CLX Book 5 Chapter 5 – Part 1

Chapter 5 – The Assassin

Liang Ma looked at Chu Liuxiang, overwhelmed with hope, she said, “You can really let me see Xiaojie?” _{Translated by foxs}

Chu Liuxiang said, “If you are sincere, naturally you will see her.”

Liang Ma said, “Of course I am sincere, Guanyin Pusa [Bodhisattva of Compassion or Goddess of Mercy] …”

Chu Liuxiang did not let her finish, he rushed to say, “All right, in that case, you come back in three days. Don’t come at noon, wait until it’s dark.”

Liang Ma was startled, “Three days!” she said, “Three more days?”

Chu Liuxiang spoke with serious expression, “In this kind of thing, naturally we must choose a date, we can’t rush it. If you are sincere, can’t you wait for three more days?”

Naturally it was very easy to send Liang Ma away. Although Chu Liuxiang felt a bit sorry toward this kindhearted old woman, these three days would be extremely important.

After three days, everything might completely change.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of hoofbeats.

The person on the black donkey suddenly sped up and galloped over, to chase after Chu Liuxiang. Suddenly he whipped backhandedly, lashing the whip toward Chu Liuxiang’s neck.

The long whip split through the air, producing a sharp gust of wind. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Without even looking back, Chu Liuxiang reached out and grabbed the tip of the whip, he laughed and shouted, “Get down!”

With a casual flick of his hand, the donkey rider was pulled and flew up from the saddle. He somersaulted in the air and landed on the side of the bridge. The wide-brimmed hat on his head also fell off, revealing a long horse face.

Surprisingly, this person was Young Mistress Shi.

The black donkey rushed straight to the end of the bridge before stopping. It rubbed its neck against the bridge pillar while neighing softly. Its expression was somewhat similar to that of Young Mistress Shi.

Chu Liuxiang smiled and said, “I did not know Shi Shaonainai’s good-self has arrived, I nearly committed an offense, please forgive me, please forgive me.”

Staring at him ferociously, Shi Shaonainai said, “Stop making sarcastic remarks. Let me ask you: sneaking around all day long, what exactly are you doing? What exactly are you scheming against us?”

Heaving a sigh, Chu Liuxiang said, “Even if I have gargantuan guts, I wouldn’t dare to scheme against you, Shaonainai.” _{Translated by foxs}

Surprisingly, Shi Shaonainai’s face turned red; she spoke loudly, “In that case, why did you call on Liang Ma to come here?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Nothing, just for a chat.”

Laughing coldly, Shi Shaonainai said, “When did Chu Xiang Shuai’s appetite change? Since when you become fond of chatting with laotaipo [old woman, at times contemptuous]?”

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh again, he said, “If I don’t call on laotaipo to chat, could it be that Shaonainai would want to accompany me chatting?”

Young Mistress Shi stared at him, her eyes suddenly revealed a smile, suddenly she turned around and left. Her figure was not bad; looking at her figure from behind, she had quite a natural charm.

Chu Liuxiang was only hoping that she would not look back, once she turned around, this charm would be ruined.

Unfortunately, Young Mistress Shi clearly turned around; she even smiled and said, “Since you want to chat with me, why don’t you come with me?”

This time Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh for real. He thought that if anybody dared to use the saying, ‘Glancing back with a smile, a hundred charms grew’ – to describe this young mistress, he would definitely want to beat that person.

Not only Young Mistress Shi was laughing again, she also threw coquettish glances and said, “What are you afraid of? Could it be that I will eat you?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang muttered under his breath, “You do look like you can bite people.”

Young Mistress Shi said, “What are you muttering about?”

Smiling wryly, Chu Liuxiang said, “I did not say anything, it’s just that my mouth suddenly cramped.”

In his heart, he was hoping Young Mistress Shi’s neck suddenly had a cramp, so that she could not turn her head around again. Who would have thought that Young Mistress Shi’s neck was very flexible, a short moment later she looked back and said with a laugh, “You are not a puppy, why are you walking behind me?”

