Chapter 17
Edited by renderedreversed
Chapter 17
“Happy endings don’t come from an elopement!”
This was the first sentence I said to Zihui, after I woke up . I tightened my grip on his clothes and said with a serious face: “Shengling Sect’s butcher once told me that there was a widow in the village who eloped with a man . Later, they were caught and then drowned in a pig’s cage . ”
I was also afraid that Shifu would drown me in a pig’s cage, just like them . In that case, even my bones wouldn’t be found .
Zihui stared at me for a moment, stunned . Then, he laughed and said: “If that’s the case, then we should not elope . ”
“Alright,” I nodded immediately . Even though I still had some complaints against Shifu, I had never thought about leaving his side before .
“Let’s go back and ask Shifu for forgiveness . ”
I wanted to leave, but Zihui grabbed me .
“If you want to go back to Shengling Sect from here, it’ll take half a month . ”
I was shocked: “I actually slept for half a month?!”
“No, a Xiang lady only slept for a night,” Zihui said . “You must already know that I’m not an ordinary person . I’m a stone turned into essence . Traveling thousands of miles in a blink of eye is just one of the spells I practiced . ”
I nodded in understanding: “This is better; we can go back to Fengxueshan Manor in a blink of eye . ”
“A Xiang, seeing your Shifu like that just yesterday, do you really think your Shifu would let us marry, even if we admitted to our faults?”
I thought for a moment and dejectedly shook my head .
“But we still shouldn’t elope . ”
“Of course,” Zihui said with a laugh .
“We eloped because we didn’t get the consent of the elders . If we can obtain your parents’ consent, even if Shifu isn’t willing, he won’t be able to say anything . ”
I blinked and thought for a moment . Zihui’s words did have some truth in them, but my childhood memories were vague and unclear . I couldn’t remember where my home was . I couldn’t remember the appearance of my father and mother .
Zihui said in a strange way: “Over the years, hasn’t a Xiang lady thought about going home and visit your parents?”
I scratched my head .
“I have thought about it, but Shifu said that my parents entrusted me to him . If I didn’t master the arts, I couldn’t go home . In so many years, my skills didn’t improve much, so I didn’t dare to go home . Then I thought that accompanying Shifu was also pretty good, so I buried the desire in my heart . ”
Zihui stared at me thoughtfully for a while and then he hung his head and quietly whispered: “So, that was the case…Darn, your Shifu is really shameful…”
“What?”
Zihui smiled and said: “Nothing . Along the way here I heard some news . I probably know how to get to a Xiang’s home . Stopping here isn’t the answer . Let’s go and see . ”
I nodded and didn’t think much . I just followed him from behind .
It didn’t take long before the scenery slowly began to seem familiar to me . I happily tugged at Zihui’s sleeve .
“Right, right, this seems to be the road!”
I picked up my pace and began to run in my excitement .
“It shouldn’t be far from here . Turning around a corner, there should be a river . Across the river is the front door of my house . In front of the front door, there are stone lions…”
When we turned, across the river there was a dilapidated front door . I froze for a moment and then foolishly walked a few steps forward .
“This isn’t it,” I whispered as I walked . “The bridge wasn’t this small; the stone lions were more imposing . ”
After crossing the bridge, I stood in front of the manor . There was a broken plaque hanging on the front door with the words “Yang Manor” on it . The closed doors were sealed; an official’s yellow note read “forbidden” .
I just stood there, my mind completely blank .
“A Xiang,” Zihui called to me and touched my head . “Maybe I found the wrong place…”
He hadn’t finished speaking yet when a man hastily walked by . Seeing me and Zihui, the man gave us a strange look as he said: “Aiyou, you two, how can you stop here? Let’s go quickly . This place is famous for being haunted . If it isn’t because I needed to pass this road to get to the herbs on the mountain, I wouldn’t have come here even if they killed me . ”
I hadn’t even reacted yet when he turned around and scurried away, but before he could leave, I grabbed his hand . The man was scared to death and repeatedly exclaimed: “Lady, what are you doing?! What are you doing?! Could it be that a ghost went into your body?!”
“You…do you know where here is?”
“Yang…Yang Manor, ah . ”
I clung to him like a straw and kept asking: “Do you know who used to live here?”
“A business family with the surname Yang . Ten years ago, the whole family was slaughtered by their enemies . ”
I loosened my hand . My head felt dizzy . Behind me, a hand was supporting my back because I was barely able to keep standing . I foolishly asked: “What is…slaughtering?”
The man looked at me for a moment and sighed: “You must be a distant relative of this family . Ten years ago, I don’t know who the Yang family offended, but thirty people of Yang Manor were silenced . I heard their enemy hired the famous Shengling Sect’s assassins to kill them . Those killers came and left without a trace . They didn’t even leave the slightest trace of evidence . The officials had no way of finding the truth and it turned into an unsolved case . Pity those resenting ghosts of Yang family, ah!”
“Sheng…ling Sect?”
I thought there was a problem with my ears, so I dug into my ears before asking: “Can you say it again?”
The man looked at me strangely for a moment and then said: “Shengling Sect ah . Ai, little girl, those mysterious things of the jianghu are not something that we can understand . You, a distant relative, must not waste your efforts . ”
I dug really hard into my ear and slapped myself twice on the cheeks . Zihui grabbed my hand .
“A Xiang!”
I dug into my ear till it was ringing . But I didn’t feel the slightest bit of pain and foolishly asked again: “You said Shengling Sect?”
