Laughing in the Wind Chapter 1 – Part 4

When the three reached the east wing, Lin Zhennan¹ asked his son, “What happened?”

Lin Pingzhi² then recounted the events: how they had stopped at a small wineshop when returning from hunting; how two Sichuan men had molested the serving girl, leading to a verbal confrontation; how that escalated into a brawl when one of them grabbed his neck and demanded that he kowtow; how in his panic and anger, he drew the dagger from his boot and killed the man; and how they buried him in the vegetable garden, gave some silver to the old shop owner, and ordered his silence in return.

The more Lin Zhennan listened, the more concerned he grew. However, a death from a brawl with an outsider was not an earth-shattering matter.

He remained expressionless as he waited for his son to finish, then said in a low voice, “Did these two men mention which school or guild they belonged to?”

Lin Pingzhi said, “No!”

Lin Zhennan asked, “Was there anything unusual about their speech or behaviour?”

Lin Pingzhi replied, “I wouldn’t say it was something strange, but that Yu fellow…”

Before he could finish, Lin Zhennan interrupted, “The man you killed was surnamed Yu?”

Lin Pingzhi said, “Yes! I heard the other call him Brother Yu, though I’m not certain which Yu character³ it was given their foreign accent.”

Lin Zhennan shook his head as he muttered to himself, “No, no. It can’t be such a coincidence. Abbot Yu said he would send men, but there is no way they could’ve reached Fuzhou Prefecture so swiftly unless they grew wings.”

Lin Pingzhi tensed and asked, “Father, are you saying these two might be from Qingcheng School?”⁴

Lin Zhennan gave no answer. Instead, he gestured as he asked, “When you used this Heaven-Flipping Palms⁵ move against him, how did he counter it?”

Lin Pingzhi replied, “He didn’t. I landed a sound slap.”

Lin Zhennan laughed and said repeatedly, “Splendid! Splendid! Splendid!”

The chamber was filled with a tense, fearful atmosphere, but Lin Zhennan’s laughter prompted Lin Pingzhi to join in and his heart lightened in an instant.

Lin Zhennan asked, “When you used this move, how did he strike back?”

Once more, he demonstrated the move as he spoke. Lin Pingzhi said, “I was furious then, so I can’t remember clearly, but I think it went like this and I punched him in the chest again.”

Lin Zhennan’s expression grew even more pleased, saying, “Splendid, that’s how that move should be executed! If he was unable to counter even this move, there’s no way he was related to Abbot Yu of Pine Wind Temple from the renowned Qingcheng School.”

His repeated exclamations of “splendid” were not in praise of his son’s martial abilities, but rather in relief. There were countless people surnamed Yu in Sichuan Province, and it was clear that the Yu fellow his son killed had limited martial arts skills, and thus would be unrelated to Qingcheng School.

He tapped his right middle finger repeatedly on the table and asked, “And how did he grab your head?”

Lin Pingzhi showed how he was immobilised by the grapple.

Chen Qi,⁶ having regained some courage, interjected, “When Bai Er⁷ tried to stab that fellow with his steel fork, a backward kick knocked the fork out of his hand and another sent him tumbling.”

Lin Zhennan’s heart jolted. He asked, “He knocked Bai Er down and disarmed him with a backward kick? How… how did he execute those kicks?”

Chen Qi said, “Something like this.”

He grabbed the back of a chair with both hands and kicked backwards with his right foot, hopped on one foot, then lashed out backwards with his left foot. His kicks were clumsy like a horse lashing out behind.

Seeing how awkward the kicks were, Lin Pingzhi could not help but laugh and said, “Father, look…”

However, he caught himself when he noticed his father’s alarmed expression.

Lin Zhennan said, “These two backward kicks bear some resemblance to Qingcheng School’s feat, the Shadowless Phantom Kicks.⁸ Son, how exactly did he execute the kicks?”

Lin Pingzhi replied, “My head was in his grip then, so I couldn’t see his kicks.”

Lin Zhennan said, “Well, we’ll need to ask Captain Shi then.”

Walking out of the chamber, he called out, “Men! Where’s Captain Shi? Why hasn’t he come after being summoned for so long?”

Two scouts hurried over and reported that Captain Shi was nowhere to be found.

Lin Zhennan paced back and forth in the flower hall,⁹ thinking to himself, If these two backward kicks were truly the Shadowless Phantom Kicks, then even if this man were not related to Abbot Yu, he must have some connection to Qingcheng School. Who exactly was he? I must go see for myself.

He said aloud, “Summon Captain Cui and Captain Ji!”

The two captains were known for their reliability and prudence, and were Lin Zhennan’s trusted men. Having witnessed Captain Zheng’s sudden death and Captain Shi’s disappearance, they had been waiting outside the hall for orders. Upon hearing Lin Zhennan’s summons, they entered immediately.

Lin Zhennan said, “We have a matter to attend to. The two Captains, my son and Chen Qi, come with me.”