Chu Liuxiang had no choice but to harden his scalp and stepped forward. After half a day, he could not help saying, “Shaonainai, we can chat anywhere, where are you going?”

Young Mistress Shi rolled her eyes at him again, she said, “Many young men are secretly calling me ‘Xue Li Hong’ [lit. the red in the snow], and they think I did not know.” [Note: the surname ‘Xue’ and ‘snow’ (xue) are homonym.]

Chu Liuxiang could only stroke his nose, he vowed that henceforth he would not eat such dishes as ‘the red in the snow stir-fried shredded pork’; he would rather eat dried radish instead of ‘xue li hong’. [According to baike.baidu, ‘xue li hong’ is a vegetable, Brassicaceae Brassica. According to food.ltn.com.tw, it is usually pickled and then added to vegetables. It can be used for fried meat, fried bean curd, stewed tofu, or made into stuffing for buns and pancakes.] _{Translated by foxs}

Xue Honghong [hong means red] pouted and said, “Hey, you wanted to chat with me, how come you are not talking? Could it be that you have become mute?”

When Chu Liuxiang saw her pursing her mouth, he really wished he could hang a bottle of oil on it.

He only regretted that Hu Tiehua did not come, perhaps he could really deal with her.

Chu Liuxiang coughed dryly twice, he laughed and said, “Your Er Shu [second (paternal) uncle] is really interesting, he looks like a child, but his sword technique is so high. If I did not run fast that night, he would have stabbed some thru holes on me.”

Xue Honghong also laughed, she said, “Luckily you can run fast. Besides eating, my Er Shu knows how to use a sword. When his mental illness flared out, he forced my Diedie to fight with him, Diedie was even nearly stabbed to death by his sword.”

Chu Liuxiang’s eyes suddenly lit up, he asked, “What happened afterwards?”

Xue Honghong laughed and said, “Afterwards, naturally Diedie restrained him. When he got angry, his madness became even worse.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang said, “According to Lingzun Daren [your esteemed father, daren (lit. big/great person) is a term of respect to address someone of higher status], he was originally not like this in.”

Xue Honghong said, “Mm hmm, he just went crazy from training sword.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Oh?”

Xue Honghong said, “His sword technique was originally not bad, but compared to my Diedie naturally he is still far behind, hence he staked everything to train sword, wholeheartedly wanting to surpass my Diedie. He trained without eating, without sleeping, but no matter how hard he trained, he still could not compare with Diedie. One night he suddenly killed Er Shen [second aunt (wife of father’s younger brother)], saying that Er Shen always disturbed his sword training, but after killing Er Shen, he himself became deranged, always saying that he was only ten years old, and thus because of his young age, his sword technique was not as good as Diedie’s.”

Chu Liuxiang sighed and said, “When one has no way out, one can only lie to himself, but he …”

Suddenly feigning anger coquettishly, Xue Honghong said, “Why do we keep talking about him? Could it be that we don’t have anything else to talk about?”

Stroking his nose, Chu Liuxiang said, “Whatever you want to hear, I’ll accompany you chatting about that.” _{Translated by foxs}

Xue Honghong cast a glance at him, pursing her lips, she said with a laugh, “A man and a woman together, there are too many things to talk about, do you or don’t you know? Could it be that you still want me to teach you?”

She tittered and said, “If you want others to teach you, you’re no longer the Fengliu Xia Dao [romantic chivalrous robber] Chu Liuxiang.”

Hearing the name ‘romantic chivalrous robber’ Chu Liuxiang got a headache. What giving him more headache was that he discovered that the road that Xue Honghong took him was getting more and more remote. Moreover, at the end of the road, there seemed to be a few houses hidden among the trees. He did not dare to imagine what would happen after they were inside the house.

But at this time, if he wanted to leave, it was already too late.

Xue Honghong already pulled his hand, and said with an enchanting smile, “I am taking you to a good place, how are you going to show your appreciation to me?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “I … (cough, cough), this … (cough, cough) …”

He suddenly sprang up and said, “Oh, no. Your black donkey is gone, let’s go back quickly to look for it!”

