A Solitary Box (Part 4)

outside the window was a small courtyard filled with the fragrance of plums and pine trees, a scent that would cause anyone to feel extremely happy. Black-garbed guards packed the long, gloomy walkway on the side of the courtyard. Long blades hung from their waists.

At the end of the walkway was a door.

As soon as Little Gao shot out of the window, he caught sight of Cloudy Sky and the others carrying Yang Jian through the door.

And then the door shut.

The black-garbed guards had already unsheathed their long blades. The blades gleamed, and ten of the guards charged toward Little Gao.

They didn't ask who Little Gao was? They didn't ask why he was here?

No. Because they had received orders: if any stranger entered the courtyard, they were to kill on sight, no questions asked!

**

Little Gao didn't explain why he was here, or what the circumstances were. It was already past the time when words could be used to make explanations.

At the moment, the only thing he could do was attack first, using his fastest techniques.

He had to get to the door at the end of the walkway, as quickly as possible.

Light of shimmered forth from the blade, despite the fact that Little Gao's sword was still wrapped up in cloth.

He didn't draw the sword. Using only the rough cloth sheathing, he had already flicked aside four blades, and knocked down four people.

In a flash, he entered the walkway. Seven or eight more men attacked him. He knocked them down and dashed toward the door.

But Zhuo Donglai had already reached the door.

He had been hiding behind the scenes the whole time. Upon any sudden change, he could appear at a moment's notice.

Little Gao looked at him and let out a long breath. "I thought I would make it on time, but sadly I'm late."

A blade flickered behind him, but Little Gao didn't look back. Zhuo Donglai waved a hand and the descending blade light suddenly disappeared.

"Why are you here?" asked Zhuo Donglai coldly. "What do you want?��

"I just want to see someone."

"Who?"

"A killer."

Zhuo Donglai smiled coldly. "No one can kill anyone here."

"They can," said Little Gao. "There's one who can."

Zhuo Donglai's expression suddenly changed, because he had just noticed the faint reek of blood.

Shockingly, the smell of the blood emanated from behind the door.

Zhuo Donglai turned around and pushed it open, and in that moment, it seemed as if he had fallen into hell.

Part 7

Behind the door was what used to be a delicate, resplendent room. As of now, it had been turned into hell.

Hell does not contain living people, and neither did this room.

The seven living people who had just entered the room would never live again. Some had throats cut open, some had hearts impaled, stabbed through from front to back.

The most miserable of all was Yang Jian.

His head was nowhere to be seen, and scattered next to his body were a handful of paper cards. Written on each card were eight characters: "This is the end fate of a traitor!"

**

There were four windows in the room, all open.

Where was the killer?

The stars twinkled outside the open windows, and from far off could be heard the raucous sound of drums and gongs. Tonight was the night of the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, so the night curfew had been lifted. [5]

Zhuo Donglai stood silently for a long time, the cold wind blowing on his face. Surprisingly, he didn't dispatch people to pursue the assassin. Instead, he turned around and stared at Little Gao.

"You knew killers had been sent here?"

"If I knew, then you should have known as well." He sighed. "I've been wanting to see that person for a long time."

"But there wasn't just one killer."

The throats had been cut with a slender, sharp blade. The hearts had been pierced with an extremely sharp-tipped spear.

And Yang Jian's head had been lopped off with some sort of ax.

Zhuo Donglai seemed calm again. Calm and composed.

"You should be able to tell that there were at least three people here," he said. "There is nobody who can use three different methods, and completely different weapons, to kill people."

"Yes, there is." Little Gao's response was completely heartfelt. "There's one."

"You really believe that there is a person like this in the world? Some expert who can use three different weapons at the same time to kill seven people?"

"Yes!" said Little Gao, with complete confidence. "Who knows, maybe there's even two people. But definitely at least one."

"Who is this person?"

"I don't know." Little Gao sighed again. "If you hadn't blocked my way just now, I might have had a chance to see him."

Zhuo Donglai continued to stare at him. His palms felt as if they were sweating.

"Alhtough," said Little Gao, "I actually didn't know he was here in Chang'an. And I never imagined that he would be working as an assassin for Zhu Meng."

Zhuo Donglai continued to stare at him for a long time. He stared at his facial expression, his bearing, the way he stood, the cloth-wrapped sword in his hand. He suddenly said, "I believe you. If you want to leave, you can leave."

This shocked the standers-by. This was not Zhuo Donglai's style. He had never let someone off so easily.

The only reason he would do something like this was if he considered Little Gao to be very dangerous. Under such circumstances, he wouldn't want to give rise to any more trouble.

Little Gao laughed.

"I know that I can leave any time I want," he said. "The thing is, I don't want to go."

"Why?"

"Because there's something I need to tell you."

"What's that?"

"My surname isn't Li, and my given name isn't Huicheng. Furthermore, I didn't come here for Yang Jian."

"I know," said Zhuo Donglai. "Because of that, I'm letting you leave."

"Actually, there are a lot of things you don't know." Little Gao laughed. "And because you don't know, I'm not leaving."

Zhuo Donglai's hands clenched into fists.

He suddenly realized that this young man had a streak of unruliness that was at first difficult to detect. He was like a wild animal that had just wandered down from the deep mountains, not the least bit afraid of anyone or anything.

"I'm surnamed Gao, and I came here for a person."

"For who?"

"For Sima Chaoqun. The invincible Sima Chaoqun."

Within Zhuo Donglai's clenched fists, cold sweat sprang forth.

"You're Gao Jianfei! The young swordsman Gao Jianfei who in three months time assassinated the four greatest masters of the sword sects Kunlun, Huashan, and Kongtong!" [6]

"Yes," said LittleGao. "That's me."

**

The night grew darker, the wind blew harder.

"I don't kill people in secret," said Little Gao. "So set a date, and a place. I want to find out if Sima Chaoqun really is invincible."

Zhuo Donglai laughed. "I guarantee that you will find out. I just wish you didn't have to."

Part 8

There was no curfew on the long street. The flower markets and festive lanterns were very picturesque.

There were all types of lanterns and all types of people. But it seemed as if Little Gao didn't notice them at all.

Zhuo Donglai had promised to offer a response within one month, and had promised to give him a chance at a fair fight with Sima Chaoqun.

This was why he had come to this place, and yet it seemed as if he was not very focused on the matter.

As of now, his mind was focused on a solitary person, and a solitary box.

—Exactly what kind of person was he? Exactly what kind of fearsome weapon was this box?

Part 9

At the same moment, amidst the black of night and the cold blowing wind, a solitary person, carrying a solitary box, quietly left the ancient city of Chang'an.

1. Chang'an is modern-day Xi'an in Shaanxi Province.

2. Zhuo Donglai's name in Chinese is 卓东来zhuō dōng lái. "Donglai" literally means "comes from the east."

3. Sima Chaoqun's name in Chinese is 司马超群 Sīmǎ chāoqún. Sima is a relatively uncommon compound-character Chinese surname. Chaoqun literally means something outstanding or extraordinary.

4. Die Wu's name in Chinese is 蝶舞 Dié wǔ. The first character is the character for "butterfly" and the second is "dance."

5. The fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar is Lantern Festival, and marks the official end of Spring Festival.

6. Gao Jianfei's name in Chinese is 高渐飞 gāo jiàn fēi. "Jian" means to do something gradually and "fei" means to fly.