White Horse Neighing in the West Wind – Chapter 21

Li Wenxiu had examined the dead horse carefully yesterday, and now as she looked at the young man’s corpse, she had even fewer doubts. She muttered to herself, “It’s not an evil ghost.” Suddenly someone behind her said in a trembling voice, “It’s an evil ghost, an evil ghost! Axiu, he’s even more frightening than an evil ghost. Let’s go quickly.” It was Old Man Ji, who had come up behind her without her noticing.

Li Wenxiu sighed and said, “All right, let’s go.”

Suddenly they heard Supu shouting at the top of his voice, “Aman, Aman, where are you?”

Che’erku cried in alarm, “Isn’t Aman with you?” He too began shouting at the top of his lungs, “Aman, Aman! We’re going back now.” He ran back and forth searching for his daughter.

Supu kept shouting “Aman!” as he rushed up the small hill and looked around in all directions. Suddenly he spotted a flowered headscarf on the road to the west that looked like Aman’s. He hurried over and picked it up. It was indeed Aman’s headscarf. He was greatly alarmed and shouted hoarsely, “Aman’s been taken by the evil ghost!”

By now the rest of the tribesmen had long since gone far away. Even the bodies of Camel, Sangser and the other young man had been carried away. Only Su Luke, Che’erku, Supu, Li Wenxiu, and Old Man Ji remained. When Su Luke and the others heard Supu’s cry of alarm, they hurried over to ask what had happened.

Supu held the flowered headscarf and said in a frantic rush, “This is Aman’s. She… she… she’s been taken by the evil ghost.”

Li Wenxiu asked, “When was she taken?”

Supu said, “I don’t know. It must have been sometime in the middle of the night. She… she was sleeping with the other girls, and this morning I couldn’t find her.” He stood there dazed for a moment, then suddenly broke into a mad dash towards the labyrinth, crying, “I’m going to die with Aman!”

Since Aman had been taken by the evil ghost, he naturally had no way to bring her back. But if Aman was dead, he didn’t want to live either.

Su Luke shouted, “Supu, Supu, you fool, come back! Aren’t you afraid of dying?” But seeing his son running further and further away, his love for his son finally overcame his fear of the evil ghost, and he gave chase.

Che’erku was stunned for a moment, then called out, “Aman, Aman!” and followed after them.

Old Man Ji shook his head and said, “Axiu, let’s go back.”

Li Wenxiu said, “No, Grandpa Ji, I have to go save them.”

Old Man Ji said, “You can’t fight an evil ghost.”

Li Wenxiu said, “It’s not an evil ghost. It’s a person.”

Old Man Ji reached out with his left hand and tightly grasped Li Wenxiu’s arm, saying in a trembling voice, “Axiu, even if it’s a person, he’s still more frightening than an evil ghost. Listen to me, let’s go back. Let’s go far away. We’re Han, and we shouldn’t live in Huijiang any longer. Come back to the Central Plains with me.”

Li Wenxiu could see Supu and the other two running further and further away. Anxious, she struggled with all her might, but unexpected as it was, Old Man Ji, though advanced in years, had extraordinarily great strength in his hands. She struggled repeatedly but couldn’t break free. She cried out, “Let go of me quickly! Supu… Supu will be killed by him!”

Old Man Ji saw her face flushed, her expression urgent, and couldn’t help but sigh. He released her arm and said softly, “For the sake of this Kazakh youth, you have no thought at all for yourself!”

Li Wenxiu’s arm was freed, and she immediately turned and ran, not having heard Old Man Ji’s words. She ran all the way to the front of the labyrinth and saw Supu brandishing a long dao, shouting and yelling, “You damned evil ghost, you killed Aman. Kill me too! If Aman is dead, I don’t want to live either! I’m Supu. Come out and duel me! Are you afraid of me?” He reached for the door ring, but in his confusion, he turned it this way and that without being able to open the door.

Su Luke called from the side, “Supu, you fool, don’t go in!” But how would Supu listen?

Li Wenxiu, seeing him so lovesick, felt another pang of sadness in her heart and cried out loudly, “Aman isn’t dead!”