Xue Honghong giggled, she said, “One donkey went missing, it’s not a big deal, I have you, why would I need a donkey?”

If someone said that Chu Liuxiang could blush, not only others would not believe, perhaps even he himself would not believe, but right now, his face was really blushing a little bit. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Perhaps because Xue Yiren killed too many people that gave birth to this kind of darling daughter. He had not been driven mad by this daughter, it was indeed a strange thing.

Xue Honghong was already pulling Chu Liuxiang to run towards the maple forest.

The sunlight illuminated the forest of maple leaves that were as red as the sunset clouds. In the middle of the maple forest, there were three, five buildings, the construction was small and exquisite, but it was also delicate; it was indeed picturesque.

This was really a good place for lovers to have a tryst.

This moment, if the one by Chu Liuxiang’s side was not Xue Honghong, coming to this kind of place, he would definitely feel a little ‘floating about like an immortal’, but now, he felt like he was a living ghost.

A living unlucky ghost.

While pulling his hand with one hand, with the other hand Xue Honghong pushed the door.

Smiling bitterly, Chu Liuxiang said, “This … whose house is this, you don’t even know, how could you casually push other people’s door? If you are caught as a thief, wouldn’t you be accused wrongly?” _{Translated by foxs}

Xue Honghong said, “Who dares to accuse me as a thief?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Normally, of course no one would, but if you’re with me, then we can’t say for sure, my reputation has never been very good, maybe it will implicate you.”

While he was talking, he wanted to steal away.

But Xue Honghong held onto his hand even tighter, she laughed and said, “Don’t worry, this is also the Xue Family’s property.”

Chu Liuxiang wanted to stroke his nose again, but Xue Honghong held both of his hands, so he could only smile wryly and said, “Your family property is indeed not a few.”

Xue Honghong said, “This was the place where Er Shu lived alone to train sword before he went insane, afterwards it is unoccupied. Although my Er Di [second (younger) brother] often came to stay here when he went hunting, but these few days he went to …”

While talking, she pushed the door open. Talking to this point, suddenly they heard someone roared, “Who dares to break in randomly …?”

Amidst the roar, something black shot out, brushed past Xue Honghong’s scalp and flew out, and landed far outside the door. Unexpectedly it was a boot. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

The room was furnished simply but exquisitely. The floor was covered with thick and soft animal skins. Two nearly completely naked persons were rolling about on the animal skins.

As soon as Xue Honghong opened the door, the man roared and sprang up, picked up a boot and threw it out, the woman hurriedly grabbed a piece of clothing to cover her chest and abdomen, but she still could not cover her two white legs. From Chu Liuxiang’s point of view, these two legs could also be considered first-class.

The man was very young, his skin fine and his flesh white. His appearance was very handsome, but his face was pale and his eyes bloodshot.

Seeing the one pushing the door was Xue Honghong, the angry look on his face immediately turned into surprise. Seeing him, Xue Honghong was also shocked; she blurted out, “It’s you?”

The young man scrambled to grab and put on his clothes and hid behind a chair.

The woman wanted to stand up, but seeing Chu Liuxiang’s smiling eyes, she quickly sat down again and desperately trying to pull her long and straight legs back.

Ashen faced, Xue Honghong spoke sternly, “Didn’t you already left for the provincial capital to buy new year’s supplies? How come you are here?” _{Translated by foxs}

While putting on his clothes, the young man smiled apologetically and said, “In any case, it’s still very early for the New Year, I think going in a couple of days won’t be too late.”

Laughing coldly, Xue Honghong said, “I’ve been wondering for a long time why you suddenly became hardworking, surprisingly eager to work, turns out you just wanted to get away from Diedie and go to eat outside food.”

Staring wide-eyed, she said, “Let me ask you, who is this woman?”

The young man said, “She … she’s is my friend.”

Xue Honghong sneered and said, “Friend? I’ll say you …”

The young man suddenly stuck out his head and rushed to say, “Let me ask you, the guy you have with you, who is he?”

