White Horse Neighing in the West Wind – Chapter 15

Supu blocked the doorway with his dao and growled, “You’re not going to touch her grave.”

Chen Dahai raised the iron spade and swung it at his head, barking, “Get out of the way!”

Supu sidestepped left and thrust the dao in his hand forward. Chen Dahai flung aside the spade, drew the long jian from his waist, and met the dao with a ringing clash of steel. Both men leapt back a pace, then surged forward together and locked blades.

The hall was not large. As dao and jian flashed, Old Man Ji and Aman retreated to the walls, leaving Li Wenxiu alone by the window. Aman dashed forward and yanked out the short jian Chen Dahai had driven into the table, wanting to help Supu, but the two fighters were already too tangled for her to intervene.

Supu had by now fully mastered his father Su Luke’s personal instruction. His bladework was varied and fierce, and at first Chen Dahai was pushed onto the back foot. He was privately astonished: To think this Kazakh lad’s martial skill is no weaker than the best from the Central Plains. Just then, a faint whistle of wind came from behind, and a short jian hurtled toward him. Aman had launched a surprise attack. Chen Dahai dodged right, and with a tearing sound, Supu’s short dao opened a gash along his left arm. Enraged, Chen Dahai unleashed three rapid thrusts, deploying his renowned technique, the Green Python Jian Style. Before Supu’s eyes the jian-point flickered like a serpent’s tongue, darting this way and that until he could no longer tell where the next strike would land. One block came too late. The enemy’s long jian reached his face. He twisted desperately aside, but the point had already grazed his neck, and blood streamed down. Chen Dahai pressed his advantage without mercy. Another thrust pierced Supu’s wrist. The short dao clattered to the floor.

The third thrust followed at once. Supu had no defence left. Death seemed certain. Li Wenxiu stepped forward, ready to unleash the Great Seizing Hand on Chen Dahai’s arm the instant he committed, but Aman leapt in first, blocking the way in front of Supu.

“Don’t hurt him!”

Chen Dahai saw that Aman’s face was lovely as a flower, yet now contorted with fear and desperation. His heart stirred. The thrust did not fall. Instead he rested the point against her chest and smiled.

“You care so much about him. Is this boy your sweetheart?”

A flush rose in Aman’s cheeks. She nodded.

“Good. I’ll spare his life, on one condition. Tomorrow, when the storm clears, you come with me!”

Supu roared with fury and lunged out from behind Aman. Chen Dahai’s jian quivered, finding his throat, and his left foot swept Supu’s leg and sent him sprawling. The point stayed pinned at his throat. Li Wenxiu watched from the side with precision. The moment Chen Dahai truly meant to kill Supu, she would intervene.

She had read Chen Dahai’s jianwork clearly. With her present skill, dealing with this man would be effortless. She knew she could kill this wicked bandit in a single exchange, avenging her parents and saving her beloved in the same stroke. Yet she held herself back, wanting to see what Aman would do when Supu was in danger, and what Supu would do when Chen Dahai tried to drag Aman away.

But Aman had no idea that powerful help stood right beside her. In her desperation she could only say, “Don’t stab. I agree.”

Chen Dahai was delighted, though he did not move the point. “You promise to come with me tomorrow, and no going back on it.”

Aman gritted her teeth. “I won’t go back on it. Take the jian away.”

Chen Dahai laughed. “Even if you change your mind, there’s no escape!” He sheathed his long jian, retrieved the silver-hilted short jian and tucked it back into his belt, then picked up Supu’s short dao and held it in his hand. Now he was the only person in the room carrying a weapon, and he feared the others’ resistance still less. He pulled back the felt covering the window and glanced at the storm outside.

“We can’t go out in this. We’ll have to wait for the weather to clear before digging the grave.”

Aman helped Supu to the side. Seeing blood gushing from the wound at his neck, she panicked and was about to tear off the front of her own robe to bandage it. Supu pulled a large handkerchief from his shirt.

“Use this to wrap it!”

Aman took the handkerchief and bound the wound. Thinking that she had fallen into this bandit’s hands with no knowing if she would ever escape, tears slid down her cheeks. Supu cursed under his breath, “Dog of a bandit, thieving bandit!” He had already made up his mind: if this bandit truly tried to take Aman away, he would fight to the death, even knowing it would cost him his own life.

After the fight, the five of them sat around the fire, every nerve taut. Chen Dahai held his dao in one hand and a wine bowl in the other, glancing now at Aman, now at Supu. Outside, the north wind howled, hurling clumps of snow against the walls and roof. No one spoke.

Li Wenxiu was thinking: Let the vile bandit swagger a while longer. There’s no hurry to kill him.

