CH 89

Back to the Countryside

Chapter 89:女子

The Woman / The Female

As they marched forward on their journey, the fragments of the snowflakes began to fall from the sky again. It wasn’t very heavy and didn’t cause trouble for people who were in the middle of hurrying on their journey. 

Under Xiao Yu Heng’s watchful eye, He Ling ate a small cup of tonic soup, which the other man had packed in the town they had stayed in earlier, in the hope that he would eat not less well on the road since he had not yet recovered from his illness.

After watching him drink the last mouthful, Xiao Yu Heng took the porcelain cup, put it aside, handed him a handkerchief and said, “We will be able to reach the next town before it gets dark. Until then, we will stay there for two days, otherwise your body may not be able to bear it.”

He Ling wiped the soup stain on his lips and nodded to him, “Thank you and trouble you Xiao Gongzi, for thinking of me at all times. If it were not for your help, I really don’t know what I should do.”

Hearing what he had said, Xiao Yu Heng’s eyes were downcast, not knowing what he was thinking about. When he raised his eyes again, his smiling face was still frivolous as before, “Qi Yue is considered to have saved my life, so this is just a small repayment. Besides, it’s my honour to take care of a beauty like you.”

Seeing that he had started to be indecent again, He Ling sighed helplessly. Whenever he felt that the other party was reliable, he would always break that impression the next moment, smiling mischievously and be all cheeky.

The corners of Xiao Yu Heng’s mouth curved in a wicked way . His eyes that looked at him, however, there were some indefinable and unexplained emotions in it. He turned his face away and lifted the carriage curtain to take a look at the outside. The beautiful and spotlessly pure white snowflakes fell gently but the time for the snow to stop was too short, no matter what, he couldn’t grasp it with his hand. 

The carriage suddenly stopped so he put down his hand and frowned. Without waiting for him to ask, the subordinate who was driving the carriage outside reported to him first, “Master, someone is blocking the road.”

He narrowed his eyes and told He Ling to stay in the carriage and not to move while he himself took a look outside the carriage. He raised his eyebrows at once and said in a clear loud voice, “Du Fang Zhu (Master Du/ Sect Leader Du) is so elegant, sipping tea in the snow!”

Straight in front of him and in the middle of the road, a woman dressed in red clothes as red as the fire. She was sitting on a chair with a cup of fragrant tea in her hand, taking a sip every now and then. When she heard his voice, she handed the cup to the young girl dressed in pink who was holding an umbrella for her and replied, “It’s all because Xiao Shao Lóu Zhǔ (Young Master Leader Xiao, a young landlord of a building / organization) is so busy, running around without stopping. That’s why even though I am tired, I am still waiting here!”

Xiao Yu Heng jumped down from the carriage. He walked unhurriedly as he stepped forward, stopping not far from her, “What is the need for this, Sect Leader Du? You are always chasing after this junior everyday. Those who don’t know, will think that you were in love with me!”

“Impudent!” Another young girl dressed in blue, who was standing on the other side of the woman, rebuked him but at the same time she also put her hand on her sleeve.

“Don’t be impolite!” The woman in red gave her a sideways glance, stopping her from taking the action before turning her gaze back to him, “Xiao Shao Lou Zhu, don’t you relate those impudent and nonsense matters with me. After so many years, from beginning to the end, I had only one purpose.”

Xiao Yu Heng shook his head with a long sigh, pretending to be in a difficult situation, “This junior, from beginning to the end, also has only one answer for you. Since we have received the silver from others, there is no reason for us not to do the work after taking the money.”

The woman in red slammed the arm of the chair. She was obviously angry, “I told you, I will pay double the price. When the person is found, I will also return the money to you!”

“Money is indeed important, however the reputation of my building is even more important. We really can’t find out the whereabouts of this person for you, so please Sect Leader Du give up on this matter!” Xiao Yu Heng’s attitude was also very tough without any intention of compromising with the other party.

“Reputation?” The woman laughed coldly as she leaned back to her chair, glancing meaningfully at the carriage behind him, “As far as I know, Young Leader Xiao have

personally cancelled a mission this time, am I right? What kind of beauty is hidden in this carriage that can make you make an exception?”

As soon as she said that, Xiao Yu Heng pulled a serious face. It seemed that the building had to be reorganized. They could not even handle a job like this so what was the point of having them?  “Sect Leader Du, this is my pavilion’s own business, we don’t need you to interfere with it!”

