1. Seeds of love and hatred
It's incredibly spicy and pungent.
Su Jiang's lips went limp, and she felt Ge Xiao tremble slightly in pain on her body, as if he had fulfilled his destiny.
With that tremor, accompanied by a gush of fluid, Su Jiang felt something planted within her, enriching her life. But an unknown fear made her hold Xiao Zai tightly. Xiao Zai seemed exhausted, and a feeling of gratitude rose within her—she loved this man.
It really is love.
—Does he love her?
She thought. She wanted to ask him, she wasn't always such a "boring" woman, asking such pointless questions. But at this moment, she wanted to ask him.
But he was already asleep.
Su Jiang looked at his sleeping face, his brows still furrowed, a bitter smile on his lips. She smiled slightly too, her heart filled with a mixture of joy and turmoil.
What a mess.
2. Meeting with those one hates
For many days after that, they lived like gods.
No one disturbed them, and no one paid them any attention. They were the only pair of birds still hiding in the cave amidst the chaos. In the mansion of the dukes and marquises, everyone was flying and crashing around like startled birds, but she and he, like a pair of happy petrels in a storm, were preening their feathers in their nest, keeping each other warm.
Su Jiangchun had forgotten the entire world outside her.
Su Jiangchun, in this life, finally had a few days that belonged to her.
But she also had her own uncertainties. She saw Xiao Zai increasingly lost in thought, unhappy, though he never told her. She just wanted to hold Xiao Zai's hand; as long as he was there, her world was complete. But... was he there?
Does being here now mean you'll always be here in the future?
On that night, she and he were naked together.
Beside him was Xiao Zai's body, like a body outside her own. She—her five fingers gliding across Pingliang's abdomen; he—his life often mistakenly fluttering his brow.
She also liked to ask Ge Xiaozai about his past, but he only gave a somber answer: "My family was killed by our enemies when I was a child."
Su Jiang's lips fell silent. She didn't want his bloody past, and she wouldn't ask or mention it again. All she wanted was the present, the present Xiao Zai.
But she also grew increasingly uncertain about Xiao Zai's feelings—did he truly love her? Sometimes, she felt he did; the tenderness in their bed, the whispers in their pillows—those were undeniable; he was still a virgin, while she wasn't—those things couldn't be faked. But why, sometimes, when she woke up early in the morning to find her bedside empty, and she rose to see his slender figure, already dressed, in the courtyard, did she feel he was so far, so very far away? He seemed to have a past full of things to do, so many things to accomplish. He wasn't her; he wanted more than just the present.
Thus, arguments arose, though she mostly started them and ended them as well. Su Jiangchun would always give in to Xiao Zai.
Lovers are inextricably linked to resentment, hatred, and separation.
3. Separation from loved ones
That news shouldn't have come.
It should never have come!
I also hope that it never came—that "the Mountain Warriors, Thirty Warriors" were about to launch their most important and fiercest attack to date.
Upon hearing this news, Ge Xiaozai immediately stood up from Su Jiangchun's embrace.
His reaction was unique, his expression filled with pain.
Su Jiangchun looked into the man's eyes. Why was he in pain? She was the one who turned him into a man, but why, in the blink of an eye, did he have so many things about him that she couldn't understand?
Ge Xiao said in a pained whisper, "This is a suicidal attack."
Su Jiangchun was a clever woman; love could only blind her for a time—this news was told to her by Linghu Yu's concubine, and she knew that if even she knew, Zhu Gonghou couldn't possibly not know.
But if Lord Zhu knew...
The thirty assassins had no idea what the word "no idea" meant in the martial world, when two armies clashed.
--die!
Su Jiangchun sighed softly, thinking, "Death."
Although she was from the Zhu family, she subtly sided with the thirty assassins; their fierce courage, unwavering resolve, and decisiveness had already moved her.
Although they had tried to kill her, they had given her this upheaval, given her a chance to love amidst this turmoil, and given her a chance to be a woman for herself. She looked at Ge Xiaozai, but why was he so moved—in that instant, she understood many things. She understood why, even on so many passionate nights, she couldn't melt away the coldness emanating from him, and the thorn hidden in his heart that he had never spoken to her.
He said his entire family was wiped out when he was young. Before, Su Jiangchun was too caught up in love to think about it, but now, a cold thought suddenly struck her: So, who wiped out his entire family?
