367 Don’t Mess With the Lower Class
The heavy downpour was relentless and accompanied by strong winds.
In a dilapidated temple in the south of the city, the severely wounded swordsman gritted his teeth and poured wound-healing medicine over his body. He prided himself on the fact that in the whole of Beili, there were at most three people whose sabre techniques were above his, but he just had to meet one of them here. That person's sabre techniques were bitingly cold and domineering, and left tens of wounds on his own body.
"I didn't expect that Lanyue Marquis of Heavenly Revelations to have such skills in his sabre techniques," the Hidden River Head of House Xie Jiucheng spat bitterly. It’d only been a few days since he took over as Head of House. Who would have thought he’d be reduced to hiding in a decrepit temple to nurse his wounds.
But the decrepit temple, surprisingly, also welcomed him.
The man was wearing faded gray robes that had been washed a bit too many times. He held up an old oil-paper umbrella, exuding a somewhat desolate and lonely air. He was the leader of the Four Youths of Heavenly Revelations - Dugu Gudu. He didn’t actually like this name very much, but no one had called him this rather silly name for many days now, and he was starting to miss it a little.
"My life is up to me, not Heaven, and I’ll cut off Bodhisattva first, then the immortals. Boss, what do you think of this slogan for us, Four Youths of Heavenly Revelations?"
"Lao-Jiu, did you hear this from some storyteller again?"
"How could that be? It took me days to think of it myself. Don’t you agree that when we Four Youths of Heavenly Revelations make a name for ourselves in the martial world, we ought to have a catchy slogan?"
"We meet again, Hidden River Head of Xie House, Xie Jiucheng," Dugu Gudu spoke slowly as he put down the oil-paper umbrella.
Xie Jiucheng snickered and held up his sabre. "Why? Taking advantage of my injury to seek revenge? With your skills, even if I was injured twice over, you won’t be able to kill me."
Dugu Gudu waved his sleeves and the qi in his body erupted. It wasn’t that long ago when he faced Xie Jiucheng previously, but his Heavenly Mantle skill had already broken through three realms.
"The heavenly mantle has seams but kills without form." Xie Jiucheng raised his sabre. "You can try." But as soon as he raised his sabre, he felt a prickling pain in his heart. The agony was so unbearable that he fell to the ground on one knee, feeling as if countless insects were crawling all over his body. He gritted his teeth, looked at the wound-healing medicine he’d just finished up and said with dread, "Poison."
"You Hidden River killers are indeed excellent at hiding your tracks, but that day, after you left the White Prince Residence, the Lanyue Marquis Residence steward sent me a letter. One's vigilance weakens when one is injured, not to mention that the one you offended was Jiu Jiudao. Do you know why he has this name? Because he has friends on all nine-by-nine of eighty-one streets in Heavenly Revelations City. When the entire Heavenly Revelations City is looking for a wounded wolf, where can he run to?" Dugu Gudu leaned down and looked at Xie Jiucheng kneeling on the ground. "I actually hate talking, but I'm saying all this just to tell you. You have to pay for what you did."
Xie Jiucheng gritted his teeth, yelled out in anger and waved his long sabre in a forward thrust.
Dugu Gudu waved his long sleeves at the long sabre.
The long sleeves were slashed apart and his Heavenly Mantle skill was still defeated. Dugu Gudu slapped a palm on Xie Jiucheng’s back. Xie Jiucheng spat out a mouthful of blood, but borrowing the power of the palm strike, he leaped out of the temple’s doors.
As long as he could escape from this decrepit temple, Xie Jiucheng was confident he could leave this place. But, he landed heavily and got back onto his feet only to realise that the entire street was full of people. There were people armed with sabres and swords at the intersection and others sitting on the roof eaves with bows and arrows. Everyone was staring at him.
The remaining two of the Four Youths of Heavenly Revelations, Hu Dan and Wu Daidai, stood amongst them. They stared hard at Xie Jiucheng, their eyes practically bleeding.