Suddenly a knot of wood in the fire exploded with a sharp crack. The flames dimmed for an instant, then blazed bright again, illuminating every face in the room. Li Wenxiu saw the handkerchief wrapped around Supu’s neck and started. She stared at it without blinking. Old Man Ji noticed her odd expression and looked at the handkerchief too.

“Supu, where did you get that handkerchief?”

Supu was startled. He touched his neck. “This handkerchief? It was given to me by Axiu, the one who died. When we were small, we herded sheep together. A big grey wolf came at us. I killed the wolf, but it wounded me too. Axiu used this handkerchief to wrap my wound…” His voice dropped. “My father forbade me to see her, but I kept her handkerchief with me all this time…”

As Li Wenxiu listened, everything she saw grew blurry. Her eyes had filled with tears.

Chen Dahai overheard. He pulled a blue cloth from his shirt and handed it to Supu. “Use this to wrap the wound. Untie the handkerchief and let me have a look.”

Supu said, “Why?”

Chen Dahai snapped, “When I tell you to untie it, you untie it.”

Supu glared at him and did not move. Fearing Chen Dahai would use force, Aman untied the handkerchief herself and handed it to him, then re-bound Supu’s wound with the blue cloth.

Chen Dahai spread the bloodstained handkerchief on the table, trimmed the lamp wick bright, and bent close to study it. He stared for a moment, then suddenly cried out in triumph, “That’s it, that’s it, this is the map to the Gaochang Labyrinth!” He snatched up the handkerchief and laughed aloud, beside himself with joy.

Old Man Ji’s right arm twitched, as if to snatch the handkerchief back, but he barely restrained himself.

***

Just then, voices came from far away.

“Supu! Supu…”

And another voice, louder, “Aman! Aman…”

Supu and Aman leapt up together and cried out in unison, “Our fathers are looking for us.”

Supu ran to the door and was about to open it when a chill touched the back of his neck, and a long jian rested against it.

Chen Dahai said coldly, “Sit down. Don’t move.”

Supu had no choice. He sat down, dejected.

A moment later, two sets of footsteps reached the door. Su Luke’s voice came through, “Is this the Han thief’s house? I’m not going in.”

Che’erku replied, “Not going in? Where else are we going to shelter from this storm? My ears are about to freeze off.”

Su Luke clutched a wine gourd. He had been drinking all the way to ward off the cold, and was now eight or nine parts drunk. He slurred, “I’d rather freeze my head off than set foot in a Han person’s house.”

Che’erku said, “You can stay outside and freeze to death. I’m going in.”

“I haven’t even found my son, and you haven’t found your daughter,” Su Luke retorted. “How can you go hiding in a Han thief’s house? You… you don’t have an ounce of a hero’s spirit left in you.”

“We haven’t seen the two young ones anywhere on the road, so they must be hiding somewhere. Don’t worry. You’ll have the two old ones dying before you even find the two young ones.”

Supu saw that Chen Dahai was crouched behind the door, jian raised, ready to cut down whoever entered first. The situation was dire.

“Father, don’t come in!”

Chen Dahai glared at him. “Make another sound and I kill you on the spot.”

Supu saw his father in mortal danger. He seized a bench and lunged at Chen Dahai. Chen Dahai sidestepped, the jian flashed, and Supu’s thigh opened in a deep cut. Supu howled and crashed to the ground. He was very nimble, and fearing another blow would come down, he rolled clear, tumbling several feet away.

Chen Dahai did not pursue. He held his jian behind the door, thinking: The Kazakh brat can be finished any time. Let him live a few moments longer. The two outsiders are the priority. Li Wenxiu watched silently and stepped forward one pace. If Chen Dahai truly ambushed the newcomers, she would kill him first.

Outside the door, Su Luke’s tongue-tied voice bellowed, “You want to go into that damned Han person’s house? I’ll beat you!” With that, he threw a punch at Che’erku’s chest. Che’erku, knowing he was drunk, might normally have absorbed the blow without complaint, but the alcohol in his own belly surged upward. He stuck out a foot and tripped Su Luke, who was already unsteady on his feet and went straight down, grabbing Che’erku’s calf on the way. The two rolled and wrestled in the snow.

Abruptly, Su Luke snatched a fistful of snow from the ground and stuffed it into Che’erku’s mouth. Che’erku clawed and dug frantically to get it out, while Su Luke roared with delighted laughter. Che’erku spat the snow free and landed a solid punch that sent blood streaming down Su Luke’s nose. Su Luke didn’t seem to feel it. He kept laughing, gripping Che’erku’s hair and refusing to let go. Both were warriors famed for a thousand li among the Kazakh people, yet here they were, drunk, brawling like children.