Chapter 10

The Tang Poem Anthology

Jingzhou was not very far from Xiangxi. After several days of travel, Di Yun arrived at Jingzhou. He had travelled this path once before with his teacher and martial sister. The river creek was the same. The path was also the same. That year when he traversed this path, the journey was filled with Qi Fang’s cheerful laughter. This time, when he went from Maxi to Jingzhou, there was not a single sound of laughter. Of course, people did laugh, only that Di Yun didn’t hear it.

When Di Yun reached the outskirts of the city, he inquired and found out that Ling Tuisi was still the prefectural magistrate. Di Yun smeared dirt across his face to conceal his ident.i.ty when he went in the city.

“I need to see for myself how much Wan Gui is suffering. I wonder if he has recovered? It could be that he is still in Hunan treating his injuries and hasn’t returned.”

Di Yun made his way to the Wan residence. From afar, he saw Shen Cheng rush out the front door looking extremely urgent. He thought: “If Shen Cheng is here, Wan Gui is probably here as well. When night comes, I will go in and take a look.” Thereafter, he made his way to the abandoned garden.

The abandoned garden was not far away from the Wan residence. The day Ding Dian died and Zhou Qi, Geng Tianba, and Ma Daming were killed, all happened in this abandoned garden. Being in this garden made him reminiscence these events. The gra.s.s was grown tall as before, and there was rubble and debris everywhere. He made his way beside a plum tree and felt the various depressions and b.u.mps of the tree. “That day, Ding Dian pa.s.sed away beside this very tree. This plum tree still looks the same, nothing has changed, but Ding Dian has become a pile of ashes…”

Thereafter, he sat below the plum tree and slept until the second watch. Then he produced some food from his bosom and ate it. When the time came, he left the abandoned garden and made his way to the Wan residence. He leapt over the wall to get in. When he reached the garden, he could not help but feel a sense of bitterness in his heart. “That day when I suffered injuries I hid in this firewood room. Not only did my martial sister not save me, she was even heartless enough to tell her husband to come kill me.” As he was about to continue walking, he suddenly saw three sources of fire light up next to the river.

Di Yun hid behind a tree and looked toward the direction of the light. He saw that the three sources of light were actually three incense sticks lit by an incense burner. The incense burner was placed on a small table. In front of the table, two people were kowtowing to Heaven. When they got up, Di Yun saw clearly who they were. One of them was Qi Fang, the other was her daughter, Water Spinach.

He heard Qi Fang pray softly, “For the first incense stick, I pray that Heaven will bless and protect my husband from suffering, and to purge the toxic from his body so he no longer suffers from the pain of scorpion poison. Water Spinach, speak up, tell Heaven that you wish your papa will recover.”

The little girl said: “Okay mama. I ask that Bodhisattva blesses my father and alleviates his suffering so he no longer cries.”

Although Di Yun was not very close, he heard all the words very clearly. Upon hearing that Wan Gui was suffering so much, he naturally rejoiced at his misfortune, but he also resented how affectionate Qi Fang was to her husband.

He heard Qi Fang say, “For the second incense stick, I pray that Heaven will bless and protect my father. I hope that my father will be free of disasters and calamities. I hope that my father will return soon. Water Spinach, tell Bodhisattva you wish your grandpa will live a prosperous life.”

The little girl said: “Right. Grandpa, please return soon. Why haven’t you returned?”

Qi Fang said: “Ask Bodhisattva to bless and protect your grandfather.”

The little girl said: “I ask that Bodhisattva bless and protect my grandpa. Please bless and protect my papa and grandpa.” She had never seen Qi Zhangfa before. When Qi Fang asked for her prayers, she naturally only considered her father and her paternal grandfather.”

Qi Fang paused for a moment before she said: “For the third incense stick, I pray that Heaven will bless and protect him. I hope that everything goes well for him, and that he will soon find someone he truly loves and start a happy family…” As she said up to this point, her voice was filled with sobs. She raised her sleeves to wipe her tears.

The little girl said: “Mama, you are thinking of uncle again.”

Qi Fang said: “Tell Heaven you wish Water Spinach uncle will be safe and sound…”

When Di Yun heard the prayers of her third incense stick, he was perplexed. “Who is she praying for?” But when he heard her say “Water Spinach uncle”, a buzz went through his ears as he thought: “She’s talking about me? She’s really talking about me?”

The little girl said: “Mama really misses Water Spinach uncle. I pray that Bodhisattva will bless uncle with a great fortune so he will buy a big doll for me. He is Water Spinach, I am also Water Spinach. Mama, where is Water Spinach uncle? Why has he not returned?”

Qi Fang said: “Uncle Water Spinach is in a very faraway place. Your uncle abandoned your mama, your mama misses him dearly…” As she said up to this point, she carried her daughter back into the house.

Di Yun made his way in front of the incense burner. Watching the three incense sticks glisten in the dark, he became lost in thought.

He stood motionless in front of the three sticks. The sticks had burnt out into ashes, yet he still did not move.

The next morning, Di Yun left the garden and began wandering aimlessly around Jingzhou. All of a sudden, he heard some banging sounds and saw in front of him a physician selling medicine on the street. Di Yun decided that he wanted to personally see how badly Wan Gui was suffering, so he took out ten taels of silver and bought the physician’s clothes, medicine box, and fucheng[1]. The physician was surprised, for he knew that all of his items were not worth more than three or four taels of silver. He was more than delighted to sell everything to him.

Di Yun returned to the abandoned garden and put on the physician’s attire. He took out some herbs from the box and smeared it on his face, he smeared especially much right under his left eye. He was changed beyond recognition. Then he began to shake his fucheng and made his way to the Wan residence.

When he neared the entrance, he shook the fucheng very heavily and walked close to the entrance and shouted with a very coa.r.s.e voice, “I specialize in curing extremely difficult diseases, illnesses and nameless poisons. Insect and snake bites can be cured immediately!”

He walked back and forth for three orbits before someone came out urgently from the front door, waving, “Hey, physician, come over here.”

Di Yun recognized that this was one of the Wan clan disciples. It was actually the one who sliced off his five fingers that year, Wu Kan. But Di Yun had completely disguised his appearance so he could not be recognized. Di Yun was afraid that his voice would be recognized, so he slowly trotted over and lowered his voice even further. “What do you have to ask of me? Have you contracted any strange illnesses or nameless poisons?”

