Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Five (Part IV)

Chapter Five: Resentment Comes Late (Part IV)

The mountain road extended beneath the horse hooves.
 
When galloping rapidly on horseback, the road after the rain would, beneath the iron hooves of the steeds, splatter up bursts of mud. The mud spots upon Little Brother Huo's body were already too numerous to count.
 
The black steeds of Xingyun Villa's Feiyun Riders were indeed fine horses chosen as one in a thousand. Upon the rugged mountain paths, they unexpectedly also galloped very smoothly.
 
But Little Brother Huo's heart could not be smoothed down at all. A thousand strands and ten thousand threads of doubts tangled so much that his head grew large.
 
——The ghost-like sword formation of Xingyun Villa's Feiyun Riders, the vicious smile and words full of profound mystery from Jiao Chaogui before his death, and even the minds of Chang Hongbi and Zhan Rifei beside him, all made him unable to fathom.
 
——Outside that dilapidated temple, when the "Yinyang'an" was pulled out from Jiao Chaogui's body, he had once asked Zhan Rifei: "This Jiao Chaogui actually knows you?" Yet Zhan Rifei merely answered a simple sentence: "Correct," and then closed his mouth, appearing as if he already did not want to mention this topic again.
 
The light of the sky had already become ash-white. Having galloped for a small half of the night, by now, fatigue, hunger, and the injury and pain upon his right arm had already, like a venomous snake, tightly entangled him.
 
Yet Zhan Rifei unexpectedly did not agree to even a single brief stay.
 
Little Brother Huo still remembered his face that was like a smile yet not a smile: "Brother Huo may perfectly well take Chang Hongbi and travel alone; if you insist on traveling with this Zhan, the itinerary along this way will have to obey this Zhan's arrangements."
 
And heaven, as if cooperating with Zhan Rifei's words, along this way, not even a single decent household was seen.
 
Galloping until now, even Little Brother Huo had lost his way. The only hope was that they had already left Xiangyang further and further away, and were getting closer and closer to Tokyo.
 
At a bend in the road, a small teahouse finally appeared on one side of the road. Outside the dilapidated window, a burst of fragrance from scallion oil fried rice suddenly drifted over. To Little Brother Huo's smell, it seemed even more enticing than the mountain delicacies and sea flavors within Linglong Villa. He suddenly remembered that right now was precisely the time for breakfast.
 
With a cheer, Little Brother Huo galloped his horse straight over. Zhan Rifei was too late to stop him; his horse was already in the courtyard, and following that, his person leaped and entered the teahouse.
 
Within the teahouse, apart from a small shop assistant, there was only an old man with a bent waist keeping watch here, as if he had not expected that customers would arrive so early.
 
As soon as Little Brother Huo sat down, just like the reincarnation of a starved ghost, he ordered a large pile of rice and dishes, and a large pot of tea, listening to which made that assistant's eyes open wider and wider. This was not only because of the many names of dishes Little Brother Huo wanted, which he had never even heard of, but also because he could not imagine under any circumstances how this yellow-jacketed youth could stuff so many things into his stomach?
 
Then he saw that another two people walked in, sitting down beside this youth. One of them was still a child.
 
The moment he saw Zhan Rifei walk in, Little Brother Huo launched a preemptive strike; unable to care about manners, he hastily stuffed a mantou into his mouth, while saying in a blurred and unclear manner: "This cannot blame me. The more things my brain thinks about, the easier it is to get hungry. Not to mention that the things that happened these few days are also truly, really too many."
 
Zhan Rifei looked at him, shook his head helplessly, and pretending to be angry, gritted his teeth and said: "I am only afraid that hunger won't kill you!"
 
Saying it like this, within his eyes, a kind of smile unexpectedly surfaced.
 
Little Brother Huo blanked out. Only now did he discover that beneath this newly rising sunlight, his face was so clear, elegant, and handsome, and his smile was so warm.
 
Under this blanking out, a mouthful of mantou instantly choked him, and for a moment he coughed so much that he almost lost his breath.
 
Zhan Rifei looked at him bringing it upon himself, and smiled faintly: "It turns out that although hunger won't kill you, it is possible to choke you to death. Next time I see Zhao Zhier, I will definitely tell him this secret."
 
Now even Chang Hongbi also laughed loudly.
 
