Chapter 8 - An Affair

 

Some people really liked flowers. Regardless of what mood they were in, they would always cut flowers and put them in a vase.

It seemed that Xiaowan was not hiding anything, or having an affair. She had really determined to die for love. But why did this man have to force her to die? How was he related to her? Was he a friend of Qiu Fengcheng, coming to force her to kill herself in the name of love, or coming to silence her?

Having thought this far, Ma Rulong suddenly saw something that he couldn't even have imagined in his dream. All of a sudden, Xiaowan walked over to sit in the man's lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gently nibbling on his earlobe.

Still panting, she said, "You want me to die. I want you to die too."

The outer piece of her gown had already fallen off. Underneath that tight-fitting silk gown was only a bright red undergarment, which made her skin look even whiter. Ma Rulong really couldn't continue watching. This was other people's affair. He really shouldn't pry into their business.

But.. he recalled Qiu Fengcheng's lovesick way at that hole. He was going to shout out and separate the two people, who were about to 'die.' He was also going to jump in through the window.

Instead, he jumped to the other side of the wall and started knocking on the gate. He knocked for a long while before hearing Xiaowan asking from the inside, "Who is it?"

"It's me"

"Who are you? How will I know who you are? Don't you have a name?" Xiaowan's tone was not very good but she eventually came out to open the gate.

"It's you!"

Seeing Ma Rulong, she was certainly startled, but she quickly regained her composure. With a masked face she coldly said, "I didn't know Young Master Ma would visit. Are you afraid that I will be lonely at night? Are you here to comfort me for Qiu Fengcheng?"

These words were cutting. With this kind of speech, even one with such intention would have to leave quickly.

Too bad, Ma Rulong had no such intention. He blandly said, "I know for certain that you're not lonely. I'm only afraid you'll die by someone's hand."

Xiaowan's face turned red, and then white. She suddenly turned around and walked into the house. She said, "Come with me."

Ma Rulong followed her. To his surprise, she took him to that same room. The man had already disappeared.

"Sit down." She pointed at the soft chair that man had sat earlier. "Please sit down."

Ma Rulong didn't sit. He didn't see the man, but he saw that pair of boots, that pair of extraordinarily beautiful boots.

There was a bed in this room. Behind the bed hung a very long cloth curtain. Still, it didn't drop all the way to the floor. And so, that pair of boots was exposed at the bottom of the curtain.

Xiaowan asked, "Why don't you sit?"

"It seems like this seat is not for me," said Ma Rulong.

Xiaowan laughed, but of course her laugh didn't come out natural. She said, "You don't sit. Who is going come sit in here?"

"There appears to be someone," said Ma Rulong.

Xiaowan said, "Except Qiu Fengcheng, you are the only one who has ever set foot into this room. How can there be any other person?"

She suppressed her anger, still insisting that there was no other person in the room. Ma Rulong was also angry. He couldn't help but step forward, pulling open the cloth curtain. Of course, someone was behind that curtain. But there was truly no one else who'd been in this room. Because the person behind the curtain was, unexpectedly, Qiu Fengcheng.

Ma Rulong dashed out of the room, out of the gate, and out of the alley. Fortunately, it was already dark outside.

It was dark and bitter cold, and there was nobody on the street outside. Otherwise, people would definitely think he was a lunatic.

Right now the only thing he wanted to do was hitting his own ears over and over again. He would never be able to forget how he pulled open that cloth curtain in one swipe, or the expression on Qiu Fengcheng's face, or how Xiaowan looked at him at that time.

Really, he should have known that Qiu Fengcheng would eventually come back. He should also have guessed that that person would very likely be Qiu Fengcheng. But, in the heat of the moment, he simply didn't think. He should have recognized Qiu Fengcheng's voice but he simply didn't pay attention.

After all, Qiu Fengcheng was an educated, young gentleman from an aristocratic family. In that kind of situation, surprisingly he'd laughed. But, to Ma Rulong, it was worse than his ears being clobbered. And so, he just fled as if someone had shooed him with a broom.

