting"s gathering. How may I address you?"

Cao Weining hurried to answer. "Ah, many apologies for our tactlessness, it is an honor to meet you, Young Sir Deng. And surely this young miss must be Sir Gao"s daughter? My name is Cao Weining from Qing Feng Sword Sect, currently following my Patriarch"s order to attend Dong Ting. My Uncle will also be there soon enough, and on the way I ran into this… this thief master. It was fortunate of me to have been a.s.sisted by Brother Zhou and Brother Wen here."

Deng Kuan said, "Then from where do you two brave…"

Zhou Zishu, still squatting, turned to him at that and smiled. "You overestimated our bravery. I"m called Zhou Xu, a mere spontaneous wanderer who belongs to no sects. As for that one…"

He pointed at Wen Kexing, pausing a little for dramatic effect. "He is Wen Kexing. He might look gentlemanly, but in truth he is a deeply experienced dirty hoodlum…"

Wen Kexing replied calmly, "I"ve only ever been teasing to you, Ah-Xu."

Zhou Zishu"s voice was light. "And I"m glad I"m a priority."

Gao Xiaolian"s attention was evidently no longer on the body. In contrast, Deng Kuan didn"t seem perturbed, only smiling back kindly with an att.i.tude that was neither cowering nor arrogant - the manners of a true hero from the orthodox sects and someone who belonged to the leading force in Dong Ting. "How humorous of you two. If you come with Brother Cao to Dong Ting, then you are one of us—didn"t Brother Zhou say that this thief also died under the Raksha Palm of the Delighted Mourning Ghsot?"

He and Gao Xiaolian glanced at each other while Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing played dumb with their expression of ignorance. Cao Weining ended up asking, "Also? I heard that the outskirts of the Zhao"s Holdings was disturbed by the Ghosts, did they…"

Gao Xiaolian replied. "So Young Sir Cao did not know. A while before, a message was sent from Tai Hu, saying that Sir Mu Yunge of Duan Jian Manor - who was a guest of the Zhaos at that time - had been murdered by the Raksha Palm. The Ghosts of the Valley have caused numerous atrocities, how dare they be this arrogant."

This place was not far from Dong Ting as it would take at most a day to get there - it wasn"t wrong to consider them already in Great Sir Gao"s domain. It was not clear whether this young lady was so worked up over justice or merely over the fact that there was someone intruding on her father"s territory.

Nonetheless, Deng Kuan and Cao Weining nodded on instinct, "Correct." "Absolutely."

Back when the pugilist scene formed the greatest alliance, there were three pieces of the Realm"s Command, each in the possession of a respectable figure. They could only be used in a time of great urgency; when the pieces were put together, a hero gathering could be held with the partic.i.p.ants being anyone with talent and gallantry. One piece was in "Iron Judge" Gao Chong"s hand, one in the Shaolin Monastery"s1, and the last piece was rumored to belong to the reclusive hermit Monk Gu of Mount Ming.

It was quite unexpected for the unrest about the Ghost Valley to reach even the infamous Monk Gu - who was too engrossed in his cultivation endeavor to pay any attention to the outside world.

After Deng Kuan discussed with Cao Weining, they consulted the rest and decided to hire a carriage to deliver Fang Buzhi"s corpse to Gao Chong immediately in the night, preventing further complications.

Cao Weining and Deng Kuan seemed to have seen their match in each other; their first meeting seemed like that of old friends. Zhou Zishu stayed detached; he had no idea how Gao Chong was like as a person, but at least he had taught his disciples and daughter to be decent people. Gao Xiaolian walked beside them and chiming in at times, her tactfulness and manners a complete contrast to her youth. She was around the same age as Gu Xiang, but was in no way p.r.o.ne to being loud or conceited - an exemplary lady.

Wen Kexing suddenly sighed and lamented, "If only my Gu Xiang can learn something or two from Young Miss Gao."

Gao Xiaolian smiled at him graciously, "Please don"t flatter me, Big Brother Wen."

Zhou Zishu scoffed, voice lowered, "Young lady Gao is Sir Gao"s daughter after all, and Gu Xiang… she"s a good kid, but it"s inevitable for her to not follow her superior"s footsteps."

Wen Kexing"s face was entirely serious. "Ah-Xu, I"m only praising Miss Gao truthfully, you don"t have to get jealous…"

Gao Xiaolian immediately glanced at them in utter embarra.s.sment and hurried ahead to catch up to Deng Kuan and Cao Weining, leaving Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing behind.