Little Brother Huo's face, for some reason, turned red. He shook his head, made a wry face, and swore that right now he did not want to think about anything, only wanting to single-mindedly deal with the food before him. Except that these few days, heaven seemed to specifically want to oppose him——right at this moment, he suddenly heard a burst of strange drum sounds.
 
"Dong——dong——"
 
One strike, one beat, one broken heart. The slow and muffled drum sounds sounded floating and unfixed. At the very beginning it seemed to be by the edge of the woods, then suddenly it appeared as if it had arrived at the west side of the mountain road. Following that, the surroundings all seemed to echo with this drum sound.
 
Little Brother Huo looked at the rice and dishes upon the table, and let out a sigh.
 
"They've come. Yet another path of people looking for trouble."
 
Although pretending to be indifferent, his heart, however, had already begun to thump and leap.
 
——Yesterday, after Zhan Rifei's battle against Hanshui Palace, he had once heard this strange drum sound. He had originally thought that he had already broken free from the entanglement of this strange drum sound.
 
Stealing a glance at Zhan Rifei, he saw that this black-clad youth was still as calm as usual, as if he had heard nothing at all.
 
A burst of strange fragrance suddenly assaulted them.
 
With a "smash" sound, the tea bowl in Chang Hongbi's hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. Following that, Little Brother Huo suddenly felt that someone pulled his sleeve; lowering his head to look, it was unexpectedly Chang Hongbi hiding behind his back, trembling with fear. His upper and lower teeth were already clattering unceasingly.
 
He had never seen Chang Hongbi be frightened into this kind of state——the terror upon this child's face was just as if he had fallen into a nightmare from which he could never wake up.
 
What kind of person exactly was the one coming?
 
Little Brother Huo naturally could not guess.
 
Suddenly, with a "bang" sound, the main entrance was dashed open. The newly rising sunlight instantly scattered through every single corner of this teahouse.
 
Two white-clad young girls, holding very large flower baskets in their hands, throwing and scattering a very special kind of flower all the way, walked into the courtyard. That burst of strange, faint fragrance turned out to be transmitted from the flower baskets in their hands.
 
Little Brother Huo also seemed to be intoxicated by this fragrance; looking closely under this, these strange flower petals surprisingly seemed to be made of cold ice.
 
A wide carriage had already stopped silently outside the courtyard. Four girls whose long skirts reached the ground and whose grace was exceptionally charming, holding glittering and translucent jade swords, came gracefully.
 
The teahouse assistant and the boss had already been frozen blank from watching.
 
Within Little Brother Huo's heart, he was even more curious.
 
The one coming was absolutely not Shao Jizu; then, who was the one coming?
 
Except that he did not need to guess for long.
 
He very quickly saw two people appear in the courtyard without anyone realizing it.
 
——These two people were unexpectedly also acquaintances! Little Brother Huo suddenly felt that he had recently run into a streak of luck with acquaintances. The acquaintances who came were each more troublesome than the last. He only hoped that this time would be an exception, but very quickly discovered that he was daydreaming.
 
The ones coming were two green-clad people.
 
A tall man, looking extremely gentle and amiable, yet possessing a pair of eyes like those of a dead person. This made him look as if he were wearing a mask.
 
The other was unexpectedly a woman. She seemed to always lower her head, but her softness, beauty, and loveliness could attract anyone's gaze.
 
It just so happened that when Little Brother Huo saw it was her, he already felt an unspeakable disgust. In this world, there were not yet many who could make Little Brother Huo disgusted to this extent.
 
——Beneath the sunlight in the courtyard, upon the collar of her green clothing, a tiny crescent moon was embroidered.
 
——The ones coming were naturally the Sun-Wielding Envoy and Moon-Wielding Envoy of Hanshui Palace.
 
The drifting ripples of the eyes of Zhangyue, the green-clad woman, looked from afar at Zhan Rifei; her tender and soft voice made a person feel directly melted to the bones: "Young Master Zhan, we meet again."
 
Zhan Rifei's voice was still filled with unspeakable composure: "The Moon-Wielding Envoy arrives here, what advice do you have to offer?"
 
Little Brother Huo felt that Chang Hongbi's hand, which was tightly grasping his own, suddenly became icy cold. He only then discovered that the terrified eyes of this small and thin boy were unexpectedly not looking at this man and woman, but had been staring deathly at that carriage the entire time.
 