Xue Honghong was taken aback, she said, “He … naturally he is my friend.”

The young man also sneered and said, “Friend? I say very likely not!”

Flying into a rage out of humiliation, Xue Honghong jumped up and roared, “Lao’er [ol’ second], let me tell you, don’t meddle in my business.”

The young man spoke unhurriedly, “All right, let’s make a deal. As long as you don’t meddle in my business, I won’t meddle in yours. Otherwise, if there is trouble, I’m afraid you lose more face than me.” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Xue Honghong rushed over, raised her leg and kicked the chair over, and shouted, “Why would I lose face? I did not strip naked and expose my butts to have others play tricks on me …”

Chu Liuxiang really did not want to listen any longer, so he quietly closed the door and slipped out, an unspeakably uncomfortable feeling welled up in his heart – uncomfortable on Xue Yiren’s behalf.

Naturally he knew by now that this young man was the Xue Family’s Er Gongzi [second young master], Xue Bin. The two siblings were really living treasures [buffoon, clown] cast in the same mold.

It’s just a pity that Xue Yiren, whose illustrious name spanned this generation, unexpectedly gave birth to such a pair of son and daughter. ‘Rich and powerful families have many unfilial [or unworthy] sons’, Chu Liuxiang found that whoever said this sentence indeed had learning.

If one wanted to become a matchless swordsman in the world, he had better not raise children, because the best swordsman would definitely be the worst father.

A sword is like a woman. If you want it to obey you, you must have your heart and soul on it, otherwise it will betray you.

Even if a man has been betrayed by a woman two hundred times, he can still find the woman number two hundred and one, but if he is betrayed by the sword once, he will die! _{Translated by foxs}

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh, he muttered, “Xue Yiren, Xue Yiren, although you can control the sword as you wish, but aren’t you yourself a slave to the sword …”

The two persons, older sister and younger brother, inside the house were still bickering, moreover, their voices were getting louder, but the door suddenly burst open, someone flew out and called in loud voice, “Hey, wait for me.”

As soon as Chu Liuxiang looked back, he saw the girl who was curling up like a little white lamb on the tiger skin a moment ago, waving to him incessantly.

By now, naturally she already put on her clothes, only she had not been buttoned it up yet. She was not wearing shoes and socks, the front piece of her garment exposed a piece of snow-white skin, a dazzlingly white skin. Under the pleated skirt, she exposed a section of her slender calf, dainty ankles, and a pair flat-toed feet.

Chu Liuxiang struggled hard to control his eyes to behave, he fought not to look inside the front piece of her clothes, but this pair of her feet was really a temptation.

Any man would be hard-pressed to resist this kind of temptation.

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh, he said, “Are you calling me?”

The girl said, “That’s right, I have something to tell you.”

She rushed over, but suddenly she let out a soft cry, her fragrant, sweet, and gentle and soft body fell into Chu Liuxiang’s bosom. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Smiling wryly, Chu Liuxiang said, “If you want to look for someone to finish the job that Xue Er Shao [Second Young Master] has not finished just now, I am afraid you are looking for the wrong person.”

The girl practically did not seem to hear what he was saying, she spoke in a trembling voice, “My foot, my foot …”

It was only then that Chu Liuxiang realized that her foot had been cut by a rock, the blood was dripping down, she was hurting so much that she nearly shed tears.

Not only her legs were beautiful, her feet beautiful, her face was also beautiful. This moment, this beautiful face was full of pain, with the addition of a few drops of tear, she looked even more cute and pitiful.

Chu Liuxiang could not help heaving a sigh again, he muttered, “Next time you have a tryst, you must remember: never, ever take off your shoes.”

Although the girl looked so well-developed, her body was actually very light, almost without spending any effort, Chu Liuxiang picked and carried her up.

The girl bit her lip and forced a smile, she spoke softly, “Thank you.”

