Song of Adolescence

Chapter 77 A Drizzling Day for Killing

Lei Wujie, Xiao Se, Li Fansong and Fei Xuan stood on the same spot foolishly. After a while, Lei Wujie shook his head, “Just reading out a poem without head or tail. So, is this Zhao Yuzhen going to come down the mountain or not.”

“Half sober and half drunk were his days, the flowers wilted and bloomed every year.” Li Fansong frowned faintly. “Whatever shifu is thinking, there’s no way to tell.”

Xiao Se shook his head. “Whether Zhao Yuzhen comes or not, will depend on your sister, and will depend on himself. It doesn’t depend on you. You’ve said what you’ve come here to say. Let’s leave already. I think that regardless of Li Hanyi or Zhao Yuzhen, they are in the realm of Sword Immortals who can travel a thousand miles in a day. Travelling to the Lei Clan Fort is not a problem. As for us? If we don’t reach there in three months, and the three of them face each other awkwardly, we’ll be the real joke.”

Li Fansong opened his mouth to stall them. “Since it’s the first time you’re both visiting Qingcheng Mountain, why don’t you stay here for a few more days? I can tell that Lei-xiong’s swordsmanship has improved quite a bit. I’m not as talented. After returning from my travels, I’ve just entered the Vajra Mortal Realm. I would love to share pointers with Lei-xiong.”

“No time.” Xiao Se mounted his horse and interrupted, “Qingcheng Mountain is in the north. Lei Clan Fort is in the south. We’ve wasted too much time already.”

Lei Wujie stared blankly. “Xiao Se, why are you riding my horse?”

Xiao Se replied angrily, “They are all my horses!” Finishing, he slapped the horse’s rump and galloped down the mountain, leaving a trail of dust behind.

Lei Wujie brushed it off and faced Li Fansong and Fei Xuan with clasped hands. “I have urgent matters to take care of and need to rush to Lei Clan Fort. If your intentions are true, three months later, bring your shifu together to Lei Clan Fort.”

Li Fansong forced a bitter laugh. “If shifu doesn’t want to go, a hundred of me won’t be able to move him.”

Lei Wujie suddenly became grim. “If your shifu came down the mountain, would it really trigger a storm and cataclysmic change?”

Li Fansong shook his head. “After all, shifu has never really gone down the mountain, so who knows? Maybe it was shizu who wanted to save him, to lie to him for the rest of his life so that he would stay on Qingcheng Mountain.”

Fei Xuan glared at him. “Shizu is not as ridiculous as you. Sectmaster’s order was his destiny. Shizu said, it could be true.”11

Li Fansong frowned faintly. “Destiny?”

Fei Xuan looked in the direction of the foot of the mountain, deep in thought. “Destiny.”

Lei Wujie didn’t understand a word of their exchange, so he simply smiled. “Heaven or whatever, man or whatever, I don’t know anything about it. I only believe in one thing.”

“With effort, you can do anything!” Lei Wujie took a leap, sprinted down the mountain and quickly caught up to Xiao Se.

Xiao Se gave him a look. “Now can we go to Lei Clan Fort?”

Lei Wujie nodded. “Back to Lei Clan Fort!”

“You won’t get lost?” Xiao Se smiled thinly.

Lei Wujie raised his head, and looked straight ahead. The two of them had already reached the foot of the mountain. Lei Wujie leaped onto his horse, and whipped the riding crop once. “I won’t. I lived in Lei Clan Fort for seventeen years. I still remember its smell. It’s a smell I won’t forget for the rest of my life.”

Xiao Se couldn’t help but smile and followed along. He suddenly thought of something and took out the map Lei Wujie brought with them. After looking at it carefully, he couldn’t hold back and yelled out, “You are clearly going in the wrong direction! Get your ass back here!”

*

Mount Fengqi.

A mountain outside of Qingcheng Mountain, covered with dense vegetation. It was a peaceful mountain with graceful forests and hundreds of birds chirping almost like a phoenix’s call.

