Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Four (Part VIII)

Chapter Four: Partridge Sky (Part VIII)

Huo Little Brother also heard this dry, secretive voice. Yet before the voice could even fade, his person had already arrived at the spot where the sound originated. His sword had shifted from his right hand to his left, pointing directly at the speaker without him even turning his head.
 
Under the pressure of his ghost-like movement and the chilling aura of his sword, the speaker actually let out a sharp cry of "Ah!" and collapsed onto the ground with a thud!
 
Huo Little Brother gave a blank start. Just who exactly was behind him? Who could possess such martial arts as to creep up to his side without his realizing it? If their martial arts were outstanding, how could they have collapsed to the ground like this?
 
It was only when he saw a trace of a smile rise upon the corners of Zhan Rifei's mouth that he realized the voice behind him was superficial and scattered, severely lacking in internal vital energy.
 
And so, his head finally turned around.
 
He had just let out a sigh of relief when he suddenly froze entirely.
 
Originally, even if it were a green-faced, sharp-fanged monster behind him, he would not have knitted his brow; but at this very moment, his face looked exactly as if he had seen a ghost. His eyes were naturally large, but right now they were opened perfectly round, nearly popping out of their sockets. Those two rabbit-teeth were bared undisguisedly.
 
The one who had collapsed onto the ground was unexpectedly that thin, weak boy!
 
The boy had clearly been startled awake from his deep sleep. The gaze in his eyes was likewise filled with astonishment.
 
Yet no one knew whether the astonishment in his gaze was because of Huo Little Brother's eyes, which were deliberately made to look fierce and malicious, or because he had heard the words he himself had just spoken.
 

Just at this moment, the flames on the ground leaped, and the boy could not help but blink his eyes. In an instant, he saw that Huo Little Brother was clearly sitting right beside Zhan Rifei, and even his sitting posture looked as if he had never moved at all. His sword, now shifted back to his right hand, was still pointing directly at Zhan Rifei's throat!
 
The boy drew in a sharp breath.
 
Had he truly seen a ghost?
 
This youth's martial arts and movement techniques truly deserved the four words "Frightened Swan's Single Glance"!
 
The only difference was that although Huo Little Brother's sword was pointing at Zhan Rifei, he did not turn his head back.
 
His gaze remained fixed upon the boy, and within that gaze, he was clearly completely bewildered as well.
 
"So it was you? You can actually speak? Were you pretending to be a mute before?"
 
Whether the boy was stunned by his own voice or terrified by the gleaming sword before him, a long while passed before he stammered, "No, I am—not—"
 
His voice remained hoarse and dry, stiff and choking, each word a difficult struggle, but this second sentence was slightly more fluent than the first.
 
Huo Little Brother's heart suddenly sank.
 
Every word this boy spoke seemed to require every ounce of strength in his body, yet the words still came out stumbling and broken; even an infant just learning to speak would likely find it a hundred times easier than he did. Despite this, if he had not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed under any circumstances that just during the day, this mysteriously identified child had once been a mute.
 
However, this was not what he most wanted to know right now. What he most wished to discover at this moment was that riddle which had been uncovered by Zhan Rifei but still remained hard to believe.
 
"Are you, or are you not, the Hanshui Palace's Chang Hongbi?"
 
The moment the three words "Chang Hongbi" were uttered, the boy looked exactly as if he had been struck by a whip; his mouth opened slightly, but he did not speak. However, the muscles on his face were already trembling violently and uncontrollably, almost making one think that the freckles on his face were about to be shaken off.
 
Huo Little Brother's eyes shifted, and he unexpectedly waited with great patience.
 
After a long time, the boy slowly shook his head. It was very slow, but entirely resolute.
 
"I am—not called—Chang—Hongbi."
 
There was resolve in his voice, but it was also filled with intense suffering.
 
Huo Little Brother said softly, "In truth, even if you do not say it, your countenance has already spoken. If you are unwilling to admit it, I will not force you."
 
A trace of surprise had already appeared within the eyes of this boy, Chang Hongbi.
 
Huo Little Brother said, "But whether you speak of it or not, your secret is bound to be discovered by others sooner or later." His face finally turned toward Zhan Rifei—the Zhan Rifei whose acupoints had been sealed by him.
 
