Chapter 4 – The killer in the rich family’s[1] household
Naturally Sha Dahu’s original name was not ‘Dahu’ [see footnote], it’s just that his surname was really ‘Sha’; his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and all his ancestors were surnamed ‘Sha’, furthermore, they were all called ‘Sha Dahu’.
Speaking about their family, practically no other appellation is more appropriate than ‘Dahu’.
Sha Man’ge, alias[2] Guan Yun, was a studious scholar, by the age of thirteen he entered school, by the age of seventeen he passed the provincial level of imperial exam, by the age of eighteen he was one of the leading finalists in the Capital Imperial Examination, entered Hanlin [Imperial Academy]. He was amiable, and was a romantic young man; even if he did not want to be a distinguished man, he simply could not. But being distinguished has its own price. [Translator’s note: Additional info on Hanlin Academy was provided by Lu DongBin.]
Being distinguished he was frivolous, being distinguished he became indifferent, being distinguished led him to poverty, being distinguished led to untimely death.
Why would a talented, peerless literary talent have the heart of blowing away his discretion and exchanging it with an empty reputation?
It’s just the price of being distinguished.
Throughout the ages, distinguish persons knew that gains and losses are insignifant, so why would they want to achieve it? So what if they fail? So what if they live? So what if they die? A tiny mustard seed is no different than the world, an instant is no different than an eternity.
Sha Man’ge’s outstanding career has taken its toll, their entire Sha family was banished forever to the border area as a penal sentence, they became refugees.
But as refugees, they lived an aristocratic life in the town of Huangshi.
Because Sha Man’ge was an intellectual. Less than a year after his arrival in the town of Huangshi, he managed to unearth gold in a mine on the nearby mountain.
In the world, there is nothing more real, more valuable than gold.
People of the lower class of society, women and children, rough men and peasants, may not know pearl, agate, emerald, jasper, literary treasure, famous painting, ancient jade sculpture, and fine china, but what about gold?
If there is anyone in the world who does not know the value of gold, that would be strange indeed.
Ever since the Sha family struck a fortune, the town of Huangshi and its vicinity started to see gold rush, people who wanted to get rich flocked from four sides, eight directions. Overnight the town of Huangshi became prosperous.
Too bad in the booming economy this town experience did not last long. Because other than Sha Dahu, the number of people who manage to find gold was pathetically low.
Most people left in disappointment. Only Sha Dahu was still Sha Dahu. Huangshi town also remained as depressing as ever.
(Two)
Lu Xiaofeng visited Sha Dahu on the second day after his arrival in the town of Huangshi. At that moment Sha Dahu was drinking his first cup of wine of the day. During lunch, he usually drank a relatively softer wine.
That particular day, he was drinking a good home brewed wine shipped from far away Shaoxing [prefecture, Zhejiang]. This kind of wine is easy to enter the mouth, but the effect afterwards was quite powerful. Accompanying him, sitting right next to him was a distinguished guest, one Mr. Sun. It was said that he was an ex-county head magistrate, a seemingly polite, refined, and gentle scholar.
The guard on duty at the gate, whose job was to announce the incoming guest and guard the courtyard, that day, was Yang Wu [lit. Yang the fifth].
Sha Dahu had a wine cup in one hand, and a pair of chopstick in the other; his eyes were fixed on the feet of a ‘wind chicken’ dish in front of him. With a cold voice he asked Yang Wu, “Do you know that when I am eating, I don’t want to see any visitor?”
“I know.”
“Then why haven’t you told that man outside to get the hell out of here?”
“Actually, not only I wanted him to get the hell out of here, I also wanted to grab his neck and throw him out,” Yang Wu said.
“And why haven’t you done so?”
“Because I am not able to throw this man out.” Yang Wu said, “He did not throw me out, I am already very happy.”
Sha Dahu turned his head around, with narrowed eyes he looked at him and said, “I have always thought that you are a man with guts, how could you turn into such a coward?”
In front of his boss, Yang Wu did not seem to be too polite. “I am not a coward at all,” he said, “I just don’t want to provoke that man, that’s all.”
Mr. Sun interrupted, “What kind of person is that gentleman, actually?”
With a deliberate coldness Yang Wu replied, “Actually, there is nothing extraordinary about that man, he is only the four-eyebrowed Lu Xiaofeng.”
Sha Dahu’s arrogance has always been big, annoyingly big; but as soon as he heard the three characters Lu Xiao Feng, instantly he seemed to change into another person.
This three-character name in itself seemed to have a particularly strong twisting power.
Lu Xiaofeng himself also understood this fact. Therefore, although he was standing outside the door, waiting for half a day, he was still confident that when Sha Dahu heard his name, he would definitely come out personally to welcome him, and would use the best wine and dishes to entertain him, he would even have the best looking people to accompany him.
To this fact, he was very confident.
Once, when he was drunk, he asked one of his good friends; he asked Honest Monk, “Do you know what kind of person I am?”
Without waiting for Honest Monk, he answered his own question, “I am an expert in swindling my food and drink; just by using my name, I can eat anywhere in the world.”
Honest Monk laughed and said, “This time you have spoken honest words.”
Good wine, good dishes had already been set on the table; sure enough, the extremely arrogant Big Boss Sha came out personally to greet and lead him in, the reception hall was already packed with people. Who would want to miss the opportunity to see a man like Lu Xiaofeng?
Deeply apologetic, Sha Dahu toasted Lu Xiaofeng, “Lu Xiong [brother, generic term], look at this place. Don’t you think it looks like a food market?”
“It is, kind of.”
Sha Dahu roared in laughter, “Actually, this is a quiet place in the wilderness, culturally, we are not people with compass and set square. But as everyone heard that Lu Xiaofeng has arrived, the one who can pinch blades with his two fingers, the one with four eyebrows, everybody wanted to see what kind of man this Lu Xiaofeng is. I cannot stop them.”
Lu Xiaofeng sighed theatrically, “Indeed, it can’t be helped. Who told me to be such a famous person?” Actually, he did not show the least bit of modesty at all. “A celebrity oftentimes has to encounter this kind of situation.”
Everybody laughed. Except one, a man who wore a dark blue scholar gown, who looked like a settled guest of this house[3], a smallish middle-aged man. Although his face was smiling, his eyes were completely devoid of any laughter, even the laughter on his face looked strained.
Fortunately Lu Xiaofeng had not noticed him, he only laughed and said to Sha Dahu, “My poverty, my laziness, are very well-known; I am sure you also know about it.”
