Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Three (Part I)

Chapter Three: Eternal Longing (Part I)

The moment Young Master Huo suddenly saw it was him, he wanted to get angry and tried desperately to stiffen his face, but for some unknown reason, he simply could not bring himself to be angry.

 

His round face was still stubbornly holding a stern expression, but his gaze had already softened involuntarily. A faint warmth, without him realizing it, had already surged up within his heart.

 

Only his mouth remained stubborn, and in a voice pressed extremely low, he said, "It's you? What did you come here for?"

 

Zhan Rifei smiled, his voice also pressed very low, "Naturally, there is a matter for which I must ask Brother Huo's help."

 

Huo's younger brother stared with wide eyes and said, "You need my help too? Help with what?"

 

Zhan Rifei said, "I want to ask Brother Huo to help me loosen a few lingering plasters of the Jinshi Hall, to let them run around in circles here first."

 

The corners of Young Master Huo's mouth could finally no longer hold their tension, relaxing in an instant, and his devastatingly charming rabbit teeth were exposed once again.

 

"What kind of characters have come from Jinshi Hall that you would actually fear them?"

 

Zhan Rifei smiled bitterly, "The one who can perform the 'Startled Swan's Glance' is not me, so it is hard to avoid being stuck by these few plasters, unable to peel them off."

 

Young Master Huo raised a slender eyebrow, "Who came? Is it the Hua Fengzi family, or Yanzi Qing from Shili Slope?"

 

"Naturally, it is the five brothers of the Hua Fengzi family, and it is said that a biting fox will follow closely behind them very soon."

 

Young Master Huo blinked his eyes and said slowly, "On what grounds should I do you this favor?"

 

Zhan Rifei still maintained a faint smile, only within this smile, there seemed to be a subtle hint of mischief.

 

"Because I can help you pinch those two people by the side of the hillside."

 

Young Master Huo stared again and said, "What, do you think I cannot deal with them?"

 

"It is not that Brother Huo cannot deal with them, but rather because I cannot peel off those few plasters."

 

"So by doing this, we owe each other nothing?"

 

"Correct, neither side loses out."

 

The two people looked at each other, and once again, they could not help but smile at each other.

 

No bystander could tell whether they truly believed each other's reasons.

 

──Even though they sounded like very good reasons.

 

Young Master Huo stretched out his hand, "Bring it here."

 

Zhan Rifei was startled, "What?"

 

"Naturally, the bamboo hat in your hand." Young Master Huo glanced at him, "Since we are to play with the five Hua Fengzi brothers, we must of course play with some style."

 

As he spoke, he placed the bamboo hat onto his head and said leisurely, "The way of playing with Hua Fengzi and his brothers must, of course, be very special; for you not to watch from the side is truly a pity."

 

Zhan Rifei said, "Brother Huo's styles can only be experienced next time."

 

Young Master Huo said, "What, you are still looking forward to a next time?"

 

Zhan Rifei smiled and said, "That depends on whether Brother Huo has any other small troubles for me to pinch."

 

His expression turned serious, and he added, "Only, if that fox comes, you must be extremely careful."

 

Young Master Huo narrowed his eyes, "Are you speaking of that 'Thousand-Transformation Black Demon Fox'?"

 

Zhan Rifei said, "Correct, it is precisely him."

 

Young Master Huo said with a grin, "I have heard that this person's lightness skill and disguise technique have already reached the absolute peak, so I really cannot wait to meet him. However, if we speak of reaching the peak, the lightness skill of Linglong Villa is probably not inferior to his by much."

 

He smiled very proudly, his rabbit teeth beginning to flash brightly once more, as if the lightness skill of Linglong Villa was the ancestor of all lightness skills practiced under heaven.

 

Zhan Rifei could not help but smile as well.

 

As they were speaking, Young Master Huo suddenly listened intently, and his expression then grew stern.

 

"They are here. They have already reached the mountain pass over there."

 

The moment the words fell, his body suddenly became soft, became blurred.