“Naturally I don’t have time to care about the matters in your building. I only care about whether you will accept or not the matter I have entrusted to you?” The woman in red narrowed her eyes. Even as she sat, her imposing aura was not weak in the slightest.

“In this matter, this junior can only once again apologize to you!” Xiao Yu Heng flung his sleeves and turned back to go back to the carriage.

The woman in red was not willing to let him go so easily but before she could make a move, the two young girls beside him sprang out. At the same time, several embroidery needles with silk threads flew out of their sleeves and shot towards his vest.

In the nick of time, several men in black came from hiding, and with a flick of their swords, they were able to separate the needles from him. With a twist of their bodies, they brought up their swords to block it for Xiao Yu Heng.

The two young girls withdrew their needles and returned it to their sleeves, standing in front of the woman in red to confront them.

“Young Leader Xiao please do not refuse a toast, only to be forced to drink a forfeit1[敬酒不吃吃罚酒/ jìng jiǔ bù chī chī fá jiǔ:  to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit / fig. to hesitate to do sth until forced to do even more]!” The woman sat in her chair, not moving at all but there was a ruthless and tyrannical aura from between her upturned eyebrows. She seemed to be in a very unhappy mood.

Although the number of people on the other side was smaller than his, if they really fought, he would not be able to get a good result, “After all these years, if the other side was willing, the person would  definitely come back to visit you. Since the person didn’t come back, then why should Sect Leader Du painstakingly pursue the other party?”

“This is my business, you don’t need to worry about it. You just need to help me find the person!” The woman in red didn’t care about his many arguments or wisdom talk, if she had listened to him, she would not have pestered him until now. 

It seemed that today was not going to be a good day. Xiao Yu Heng’s face darkened as he drew his flexible sword from his waist and took the lead, going straight for the woman in red. The other side gave him a cold snort and flew up (leap swiftly) to fight with him.

He Ling was sitting inside the carriage as he listened to the sounds of the fight outside, feeling anxious and helpless.He didn’t know who that woman was.However, by blocking and stopping them in the middle of the road, she was definitely looking for trouble. If Xiao Yu Heng could not defeat herp and was injured, what should he do then? 

“Xiao Yu Heng, you have broken the rules of your pavilion once, so what’s the harm in breaking it again?” The woman in red threw a silk thread out and wrapped it around her opponent’s sword. Both sides pulled each other and for a moment, they refused to budge from their original position. 

“This time, I owe that person a favour so I’m just taking this opportunity to repay it. Why should Sect Leader Du need to make it difficult for me?” Xiao Yu Heng did not relax at all, “Besides, it was my father who took on this matter in the first place, so even if I were to make an exception, it wouldn’t be my turn ah!”

With a twist of her hand, they separated and in the blink of an eye exchanged a few more moves, “If I could find your father whose whereabouts is unknown2[神龙见首不见尾 /shén lóng jiàn shǒu bù jiàn wěi : literally it mean able to see the dragon god’s head but can’t see the tail. It was a metaphor for the mysterious whereabouts of people; be secretive in one’s movement and trace. ], why would I bother you, a junior? Why don’t you tell me the whereabouts of Master Xiao (Xiao Lou Zhu) so I won’t spend any more energy on you here!”

The embroidery needles flying all around made Xiao Yu Heng fight for his life and was busy dealing with it but his mouth still refused to give away in an argument, “What? So it’s not me who you adore but my father that Sect Leader Du has in mind?”

The woman dressed in red put on a serious expression, with a change in her hand (movement in her martial arts), a needle grazed her opponent’s cheek, leaving a bloodstain, “Such a slippery tongue, you are not afraid to bite your own tongue?”

Xiao Yu Heng turned around and took two steps back, raised his hand to wipe away the blood on his face and hooked his lips into a smile, “Is it possible that Sect Leader Du has been angered by the fact that I have predicted it correctly and said what’s in your mind?”

“I think you are looking for death today!” The woman in red narrowed her eyes. Her ruthless and murderous qi (aura) was even thicker, as her red sleeves fluttered, the embroidery needles along with the silk thread seemed to form and spread into a net, making a surprise attack on the person in front of her.

Xiao Yu Heng glanced sideways at the carriage behind him. He took a wrong step as he brushed over to the other direction. His position was too close to the carriage so a fight would have injured the people inside. 