Were these words also directed at Zhan Rifei?
 
Zhan Rifei seemed not to have heard his words; judging by his expression, he appeared to be deep in thought about something. Seeing his nonchalant manner, a surge of anger could not help but rush into Huo Little Brother's throat.
 
He stared at Zhan Rifei and repeated once more, "In this world, there has never been a secret that can be concealed forever!"
 
His heart suddenly became as transparent as crystal. His voice had turned husky.

 
"If you hadn't asked me to extract this half-piece of 'Long Phase Yearning' for you, I probably wouldn't have discovered your secret so quickly! It is impossible for you to make me believe now that you don't have other designs."
 
Zhan Rifei finally raised his head.
 
"Does Brother Huo actually believe that I, too, wish to lay my hands on the Chang Hongbi?"
 
Huo Little Brother said in a deep voice, "No matter how perfectly you act, you will still expose various clues and traces—I really should have thought of it long ago!"
 
"When Ge Yunfei of the Xingyun Manor brought the Chang Hongbi to the Little Hammer Mountain inn, weren't you there as well?"
 
"And just when I was about to strike to rescue this child from the hands of the Hanshui Palace, who was it that proposed an exchange with me, sending me off to deal with the brothers of the Hua family?"
 
His eyes stared fixedly at Zhan Rifei as he said, "Could it be that you also didn't expect the people of the Hanshui Palace to be so formidable, to the point that you were dragged down and wounded? Otherwise, if you had managed to stay one step ahead of me, this child would have naturally and logically fallen into your hands. I truly misjudged you!"
 
For a moment, his voice grew tightly cold, and the nearby Chang Hongbi could not help but shudder.
 
Zhan Rifei said, "Could Brother Huo have forgotten that I, too, have only just learned that the Chang Hongbi is this child?"
 
Huo Little Brother gave another cold laugh. His voice had become filled with an unspeakable disappointment: "Even if you have only just learned now that the child is the Chang Hongbi, that still cannot prove you didn't originally know the Chang Hongbi was the object of contention between the Xingyun Manor and the Tang Sect! As for your intention to lay hands on the Chang Hongbi, it is because of the 'At First Sight Like Old Friends' poison that you harbor within your body, is it not?"
 
When he spoke the words "At First Sight Like Old Friends," it carried an unspeakable difficulty, exactly as if the words were jumping out of his mouth one by one.
 
Zhan Rifei said, "I did not expect that Brother Huo would also know of the Asura Cult's 'At First Sight Like Old Friends.'"
 
Huo Little Brother said, "Of the poisons famous throughout the world, those I have seen are not few."
 
Zhan Rifei said, "Since you know the dreadfulness of this Asura Cult poison, you ought to know that once struck by it, one dies instantly—"
 
Huo Little Brother cut him off, saying, "The world knows that the Asura Cult's 'At First Sight Like Old Friends' kills instantly upon contact, but they do not know that at the moment of poisoning, if one uses internal vital energy to reverse the 'Iron Interlocking Link' to seal the acupoints in the opposite direction, one can endure for ten-odd days."
 
"Just now, when I cut open your clothing, I saw that above your heart-protecting area on your back, there were already three green streaks spreading out in all directions. This is clearly the mark left behind by using the Iron Interlocking Link to forcefully resist this poison up to this point. Apart from 'At First Sight Like Old Friends,' there is no other poison in the world that can leave a mark of such a shape!"
 

"Looking at the shape of your marks, deducing from this, you must have encountered the people of the Asura Cult five days ago! And the location where that 'At First Sight Like Old Friends' struck must have been your front chest!"
 
Zhan Rifei finally sighed, "I did not expect that you would also know the secret, unpassed formulas of the Asura Cult so clearly!"
 
He unexpectedly stopped pressing any further.
 
Huo Little Brother said wistfully, "You are wrong. The one who researched 'At First Sight Like Old Friends' was not me, but Tang Tianhao. In order to see through the origins of this 'At First Sight Like Old Friends,' he once spent nine consecutive days without rest, dissecting and examining forty-one corpses."
 
Zhan Rifei did not seem surprised by his words.
 
How could the people of the Tang Sect tolerate another cult or sect possessing a poison that surpassed those of the Tang Sect?
 
