White Horse Neighing in the West Wind #21

Li Wenxiu was stunned for quite a while, before giving a shocked gasp. She pushed old man Ji’s body away and leapt backwards. She had suffered injuries from punches and kicks, so when she landed on her unstable feet, they gave way and she sat down, muttering, “You…… you……” Old man Ji said, “I…… I’m not your Grandfather Ji, I…… I……” Suddenly, he spat out a huge mouthful of blood and said, “That’s right, I am Ma Jiajun, and I was disguised as a old man all this time. A’xiu, you won’t blame me?” This term “A’xiu”, was said with full of kindness and concern, as it had been for the past decade.

Li Wenxiu assured, “I don’t blame you, of course I don’t blame you. You’ve always treated me very very well.” She glanced at Ma Jiajun, then at Waerlaqi, who was leaning on the wall; her heart full of confusion.

By this time, A’man had already helped her father up, and massaged the injury on his chest. Su Lu’ke and Su Pu picked up their sabers, and limped towards Waerlaqi.

Waerlaqi said, “A’xiu, when I asked you to leave quickly just now, why didn’t you do so?” He spoke in Mandarin, and sounded exactly like her master Hua Hui. Instinctively, Li Wenxiu let slip, “Master!” Waerlaqi replied, “So you’ve finally acknowledged me.” He pulled off the white covering off his head slowly. It was indeed Hua Hui.

Li Wenxiu was both shocked and upset. She rushed forward and knelt by his feet, crying, “Master, Master, I really did not know that it was you. At first I…… I guessed that it was you, but they said you were a Kazak called Waerlaqi, and you admitted it yourself.” Bitterly, Waerlaqi stated, “I am a Kazak; I am Waerlaqi!” Amazed, Li Wenxiu asked, “You’re…… you’re not a Han?” Waerlaqi replied, “I am a Kazak, my tribe exiled me and forbade me from ever returning. I went to the Central Plains where the Hans live, learnt the martial arts of the Hans, heh heh, and acknowledged Hans as my disciples. Ma Jiajun, how are you, how are you!” Ma Jiajun said, “Master, although I owe you a debt of gratitude, but……” Li Wenxiu was once again taken aback, “Grandfather Ji, you…… he…… he is also your master?” Ma Jiajun said, “Don’t call me Grandfather Ji. I am Ma Jiajun. He is my master, and taught me all I knew. We came to the Muslim Region together. One night he brought me to the Kazak area, and used poisoned needles to murder A’man’s mother……” He spoke in Mandarin. The more Li Wenxiu listened, the more amazed she felt. Using Kazak, she questioned A’man, “Your mother was murdered by his poisoned needles?” Before A’man could reply, Che Erku jumped up and cried, “Yes, yes. A’man’s mother, my dearest Yalixian; one night her whole body turned black, she contracted an illness and died. So it was you, Waerlaqi, you bad man, it was you who killed her!” He wanted to leap over and beat Waerlaqi up, but he was severely injured. A slight movement pained his chest immensely, so he sank to his feet once again.

Waerlaqi said, “You are right. Yalixian was indeed killed by me. Who asked her to be blind enough to marry such a great bastard like you, and refuse to run away with me?” Che Erku yelled, “You evil man, you evil man!” Using Kazak, Ma Jiajun said, “He had originally wanted to kill Che Erku, but on this night, Che Erku was nowhere to be found. My master wanted to go and look for Che Erku himself and wanted me to poison the well, to kill everyone in the tribe. But we were staying the night in a Kazak house, and the owners treated us very well and ensured we wanted for nothing. I thought for a long time but could not bear to do the deed. When my master returned, he said that he had been unable to find Che Erku. He questioned me, and upon finding out that I had not poisoned the well, flew into a huge fury. He said that I would surely reveal his secrets, and wanted to silence me. He was so menacing that I struck first, and shot three poisoned needles at his back when he did not notice.” In a hateful voice, Waerlaqi said, “You ungrateful brat, you’ve finally fallen into my hands today.”

To Li Wenxiu Ma Jiajun said, “A’xiu, that night when you fought with that bandit Chen Dahai, once you displayed your martial arts, I immediately knew that you had learnt them from my master, and that the three poisoned needles had not managed to kill him.” Waerlaqi sniffed, “Hmph, what you know is just child’s play, how can you kill me?” Ma Jiajun ignored him and said to Li Wenxiu, “For the past ten over years, I have been hiding in the Muslim Region where the Kazaks live, disguised as an old man, because I was afraid that my master had not died. This is the only place which he did not dare to return to. Once I realized that he was nearby, my first thought was to escape to the Central Plains.” Li Wenxiu noticed that his breathing was becoming weaker and weaker, and realized that after he had been kicked repeatedly by Waerlaqi, his internal organs had all ruptured, and was unlikely to survive. She turned to look at Waerlaqi. The dagger had been buried in his abdomen to the hilt, and he was unlikely to survive either. She had lived in the Muslim Region for a decade, and these were the only two people who had really taken care of and were concerned about her. But who knew that the two of them were entwined with vengeance, and finally ended up fighting and severely injuring each other. Eyes filling with tears, she asked Ma Jiajun, “Grand…… Uncle Ma, since you…… you knew that he had not died, and was in the vicinity, why did you not leave for the Central Plains immediately?” A bitter smile appeared at the corner of his lips. Softly he said, “The willows in Jiangnan have begun to sprout, A’xiu, you’ll have to go back by yourself; in future…… in future you must be careful, Grandfather Ji, Grandfather Ji won’t be able to take care of you anymore……” His voice got lower as he spoke, and there was finally no more sound.