The woman dressed in red’s needles changed direction as she did, spreading out and instantly leaving several more wounds on his body. Watching the other party’s figure pause, she temporarily withdrew her moves. She looked at the carriage that was securely parked in there and said, “I didn’t expect that Young Leader Xiao was still a romantic type of person. You have taken a lot of effort in order to protect the person inside.”

“Sect Leader Du Fang is joking, this junior had said, it’s just repaying the kindness of saving my life!” Xiao Yu Heng was afraid that her attention would go that way. He coughed lightly twice and laughed, “Or don’t tell me that you are jealous?”

This time, the woman did not lose her temper as he had wished for. Her figure moved quickly towards the carriage. At the same time, she also said, “I would like to see what kind of stunning beauty is hidden in the carriage.”

Xiao Yu Heng panicked and quickly brought up his sword to block her path. However, he was attacked by his opponent with a wave of her sleeve. He turned around and flipped in the air to avoid it.

Both of them made such a big movement making the horse that was pulling the carriage frightened, raised its front hooves and let out a neigh.The carriage shook and the person inside let out a muffled grunt, he perhaps had hit something.

“Ling Ge’er, are you alright?” Struggling against the other party’s attack, Xiao Yu Heng had no time to go there, so he could only ask in a loud clear voice. 

“I am alright!” It was only after a long time that a slightly panicked reply came out from inside, probably startled by the sudden situation just now.

He Ling indeed did not get hurt, he only hit his arm on the wall of the carriage during the shaking, although it hurt a little, but nothing was serious or harmful. He calmed down his heartbeat before he opened his mouth to answer him.

Hearing that the other party was fine, Xiao Yu Heng was relieved. He looked at the woman dressed in red with some slight annoyance, “Sect Leader Du, I’m afraid it’s not good to involve innocent people in a dispute between us!”

“Xiao Shao Lou Zhu is being serious here. I don’t mean to do anything to him. I just want to get to know him!” Seeing that he no longer had that mischievous smile and playful look on his face, the woman’s heart felt a little happy. 

“He’s not from Jiang Hu so there’s no need for you to know him!” He titled his head and gave a meaningful wink (signal with eyes) to the men in black who were still fighting with the two young girls, they instantly changed their path and separated into groups, one to guard the carriage.

In his heart, Xiao Yu Heng regretted that he had come out in such a hurry that he had not deployed a gold-ranked assassin to follow after him. Otherwise, he would have been able to get away faster. He would not have been in a difficult situation as he was now.

When she saw that he had especially sent someone to keep watch, the woman smiled. The more the other party cared, the more useful this person would be to her. If she could capture him, Xiao Yu Heng could not help but agree to her requests.

With this in mind, her moves were also changed. Each move or attack was directed towards the carriage, the silk threads danced in the air, fluttering everywhere, so tricky that it made them hard to guard against it. 

Xiao Yu Heng had been wounded earlier so his movements were much slower than before. Now his mind was in turmoil, he naturally fell further behind. Luckily, the man in black at the back was able to take in (back him up) the moves he missed.

But following as the woman’s attack became more and more rapid and complex, he had more direction to attend to. His eyes were glued to the chaotic (numerous and disorderly) silk threads, not daring to look away.

The woman’s body moved quickly to one side at this moment, walking past the two of them and directly making the surprise attack on the carriage, lifting the curtain, tugging the person’s arm inside the carriage, pulling him out and stopping a few feet away.

It all happened in a matter of a few breaths, leaving Xiao Yu Heng impossible to defend effectively. By the time he cut off all the embroidery thread around him, the woman was already standing a few steps away dragging the person in her arms. His face immediately sank (pull a long face; put on a serious expression) at the moment. 

He Ling’s mind was also muddled at this moment, he only saw a red colour scurrying in from outside the car. Suddenly everything was blurry before his eyes, he then already landed on the snow. He didn’t even have time to react.

“Young Master Leader Xiao, your tightly hidden beauty is in my hands now. Let’s each of us stop and have a good talk!” As the woman spoke, the two young girls who had followed her instantly retreated and stood behind her. 

Several men in black also retreated to Xiao Yu Heng’s side.The situation between the two sides returned to what it was at the beginning, facing each other with no one refusing to lose their momentum, as if even the air had become frozen.

Another secret revealed in the next chapte