White Horse Neighing in the West Wind #16

Su Lu’ke stared at Li Wenxiu. After quite a long time, he said, “Little brother, you are a Kazak, are you not?” Li Wenxiu shook her head and answered, “No, I’m a Han!” Su Lu’ke said, “Impossible, if you are a Han, why did you attack that Han bandit and save us Kazaks?” Li Wenxiu replied, “Among the Hans, there are bad people, but there are also good people. I… I am not one of the bad people.” Su Lu’ke muttered, “There are good people among the Hans?” He shook his head slowly. But his life and that of his son’s, were saved by this young Han. He had no choice but to believe.

He had hated Hans his entire life, but now this belief was wavering. He was furious at himself for being so drunk last night and was thus unable to battle with that Han bandit. Instead, he needed another Han to come and rescue him. In his entire life, when something critical happened, he was always so unfortunate, always so unlucky. But when that bandit’s long sword had struck his head just now, that young man had arrived in the nick of time to rescue him. Could this be considered misfortune? Could this be considered bad luck?

When dawn broke, the snowstorm finally died down.

Su Lu’ke and Che Erku immediately set off to gather their tribesmen to pursue that Han bandit. His footprints clearly showed in the show. Furthermore, he had suffered serious injuries and could not have gone far. It would be best if he attempted to rendezvous with the other bandits. That way, they could finally take revenge after twelve years.

Three hundred of the most able-bodied Kazak men formed the first batch of pursuers. The remaining two batches set off in succession. There was of course no need to mobilize so many men just to catch one Chen Dahai, but their real motive was to exterminate the Han bandits who had been terrorizing the pastures.

Su Lu’ke and Che Erku were the vanguards. They wanted the remaining tribesmen to maintain a distance of ten li between them and follow them slowly, to prevent Chen Dahai from realising their presence and abandoning his rendezvous with his fellow bandits. Su Pu had suffered injuries last night, but since his condition was not serious, he wanted to accompany his father. A’man also insisted on accompanying her father, but everyone knew that she did not want to leave Su Pu’s side. Che Erku picked two of his disciples to follow him. One was the agile Sang Si’er, and the other was a young man as strong as a camel. His nickname was “Camel”, and that was what everyone called him, resulting in everyone forgetting what his actual name really was.

Li Wenxiu also wanted to join the vanguards, and Su Pu was the first to welcome her. After what happened last night, Li Wenxiu had become a hero, respected by all. Che Erku did not object to her taking part. Su Lu’ke was a little unwilling, but could not bring himself to voice his opposition.

Old man Ji seemed to have been thoroughly terrified by the events of the previous night. When he was drinking sheep’s milk in the morning, he accidentally dropped the milk bowl and broke it. Li Wenxiu poured a bowl of tea for him. When his trembling hands received the bowl, he splashed the tea onto his clothes. When Li Wenxiu asked after him, the light in his eyes revealed both fear and anger. Abruptly, he returned to his room, and shut the door with a loud bang.

The ground was covered with a deep layer of snow, and it was hard to ride. The seven-man vanguard went on foot, following footprints in the snow all the way. Chen Dahai’s footprints went in a straight line towards the west, as if towards the Gobi Desert. Although both his arms were injured, his legs were still very agile. The six Kazaks suddenly recalled the legendary demons which supposedly inhabited the Gobi Desert, and could not help but have some misgivings.

Su Lu’ke said loudly, “Even if we know that we are going to meet demons today, we must still go and capture the bandits. Su Pu, are you going to seek revenge for your mother and brother or not?” Su Pu replied, “Of course I will go with Father. A’man, you’d better return go home!” A’man said, “If you can go, I can go too.” But her heart said, “If you die, do you expect me to live on alone?” Su Lu’ke said, “A’man, you’d better accompany your father home. Che Erku is extremely timid, and is most afraid of demons!” Che Erku gave him a hard stare, and rushed to the front.

The thing which people feared the most in the Gobi Desert was the lack of water for miles. Once the supplies of fresh water which they brought along were exhausted, they would undoubtedly die of thirst. But after the snowstorm, one could pick up snow at a bend of the body. This alleviated their main worry. Although they were unable to ride, they did not need to bear the hardship of having yellow sand being blown into their faces. They travelled towards the west, and could see that Chen Dahai’s footprints were becoming more evident. Later, his footprints were uncovered by snow, and were obviously left after the snowstorm had died down.

Che Erku muttered, “This evil bandit is quite capable, he survived despite being trapped in a huge snowstorm.” Su Lu’ke suddenly cried out, “Eh, there are another person’s footprints!” Pointing to the footprints, he said, “This person made each step in that bandit’s footprints, if one wasn’t observant enough he wouldn’t have spotted it.” Everyone looked carefully, and saw that every footprint consisted of two layers, one deeper and the other shallower.

Everyone started speculating, unable to comprehend the significance of this observation. Luo Tuo suddenly said, “Don’t tell me it’s a demon?” This was what everyone wanted to say but didn’t. As soon as the words had left his mouth, everyone could not help but shiver.

