Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Five (Part VI)

Chapter Five: Resentment Comes Late (Part VI)

The Moon-Wielding Envoy still could not move. Simply because within the teahouse, a child's voice suddenly rang out: "Stop!"
 
It was Chang Hongbi's voice. A very resolute voice.
 
Chang Hongbi stood right at the entrance of the teahouse. Within his hand, he grasped a short knife that radiated a piercingly bright light. The tip of the short knife was pressed tightly against his flank.
 
Old Mother Hanshui's countenance, unexpectedly, changed.
 
——She could not see, so how did she know of Chang Hongbi's action?
 
Chang Hongbi said slowly: "Old Mother, I beg you to spare the two of them. You spare them, and I will go back with you."
 
His voice, beneath Old Mother Hanshui's forcing "gaze," at the very beginning could not help but tremble a bit.
 
Old Mother Hanshui's peaceful tone, hearing it at this time, however made a person shiver without being cold.
 
——"What if I do not spare them?"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "I only need to move a finger, and this short knife points to the gate of death; as long as it pierces out a single trace of blood, it can never be mended or saved back again. If Old Mother insisted on placing them in a position of death, then I will die together with them. Old Mother also would not get Chang Hongbi."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "You are threatening Old Mother?"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "I was after all brought up and reared by you, so how would I dare to threaten Old Mother! I am merely begging Old Mother to show mercy."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "And how did you know your own gate of death?"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "Could it be that Old Mother forgot the words of that Master Su three months ago? Master Su once calculated that at the time of my fifteen-year-old birthday this year, I would definitely die. And as for whether I can be born again after death, it will have to depend on Old Mother."
 
Within his indifference there was a trace of a wry smile: "Master Su calculated wrongly this time. He calculated that I would die at fifteen, but he did not know that right now, it is still several months away from my fifteen-year-old birthday."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "Although Su Yizhou calculated your fatal acupoint accurately, what he calculated wrongly is, I am afraid, not only this one thing. At least he did not calculate what kind of end one would get by being bought over to come and deceive Hanshui Palace."
 
Chang Hongbi, however, was not surprised at all: "Old Mother naturally has already found Master Su, and Old Mother mostly spared him from death as well?"
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "For him to want to die is also too easy. Although he is right now bitterly begging, wishing that Old Mother would grant him death immediately, but if a person is dead, how would they know what kind of price they will pay at the time they made a mistake!"
 
She spoke these few sentences out in such a completely stable and balanced manner, yet Little Brother Huo suddenly shuddered with a cold chill.
 
One only heard Old Mother Hanshui saying again: "Could it be that you precisely listened to Su Yizhou's words before leaving the palace without authorization?"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "When a person knows that no matter how they swallow insults to humiliate themselves to preserve life, they still will not live long, why not, before dying, take a look at the outside world that he has rarely seen in his life? Except that only now do I know, every single sentence Master Su said at that time was all to deceive me into leaving Hanshui Palace myself."
 
He looked at Old Mother Hanshui, saying word by word: "Although his strategy deceived me, at least I already know that the one who bought over Su Yizhou was precisely Xingyun Villa."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "How did you know?"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "Simply because not long after I arrived beneath the mountain, I discovered that Ge Yunfei of Xingyun Villa was already waiting for me there. If it were not for knowing beforehand that I left Hanshui Palace, how would he be waiting for me there. And the one who knew I left Hanshui Palace, at that time, was Master Su alone."
 
"So to say, that Mind-Confusing Curse was also passed to you by that one surnamed Su?"
 
Chang Hongbi said in a slow and unhurried manner: "Old Mother was in isolated cultivation, the four envo of Sun, Moon, Wind, and Cloud protected the cultivation, and as for the rest of the crowd, every single person considered me to be a child; at the juncture of launching a sneak attack, it was indeed very smooth."
 
Old Mother Hanshui sneered: "Then this outside world that you whole-heartedly wanted to see, is it very good to look at?"
 
Chang Hongbi, however, shook his head: "The evil people within this world are much more dangerous, treacherous, and vicious than the hearts of the people in Hanshui Palace."
 
He raised his head to take a glance at Zhan Rifei and Little Brother Huo who were leaning and fallen on the ground, and said again: "Except that the good people in this world are also many more than Hanshui Palace. Since Old Mother pardoned the two envoys of Sun and Moon, why not spare them?"
 