—Don't tell me you're Zhu Gonghou, don't tell me you're with me not out of love, but just to be a hidden thorn! Su Jiang's left eye throbbed slightly, blood welling up in her lips, making them even more vibrant and luscious—I've mistakenly entered the Zhu family in this life, don't tell me that the love I once thought I received was only because of your hatred for that person, don't!
She bit her lip hard with her teeth, as if biting down on that little bit of doubt, that little bit of disappointment, but she wouldn't say it out loud.
Regardless—she loved him, she told herself, and that alone was enough. The faint white teeth marks clung to the vibrant crimson—when Yu Ji, lying dead in the Chu tent, faced the bright moon, the empty Chu tent, the doomed overlord, and the Han army on all sides, that sword must have looked just like that vibrant crimson.
"Accurate information: tomorrow at noon, at the second quarter of an hour, they will enter through the northwest corner gate, then through the Thousand Household Gate, and attack the Hundred-Zhang Hall. This is their plan. It is said that only seventeen of the thirty elite soldiers remain, and they will attack with all their might."
She understood why she had explained it in such detail: Xiao Zai, if you were in that situation, you must be careful.
That night, they loved each other passionately and penetrated each other very deeply.
When they woke up, it was the second watch of the night. Su Jiangchun opened her eyes wide and looked at the silent Xiao Zai, saying, "You can go now."
Ge Xiao was taken aback.
Su Jiang smiled bitterly. There was no need to reveal everything she had seen through. She lowered her head and said softly, "Lord Zhu will surely win tomorrow's battle. His three-month period of rest in peace will be over soon, tomorrow. He might come."
"You're still young. He might see you and know these things. You don't know his temper. I—can't hurt you."
Ge Xiao bit his lip again, a touch of crimson appearing on his pale lips. He didn't speak. If they were to speak, shouldn't they both have so much to say? The moon cast the shadow of a withered banana leaf onto the gauze window. Was such a tender beginning destined to end in such a desolate way?
Su Jiangchun got out of bed and helped Ge Xiao put on his shoes. His feet were so thin, just like the first time she felt that pain in them.
She held his toes, truly unwilling to let go.
She washed his shoes; she truly wished she could do it for a lifetime. But… Buddha said: Love and separation are intertwined. With the shoes on, Su Jiangchun said, "Let's go."
Ge Xiaozai stood up, his lips tightly pressed together, forming an air of aloofness. Su Jiangchun saw him to the door; the pear blossom courtyard was no longer the same, now filled with the dappled shadows of branches. As Ge Xiaozai was about to leave, Su Jiangchun suddenly said, "Hug me."
Ge Xiao turned around and hugged her with unprecedented warmth, his arms so tight she felt like she was suffocating, but she loved it. She said, "I have one last request."
Ge Xiao whispered in her ear, "What?"
"Call me Ruoyan again."
Su Jiangchun murmured dreamily, "Ruoyan, Ruoyan," as if she were reciting a lover's call to summon her soul, to summon the soul of the thirteen-year-old girl who had been hiding in her heart and crying. With just this one call, her soul could finally fly out of the heavily guarded gates of the mansion that had kept her locked away, to fly to the vastness, to fly to the distant past, to fly to eternity.
She gently fiddled with Ge Xiaozai's buttons: "Call me Ruoyan."
Ge Xiao called out again, "Ruoyan..." His voice was softer than the wind, and the two words floated from his lips, falling to the ground like flowers in bloom.
Gently, the dream was shattered.
Then, he left.
Tears streamed down Su Jiang's lips—he was one of the Thirty Death Squads!
4. The most tragic thing you've ever seen
Zhu Gonghou won this battle easily, everything was within his calculations: noon, 2:45, at the west corner gate.
However, his victory was hard-won and almost brutal, with the enemy managing to break through with seventeen men from the west gate.
The Zhu Gonghou mansion was meticulously arranged, but the assassin's fighting spirit was so strong that it could not be broken.
From the West Corner Gate to the Hanging Flower Gate, eleven of Zhu Gonghou's guards were wounded or killed, while two of the enemy were wounded or killed. From the Hanging Flower Gate to the Thousand Household Gate, twenty-three of Zhu Gonghou's guards were wounded or killed, including two first-class guards, but the enemy also suffered nine wounded or killed.
The remaining men actually managed to storm the Hundred-Zhang Hall through the Thousand-Household Gate! When they entered the Hundred-Zhang Hall, they were all covered in blood, and there were only seven of them left.
