Chapter 143: Love Story
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Tie Hanfeng had spent ten years preparing for this robbery, but only used about half an hour to carry out this plan.
Sack Zhou had a long face and a hooked nose and usually looked quite somber. Upon seeing a young macheteman block his way, he was slightly startled but not at all worried. As he fixed his gaze on the macheteman, he found him somewhat familiar. “Have I met this young man before? Is he…” Sack Zhou thought and then turned his head back toward Tie Hanfeng, hoping to get an answer from his friend. Tie Hanfeng remained Sack Zhou’s best friend for all these years and accompanied him all the way along his journey. While traveling, they repeatedly expressed how much they loathed being torn away from each other. Even real brothers were not as close as they appeared.
Beyond Sack Zhou’s expectation, when he spotted his “best friend” Tie Hanfeng, the crippled man was busy slaughtering his servants and guards with a saber.
Sack Zhou had 14 servants, 10 oxcarts and several horses.
Like two big fish besieging and devouring a school of small fish, Tie Hanfeng and Slave Huan worked together to kill Sack Zhou’s servants. One of them drove the people around, and the other cut them down as easily as reaping wheat.
As for Sack Zhou, he was left to Tie Hanfeng. The cripple behaved very professionally throughout the whole process. Although he did not like his profession as a killer, he had already gotten used to all the codes of this profession and thus would never hesitate to kill any target even if that person was one of his best friends. “Without me, you’ll end up like an ordinary man. It’s lucky for you to have enjoyed your life as a wealthy man during the past 10 years.” Tie Hanfeng said this to Sack Zhou before killing him as a way of showing his concern for his friend.
After the deed was done, Tie Hanfeng steered the oxcarts around and headed for the Golden Roc Fort’s territory together with Slave Huan. Shortly after they entering the territory, they met a caravan of camels. Tie Hanfeng gave his loot to the boss of the caravan and exchanged some whispers with him before riding back to Jade City at top speed together with his disciple.
For Gu Shenwei, this robbery action ended here. He just did this to return his Master Shifu’s favors. He did not even ask for a share of the loot. Nor did he enquire about how much money Sack Zhou had or where the money would go.
They came back to their place in the city in time. The moment they arrived, the other members of the Little Flag Battalion were preparing to return to Golden Roc Fort. Six days from now, the twins would celebrate their birthday.
Among all the apprentices in the Little Flag Battalion, only Maid Lotus knew where Slave Huan had been these days. After fetching the two swords from Blacksmith Village, she came to visit him and gave him a sword with the character “Yun” carved on its hilt, while she kept the other one carrying the character “Huan”. This incident sparked off numerous rumors of their romance among the other teenagers. The others kept on discussing about them until they entered the Stone Castle. From that moment on, they cared more about who would get red belts.
The quality of the sword made by Mr. Hong exceeded Gu Shenwei’s expectations. The first time he gripped its shaft, he was thrilled and at the same time, he felt sick as it somehow reminded him of the smell of blood.
That elderly blacksmith seemed to have guessed their real intention and thus had produced sharp weapons instead of tokens of love for them. The blade of the sword was stainless, looking as shiny as the surface of a pool of clear water, while the less brave would not even dare to look directly at its mirror-like surface. When he weighed it in hand, he felt that its weight was very ideal and it would be easy to use during a fight.
He had to admit that this idea of Maid Lotus was brilliant. He repeatedly unsheathed his sword to examine it with appreciative eyes. As for his saber, now he considered it a piece of scrap metal.
Tie Hanfeng did not hide his scorn for Slave Huan’s behavior at all. There was only one time when he made an exception; he hugged his disciple around his shoulders while saying solemnly, “Be careful. Just like you, women in East Castle have scars all over their bodies. You may feel that it can be a little… rough, when rubbing against each other, hum, but maybe you’ll like it.”
As one of the managers of the Little Flag Battalion, Tie Hanfeng had to return to Stone Castle to hand over his duties to his successor. Once his disciple became a red-belt killer, he would break off his saber and retire. When that happened, he would be able to move into his house in North City and live a happy life during his old age.
Thinking about the matter provided him with much pleasure and turned him into a chatterbox. He talked about nothing but how he imagined his life would be after retirement.