Supu, suddenly hearing these words, instantly regained his senses. He turned and asked, “Aman isn’t dead? How… how do you know?”

Li Wenxiu said, “The one in the labyrinth isn’t an evil ghost. It’s a person!”

Supu, Su Luke, and Che’erku all said in unison, “It’s clearly an evil ghost. How can it be a person?”

Li Wenxiu said, “It’s a person in disguise. He uses an extremely fine, highly poisonous hidden weapon to kill horses and people. The wounds aren’t easy to see. He’s wearing stilts under his feet, with a long robe covering them, so when he walks on snow there are no footprints, and his figure is so tall, and he walks so fast.”

There were two other things she didn’t say: “I know who this person is, because I recognise the technique he uses for his hidden weapons. On the dead horse and the young man’s corpse, I’ve already found the wounds from the hidden weapons.”

These explanations were reasonable, yet Su Luke and the others found it hard to believe. By now Old Man Ji had also arrived. He said slowly, “I know it’s a powerful evil ghost. Don’t go into the labyrinth, or you’ll only lose your lives. I’m an old man, and what I say must be correct.”

Supu said, “Whether it’s an evil ghost or a person, I still have to go… go save Aman.” He hoped that the evil ghost truly was a person in disguise, as Li Wenxiu had said, for then there would be hope to rescue Aman. He reached for the door ring again, and this time he managed to turn it.

Li Wenxiu said, “I’ll go with you.”

Supu turned his head, filled with inexpressible gratitude, and said, “Hero Li, don’t go in. It’s very dangerous.”

Li Wenxiu said, “It’s all right. I’ll be with you, so there won’t be any danger.”

Supu, tears welling in his eyes, said tremulously, “Thank you, thank you.”

Li Wenxiu thought to herself, “You’re so grateful to me, and it’s all because of Aman.” She turned to Old Man Ji and said, “Grandpa Ji, you wait here for me.”

Old Man Ji said, “No! I’ll go in with you. That… that person is very fierce.”

Li Wenxiu said, “You’re so old, and you don’t know martial arts. Just wait for me outside. I won’t be in any danger.”

Old Man Ji said, “You don’t understand. It’s very, very dangerous. I need to take care of you.”

Li Wenxiu couldn’t argue with him. She thought to herself, “How can you take care of me? It’s more like I need to take care of you.”

The five of them lit torches and followed the old route back into the labyrinth.

Following the marks they had made two days ago, they walked for a long time through twists and turns. Along the way, Supu kept shouting, “Aman, Aman, where are you?” But they never heard a reply.

Li Wenxiu thought, “It would be better to scare him away.” She said, “Let’s all shout together that a large rescue party is coming. Maybe we can frighten that villain away.”

Su Luke, Che’erku, and Supu followed her plan and shouted together, “Aman, Aman, don’t be afraid! A large rescue party is coming to save you!” The empty halls and palaces of the labyrinth echoed and re-echoed their voices.

They walked for a while longer when suddenly they heard a woman’s sharp scream that sounded like Aman. Supu ran towards the sound, pushed open a door, and saw Aman huddled in the corner of the room, her hands tied behind her back. The two were overjoyed and cried out together.

Supu rushed forward and loosened her bonds, asking, “Where’s the evil ghost?”

Aman said, “He’s not a ghost. He’s a person. Just now he was still here, but when he heard your voices, he tried to carry me away. I struggled desperately, and when he heard that there were many of you, he hurried off in a panic.”

Supu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “What… what was he like? How did he capture you?”

Aman said, “Along the way he blindfolded me. In the labyrinth it was so dark, I never got to see his face.” Supu turned to look at Li Wenxiu, his eyes full of gratitude.

Aman turned to Che’erku and said, “Father, this person said his name was Wa’erlaqi. Do you…” Before she could finish, Che’erku and Su Luke both cried out together, “Wa’erlaqi!”

Their cry made their meaning very clear. They not only knew Wa’erlaqi, but were very familiar with him.

Che’erku said, “This person is Wa’erlaqi? That’s absolutely impossible. He said his own name was Wa’erlaqi? You didn’t hear wrong?”

Aman said, “He said he knew my mother.”