Chapter 95: Clear Sky Day Chapter 74: The Spirit-Beast Girl and the Butcher's Knife

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

Shaowei behind the screen seemed quite pleased that Liu Qi had listened to her advice, so she spoke up to chat with him for almost the first time, though the topic was not very peaceful: "Did you really kill someone in your dream just now?"

"I really killed." Liu Qi looked at the screen, smiling faintly: "But I did it on purpose to scare him, far fewer than a dozen or so people, only one person."

Shaowei said: "I also often dream of killing people, I even dreamed of it yesterday. Since it's all a dream, why don't you dream a bit bigger? Last night in my dream I alone killed through thousands of armies and tens of thousands of horses."

This dream scenario probably originated from that saying the household servants often repeated: "One person cannot kill through thousands of armies and tens of thousands of horses." This impossible obsession simply transferred itself into her dreams.

Hearing she killed thousands in her dream, Liu Qi sighed with a tone of some self-deprecation: "If the Blue-Robed Monk learned of your existence, he would surely feel I am merely a petty ghost; the peerless demon truly needing his salvation is someone else."

Shaowei snorted disdainfully: "I wager he wouldn't dare say those things to me even if he saw me."

As these words fell, Shaowei heard a laugh that was inexplicably refreshing and satisfying; after a moment, she heard the other ask: "Why do you kill in your dreams, is it also for revenge?"

Perhaps because a screen separated them, so no one could see her expression, Shaowei felt less burdened; she looked at the roof and said softly: "More or less, for an ox, and a person who's a bit annoying."

When she spoke of that somewhat annoying person, her voice indeed carried some lingering resentment.

Liu Qi picked up the thread very naturally, mocking no one, omitting no one: "It must be a very important ox, and a very important person."

Shaowei: "The ox is very important, the person is just incidentally a bit important."

Liu Qi felt that what she called 'incidentally a bit important,' to an ordinary person, would probably also be extremely important.

Unknown who that person is, but to be regarded by her as an important person is truly fortunate; one imagines being able to share a bond with someone as firm as a rock, if alive, would surely be pursued to the ends of the earth by her without giving up; even if dead, the soul would probably not fall into the silent abyss.

Liu Qi did not reply further; he lay there, turning his head to silently gaze at that carved screen.

Shaowei faintly sensed a thread of being watched, so she also turned her head.

In a moment of quiet, the two people were simultaneously drawn to the carvings on the screen.

Carved upon it were a red sun, a stretch of snow mountains, and a herd of galloping horses.

Liu Qi's gaze slowly moved upward, finally settling on that red sun; sunlight squeezing through the window cracks made it in this instant seem to transform into reality. Red jade emitting light, the ice-sealed snow mountains seemed about to shatter and melt beneath this sunlight.

Shaowei saw the back of the screen, but this screen had always been placed here, she had looked at it many times, so at this moment she could naturally also envision the complete picture in her mind.

She thought of that galloping herd of horses, suddenly sat up, and asked: "Can I practice horse-riding technique in this garden?"

Liu Qi's downward gaze swept over that herd of horses, and he couldn't help but realize she could even generate the self-awareness to improve her skills facing a mere screen; by comparison, he just now seemed to be standing in a castle in the air, indulging in a long stretch of idle reverie.

He snapped back to attention and asked curiously: "You actually don't know how to ride a horse?"

The person sitting up behind the screen hesitated a moment, then said: "It's not that I don't know, can't I strive for perfection?"

Liu Qi nodded: "True, knowing how to read you can still continue reading, knowing how to ride you still must diligently practice riding."

Shaowei's eyeballs shifted slightly; she felt his way of putting it sounded even more open-minded and composed, she'd say it like that next time too, and rapidly ran examples in her heart: also like knowing how to write means you can't practice calligraphy? Knowing how to eat means you don't have to keep eating? — The second one sounds like picking a fight, no good, cross it out.

Shaowei rose from the bamboo couch and walked out, looking at Liu Qi: "So in the end is it feasible or not?"

Liu Qi changed from lying to sitting, and nodded at her: "Feasible. I just thought it over; at the very back of the garden there's an open space, though you can't gallop wildly, practicing basic horse-riding technique should be enough. I'll have someone pick a good horse and send it over as soon as possible."

Shaowei nodded, and said seriously to him "Many thanks," her gaze shifting to land on that mask in his right hand, then she strode forward a few steps and extended her hand: "Give it to me."

This was originally her thing anyway, asking for it casually was perfectly normal, so Liu Qi handed it over naturally.

Deng Hu returned from outside, reopened both hall doors fully, then went to open the windows for ventilation.

Vast sunlight instantly filled this pavilion, the gloom and stuffiness swept clean; Shaowei turned around, seeing the piercing sunlight, and the shadow that appeared beneath her feet along with the sunlight.

Shaowei stared at this ordinary shadow of hers for a while in a daze.

