Chu Liuxiang was delighted, "So you agree?" he asked.

Smiling bitterly, NanGong Ling said, "That accusation of covering the culprit, how could Xiaodi bear it?"

"Where is Madame Ren now?" Chu Liuxiang asked.

NanGong Ling laughed and said, "Madame Ren's dwelling place is really a secret, it is hard for others to find it. If Chu Xiong would be willing to finish this still-more-than-half a bottle of wine, Xiaodi would immediately take Chu Xiong there; what do you think?"

Wuhua laughed and said, "If you want to give him any hards.h.i.+p, you ought to think about some other ideas. You wanted him to drink, wouldn't it be exactly what he has in mind?"

Chu Liuxiang roared in laughter and said, "In the end it is Wuhua who knows me better."

Amidst his laughter, he raised the wine bottle, and with 'glug, glug, glug', he finished the bottle in one breath. Unexpectedly his face still did not change. "Can we go now?" he said with a laugh.

NanGong Ling pondered for a moment before saying, "I wonder if Chu Xiong could wait for a moment, Xiaodi has some trivial things in the Gang to attend to."

Chu Liuxiang thought for a moment; he said, "The place where we are going, can we go there and return within two days?"

"Perhaps two days is enough," NanGong Ling replied.

Wuhua laughed and said, "Chu Xiong wants to return urgently, I wonder if you have a date with a beautiful woman?"

Chu Liuxiang roared in laughter and said, "Others often say that nothing can deceive me, I'll say this sentence ought to be transferred to you."

Wuhua smiled and said, "Daming Lake under the moon, a tryst after dusk. Chu Xiong is that kind of person. If you came to Jinan prefecture and did not have one or two such love affair, that would be really odd."

Chu Liuxiang turned his gaze toward the window, where the paper was starting to show the color of dawn. "Very well," he said, "About a sichen later, I am coming back to look for you."

He wiped his mouth and unexpectedly swaggered out, while s.n.a.t.c.hing the wine cup in front of Wuhua in pa.s.sing. They heard the sound of his laughter from outside the window, saying, "Wuhua provided good dishes, NanGong provided good wine, I came and ate, I ate and left. Life is just like this. Men return, what is there to seek? Having eaten and drunk to one's heart's content, being merry without any companions."

By the time the last word was spoken, he had already gone far. But the wine cup has flown back through the window and landed precisely in front of Wuhua.

The wine has been drunk dry, but there was something inside the cup; unexpectedly it was the tiny jade ruyi scepter [a symbol of power and good fortune] that was hanging on Wuhua's waist.

Emotionally moved, NanGong Ling said, "Chu Liuxiang, what a fast hand."

But Wuhua sighed and spoke calmly, "If it was not an insignificant thing, how could Pinseng let him took it? If he is willing to hold back his sharp point somewhat and not showing off too much, perhaps he would be able to live for a long time."

Misty dawn by the Daming Lake.

Chu Liuxiang strolled along the lake; before too long, he already heard a horse neighing, followed by light, crisp hoof beats, running along the side of the lake.

Even inside the dense fog, it was clear that the horse was black and s.h.i.+ny.

Chu Liuxiang stepped over to meet the horse; he laughed and said, "Horsey, oh horsey, too bad you belong to a friend; otherwise, I would not want to let other people riding on your back."

Unexpectedly the horse seemed to recognize him; it neighed lightly and nodded its head toward him.

Chu Liuxiang sighed inwardly, "If you treat a horse well, it will never forget you. But no matter how great you are treating people, in the blink of an eye he would forget it completely."

He spoke in the horse's ear, "Take me to see Hei Zhenzhu," three times, as well as lightly pulled the horse's ear three times. If it were other people, he would certainly unable to bear not to pull four times harder, just to see what would happen. But Chu Liuxiang has always thought that one must not be mischievous toward animal, since he and the animal were similar.

Sure enough, the horse led the way in front.

Chu Liuxiang did not ride the horse at all. From behind, he watched in fascination as the horse's muscles were leaping and moving. He felt that it was much delightful than if he was riding on its back.

The movements of the muscles, the rhythm of life, wouldn't they be the beautiful and virtuous realm of the human life? A man who knows how to enjoy life will never pa.s.s any opportunity to enjoy 'beauty'.

In the dark shade under a willow tree by the lakeside, there was a small, light boat. The youngster in black, the 'Black Pearl', was sitting on the boat, staring blankly at the fog covering the entire surface of the lake, lost in thought.

Although on the surface he appeared cold and detached so that he seemed not to care about anything in the world, but he actually had more load in his mind than anybody else.

Chu Liuxiang cleared his throat and said with a laugh, "What are you thinking?"

Without even looking back, Hei Zhenzhu pensively replied, "I am thinking about you."

Suddenly he sprang up, turned around to face Chu Liuxiang, and loudly went on, "Thinking whether you have asked the question?"

"I haven't," Chu Liuxiang replied.

Hei Zhenzhu laughed coldly and said, "I knew that he couldn't possibly tell you."

Chu Liuxiang smiled and said, "Although he has not told me, he is going to take me go."

Hei Zhenzhu's eyes lit up, "All right," he said, "You go ahead, I'll follow behind you."

