Zhan Zhao Adventures - Chapter Two (Part VI)

Chapter Two: The Curtain of Twilight (Part VI)

Huo Xiaodi was locked in a beautiful, sweet dream. He envisioned himself submerged in a wooden tub overflowing with fresh flower petals, enjoying a warm, luxurious bath. The faint floral fragrance, the soothing water, and the gentle murmurs of his serving maids left him in a state of blissful drowsiness, entirely unwilling to wake.

 

Suddenly, a persistent mosquito seemed to buzz near his ear. Annoyed, he swung his palm out with a sharp smack. He then heard a succession of sharp smack-smack sounds, which struck him as highly peculiar. Where did all these mosquitoes come from?

 

This realization jolted him awake, shattering the illusion of his dream. He looked up at the sun, noting that it had already begun its descent into the west. Though the rain had ceased, the wind still raged violently, and dark clouds dominated the sky.

 

Then, two more sharp smack-smack sounds drifted over, carried fitfully by the howling wind.

 

Beneath the ridge lay a small thatched pavilion, hidden completely by the contours of the earth. Unless one stood directly atop the ridge, the pavilion remained entirely invisible. Huo Xiaodi carefully poked his head over the crest of the hill to peer down.

 

In a distant hollow near the edge of the woods stood three figures. One of them was none other than the boy he had been searching for. Standing alongside him were two adults, both clad in pale green robes.

 

One was a tall man with dead, emotionless eyes. The other was a woman whose collar bore an embroidered crescent moon. She was a vision of absolute grace and fluid charm—the exact archetype of a woman Huo Xiaodi despised encountering most.

 

The man in green offered no words. He suddenly unleashed a rapid succession of over a dozen brutal slaps, causing the boy's cheeks to instantly swell and blood to leak from the corners of his mouth. The boy stood paralyzed, whether from sheer terror or absolute helplessness under the overwhelming pressure of the man's strikes, entirely unable to evade the blows.

 

The woman in green maintained her intoxicating smile. Once the man stayed his hand, she spoke in a sweet, dripping tone, though it was unclear to whom she addressed her words. "If we hadn't crossed paths with that fellow surnamed Su, we wouldn't have known that even the scum of the Cloud-Rising Manor and the Tang Clan dared harbor designs for the item we have set our eyes upon."

 

Glancing back at the man, she continued, "It appears our Cold Water Palace has remained removed from the jianghu for far too long, if others believe they can ride roughshod over our heads."

 

She then turned her gaze to the boy, offering a mild smile. "Wouldn't you agree? Tell me, did you happen to reveal that secret to them?"

 

The boy shook his head frantically.

 

"I know you are incapable of speech," she murmured softly. "But if you truly wished to convey it to them, you would have found a way, wouldn't you?"

 

The boy continued to shake his head.

 

"Truly no?"

 

A look of absolute despair flooded the boy’s eyes, and he shook his head with desperate intensity, utterly at a loss for how to make her believe him.

 

"Good. That is as it should be. This secret can only belong to the Cold Water Palace." The woman spoke with a lazy nonchalance, rendering it impossible to tell if she actually believed a word he signaled.

 

She lowered her head, letting out a soft giggle as her smooth, delicate fingers gently traced the contour of his swollen, crimson cheek. "Children who run away to cause mischief do not find favor with the Grand Matriarch. She despises disobedient children. Therefore, before we departed, she explicitly instructed us to ensure you take your medicine before we ask any questions. The Grand Matriarch always says that only children who take their medicine are truly capable of being good."

 

Though the freezing wind carried her words in fragmented pieces, and though her tone remained as soft and fluid as water, Huo Xiaodi felt an involuntary shudder ripple through his chest from his hiding spot on the ridge.

 

As she spoke, she retrieved a soft leather pouch and a jade bowl from the bundle on her back. The boy watched her movements with wide eyes filled with absolute terror and silent pleading. His legs felt entirely hollow, leaving him unable to move a single step to flee.

 

He watched as the woman poured a stream of vivid green liquid from the pouch into the jade bowl. The liquid writhed and rippled within the vessel, appearing violently alive. Instantly, the boy’s visage turned as deathly pale as a corpse, and tears began to stream down his cheeks.

 

The woman extended the jade bowl toward him, her voice remaining terrifyingly gentle. "If you refuse to take your medicine, you will truly enrage the Grand Matriarch. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

 

The emerald jade bowl trembled violently in his grasp, a testament to the intense shaking of his hands. The writhing green liquid reflected against his quivering lips.

 

The woman let out a cold sneer. "Why do you hesitate to drink? The dosage is merely a bit larger today; once the venom manifests, it will simply bring a touch more agony. But surely you do not wish to anger the Matriarch further, forcing her to utilize far more exquisite methods to ensure you can neither live nor die, correct?"

 

The boy’s tears flowed faster, and his hands shook with even greater intensity, yet he dared not spill a single drop of the contents within the bowl. The man in green stood by silently, having not uttered a single word from beginning to end. His icy gaze rested upon the child, yet it felt as though he were looking through him entirely. To him, this frail child simply did not exist.

 

Huo Xiaodi could no longer endure it.

 

He had occasionally heard whispered tales regarding the terrors of the Cold Water Palace back at the Linglong Manor. He vividly recalled the heavy, solemn expressions on the faces of the senior martial artists whenever the name was uttered, and the absolute dread they could not entirely conceal within their eyes.

 

Yet, he could not comprehend why an entity as immensely renowned as the Cold Water Palace would resort to forcing a defenseless child to consume poison simply to extract the whereabouts of a treasure.

 

He knew full well that he absolutely could not afford to provoke a new, terrifying adversary right now. He knew full well that the pursuing forces of the Prince of Xiangyang were nearby. Yet, he simply could not stand by and watch these two green-clad figures brutally torment a child who possessed absolutely no martial arts.

 

Or perhaps, he simply no longer cared. What if he provoked them? Was he not already drowning in a sea of trouble? When one is covered in lice, a few more do not cause an itch; when one owes a mountain of debt, a few more creditors bring no fear.

 

His hand crept into his robes, his fingers locking onto the blood-red hilt of the Yin-Yang Han. The ink-black blade of the weapon began to warm against his body heat, resembling a demon that hungered to gorge itself upon hot blood.

 

Taking a deep breath, he prepared to draw his steel.

 

Yet, his blade never left its scabbard. A powerful, firm hand had gently but absolutely clamped down upon his forearm.

 

A shock wave of alarm rippled through him. The peerless lightness skill of the Linglong Manor was designed to be so acutely sensitive that a falling leaf a thousand miles away could be discerned. Though he had directed his absolute concentration toward utilizing the technique "Listening to the Whispering Flowers in the Night" to eavesdrop on the woman's words below, no movement within a hundred yards should have been capable of escaping his senses.

 

Who on earth possessed the terrifying capability to approach his very flank without triggering a single alarm?

 

He whipped his head around. There, beneath the glow of the setting sun, stood the refined, pale face of Zhan Rifei, his features carrying that same clear, tranquil smile.