Bat

The night was as cool as water1.

Bai Shaoqing stroked the Bilu Sword and stayed awake all night. He had heard that this sword was made of precious warm jade, so it should be constantly changing like the four seasons and adapting to one’s body temperature. But why was it blazing hot at this moment, disturbing his state of mind?

Could it be that that warmth was not from the sword, but from the person?

No, not from a person, but a person’s heart? 

He smiled coldly in the darkness, all heart’s were cold anyway.

A passionate warm heart? He didn’t believe it, he absolutely wouldn’t believe it.

The splendid sun rose again the next day, and Bai Shaoqing was already walking alone on the main road.

Leaving without saying goodbye was the style of a bat. He had changed back his original black robes which were made of coarse fabric, and put back on those black shoes that were a bit rotten. 

Although he was long accustomed to these black robes and black shoes, they were uncomfortable. After having worn the silk robes and nice shoes that Fenglong prepared for him, how could these cheap things from the street make him feel comfortable? Bai Shaoqing sighed silently, it had only been a few days, but his body would remember the feeling of those nice things.

What about his heart? His body had been seduced, but what about the heart.

Walking alone under the scorching sun, his hands were also empty, the Bilu sword was nowhere to be seen. It had stayed in Mo Tianya, in that room where the distinguished guest had already departed, left there feeling lonely and empty just like Bai Shaoqing.

However, soon its owner would see it and put it back in its place upon his waist where it belonged, just like Bai Shaoqing had retrieved his own black robes and black shoes.

“I don’t want you to give it to me.” Bai Shaoqing placed the Bilu Sword on the bedside and muttered softly: “I will give you three days, the bat will not take the sword. After three days, whether I have to snatch it or steal it, I will definitely have this sword in my hands.”

Originally he had planned to steal the sword three days later, but only one day after leaving Mo Tianya, the sound of Feng Long’s candid laughter kept surfacing in his mind from time to time.

“Why do I keep thinking about him?” Bai Shaoqing was annoyed: “He’s the Alliance Leader of Wulin. After I’ve stolen the sword and entered Zhengyi Sect, we will be mortal enemies.”

The less he wanted to think about it, the more confused his mind became. He just wanted to be as far as possible from Feng Long. He headed north without hiring a carriage or buying a horse. He was so upset that he didn’t even want to use his qinggong, so he just walked hurriedly along the main road for three days.

Three days later, he found out during the hardships of his travels that he was far away from Mo Tianya.

Bai Shaoqing faced the south and forced a smile: “Forget it, I haven’t fully repaid you for your kindness. I’ll wait till the end of the month before stealing the sword.”

He thought that he might as well take advantage of being in the North by taking in the scenery and relaxing, if he was bored he could play his flute by the lake, or go into the forest to play his zither. Since he had plans to enter the Zhengyi Sect, he had no intention of continuing to secretly learn the other sect’s martial arts. Over the last few days, he just wandered around casually as a scholar who did not know martial arts.

On this day, he had nothing to do so he went to a br*thel.

“Are you looking for work?” The mama-san2 glanced at him, and said shrewdly: “Little gege is quite good-looking, but we only need girls here. You should go search elsewhere.”

“You’re mistaken.” Bai Shaoqing smiled softly: “I am a travelling scholar who is lacking funds. I want to play the zither for your guests here and earn some funds.”

“Play the zither?” Bai Shaoqing had an outstanding aura about him, indistinctly revealing a slightly noble air, so the mama-san did not dare to ignore him so easily, thinking for a while and saying: “Then wait here for a moment, I will ask around.” 　　

In the br*thel, there were one or two of the ladies who knew how to play the zither, and when they heard that Bai Shaoqing was a master in the art of the zither, how could they not admire him.

Therefore, they made an agreement that Bai Shaoqing would play three days a week of the zither for the guests who visited the establishment, and Bai Shaoqing would earn half of what was paid to the br*thel for his zither playing.

Bai Shaoqing led an unconventional and wandering lifestyle, he hid in a br*thel for two reasons. First, it was not easy to be found by others. Second, he could often meet strange women who are worthy of making his acquaintance, and chat to them all night, having boundless fun.

He hid behind a curtain on the second floor and played the zither during the day, without being seen by the guests. The guests were enthralled with the sound of the zither. The tips that he had earned were comparable to that of the most popular lady in the establishment. Many guests wanted to see the zither player, but they were stopped by the proprietress because of the conditions that Bai Shaoqing had agreed with her.

The first day went well, but the next day, he had just played two pieces when suddenly there was a loud ruckus on the other side of the curtain.

The mama-san said, “Qu gongzi, it’s really not a young lady. The one who plays the zither is a young man. There are so many ladies in our establishment, you’re spoiled for choice. Why do you want to meet a man for?” 　　

“The one who can play the zither must be a beauty. The more beautiful the sound of the zither, the more beautiful the person.” A high-pitched voice was mixed in with the sound of slapped flesh, and it was thought that the mama-san had been slapped in the face by him: “I must see him today. Don’t stop me. If you continue to stop me, just watch me destroy your establishment and send you to my father’s prefectural prison.”

The curtain beads knocked together with a crisp sound and someone rushed in recklessly.

Bai Shaoqing didn’t panic and put away the guqin: “What can I do for this gongzi?”

When Qu gongzi saw that the zither player was indeed a man, he couldn’t help but be stunned. After looking carefully at Bai Shaoqing’s appearance, he smiled with fascination: “Gongzi has excellent zither playing skills. My surname is Qu, my name is Yang, I’m also an admirer of the zither. Today, after hearing your performance, it has created a deep impression upon my heart. Could gongzi tell me your esteemed name?” He said, whilst waving for his servants to get out from behind the curtain, whilst he eagerly advanced forward.