Again, he was left alone, with no money and nowhere to go, and he still had no single clue about what was going on. It was as if his life was hanging by a fine thread, his body in midair. Although he had not fallen yet, he probably would tumble down to his doom very shortly.

He was wrong! He suddenly felt that he was not all alone. There appeared to be someone behind him.

He didn't have to turn his head around to know who it was. He didn't know why his hanging-by-thread feeling had practically disappeared either. That person caught up with him, handing him something so very beautiful.

Ma Rulong snatched it. Right now what he needed most was some medicine for his head. And she had just given him exactly a package of headache medicine.

She waited for him to swallow that medicine. Then she pulled out some seven, eight packages of more medicine. Some were round pills, others were tablets. There was even a powder kind. She gave them all to him.

"This is for diluting wine. This is a purple golden tablet. This is for stomach pains. This one is good for your digestive system.. .."

Ma Rulong smiled, "What do you think I am? A medicine pot?"

She returned the smile, "I know you are not a medicine pot. You are a wine pot."

Then she giggled, "Too bad, this pot is very, very small and can't hold too much wine."

Dawan really looked livelier than he did, and the color on her face was much better than his. He thought, "Is her alcohol tolerance actually better than mine?"

Ma Rulong was not convinced. He had to ask, "Your head doesn't hurt?"

"Nope," replied Dawan.

"How come?" Ma Rulong asked.

Dawan replied, "Because I don't like to meddle in other people's affairs."

Meddling was really the main source of headaches. Not only did it give other people headaches, his very own head would also hurt.

Then she asked, "Did you see that Xiaowan?"

"Hmm."

"How was it?"

"How was what?"

"How did she look?"

"She looked very good."

Dawan giggled, "Since she looked very good, how come you look like you just saw a ghost?"

With a sigh Ma Rulong replied, "If I'd seen a ghost, it would've been much better."

"What did you see?" Dawan asked.

Ma Rulong replied, "I saw Qiu Fengcheng."

To his surprise, he talked about everything that had just happened. He had originally thought he'd never tell anybody about him at the scene. But for some obscure reason, he felt as if he could tell her all, and there was no need to conceal anything.

Dawan didn't laugh at him. Instead she sighed and said, "If I were you, I would have wanted to just disappear too."

This was his sentiment indeed. He suddenly found out that although she was cunning, cruel, and ugly, this girl actually was good-hearted. Besides, she was understanding and sympathetic. This was the first time he had this kind of feelings.

Suddenly Dawan said, "But I don't get this."

"What don't you get?" Ma Rulong asked.

Dawan said, "Qiu Fengcheng obviously knew it was you in there, why did he have to hide?"

Ma Rulong explained, "The two of them aren't properly married. With his kind of family background, he would have to be careful. If I were him, I might have hidden myself too."

Dawan gave him a look. With a faint smile she said, "I didn't know you could consider other people's feelings."

Ma Rulong asked, "What kind of person did you think I was?"

Dawan said, "I thought you were arrogant and selfish, simply not caring whether other people would live or die."

Then her voice suddenly turned soft, "But now I know I was wrong."

This unreasonable girl could admit that she was wrong. It certainly boggled the minds of people.

Again Dawan asked, "What did he say when he saw you?"

"It was even more awkward because he didn't say anything," replied Ma Rulong.

"And what did you say?" Dawan asked.

Ma Rulong forced a smile. He said, "What could I say at a time like that?"

Dawan said, "Did he try to capture you for Feng Chaofan?"

"No, he didn't." Ma Rulong replied.

Dawan said, "And you didn't ask him what happened at the Winter Plum Valley after you left? Did Madame Jasper show up? Did she choose him to be her son-in-law?"

"I didn't," replied Ma Rulong.

He suddenly asked her, "How do you know all these things?"

Dawan smiled. Her smile was very mysterious. She said, "Of course, someone told me."

Ma Rulong asked, "Who?"

"A certain drunk person," said Dawan.

Ma Rulong said, "That certain drunk person was me?"