“I have heard.”
“Then why didn’t you ask me, why would a man like me acted like a mule, foolishly taking thousands of li journey, rolling and crawling to reach this place?”
With a rueful sigh Sha Dahu said, “This place is really getting poorer and poorer, and the number people coming to live here is getting fewer and fewer.” He went on, “Such a big celebrity like Lu Xiaofeng unexpectedly can come here, even in our dream we would not expect that.”
Just like Lu Xiaofeng, a mischievous smile suddenly appeared on his originally very dignified ‘guo’ [country] shaped face [i.e. square face], “Fortunately even when I am not dreaming I can still see it.”
Lu Xiaofeng raised his four eyebrows, “You really know?”
“Really.”
“So what do you know?”
“I know that you come here for your friend’s sake, your friend was very unfortunate and met his demise in this place.”
“What you know is indeed not a few.”
“Although this place is poor, I am not.” Sha Dahu said, “A rich man like me, there are always a lot of people sneakily come to me to report about a lot of things.” His laughter was unusually cheerful, “Rich people are like famous people, no matter what, we always do things a bit more conveniently than other people.”
Indeed this fact cannot be refuted.
Whenever Lu Xiaofeng heard something reasonable, he always showed admiration, “It appears that you indeed have a bit learning.”
Sha Dahu laughed aloud, “I am afraid my learning is indeed no more than just a bit.” Similarly, he did not show the least bit of modesty at all.
“Other than that, what else do you know?” Lu Xiaofeng asked this man, who seemingly had multiple personalities. “Do you know that I come to you for the sake of a blade?”
“That kind of thing, how could I not know?” Sha Dahu deliberately spoke in cold and indifferent manner, “How could there be anything happening in this small town that I do not know about?”
Lu Xiaofeng fixed his gaze at his face; with the same cold and indifferent tone he said, “In that case, you must also know who those two people are.”
“Two people?” Sha Dahu knitted his brows, “What kind of two people?”
“You don’t know the two people I am talking about?”
“How could I know?” Sha Dahu said, “Although this place is small, the people are not a few, how could I know which two people you are talking about?”
Lu Xiaofeng sighed; he shook his head and said, “Turns out there are still things in this small town that you don’t know about.”
This sentence was a bit confusing.
He said that he was looking for two people, yet he did not mention anything about these two people’s name, surname, and origin; neither did he mention their stature and appearance. If there was anybody who understood what he was talking about, now that would be strange indeed.
Yet he obviously said those things. Perhaps only Mr. Lu Xiaofeng could say such thing.
He was sure Sha Dahu would be angry; Mr. Lu’s words often made people die of anger, even Honest Monk, who possessed such self-restraint, nearly died of anger in the gutter because of him, let alone such a big boss like Sha Dahu.
“What kind of two people are you looking for, actually?” suppressing his anger, Sha Dahu asked Lu Xiaofeng.
“It’s a man and a woman.”
“So you are looking for a man and a woman? Wonderful! Really wonderful!”
Sha Dahu laughed angrily, “It so happens that in this world half of the people are men, the other half are women and you said you are looking for a man and a woman. Tell me, isn’t that a coincidence or what?”
He was angry, but Lu Xiaofeng was not angry. Mr. Lu was always able to make people angry, but he would not get angry himself.
Looking at his delighted expression, Sha Dahu, who was originally very angry, suddenly laughed, “Turns out I have fallen into your trap.”
“You have fallen into what trap?”
“You deliberately wanted to make me angry, and unexpectedly I really got angry.” Sha Dahu said, “I simply looked like a fool.”
In reality, he did not like a fool at all, Lu Xiaofeng made him angry for no rhyme or reason.
Ever since these two men met, none of each sentence they said made any sense. Just like two martial art masters of wulin exchanging blows, each one trying to outdo the other. “I can see clearly that you are just like me, a very competitive person.” Sha Dahu said, “I always like this kind of man.”
“Too bad you have grown beard,” Lu Xiaofeng deliberately sighed, “You probably also know that Mr. Lu has always liked beautiful women.”
This time Big Boss Sha did not get angry. Oftentimes anger is not a good thing, especially anger that brings adverse effect to one’s health.
Big bosses usually take a good care of their bodies. Therefore, he asked Lu Xiaofeng again, “Those man and woman that you are looking for, is there anything in particular that is different than other people?”
“The man is very good at using blade.”
Big Boss Sha laughed, “Our family’s cook is also very good at using blade.” [Translator’s note: in Chinese, the word ‘dao’ can mean saber, blade, knife, single-edge sword, etc. which can be difficult to transfer into English.]
“He uses blade to slice meat, the slices are thinner than paper.” He then asked Lu Xiaofeng deliberately, “Are you looking for my cook?”
Naturally Lu Xiaofeng would not get angry; he asked in return, “Can your cook kill people?”
“I only know that he can only slice meat.”
“What kind of meat?”
“Pork, beed, mutton, dog meat, mule meat, horse meat, fish, crane, goose, rabbit, deep pool meat [潭子, I don’t know what it is]; he can slice any meat, he has even sliced tiger meat.” Sha Dahu continued, “Only one kind of meat he does not slice.”
“Human meat?”
“You got it.” Sha Dahu was still laughing, “Human meat is sour, more sour than horse meat, I definitely won’t allow my cook to slice human meat.”
Lu Xiaofeng sighed again, “How could people who have never eaten human flesh know that human meat is sour? So strange.”
Sha Dahu did not pay him any attention; otherwise he would get angry again.
Other people trying to make you mad, but you did not get mad, that is a lofty quality. If as a big boss one does not have one or two lofty qualities, how could one succeed in his role as a big boss?
“So the man is adept in using blade, how about the woman?” he asked.
“The woman is even more strange.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “Her head is covered in completely white hair, just like a sixty, seventy-year old woman. But her legs were like sixteen, seventeen-year old young woman.”
Such a pair of legs, if someone can forget it as soon as he sees it, that person must not be a man.
Not to be able to see it, undoubtedly Big Boss Sha was filled with regret. Although he was starting to get old, he was, after all, still a man. The older a man gets, the more he loves to see women’s legs. Even if he could just take a glance, it was all right.
Big Boss Sha sighed, while reviewing in his mind all the beautiful legs he had seen in his life one by one. It was not until he felt that he was a bit younger again that he asked, “Did you see her face?”