A moment later, she pensively raised her left hand and pressed that mask onto her own face; whereupon the shadow grew ferocious, majestic spirit-beast horns.

She then tried raising her right arm halfway as well; the short knife she had fished from her sleeve, still unsheathed, gripped in her right hand instantly cast a shadow too.

Liu Qi sat in the shade cast by the screen, watching the back of that girl wearing a red gold curved-hem robe, hair arranged in a hanging bun.

She stood in the sunlight; the shadow beneath her feet looked exactly like a black spirit-beast gripping a butcher's knife.

Her back was straight, her aura gradually unfolding.

Liu Qi suddenly felt she seemed to have made some decision in this instant; he didn't know what the decision was, but he had a premonition it would mostly be beyond his expectations.

After this autumn sun had set and risen three times again, Shaowei got her wish and sat upon a horse's back.

Before this, she had urged him twice, but Liu Qi always said he hadn't yet been able to select a truly worthy good horse to match her, plus that ground also needed clearing, removing some scattered rocks and chaotic branches.

Waiting these three extra days, Shaowei's injuries had further healed, her figure becoming even more lithe.

And at the moment she climbed onto the horse's back, both Liu Qi and Deng Hu saw a fact: no technique at all, all brute force... or rather, raw strength.

The conclusion was: she is indeed formidable, but indeed does not know how to ride a horse.

When Shaowei was thirteen and said she wanted to be a wandering hero in the future, Jiang Fu once asked if Shaowei wanted to learn horseback riding; a hero must have a good horse to be imposing and carefree.

Shaowei felt a moment's stirring, but on second thought, in all of Taoxi Township not a single horse could be found; travel relied entirely on oxen, donkeys, mules and other common livestock; rashly keeping a horse for riding would inevitably be too conspicuous, not conducive to Jiang Fu hiding his tracks to avoid enemies.

She refused the proposal, declaring proudly: "A hero already has peerless lightness skill, why would they need a horse?"

Privately she thought: learning after becoming a hero isn't too late.

Until she experienced a slaughter in the small courtyard, and had to urgently chase southward, did Shaowei realize many things simply won't wait for her to be ready before happening.

However outstanding lightness skill may be, it still consumes physical strength, absolutely unsuitable for long journeys, especially when injured.

She had only a few experiences riding oxen; under the household servants' temporary guidance along the way, she just forced herself onto a horse's back and hurriedly jolted forward.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard's horses were all sturdy; for an ordinary inexperienced person, they'd fall half to death, but Shaowei prevailed because her leg strength was extraordinarily powerful, and this is the most important condition for riding.

Even so, no fewer than ten times she nearly tumbled off the horse's back, several times already hanging on the horse's belly, relying entirely on outstanding reaction ability and astonishing strength to pull herself up again and again.

The horse was stubborn, the person even more stubborn; under this absolute strength suppression, one person and one horse both galloped forward with violent tempers.

When Shaowei caught up to the post station where Zhu Zhi's group was resting, her whole body was nearly falling apart, her palms and inner thighs both chafed raw with bloody marks; her claim that she lacked strength when assassinating Zhu Zhi was no lie.

At this moment, watching the girl's figure swaying to and fro on the horse's back, Liu Qi was extremely anxious, and finally stepped forward to take the reins from her hand.

The rough reins had been soaked by the sweat in her palm until they were somewhat cool and damp; her cheeks were flushed, whether from anxious vexation or from the sun's scorching.

Liu Qi pressed down the corners of his mouth to suppress a smile, did not meet her eyes, did not look at her face, lest she feel he was provoking or mocking her; he only spoke to correct her sitting posture, teaching her how to maintain balance.

He spoke from the shoulder to the hand and then to the knee; Shaowei did not speak, but her body parts all adjusted along with his words, neat and standard, with a kind of precision that hit exactly where aimed.

"The force of the foot in the stirrup also has its particulars, especially when the horse moves fast — the body leans forward, and the force of the foot in the stirrup must also be forward." As Liu Qi spoke, one hand reached from the outside to grasp her right foot clad in embroidered shoes, pressing it forward in the stirrup.

Shaowei only felt a stabbing pain in her foot, nearly losing the stirrup and lashing out with a sudden kick.

Liu Qi had already moved his hand away, then demonstrated the method of wrapping the reins: "It is not simply a matter of holding them in the hand; the wrapping method and force can be divided into three kinds — when stationary, wrap three circles and grip tightly; when starting and walking slowly, release half a circle; when galloping fast, only one circle need remain..."

The youth's fingers were distinct and slender; the reins wrapped cleanly around his palm, transforming in the sunlight with unhurried movements: "Just let the fingertips curve slightly; otherwise it is very easy to injure the tiger's mouth."

He demonstrated once more from the beginning; after Shaowei tried it, he led the horse and took her slowly around two circles, and also told her how to discern the rhythm of the horse's hooves, fast and slow, so as to adjust her coordinating posture.