Wu Kan spat out in disgust. “Does it look like I have contracted a poison? I ask you now, are you capable of curing scorpion bites?”

Di Yun said: “The poisons of green bamboo snakes, golden feet snakes, and iron spade snakes, all of the most poisons of the most deadly snakes under heaven, I can cure. Haha, what is a mere scorpion to me?”

Wu Kan said: “Don’t be so confident. This is not an ordinary scorpion. Even a very famous Jingzhou physician shook his head when he saw it, how can you do better?”

Di Yun creased his eyebrows and said: “Is it really that deadly? The most poisonous scorpions in this world are merely gray haired scorpions, black and white scorpions, golden scorpions, pocked head scorpions, red tailed scorpions, white leg scorpions…” He spewed a bunch of nonsense and named 20 scorpions before continuing: “Every scorpion has a different kind of poison, and each has its own way of treatment. Even a famous physician may not necessarily be skilled; he may not be fully knowledgeable.”

Wu Kan saw that this person’s appearance was ugly and his clothes were s.h.a.gged. Although this person was capable of naming many types of scorpions, it sounded like a bunch of inarticulately stuttered nonsense. He figured that this person was likely not very skilled at all, and said: “Very well then, go in and have a look. I will just pretend it’s a dead horse being treated like a live horse.” Di Yun nodded his head and followed him inside the mansion.

Wu Kan raised his head and shouted: “Third martial sister-in-law, there is a gra.s.s head physician here. He claims that he can cure a scorpion’s poison. Should we let him take a look at martial brother?”

With an “ah!” the window opened. Qi Fang stuck her head outside the window and said: “Yes, please! Thank you, Brother Wu. Your martial brother is suffering even more today. Please bring the physician upstairs.”

Wu Kan said to Di Yun, “Go on ahead then.” He did not go up himself.

Qi Fang said: “Brother Wu, please go up as well so you can help keep an eye.”

Wu Kan complied and went upstairs.

When Di Yun went upstairs, he saw the center by the window was placed a very large desk. On top of the desk was placed a brush and blotting paper with about a dozen books. There was also a half-sewn child’s garment. Qi Fang came out from the inner room to welcome him. She was not wearing any cosmetics and looked rather wan and sallow. Di Yun glanced at her once and did not look again. He was afraid that she would recognize him and quietly followed her into the room.

Inside the room, a person slept on a large bed, moaning in pain. It was Wan Gui. His daughter sat on a small stool beside him, gently ma.s.saging her father’s legs. When she saw Di Yun’s filthy and strange appearance, she became startled and hurriedly cowered behind her mother.

Wu Kan said: “My martial brother was bitten by a poisonous scorpion. The poison in his body will not purge. There seems to be a serious problem.”

Di Yun mumbled: “Mm, is that so?” Earlier when he spoke to Wu Kan outside he was cool and collected, but now that he saw Qi Fang, his heart was bouncing around his chest, both his cheeks felt warm, and his lips and tongue felt dry. He could not even speak properly. He went to the bed and gently patted Wan Gui’s shoulder.

Wan Gui slowly got up. When he saw Di Yun’s appearance, he became slightly startled. Qi Fang said: “San’ge[2], this is the physician that Brother Wu found for you, he… he may have some kind of miraculous antidote to treat your poison.” The way she said these words, it was clear that she had no confidence in this physician.

Di Yun did not say a word. He looked at Wan Gui’s swollen hand and saw that there were round black spots, it was extremely repulsive. He spoke in a coa.r.s.e voice, “This poison was contracted from a mottling scorpion from Xiangxi. We do not have this type of scorpion in Hubei!”

Qi Fang and Wu Kan both said: “Right, this wound was indeed contracted from Xiangxi in Hunan.” Qi Fang continued: “Mister, since you are able to determine the type of poison just by looking at it, are you able to cure it?” Her voice was full of hope.

Di Yun counted on his fingers and said: “He was bitten at night, hmm, it has now been seven days and seven nights.”

Qi Fang glanced at Wu Kan then said: “Mister really has supernatural accuracy. He was indeed bitten at night, and it really has been seven days and seven nights.”

Di Yun continued: “Did this gentleman turn his hand over to crush the scorpion? If he did not do this, there would be a cure for him. But because he crushed the scorpion with his hand, its poison has completely forced itself into his hand. It is useless to help him now.”

When Qi Fang heard that this physician was even accurate enough to determine the number of days, she thought there really was a cure and her face was full of delight. But upon hearing this, she felt anxious. “Mister has spoken very clearly. But I ask that you please save his life at any cost.”

The whole point of Di Yun disguising himself as a physician was to enter the Wan residence so he could personally see how pathetically Wan Gui was suffering. He wanted to see him moaning and groaning in his pitiful state in order to relieve the acc.u.mulated anger in his heart. He really had no intention to save his life at all. But since he was small he had listened to Qi Fang’s every word, and never once did he disobey her. Now when he heard her desperate plea, his heart softened and he opened up the medicine box intending to take out the antidote he took from Yan Daping. But upon further consideration he thought: “This Wan Gui has caused me so much suffering, he even took my martial sister away from me. I am already being extremely kind for not killing him myself. How could I go so far as to save him?” He shook his head and said: “It is not that I don’t want to save him, it’s just that after so many days, the poison has slowly made its way to his brain. There is nothing that I can do now.”

Qi Fang hung her head down and began to cry. She pulled her daughter beside her and said: “Water Spinach my dear, kowtow to this uncle and beseech him to rescue your papa.”

Di Yun hurriedly shook his hand and said, “Please, there is no need…” But the little girl was very obedient and always listened to her mother’s words. She also knew that her father was gravely injured so she felt very anxious. At once she kneeled down and gave him a resounding kowtow. As Di Yun had lost the five fingers on his right hand, he hid it inside his sleeve the entire time. Instead he extended his left hand and brought the girl up. When he saw the little girl’s full body, he saw a golden locket hung on her neck. On the gold piece was inscribed the words “Virtuous Appearance, Double Luxuriance”.

When Di Yun saw this, he became confused. He recalled the day he fainted in the firewood room. When he later woke up on a boat in the middle of the Yangtze, there were various gold and silver jewelleries beside him. One of them was a little girl’s locket which also inscribed these four exact words. Could it be…?