“I did not.” At that time Lu Xiaofeng practically did not have any chance to see her face. Besides, even if he did, it would be useless, since the hair was fake, the face could also be altered. The sky was getting darker, life and death was in between breaths.
Naturally it was not that Big Boss Sha did not understand this kind of circumstances, yet he still had to ask, “Why didn’t you just look at her face?”
“Because I am a man,” Lu Xiaofeng said drily, “A man seeing that kind of pair of legs, who would have time to look at her face?”
The question did not make any sense, the respond definitely did; the whole building roared into laughter.
“Now I understand your trouble,” he laughed aloud and said, “Practically you won’t find this woman, unless you lift up the skirt of every woman in this place and take a look.”
Lu Xiaofeng did not deny, on the contrary, lowering his voice, he said in deadpan manner, “To tell you the truth, I was thinking the same thing.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Sha Dahu also deliberately lowered his voice, “If you are really going to do it, you simply must tell me, so that I can follow you and take a look as well.”
Even after these two talked for half a day, nobody knew whether they were bickering, or whether it was a battle of wits?
The Four-Eyebrowed Lu Xiaofeng has appeared, it seemed that there is nothing really special about him. The people crowding the main hall starting to feel that there was not much point for them to stay, hence one by one they slipped away.
Originally the scholar wearing blue cotton gown could not laugh, and now naturally he could not stay either.
Suddenly in a loud voice Lu Xiaofeng said, “Jin Laoqi [lit. old Jin (gold) the seventh], other people may leave, you must not leave.”
Who was Jin Laoqi? Nobody knew whom he was calling. Therefore, without exception, everybody was startled.
When one is suddenly startled, one would definitely halt his step. Everybody was looking around at everybody else, they wanted to know whom this Lu Xiaofeng, a gentleman with grad reputation, was calling? Why did he call him?
The scholar was no exception. Unfortunately, by now everybody was able to see that the person Lu Xiaofeng was calling was indeed himself.
Lu Xiaofeng’s eyes were already fixed on him like nails, even he himself could feel it. Therefore, suppressing his emotion, he asked, “Lu Daxia [great hero], who do you call?”
“I am not a great hero, just like you are not a scholar.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “The one I called was precisely the only Jianghu character who can ‘trespass a thousand houses in one night, rob a hundred mansions in one day’, Jin Qiliang [lit. seven taels].”
“I don’t know that man.”
“You don’t know that man, but I do.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “You are Jin Qiliang, Jin Qiliang is precisely you.”
[1] Reminder: Dahu of Sha Dahu’s name [see Chapter 3] means great family / rich family / large landlord.
[2] Alias – courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China.
[3] When translating Jin Yong’s Deer and Cauldron, I had the following note: I seem to remember reading about rich families in ancient China who had guests staying in their homes for an extended period of times. Interestingly, Bing Translator gives this definition: protégés of the powerful who stay with their benefactors like parasites.
Chapter 5 – Seven taels of cotton, one sheet of mask.
(One)
The name Jin Qiliang was not without origin. Of course it was not his real name, but it was his nickname.
Oftentimes people of Jianghu have nicknames. Original names may be dog fart and make no sense, but nicknames have to have a bit of justification.
Lu Xiaofeng was neither little nor a phoenix [reminder: Xiao Feng means little phoenix], he did not even know what a phoenix or a phoenix’s wife [凰 – huang] look like, since has never seen them.
Naturally Ximen Chuixue [reminder: chui xue means blowing snow] did not go around and blow snow either. The only thing Li Xunhuan [xun huan means searching happiness] could find was usually trouble. Li Huai [huai means bad/spoiled] was not bad at all. Between Hu Tiehua [tie hua means iron/metal flower] and a real metal flower, even using eight bamboo poles, one will not find the least bit of relationship.
But Sha Dahu was Sha ‘Rich Family’ [see Chapter 4], Little Beggar was a little beggar, Wangbadan [lit. turtle egg, i.e. b@stard, s.o.b.] was definitely not a stinky fish.
In that case, how did other people call Jin Qiliang seven taels of gold [see Chapter 4]?
Jin Qiliang’s original name was Jin Mantang [‘fill the hall’, i.e. fullhouse, sell-out, jam-packed], if one is able to fill a large hall [tang] with a pile of gold [jin], that would be vey delightful.
Too bad the gold in his house cannot fill even a chamber pot.
Therefore, since he was little he learned martial art. His favorite was qinggong and technique to jump vertically upward.
After his qinggong was trained well, he was able to jump to high places unhindered, taking other people’s belongings and their women as easy as picking stuff from his own pocket. It was more delightful than filling the hall with gold.
Just because since childhood he had this kind of ‘grand ambition’, he trained his qinggong really well, so much so that people in Jianghu said that if Jin Mantang unleashed the full extent of his qinggong, he was able to land on the ground noiselessly, as light as flying cotton wadding, just like seven tael-cotton [1 tael is approx. 50 grams]. Hence other people called him Jin Qiliang.
Staturewise, Jin Qiliang did not look tall or impressive, he look delicate, almost pretty, with white teeth and red lips, ever since he was little he attracted a lot of people’s affection. Otherwise, there would not be that many big robbers and ‘flying thief’ [burglar who gains entrance by scaling walls] taught him tricks and secrets of qinggong.
How could this old scholar with yellow face and emaciated body be Jin Qiliang? Could it be that Lu Xiaofeng misidentified him?
“I can’t possibly misidentified you,” Lu Xiaofeng said, “You are wearing a human skin mask on your face, although it is not a bad craftmanship at all, at least it costs you several hundred taels of silver, but don’t you ever think that you could deceive me.” He walked over.
The scholar stared at him, suddenly the old man sighed, “Lu Xiaofeng, I wonder, until today, you haven’t died yet. Could it be that you really won’t die forever?” Jin Qiliang was definitely a smart man.
A smart man knew that if he could not deceive someone, he would not continue his deceit. He even took off the mask covering his face.
“Lu Xiaofeng, you have the ability to recognize me; I have nothing to say.” Jin Qiliang said, “But you said that this human-skin mask cost me several hundred taels of silver, you are just a bit too far off.”
“Oh?”
Jin Qiliang gently caressed the cicada’s wing thin skin mask, as gentle and tender as an old man gently caressing a young woman.
“This is a ‘Red Pavilion’ genuine article, I traded a Wu Daozi painting and a four-chi [approx. four feet] tall coral for this.” He said, “Those are at least worth several thousand taels.”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s real.”
