Chapter - 35 Words About Death And Disaster Hold Uncertain Meanings (7)

Shocked, Zhang CuiShan yelled, "Leader Du, what… what happened…" Before he could finish, Du DaJin sprung up, grabbed Zhang CuiShan's collar with both hands, gritted his teeth, said, "Murderer. I just left three hundred taels of silver for myself, yet… yet you still won't let me go?" Zhang CuiShan said, "What are you talking about?" About to brush Du DaJin's hands away, only to see his lip spewing out blood. Zhang CuiShan asked, "Have you suffered internal injuries?"

Du DaJin yelled to that monk, "Martial brother. Remember. The murderer is Wu Dang's Zhang CuiShan. Get away before he kills you too!" As he said this, he quickly shot forward, trying to head-butt Zhang CuiShan.

Zhang CuiShan hurriedly twist around, got out of the way by pushing off on Du DaJin's arm, only to hear a loud thud, as Du DaJin fell onto the ground, ripping off a piece of Zhang CuiShan's clothing along the way. Despite his courage, Zhang CuiShan nonetheless felt very uneasy about tonight's events. Only to see Du DaJin's heartbeat stopped. Obviously, he was already seriously injured, or that push Zhang CuiShan gave could not have killed him.

That monk yelled in shock, "You… you just killed my martial brother…" He quickly turned around, and began to run away as fast as he can.

Zhang CuiShan shook his head, saw that sub-leaders Zhu and Shi's feet are in the water, already dead for some time. Looking at the three bodies, Zhang CuiShan felt much sadness. Although he hated them for making a grave mistake regarding Yu DaiYan, he hardly wanted to see them dead like this. Suddenly, he thought, "Du DaJin thought that I killed them because he left three hundred taels of gold for himself. I never knew anything about that. Besides, even if I did, I would hardly make a big deal out of it."

He reached into Du DaJin's sack, and indeed found several gold nuggets. At this moment, Zhang CuiShan felt that life really is fleeting. This escort leader spent his whole life traveling around, living under constant threat of death, just for some gold. Yet now, with gold right by his side, Du DaJin would no longer be able to enjoy them. He then thought about his great triumph over those Shaolin monks, but how long can he enjoy this? After all, a hundred years later, he'd be no different from Du DaJin. Zhang CuiShan then sighed deeply.

Suddenly, the sound of zither came from the lake. Zhang CuiShan looked up, only to see a young scholar on a boat, the same one he saw in front of the escort agency earlier. He looked at the three bodies by his side, and at the boat closing in, thought that should the person see him like this, and alert the soldiers, there would be much unnecessary problems. Just as he's about to leave, that gentleman suddenly said, "If this friend likes to observe the night scenery of the lake, why not do so on my boat?" As he said this, Zhang CuiShan saw the boat rowing to the shore.

Zhang CuiShan thought, "If this person had been here all this time, he might have seen something that I missed. Perhaps I get some information from him." So he walked over to the shore, waited for the boat to come, and then stepped onto the head of the boat.

The scholar on the boat stood up, smiled, and gestured with his arm for Zhang CuiShan to sit down. Under the lantern light, Zhang CuiShan saw that this scholar's hands are whiter than snow, his face delicate and slender, eyebrows curly and nose straight, more handsome than any exquisite scholar he had ever seen. Zhang CuiShan immediately realized that this scholar is actually a beautiful young woman in disguise.

Wu Dang is very strict when it comes to women. So when Zhang CuiShan saw a lone lady on the boat, his face started to blush bright red. As he quickly got off the boat, Zhang CuiShan said, "I didn't know that you are a woman disguising as a man. Sorry to bother you."

That young woman did not respond. The boat then rowed away, while the young woman kept playing her zither, singing, "Tonight wish for no more excitement, but there will be many more future nights, under the Six United Pagoda [4] , weeping willows and rowing boats. How those gentlemen, come to have fun on the water." As the boat disappeared into the darkness, so did the song and the sound of the zither.

Hearing such beautiful melody, after all that killing earlier, Zhang CuiShan could not help but just stand there in silence. Only after over an hour of stillness did he make his way back to the inn.

The next day, everyone found out about the mass murder at the Dragon Gate Escort Agency. But with Zhang CuiShan's scholarly appearance, no one even thought he could be the culprit.

At around noon, he started to search for his brothers in the marketplace and at tourist spots. But there are no signs of them anywhere. At dusk, he suddenly remembered the young woman's song: "Tonight wish no more for excitement, but there will be many more future nights, under the Six United Pagoda, with weeping willows and rowing boats. How those gentlemen, come to sightsee." Zhang CuiShan thought, "As long as I act as a gentleman, it would be ok to see her. Sighs, if second and seventh brother were here, we could've gone together. Other than her, I really don't have any other leads."

After eating lunch, Zhang CuiShan began to walk towards the Six United Pagoda by the QianTang River.