Chapter 1915

This avalanche caused by the landslide buried half of Fan Yin Si, the most pitiful being the Tibetan monks inside the temple; many had already died when Liu Yuzhang and the elephant seal joined forces to attack, and the avalanche caused even more monks to die unjustly.

Hu Xiaotian had the flying roc place himself and Liu Yuzhang at the mountain's base; not long after, he saw Xia Zhangming and the elephant seal master come over, both of them frightened out of their wits by this sudden landslide; the earlier search had not found Master Yuanmu, and under these circumstances continuing the search was obviously impossible, so they could only first go to the predetermined meeting point to rendezvous with the others, planning to resume the search once the mountain situation stabilized.

Several people waited at the mountain's base until dark but did not see Ji Feihua come to meet them; Hu Xiaotian felt a bit disappointed but was not worried, because he believed Ji Feihua would certainly not come to harm. By comparison, Liu Yuzhang was the most regretful; everything he had carefully planned had now completely slipped out of his control, he firmly believed Ji Feihua had obtained an extremely important secret, and the reason he was avoiding them now was that he did not want to share that secret with them.

Hu Xiaotian instead comforted him at this moment: 'Don't worry, I will definitely do what I promised you.'

Liu Yuzhang sighed, thinking of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda; if they wanted to uncover its secrets, they could not do without him, and in the end they would still have to cooperate with him, so his mood improved a bit as he put on a calm facade: 'What do we have to worry about? Since we've chosen to cooperate with you, we won't regret it; but if we can't find those two skulls, this trip will be in vain.'

Hu Xiaotian, however, was convinced that Ji Feihua would surely return to find him and explain everything; since he thought that, perhaps Liu Yuzhang thought the same, and he smiled: 'When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a way; when the boat reaches the bridge, it will go straight naturally—why, sir, must you be anxious?'

Several people agreed to split up and meet three days later at Kanzhen to see if there was any news of Ji Feihua or Master Yuanmu.

After parting, Hu Xiaotian quietly took Xia Zhangming aside and quietly instructed him to hurry to Gu Ying Bao to meet with Xiong Tianba, to have the guards of Xima immediately return to the Central Plains, letting Hu Xiaotian know that the person he needed to be wary of was Liu Yuzhang, who had gained nothing this time and might hatch some plot; it would be wise to prepare in advance.

Fan Yin Si held the status of a state-protected monastery in Black Hu; this time Fan Yin Si was mostly destroyed, the living Buddha disappeared, the princess disappeared—absolutely a shocking national event for Black Hu. Hu Xiaotian also dared not return to Gu Ying Bao, he summoned the flying roc and flew to the snow cave where Ji Feihua had previously brought him to meet, hoping to find Ji Feihua there, but upon arriving at the snow cave he found it empty.

As Hu Xiaotian had expected, the day after the avalanche Black Hu dispatched a large force of troops, encircling Fan Yin Shan and launching a comprehensive search; Gu Ying Bao was also placed under total lockdown. As Black Hu's troops increased, the search radius even expanded to the snow cave where Hu Xiaotian was temporarily sheltering; fortunately, with the flying roc's help, evading those Black Hu troops' searches was easy.

Three days later, Hu Xiaotian's figure appeared in Kanzhen; to his surprise, besides himself no one else had arrived. He waited in town until dusk, finally losing hope—these people were all experts, and even if they ran into Black Hu troops they could surely escape easily; Hu Xiaotian did not worry about their safety, the only explanation being that they might have been delayed by something important.

As he was preparing to leave the town, a sudden peal of palace bells rang from behind, and a familiar voice said: 'Little bearded one, why did you abandon me?'

Hu Xiaotian's heart warmed, he turned around, only to see Ji Feihua dressed in Hu attire, riding a black steed, heroic and graceful, smiling at him. Hu Xiaotian laughed: 'Someone seems to be playing the victim before the villain!' Clearly it was Ji Feihua who abandoned him, yet now everything sounded like her justification—woman! Hu Xiaotian noticed that in his eyes Ji Feihua's femininity was growing stronger; he wondered whether it was his illusion or she had truly changed.

Ji Feihua dismounted, Hu Xiaotian grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a secluded spot; Ji Feihua puzzled: 'What are you doing?'

Hu Xiaotian said mysteriously: 'Liu Yuzhang might be nearby.'

Ji Feihua scoffed: 'You're afraid of him?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'How could I fear him? That senior eunuch is like sticky candy, searching everywhere for you; I'm worried that if he finds you he'll stick to you.'

Ji Feihua couldn't help laughing at his words, and Hu Xiaotian, bewildered by her laughter, asked: 'What are you laughing at? What's funny about me?'

Ji Feihua said: 'He's currently busy fighting over the skull.'

Hu Xiaotian startled: 'Then we must hurry as well; we can't let the skull fall into his hands.'

Ji Feihua said: 'What's important?' She swung onto her horse: 'I've prepared a fat sheep outside town—are you coming?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded eagerly: 'Coming… coming…' He looked up and saw Ji Feihua already galloping away, raising her whip and vanishing in a cloud of dust.

Hu Xiaotian set off in hot pursuit, but the town's streets were crowded with people coming and going; he also found it inconvenient to use his lightness skill, and did not want to draw too much attention.