All four of Lu Xiaofeng’s eyebrows drooped down, he looked as if he was about to cry. “If you really traded in those two things for this mask of yours, you might as well hurry up and hang yourself.”
“Why?” Jin Qiliang urgently asked, “Are you saying that this mask is a fake?”
“If this mask is not a fake, I will go and hang myself.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “If in the evening you are wearing a Red Pavilion mask, I am afraid even the gods would find it difficult to recognize you.”
Hongge [‘Red Pavilion’] was Zhu Ting’s alias. Zhu Ting was a very, very extraordinary person, and he was also an old friend of Lu Xiaofeng.
I emphasized this matter, because it is a very important crucial point in this story.
(Two)
And now Jin Qiliang’s face also looked like he was about to cry. Being swindled sometimes feels like eating sh1t; since the sh1t has already entered the belly, how could he vomit it up?
He wanted to cry, yet he could not cry, he wanted to throw up, yet he could not throw up, Jin Qiliang only felt his mouth dry and stinky.
With a very sympathetic look Lu Xiaofeng stared at him, with a very warm hand he patted his shoulder, “Don’t be angry, and don’t feel sad either; as long as you are willing to tell me the truth, I will definitely get you a genuine ‘Hongge’.”
“If you want me to tell you who that woman is, you are asking the wrong person,” Jin Qiliang said, “Practically I never look at women’s legs.”
“I know you don’t!” Lu Xiaofeng said, “You always prefer to look at men.”
The tone of his voice was not condescending at all. In some periods of history, men liked men and women like women was a very common occurrence. Especially in time of peace and prosperity, within the upper class of scholar officials society, this kind of matter was even more widespread.
Jin Qiliang’s attitude suddenly changed. Hongge’s genuine article did not move his heart, but Lu Xiaofeng’s view on this matter has moved him, it took away his feeling of inferiority, while at the time awakened an unspeakable feeling in his heart that he had met an intimate friend.
This kind of feeling was very difficult to conceal, naturally Lu Xiaofeng was able to see it right away; therefore, he immediately asked, “I believe you know this man Liu Chengfeng?”
“I do.” Jin Qiliang said, “He came here last year, and he also died here.”
“How did he die?”
“He was stabbed to death in a dark alley.” Jin Qiliang’s expression suddenly became grim, “Just like when I stabbed Eighth Master Tian’s grandson to death in a dark alley, there was no reason behind it.”
“Was it because you killed Young Master Tian that you fled to this place?”
“After killing someone that I must not kill, my only option is to flee.” Jin Qiliang sadly said, “Fugitive’s days are not easy, inevitably there will be a day the avenger of blood will catch up with me.”
“Why?”
“After murdering a man, my heart is in turmoil, it’s hard to avoid leaving behind some trails.” Jin Qiliang said, “It doesn’t matter how high your qinggong is, it doesn’t matter how fast you can run, as long as there is a little bit of trail, others will be able to find you.”
“The person who killed Liu Chengfeng, what kind of trail did he leave?”
“He left a blade.” Jin Qiliang said, “A very unique blade.”
In Jianghu people’s eyes, a blade is a blade, just like a man is a man. Any man can be killed, any blade can kill a man. Men use a blade, blade kills a man, a man is killed. Just like chicken produce eggs, eggs produce chicken, in turn chicken produce other eggs; it’s just natural. Just like one is one, two is two, three is three; it’s that simple.
Jianghu’s logic was just as simple. If they say that a blade was very unique, that the blade must be very special indeed.
Jin Qiliang was a hundred per cent Jianghu man. Since he said so, it was only natural that Lu Xiaofeng asked him, “What’s so special about the blade?”
Jin Qiliang’s answer was very strange, his answer did not sound like something a Jianghu man would say. “Practically that blade is not a blade,” he said.
Lu Xiaofeng was not deaf, his mind was also very clear; to this day, he had not even drunk a drop of wine. He heard every word of it, not a single word was missed.
“Practically that blade is not a blade.” That was what Jin Qiliang had said.
Jin Qiliang did not lie at all, that blade indeed could not be considered a ‘saber’ [reminder: in Chinese, the word ‘dao’ can be translated as blade, knife, dagger, single-edged sword, and saber], it was no more than a dagger. Not only the design was very intricate, undoubtedly the value was extremely high.
The hilt was carved from a genuine elephant trunk, in the shape of a naked woman, the curves were exquisite, very vivid and lifelike. If you stare at her, her eyes seemed to stare back at you with desire, as if she was going to throw herself into your embrace.
The color of ivory was as warm, as soft, and as smooth as the skin of a young woman. But if you lightly press her breasts, a dagger suddenly shot out of the hilt. The body of the blade seemed to gleam with a dark red color, similar to the color of blood when it is dry. There was no doubt whatsoever that every part of this dagger was the masterpiece of a very skilled artisan. Moreover, the age must be very old.
Sha Dahu pulled this dagger out from a small cabinet in a secret compartment behind a bookshelf in his study room. He lightly tapped the mechanism, the dagger popped up, the tip flickered just like flashing blood.
“This is the murder weapon used to assassinate Liu Daxia,” Sha Dahu said, “A sharp blade like this, naturally I wanted to keep it personally so that I won’t have any worry. At least this place of mine is a lot safer than a coffin shop.”
He added, “I really do not wish for it to fall into other people’s hands, because all along I wanted to personally give it to you.”
It was not a lie, and now it was done.
Lu Xiaofeng held the ivory hilt in his hand. Suddenly he sighed, “It appears that you are a good person. At least you are much better than me.” He said to Sha Dahu, “If I were you, I won’t hand over this kind of weapon to other people.” He then laughed and went on, “If you knew the value and origin of this blade, probably you won’t hand it over to me either.”
“Oh?”
“This is an antique dagger! Its age is probably a lot older than my grandfather’s grandfather.”
“I can see that.”
“People have history, daggers do too.” Lu Xiaofeng asked, “Can you see its origin?”
“I can’t.”
“This dagger shot out of the hilt, very few Central Earth’s master craftsmen are able to make this kind of weapon, and if it was not a master craftsman, nobody could refine such a sharp blade.” Lu Xiaofeng continued, “Therefore, I can tell that it came from Persia.”
“Persia?” Sha Dahu asked, “Don’t Persians use curved sabers?”
Lu Xiaofeng laughed again, “Isn’t this a saber?” [See my note on ‘dao’ above.]