Chu Liuxiang sighed and said, "If you are thinking of following behind NanGong Ling without him detecting your presence, I'm afraid your qinggong is not good enough."

Laughing coldly, Hei Zhenzhu said, "Even if he detected me, what can he do to me?"

"Nothing," Chu Liuxiang said, "But you and I can forget about ever finding Madame Ren."

Hei Zhenzhu was silent for half a day. "How long are you going to go?" he finally asked.

"Two days," Chu Liuxiang replied.

"All right," Hei Zhenzhu said, "Two days later, I am going to wait for you here."

Chu Liuxiang pondered for half a day. Finally he said, "Two days later, at dusk, there will be a girl wearing light-colored clothes coming to Daming Lake. If by that time I haven't returned, please tell her to wait for me."

Hei Zhenzhu suddenly laughed coldly and said, "A tryst with beautiful lady at dusk; Chu Liuxiang is indeed very romantic. Too bad I do not know that beautiful lady of yours; how could I pa.s.s on your message to her?"

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, "She is surnamed Su. As soon as you see her, you will know that it is she. Although Daming Lake is inundated with ill.u.s.trious individuals, a girl like her can't be too many."

Staring deeply toward Chu Liuxiang with his pitch-black eyes, Hei Zhenzhu said, "Is she very beautiful?"

Chu Liuxiang replied, "How could just this one word, 'beauty', describe her?"

Hei Zhenzhu's eyes grew bigger; he said, "Who is she to you?"

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, "Don't you think you are asking too much?"

Hei Zhenzhu suddenly lowered his eyes; he said coldly, "All right, you may go … but what if she is unwilling to wait for you?"

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, "If she is unwilling to wait for me, I will jump into Daming Lake to kill myself."

Hei Zhenzhu turned his gaze toward the fog-covered lake; heaving a long sigh, he said, "Your confidence in yourself is really too high."

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, "If you take the self-confidence away, I am afraid what remains from Chu Liuxiang is just the smelly water from the beach."

He started to walk away for several steps; suddenly he turned around and said, "Don't you think that your name is a little bit like a woman's name?"

Hei Zhenzhu coldly said, "If I were a woman, I might have already killed you."

Chu Liuxiang laughed heartily and said, "If you were a woman, perhaps you would not be so mean to me."

Several li southeast of Qufu [county level city in Jining, Shandong], there was a mountain called Mount Ni. Although the mountain was not very high, the scenery was extremely serene, with natural charms filling the eyes. It was not long after Chu Liuxiang entered the mountain when he already felt that he was out of this world.

It was early morning, the mountain was covered in dense mist, the white rocks and clear spring appeared dark blue and bluish green from the reflection of the light. The morning breeze swayed the trees and the leaves, interspersed with the chirping of the birds. When NanGong Ling was stepping into the rising dense morning mist, it appeared that he was riding on clouds.

Chu Liuxiang suddenly asked, "How long have we been away from Jinan?"

NanGong Ling laughed and said, "Not even one day yet. How could you forget?"

Chu Liuxiang sighed and said, "Although I have just arrived here, thinking about those ordinary dispute in the city of Jinan, it feels like all those things were happening in my previous life. If I continued living here for a long time, perhaps I, a mere layman, would become an elegant scholar."

NanGong Ling was silent for half a day. Heaving a deep sigh, he said, "When Ren Lao Bangzhu was still alive, he always thought about building a house here to live in seclusion. He often said that there was a Kuang Lu's [ancient name of Mount Lu, Jiangxi] absolute serenity in here, but without Kuang Lu's tourists. There was Mount Huang's spirited elegance, but without Mount Huang's false reputation. It's a pity that he was so busy all his life that unexpectedly this aspiration could only be realized after his death."

"Do you miss him very much?" Chu Liuxiang asked.

NanGong Ling was silent. "He was the most benevolent man, the kindest man I have ever met in all my life," he said, "I … I was an orphan. Without him, I would not be what I am today."

Chu Liuxiang's eyes flas.h.i.+ng, he said, "I have known you for many years, but these words, this is the first time I hear you say it."

NanGong Ling sighed, he spoke slowly, "In Jianghu, the strong survives, the weak perishes, the compet.i.tion is fierce; not one day, one moment, we could have rest. Some things, I do not have time to think, but I do not dare to think about it either."

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, "That's right. Some things, if you think about it too much, your heart will change. And those whose heart is too soft will not be able to survive in Jianghu."

NanGong Ling laughed indifferently, but no longer spoke.

There was a narrow path in front of them, winding around up the mountain. One side was a ten-thousand-ren [ancient unit of measure, around 7-8 feet or 2-2.5m] deep cliff; the other side was a hundred-zhang dangerous precipice. Although the scenery was absolutely serene, the terrain was extremely dangerous.

"I wonder if Madame Ren lives on the summit?" Chu Liuxiang asked.

NanGong Ling replied, "Madame Ren is a peerless talent [orig. magnificent style unmatched in one's generation], a unique individual, how could she be willing to live under other people?"

Chu Liuxiang laughed and said, "I am not the kind of person who get nervous easily, but hearing all kinds of poetic and pa.s.sionate things people say pertaining to Madame Ren, and then thinking that very soon I am going to see her, unexpectedly my heart is throbbing without I am able to stop it."