The party steeled their nerves and continued travelling west. The deep snow hindered them and made their progress slow. That night, they camped in the snow. They swept aside the snow and dug pits in the ground. Wrapped in wool carpets, they lay in the pits, and did not know coldness at all.

Li Wenxiu’s pit was dug by Luo Tuo, who was extremely strong. He respected this heroic Han deeply, and dug a pit for her between his own and Su Pu’s. The seven pits formed a circle, and there was a bonfire in the middle.

The sky overhead was azure; the shiny stars were twinkling. A gust of wind blew, picking up snow on the ground, which danced in the wind. Li Wenxiu watched two pieces of snow soaring and falling, and said to herself, “Looks just like a pair of jade butterflies.” Su Pu immediately responded, “Yes, doesn’t it? A long time ago, there was a little Han girl who told me a story about butterflies. She said that there was a young Han man and a young Han maiden. They were very close, but that maiden’s father refused to let the young man marry his daughter. That young man was brokenhearted, fell ill and died. One day, that maiden passed her lover’s grave and lay on it, weeping uncontrollably.” At this point, both he and Li Wenxiu recalled scenes from eight to nine years ago: a boy and a girl were sitting shoulder to shoulder on a hill, watching over a flock of sheep. The boy was listening intently to the girl’s story. When she came to the part about the maiden lying on her lover’s grave and weeping, the girl’s eyes were filled with tears, and the boy felt saddened as well.

Li Wenxiu knew that that boy was Su Pu, now right in front of her eyes, but Su Pu thought that that girl was already dead.

Su Pu continued, “That maiden lay on the grave, weeping uncontrollably. Suddenly, a huge crack appeared on the grave, and the beautiful maiden leapt inside. Later, this pair of lovers became a pair of butterflies, and they would always flitter together, never to be separated again.” A’man interrupted, “This is a good story. Was the one who told you this story the little girl who gave you the map handkerchief? Has she passed away?” Sadly Su Pu replied, “Yes, she was the one. That old Han man said that she had passed away.” Li Wenxiu asked, “Do you still remember her?” Su Pu answered, “Naturally I still do. How could I forget?” Li Wenxiu queried, “Why didn’t you go and visit her grave?” He replied, “Right! After we’ve killed those bandits, I want that old Han man who sells wine to bring me there.” She asked, “If a huge crack also appeared on her grave, would you leap inside?” Su Pu laughed, “That is just a story and would never happen in real life.” She continued, “If that little girl longed for you, and wished day and night for you to go and keep her company, and thus a huge crack also appeared on her grave. Would you leap inside and keep her company forever?” Su Pu sighed, “No. That little girl was merely a childhood friend of mine. The one who I will accompany forever is A’man.” As he spoke, he stretched his hand out and grasped A’man’s.

Li Wenxiu did not question further. She had not wanted to ask these few questions, for she already knew the answers, but she still could not help but ask. Now that she had heard the answers, she gained nothing but her sadness deepened.

Suddenly, a Tianling bird began to sing softly in the distance. It sang so melodiously yet so sorrowfully.

Su Pu said, “In the past, I used to catch Tianling birds for fun, and would kill them after playing with them. But that little girl loved Tianling birds a lot. She gave me a jade bangle and asked me to release one that I caught. Since then I never caught another one, and I just listen to them singing in the middle of night now. Listen, isn’t it singing beautifully?” Li Wenxiu responded with a ‘hmmm’ and said, “Where’s that jade bangle, do you still carry it with you?” Su Pu answered, “That was a long long time ago. It was smashed and is no more.” Li Wenxiu repeated faintly, “Yes, that was a long long time ago. It was smashed and is no more.” The Tianling bird continued to sing. Tianling birds did not normally sing on freezing winter nights, so one wondered what sad stories it had that it could not help but sing its heart out? And yet Su Lu’ke, Che Erku, Luo Tuo and the others’ snores resonated more loudly than the Tianling bird’s song.

As soon as the next day dawned, the seven of them awoke and ate dry provisions. Then they continued to follow the footprints. The sun shone weakly, and they felt only a slight warmth. But with the presence of sunlight, nobody was afraid of the ghosts.

They followed the footprints all the way into the afternoon. The set of footprints turned into two sets. Ostensibly, the second person had no longer wished to step into the first person’s footprints while walking. Su Lu’ke and the others cheered loudly. For it was obviously a human, not a ghost. Yet who was it? The seven of them were travelling in a direction different from the route Li Wenxiu took to her master’s home. Suddenly she realized, “The bandit is probably not going to rendezvous with his gang, but has followed the map sewn on the handkerchief and gone to search for the Gao Chang Labyrinth alone. She mentioned her conjectures aloud. The others were taken aback momentarily before chorusing in agreement.

But Li Wenxiu thought, “No matter how many rare and priceless treasures there are in the Gao Chang Labyrinth, they will never be able to make my days merrier.”