It was not a saber, it was no more than a dagger. Sha Dahu could only smile wryly.
Why did this damn little bird love to make people pick a stone and smash their own foot?
“I have spent some time in the sea, I knew a bunch of friends, who, as long as there is water around it, they have been to that place. The farthest place they have reached is the end of the earth.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “I believe what they say, although these fellows are not good people, they are both vicious and fierce, bullies who don’t talk reasons, but they would never tell a lie to a friend.”
These fellows were not pirates. Lu Xiaofeng did have some pirates as friends, but it should not come as a surprise. If his friends were all gentlemen, that should be surprising.
“One of these people was an old skipper, so old that he did not even remember his own surname, given name, and his own age.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “This old fellow had this kind of dagger.”
Naturally this old skipper was not a fishing boat captain, on the Persian seas, ships carrying imperial family’s flags were not uncommon; inevitably these ships would sometimes come across a pirate ship.
Where did the old skipper get his dagger from? Probably it’s not hard to imagine.
Even he himself did not deny, “These kinds of daggers are usually seen only in the imperial court.”
(Three)
In imperial courts, princes struggled for power, courtiers strived for favor, ministers defamed each other for advancement. Throughout all ages, every royal family could not escape such circumstances, regardless of geographic location, regardless of the country.
In order to struggle for power, strive for favor, any method had been used; assassination, poisoning, and so on were common things.
If a certain prince suddenly died, or a certain courtier suddenly went missing, immediately the ministers privy to this information would do everything in their power to suppress it, there must be absolutely no leak, the emperor must be prevented from knowing the inside story, there must be no scandal in the imperial household.
If someone wanted to investigate, not only he would violate the biggest taboo, he would also provoke others’ wrath.
In order to protect themselves, it was often a necessity to make the move first in dealing with other people. Most princes with power and high-ranking ministers employed some kind of strategic advisors, bodyguards and assassins by their sides.
“However, it was only natural that weapons are prohibited in the imperial palaces; therefore, this kind of dagger that looks like a toy became the assassins’ weapon of choice,” the old skipper said.
Naturally this kind of weapon was not easy to obtain. The skipper continued, “During the time when the situation in Persian royal court was most unstable, this kind of dagger could fetch price as high as five thousand five hundred taels of gold.”
He also told Lu Xiaofeng, “In the slave market at that time, stunning blonde girls were the most expensive, yet at most they were only seven or eight taels of gold; if not a virgin, the value was reduced by half.”
Five thousand taels of gold for one dagger; how could this kind of invaluable Persian antique appear in this kind of a remote and desolate place? Who owned it? In this kind of small town, who have such qualification? Who had such ability?
In the Persian imperial court, how many people had this kind of qualifications?
Only one kind of person had such qualifications. Only one kind of person was worthy enough to wield such sharp weapon.
But which kind of person?
Naturally, it was the kind of person who was able to use the dagger most effectively, one who could grasp the best timing, and one who once made his move would never fail.
Such persons usually had personality traits and characteristics that other people could not imitate, or even learn to mimic, which differ from the fast blade ordinary people used to stab others in the marketplace.
Because they usually move about in the imperial court.
Hence, their manners were usually very elegant. People who were able cultivate this kind of manners, naturally had considerable scholarly knowledge, self-cultivation, and character. The people they were in contact with would certainly be people with exceptional aristocracy.
Only this kind of assassin could move freely within the heavily guarded imperial family community. They were able to kill in a flash and got away imperceptibly.
This kind of assassins was completely different to the Jianghu’s professional killers.
Jianghu killers must have ordinary appearance, they must not have any characteristic that when people took a glance it would be hard to forget; they must not have any personality traits and individuality that stood out among the masses. Other people must simply forget that they existed.
If you do not think that such people exist, how can you guard against them?
On this matter, there was once a senior who made a famous remark, “If the one you want to kill was a tortoise, then you ought to become a tortoise first to succeed.”
(Four)
“Now we have this dagger, what we know it not a few.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “First, we know its worth is invaluable, plus it is an antique from Persian royal court; even in Persia I am afraid it is already very difficult to find, the number of people from the Central Earth who are able to obtain it can’t be too many.”
Even with his extensive knowledge and vast network of friends, so far he had only seen two such daggers.
“The person who can use it, his status must not be low, his martial art skill cannot be weak, plus the way he made his move must be very fast.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “If he did not have the confidence that with one strike he would hit his target, yet he still used it to kill people, that is practically the same as revealing this treasure to the world.”
With an indifferent tone he asked Sha Dahu, “In your opinion: in here, who has enough qualifications to use this kind of weapon?”
“In my opinion, in here there seems to be only one who has enough qualifications to use it.” With a bitter smile Sha Dahu said, “This person seems to be me.”
Lu Xiaofeng sighed, “What you say is not wrong, it seems to be so. It’s a pity that it’s nothing more than ‘seems to be’.”
“Why?” Sha Dahu’s big boss temperament started to flare-up, “You think I don’t have enough qualifications?”
“Speaking about using this dagger, your qualifications are certainly enough; I’ll say you can afford to buy it.” Lu Xiaofeng went on, “But speaking about using it to murder Liu Chengfeng in an instant, then I am sorry.”
“What do you mean you are sorry?” Sha Dahu’s big boss temper was really aroused, “You don’t think I can do it?”
“It’s not that you can’t do it, but nobody can.” Lu Xiaofeng’s voice was brimming with confidence, “In all the world, there is absolutely no one who could kill Liu Chengfeng head-on with one stab of a blade.”
Big Boss Sha stared at him for a good part of half a day. Suddenly, quick as lightning he made his move, he seized the dagger in Lu Xiaofeng’s hand. Lu Xiaofeng was caught off guard. Sha Dahu roared in laughter, “Lu Xiaofeng, this time you are wrong, Liu Chengfeng was killed by me with this dagger. Do you believe me?”
Lu Xiaofeng’s countenance changed, as if he suddenly saw a morning glory flower sprouted out of the man’s nose.
This kind of expression only made the big boss’ temper flare up even higher. Letting out an angry shout, he thrust the dagger in his hand like a lightning toward the pit of Lu Xiaofeng’s stomach.
Of course his speed was a bit slower than real lightning, but considering the short distance he had to cover, it was an easy thing to do.
Apparently Lu Xiaofeng did not expect this move either, it appeared that very soon the tip of the blade would enter his heart.