 

In a flash, the person was already gone.

 

Zhan Rifei looked at the place where his silhouette had vanished, and the smile at the corners of his mouth had actually disappeared.

 

His face remained very calm, but his hand had already gripped the hilt of his sword.

 

Was it that long before he pressed down on Young Master Huo's arm, he already knew that what awaited him would be a fierce battle?

 

Without realizing it, slightly, another layer of rain, fine and dense from the gloomy clouds, seeped and fell down.

 

Could it be that even Heaven had already known the outcome of this battle in advance?

 

The jade bowl was still trembling slightly in the boy's withered and thin hand.

 

That green liquid was also still crawling.

 

The woman in green clothing had already grown impatient.

 

The boy looked at her, and looked at the bowl in his own hand.

 

The pale white sun, about to sink beneath the mountain, made the freckles on his face appear somewhat dark.

 

He finally gritted his teeth, raised the jade bowl, and was about to drink it all in one gulp.

 

Suddenly, there seemed to be a gentle force that gave the boy a push.

 

A gentle and calm voice said, "If you do not drink this bowl, it is no big deal either."

 

A hand reached over, and with just such a light beckoning, that jade bowl, somehow, arrived into this hand.

 

Being pushed by him, the boy could not help but stagger, his heavily scarred arm already gripped by another hand.

 

The pupils of the man in green clothing suddenly contracted.

 

There had never been anyone who moved before him without him perceiving the opportunity beforehand. Now, someone had actually struck before him without the slightest omen.

 

The sharp light in his eyes flared greatly. The circular blade at his waist actually let out a soft, sharp whistle.

 

Within the faint mist of rain, a person had already appeared.

 

A person in black clothing.

 

At the waist of the person in black clothing hung a long sword.

 

His appearance, just like this rain mist, was also faint, coming from nowhere known.

 

The boy's arm was held within his hand.

 

The boy had never seen this person before, but felt he looked very familiar. He had originally been surrounded by this man and woman in green clothing, yet somehow, he saw this person step into the circle.

 

Although the misty rain filling the sky made everything hazy, it still allowed the three people nearby to see his elegance like jade and his calm, self-possessed demeanor.

 

The eyes of the woman in green clothing suddenly lit up.

 

The woman smiled with charm, as if she was not very angry about this action of the black-clothed youth before her.

 

"Who is the young master, that you also wish to lay a finger on the things of the Cold Water Palace?"

 

The black-clothed youth, however, did not answer her question.

 

"Is the young lady the Moon Envoy among the Sun, Moon, Wind, and Cloud under the Cold Water Palace?"

 

The woman in green clothing let out a giggling light laugh.

 

Her laughter, just like her person, was also filled with a primal, provocative evil.

 

"It seems the young master appears to know everything of the Cold Water Palace very deeply."

 

Her eyes had already become so soft it was as if water were about to drip out.

 

"For those under the gate of the Cold Water Palace to use such methods against a young child who possesses no martial arts and is completely unarmed, are you not afraid of ruining the grand reputation of the Cold Water Palace?"

 

The woman in green clothing still gave an extremely charming and delicate laugh.

 

"Meeting for the first time, how can the young master bear to harshly rebuke me?"

 

As she spoke, she strolled closer.

 

"He is the lifeblood that the Old Matriarch thinks of day and night; how could I bear to lay a heavy hand on him? As for this medicine, he has been used to drinking it since he was a small child. ──If he does not drink it, how could he have lived until now?"

 

Her pair of soft and oily eyes within her charming smile finally swept a glance at the boy, "Am I not right?"

 

Even though he was already hiding behind this black-clothed youth, the boy still shrunk back involuntarily.

 

The black-clothed youth raised the jade bowl, caught a slight scent of it, and smiled faintly, "A poison that penetrates the bones and pierces the heart; it is truly a good medicine."

 

With a flip of his right hand, the green liquid in the jade bowl, with a "chi" sound, had already burrowed into the ground, leaving only a streak of faint white smoke that quickly vanished into the rain mist.