He only looked once and did not dare to look again. His thoughts were all over the place. Eventually he cleared his mind and collected his thoughts. “I fainted in the firewood room in the Wan residence. It must have been martial sister who saved me, there can be no other person. In the past I thought she intentionally harmed me, but last night… last night she prayed to Heaven and revealed her thoughts. She still cares about me very much. There is no way she hurt me that day. Could it be… could it be that Heaven has eyes, after all the suffering that I’ve been through, can I really reunite with my martial sister?”

When he thought of the word “reunite” his heart began to bounce wildly. He tilted his head sideways to look at Qi Fang and saw that her face was full of worry and troubles, staring intensely at Wan Gui, her eyes showing great tenderness and affection.

When Di Yun saw her expression his heart came to a halt, he felt an ice-cold sensation on his back. He remembered very clearly the events that happened that day, how he fought with the eight disciples of the Wan clan, how he was completely humiliated by them, how his martial sister mended his garment back together with the same br.i.m.m.i.n.g tenderness in her eyes. But now her eyes were all for her husband, it was no longer for him.

“If I don’t give him the antidote, no one can blame me. I can wait for Wan Gui to die an excruciating death and then leave with her at night, who can stop me? I don’t care about the past, we… we can become man and wife. I will take her daughter along with me. Ai, this is not right. No! Martial sister has been the lady of the house all these years and lived a luxurious life, how can she go back to farming with me? Besides, I am ugly and I don’t even know past a few hundred words and my hand is crippled, how do I deserve to be with her? How would she be willing to leave with me?” He felt very ashamed of his own inferiority and became depressed.

How would Qi Fang know that this physician would have so many thoughts in mind? She could do no more but stare at him intensely, hoping that he would utter the words “There is a cure!”

Wan Gui groaned in excruciating pain. At this point the poison had already made its way to the joint of his arm, his entire arm and palm was swollen and the pain was unbearable.

Qi Fang waited for a very long time but Di Yun did not respond. She pleaded: “Mister, please give it a try. Even if you can only… only lessen his suffering, then that is fine, we won’t fault you.” The intent was that even if Wan Gui could not keep his life, she would still hope that the physician can lessen his pain. She did not want her husband to die in such an anguishing way.

Di Yun interjected and his mind came back to the moment. In a split second his mind was completely empty, completely disheartened. He wished he could just die right now. He wholeheartedly cared for his martial sister, yet she married his arch nemesis and even went as far as to plea him to rescue his own enemy. “I would rather be in Wan Gui’s position. I would rather suffer endless pain and misery. If I can have martial sister care for me this much, even if I only have a few days left to live, what does it matter?” He opened the medicine box and took out Yan Daping’s antidote bottle. He turned over the bottle and let the black powder fall on the back of Wan Gui’s hand.

Wu Kan exclaimed: “Ah… it… it is this antidote, he… he can be cured!”

Di Yun heard that there was a hidden meaning in his words. The words “he can be cured” should have been uttered with extreme happiness, yet his voice seemed to suggest a hint of disappointment and even some resentment. Di Yun felt it was extremely strange. He turned his head slightly to look at Wu Kan and saw that his expression was full of cruelty and viciousness. Di Yun was extremely perplexed. But then he thought that there was not a single good person amongst the eight disciples. If Wan Zhenshan and Yan Daping were willing to kill each other, how strange would it be if Wu Kan and Wan Gui weren’t on good terms? However, why would he waste time to find someone to cure him?

Not long after the medicine was applied, a lot of black blood began to seep out of the wound on his hand. His suffering was gradually reduced and said: “Thank you, your antidote is really effective.”

Qi Fang was extremely pleased and fetched a copper bowl to receive the blood. The blood constantly dripped into the bowl. Qi Fang thanked Di Yun repeatedly.

Wu Kan said: “Martial sister-in-law, has little brother not done a good service?”

Qi Fang said: “Right, I must also thank Brother Wu.”

Wu Kan smiled. “Just saying thanks is not enough!”

Qi Fang ignored him and asked Di Yun: “What is your surname? We must thank you greatly with a gift.”

Di Yun shook his head. “No need to thank me. The medicine needs to be applied ten times to completely cure the poison.” His heart felt very sour, he thought everything in the world was miserable. “I will give the rest to you!” He handed over the bottle.

Qi Fang did not expect that the matter would end so simply. She did not dare to accept the antidote. “We will buy it from you, may I ask how much it is?”

Di Yun shook his head. “There is no need to pay.”

Qi Fang was extremely pleased. She received the bottle with both hands and bowed respectfully, offering her most heartfelt grat.i.tude. “Mister is really an honourable person, I really do not know how to thank you. Brother Wu, please see him out of here.”

Di Yun said: “There is no need. I will leave now.”

Qi Fang said: “No, Mister is our saviour yet we have no good way to repay you. At the very least we should treat you to a cup of wine. Mister, please don’t leave yet!”

As soon the words “please don’t leave yet!” made its way to Di Yun’s ear, his heart softened. He thought: “Looks like I won’t be able to take my revenge. After burying Brother Ding, I will never return to Jingzhou again, nor will I ever see martial sister again. If she wants to treat me to a cup of wine, it will give me a chance to look at her a few more times, nothing bad could come out of that.”

He nodded his head.

The banquet was prepared in a little guest room downstairs. Di Yun sat on the central seat of honour while Wu Kan sat opposite of him. Qi Fang repeatedly thanked the physician for his efforts and prepared the meal herself. It appeared as if everyone else in the Wan residence was not at home; the other disciples did not attend this banquet.

Qi Fang respectfully treated Di Yun to three cups of wine. Di Yun accepted all three cups. His heart became sour and his eyes started to become teary. He knew he could not hold his feelings much longer, if he were to stay any longer he would reveal himself. At once he got up and said: “I have had enough wine, it is time for me to take my leave. I will never come back again!”

Qi Fang was extremely perplexed by his choice of words, but felt that this physician was weird to begin with, so she did not take it to heart. “We will never be able to thank Mister for what he has done. Here are 100 taels of silver for mister to buy wine during his travels.” As she said this she pa.s.sed on a bag full of silver with both hands.