Zhou Zishu laughed softly. "Brother Wen, there is one matter that has been plaguing my mind - why was Fang Buzhi"s clothes in a disheveled state when we walked in? From what I know, good old Fang wasn"t the type to have a normal routine."

Wen Kexing, using his hand to support his chin, turned things over in his mind for a few minutes then asked, "You mean the Delighted Mourning Ghost had taken a liking to Fang Buzhi and the latter struggled to fight off the former"s advances, so he killed his unattainable object of fancy in a fit of rage?"

He shook his head and sighed after that, "After all, it has always been inevitable for beauties to suffer."

Zhou Zishu replied, his expression betraying nothing. "What an excellent explanation from Brother Wen, why did I ever think that the murderer must have killed Fang Buzhi for something on his body."

Wen kexing choked on his words briefly, pretending to agree. "Sounds reasonable enough."

He turned his head to see Zhou Zishu looking at him meaningfully. The other man asked, "Did Brother Wen lose anything else that day beside from the pouch?"

Wen Kexing faced his eyes directly and confessed. "Yes. The money was intact, but the piece of Lapis Armor was nowhere to be found."

The smile on Zhou Zishu"s face slowly receded, his eyes dark and cold as if submerged in ice. Wen Kexing looked innocent and smiley as usual.

After a good while, Zhou Zishu lowered his voice. "What are we to do about this, Mister Charitable Wen? You didn"t kill him, but he died because of you."

Wen Kexing fell silent. At that moment ahead of them, Cao Wining and Deng Kuan were discussing Zhou Zishu"s illness. Deng Kuan turned around, about to ask if he could manage traveling through the night and if they should hire another carriage for him, but he sensed a change of atmosphere between the two men.

Wen Kexing was no longer smiling, and there was an unreadable flash in Zhou Zishu"s eyes. Deng Kuan felt puzzled and was going to inquire the two further when Wen Kexing suddenly laughed, his hand as quick as lightning gripping at Zhou Zishu"s chin as he leaned down and kissed him.

Deng Kuan stood there stunned, but educated as he was, he turned away awkwardly after a few minutes, feigning calmness at the dazed Gao Xiaolian and Cao Weining. "If… Then, us four should take steps in advance, let"s do that…"

Too bad he miscounted the moment he phased out.

When the three of them ditched without looking back, Zhou Zishu broke away from Wen Kexing"s grip, ruthlessly delivering a punch to the other"s abdomen, his expression cold. "The joke is not funny, Brother Wen."

Wen Kexing bent forward to clutch at his stomach, an unnerving hint of a smile still evident on his face. "I didn"t kill him, but he died because of me? Have you considered that you"re wrong, Ah-Xu?"

Zhou Zishu watched him icily.

Wen Kexing slowly straightened up. In the middle of the empty road at nighttime, his voice was low, almost like a sigh. "Inside the Lapis Armor is either the greatest martial art guide or a treasure from a rival country, who wouldn"t want it?"

His mouth curled, but the smile didn"t reach his eyes. "Fang Buzhi didn"t give a d.a.m.n about what he stole - even if it"s charity money - as long as it satisfied his greed, why wouldn"t he want it? The Delighted Mourning Ghost was forced to enter the Valley for his crimes and lives a life that is half h.e.l.l, so why wouldn"t he want it? Why wouldn"t you? You say you have to gather merits only because you don"t want your past sins to come up once you"re judged in the Underworld, and if there exists an object that can make you unbeatable and untouched by ghosts, why wouldn"t you want it?"

Zhou Zishu shook his head slowly, scoffing. "I"ve never been afraid of ghosts knocking on my door."

He walked away briskly without looking back.

Wen Kexing watched his back, his expressions dark and indecipherable. Suddenly he laughed out loud, "You"ve got good taste in ca.s.sia wine, my dear Saint Zhou."

While Zhou Zishu tried to ignore it, he couldn"t help but wiping his mouth ferociously with his sleeves, cursing, "d.a.m.n you, Wen Kexing!"

Footnotes.

1 A Buddhist temple teaching the Shaolin Martial Art. In wuxia fiction, Shaolin is often considered a separate sect.

Translator"s Notes. Our first kiss, finally! (Though not too ideal, it"s expected from Priest ?)

And I have made the character list ! There are only main characters at the moment, others will be added later. Also, now that the main cast has been introduced , I"ll start recommending some artwork, starting with (＾▽＾)