Ji Feihua laughed heartily; Hu Xiaotian followed her out of town, and when he was sure no one was around, he leapt into the air, landing behind her, and without thinking threw his arms around her slender waist—how wonderful this felt, it wasn't that I, the young master, had lustful courage overflowing; you gave me this chance, if I still dared not act, would I even be a man?

Ji Feihua offered no resistance, but the road was too short; Hu Xiaotian hadn't even had time to properly savor the feeling of holding her when they had already arrived at the destination, and Ji Feihua said: 'Get down!'

Hu Xiaotian let out an 'oh', his heart full of disappointment—he really was just too timid; his arms should have been higher or lower just now, when had he become so proper? Dismounting, he saw that a lone tent had already been pitched here, presumably Ji Feihua had set up camp earlier.

Together they raised a campfire; Hu Xiaotian gazed at the endless white snow of the cold desert, a red sun in the west slowly sinking to the horizon, and he was inspired to recite: 'In the vast desert a lone smoke rises straight; over the long river the setting sun is round.'

Ji Feihua said: 'The setting sun can't be eaten as food, the lone smoke can't be drunk as wine; great poet, could you help roast this fat sheep?'

Hu Xiaotian turned around, only to see Ji Feihua taking out a skinned fat sheep from the tent; he reached out, took it, skewered it, placed it on the fire, and laughed: 'Is this sheep male or female?'

Ji Feihua stood aside, gazing at the gradually setting sun, and softly said: 'The meat of castrated lamb is the most delicious.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Just like a person.'

Ji Feihua turned her face; their eyes met, each understanding what the other was thinking, her cheeks slightly flushed, she whispered: 'I've never tried human flesh—how about using you as a test?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Are you trying to roast me?'

Ji Feihua gritted her teeth: 'I want to castrate you!'

Hu Xiaotian stuck out his tongue: 'What grudge, what hatred—this eunuch I've had enough of, no future; otherwise your eunuch head wouldn't have ended up roasting sheep in the northern desert alongside me.'

Ji Feihua recalled her days in the Dakang imperial palace and couldn't help laughing.

The red sun sank westward, the moon rabbit rose eastward; in the bleak, vast desert snow night only this pile of campfire burned brightly, the mutton had been roasted—charred outside, tender within, glistening with oil; Hu Xiaotian divided it with a dagger, and he and Ji Feihua ate meat and drank wine, he did not ask what had happened that day on the summit of Fan Yin Shan, because he knew Ji Feihua would say anything convenient.

Hu Xiaotian preferred sheep's head meat; one sheep's head he picked clean, while drinking he lightly tapped the skull with the back of his knife, like a monk striking a wooden fish.

Ji Feihua said: 'Why don't you ask me why I left without a word?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Everyone has their own secrets; if you don't want to tell, my asking is useless.'

Ji Feihua laughed: 'It seems you made quite a few appointments in Kanzhen, yet it looks like not a single one showed up.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Those who were supposed to come have come; that's enough.'

Ji Feihua's eyelashes fluttered once, then she asked: 'Do you know why they didn't come?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Actually I now somewhat understand; perhaps you left without a word to confuse Liu Yuzhang and his lot, creating the pretense that you and I are not intimately close, these past two days maybe you have already met Liu Yuzhang in private and reached some agreement I don't know about—for instance, you told him where the skull is, so Liu Yuzhang didn't bother coming to see me here, being busy rushing to seize the skull.'

Ji Feihua sighed: 'Hu Xiaotian, Hu Xiaotian, you are indeed clever.'

Hu Xiaotian smiled: 'It's not that I'm clever; it's that you unintentionally mentioned Liu Yuzhang just now, and we had agreed to meet here, which you didn't know, so I judged that you must have seen one of them, and after thinking it over, that person is most likely Liu Yuzhang, and only he would be so eager to meet you.'

Ji Feihua threw the wineskin to Hu Xiaotian; her expression showed a hint of annoyance, but in Hu Xiaotian's eyes it only made her look more endearing, more feminine.

"You don't want to see me?"

Hu Xiaotian said: 'I do want to, but I have no motive toward you!' Only a fool would believe that.

Ji Feihua let out a faint sigh, her gaze turned to the round moon in the sky, and she whispered: 'Your words make no sense; even if I knew where the skull was, why would I tell Liu Yuzhang?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Perhaps you know he could never get it, or perhaps that skull was never that important to begin with.'

Ji Feihua's eyes brightened; at this moment she was conquered by Hu Xiaotian's powerful analytical ability—no wonder he so young could achieve such feats, no wonder she favored him, and indeed she had not misjudged him.

Hu Xiaotian raised the wineskin and gulped down several big mouthfuls of wine, then stuffed a piping-hot piece of mutton into his mouth, laughing: 'In life, when one is proud, one must indulge to the fullest; do not let the golden goblet face the moon in vain—let's not talk about these troublesome matters; tonight we'll drink till we're drunk, and speak only of romance and moonlight.'

Ji Feihua looked at him and said: 'Too bad tonight is not a clear breeze and bright moon, but a bleak wind and cold moon.'

Hu Xiaotian smiled: 'Whether it's a clear breeze and bright moon or a bleak wind and cold moon, as long as you're here, it's splendid weather!' (To be continued~^~)