The Moon-Wielding Envoy walked forward with a charming smile, saying with a giggle: "Little brother, how can you start a joke in such a perfectly fine manner? Be good and listen, put down this knife."
 
Chang Hongbi looked at her, saying in a deliberate and organized manner: "You only need to take another single step, and I will pierce in from here. No matter how good your kung fu is, it cannot be faster than my finger. My finger only needs to push, and in this world, there will immediately be no such person as Chang Hongbi anymore. By that time, when Old Mother blames down, I will have no way to plead on your behalf."
 
His words seemed strangely clear and calm. The Moon-Wielding Envoy's body was then instantly as if nailed onto the ground.
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "For how many years, no one could coerce Hanshui Palace. Even Hanshui Palace's own people cannot!"
 
Chang Hongbi smiled a bit, and said: "If Chang Hongbi dies right now, Old Mother will have to exhaust the internal power of her entire body to rescue him. The two envoys of Sun and Moon have just recovered from heavy injuries, and even more so cannot leave Old Mother's side, naturally being also unable to separate themselves to go and pursue and attack enemies. If Old Mother spares the two of them, Chang Hongbi himself at least for now still does not have to die, and Old Mother also does not have to exhaust her own internal power, is it not killing two birds with one stone?"
 
Old Mother Hanshui said gloomily: "After you are dead, Old Mother can still search for another Chang Hongbi!"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "That is natural. The Chang Hongbi of Hanshui Palace was originally merely a name, nothing more than the title of children like me generation after generation. Relying on Old Mother's ability, the hundred years of prestigious name of Hanshui Palace, where could she not search and find another Chang Hongbi? Only Chang Hongbi knows, every interval of four months, Old Mother must absolutely suck and drink Chang Hongbi's arm blood; calculating now, from the last blood-drinking, it should be more than three months, right? Old Mother has been in isolated cultivation for many days, mostly having already cultivated the Luotian Great Method, then you would not need to drink blood every interval of four months to preserve life. If it is so, Old Mother will live to a hundred years old; even if she searches for some eight or ten years, it would not count as anything. Except that the people of the Tang Clan, once they learn that Chang Hongbi has been destroyed, also do not know whether they have Old Mother's kind of patience to wait for some eight or ten years. As for the entanglement between that Tang Clan and Xingyun Villa, Old Mother is widely experienced and knowledgeable, so naturally she is much more clear about it than a small child like me."
 
He took a glance at that blind old grandmother, and said in a slow and unhurried manner again: "Only, even if Old Mother does not say it, Chang Hongbi understands in his own heart that if Chang Hongbi were so easy to search and find, Old Mother would also not need to first dispatch the two envoys of Sun and Moon of Hanshui Palace, and later personally take the field, not hesitating to lower her status and honor to come to the Central Plains."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "You are not afraid that Old Mother temporarily spares them, and separately dispatches the Sun and Moon Envoys to go forward and pursue and kill them?"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "Old Mother is the number one person in the hundred years of Hanshui Palace, what an esteemed status! Chang Hongbi since childhood viewed you as a deity, and the hundred or more people up and down Hanshui Palace, every single one follows an wise master like Old Mother, so how could Old Mother go back on her word? Furthermore, right before our eyes are the two envoys of Sun and Moon placed here, both having witnessed Old Mother's promise."
 
The two envoys of Sun and Moon, for some unknown reason, had already begun to tremble.
 
Only now did Little Brother Huo discover that this child's meticulousness of mind and thoroughness of consideration and planning unexpectedly made a person shiver without being cold. It turned out that along this way, he was still kept in the dark by him!
 
Within Old Mother Hanshui's empty eyes, there was unexpectedly a trace of a strange look: "I have all along underestimated you!"
 
Chang Hongbi said: "Old Mother praises me too much. Chang Hongbi drifted into the Central Plains; the treacherous and plotting minds of the Central Plains people were thus also somewhat learned through what I saw and heard."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said: "Do you know that within your body the medicinal property is already lost; if you want to restore into Chang Hongbi, you will have to endure that Great Method of 'Cast Off the Old Skin and Change the Bones'. For the sake of these two people, do you unexpectedly not regret it even a single bit?"
 