As the hope of the Tang Sect, although Tang Tianhao was proud, he understood his responsibilities.
 
Huo Little Brother added, "But do not forget, I know Little Tang of the Tang Sect. If it were not for him, I would not have recognized this world-famous poison either."
 
At this point, his words stopped. The remaining words, after all, were not spoken aloud.
 
The reason he recognized the marks left behind by this poison was because he had personally witnessed that occasion when Tang Tianhao examined all the corpses collected by the Tang Sect, and had heard Tang Tianhao meticulously recount every one of his findings as if enumerating his family treasures.
 
For a moment, he had forgotten that it was also the first time he had met this foremost person of the Tang Sect's main lineage. Yet his heart remembered with perfect clarity that night of shared drunkenness with Little Tang.
 
It was precisely during that time when both of them were thoroughly drunk that he heard Tang Tianhao discuss the poisons of various sects. This proud, aristocratic gentleman of the Tang Sect, who held his eyes above his head, dismissed any poison outside his own sect with utter disdain, yet he spoke of the Asura Cult's "At First Sight Like Old Friends" with boundless praise.
 
Tang Tianhao, thoroughly intoxicated, gently tapped the long table with his cleanly washed hands, his eyes misty with wine, still critiquing his discoveries.
 
Even now, Tang Tianhao's words still echoed in his ears.
 
"The Iron Interlocking Link can only lock down the dissipation of the toxic air, but every time one reverses the Iron Interlocking Link with internal energy, it causes the toxicity to penetrate a layer deeper. Thereafter, every time the poison flares up—especially at noon and midnight, when the blood vessels and the yin and yang reach their extremes—it becomes increasingly unbearable to the point of agony. Therefore, operating the Iron Interlocking Link is no different from drinking poison to quench one's thirst; one wishes to stop but simply cannot! This poison is named At First Sight Like Old Friends, mostly taking the meaning of being companions day and night; once struck by this poison, one can never rid oneself of it again."
 
Huo Little Brother's heart had suddenly tightened, though whether it was because of Tang Tianhao's words still ringing in his ears, or because he was nervous about the sheer cruelty of this poison, he could not tell.
 
Yet in his ears, he heard Zhan Rifei say, "Even if what I am afflicted with is 'At First Sight Like Old Friends,' it has nothing to do with Brother Huo."
 
Huo Little Brother said, "Correct! It has nothing to do with me, but it does have everything to do with Chang Hongbi! Even if the Asura Cult came looking for you, that is after all a faction of the martial forest's underworld, so let it be. But what do you have to say about this 'Great Compassion Palm' under your left flank?! The supreme absolute art of the Shangqing Temple could not have possibly jumped onto your body by itself!"
 
Zhan Rifei gave another blank start.
 
Huo Little Brother's countenance was looking worse and worse.
 
"One of the mortal enemies of the Asura Cult is the Shangqing Temple. Even young children know that although their name is unusual, they are considered a leading, orthodox sect of the martial forest."
 
He added, "The temple rules of the Shangqing Temple are strict; their 'Great Compassion Palm' is never passed to outsiders, and for over two hundred years, they have not even accepted a lay disciple. The Shangqing Temple is a famous chivalrous sect beyond the secular world; over many years, they have eliminated traitors and punished evil, and no one knows how many wicked villains have died by their hands."
 
His eyes stared fixedly at Zhan Rifei as he said, "The Shangqing Temple's reputation precedes it because they are just and prudent, never killing the innocent indiscriminately. Every time they strike, it is after receiving the 'Chivalry Plaque' circulated within the martial forest; and among those wanted by the Chivalry Plaque, which one is not a heinous and unpardonable degenerate?"
 
His lips were already trembling: "If you hadn't provoked the 'Chivalry Plaque,' how could you have been struck by the Shangqing Temple's absolute art, the 'Great Compassion Palm'?"
 
Zhan Rifei let out a soft sigh and said, "How did you manage to see that what struck beneath my left flank must be that 'Great Compassion Palm'?"
 