Di Yun turned his head and laughed heartily. “I was the one who saved him! Haha! Haha! This must be some kind of joke. Is there anyone in this world who is more foolish than me?” Amidst his laughter, two streams of tears flowed down his cheeks.

Qi Fang and Wu Kan were both shocked at his expression. The little girl said: “Uncle don’t cry! Uncle don’t cry!”

Di Yun became startled. He was afraid that he would reveal his ident.i.ty, so he did not dare to talk to Qi Fang anymore. He thought: “From now on, I will never see you again.” He felt the poetry that he got from the cave in Yuanling on his bosom and put his sleeve on the chair, not daring to look at Qi Fang again. He made his way downstairs without once turning back to look at her.

Qi Fang said: “Brother Wu, please escort this Mister on his way out.”

Wu Kan said, “Certainly,” and followed through.

Qi Fang held the bag of silver in her hands, her heart thumping anxiously. She thought: “Who is this person? How come this person’s smile looks so much like his? Ai, what is wrong with me? San’ge is in pain yet my heart is all over the place, I am still thinking of him…” She placed the bag of silver on the table and sat on the chair.

She sat on the chair that Di Yun sat on earlier. She felt there was something on this chair and stood up right away. She saw an old yellow book. On the cover were the three words “Tang Poem Anthology”.

She gasped slightly and picked up the book. She casually opened the book and a shoe fell out, it was the cut out that she made that year back in her hometown in Xiangxi. At this point her mouth was wide open in disbelief, both hands trembled. She turned another several pages and saw a cut out of a pair of b.u.t.terflies. She remembered the events that year when she sat next to Di Yun in the cave and cut out these b.u.t.terflies, all of these thoughts entered her mind at once. She could not help but gasp in disbelief and thought: “Where did this… this book come from? Who brought it here? Could it be the physician?”

The little girl saw her mother’s expression change and became startled. “Mama, what are you doing?”

Qi Fang stared blankly. She put the book in her bosom and rushed downstairs. She rushed outside and continued pursuit. Ever since she had married into the Wan family, she had been very refined and educated, but now she was running around the halls like a wild woman, something she had never done before. The various servants of the mansion saw their lady exert her lightness martial arts and went past several courtyards, rushing her way out. They were astonished.

Qi Fang made her way to the lobby and saw Wu Kan enter from outside. She hurriedly said: “Where is the physician?”

Wu Kan said: “That person is really strange, he did not say a word and just left. Third martial sister-in-law, why are you looking for him? Has something happened to martial brother?”

Qi Fang said, “No!” and rushed outside the front door. She looked all around but did not see any trace of the physician.

She stood motionless at the front door for a long time. She took the book out of her bosom and turned through the pages. Every time she saw the various figures and cut outs that she made in her youth, her thoughts rushed forth like ocean waves. She could not help but become teary.

She thought: “How can I be so foolish? Father-in-law and San’ge have recently visited Uncle Yan in Xiangxi. They may have unexpectedly ventured into the cave and took the book. That must be it. How could that physician be in any way related to this book?” But then she thought: “No! How could there be such a coincidence? That cave is extremely remote, even my father doesn’t know about it. In this world, besides me, only my martial brother knows about it. How could father-in-law and San’ge possibly find it? They only went to find Uncle Yan, why would they go in a cave? Just now when I set up the banquet I remember cleaning all the seats, how could there be a book there? If the physician was not the one who brought the book, then how did it end up there?”

She was in a haze of doubts and suspicions. She went back inside and saw that Wan Gui looked a lot better after applying the medicine. She held the book tightly in her hands and wanted to ask her husband, but thought: “I can’t be impulsive, what if that physician is really…”

Wan Gui said: “Fang’mei, that physician really is my benefactor. You must reward him gracefully.”

Qi Fang said: “Right, I gave him 100 taels of silver, but he would not accept it. He is really a strange person. That antidote… where is that antidote? Did you put it away?” After the physician gave her the antidote, she placed it on the table next to the bed, but now it was nowhere to be seen.

Wan Gui said: “I did not. Is it not on the table?”

Qi Fang searched the table, bed, vanity table, chairs, cabinets, under the bed, and other various places, but the antidote was nowhere to be found. She felt anxious. “Could it be that I unconsciously dropped it on the ground when I rushed outside? No, I remember very clearly that I placed it on the table, right beside the bowl.”

Wan Gui became anxious too. “You… you must find it, how can it disappear? Before I took a nap, I remember very clearly the bottle was placed on the table.”

When he said this, Qi Fang became even more anxious. She rushed out of the room and asked her daughter, “Just now when mama went outside, did anyone come in this room?”

The little girl said: “Uncle Wu came upstairs. He saw that papa was asleep so he left!”

Qi Fang took a very deep breath. She knew there was something wrong, but she did not want to worry her sick husband. “Water Spinach, stay with your papa. Tell him that mama went to find the physician to buy another bottle of medicine for papa.”

The little girl nodded. “Mama, come back soon.”

Qi Fang gathered her thoughts and opened the desk drawer. She took out a dagger and concealed it. Then she went downstairs. She thought: “Wu Kan must have saw that I was not around so he harboured malicious intentions. But he was the one who invited the physician, could it be that the two of them have colluded and planned some sort of crafty scheme? Otherwise, how could the bottle of antidote disappear after the physician left?”

She pondered deeply as she made her way to the garden. She reached the cloister and saw that Wu Kan was leaning against the railing, looking at the goldfish in the pond. Qi Fang said: “Brother Wu, you are here alone?”

Wu Kan turned around, a smile stretched across his whole face. “I was wondering who it is. So it is sister-in-law. You should be upstairs with martial brother, what brings you here?”

Qi Fang sighed. “Ai, I feel very bored staying beside this sick man all day. Your martial brother is in great pain and his temperament has changed for the worse. If I do not come outside to get some fresh air and find someone to talk to, I will suffocate.”

Wu Kan was very surprised to hear this. He laughed. “Martial brother is never content; he is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. He has such a flowery and jade-like beauty to accompany him, yet he is throwing temper tantrums. He is truly hard a hard person to please.”

Qi Fang walked beside her and too leaned against the railing. She looked at the pond full of goldfish and said: “Your martial sister-in-law is an old woman, how can she be said to be flowery or jade-like? I’m afraid other people would take that as a joke.”