Within Chang Hongbi's eyes, a trace of fear flashed and vanished in an instant. He said flatly: "Chang Hongbi was originally a person about to die, so why would I still fear some Cast Off the Old Skin and Change the Bones Great Method? If I can die in a worthy place, it will after all not twist the true meaning of these three words of Chang Hongbi."
 
He took a glance at Old Mother Hanshui, and said with a slight smile again: "Whether to rescue Chang Hongbi or not naturally lies entirely on Old Mother alone. Only, here there is neither the cold pool of Hanshui Palace nor the Arhat bed of Hanshui Palace; for Old Mother to execute that Cast Off the Old Skin and Change the Bones Great Method, she will have to exhaust a lifetime of internal power, and without ten days or half a month, she cannot restore her martial arts, and I also do not know whether Old Mother is willing or not, reconciled or not."
 
After a long silence, Old Mother Hanshui finally said: "Good, Old Mother promises you!"
 
Upon Chang Hongbi's face, however, there was not even half a bit of change.
 
"Old Mother has truly thought it through? For Old Mother to change her mind, it is still in time right now."
 
Old Mother Hanshui said icily: "You also do not need to provoke me. The words of the Master of Hanshui Palace have always carried the weight of nine tripods. Furthermore, this is other people's business, and not my Hanshui Palace's business, so why should Old Mother care?"
 
Gently waving a hand, the four Kunlun slaves beneath her hand had already carried her Hu bed, returning onto the carriage.
 
Those two envoys of Sun and Moon had also already arrived before the carriage.
 
Chang Hongbi turned his head away, not daring to look at Little Brother Huo's face. Simply because without looking he could also imagine how unsightly Little Brother Huo's face at this time must be.
 
Hesitating, this small and thin boy said: "Huo, Little Brother Huo, I am going!"
 
Little Brother Huo murmured: "Why are you doing this? Why?"
 
——He spoke in such an incoherent manner with his mouth, but within his heart, did he truly really not know?
 
Chang Hongbi said flatly: "Since my blood cannot rescue people, there are always other methods that can rescue people. Just like this world, the thing that truly harms people is not venomous medicine."
 
Little Brother Huo said: "But you——"
 
Chang Hongbi's eyes looked at the ground, and he said: "I thought back and forth, and it is still better to return to Hanshui Palace; this outside world is after all too complex, and there are many things I do not understand."
 
Little Brother Huo was silent.
 
This moment of silence suddenly seemed to be as long as a whole lifetime.
 
Finally, Chang Hongbi gritted his teeth, turned around, and walked toward that carriage that was staying outside the courtyard. He walked very slowly, but very resolutely.
 
Little Brother Huo could not help but suddenly call out: "Chang Hongbi, don't leave——!"
 
Chang Hongbi's footsteps came to a stop. Hesitating, he had already turned back his head, facing him and saying: "That day when we were in the old temple, you once asked me whether I was exactly Chang Hongbi or not. I also once told you that I was not."
 
Little Brother Huo's heart seemed to shatter, simply because within this boy's eyes, there suddenly appeared a kind of heartbreaking pride.
 
Chang Hongbi's gaze, however, had already looked toward the distance: "You, at that time, did not believe it. But you do not know, I did not deceive you. ——I will never deceive you."
 
He pointed to the people of Hanshui Palace, and said: "In the eyes of these people, I am merely a tool for them to save life and heal injuries, merely Chang Hongbi, nothing more, but my true name is not Chang Hongbi!"
 
He looked at Little Brother Huo, saying with a face full of earnestness: "Actually I have all along wanted to tell you, my name is Ai Hu."
 
He looked at him, and within his smile there was already a portion of desolation, and he said again: "You must remember in the future, my name is Ai Hu. I am merely a person who single-mindedly wanted to be an ordinary, regular person who has no two differences from other children."
 
Little Brother Huo was already unable to speak. Within his eyes, a layer of mist had already shrouded over.
 
Chang Hongbi's downcast eyes suddenly were flashing and shining again.
 
Within his voice, for the first time, it was filled with heroic spirit: "Little Brother Huo, I am leaving! We will definitely meet again!"
 
His head, for the first time, held itself high and straight, and his small body appeared to be so proud.