Bai Shaoqing glanced at him coldly, his thin lips raised slightly: “Qu? Are you a relative of the Prefectural Magistrate Qu?”

“That’s my father.” Qu Yang immediately announced proudly at the mention of his father’s name, his eyes turned to Bai Shaoqing’s pale and slender hands, as he drooled, “What fair hands.” 　　

A gloomy cold light flashed across his eyes, Bai Shaoqing smiled and said, “What’s the use of fair hands? I’m just a little zither master, I can’t compare to the son of the Prefectural Magistrate.”

“My dear,” Qu Yang smiled when he saw Bai Shaoqing, his heart was moved, and he rushed forward: “I am the son of the Prefectural magistrate, so you are my plaything. Come, let me taste that little mouth of yours.”

Bai Shaoqing watched coldly as he pounced, as he held a poison needle in between his fingers, he wanted him to either die or to at least be paralysed for life. Unexpectedly, Qu Yang had pounced half-way, when he suddenly fell to the ground without making a sound.

“What’s the matter with you?” Bai Shaoqing thought he was pretending, and looked carefully.

When he looked down, he found that Qu Yang was sweating profusely, and he looked as if he was in extreme pain. On closer inspection, there were several broken pieces of porcelain that had been embedded in his knees and elbows, which seemed to have happened in a sneak attack.

The attacker’s martial arts was strong, if he was able to do it seamlessly in front of Bai Shaoqing, and the joints of Qu Yang’s limbs had been completely smashed by the porcelain pieces. Bai Shaoqing was taken aback and looked all around, but couldn’t find the location of the attacker. He looked down again and found that it was not only his four limbs, but the acupuncture point that was linked to speech had also a little piece of porcelain embedded inside. Presumably the attacker didn’t want Qu Yang to shout for help, so he’d hit his speech acupoint at the same time.　　

“What’s the matter with you? Qu gongzi?” Remembering that he shouldn’t know any martial arts and there might be spies watching him, Bai Shaoqing was shocked for a moment, and then immediately pretended to be panicked: “I didn’t move at all, Qu gongzi, why are you lying there, I’ll call the physician for you.”

He stepped back two steps, still unable to detect the attacker, he didn’t know whether that person had already left, or that his martial arts skills were so great that there was no way for Bai Shaoqing to detect his presence.

He opened the curtain and left in a hurry, pretending to lighten his footsteps to show weakness in his body. He glanced around and saw several people lying in the corner, they seemed to be the servants brought by Qu gongzi.

The smell of blood faintly penetrated into the tip of the nose, Bai Shaoqing was stunned.

Could it be that Qu Yang had an enemy? This person killed all of his people, but only shattered his limbs and joints. Obviously, he hated him a lot and wanted him to suffer more for his crimes.

I wanted to stay away from Jianghu for a few days to rest. Why did I encounter these things again? It’s better if I leave this place earlier.

He went downstairs gently, as the mama-san came up and said, “Bai gongzi, you’ve come out already? Qu gongzi is the distinguished guest here and the son of the Prefectural Magistrate. I really couldn’t stop him. Don’t be angry with me. The girls knew that you were being bothered by Qu gongzi, and were very worried about you…” The person was still babbling on with no knowledge that something huge had already happened upstairs.

Bai Shaoqing said softly: “Qu gongzi is very angry, don’t let anyone go upstairs. I’ll go buy some things to cheer him up.”

“Oh, that’s good, Qu gongzi is a distinguished guest, and Bai gongzi is such a pure gentleman. I was worried that something would happen. Now I’ve seen Bai gongzi, I can feel rest assured…”

He smiled and said, whilst Bai Shaoqing had long left.

If something happened to the Prefectural Magistrate’s son then the city would be in chaos in an instant. Although Bai Shaoqing was not afraid of them, he didn’t want to find trouble, he went all the way out of the city gates to find a quiet place to settle in the suburbs.

He looked beautiful and pure, so people always had an excellent impression of him at first sight. Of course it was not difficult for him to find a place to stay for the night.

That night as he was sleeping on the hard wooden bed of the farmhouse, he couldn’t help but think back to the events of today.

Who was the attacker? He thought it was Qu Yang’s enemy, but the more he thought about it, the more he found it odd. How could someone like Qu Yang offend such a peerless master? The timing of that person’s action was too coincidental, as well as attentive, to even hit the Qu Yang silencing acupoint so that Bai Shaoqing could leave safely.

Who could it be?

Feng Long’s face suddenly flashed across his mind. Bai Shaoqing was shocked. He flipped up from the bed and shook his head: “No way, why is he following me? Why would he not say anything? He is very busy, why is he here? He is my sworn brother, so he could have taught Qu Yang a lesson out in the open, why would he do it so sneakily?”

He asked why, and then shook his head again and again, but he was worried but also felt joy.

Bai Shaoqing was dumbfounded for a long while, and suddenly lay back down on the bed, and said angrily: “Why am I so happy? If he followed me, he might have seen through my identity and wants to catch me for the Wulin Martial Arts Conference.”

He remembered that these couple of days he had not used his martial arts at all, and was suddenly delighted again for no reason. “As long as he doesn’t know that I know martial arts, I’m naturally his Shaoqing xiongdi. If he is really following me these couple of days, he should believe that I really can’t do any martial arts. Otherwise, why would he help me?”

After tossing and turning in the bed thinking about it for half the night, those faintly glowing eyes finally slowly closed in the darkness.