Wu Kan said: “What? Where? When sister-in-law was a maiden she had the elegance of a maiden, now that she is the lady of the house she has the charm of a lady. Like everyone says, the most beautiful and elegant flower lies in the Wan family.”

Qi Fang smirked and turned around and reached out with her hands. “Hand it over!”

Wu Kan laughed. “Hand what over?”

Qi Fang said: “The antidote!”

Wu Kan shook his head. “What antidote? The one used to treat Brother Wan’s injuries?”

Qi Fang said: “Yes, you were the one who took it.”

Wu Kan laughed craftily. “I was the one who found the physician. I was the one who found the antidote. Brother Wan has already applied it once, he will be relieved of pain for several days.”

Qi Fang said: “The physician said that it needs to be applied ten times.”

Wu Kan shook his head. “I repent too early. I repent too early.”

Qi Fang said: “What are you repenting for?”

Wu Kan said: “When I saw the filthy appearance of that physician no different from a beggar, I thought he was incapable. The only reason I brought him upstairs was so that I could find a reason to see you one more time. I did not expect that there would actually be a cure for this poison. This is completely against my original intent.”

Qi Fang was extremely angry when she heard this. However the antidote was on this person’s hands, so she would have to find a way to take it back before settling the score. At once she calmed herself and smiled. “According to what you said, you want your martial brother to personally thank you, then you will hand over the antidote?”

Wu Kan sighed. “Martial brother has had the benefit of your romance for so many years. He should have died a long time ago.”

Qi Fang’s face changed colours. She bit her lips and did not speak out. Wu Kan continued: “That year when you went to Jingzhou, out of us eight martial siblings, which one of us was not completely infatuated by your appearance? That little fool Di Yun followed you the entire day, the eight of us could do no more than repress our anger. We came up with a plan to beat him to a pulp.”

Qi Fang said: “So it turns out that the reason you hurt my martial brother is all because of me!”

Wu Kan laughed. “Everyone said this, but naturally the reasoning was different. We said how he meddled in our affairs to fight the bandit Lu Tong, making the disciples of the Wan clan lose face. But in fact, it was all because of you! The way you mended his clothes, the way you spoke to him so intimately, the way you treated him so affectionately, when the eight of us saw this, we were completely enraged. Which one of us did not drink until all of our teeth became sour?”

Qi Fang was startled. She thought: “Could it be that I was the cause of all this? San’ge, San’ge, why did you never tell me?” She pretended not to care and laughed. “Brother Wu, you really know how to tell a joke. Back then I was a little girl from the countryside and was nothing more than a rustic, my appearance must have been completely laughable. How could I be so worthy?”

Wu Kan said: “No! Why would a true beauty like you need make up or gorgeous attire? If you did not cause the eight of us to lose our souls for you, then…” All of a sudden he shut his mouth and did not continue.

Qi Fang asked: “What is it?”

Wu Kan said: “We kept you in the Wan family. I surnamed Wu have contributed a lot to this cause. But sister-in-law, when you see me you don’t even smile, how can I not feel indignant?”

Qi Fang spat in contempt. “I stayed in the Wan family and married your martial brother because I wanted to. What does that have to do with you? You did nothing to convince me to do such a thing. What nonsense do you speak of?”

Wu Kan shook his head and laughed. “I… I did not contribute? You really do not understand.”

Qi Fang became even more fearful. She spoke softly, “Brother Wu, tell me what you contributed. Your martial sister-in-law I will definitely not forget your grace.”

Wu Kan shook his head. “Why should such an old matter be spoken of again? Even if you know it now, it won’t make a difference. We should only speak of the future.”

Qi Fang said: “Well then, if you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine. Give me the antidote. If anyone sees the two of us here, that won’t be appropriate.”

Wu Kan laughed. “In the day of light someone would see us, but not at night.”

Qi Fang backed away one step, her face cold as frost. Her tone became very strict. “What are you talking about?”

Wu Kan laughed. “If you want to cure Brother Wan’s injuries, that is not very hard. I will meet you inside the firewood room tonight on the third watch. If you satisfy my desires, I will let you use the antidote once.”

Qi Fang clenched her teeth and scolded: “Dog thief, you actually dare to speak of such things! You have some nerve!”

Wu Kan remained calm and collected. “I have long thrown caution to the wind. This is called being willing to cut off flesh to pull the emperor off the horse. In what way does that little brat Wan Gui exceed I surnamed Wu? It is only that he is teacher’s son, he was born to a good life. All of us contributed, yet he is the only one who gets to enjoy the results?”

Qi Fang has now heard several times now of how he spoke about contribution. She became really curious but did not dare to ask. “When father-in-law returns, I will report to him everything that’s happened, let’s see if he will not tear your skin off.”

Wu Kan said: “I will stay here. As soon as teacher calls me, I will throw the bottle of antidote into the lotus pond to feed the goldfish. I have asked the physician, he told me that there is only one bottle, and it takes over a year to make another one.” As he said this he took out the bottle from his bosom. He removed the stopper and extended his hand over the pond. All he had to do was tilt his hand slightly and the bottle would fall. Wan Gui’s life would be lost just as easily.

Qi Fang spoke urgently. “Hey! Put away the antidote. We can talk this over.”

Wu Kan laughed. “What is there to discuss? If you want to save your husband, you will listen to me.”

Qi Fang said: “Even if you really treated me in the past, but… unless you tell me what happened, I won’t care about you.”

Wu Kan was delighted. He sealed the bottle and said: “So I just have to tell you the truth, then you will spend the night with me?”

Qi Fang said: “That will depend if you are lying or not. If you lie to me, what good is that?”

Wu Kan said: “I will speak nothing but the absolute truth. This plan was conceived by Brother Shen. Brother Zhou and Brother Bu pretended to be rapists and sneaked into Tao Hong’s room to lure that fool Di Yun to save her. The various jewelleries that we found under his bed were placed there by me personally. If we did not execute such a crafty scheme, how could we keep you with us?”

Qi Fang went into a daze. Her vision became dark. What Wu Kan said felt like a sharp blade stabbing into her heart. She could do nothing but say, “I… I have faulted you, I have wronged you!” All along she did not understand why her martial brother, who had grown up with her and had a deeply affectionate relationship with her, would so easily fall for a woman he didn’t even know. Could it be that she was flirting with him? Could she have ingratiated and seduced him? Brother Di had always been a faithful person. Even if it was something as small as a piece of cake or a grain of sugar, he would not dare to take it from someone else. If someone were to give it to him, without his teacher’s permission, he would definitely not take it. How would he dare to take other people’s jewellery? Could it be that when he went to a rich family and saw all this jewellery, he became overcome with greed and desires for wealth?