Right this instant, suddenly two fingers appeared. Nobody could see clearly where these two fingers came from, it seemed that the fingers suddenly appeared directly from Lu Xiaofeng’s heart, and immediately stuck onto the blade.
Another blink of an eye, the dagger already moved into Lu Xiaofeng’s hand.
This time it was Big Boss Sha’s countenance that underwent a big change, and it was Lu Xiaofeng who roared in laughter.
“Just now you asked me whether I believe that Liu Chengfeng was killed by you, and now I can give you the answer.”
The answer was, “I don’t believe it.”
“If you said that you can kill Liu Chengfeng with one stab of the blade, then when I blow my horn, I can also blow the horn in Persia.”
Big Boss Sha stared at him for another half a day; originally he was so angry that his face turned purple, but suddenly he smiled, “Lu Xiaofeng, you are all right, I submit to you.”
He went on, “Only in one thing I disagree with you.”
“Which is?”
“You said that there is no one in the world who could kill Liu Chengfeng head-on with one stab of a blade, yet Liu Chengfeng was obviously killed head-on with one stab of a blade.” Sha Dahu asked Lu Xiaofeng, “How do you explain that?”
Lu Xiaofeng did not even have to think to answer, “That was because the person who killed him was someone that he definitely never guarded against, a friend that was very close to him.”
“I was also his friend.”
“But you were not close enough to him.”
“What kind of friend would you consider close enough to him?” Big Boss Sha asked.
“Actually, you should also know that people who can make a man did not guard against the most are usually not his friends, usually are not men either.”
“If not friends then what are they?”
“A man’s lover, usually is not a man.”
Big Boss Sha incredulously asked, “Are you saying that you think Liu Chengfeng had a secret lover in here?”
Actually, his question did not need to be asked. As long as a man stays in one place for at least one night, there is good chance that he will have a secret lover. All men are just like that, Liu Chengfeng was not an exception.
The question is: who was his lover? Was it the ‘anybody-could-fool-around-with’, the grocery store lady boss?
Lu Xiaofeng suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart; if he had thought about this early on, even if a saber was pressed against the major artery on the back and left of his neck, he would never touch a single strand of her hair.
The Big Boss Sha unexpectedly also looked about the same as he did.
— Was it because he had also had some entanglement with that flirtatious lady boss?
Thinking about it, Lu Xiaofeng’s heart became even more uncomfortable, because he had already discovered that his (male) cousin had gone far more than he has ever imagined. [Translator’s note: I don’t understand it either; could he be referring to Liu Chengfeng, i.e. Liu Chengfeng was actually his (maternal) cousin? I don’t think it was explained earlier.]
Concerning Liu Chengfeng’s death, the clues that he unearthed were far less than he had expected.
He had originally thought that he would find suspects here and there, and from each one he could hopefully trace the bits of clues back to the real killer.
But the suspects were contradicting each other.
When he arrived at this small town, the first one he saw was the Little Beggar. The Little Beggar’s surname was unclear, his given name was unclear, his martial art skill unclear, his appearance was sneaky, and had always been sneakily doing some sneaky things. He even sneaked into Lu Xiaofeng’s room and hid under Lu Xiaofeng’s bed, and it was unclear what he was looking for.
He was first one Lu Xiaofeng saw when he entered this town, he was also the first one who found Liu Chengfeng’s dead body. Hence he would have been a major suspect; although he might not be the real killer, he ought to be an accomplice. Yet he ended up to be a direct disciple of the Beggar Clan, with which Lu Xiaofeng had a very close relation.
Liu Chengfeng’s body was kept in a coffin shop. The murder weapon was also kept in the same coffin shop. How could he not consider the coffin shop owner as a suspect?
But the murder weapon already disappeared, and his expression when others wanted to kill him to close his mouth did not look like he was the real killer.
The lady boss looked like she wanted to hook up with everybody she met, anybody could fool around with her, but having affair are not the same as committing murder. Plus her legs were not that pair of legs.
Wang Dayan [reminder: ‘da yan’ means ‘big eye’] was no more than a blind person with opened eyes, his wife was having affairs with other people yet he did not see anything. If somebody said that this man was able to kill Liu Chengfeng head on with one stab, now that would be strange indeed.
Big Boss Sha had enough qualifications to kill Liu Chengfeng: he was wealthy, he knew martial art, and he had people who were willing to sell their lives for him, plus the murder weapon was also in his possession. Too bad he had a bit too much of big boss mentality.
The most important thing was: these people were born and raised in this place; not only they had the slightest amount of gratitude and grudges with Liu Chengfeng, practically they did not have anything to do with him at all. They had neither a motive nor reason to kill him. It was unfortunate that Liu Chengfeng just died here.
Who killed him? And why?
Lu Xiaofeng knew that there must be a mysterious crucial point that no one was able to obtain. Hidden in one of the corners of the human mind.
His rationale was not wrong.
Too bad that his train of thought had reached a dead end.
By the time he found this crucial point, he had already died.
But how could Lu Xiaofeng die?
Chapter 6 – The nest the fake big robber fled to
(One)
Spring came late. Although spring has arrived in Jiangnan, it was unclear when the spring would arrive in this place. But at least the earth has more or less shown the beginning of spring.
From Sha Dahu’s mansion back to the Old Wang’s grocery store, was a long yellow sandy soil street. Due to the melting snow, the sandy soil became mud. People walking on mud, each step meant a foot full of mud.
Naturally this feeling was very unpleasant.
Lu Xiaofeng was unwilling to show off his qinggong. He really wished to have a taste of this somewhat desolate, barren spring scenery. The cool and crisp air would be helpful to his thinking.
Very quickly he found a way to get the best of both worlds.
He looked for two rather coarse twigs, and using a dagger, he turned the twigs onto some kind of short walking sticks, which he fastened onto his feet and used the sticks as stilts. Hence he was able to walk happily on the mud.
It was the first time he used the dagger.
Right now it must have been around noon [orig. ‘wu’ hour, between 11am-1pm]. The breeze blowing his body seemed a little warm. Although he had so many questions in his heart that he did not have the answer, he still felt very comfortable.
He was not the kind of person who held on to worldly riches. Not at all. He never bothered to hold on to it.
He often said, “Worries are just like wealth, it is best to scatter them as soon as possible.”
(Two)
A gust of wind blew, the row of stumps by the street had not sprouted any new leaves, the vegetation was still bare.
