White Horse Neighing in the West Wind #11

However, she did not understand their literary meaning, and muttered, “Bai shou xiang zhi you an jian…” Hua Hui asked, “Have you ever read this poem before?” Li Wenxiu answered, “I’ve never read it before. What are these fourteen characters describing?” Hua Hui was well versed in both the artistic and martial arts, and said, “These are two lines of a poem by Wang Wei. The first couplet says, if you have a bosom friend, and you’ve befriended him for you whole life and even when your hair has turned white, you must still never trust him, for he may try to harm you secretly. When he walks in front of you, you had better hold on to the hilt of your sword. The line before these two is “Ren qing fan fu shi bo lan” (the ups and downs of human relationships are like great waves). As for the line “Zhu men zao da xiao tan guan”, it means that your friend is proud of his successes and rising swiftly to fame. However, if you hope that he will promote or help you, you will only provoke him to ridicule you.”

After Li Wenxiu met him, she saw that he was extremely suspicious and cautious of her. He had believed that she no intention of harming him only after she had removed the poisoned needles from his body. As she looked at this pair of couplets again, she thought that he must have been greatly harmed by someone sometime in his life, and this person was probably a bosom friend of his. That was why he reacted so furiously and suspiciously to everyone. But at this moment, it was inappropriate for her to prod further, so she went off to boil water for brewing tea.

After drinking two cups of hot tea each, their spirits rose. Li Wenxiu said, “Master, I must return.” Hua Hi felt surprised, and an extremely disappointed expression appeared on his face. He said, “You’re leaving? You’re not going to learn martial arts from me?” Li Wenxiu answered, “No! I didn’t return home for the entire of last night, and Grandfather Ji must miss me terribly. After I tell him what happened, I’ll come back and learn martial arts from you.” Hua Hui flew into a sudden fury. His face swelled and turned red, and loudly he said, “If you do tell him, then don’t ever come back to see me.” Li Wenxiu was taken aback, and in a low voice she said, “Can’t I tell Grandfather Ji what happened? He… he dotes extremely on me.” Hua Hui said, “You cannot tell anyone. Quick, take an oath, vowing that you will not tell anyone what happened today. Or else, I will not let you leave this hill…” Due to his burst of fury, the wounds on his back ached terribly. With a cry, he fainted.

Li Wenxiu hurriedly helped him up, and sprinkled some clean water on his forehead. After a while, he gradually awoke. Amazed, he asked, “You haven’t left?” But Li Wenxiu asked, “Is your back very painful?” Hua Hui answered, “I feel better now. You said you wanted to return home, how come you haven’t left?” Li Wenxiu thought, “At most, Grandfather Ji will miss me in his heart. But Master has suffered serious injuries, and if I don’t take care of him carefully, he might die.” So she said, “Master is unwell, let me stay on for a few days to attend to you.” Hua Hui was overjoyed.

That night, both of them slept in the thatched cottage. Li Wenxiu found some dried grass, and made a bed in the hall. As she slept, she woke up several times from her dreams with a start. Not only did she dream that she had been caught by bandits, she also dreamed that evil spirits, dripping with blood, demanded her to return their lives.

When she got up the next morning, she saw that Hua Hui was in excellent spirits after resting a night. After breakfast, Hua Hui taught her martial arts, starting from the basic internal skills. He said, “You are already quite old, and it is a little late for you to start learning superior martial arts now. But the disciple is naturally intelligent, and the master is no ordinary person. A famous teacher accepting a brilliant pupil, what is there to be afraid of? In five years’ time, you’ll be invincible in the pugilistic world.” After practicing for seven or eight days, her skills improved quickly. The wounds on Hua Hui’s back also gradually healed. Only then did she bid farewell to her master, and rode the white horse home. But Hua Hui did not force her to take an oath this time. After she returned home, she did not tell Grandfather Ji what had happened. Instead, she said that she had lost her way in the great desert, and the more she walked, the farther she went. Fortunately, she met a group of camel riders, and thus did not die of thirst in the desert.

From then onwards, after ten days or half a month, Li Wenxiu would go and stay with Hua Hui. She was extremely afraid that she would meet bandits again, so whenever she left home, she wore the clothes of a Kazak man. During these stays, Hua Hui devoted all his attention to teaching her martial arts. Li Wenxiu had nowhere to place her hopes in, so she invested all her heart and soul into learning martial arts. Indeed, it was a case of a famous teacher accepting a brilliant pupil, and she made extremely rapid progress.

Two years passed. Hua Hui often praised, “With your present capability, you can now be considered one of the top pugilists in the pugilistic world. If you return to the Central Plains and display your skills, you’ll become famous instantly.” But Li Wenxiu did not want to return to the Central Plains at all; neither did she want to become a famous pugilist. But she wanted to avenge her parents’ deaths, and to prevent herself from being harmed by bandits when she met them again, she had to perfect her martial arts skills. Deep down in her heart, another thought urged her on: “If I master the skills, I can win Su Pu back.” But she did not dare to think too much of this thought. Every time she thought of it, she would blush. Even though she did not dare to think too much of it, this thought was still hidden deep in her heart. Thus, she spent less time in old man Ji’s house, and more time at her master’s. Old man Ji did ask her a couple of times about it, but she refused to tell him. He knew that she was stubborn since she was young, and would never turn back once she had made a decision, so he did not press her. One day, Li Wenxiu rode her white horse towards home, from her teacher’s house. Halfway into the journey, she realised that the sky was suddenly overcast with red clouds. The weather in the desert was unpredictable, and the northerly wind blew increasingly strongly. It seemed as if a huge blizzard was about to occur. She urged the horse to gallop more swiftly, and saw the shepherds herding their flocks home hurriedly, and there was not a single bird in the skies.