This was something she did not understand all along. Although she eventually married Wan Gui, she cared for her martial brother all along. Fortunately, Wu Kan had finally untied the knot in her heart this entire time.

“I… I have wronged martial brother. I must find him, I must tell him I’m sorry! I… I should die in front of him!” She swayed her body and nearly fell over. She supported herself with the railing and said: “I don’t believe you. How could such a thing happen? You are lying to me.” Her voice was bitter and astringent.

Wu Kan said: “You don’t believe me? You don’t have to ask anyone else, just ask Tao Hong. She is in the memorial hall. After you ask her, you must not tell anyone. My martial brothers and I vowed that n.o.body is allowed to leak out this secret. If not for our meeting at the third watch, if not for you, my sister-in-law, how would I Wu Kan reveal this to you!”

Qi Fang screamed and rushed outside. She pushed open the back door of the garden and continued running away.

Her thoughts were all over the place. She continued running past several gardens before she regained her composure. She found a small worn out memorial hall in the northwest corner and pushed open the door to go inside.

She saw that the floor was covered by a thick layer of dust and the tables and chairs were broken. She thought: “How could the concubine of father-in-law, Tao Hong, live in such a place? Wu Kan is a deceiver, could it be that… that he lied to me for some evil purpose? I should leave right away.”

All of a sudden she heard the sound of slow footsteps treading on the floor, a woman came out from the inner hall. It was a middle-aged beggar lady, her head was low and her back was crooked. Her hair was messy and drooped over her face. And her clothes were filthy and ragged.

When this beggar lady saw someone was here, she was startled. At once she turned around to leave. As she made her way inside, she turned her head to take another look and saw very clearly that it was Qi Fang. She gasped in surprise, retracted two steps and kneeled down. “My lady, please don’t… don’t tell anyone that I am here.”

Qi Fang was perplexed. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

The beggar lady said: “What… what? I… I…” When she said up to this point she immediately got up and rushed back to the inner hall.

She heard the sound of footsteps were urgent, the beggar lady escaped through the rear door. Qi Fang thought: “I wonder what’s wrong with this lady, she was so scared when she saw me… oh! Now that I think about it, she must be Tao Hong!” As soon as she thought of this she hurriedly pursued her and rushed through the memorial hall. She stepped on debris and made her way to the rear exit, then she fetched the dagger from her waist and shouted: “Tao Hong! What are you being so secretive for?”

This beggar lady was indeed Tao Hong. When she heard Qi Fang yell out her name, she panicked. She turned and saw that Qi Fang was holding a sharp and shiny dagger in her hand and became even more afraid. Her knees trembled and she kneeled down at once. In a trembling voice she said, “Lady, please… please spare me.”

Qi Fang had only seen Tao Hong a few times before. After a while she never saw her again. Every time she saw her she would think of how Di Yun wanted to bundle up valuables and abscond with this lady, it felt like a stab in her heart. So she never cared to ask what happened to this lady. Even if someone were to bring up the topic, she would not listen, so as to prevent her heart from being traumatized further. But she did not expect that Tao Hong would hide in such a place. This memorial hall was not far away from the mansion, but ever since Qi Fang became the young lady of the house she was cautious in all matters, much different from back when she was a maiden in her hometown in Xiangxi, she would never dare to wander off away from home. A few times she saw the entrance to this memorial hall from outside, but she never once went inside.

Tao Hong had a dirty face and messy hair and looked very thin and pallid. Qi Fang had not seen her for only a few years, but it was as if she aged 20 years. Wu Kan told Qi Fang to go to the memorial hall to seek the truth from Tao Hong. Although she saw her face-to-face now, if Tao Hong had remained calm and collected, Qi Fang would not have recognized her.

Qi Fang hoisted the dagger on her hand and threatened: “Why are you hiding here? Tell me now.”

Tao Hong said: “I… I don’t know. My Lady, Master kicked me out of the house. He said that if he ever saw me in Jingzhou, he would kill me. But… but… I have nowhere to go, so I had to resort to begging for food around here. My Lady, apart from Jingzhou, there is no place that I know of. Where am I supposed to go? Please do a good deed, don’t tell Master about this.”

Qi Fang listened to her pitiful words and put the dagger away. “Why did father-in-law kick you out? How come I didn’t know about this?”

Tao Hong spoke with teary eyes, “I don’t know why Master suddenly stopped liking me. That incident regarding that man surnamed Di from Hunan, it was not my fault. Oh… I shouldn’t speak of it.”

Qi Fang said: “Very well then. If you won’t speak, I will take you to see father-in-law.” She reached for her lapel with her left hand. Qi Fang was naturally a clean person, Tao Hong’s clothes were filthy and full of grease; when she grabbed her garment it was extremely slippery and unpleasant to touch. But she urgently wanted to know the truth behind Di Yun’s unjust treatment. Even if this lady was ten times filthier she would still not care.

Tao Hong trembled and urgently said: “I will talk, I will talk. My Lady, what do you want me to say?”

Qi Fang said: “Di… Di… regarding the incident about the one surnamed Di, what is that all about? Why did you want to elope with him?”

Tao Hong was extremely startled and frightened by her question. Her eyes opened wide and she did not speak out.

Qi Fang fixed her gaze on Tao Hong and too felt frightened. In fact, what she felt was probably ten-fold greater. She did not dare to listen to Tao Hong speak the truth. If Tao Hong said that Di Yun really did want to elope with her and really did rape her, what happens then? The fact that Tao Hong did not speak out right away caused Qi Fang to turn deathly pale, and her heart skipped a beat.

Finally, Tao Hong said: “That… that wasn’t my fault. Young Master forced me to do this. He told me to hug tightly onto that countryman surnamed Di. He told me to frame him for trying to rape and elope with me. I told Master about this before. It is not that he doesn’t believe me, he only told me that I cannot speak of this to anyone. He also returned me my clothes and money. Yet… yet I did not say a word, but Master still kicked me out.”