Unlike Qingcheng Mountain which was one of the four great Daoist sects on famous mountains and known to be otherworldly, Mount Fengqi was a lot more peaceful. On the mountain top, there was a very small Buddhist temple. In the temple was a monk who was presently sitting upright and silently chanting scriptures. In front of him, a man in black who was carrying an umbrella was standing next to the cliff, looking down the mountain.

“They’ve left the mountain.” The man said quietly.

The monk sighed. “Do you really have to kill them?”

The man did not reply. He merely raised his right hand and suddenly said, “It’s raining.”

As a light drizzle started falling, the man opened his umbrella, and continued to watch the foot of the mountain. He said slowly, “A drizzling day is a day for killing.”

Behind him, there were suddenly a few black shadows, and they swiftly swept past him towards the foot of the mountain.

The monk whispered the name of Buddha, stood up, and walked to the man’s side. “The Hidden River has become the most feared and dreaded assassin organisation in the martial world for a hundred years. The reason for that was because they remained hidden in the dark. What the Patriarch is planning now will reveal the Hidden River to the world. Although there is much to be gained eventually, the price is also very high.”

“Such an important matter is not something I should think about. Perhaps the Patriarch has thought about it.” The man slowly rotated the umbrella’s shaft and the droplets of rain flowed off the umbrella’s surface, falling on the rocks, creating a splash.

“Is that person really the sixth prince, Xiao Chuhe?” The monk asked suddenly.

The man shook his head. “Although in many ways, there is no hint of discrepancy, but because he’s too much alike, I suspect he’s not really Xiao Chuhe. Xiao Chuhe has been missing for four years. If he were to reappear again, he should have become someone very different from that Xiao Chuhe of the past.”

“You’ve seen Xiao Chuhe before?” The monk quietly counted his prayer beads.

The man nodded. “I saw him once from afar at Heavenly Revelations City. That time, I received an order to kill him. But, someone else made a move first. All these years, I always thought he was already dead.”

The monk frowned. “Does the Patriarch know about this?”

The man shook his head. “Whether the Patriarch knows is not important. Whether that Xiao Chuhe is the real one or not is also not important. The Hidden River only needs an opportunity to step into Heavenly Revelations City.”

“Then, what about those two?” The monk looked down at the two shadowy figures currently galloping wildly away from the mountain.

“Those two, the one wearing red is called Lei Wujie. He is one of this generation’s most outstanding disciples of the Lei Clan. Although he himself doesn’t know it yet, he has already been chosen by the Lei Clan to be the next Clan Leader. The Patriarch said, for the Hidden River to step into the light, our first step must be to exterminate the entire Lei Clan.” The man turned around.

“What about the other one?” The monk asked faintly.

The man didn’t reply and started walking downhill. “What the Patriarch means is, the sky over Beili is about to change. Rather than wait for the chaos to come, and be swayed by the wind like weeds, we might as well be the ones to create the chaos, and become the rulers of the new era. This is a new era for Beili and also a new era for the Hidden River.”

“You’re Head of Su House. Your strategic decisions also have weight. Did you not advise Patriarch?” The monk called out to him.

The man halted his steps, and muttered to himself, “We have been in the darkness for far too long.”

The monk didn’t say any more. He merely released a heavy sigh. “Are you going to go kill those two young men now? Considering your skills, it seems a little over the top.”

“No, I will ride through the night towards the south. I need to stop a person. This person should also be heading for the Lei Clan. She will be an uncertain variable in the whole plan.” The man slightly turned his umbrella.

“Stop turning your umbrella. Everytime you turn your umbrella, it feels like you’re going to kill someone.” The monk turned the prayer beads in his hand. “What sort of person needs someone like you to fight personally?”

“The Snow Moon Sword Immortal, Li Hanyi.” The man walked slowly towards the foot of the mountain.

The monk stood there dumbfounded for a long while, then breathed a long sigh.

“Chaos is coming.”

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