——Within that carriage, what kind of secret was hidden again?
 
One could only hear the Moon-Wielding Envoy saying: "How can a person as intelligent as the Young Master also ask what he already knows. The arrival of this envoy is naturally for the person beside the Young Master."
 
The ripples of her charming eyes turned, and she smiled coquettishly again: "Apart from this, Old Mother also wants to see the person who can receive the 'Changxiangsi' and the 'Qianjun Zhanlongjiao'."
 
Just as her voice fell, four Kunlun slaves who were like iron towers, with bare upper bodies, curly beards, and green eyes, carried a massive Hu bed, stepping out grandly from the carriage.
 
Upon the Hu bed, a white-haired, chicken-skinned old woman reclined, wearing a magnificent long robe upon her body, and she also propped up a purple dragon-headed cane in her hand. The old woman's countenance, although possessing an unspeakable ugliness, was unexpectedly filled with kindliness and amiability.
 
Little Brother Huo, however, suddenly drew in a breath of cold air.
 
Within this old woman's eyes, there was a patch of blankness. A deep blankness.
 
This kindly faced old woman was unexpectedly a blind person!
 
The moment his gaze shifted, only then did he discover that the flower-scattering young girls surrounding the perimeter and the girls holding jade swords, along with the Moon-Wielding and Sun-Wielding Envoys, all prostrated themselves down.
 
Little Brother Huo let out a soft sigh again.
 
——No one would believe that this kindly, blind old woman was the Master of Hanshui Palace who awed the entire world, Old Mother Hanshui.
 
Except that in this world, things that were unbelievable were already truly too many.
 
This luxurious and amiable old woman sat upon the Hu bed; those eyes that were already blind were still "looking" in the direction of the teahouse. After a long time, only then did she slowly say: "Old Mother has not moved about in the martial world for many years; the talents and chivalrous heroes of this generation are no longer recognized."
 
Yet it was unknown for whom this sigh of hers was expressed.
 
Upon Zhan Rifei's hand holding the sword, the blue veins had already slightly bulged.
 
Old Mother Hanshui shifted the topic again: "Chang Hongbi, you have made Old Mother search so bitterly; since you have already arrived here, why don't you quickly come to Old Mother's side."
 
The moment the three words "Chang Hongbi" came out, that frail boy's face already became like that of a dead person. Following that, without any warning, exceeding anyone's expectations, a magnificent blade light flew up, stabbing Little Brother Huo's eyes so that he could not open them in an instant! Almost simultaneously, he felt that Zhan Rifei beside him had also suddenly drawn his sword.
 
——Why did he draw his sword?
 
Very quickly, Little Brother Huo smelled a scent of blood.
 
A piece of white silk handkerchief gently wiped across the blade of the circular knife, and then was thrown onto the ground.
 
The Sun-Wielding Envoy's body seemed to stand entirely in his original place without moving. No one could tell that the thunder-and-lightning-like blade strike just now came from this strange circular knife in his hand.
 
The only difference, however, was upon his chest.
 
——Upon his chest, there was already a patch of bloodstain.
 
——"You still injured me!"
 
Within Zhan Rifei's voice, however, for the first time, there was anger: "I only regret that I was still a step too slow."
 
Only now did Little Brother Huo see that the shop assistant in the kitchen and that old man with the bent waist had already had their heads and bodies separated in this single instant. He also could not help but shout harshly: "These two people neither had martial arts nor offended you; as the head of the four envoys of Hanshui Palace, how can you slaughter the innocent indiscriminately?!"
 
The Sun-Wielding Envoy's head was held very high, as if disdaining to answer his words.
 
The Moon-Wielding Envoy beside him, however, smiled charmingly and said: "Why don't you ask your companion?"
 
Little Brother Huo looked toward Zhan Rifei, only to see that within his eyes, there was already a trace of sadness. One could only hear him saying slowly: "Because just now, a sentence from Old Mother already exposed Chang Hongbi's true identity; you wanted to kill people to silence them."
 
——"I should have thought of it long ago; how could the secret that Hanshui Palace spent so much thought to conceal be allowed to be known by outsiders."
 
——"Except that I was, after all, a step too late!"
 
Upon the Sun-Wielding Envoy's kind face, an unbefitting ferocity suddenly revealed itself: "No matter who it is, anyone who knows Chang Hongbi's secret must die!"
 