Qi Fang felt gratefulness, broken-heartedness and pity. She thought: “Martial brother, it is all my fault. I should have known that you only cared about me all along. You have really suffered too much, you have suffered too much!” At this moment she did not hate Tao Hong, she was actually really grateful. She was happy that the tight knot in her heart was finally untied. She was even grateful to Wu Kan, it was he who spat out the truth, it was he who directed her to find Tao Hong.

Between feelings of grievance and desolation, she also felt a burst of agony and sweetness. Although she was married to Wan Gui, in her heart she loved Di Yun all along. No matter how unfaithful he was, no matter how shameless and despicable he was, even if he had a thousand faults and every possible kind of fickle, she only cared for him, she only longed for him, he was the one who Qi Fang cried and missed so dearly for.

All of a sudden, her various distresses and resentments turned into repentance and remorse. She thought: “If I had knew this since the beginning, even at the risk of being hacked to pieces, I would have rescued him from prison. He has suffered so much… he… what does he think of me?”

Tao Hong looked at Qi Fang’s expression and spoke in a trembling voice, “My Lady, thank you. Please let me go. I will leave Jingzhou and never come back.”

Qi Fang sighed. “Why did father-in-law kick you out? Was he afraid that I would find out the truth? Ai, today I have finally come to a resolution.” She let go of her hold on her sleeves. She wanted to give her some silver but she ran over here in such a hurry that she did not bring any with her.

When Tao Hong saw Qi Fang release her, her fear changed and she urgently hurried to leave, mumbling, “Master saw ghosts at night, he wanted to build a wall, can he fault me? It… it is not my a.s.sertion.”

Qi Fang caught up with her and asked: “What ghost? He’s building a wall?”

Tao Hong knew that she said something she shouldn’t have, and urgently said: “Nothing, it’s nothing. Master always sees ghosts at night, he builds a wall late in the depth of night.”

Qi Fang heard that what she said seemed like a bunch of nonsensical drivel. She thought that it must be because she had suffered so much after being kicked out that she started to go crazy. Why would father-in-law build a wall in the middle of the night? She had never seen him build a wall before.

Tao Hong was afraid that she wouldn’t believe her and said: “It is a fake wall, Master… Master wants to become a mason late at night. I talked to him before, but he got very angry at me and beat me to an inch of my life and kicked me out. He said that if he saw me again he would kill me…” She chattered garrulously as she walked away with a crooked back.

Qi Fang thought: “She could not even be ten years older than me, yet she has become like this. I wonder why father-in-law kicked her out? Speaking of seeing ghosts and building walls, this woman must be insane. Ai, because of a foolish girl, martial brother has suffered for a lifetime!”

As she thought up to this point, she could not help but become teary. Eventually she wailed loudly without restraints. She cried for a very long time leaning against a parasol tree. Eventually she calmed herself and slowly returned home. She avoided the garden and went in from the side door on the east and went upstairs.

When Wan Gui heard the sound of her footsteps, he urgently asked: “Fang’mei, have you found the antidote yet?”

Qi Fang went inside the room and saw Wan Gui sitting up and looking somewhat anxious. He put his wounded hand on the bedside, black blood seeping out the back of his hand. It took a while for the blood to finish seeping into copper bowl. The little girl was sleeping next to her father’s legs on the bed.

When Qi Fang heard the words of Wu Kan and Tao Hong, originally she resented Wan Gui extremely, she hated him for using such a despicable method to set up Di Yun. But when she saw how pale and delicate he looked, their conjugal love of several years softened her heart. She thought: “After all, it is because San’ge loves me that he set up martial brother. Although the method he used was extremely treacherous and despicable and caused my martial brother endless suffering, he did it all because he loves me.”

Wan Gui asked: “Have you bought the antidote yet?”

Qi Fang could not at that moment decide whether she wanted to inform her husband about Wu Kan’s shameless words, she casually said, “I found the physician and gave him some silver for him to buy the ingredients to formulate the antidote.”

Wan Gui breathed a sigh of relief, his heart immediately relaxed. He smiled: “Fang’mei, you saved my life.”

Qi Fang forced a smile, she saw that the air of poisonous blood inside the washbowl was extremely sensitive to her nose, hence she switched to a new bowl to take in the blood and took away the copper bowl. She only walked two steps when the odour rushed right to her nose, she felt a bit dizzy and thought: “The scorpion poison is really powerful!” She quickened her pace out of the room and placed the washbowl on the floor beside a table. She turned around and took out a handkerchief from her bosom to cover up her nose before throwing out the blood.

When she felt her bosom she also felt the Tang poem book she had with her. She was dumbfounded and her heart began to bounce around her chest. She took out the book and placed it on the table, turning it page by page. She remembered very clearly that day when she was checking on some old clothes, under a suitcase of old clothes she found this book. Her father’s knowledge of words was incredibly limited, she did not know from where he got such a book. After she finished cutting up two embroideries she conveniently put it in the book. That afternoon she went with her martial brother to the cave and took the book with her and left it there ever since. How did it end up here? Was it Brother Di who told the physician to bring it over?

“That physician, could it be… could it be… the five fingers of his right hand were sliced off by Wu Kan. That physician… that physician… why? Why did he never… never take out his right hand?” As she thought up to this point, she remembered something. She recalled how the physician helped her daughter up, how he opened the medicine box and got the bottle of antidote, how he pulled out the cork and smeared the powder. She also recalled how he accepted her wine, and how he placed the cup of wine next to his lips, all these things were done using his left hand. Only at that time she did not really pay attention and did not notice.

“Could it be… he is martial brother! Why does he look so different?” Her heart was distracted and her thoughts were in turmoil, she could not hold back her grief and her tears dripped on the book on her hands.

As the tears dripped on the page, it also dripped on the two paper b.u.t.terflies. It was ‘Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai’, they could not reunite until after death…

Wan Gui said from the other room, “Fang’mei, it is extremely stuffy in here. I want to go out for a walk.” But Qi Fang was completely immersed in her thoughts and did not hear him. She thought: “That day he killed a b.u.t.terfly and broke up a pair of b.u.t.terflies. Is it that Heaven wants to punish him to have him suffer so much…”

All of a sudden, a voice beyond him cried out in disbelief. “That… that is… that is the Lian… Liancheng Manual!”