However, Linghu Yu, the head of intelligence for the Duke's mansion, also had his arm severed, and seventeen of his guards were wounded! When these seven men met Duke Zhu, he was deep within the Hundred-Foot Hall. He had used an iron gate to cut off their escape route at the hall's entrance. He had a second iron gate that could have captured them alive, but he didn't use it. Instead, he drew his "Duke's Sword"—the 'Thirty Death Warriors' had insulted him too much! For nineteen years, no one had dared to do this. He had to severely injure them, and personally injure them, so that the prestige of the Duke's mansion could once again be as heavy as a thousand pounds and as stable as Mount Tai, suppressing the rise of those wronged souls and evil spirits.
He and Yuchi Ba attacked together.
Zhu Gonghou was indeed a master. His sword was sharpened by courage, shaped by domineering, imbued with unbridled power, and flamed with cruelty. Yuchi Ba was also a master. He unleashed "Yuchi Three Thousand" with his first move. "Yuchi Three Thousand" meant three thousand hidden weapons, with thousands of hidden weapons falling out like thousands of raindrops.
The seven men were utterly exhausted, yet the battle was still incredibly fierce. Every move was a deadly assassination, showing no mercy. The "Duke's Sword" moved, thrusting towards one assassin's mouth. The assassin couldn't dodge in time, letting the sword pierce his palate, but he closed his mouth, biting down on the sword with one tooth, holding on even in death. Zhu Gonghou was startled, then enraged. He used the corpse to deflect another assassin's Meteor Hammers, then cried out. The sword sliced open the corpse's forehead, the blade emerging from the skull. The Meteor Hammers he had deflected rebounded, striking the hammer-wielder in the chest. But seizing the opportunity, the hammer-wielder launched two "Taibai Thorns."
One of the two "Taibai Thorns" missed its mark, while the other struck Zhu Gonghou's earlobe. Zhu Gonghou laughed as he killed the man.
The third man used his body as a shield to grab Zhu Gonghou's sword. After grabbing it, he exploded, and the force of the explosion was so strong that Zhu Gonghou had no choice but to abandon his sword. At this moment, the fourth man took advantage of the situation and used his powerful eagle claws to grab Zhu Gonghou's head. This was a move they had planned. They sacrificed three lives for this chance to fight.
Unfortunately, Zhu Gonghou managed to dodge at the last possible moment, but the man still managed to grab the golden crown off his head and burst into laughter.
The four of them besieged Zhu Gonghou; three of them were already dead, but he had, after all, removed the crown of the duke that he so deeply hated.
Knowing he was doomed, he shoved the crown into his mouth and bit it with his teeth. Not satisfied, he stomped on it, turning the golden crown to dust beneath his feet. Still not appeased, he roared with curses. Before his curses had even subsided, Zhu Gonghou had already ripped his heart out with a claw.
The group that attacked Yuchi Ba was three others. One of them was shot dead by Yuchi Ba's hidden weapon while covering two of his accomplices. The second man was also injured in the blink of an eye. The third man then engaged him in a contest of internal strength. When their palms clashed, Yuchi Ba's internal strength was like the Yangtze River, while the other man was already like a worn-out crossbow.
But at that moment, a burst of blood erupted from the chest of the assassin who was battling Yuchi Ba over internal strength. It was the wounded man who had launched the "blood-red burst" from behind his companion.
His opponent blocked Yuchi Ba's view. Before he could dodge, it was too late. The "Crimson Arrow" pierced through the assassin's companion's body and exploded before Yuchi Ba's eyes. Yuchi Ba, a seasoned traveler of the martial world, had never seen such a vicious tactic, akin to self-mutilation. The assassin who had been fighting him used all his strength to propel the projectile that had pierced his own body towards Yuchi Ba. Yuchi Ba was shocked and tried to retreat, but it was too late—if Zhu Gonghou hadn't arrived in time to pull him back, he would have lost more than just half his face.
It will be the entire surface.
Only one assassin remained on the ground, panting. He glared venomously at Zhu Gonghou and said, "You've won."
"But whether in heaven or on earth, you still cannot escape our final curse. The thirty assassins are all gone, but there is still one thorn, and that last thorn will pierce you."
"You will wipe out your entire family!"
He had barely finished speaking when he bit his tongue and committed suicide. But the words "extermination of the entire family" echoed throughout the entire Zhu Mansion, reaching every corner of the hall and every household: extermination, extermination, extermination...