Dawan laughed, "You aren't too dumb after all."

Ma Rulong could only let out a forced smile. He'd certainly said many things in his drunken stupor, but it was too bad he himself didn't know what was said.

"Actually Madame Jasper didn't have to choose anymore. Du Qinglian and Shen Hongye are both dead. You've become an object of universal hatred. Except the Silver Spear Master Qiu Fengcheng, nobody would be good enough to be the son-in-law of the Jasper mountain village."

She sighed and continued, "Even if Madame Jasper wants to choose, there's nothing left to choose from."

Such is the fact. After what had happened, Qiu Fengcheng did come out on top.

Ma Rulong said, "But.. he can't be the culprit!"

"Why not?" Dawan asked.

Ma Rulong explained, "Because he's already had someone he wants to live and die with. He doesn't want to be the son-in-law of the Jasper mountain village."

With a sigh Dawan said, "I actually don't think he can do all these things. But if he isn't the culprit, and neither are you, who killed all these people?"

Ma Rulong said, "It must be the Divine Death!"

Dawan asked, "Who is the Divine Death?"

Ma Rulong said, "Divine Death isn't a person. It's a secret society, an assassin society."

Dawan asked, "But why did they do all this? Why did they try to frame you?"

Ma Rulong rambled on, "Because.. they want to create chaos."

Then he explained, "If our families fight, Jianghu will be turned upside down. They will sieze the opportunity to rise."

His explanation made sense. This kind of things happened before in the past. It might as well happen again.

Ma Rulong said, "Right now, they are only a villainous society. If their plan succeeds, they can become an open and upright sect. Because by that time, no one in Jianghu will be able to stop them."

Dawan said, "Because by that time all the families will have already destroyed themselves because of the feud.

Ma Rulong said, "But I absolutely can't let it happen."

Dawan asked, "How do you plan to stop them?"

Ma Rulong said, "First I must find out who the head of the Divine Death is."

"How are you going to do that?" Dawan asked.

Ma Rulong did not reply. He really had no single clue for the time being. He did not know where to start either.

Dawan said, "This person had to know that the four young masters would be at the Winter Plum Valley on that day."

"Right," said Ma Rulong.

Dawan said, "How did he know? Except the four of you, who else knew about it? Did you tell anybody about this matter?"

Ma Rulong said, "I didn't. But Qiu Fengcheng.. .."

He suddenly remembered that Xiaowan had mentioned the 'Winter Plum Valley.'

Xiaowan had asked him – did you go to the Winter Plum Valley a few days ago? She had known that they would go to the Winter Plum Valley. Qiu Fengcheng had told her about it. And if Qiu Fengcheng could tell her about it, he could tell other people about it too. Xiaowan could also talk. Just like any other male, he simply didn't believe a woman could keep secrets. This was his only clue.

Ma Rulong said, "I have to go ask him. There are so many things that I can only understand after seeing him."

Dawan asked, "Are you ready to go ask him questions?"

"I certainly am," said Ma Rulong.

Having said that, he was ready to go.

With a sigh Dawan said, "You sure know how to pick a time. There's no other time like this. Right now the two of them are probably doing this 'you want me to die, I also want you to die' thing. They will sure be awlfully grateful for your barging in to help them this time."

Ma Rulong decided not to go. He could imagine the expression on the two people's faces if they saw him going back there. The situation would be extremely awkward, and nobody was willing to subject himself to that.

Ma Rulong asked, "When do you reckon I should leave?"

Suddenly Dawan's eyes had a strange look. She quickly lowered her voice, "It's best you leave now. Leave quickly."

A woman's heart was like the weather in June. It changed really quickly.

Ma Rulong had to ask, "Why do you want me to leave now?"

"Because if you don't, you won't be able to leave again, forever." Dawan replied.

Suddenly she sighed and said, "Now, I'm afraid it's too late."

By now they were walking in a dark lane. Ma Rulong didn't get to ask 'why' again because he already saw that there were people blocking them on both ends of the lane. There were seven people, seven people dressed in black.