Huo Little Brother was already laughing coldly: "If it were anyone else, they would likely have been deceived by you, but you cannot fool me! Although the Great Compassion Palm is called compassion, the sheer viciousness of its force can shatter a person's heart and lungs imperceptibly, which directly violates the Buddhist taboos. It is named the 'Great Compassion Palm' precisely to remind the wielder to harbor a thought of compassion at every moment, and never to harm others lightly. For many years, the Shangqing Temple has only obeyed the orders of the Chivalry Plaque, precisely out of fear of mistakenly harming a good person when right and wrong are difficult to distinguish. Once hit by such a tyrannical palm force, it causes the victim's entire blood supply to boil; even if they do not die, their body will be branded with spots of dark red due to the scorching heat. The red spots on your back grow darker and heavier the closer they get to the left flank; if that isn't having been struck by the 'Great Compassion Palm' beneath the left flank, then what is it!"
 
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, unable to restrain himself from shouting aloud, "These two factions of orthodox and unorthodox have always been as incompatible as fire and water, yet now both have wounded you. Can it be that your mouth full of benevolence and morality was all a lie, and you are actually a demon hunted by both the white and black paths of the martial world! I truly misjudged you!"
 
In an instant, words he had listened to since childhood suddenly echoed in his ears: "In this world, there are smiling Bodhisattvas, and there are also smiling tigers." Accompanying them was that familiar, long-lost sigh.
 
Without even knowing why himself, his eye sockets had already turned red. The hand gripping the "Yin-Yang Han" stood out with bulging veins.
 
Within his eyes was a trace of resentment, disappointment, and pain: "You deceived me so bitterly. To think that, when all is said and done, you are also someone who wants to seize the Chang Hongbi. Did I misjudge you after all?!"
 
A sharp light suddenly flashed in Zhan Rifei's eyes—a brilliance that seemed to carry a faint trace of anger, but the flash passed in an instant. Finally, he let out a soft sigh and said, "The people of the Linglong Mountain Villa are indeed profoundly knowledgeable and admirable! Hearing you speak of it this way, even if I am not, it seems very difficult for me to argue otherwise."
 
He cast a sidelong glance at Huo Little Brother and said, "If you are certain that I am an unpardonable villain, why haven't you struck yet?"
 
Deep within his eyes lay a bottomless tranquility, so calm that it formed no ripples. Reflected within that pair of pupils as dark as the night were Huo Little Brother's flushed face and the eyes of the boy standing behind him.
 
At this moment, within the small eyes of that Chang Hongbi, what appeared was actually an incomparable excitement.
 
Huo Little Brother's hand, however, was trembling, and even his body could not restrain itself from shaking slightly. His face turned green and white by turns, and the blue veins on his forehead were also pulsing continuously.
 
Slowly, his short sword finally began to rise. When he raised this short sword, it looked as if the blade weighed a thousand pounds. The "Yin-Yang Han" in his hand actually let out a "hissing" sound, like a black venomous snake that could coil itself upward in an instant to deliver its kiss of death to its target.
 
A sort of magical power seemed to be attached to this "Yin-Yang Han"; under its venomous kiss, one could faintly detect a foul, rank odor wafting over, accompanying that "hissing" sound.
 
The black blade reflected Zhan Rifei's face. Zhan Rifei's countenance, unexpectedly, remained completely calm.
 
After a long while, Huo Little Brother ground his teeth and suddenly kicked out with his toe, unsealing Zhan Rifei's blocked acupoints.
 
This move completely caught Chang Hongbi off guard. His questioning gaze was directed toward Huo Little Brother.
 
But Huo Little Brother did not look at him after all.
 
He was heard grinding his teeth, saying word by word, "Draw your sword!"
 
Chang Hongbi almost thought he had misheard.
 
Even Zhan Rifei could not help but ask a question in return: "What?"
 
Huo Little Brother's gaze remained filled with fury and pain, and his teeth were still clenched tightly. His words looked exactly as if they were being forced out from between his teeth: "I took advantage of your lack of preparation to subdue you; you must certainly be unsatisfied in your heart."
 
As he spoke, he lifted his foot, kicking over Zhan Rifei's long sword from the ground, and continued, "The reputation of our Linglong Mountain Villa cannot be ruined in my hands. If you have the guts, draw your sword!"
 
A surge of warmth suddenly rushed into Zhan Rifei's eyes, yet he did not rise from the ground after all.
 