The five mounted horses and left the city, heading north. Lin Pingzhi rode ahead to lead the way.

The five riders soon reached the small wineshop. The door was already shut. Lin Pingzhi gave it a rap and called out, “Old Sa, Old Sa, open up.”

He knocked for quite a while, but not a sound came from inside the shop. Captain Cui looked at Lin Zhennan and gestured to break down the door and Lin Zhennan nodded. Captain Cui struck out with both palms, snapping the door bolt with a crack. The two door panels swung outward, then closed on their own before swinging outward again, creaking as they did so.

As soon as Captain Cui broke through the door, he pulled Lin Pingzhi to the side. Seeing no movement within, he struck a flint and entered, lighting an oil lamp on a table and two lanterns. The group scoured the place inside and out, but found no one. Yet all the bedding, trunks, and other sundries had been left untouched.

Lin Zhennan nodded and said, “The old man is scared of trouble. With a death here and the corpse buried in his vegetable garden, he fears being implicated. Thus he fled.”

He went to the vegetable garden and pointed at a hoe leaning against the wall. “Chen Qi, dig up the corpse for a look.”

Chen Qi had long been convinced evil spirits were at work. His hands and feet went limp after only two strokes of hoeing and he almost collapsed on the ground.

Captain Ji said, “Useless wretch! And you call yourself an escort!”

Taking the hoe, he handed the lantern to Chen Qi and began scraping away the soil with the hoe. Before long, the dead man’s clothes emerged. After a few more strokes, he thrust the hoe under the body, lifted forcefully, and pulled up the corpse. Chen Qi turned his head away, not daring to look, but heard his four companions’ alarmed cries in unison. Startled, Chen Qi dropped the lantern, extinguishing the candle and plunging the vegetable garden into pitch darkness.

Lin Pingzhi said in a trembling voice, “We buried that Sichuan man, how… how…”

Lin Zhennan said, “Quick, light the lantern!”

He had maintained his composure all this while, but now his voice carried alarm. Captain Cui struck his flint and lit the lantern. Lin Zhennan bent down to examine the corpse. After a long while, he said, “No wounds on the body either. The exact same manner of death.”

Chen Qi gathered his courage and glanced at the corpse, then shrieked, “Captain Shi, Captain Shi!”

The body dug from the ground belonged to Captain Shi. The Sichuan man’s body had vanished without a trace.

Lin Zhennan said, “There’s definitely something amiss with this old man Sa.”

He grabbed the lantern and rushed into the shop to search. From the wine jars and iron pots under the stove to the tables and chairs in the hall, he examined everything carefully but found nothing unusual. Captains Cui and Ji and Lin Pingzhi conducted their separate searches as well. Suddenly Lin Pingzhi called out, “Ah! Father, come see this.”

Lin Zhennan went toward his son’s voice and found him standing in the girl’s room with a green handkerchief in hand. Lin Pingzhi said, “Father, how could a girl from a poor family possess something like this?”

Lin Zhennan took it. A faint, subtle fragrance wafted into his nose. The handkerchief was extremely soft and smooth, with considerable heft, clearly made of fine silk. Upon closer inspection, it had green trim along three edges, and one corner bore an exquisitely embroidered red coral branch.

Lin Zhennan asked, “Where did you find this handkerchief?”

Lin Pingzhi said, “In a corner under the bed. They probably left in such haste that they didn’t notice it when packing.”

Lin Zhennan lifted the lantern and bent down to illuminate the space under the bed but found nothing else. He mused, You said the wine-selling girl was quite ugly. I doubt her clothes would be luxurious, but was she dressed very neatly?

Lin Pingzhi said, “I didn’t pay attention then, but I don’t recall it being filthy. If she’d been very dirty, I would have noticed when she came to pour wine.”

Lin Zhennan said to Captain Cui, “Old Cui, what do you think?”

Captain Cui said, “I believe Captain Shi, Captain Zheng, and Bai Er’s deaths are definitely connected to this old man and young woman. They might even be the killers themselves.”

Captain Ji said, “Those two Sichuan men were probably in league with them. Otherwise why would they move his corpse?”

Lin Pingzhi said, “That man surnamed Yu was clearly molesting the girl. Otherwise I wouldn’t have cursed at him. They cannot be in league.”

Captain Cui said, “With all due respect, Young Escort Chief, you have not had cause to learn this: the jianghu¹⁰ is full of treacherous hearts. People often set up traps and wait for others to fall into it. Two people pretend to fight, and when a third comes to mediate, the two who were fighting suddenly join forces against the mediator. This is all too common.”

Captain Ji said, “Escort Chief, what do you think?”

Lin Zhennan said, “This wine-selling old man and the girl are definitely targeting us. I just can’t be sure if they’re in league with those two Sichuan men.”

Lin Pingzhi said, “Father, you said Abbot Yu of Pine Wind Temple¹¹ sent four people. These people… these people make a group of four, don’t they?”