Shaowei sat upright on the horse, beginning to try to coordinate with the horse's rhythm to move forward, rather than solely relying on brute force to subdue it.

When they reached the third circle, Shaowei said to Liu Qi: "I've learned it; you go back, I'll practice on my own."

Saying this, she reached out to ask for her reins back.

While handing the reins back, Liu Qi said: "You need not feel guilty; I am merely slightly crippled, still young, not to the point where I cannot even lead a horse for these few circles."

Half of Shaowei's inner thoughts were pierced through.

Having him limp along leading the horse for her, she indeed felt some guilt; this feeling was similar to last year at the prefecture/county when she went to buy wine for Jiang Fu, hearing that a Hundred Tricks troupe had come nearby, she eagerly pulled Qingwu along to watch.

Hundred Tricks mostly perform only at the imperial court; they are rarely seen among the common people. Shaowei squeezed through layer upon layer of crowds, clearing a path for Qingwu at the front, so the two of them managed to stand at the very front to watch.

The performance before them was indeed novel at first glance; various acrobatics were very lively — some folded themselves into inconceivable shapes, some balanced bowls, some swallowed swords.

But those few people were all advanced in years, their figures withered, white-haired, more or less all carrying some disability; their bodies trembled during the performance, yet they still had to force out smiles of high spirits.

Shaowei and Qingwu glanced at each other, only to see on both their faces not the enjoyment of appreciating Hundred Tricks, but the unease of abusing the elderly.

Hastily throwing down the copper coins on her person, Shaowei pulled Qingwu and fled the scene.

At this moment, toward Liu Qi, Shaowei also felt a similar guilty conscience, as if driving and abusing a lame man.

Furthermore, she disliked being seen in the wretched state of arduous practice; she only wanted to display the imposing results.

However, turning her head, she saw Deng Hu leading another horse over; Liu Qi said to her: "The person involved is confused; I will mount and ride a few circles for you to watch. You have great aptitude; if you can gain a few more key points, you will certainly progress with divine speed."

In the end Shaowei did not refuse; she always had much competitiveness with nowhere to place it, unwilling to be inferior before others, but this unreasonable competitiveness at this moment also served as a restraint or two — mastering it quickly was the primary proper business; if she couldn't even learn it well, how could she speak of surpassing others.

So she said: "If it's inconvenient for you, you could also have Guard Deng Hu take your place."

"Unnecessary." Liu Qi took the reins presented by Deng Hu; he mounted from the horse's right side, right foot stepping onto the stirrup, lifting his body in a leap, extremely nimbly seating himself on the horse's back. The wide robe of cyan embroidered with gold thread fluttered with the movement; the youth's figure was like an eagle spreading its wings to soar through the sky. When the robe fell, it seemed to transform into a piece of Noble Azure-Gold Stone, innately precious, fit only for refining into a heavenly holy object.

He sat on the horse's back just as he did when sitting or standing normally; one could not tell his left leg was any different — only the horse did not move fast, this limited ground could not allow fast running anyway, and moreover he still had to teach.

Shaowei followed, running slowly alongside, observing his movements — from his hands to his shoulders to his waist and back to his knees and legs, except for his face, she repeatedly watched everything.

Thus he taught for another half a shichen; Liu Qi flipped off the horse, yielding the ground to Shaowei who still refused to dismount.

Liu Qi did not leave immediately; he retreated to a distance, sat on a stone under the tree shade and watched for a while longer, only to see the person on the horse single-mindedly focused to the utmost; any slight incorrectness in movement she could immediately correct on her own — truly deserving of the phrase "progress with divine speed."

Gazing at that girl who looked nothing like a mundane visitor, after a moment Liu Qi turned his head and asked the parrot perched on a higher stone: "Can you tell me her name?"

Zhan Zhan turned her head to look at him; she had heard similar words before, when someone came to harass Jiang Fu —

The bird's eyeballs rolled, rapidly searching the corresponding vocabulary in its brain, then suddenly spread its wings, jumped on its tiptoes, and shrieked: "Bold Rioter! Bold Rioter!"

Liu Qi was greatly startled, hurriedly raising his hand to signal that bird who feared the world would not be chaotic enough to calm down and speak cautiously; at the same time he turned to look at the rider, seeing she had not been distracted to pay attention this way, he then let out a breath of relief.

Having witnessed his master inexplicably go through this chaotic scene, Deng Hu's expression was knotted and tangled, looking at the bird that flew away cursing and grumbling.

Not far away, the girl still diligently persevered; the horse's hooves still went kick-kick tap-tap.

Even more surging and dense hoofbeats appeared within the Embroidered Uniform Guard troop returning to the capital.

Zhu Zhi's carriage was surrounded and protected in the very middle of the troop, yet he still feared day and night, anger and terror; when he slept fitfully, nightmares came unceasingly.