Qi Fang was startled. She turned her head and saw Wan Gui’s delightful expression who excitedly said: “Fang’mei, where did you get this book from? Look, ah, so that’s how it is, right, that’s how it is!” He pressed both his hands on the “Tang Poem Anthology” and saw that the t.i.tle of one of the pages was “Sacred Fruit Temple”, its words revealed the number “33”, the characters were a damp yellow from Qi Fang’s tears.

Wan Gui was so happy that he lost all self-control. He shouted: “So that is the secret! The book must be wet for the words to appear! Excellent! Excellent! This is definitely the book. Water Spinach! Water Spinach!” He called out loudly and woke the little girl up. “Water Spinach! Go and find your grandpa, tell him that I have something urgent to say.” The little girl agreed and went her way.

Wan Gui held the book tightly in his hands and forgot all about the pain. He said: “This must be it. Father said that the sword manual was actually a ‘Tang Poem Anthology’, how could this not be it? No one could figure out the secret. You actually have to wet the pages in order for the secret to appear.”

When he talked in this way, Qi Fang figured out over half of the truth. She thought: “So this is the ‘Liancheng Manual’ that father and father-in-law are looking for? So it is actually my father who had it, but I did not even realize it and used it to clip together my shoes? If father lost his book, why did he not look for it? He must have looked for it but could not find it. He must have thought that it was martial uncle who took it. Why did he not ask me? That is really strange!”

If this was Di Yun, he would not be baffled at all. He knew that Qi Zhangfa was an extremely crafty and calculating man, even in front of his daughter he would not reveal his intentions. When he lost the book, he searched frantically but to no avail. He pretended as if nothing happened and slowly observed, using various methods to investigate and probe potential suspects. Was it that little brat Di Yun who stole it? Was it his own daughter who stole it? However, Qi Fang did not actually “steal” it, so she did not feel the least bit guilty. Naturally, Qi Zhangfa could not figure this out.

Wan Zhenshan returned from the streets. He was just eating dimsum at a restaurant when he heard his granddaughter calling for him. He thought that his son’s condition had changed for the worse and at once, without even finishing his bowl of beans, he put down his chopsticks and rushed home while carrying his granddaughter. He made his way upstairs and heard Wan Gui’s delightful voice. “There is actually such a remarkable technique in this world. Fang’mei, how did you splash water on the book? This is fate, it was really meant to be!”

When Wan Zhenshan heard the tone of his son’s voice he became more relaxed and made his way inside the room. Wan Gui was holding up the “Tang Poem Anthology” and called out: “Father, look at what I have!”

Wan Zhenshan saw the thin yellow book and his heart immediately trembled. He urgently put down his granddaughter and took the book from his son. His heart was bouncing all over his chest. The “Liancheng Manual” that he had been searching for for over a dozen years was right in front of his eyes.

Indeed, this really was the book! This was indeed the book that he and his martial brothers took after they combined forces to kill their teacher. The three of them tossed and turned at the inn and stared at this book day and night. But this was nothing more than an ordinary book of Tang poems, no different from any other “Tang Poem Anthology” that can be bought from the market. Their teacher had taught them the Tang Poem Swordplay, the verses of the Tang poem served as names to the sword stances. All these verses were in this book. But what does the Liancheng Manual of legend have anything to do with this?”

The three of them had once put the book under sunlight to shine trying to discover if there was some kind of hidden layer. They tried to read the dozens of poems in the book in chronological order, in reverse order, reading horizontally, reading diagonally, reading every other word, reading every other two words… they wanted to find the hidden secret in the book, but all their efforts were in vain. The three of them began to suspect each other. They were afraid that one of them had already figured out the secret but did not want to share it. At night the book would be locked inside an iron chest. The iron chest was held together by three iron chains, and each chain was tied on each of their wrists. But one morning the book simply disappeared without a trace and never appeared again.

And that was the start of their endless strife for the next dozen or so years. He tried every method to find the book, yet all of a sudden, it is right in front of his eyes.

Wan Zhenshan flipped to the fourth page. Indeed, the top left corner was slightly torn. That was the mark that he left when he took the book that year. He was afraid that Brother Yan or Brother Qi would replace the book with a fake copy and keep him in the dark.

Wan Zhenshan flipped to the sixteenth page. Indeed, the fingernail print that he left was still there. This really was the book! He nodded his head and tried his best to supress his inner happiness. He said: “This is the book. Where did you get it from?”

Wan Gui turned to look at Qi Fang and said: “Fang’mei, where did you get the book?”

Qi Fang looked at Wan Gui’s expression the entire time. She only thought of her father. “I wonder where father is? I am really an unfilial daughter—I hid his book inside a cave and caused him to expend so much effort to look for it. Father must treat this book like his most prized possession. I wonder what this book is used for? Since I took this book from my father, it naturally belongs to my father. I can’t let father-in-law take it away.”

If this had been just one day ago, she would not have known the inner story of Di Yun’s tragedy. She would be full of tenderness and consideration for her husband. Her love for her husband may not necessarily be inferior to her love for her father. Besides, she doesn’t even know where her father is, nor did she know if he would ever return. But now it is an entirely different story. “I must not let father’s book fall into their hands. Even if I am not doing this for father, I am doing this for Brother Di!”

When Wan Gui asked her where she got the book from, she only thought: “How can I take the book back?” The book was now in her father-in-law’s hands. Wan Zhenshan had outstanding martial arts and her husband was right beside her, obviously she could not simply just take it. Her thoughts changed rapidly and her eyes skated across the room.

She saw that the copper bowl was beside the book, and the bowl was half-filled with b.l.o.o.d.y water. This was the bowl that Wan Gui used to wash his face and a lot of the poisonous blood dripped from the back of his hand. The water in this book was a dark purple colour… if she quietly put the book inside the bowl, they may not be able to find it. However, she was afraid that the book would be ruined. But if she did not take the opportunity now, she would not have another chance. She would rather ruin the book than let them have their way…

Wan Gui and his father both stared intensely at Qi Fang. Wan Gui repeated: “Fang’mei, where did you get this book from?”

Qi Fang shivered and said: “I don’t know. A moment ago when I left your room I saw this book placed on the table. Is it not yours?”

Wan Gui did not understand and momentarily did not pursue further. He had to tell his amazing discovery to his father. “Father, take