This remark stirred Lin Zhennan. He stood dazed for a moment, then mused, The Fuwei Armed Escort¹² has treated Qingcheng School with utmost courtesy. We’ve never offended them in any way. For Abbot Yu to send people to cause us trouble, what is his motive?

The four looked at each other, unable to speak for a long time. After quite a while, Lin Zhennan finally said, “Let’s move Captain Shi’s body into the shop first. When we return to the armed escort, tell no one about this matter to avoid alerting the authorities and causing more complications. Hmph, we of the Lin family treat others with courtesy and don’t wish to offend our friends, but we’re not cowards who let others strike without fighting back.”

Captain Ji declared loudly, “Escort Chief, soldiers are trained for a thousand days, and deployed in a single hour.¹³ Everyone will charge forth together. We can’t let our armed escort’s reputation be damaged.”

Lin Zhennan nodded and said, “Indeed! You have my thanks!”

The five spurred their horses back to the city. As they approached the armed escort from afar, they saw the front gate was illuminated by torches, with a crowd gathered. Lin Zhennan’s heart skipped a beat and he urged his horse forward. Several people called out, “The Escort Chief has returned!”

Lin Zhennan dismounted, and saw his wife standing with an ashen face. “Look! Hmph, they’ve come to humiliate us like this.”

Two broken flagpole halves and two brocade banners lay on the ground. They were the large banners that stood at the armed escort’s gate. The poles had a clean cut where they were severed, clearly done in a single stroke of a treasured dao¹⁴ or sharp jian¹⁵.

Madam Lin carried no weapon, so she drew the jian from her husband’s waist. She cut both brocade banners from their poles along the shafts with two swift strokes, balled them up, and carried them through the main gate.

Lin Zhennan ordered, “Captain Cui, might as well chop off the remaining halves of the two poles! Hmph, taking down the Fuwei Armed Escort won’t be that simple!”

Captain Cui said, “Yes!”

Captain Ji cursed, “Damn it, these bandits are cowards to steal in and commit such a base act while the Escort Chief was away.”

Lin Zhennan beckoned to his son and the two of them returned to the armed escort. Captain Ji meanwhile was still cursing, “Filthy bandits, stinking bastards!”

Father and son entered the east wing to find Madam Lin had already spread the two brocade banners flat across two tables. On one banner, both eyes of the yellow lion had been carved out, leaving two gaping holes. As for the other that bore the four characters “Fuwei Armed Escort”, the character “Wei”, meaning prestige, had been cut away. Despite Lin Zhennan’s deep composure, he could restrain himself no longer. He slammed his hand down heavily on the table and one of the legs of the rosewood Eight Immortals table shattered with a splintering snap.

Lin Pingzhi’s voice trembled as he said, “Father, it’s… it’s all my fault. I’ve brought such disaster upon us!”

Lin Zhennan said loudly, “So what if a Lin killed someone? If such a person had crossed your father’s path, I would have killed him just the same.”

Madam Lin asked, “Killed whom?”

Lin Zhennan said, “Pinger, tell your mother.”

Footnotes

1. 林震南 — Lín Zhènnán. His name meaning “Lin Quells the South.” See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 林平之 — Lín Píngzhī. His name meaning “Lin Level-minded” or “Lin Fair and just”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 余 — Yu. Multiple Chinese characters are pronounced Yu, in this case homophones for Yu can be written as “余” (radical 人 rén, component 未 wèi) or “俞” (radical 人 rén, component 则 zé). See Wiktionary. ↩

4. 青城派 — qīngchéngpài. Martial arts school based on Daoist teachings. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 翻天掌 — Fān tiān zhǎng. Literally flipping sky palm. ↩

6. 陈七 — Chén Qī. Literally Chen Seven. Common way to refer to someone by their surname followed by their position in the family or household. ↩

7. 白二 — Bái’èr. Literally Bai Second. Common way to refer to someone by their surname followed by their position in the family or household. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 无影幻腿 — wúyǐnghuàntuǐ. Literally no shadow imaginary leg. Move from the Qingcheng School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 花厅 — huātīng. Literally flower hall. Drawing room in a large residence built in a garden or between courtyards. ↩

10. 江湖 — jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach, holding not only martial artists but the trades that travel with them, including pedlars, physicians, fortune-tellers, entertainers, boatmen, beggars, outlaws and the like. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 松风观 — sōngfēngguān. Literally pine wind Daoist temple. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 福威镖局 — Fúwēi Biāo Jú. Fuwei is literally prosperity and might. Armed escort was a security company that guarded valuable goods and people in ancient China. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 养兵千日，用在一朝 — yǎng bīng qiān rì, yòng zài yī zhāo. Classical idiom meaning “raise soldiers for a thousand days to use them in a single hour,” suggesting that long preparation and investment pay off in a critical moment. ↩

14. 刀 — dāo. Single-edged blade, one of the fundamental weapons in Chinese martial arts. Often confused with sabre. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 剑 — jiàn. Double-edged sword, one of the fundamental weapons in Chinese martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