“The first thing I want is liquor. I’ll drink as much as I want until I die. The second thing is women. I’ll drink myself to death while being on top of a woman. That woman will inherit half of my assets, and I’ll leave the other half for you,” Tie Hanfeng said to Slave Huan.
Gu Shenwei endured Tie Hanfeng’s endless nagging day after day and even bought him some liquor to please him. He saw this as a way of showing his gratitude to his Master Shifu.
On the third day after their return to the Stone Castle, Tie Hanfeng drank a lot of liquor during lunch, but he did not take a nap. He was suddenly silent and remained speechless until late afternoon. When he spoke again, he got somewhat sentimental like a poet.
Gu Shenwei guessed that it was probably the weather that affected the elderly killer’s mood. The sky had been covered by dark clouds for the entire morning, and it began to snow in the afternoon. He moved Tie Hanfeng’s chair into the house but opened all the windows and the door, as his Master Shifu did not like any enclosed space. As long as he could stand the cold, he would rather sleep in the open air. Seeing the snowflakes hit the ground and melt, Tie Hanfeng started to recall his own life story.
“My Master Shifu was a bad guy. I hope that he’ll be tortured in hell. I’m not a good person, either. I’ll have to go to hell after I die. Given that, I have to enjoy my life as much as I can, so that I’ll have good memories of my glory days to help me endure the torments of hell.”
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After a pause, Tie Hanfeng continued, “Everything in our lives is illusionary. A monk told me that our lives are nothing but dreams. They’re transitory, just like bubbles, drops of dew or lightning bolts. That’s why the Six Kills Temple in the fort erected that stone tablet with the words ‘Six rounds of reincarnation, no extermination’. We’ll die sooner or later, and after we die, we’ll be reincarnated in either human or animal form. In this sense, we can never kill all the people in the world. Never.”
Gu Shenwei found it quite funny to hear Tie Hanfeng, a non-religious killer, talking about Buddhist doctrines. “This old cripple was never a serious killer, but now he’s lamenting that he can never kill all the people in the world. This is really ridiculous,” thought Gu Shenwei. He was confident that he himself would never think about something like this, as he only wanted to kill a certain number of people.
To his immense surprise, Tie Hanfeng abruptly changed the topic. “Her skin was white as snow, and her fingers were warm and soft. When she touched me, I felt as if being kissed by the breeze, and all my scars seemed to be melting in that breeze.”
While saying this, Tie Hanfeng had a dreamy look in his eyes and even forgot to take a sip of his wine. “That brat surnamed Xu was right. A man will always fall in love with the first woman he’s slept with. I can’t forget about her, no matter how many women I’ve slept with after our separation. Every woman after her seems to resemble her in some way. In my eyes, they’re just parts of her.”
Tie Hanfeng went on to tell Gu Shenwei his most unforgettable love story, which had happened before he got crippled and red-faced.
Tie Hanfeng had never gotten intimate with a woman until he was 13. Before that, he was an outstanding apprentice immersed in violence and then a merciless killer who was loyal only to his master.
His first time was far from perfect. As a killer, his saber was like an extension of his hands and he could kill a person within seconds, but he appeared rather awkward and clumsy in bed. He was so stiff that he found it difficult to roll over on that bed. He felt that his whole body was as hard as a stone except for one spot. That spot, much to his disappointment, just could not stay hard long enough. She tried every trick she knew but still failed to make him feel at ease.
They kept on trying almost the whole night. In the beginning, they chatted with each other once in a while, but gradually, they both lost patience and considered this thing a boring chore. They stopped chatting and focused on trying to make that little thing stay hard for a longer time.
She was so devoted and carefully tried all the tricks that she had learned or heard of on him again and again, like a weaver applied herself diligently to her weaving task.
In the meantime, he was lying on his back like a sheep waiting to be prodded by its shepherd, sincerely hoping that this would end soon and in a satisfactory way.
After a candle being burnt out, she breathed out a sigh and stopped trying. She put her head on his arm and touched every wound on his chest with her soft, warm fingers, while saying, “Let’s sleep.” This short sentence somehow was forever enshrined in his heart.
After hearing this sentence, he was totally relieved from anxiety and fell asleep even before he completely closed his eyes. He had never slept so soundly before.