Although Chu Liuxiang’s nose did not work very well, he still sniffed a scent like orchid or a musk deer, which could make any man’s heart beat faster. _{Translated by foxs}

He could only keep his nose as far away as possible. Smiling wryly, he said, “You don’t need to thank me, thank your own feet.”

The girl’s face blushed, she said, “Hurry up, don’t wait for them to go after us.”

Actually, it was not that Chu Liuxiang himself was not afraid of Xue Honghong chasing him out, no need for her to remind him, Chu Liuxiang already fled into the woods at the foot of the hill like a wisp of smoke.

Although it was not long after noon, the light in the woods was very dim. Under this kind of light, any woman would look a bit prettier, let alone this girl was very beautiful to begin with. Chu Liuxiang really did not know whether he could resist this temptation or not.

He had no choice but to avert his gaze; he asked, “Where do you want me to take you?”

Gasping for breath, the girl suddenly pulled out a dagger!

Just as Chu Liuxiang felt that her body scent was a bit unbearable, the dagger already pressed on his chest. ‘Zip!’ it ripped a slit in his clothes.

This move was really beyond Chu Liuxiang’s expectation.

Only to hear the girl spoke coldly, “If you still want to live, you have to promise me one thing!”

Chu Liuxiang sighed and said, “A girl like you wanted a man to promise something, do you still need a knife?” _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Gritting her teeth, the girl spoke sternly, “Stop indulging in flights of fancy, I’m not the kind of woman you are thinking!”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Oh?”

The girl said, “Don’t you think that I was just … just having a tryst with that surnamed Xue, I was just … just …”

Speaking to this point, tears flowed down her face again. Her beautiful face was brimming with anger and resentment, so much so that her lips were bleeding from her own teeth.

Chu Liuxiang gradually began to feel that this girl was interesting. Simply because his curiosity was piqued, he could not help asking, “What were you doing just now?”

The girl replied, “Revenge!”

“Revenge?” Chu Liuxiang spoke in surprise, “Revenge for who?”

The girl replied, “My Jiejie [older sister].”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Your Jiejie? Could it be that she died at that Xue Gongzi’s hands?” _{Translated by foxs}

The girl spoke hatefully, “Although Xue Bin did not kill her, her death was even more tragic. If Xue Bin killed her with a blade, it would be a bit better instead.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “In that case, what method did he use to kill your Jiejie?”

The girl said, “He used the most despicable, the most hateful method to harm my  Jiejie …”

She suddenly stopped talking; staring at Chu Liuxiang, she said, “I’ve said too much, I just ask you, are you willing to promise?”

Chu Liuxiang said, “Promise what? You want me to help you seeking revenge?”

The girl said, “That’s right.”

Chu Liuxiang said, “If you don’t explain the matter clearly to me, how could I help you?”

The girl said, “No matter what, you must promise me, otherwise I will take your life!”

Chu Liuxiang chuckled, he said, “You think you can really kill me?”

The girl gripped the knife even tighter, she spoke sternly, “You think I don’t dare to kill you?”

She had just finished speaking, suddenly she felt her body went numb, somehow, the knife in her hand fell into Chu Liuxiang’s hand, as if Chu Liuxiang had used some kind of magic. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Chu Liuxiang said, “This knife of yours, was it originally intended to kill Xue Gongzi?”

The girl bit her teeth desperately, her whole body was still shaking.

Chu Liuxiang heaved a sigh, he said, “Luckily you did not have a chance to make your move just now, otherwise, I am afraid by this moment you have already died in Xue Bin’s hands.”

With a wave of his hand, the knife flew out, ‘Pop!’, it was nailed to the tree.

Chu Liuxiang said, “You are not a girl who can kill people, this knife is not the knife to be used to kill people either. If you really want revenge, looks like you will have to find another way.”

The girl suddenly cried bitterly at the top of her voice, using a pair of white and tender little hands, she desperately pounded Chu Liuxiang’s chest. Crying bitterly, she said, “Just kill me … It would be better if you simply kill me.”

Smiling wryly, Chu Liuxiang said, “Could it be that you are making a mistake? I’m not that Xue Gongzi.”

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