Li Wenxiu leapt onto his body, crying, “Grandfather Ji, Grandfather Ji, don’t die!” Ma Jiajun had died before answering her question, but she had realized the answer perfectly. Although Ma Jiajun was extremely, extremely afraid of his master, he did not escape to the Central Plains immediately, but he followed her to the labyrinth instead; as long as he continued to be disguised as an old man, Waerlaqi would have never recognized him, but he finally struck out and fought with the person he had feared the most. It was all for her! He had loved and protected her like a grandfather throughout these ten years although he was really a man in his prime. Was there another grandfather out there who treated his biological granddaughter as well? Perhaps there was, perhaps not; she did not know.

The two torches lay on the ground; one had extinguished quite some time ago, and the other was rapidly burning out.

Su Lu’ke suddenly said, “This is really weird; just now when the two Hans were fighting a Kazak, I sent over a punch without even thinking, and it landed on that Kazak’s face.” Li Wenxiu asked, “Why was that? Why did you suddenly help Hans fight Kazaks?” Su Lu’ke scratched his head and answered, “I don’t know.” After a while, he added, “You are a good person, he is a bad person!” He finally admitted: amongst the Hans, there are some bad people who become bandits, but there are good people like Hero Li (the man, who disguised as an old man, had refused to poison the well, so he’s a good person, right?); among the Kazaks were good people like himself, and bad people like Waerlaqi.

Li Wenxiu thought, “If you had known this years ago, you wouldn’t have whipped Su Pu that badly, and everything would have been different. But would everything really have been different? Even if Su Pu was good friends with me when he was young, when he grows up and met A’man, he would have still fallen in love with her. The hearts of people are too puzzling; I don’t understand.” Su Lu’ke declared loudly, “Waerlaqi, I think you won’t live; we won’t have to kill you anymore, goodbye then!” Waerlaqi’s eyes suddenly gleamed with an evil light, and he raised his right arm. Li Wenxiu knew that he was about to fire poisoned needles, and cried out, “Master, don’t –” At this point, a spark exploded, and the last torch extinguished. The hall immediately plunged into darkness. Even if Waerlaqi wanted to harm people by firing the needles, he was unable to aim at his targets. Li Wenxiu called out, “All of you get out quickly and nobody make a sound.” Su Lu’ke, Su Pu, Che Erku and A’man supported each other and retreated quietly. Everyone knew that Waerlaqi’s poisoned needles were a force to be reckoned, so although he was on the brink of death, he remained able to fire needles to harm others. The four of them retreated from the hall, and saw that Li Wenxiu did not come out. Su Pu shouted, “Hero Li, Hero Li, come out quickly.” Li Wenxiu responded with a sound.

Waerlaqi said, “A’xiu, are you…… you leaving too?” His voice was extremely miserable. Li Wenxiu felt immense pity, and although he had done many bad things, he had treated her very well. To let him wait for death in this darkness alone was really too cruel. So she sat down and said, “Master, I’ll accompany you here.” Su Pu called a few more times from outside. Li Wenxiu loudly answered, “All of you leave first; I’ll be out in a while.” Su Pu shouted, “This person is very evil, Hero Li, you must be careful now.” Li Wenxiu did not make further replies.

A’man asked, “Why do you keep calling her Hero Li instead of Miss Li?” Amazed, Su Pu replied, “Miss Li, is she a woman?” A’man said, “Are you pretending to be ignorant or you really couldn’t tell?” Su Pu said, “Why should I pretend to be ignorant? His…… his martial arts are so good, how could he be a woman?” A’man answered, “That stormy night in old man Ji’s house, she won me as her slave, and later let me go. Then I knew she was a woman.” Su Pu clapped his hands, “Ah, that’s right. If she were a man, how could she bear to let such a beautiful slave like you go?” A’man flushed slightly, “Not like that. When I saw the look in her eyes as she looked at you, then I knew she was a girl. Which man in the world would look at you so intently!”

Su Pu scratched his head, and smiled blithely, “I did not realize one bit.” A’man laughed joyously, and when she laughed she really resembled a flower. She knew that Su Pu’s eyes rested on her all the time, and even if there were a thousand girls looking intently at him, he would also not realize it.

It was completely dark in the hall, and Li Wenxiu and Waerlaqi could not see each other. Li Wenxiu sat next to her master, and in the midst of unbounded loneliness, she heard Su Pu and A’man’s laughter and the footsteps of the four people fading into the distance. Only Li Wenxiu was left in the hall, accompanying Waerlaqi, who was on the brink of death, and ‘Grandfather Ji’s’ body.

Waerlaqi asked, “When I asked you to leave just now, why didn’t you listen to me? If you had left…… Ai.” Li Wenxiu answered softly, “Master, you couldn’t have the one you loved and so you killed her. I couldn’t have the one I loved, but I could not bear to see him killed by someone else.” Waerlaqi laughed coldly, “No wonder.” After a moment’s silence, he sighed, “You Hans are really weird. There are ungrateful, master-harming bastards like Ma Jiajun, bandits who kill without blinking like Huo Yuanlong and Chen Dahai, and kind-hearted girls like you.”