As she was about to reach home, she suddenly heard hoof beats, and a horse galloped towards her. Li Wenxiu felt slightly puzzled: “How come some people are leaving their homes, when there’s a blizzard coming?” As the horse galloped closer, she saw that the rider had a large red woolen cloak draped over her shoulders. It was a Kazak woman.

At this time, Li Wenxiu’s eyesight had improved greatly from two years ago. From far away, she could see that this woman had a graceful figure and beautiful face. It was A’man. Li Wenxiu did not wish to meet her face-to-face, so she turned her horse around, she moved to the south of a little hill, and reined in her horse behind some trees. But she saw that A’man also rode towards the little hill. When she neared the hillside, she gave a whistle. Then an answering whistle came from the trees on the top of the little hill. A’man leapt off the horse, and a man ran towards her. They embraced each other, laughing heartily. The man said, “There’s a blizzard coming in the twinkling of an eye, why are you still out here?”

A’man laughed, “Little fool, since you knew a blizzard was coming, why did you wait bravely for me here?” Su Pu laughed, “Our meeting here every day is more important than eating. Even if I have to battle enemies, I will still come here to wait for you.” They sat on the hill, shoulder to shoulder, whispering sweet nothings to each other. Several trees away, Li Wenxiu could not help but become lost in reverie. Sometimes their conversations were loud, and could be heard very clearly; other times they became soft, and not a word could be heard. Suddenly, their conversation came to some funny happening, and they chuckled loudly together.

But even if they spoke very loudly, Li Wenxiu heard but paid no attention for she was not eavesdropping on their lovers’ prattle. It was as if she saw a little boy and a little girl before her eyes, sitting shoulder to shoulder on the grass like they were doing now. The little boy was Su Pu, but the little girl was herself. They were telling stories, but as to what stories they were, she had long forgotten, but the scene from ten years ago still appeared clearly before her eyes…

Snowflakes as large as chicken feathers floated down, one by one, falling on all three horses, falling on all three people. Su Pu and A’man were deeply engrossed in their conversation, and did not take notice, while Li Wenxiu did not feel a thing. The snowflakes piled up on their heads, turning their hair white.

Several decades later, when the hair of all three of them really turned white, would Su Pu and A’man be talking and laughing happily together, and Li Wenxiu still be lonely as ever? While she continued to remember someone, did that someone have no trace of her in his heart? Suddenly, the branches resounded with loud noise. Su Pu and A’man jumped up together, crying out, “Hailstones are falling! Let’s go home quickly!”

When Li Wenxiu heard their crying, she was roused from her reverie. Hailstones as big as fingers hit her head, face and hands, causing her to feel much pain. She hurriedly pulled out a woolen rug from beneath the saddle, and placed it on her head before riding home.

As she neared the front door of her house, she saw that two horses were tied to the pillars of the verandah. One of them was the horse A’man had ridden. Li Wenxiu was stunned: “What did they come to my house for?” At this time, the falling hailstones became bigger and bigger, so she led the white horse away, and entered the house from the back door. She heard Su Pu’s bright, clear voice say, “Old Uncle, the hailstorm is really heavy, so we’ll have to stay a little longer.” The old man Ji answered, “Normally, I wouldn’t be able to get you as guests. I’ll go and brew a pot of tea.” Ever since the bandits from Jinwei Protection Agency plundered these pastures, the Kazaks hated Hans extremely. Even though old man Ji had lived there for a long time, and the Kazaks were naturally hospitable, they did not resort to driving him out, but instead distanced themselves from him. If there wasn’t a joyous occasion, they would not buy wine from him; if their sick livestock could not be cured, they would not ask him to treat them. Su Pu and A’man’s tents had by then relocated far away. If not for finding a place to shelter from the hailstorm, ten years could pass without them even coming to his house.

The old man Ji walked to the stove, and saw that Li Wenxiu’s face was very red, and was sitting there, spellbound. He said, “Ah, you’re ba…” She got up and covered his mouth with her hand, and whispered into his ear, “Don’t let them know that I’m here.” The old man Ji was perplexed, but nodded his head.

After a while, the old man Ji took out sheep’s milk wine, junket and black tea to serve to his guests. Li Wenxiu sat by the fire, and could hear the vague sounds of Su Pu and A’man’s conversations coming from the hall. She was unable to control one thought at the bottom of her heart: “I want to see him, and say something to him.” But then she recalled Su Lu’ke’s scoldings and whippings. For ten years, the sound of the whippings had continuously rung in her mind.