Lu Xiaofeng did not stop to look at all, he simply called out, “Jin Qiliang.”
“Lu Xiaofeng.”
Perched atop a barren tree, Jin Qiliang did indeed look like seven taels of cotton [See Chapter 5 for explanation on Jin Qiliang’s name].
He looked down on Lu Xiaofeng and giggled, “Actually, I shouldn’t call you ‘Lu Xiaofeng’, you don’t look like a bird at all.” [Reminder: ‘xiao feng’ means ‘little phoenix’.]
“You look like a little chicken,” Jin Qiliang said.
Lu Xiaofeng also laughed. He agreed that the pair of wooden sticks under his feet looked very much like chicken feet.
“Jin Qiliang, what are you doing here? Are you running after me?” Lu Xiaofeng asked with a laugh.
“If I want to run after something, I would have run after a hen; why would I want to run after a little rooster like you?” Jin Qiliang said, “I can’t help it, I was forced to run.”
“Who forced you?”
“People can’t force me, only temper can force me to leave.”
“Whose temper?”
“Of course it’s the Big Boss’.” Jin Qiliang said, “Only Big Boss’ temper can force people.”
“The Big Boss is mad?”
“Not only is he mad, he is extremely furious.”
“What made him mad?”
“Of course he is mad at you.” Jin Qiliang said, “He has already taken care of the kitchen, wine and dishes are prepared well, yet you absolutely refused to stay and eat with him. If you were him, wouldn’t you be mad as well?”
“I won’t be mad,” Lu Xiaofeng said, “Not only I won’t be mad, I would jump in joy instead.”
“In joy?”
“I did not stay in his place to eat, his wine would be saved a bit, his dish would also be saved a bit; why wouldn’t I jump in joy? Why would I be angry?”
Jin Qiliang let out a bitter laugh, “Probably because you are not him that you can say such things. That Big Boss of ours is someone who values his face more than his life. Since Lu Xiaofeng has already entered his territory, yet was not willing to eat a bowl of rice at his place, to him, it was practically an extraordinary shame and humiliation, it was practically worse than stealing away his wife. Therefore, I could not swallow my rice either.”
“Therefore, you had no choice but to sneak out and look for me?” Lu Xiaofeng asked, “Are you thinking of asking me to treat you for lunch?”
Jin Qiliang laughed, “Originally I was thinking of treating you, but since you insist, I cannot not give you any face.”
Lu Xiaofeng also laughed, “Originally I was seriously thinking of treating you; too bad there is not a single restaurant in this place, even if I wanted to treat you, I can do nothing.”
“There is a way,” Jin Qiliang quickly said, “As long as you are willing to pay, I have a way. If I can’t even spend other people’s money, then my name is not Jin Qiliang, but Jin Tugou [lit. dirt dog, a mole cricket/ Gryllotalpa].”
He did have a way. By handing over ten taels of silver to Wang Dayan, in less than two hours wine and dishes were set up on the table in Lu Xiaofeng’s room.
(Three)
Although there was nothing special with the wine, but the dishes were done very well, especially the simmer-fried chicken, the chicken was cooked very fresh, tender and tasty. Even Lu Xiaofeng, who was usually very picky with his food, was very satisfied, “I did not expect the lady boss actually has such a good culinary skill.”
“This is not the lady boss’ handiwork, it’s Boss Wang’s handiwork.”
With a warm, yet mysterious expression Jin Qiliang looked at Lu Xiaofeng, “What’s more, he seems to eat anything.”
Lu Xiaofeng had his eyes fixed on the chicken.
Jin Qiliang looked at him. At first he seemed to be nearly smiling, but in the end he sighed deliberately and said, “When others stole one egg in his shop, he could see it clearly, but when others stole his wife, he did not even notice.” Jin Qiliang went on, “Do you know that there is a very popular old joke in this town?”
Although Lu Xiaofeng really wished that he was deaf at the moment, he could not ignore him, “What joke?”
“Zhao Xiazi [lit. blind, see Chapter 3] has a pair of shifty eyes that can see everything, Wang Dayan [again, see Chapter 3] has a blind open-wide eye.”
Jin Qiliang deliberately laughed aloud again, as if he had just told the funniest joke on earth. Too bad before he could laugh too long, he already had to stop laughing. Because Lu Xiaofeng stuffed his mouth with a piece of chicken drumstick.
Whenever lady boss was mentioned, Lu Xiaofeng immediately wished to change the subject; to his dismay, however, this time the one changing the subject was not him, but Jin Qiliang.
“Lu Xiaofeng, let me be honest with you, although the number of times we met is not many, but I always regard you as my friend,” Jin Qiliang said, “Even if you don’t consider me as a friend, I still consider you as my friend.”
His drinking capacity did not seem to be too big, after drinking a few cups, he already appeared a bit tipsy.
“I know you must be wondering, you feel strange that I would flee to this place,” Jin Qiliang said, “The world is big, I, Jin Qiliang can go to any place, anywhere I go, people would treat me as honored guest, would regard me as a wealthy man; why would I want to come over here to take shelter under that arrogant and conceited alive mole cricket who would rather die than lose face?”
Several cups of wine entered his tummy, a burst of heroic spirit arose in his breast; all of a sudden the Big Boss became ‘alive mole cricket’. Lu Xiaofeng had heard about it many times before, Lu Xiaofeng had seen things like this too many times before.
However, the question Jin Qiliang had just asked him, even if he did not want to comment, he had to ask, “So why did you come here?”
“Because of a snake, a viper that is a hundred times more poisonous than scarlet-line serpent,” Jin Qiliang replied.
Obviously this snake was not a real snake, because there is simply no snake in the world that is a hundred times more poisonous than scarlet-line snake; therefore, Lu Xiaofeng immediately thought of something, “The snake you are talking about, most probably is not a real snake, but a person.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “The person you are talking about, most probably is the Snake Cavalier.”
(Four)
Snake Cavalier should not be young anymore, twenty-five years ago, seven southern and sixty-three northern provinces’ escort agency alliance’s Head Escort ‘Steady As Mount Tai’ Kong Taishan already issued a call to the wulin world to hunt and capture him, more than that, to kill him at all cost.
This matter was widely known around Jianghu. What they did not know was: why was Old Chief Kong so angry toward a young man who had just made his debut?
But people believed that someone like Old Chief Kong would not take any action without a strong reason. Anybody who managed to reach the ‘Old Chief’ position like him would not do anything without any strong reason. If he wanted to kill Snake Cavalier, it must be that Snake Cavalier really deserved to die.