Could it be that he did not even possess the strength to stand up anymore?
 
"Regrettably, Zhan's sword is not used to deal with friends."
 
Huo Little Brother said severely, "Who is friends with a demon like you! Why haven't you drawn your sword yet?! —The people of the Linglong Mountain Villa do not kill unarmed men!"
 Zhan Rifei glanced at Huo Little Brother and added, "If you are certain that I am a demon, then you have no need to talk about the rules of the martial forest. To tell you the truth, by now, I don't even have the strength left to draw my sword."
 
Huo Little Brother said hoarsely, "Why did you tell me this?! Did you think that by telling me this, my heart would soften, and you could find an excuse not to cross swords with me?"
 
Zhan Rifei did not answer his words; casting a glance out the window, his face unexpectedly turned ash-pale in an instant. His lips moved, clearly wishing to say something, yet for a time he could no longer make a sound.
 
Huo Little Brother followed his gaze to look out the window; that crescent mountain moon was directly overhead. The moonlight was pale and sickly, and the reflection of that crescent mountain moon was also cast at an angle upon the "Yin-Yang Han." At this moment, it unexpectedly gave a leap in his hand with a sharp "shriek" sound.
 
Midnight had finally arrived.
 
Huo Little Brother's face also turned as pale and sickly as that moonlight.
 
"So it has already reached midnight."
 
"So your 'At First Sight Like Old Friends' has flared up at this time."
 
Zhan Rifei was still unable to speak. His face convulsed and contorted with agony, and his lips had already been bitten until they bled. This agony of the blood and vital energy churning within his body, as if being cut by thousands of knives all over, looked to Huo Little Brother exactly like a nightmare. A nightmare he was extremely familiar with! For a moment, past events with Tang Tianhao rose clearly before his eyes, as vivid as if they were right beside him. For a time, he did not know what was best to do.
 
Suddenly, his sleeve moved. Looking down, it was Chang Hongbi, who was uncontrollably clutching his sleeve with a death grip, his face also turned like that of a dead man.
 
Huo Little Brother comforted him, saying, "Do not worry, with me here, he will not harm you!"
 
His words caused Chang Hongbi to quiet down, but the sword in his hand became even more hesitant, raised one moment and lowered the next, entirely unable to thrust down no matter what.
 
Although Zhan Rifei was tortured by the properties of the "At First Sight Like Old Friends" medicine, the pair of eyes with which he looked at Huo Little Brother had not changed in the slightest. This pair of eyes still seemed capable of seeing through everything—how Chang Hongbi wished he could gouge those eyes out!
 
Huo Little Brother's head felt as if it had grown immense: "Do you think that because your 'At First Sight Like Old Friends' has flared up, I won't dare to kill you?"
 
Even he himself did not understand why the mere thought of Zhan Rifei deceiving him made him feel an unspeakable sorrow. His acquaintance with Zhan Rifei was a matter of only two days. A chance encounter, like the passing of carriages or the flash of flowing water, was the most ordinary thing in the martial forest.
 
Yet the corners of Zhan Rifei's mouth twitched slightly. Although he was very weak, and although the harm brought upon him by that "At First Sight Like Old Friends" had already pierced him to the core of his heart, the corners of his mouth still pulled into a line.
 
Huo Little Brother had not misjudged; that was unexpectedly a trace of a smile, a proud smile.
 
With a sharp sound, earth flew in all directions, and the "Yin-Yang Han" plunged straight into the ground before him!
 
Only Huo Little Brother's voice was heard saying, "My Linglong Mountain Villa never kills unarmed men. The next time I encounter you, I will absolutely show no mercy. A man who commits many injustices is bound to bring about his own destruction, so do not let me cross paths with you again, and don't you dare think about laying a hand on this child again!"
 
As the words landed, his short sword was already returned to his robe. Holding Chang Hongbi's hand, he walked out of the temple door with large strides.
 
Only, with this departure, he never turned his head back again. Was it because he feared that once he looked back, he would change his mind?
 
The mountain wind blew in gusts, laced with an endless hint of rain, interspersed occasionally with the low cries of night birds, exactly like a tragic song so disordered it had lost its chapters, unsettling the hearts of men. Huo Little Brother's silhouette thus vanished into the curtain of the night.