The man was so scared that he took a step back and talked to himself: “Really, a ghost has entered her body…”
“Did you say it was Shengling Sect,” I yelled . I was about to go after him when Zihui embraced me . I could only watch the man flee in panic .
I pushed Zihui .
“Why are you grabbing me? I haven’t finished asking . He said that it was Shengling Sect, who slaught…slaughtered this family, but, but Hujia uncle, Tangzhu sister and the butcher, and Shifu, they…” were obviously so good .
My throat was choking . I couldn’t continue . In my mind a scene flashed . It was the day I climbed out of the barrel . The day I saw blood everywhere and people in black holding swords . The coldness of the shining blade and the warm blood that fell on my face . I was in a trance . Compared to these burning feelings, it felt like I was walking through a fog these past ten years . The images were clear and lucid as if they only occurred yesterday, burning me through the bone with pain .
I covered my face . My thoughts were a mess .
“A Xiang, let’s leave for today . ”
Zihui patted my back and said: “You need to rest . ”
I pushed Zihui . My hands were trembling .
“No, I’m going home . ”
Leaving Zihui’s embrace, my legs were slightly trembling . Slowly, step by step, I walked toward the front door . I tore the seal away and pushed hard, but the dusty door was motionless . I knocked and shouted: “Mother…”
After those words left my mouth, my voice turned hoarse: “I’m back . ”
Childhood memories broke through the fog like sunlight .
Dim light shone on the ruined door, wiping away the dust and making it as bright as ever . I firmly knocked on the door .
“Open the door! Open the door…”
A grey shadow fell on my face . Zihui grabbed my hand . I heard a barely audible sigh: “Let me do it . ”
He put his hand on the door and gently pushed . The old door made a “zhiya” sound and slowly opened . Looking past the door, I could directly see the hall . The furniture inside was just like those in my memory . I walked in with my head down and looked at the red spots on the ground . Then I lifted my head and looked at the highest place in the hall . That day, Shifu was standing there high above the others, and he took me to Shengling Sect . Shifu was always high above others, so I didn’t dare to be disrespectful . However, the Shifu I respected…
I shook my head, wanting to throw all the confusing voices from my mind . But shaking, my face became wet . I wiped my face . Not long after, my tears were streaming down again . I stood in the centre of the hall, silent, wiping my tears over and over until Zihui patted me on my shoulder .
“A Xiang, don’t cry . ”
“I did not cry,” I said . “It’s just…I can’t stop them from falling . ”
Zihui sighed . I didn’t have the time to speak; he turned and moved two steps away from me . A “pa” sound rang in my ear . I was shocked . Shifu, dressed in full white, landed outside the hall . In his hands was a crimson whip . With a cold expression and extremely dark eyes, he glared at Zihui .
“Considering that cultivating for ten thousand years must not have been easy, I wanted to let you off the hook . But you didn’t take it and kept challenging xiaoye’s limits . ”
Shifu coldly bit his lip .
“If you’re deliberately seeking death, I will make your wish come true, alright?”
Zihui didn’t speak . I knew that Zihui wouldn’t be able to beat Shifu . In a hurry, I jumped in front of Zihui and stretched my hands out to protect him . I stared at Shifu and saw his face turn pale like he had just been slapped .
“Xiao Xiang Zi,” Shifu’s eyes narrowed . “You putting up this stance, is it to protect your ‘husband’ by fighting me?”
His tone was frivolous, but I knew that Shifu was really angry . At this point my mind was cluttered . I just shook my head and didn’t know what to say . Shifu’s expression was slightly angry . He held out his hand and yelled gently like how he used to when he was taking me home: “Come here . ”
But here and now, my legs wouldn’t move . Shifu was also not urging me . He hand was still there, waiting for me to grab it . I stared at Shifu for a moment . My throat hurt and I blurted out: “Shifu…my parents…”
Shifu frowned: “The matters that had happened here, I’ll explain them to you when we go back . ”
Looking at Shifu’s eyes, I couldn’t help but get chills . The Zihui behind me gently held my shoulder and softly said: “A Xiang, don’t be afraid, I’m here . ”
Shifu’s hand tightened around the whip .
“What identity do you have?” (What rights do you have to be speaking?)
“Shifu . ”
It’s the first time I interrupted him . I asked: “My father and mother, did Shifu kill them…”
I stared at Shifu and didn’t dare to blink . He was silent and didn’t say anything to refute it .
“Was it Shifu?”
After saying those words, I choked .
“Was it Shifu?”
Knowing that his silence meant that he was admitting to it, my world collapsed .
“Xiao Xiang Zi,” Shifu’s voice was a little numb . “There are a lot of things that you don’t understand . After we go back, I’ll explain them to you . But today, you should not rely on this demon’s embrace . He’s not a good thing . Come here, we’ll go back . ”
I shook my head . I just wanted to grab something and hit him . I didn’t care, pulled the hairpin out of my hair and run to him .
“Shifu, you liar! Big liar! You go away!”
My hair was loosened and turned into a mess . It pasted on my wet face . I didn’t know how this embarrassed look looked like . The tears blurred my sight . I couldn’t see Shifu’s face clearly anymore . Only knew that he stood there transfixed and didn’t move .
The hand on my shoulder tightened . Zihui pulled me into his arms . He patted my back and said: “Shifu doesn’t want to go away, so we should go first . Nowadays, it’s better if you don’t meet . ”
I kept nodding . His chest turned wet from my tears and snot . This time, I didn’t know if Shifu had come to stop me or not . Maybe if I heard him grit his teeth in anger then, I would’ve known .
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