He turned his eyes again to stare at Chang Hongbi, who was sitting blankly inside the teahouse, and said slowly: "Are you still not walking out yourself?"
 
Little Brother Huo said loudly: "We are also people who know Chang Hongbi's secret; is it that we must also die?"
 
The Sun-Wielding Envoy unexpectedly did not deny it.
 
Little Brother Huo sneered: "To take Chang Hongbi, you will have to kill me first!"
 
Hearing this sentence of his, that Chang Hongbi, who was originally so frightened that his soul had left his body, suddenly experienced a shock in his body, and his eyes lit up. This naturally gifted child, for the first time, held his chest high.
 
Before the sound of his words fell, Little Brother Huo's body had already arrived before the Hu bed. ——His movement technique was unexpectedly even faster than the sound of his words!
 
Beneath the sunlight, the black brilliance of his "Yinyang'an" flickered, just like black lightning.
 
The Kunlun slave, who was like an iron tower, however, still looked straight ahead without squinting, as if he did not even blink an eye. The smile upon the face of the blind old grandmother upon that Hu bed was still so amiable.
 
Even Zhan Rifei did not see how that old blind woman upon the Hu bed made her move. He only saw that beneath that flickering black lightning light, a human silhouette suddenly flew up.
 
Without even hearing a single sound, Little Brother Huo's body already became like a kite with a broken string, being shocked so much that he fell back into the teahouse; before the person landed, fresh blood was already spurting wildly from his mouth.
 
The fresh morning wind blew the brilliance of the gold thread pipings upon that old grandmother's magnificent clothing, flashing and rippling beneath the sunlight. That old woman in magnificent clothing was still reclining upon the Hu bed, taking her time, as if she had never moved a single bit.
 
Zhan Rifei rushed to Little Brother Huo's side, his right hand grasping his left hand, forcefully circulating strength, as internal breath flowed unceasingly into his body. Chang Hongbi pounced over, also grasping Little Brother Huo's hand, yet he could not even speak half a word.
 
For some unknown reason, Little Brother Huo however flung away their hands. Choking and coughing, he struggled to sit up.
 
——Even if his left leg was already injured, he still wanted to sit up.
 
——Perhaps, the blood of the aristocratic family flowing within his body gave him a pride that others could not compare to.
 
That old woman's voice sounded much more peaceful than her words: "If you were not the descendant of the Huo family, at this moment you would be a corpse."
 
This yellow-jacketed youth, who possessed a streak of arrogance in his bones, unexpectedly did not offer a rebuttal. Perhaps only he knew the true implication within these words of Old Mother Hanshui: once a person is dead, naturally they no longer have a name. Perhaps only he knew how shocking and terrifying Old Mother Hanshui's martial arts were.
 
——The speed of this old grandmother's move was unexpectedly to the extent of being unfathomable by ghosts and gods. If it were not for himself possessing the lightness skill of "Jinghongyipie" and the internal strength of "Listening to Flower Whispers in a Small Tower Overnight," blending the internal and external, the swiftness of his response being already beyond what ordinary people could imagine, what was injured at this time would not be his left leg.
 
By now, no matter who it was, no one could believe that this amiable old grandmother upon the Hu bed was actually a blind person; no matter who it was, no one dared to treat her as a blind person anymore!
 
Old Mother Hanshui followed up, saying: "Except that even if you are the descendant of the Huo family of Linglong Villa, you should not hold that 'Yinyang'an'. How could this 'Yinyang'an' be in your hand?"
 
Little Brother Huo struggled, curled his lip, and said: "Since I am the descendant of the Huo family, why can't the 'Yinyang'an' be in my hand?"
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "The 'Yinyang'an' is the heirloom treasure passed down through generations in the Huo family; if it is missing, one cannot open the Linglong Eye of the Huo family's eldest daughter. Therefore, this weapon has never left Linglong Villa!"
 
Little Brother Huo sneered: "Regarding the matters of our Linglong Villa, you truly know quite a bit."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said smilingly: "Except that Old Mother still has one matter she does not know."
 
Little Brother Huo said: "What matter?"
 
Old Mother Hanshui said in a light and casual manner: "Did that Linglong Eye of your Huo family already see long ago that the you of today would die beneath my hand?”