Content Warning: [1]Suicide
“A Xin!” Chu Yue threw herself over to the bride, tears streaming down her face. Her hands trembled as she lifted the piece of red silk.
The red silk fluttered to the ground, but the bride was not the A Xin that she thought of day and night.
“No, she is not A Xin. Where is A Xin?” Chu Yue let go of the bride helplessly.
Then, the bandit leader’s pinky finger moved slightly, the webbing between his thumb and index finger tightening. Suddenly, he was wielding the nine-ring saber, cleaving down toward Chu Yue and the bride. Jiang Ling reacted first, pulling out the sword at her waist and flying forward. The blade clashed with the bandit’s, but Jiang Ling knew that she was no match for his internal force, so she drew her blade down, discharging the energy of the bandit’s saber as she slanted her sword toward the side of the table, slicing it in two as the saber’s tip sank into the ground. Jiang Ling turned, stepping onto the bandit’s saber, making use of the blade’s energy to grab Chu Yue, hugging her close as she put a distance of five zhang[2]1 zhang = ~3.58 m between them.
Yun He immediately drew her sword and faced him. Although the bandit leader had drunk the knockout drops, his internal force had reduced the efficacy of the drug. The moment he saw this group of children, he became infuriated.
The bandit leader shook his head to sober up, his eyes flashing ominously. A scar ran across his right eye, adding to the leader’s repulsive appearance. He was tall, yet his movements were light and nimble. As his nine-ring saber danced and wind swept out from the tip of his blade, Yun He countered every one of his moves. Their master was Yun Yang, so, naturally, they used the agile sword arts of the Qingshan Sect, each motion of the sword as precise as a silken thread, as fluid as water, and as graceful as a swimming dragon. The bandit leader quickly noticed that his saber skills would not work, so he switched to hard movements, hoping to confront Yun He’s force with equal force.
He poured the strength of his legs into his saber, barreling down on the crown of Yun He’s head, but she met the qi-infused blade head-on, not afraid in the slightest.
“Dang⸺” The middle of nine-ring saber completely fractured, the snapped blade revolving several times in the air before piercing the boar’s head on the celebratory table.
The bandit leader abandoned the useless blade in his hands, his trembling rump landing on the ground. Yun He waved her sword lightly, positioning the blade at the bandit leader’s throat.
“Where are the others imprisoned?”
“Great heroine, have mercy, have mercy. They are all in the basement.” His clothing rustled as he pulled out a key from his waist.
That moment, Gu Yun heard people calling from the basement, saying that they were all below, but there was no key. Then, he saw a key float over to him.
Jiang Ling led Chu Yue down to the basement, saying, “Sister A Xin is definitely imprisoned below.”
“Mhm.” Chu Yue nodded her head.
……
“Thank you, great heroine! Thank you, young heroes!”
The people they had saved were all the young and old, women and children. They addressed their rescuers as they would their second parents, shedding tears of gratitude for the three of them. Chu Yue found the coachman that had traveled with her and A Xin and asked him about her sister’s whereabouts, but it was like the coachman had lost his wits. He was unable to form complete sentences, his spirit evidently scared away by the incident.
Seeing that everyone had been released from the prison, yet she had still not seen her sister, Chu Yue’s panic started to leak out of her heart. She covered her face with her shaking hands, her tears seeping out through the gaps of her fingers. Suddenly, she raised her head, and with bloodshot eyes, she picked up a dagger from off the ground and staggered into the main hall.
“What about the lady you caught that day in the rain?” Chu Yue glared at the trussed-up bandit leader.
“Dead.” The bandit leader was clearly used to seeing suicidal women, so he spoke without any care.
“Wh-what did you say?” Chu Yue had received a definite answer, one that had confirmed what she had wanted most not to hear. Her vision went dark, and she felt a little faint.
“That was a truly chaste woman. The brothers only touched her once, and she ran herself through…”
“Swine!”
Chu Yue suddenly sat on the bandit’s body, her hair hanging low and covering her cheeks. She gripped the dagger between her fingers and plunged it deep into the bandit leader’s chest, her shoulders trembling softly. The bandit leader let out a final breath, his head falling off to one side.
The three of them, who had witnessed everything, did not know what to say. Although the plan had succeeded, their rescue efforts had failed.
Jiang Ling reached out a hand and took two steps toward Chu Yue, wanting to console her.
“It was me. I should not have made you accompany me out of childishness. I am the one who hurt you…” Round teardrops gushed out of Chu Yue’s eyes, flowing out unceasingly, dripping onto the bandit leader’s chest and intermingling with the fresh blood.
Chu Yue pulled out the dagger, standing with difficulty. She was like a string puppet that would fall apart at the slightest touch.
“Miss Chu…” Jiang Ling moved her lips, but repressed the second half of her sentence.
“A single glance harbors piercing grief.”[3]This comes from the second line of a poem by Bai Juyi, a rough translation is at the bottom of the chapter Chu Yue spoke for herself: “Thank you all for helping me rescue A Xin. I am unable to repay your kindness and can only return the favor in the afterlife.” Then, she went to take her own life.
Jiang Ling saw that the situation did not look good and utilized her footwork to go and grab the dagger. The tip of the blade broke the skin on Jiang Ling’s hand, but she could not stop Chu Yue in time. Chu Yue lost her strength and fell backwards into Jiang Ling’s arms, her blood dying both of their clothes red.
Yun He and Gu Yun were frozen with panic for a moment. Jiang Ling’s hand tightened its grip on the dagger. Whose blood stained her chest was already indistinguishable.
白居易的【南浦别】
南浦凄凄别，西风袅袅秋。
一看肠一断，好去莫回头。
An English translation of Bai Juyi’s “Farewell from the Southern Riverbank”
A cold farewell from the riverbank, a curling wisp of autumnal wind
A single glance harbors piercing grief, look not back upon the departure