“Not only this person is most venomous than snakes, he is even more slippery than snakes. I have been trying to track him down for seven, eight months, until finally I learned that he appeared on this road.” Jin Qiliang said, “I also heard that this place is Big Boss Sha’s territory, as long as it is a friend who has a bit of name in Jianghu, as long as he came here, it did not matter how big the criminal case against him, Big Boss Sha would definitely offer shelter.”
“Hence you deduced that that snake must be hiding is Sha Dahu’s place to seek refuge from the enemy.”
“Anybody would think the same thing.” Jin Qiliang said, “You must also be thinking that those two people, one man, one woman, must be fugitives who seek shelter under Big Boss Sha’s roof.”
“That’s right.”
“But you are wrong.”
Lu Xiaofeng immediately asked, “How did you know I was wrong? How did you know that the people I am looking for are not fugitives in that place?”
“Because they really believe that I killed Little Tian, they all believe that Eighth Grand Master Tian absolutely wanted my life; therefore, they did not conceal anything from me.” Jin Qiliang said, “They already consider me as one of them, nobody has any idea that it is just a front.”
“The one you want to kill is a b@stard, so you have to become a b@stard first. You want to sneak into a pile of turtles to pry into their secret, naturally you have to become a turtle first.”
“Big Boss Sha has always loved to be told about other people’s deepest secret, in his house he shelters a number of big robbers, fugitives of the Jianghu, occasionally he would pretend to be careless and leak out several names.” Jin Qiliang said, “The names he mentioned are indeed sensational.”
He continued, “Watching the reaction of other people when he mentioned those names, Big Boss Sha always feels very happy.”
Lu Xiaofeng laughed, “To be able to provide shelter to those big caliber criminals with impressive reputation in his house, it is indeed a serious matter.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “Not only he himself gets a kick out of it, other people would also feel that he has a serious face.”
Jin Qiliang sighed, “Big bosses always want a lot of face, it’s just that this Big Boss Sha’s craving for a face is a bit excessive.”
“How excessive?”
“The way he wants a face is almost as if he has no face.”
“Why?”
“Because those big caliber criminals he is harboring are all fake goods.” Jin Qiliang said, “Those people knew the Big Boss’ temper, therefore, they adapt to his taste. Some claimed they have run amuck around such-and-such places around Huai River, some said they killed people like scything flax under so-and-so’s banner.”
“And the truth is?”
With a wry smile Jin Qiliang said, “The truth is that they all are no more than some third-rate small-time thieves; not only there is no character of the Snake Cavalier’s caliber, basically there is no one with crime worth mentioning at all.” And then he asked Lu Xiaofeng, “Among those small sons of a b1tch who talk nonsense and eat and drink indolently, how could there be the persons you are looking for?”
Lu Xiaofeng was dumbstruck.
Hearing this kind of matters, of course he found it to be funny, yet right now he could not even laugh.
These fugitives were originally his biggest suspects, as well as his most important clue; but now it was broken.
The killer who murdered lcf seemed to have completely disappeared, so much so that they did not seem to exist at all.
Evidently Jin Qiliang understood his mood very well; he picked up the cup and downed the wine first, “Lu Xiaofeng, you don’t have to feel bad. Speaking about feeling bad, I feel worse than you do.” He poured a cup for Lu Xiaofeng, “We seem to be in the same boat, this time we tool a wasted trip; we’d better go home together now!”
Lu Xiaofeng suddenly laughed, “This place is so fun, how could I bear to leave?”
This time it was Jin Qiliang’s turn to be dumbstruck. “You said this place is fun?”
“Of course it is fun.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “It is very fun.”
He did not lie. The more dangerous the situation, the more fun it was for him. The more unexplainable the problem, the more interesting it was to Lu Xiaofeng.
It was Lu Xiaofeng’s usual style.
But when he said those words, perhaps even in his dream he would not expect that very soon he would die in that place.
By this time, however, Lu Xiaofeng did not know that he would die, and he had not given up all hope either.
“Other than those bunch of fake big bandits, others are born and bred in this place?”
“Seems like it.” Jin Qiliang thought for a moment before adding, “I think only one person is not.”
“Who? Who is not?”
“Gong Susu.”
This was the first time Lu Xiaofeng heard this name. The name was clearly a very noble, elegant and beautiful name, it can definitely arouse men’s interest, anybody would not associate this name with a lady who sells pork at the market. Therefore, Lu Xiaofeng immediately asked, “What kind of person is she?”
“She is a woman whose elegant demeanor is extraordinarily well, her scholarly knowledge is also unusually good, her view is distinct, her style of conversation is also very graceful. Not only that, she lacks none of the four arts of the Chinese Scholar [i.e. zither, Go, calligraphy, painting].” Jin Qiliang deliberately sighed, “Only in one area she is lacking.”
“Which area?” Lu Xiaofeng eagerly asked.
“She likes to drink,” Jin Qiliang slowly and deliberately said, “There was one time I saw it with my own eyes, during meal she drank a whole jar of white wine. Finished drinking, her face did not even change color.”
Lowering his voice, he continued spoke to Lu Xiaofeng very mysteriously, “If you ask me, someone like her, why would she want to live in this kind of place?” Jin Qiliang went on, “Well, I’ll tell you, she did not come here on her own account, rather, she can’t leave even if she wanted to.”
“Why?”
Jin Qiliang lowered his voice even more, “Because she was originally a beloved concubine of a prince of the reigning royal family; because she committed a crime, offending the Prince, she was banished to this place.”
Lu Xiaofeng’s four eyebrows started to droop. He sighed and said, “I know it, I know you are trying to harm me.”
“I’m harming you?” Jin Qiliang appeared to be deeply hurt, “How could I harm you?”
“You obviously know that when I found out that there is such woman in this place, if I don’t see her, I won’t be able to sleep well tonight.” Lu Xiaofeng said, “And now, what do you want me to do?”
“What to do? It’s very easy.” Jin Qiliang said, “You want to see her, I’ll take you there. Not only that, I’ll ask her to invite you for a drink.”
When they left the grocery store, the lady boss’ countenance looked like a piece of iron panel, she looked at Lu Xiaofeng with cold eyes, as if she wished to strangle him right then and there.
Lu Xiaofeng did not even look at her.
Written by Gu Long
Translation by Fox
Edited and proofread by audiowuxia.
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