"We’re not some righteous and upright sect, nor are we decent and proper gentlemen. We’re fine with taking advantage of your injuries and we can outnumber you by force, because we’re Heavenly Revelations City’s lower class. But, there’s a saying in Heavenly Revelations City, 'better to bully the aristocrats, but don’t mess with the lower class'." Dugu Gudu struck with a heavy palm and smacked Xie Jiucheng into flying out.
Xie Jiucheng endured the severe agony and raised his long sabre. "Then go ahead and try!"
Hu Dan also drew the long sword at his waist, and yelled with all his strength, "Kill!"
The rain finally stopped.
A man in a black robe and a silver mask walked slowly down the street. He was already soaked by the heavy downpour earlier but he appeared completely unaware. He merely wondered why the rain didn’t continue for a little longer?
Unexpectedly, when a person's heart had gone so cold, there were still things he could care about.
Until a person fell in front of him. The person tumbled into a puddle, splashing the muddy water onto Su Changhe's leg. Su Changhe lowered his head and looked at him coldly, but saw a familiar face.
"Patriarch… help me," Xie Jiucheng called out plaintively.
Su Changhe leaned down, then reached out to probe Xie Jiucheng's pulse below his jaw. He shook his head and said, "You’re about to die."
"I know Patriarch must have a way." Xie Jiucheng kept pouring blood from his mouth. "Save me…"
Su Changhe frowned and thought for a while, then waved his hand lightly.
Two people appeared beside him and lifted Xie Jiucheng.
"Send him to the Red Prince Residence," Su Changhe said mildly.
"Yes, sir!" The two immediately retreated to the side with Xie Jiucheng.
But a group of people arrived in front of them. Dugu Gudu, Hu Dan and Wu Daidai were at the forefront and Wu Daidai yelled out, "Leave him here!"
Su Changhe turned his head and his eyes flashed across them coldly.
Everyone felt a sudden tremor run through their heart at the same time and they unwittingly came to a stop.
"I’m in a bad mood today, so bad that I’m itching to kill people." Su Changhe looked at them, but nobody knew who he was talking to.
Dugu Gudu frowned and murmured, "This person is very strong."
"But that fellow is in their hands. We were so close," Hu Dan said anxiously.
Dugu Gudu reached out an arm to stop those who had regained their senses and were about to charge ahead. "Don't get yourselves killed!"
Su Changhe noticed him and he smiled coldly. "You’re smarter than them."
"Sir, this person in your hands is our enemy," Dugu Gudu said slowly.
"Get lost!" Su Changhe cursed. If it weren't because openly killing people on the street was not something an elite killer like him should be doing, Su Changhe would already have killed every last person in front of him.
"Sir, what’s your name?" asked Dugu Gudu.
"You ask for my name, because you want to seek revenge?" Su Changhe took a step forward.
"Sir, we must have the man in your hands. If not today, then tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. If not this year, then next year. If not this life, then the next. We won’t stop, we won’t rest, we won’t give up even in death," Dugu Gudu proclaimed solemnly.
"Very well. My name is Su Changhe." Su Changhe took a sudden interest in the person in front of him. Someone interesting that was worthy of being killed by him.
"I will remember it." Dugu Gudu turned around, waved his long sleeves and said bitterly, "Let's go."
*
Non-poetry note:
我命由我不由天，先斩菩萨再斩仙。
My life is up to me, not Heaven, and I’ll cut off Bodhisattva first, then the immortals.
Jiu Jiudao’s proposed slogan was created by the author, as far as I can tell. Literally, 斩 means to “chop off / behead” and that’s probably what he really meant but I decided to translate it a little more figuratively. Bodhisattva are beings on the path towards enlightenment in Buddhism and becoming an immortal is the goal of beings who cultivate Daoism. Hence, his slogan means he rejects both Buddhism and Daoism because he wants to be in control of his own life.