 

The pupils of the man in green clothing contracted once again.

 

Looking at this person in black clothing before him, within those dead-man-like eyes of his, there suddenly was a kind of evil eagerness, like a bat that had sighted fresh blood.

 

Meanwhile, on the face of the woman in green clothing, there was already an unspeakable disappointment.

 

"Does the young master really insist on becoming an enemy of the Cold Water Palace? Can the young master really bear to truly meet this little maiden with weapons?"

 

The black-clothed youth let out a soft sigh.

 

"I originally did not wish to be an enemy of your honorable sect."

 

But within his eyes, there suddenly was a surge of heroic spirit, which seemed to have pierced through this dark rain mist.

 

"It is only that sometimes, everyone will do some things that run contrary to their own wishes."

 

The woman in green clothing asked no more.

 

The pale white sun had already submerged into the far end of the gloomy clouds in the western sky.

 

The words between them had also reached their end.

 

Taking a step back, she raised her hand.

 

Her weapon was already in hand.

 

In her hand, she seemed to hold a soft, transparent object, appearing and disappearing so it could not be seen clearly. Vaguely, it seemed to be the shape of a long whip.

 

"Young master, this object is named 'Eternal Longing' (Chang Xiang Si). The young master is widely read and informed, so you must surely know the origin of its name."

 

The black-clothed youth remained calm and unhurried, "I have long heard that 'Eternal Longing' is the number one sharp weapon of the Cold Water Palace. Since the young lady wields 'Eternal Longing,' you are indeed the Moon-Wielding Envoy under the seat of the Cold Water Matriarch."

 

He took another look at the man in green clothing.

 

"Then this gentleman must be the Sun-Wielding Envoy."

 

The man in green clothing asked coldly, "You saw it?"

 

The black-clothed youth said, "What I saw was your blade."

 

The man in green clothing closed his mouth.

 

──Under the seat of the Cold Water Matriarch of the Cold Water Palace, the four envoys of Sun, Moon, Wind, and Cloud used rare and sharp weapons, all of whose names began with the word "Long" (Chang).

 

──The curved blade he wore was actually the famous blade of the Cold Water Palace, "Long Rainbow Piercing the Sun" (Chang Hong Guan Ri).

 

The woman in green clothing gave a charming smile. Her smile seemed to hold tens of thousands of romantic feelings.

 

"This little maiden is precisely the Moon-Wielder. The young master is elegant and widely read, so you should know that 'Eternal Longing' becomes strong when meeting the strong, and becomes weak when meeting the weak, changing in thousands of ways, precisely matching that line of Bai Letian: 'The longing drifts on, the regret drifts on. The regret lasts until the time of return, only then to stop.'"

 

As the word "regret" was uttered from her mouth, it was actually filled with a hundred twists and a thousand cries.

 

The man in green clothing finally could not help but let out a snort.

 

"Are you not speaking too much?"

 

The eyes of the woman in green clothing turned, and she was again letting out a giggling low laugh. The words of the man in green clothing were, to her, like passing smoke and clouds.

 

Facing the black-clothed youth, she continued, "The young master must have known long ago that longing leaves no trace yet enters the bone. This 'Eternal Longing' surpasses hundred-tempered soft steel; the young master cannot fail to guard against it."

 

The black-clothed youth listened to her state the miraculous nature of this weapon one by one, just as if he were listening to a legend, showing neither great pleasant surprise nor great panic and confusion. His face remained calm and composed.

 

"Many thanks for the young lady's guidance."

 

The woman in green clothing said with a smile, "In truth, even if I did not speak, you already knew it, is it not so?"

 

She was charming, delicate, and soft; whenever any man saw her, none would not instantly become soft to the bones, but before this black-clothed youth, it was as if beautiful eyes were being shown to a blind man.

 

Her gentle glances were just as if they had struck a stone wall, or as if they had merged into the great sea, without the slightest response.

The way he looked at her had never changed from the very beginning to the end.