Novel Bin Chapter 15 – Disciples of the Eastern Heretic, Part 5
Chapter 15 – Disciples of the Eastern Heretic, Part 5
After a while, he heard the sound of a flute coming through the window. Yang Guo had seen her use a jade flute to fight with Li Mochou, her martial arts weren’t weak; her musical skills with the flute were great as well.
During his time in the Ancient Tomb, Xiao Longnu would occasionally play the zither and he would sit by the side and listen to her explain the meaning of songs; thus he was coarsely learned in music. He could tell that she was playing a tune of ‘Wu She Shang’, the song of ‘qi ao’. This song was peaceful and serene; Yang Guo had heard it a few times but he didn’t love it. He heard that she kept on repeating the first five phrases, ‘Looking into the distance of the mysterious Qi, the green bamboo aplenty, there’s a gentleman, like a clean cut, polished and carved jade.’ Whether it’s high or low, whether there are sudden drops and rises, the tunes are variations of these five phrases, winding and drowning in its meanings. Yang Guo knew that these five phrases also came from the ‘Shi Jing’, it praises the elegance of a male, cut and polished elegantly like the smoothness of beautiful jade.
Yang Guo listened for a while and couldn’t stop himself from quietly reciting, “Looking into the distance of the mysterious Qi, the green bamboo aplenty…” The flute suddenly stopped after these two phrases.
Yang Guo was startled and lamented his actions, “She was playing the flute to comfort herself; by quietly reciting those lines I showed that I understood what she was thinking, that is a bit too impolite.”
When the young girl brought breakfast in the next morning, she saw that Yang Guo was wearing the human skin mask, she was taken aback, and then laughed and she said, “Why are you wearing that?”
Yang Guo said, “You gave this to me; you don’t want to show your true face so I’m wearing this.”
The young girl said calmly, “That’s fine.” After she said this she placed the breakfast down and left the room; she didn’t say anything else to him that day.
Yang Guo was feeling uneasy; he was afraid that he had offended her and wanted to say a few apologetic words. She didn’t stop in the room for the rest of the day. Later on during the evening, she waited for Yang Guo to finish eating supper before returning to collect the bowls and chopsticks; as she was about to leave, Yang Guo said, “Sister, you play the flute really well, can you play a tune for me?”
The young girl gave a subtle moan and then said, “Fine.” She left the room and collected her jade flute. She returned and sat by Yang Guo’s bed, playing a tune on the flute. This time she played the song ‘Ying Xian Ke’ (Meeting the Divine Guest), it was a graceful and joyous tune, a song that greets a guest.
Yang Guo thought, “So your flute also wear’s a mask, not willing to show the song that is in your heart.”
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could be heard in the midst of the flute’s music; someone was hurrying towards this place. The young girl placed the flute down and went to the door, calling out, “Cousin!”
Someone rushed to the house and was panting as they said, “Cousin, that witch has picked up our traces and she’s on her way now; let’s go!”
Yang Guo was pleased when he heard Lu Wushuang’s voice, but he was alarmed when he heard that witch Li Mochou was on the way. He then thought, “So that girl is Wifey’s cousin.”
He heard the young girl say, “Someone’s injured and is recuperating inside.”
Lu Wushuang said, “Who?”
The young girl replied, “The person that saved your life.”
Lu Wushuang replied, “Sha Dan! He’s… he’s in there!! She dashed into the room as she said this.
The joy and delight on her face could be seen in the moonlight; she called out, “Sha Dan, Sha Dan! How come you’re here? This time, it seems like it’s your turn to be the injured one.”
Yang Guo said, “Wifey…” He could only say one word before he thought about the elegant and refined young girl in blue green standing aside, he stopped joking and took back his words, he asked, “How did Li Mochou find you again?”
Lu Wushuang said, “After that battle at the restaurant, you suddenly left and my cousin took me to this place to recuperate. Actually, I recovered from my wound a long time ago; I was feeling bored so I went to Xianguang for a little while. That day, I bumped into two beggars, I eavesdropped on them and heard that there was a ‘Heroes’ gathering at Da Xingguan. I hurried to Da Xingguan to take a look but by the time I got there, it had finished. I was afraid that my cousin was worrying about me so I hurried back. Outside a teashop at the town ahead, I saw that witch’s donkey, her donkey has changed but the ringing of the golden bell hasn’t…” As she got to this point, her voice trembled as she continued, “At least my time wasn’t up yet, if I had bumped into her head on, I wouldn’t have been able to see you two.”
Yang Guo said, “This girl is your cousin? She saved me but I still don’t know her name.”
The young girl replied, “I…”
Lu Wushuang suddenly stretched out her hand and pulled their masks off at the same time and said, “That witch is going to get here soon; why are you two still mucking around with these masks at a time like this?”
A bright light shone in Yang Guo’s eyes; the young girl had an oval face that sparkled, her skin glimmered like snow; though her beauty couldn’t match Xiao Longnu’s, she was still an extremely beautiful girl.