When he woke up on the afternoon of the next day, he smelt something sweet and felt waves after waves of that sweetness emanated from the pillows, the bed curtains, the city outside the room and the sea, which he had heard of but had never seen before, rushing toward him. He was overwhelmed by them and suddenly fell in love with the woman lying beside him.
He threw himself on top of her and without any guidance, he accomplished the thing that they always wanted to do. Once, twice… he kept repeating it until he was exhausted.
In the following three days, the lovebirds continued to caress each other and make love to each other. Both of them refused to get out of bed and had food delivered to them directly.
Tie Hanfeng’s love story sounded quite strange and thrilling in the beginning, but just like the other love stories of prostitutes and their clients, it had a rather conventional ending.
Tie Hanfeng could no longer tolerate the pain of separation from her and the fact that she was a prostitute after they had been together for a month, so he bought back her freedom and rented a house to live together with her. She promised that she would never again receive a client, and he promised to quit drinking and focus on his job as a killer.
They lived happily together for a year before it all ended.
For Tie Hanfeng, it was hard to give up drinking. He was attracted not only by the alcohol but also by the atmosphere inside the taverns of South City. He enjoyed himself most when sitting quietly in a noisy tavern. When he was confined to his home, he felt like a fish out of water. He could not breathe, and a voice kept buzzing in his head, urging him to return to the water.
The prostitute got bored, too. The killer, whose body was covered in scars, quickly lost his mystique and turned into an ordinary man who was sour, deceitful and alcoholic.
Tie Hanfeng forgot which one of them had suggested to break up. He only remembered that after leaving that “home”, he immediately returned to his old life. Since then, his face had become redder year by year and his saber skills had gotten better with each passing day. As for the prostitute, she left Jade City with another man, seeking a new life.
After finishing this story, Tie Hanfeng drunk up the liquor in his cup without a pause for breath. “Even I myself didn’t know that I still clearly remember her. You may feel that I’m not quite myself today, don’t you? Hur, Hur, that’s alright. The more burden we shake off, the freer we’ll be. Every killer has to go through such a process. It’s not necessarily about a woman. It may be something else.”
Tie Hanfeng’ honesty and frankness made Gu Shenwei feel uneasy. He did not know how to respond to his Master Shifu, as he could neither throw off his burden nor tell it to his Master Shifu.
Even so, he still felt that he had to say something and decided to share a little secret with Tie Hanfeng. “I hate blood. I feel nausea every time I see it. How can I ditch this burden? “
Beyond Gu Shenwei’s expectations, Tie Hanfeng did not scoff at him at all. “You can’t just simply discard your hatred. You have to get used to it. Once you do, you won’t call it a burden anymore. Tell you another secret. Making love to a woman always stresses me out, but the more nervous I feel, the more sex I want to have. Hahaha, gradually I get used to it and turn it into a driving force in my sex life.”
Gu Shenwei and Tie Hanfeng had never been so close before. During this magical moment, they felt that they understood each others’ pain for the first time.
“Her name is Zi Linglong, and she went to Shu-lik. Now, she’s probably dead or ugly. If you happen to meet her someday, kill her and never tell me how she looks now,” said Tie Hanfeng.
They began laughing. Gu Shenwei even poured himself a fresh drink and then made a toast to Tie Hanfeng. “How did you get crippled? Because of some woman again?” Gu Shenwei asked in a friendly tone. He had never mentioned this before, since it was almost a taboo to discuss with a killer about his or her physical imperfections.
Tie Hanfeng burst into laughter and replied, “Yeah, kind of. Two years ago, I was on a mission to kill several people, and then, you know, as a matter of routine, we raped a woman. None of us discovered that we had killed a wrong person during the mission, and when we returned to the fort, the Eighth Young Master flared up. As I’m the Third Young Master’s killer and was on secondment from my master’s killer team. I only got knifed in my leg. I was very lucky compared to the young master’s own killers. Their right hands got chopped off by their master.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Shenwei felt all his blood pumping into his head strongly, which caused him to nearly pass out.
“But, to be frank with you, that woman was amazing. I still feel excited when thinking about her. It’s such a pity she got killed,” Tie Hanfeng exclaimed.
He was deeply absorbed in happy reminiscences and completely oblivious of his disciple’s sudden change in facial expression.
