Chapter 32: This Is My Lady

Zhao Ti squinted slightly, wondering if Duan Yu had found his way here.

No one else would find this valley cave in such a short time; most likely Duan Yu had once again taken the original path, been knocked off the cliff, and ended up here.

So, should he silence him for good?

Zhao Ti circulated his inner force and silently retraced his steps.

After winding around a few times, he entered the stone chamber where the jade statue stood and saw Duan Yu standing in front of it, gazing at it in a daze.

Zhao Ti's face expressionless, he stroked his chin, deliberated for a few breaths, then suddenly spoke: "Brother Duan."

Duan Yu stood before the jade statue as if deaf, his eyes fixed only on the statue, muttering something under his breath, looking utterly spellbound.

Zhao Ti rubbed his forehead, walked over slowly, and even when he was right in front of him Duan Yu still hadn't noticed, so he had no choice but to cough loudly: "Brother Duan!"

"Ah…" Duan Yu was startled, finally coming to his senses, and looked at Zhao Ti in astonishment: "Zhao, Brother Zhao?"

Zhao Ti said with a straight face: "Why is Brother Duan here?"

Duan Yu was instantly greatly embarrassed at the words, recalling that eavesdropping on the intimate moments of the male and female disciples of Wuliang Sword on the cliff earlier was hardly the act of a gentleman, and stammered: "Zhao, Brother Zhao, is this place your home?"

Zhao Ti nodded: "It is indeed my home."

Duan Yu immediately looked somewhat delighted, but then froze again, his expression flustered with a trace of hope: "Brother Zhao, is the Fairy Sister your younger sister?"

Zhao Ti glanced at the jade statue and said: "Does Brother Duan think the two of us look alike?"

Duan Yu hurriedly nodded: "Alike, far too alike, simply like twins without the slightest difference."

Zhao Ti burst out laughing, stepped forward and lightly patted Duan Yu's shoulder: "Brother Duan, to tell you the truth, this jade statue is my wife."

"Wife… what wife?" Duan Yu felt as though struck by five thunderbolts at the words, his heart suddenly overwhelmed with a bitter mix of emotions.

"That is, my Lady, my better half, my old woman…" Zhao Ti said with a smile.

"I, I don't believe it…" Duan Yu's face went deathly pale, and he looked at Zhao Ti: "Brother Zhao must be joking with me. Brother Zhao couldn't possibly live here either—this valley has so few supplies, how could anyone live here…"

Zhao Ti feigned anger: "Why couldn't I? I originally lived right here. It's just that my Lady had a child, and living here was inconvenient, so the whole family moved to Suzhou in the Great Song. If you don't believe it, there's still a child's cradle inside!"

Duan Yu was utterly lost at the words, his eyes blank, no longer speaking.

Zhao Ti, having given up the idea of silencing him, didn't want to see him in such a state. Just as he was about to say a few honest words, he saw Duan Yu seem to think of something, and suddenly blush crimson: "Since Brother Zhao says the Fairy Sister is your wife, do you know her surname and given name?"

Zhao Ti said: "My wife."

Duan Yu said awkwardly: "Wi, wife… I know Brother Zhao is a gentleman, please still tell me."

Zhao Ti frowned: "Does a gentleman ask another person's Lady for her name?"

Duan Yu's face turned even redder; at this moment he wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into, stammering and unable to speak.

Seeing this, Zhao Ti shook his head and sighed: "But we're all children of the jianghu, so even if I tell Brother Duan it doesn't matter. If we meet in the future, you may have to call her Lady once."

Duan Yu stared blankly: "Fairy Sister… Lady?"

Zhao Ti laughed: "What Fairy Sister? She's just a woman who spends all day dressing herself up prettily, painting her brows and styling her hair, reading her dry old books."

Duan Yu glanced at the jade statue, then back at Zhao Ti: "Brother Zhao…"

Zhao Ti said: "Right, my wife is called Wang Yuyan. Remember that from now on when you meet her, just call her Lady. I won't say more to Brother Duan—I still have some matters to attend to outside."

"Wang… Yuyan." Duan Yu murmured: "What a fine name, the Fairy Sister truly has such a fine name. Sigh, Brother Zhao…"

Zhao Ti ignored him and walked straight along a stone stairway leading diagonally upward at the side of the chamber—this was the secret passage to the outside of the valley in his memory.

"Brother Zhao, you, what you just said—was it true…" Seeing Zhao Ti give no response and disappear after a moment, Duan Yu felt terribly sad, thinking to himself: yes, yes, Brother Zhao is so familiar with this place, he certainly wasn't lying.

He recalled what Zhao Ti had just said and wanted to go inside to see if there was a child's cradle, but his heart hesitated and was unwilling. Just then he noticed what seemed to be characters near the embroidered shoes beneath the jade statue, and hurriedly bent down to look.

He saw that the right inner side of the embroidered shoe was embroidered with "Kowtow a thousand times and serve me," and the left with "Obey my command, die a hundred deaths without regret."

Duan Yu couldn't help being stunned, wondering what this meant. Why would the Fairy Sister carve such words here? Why hadn't Brother Zhao mentioned it just now?

But at this moment he felt desolate in his heart, as if the vast world no longer had a place for him, as if all things under heaven had lost their meaning. Alone and wretched, he would only find his place in death. No longer caring about any of it, he knelt on the large prayer cushion and began kowtowing without stopping.

As he kowtowed, his mind wandered drowsily: the Fairy Sister said to kowtow a thousand times, so I'll kowtow two thousand, three thousand…

The small prayer cushion in front had already been torn, with the cattail stuffing showing through. As he kowtowed, bits of straw flew everywhere; though the cushion was thick, it kept sinking and thinning under his kowtowing.

He didn't know how many times he finally kowtowed. Duan Yu only felt all his strength spent, gasping for breath, before plopping down onto the ground.

Zhao Ti entered the secret passage and headed straight upward. After turning three bends, he didn't know how far he'd gone when he faintly heard a rumbling water sound, and his heart rejoiced.

He then quickened his pace. Reaching the end of the passage, he saw ahead a cave barely large enough to fit a person. He peered outside and saw surging waves, the current swift—it was a great river.

The cliffs on the riverbank rose sheer, jagged and towering—this should be the Lancangjiang.

The spot where he now stood was about ten zhang above the riverbank, but it wasn't a sheer drop and could be climbed down.

After a short while he descended to the riverbank. What met his eyes was a stretch of broken rocks with no path to walk at all. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked all around, but saw no sign of Zhou Dong or Su Da.

Zhao Ti thought for a few breaths, then bent down and arranged several stones into special shapes as secret marks. He then walked forward, leaving another mark every one or two li, until after seven or eight li he saw a wild peach tree, walked up, and picked some fruit to eat until half-full.

He then continued onward, walking another dozen or so li, and finally saw a road. Following it straight ahead, he spotted an iron chain bridge crossing the river, with three large characters "Shan Ren Du" (Good People's Crossing) carved on a stone by the bridge.

Zhao Ti frowned and thought: the Lancangjiang side is all continuous mountains. Since he hadn't seen Zhou Dong and the other after walking this far, it wouldn't do to keep staying here. In any case, he'd already left secret marks, and the two of them knew he was safe—they could just follow along.

He then stepped onto the iron bridge and crossed the river. Below, the river water rushed swift as ten thousand horses galloping. His body swayed with the iron chains, yet he moved as light as a willow in the wind, without effort, and crossed the great river in no time.

On the other side there was indeed a road the whole way. After walking about an hour, he saw a vast stretch of black dense forest ahead, canopy after canopy, blocking out the light—how dark and deep it was.