A Reckless Gamble

Liu Yuanzhou still could not move. The silence before him returned, broken only by the howling wind and the creaking friction of branches.

A living person had been killed in the blink of an eye right before his eyes. For Liu Yuanzhou, who had grown up in a mountain village and had never even seen a dead person in person, the shock was beyond measure.

He forgot the fear before him and even felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Perhaps I'll be next. He closed his eyes and bid a final farewell to the people and things in this world.

If I die like this, Father, Mother, and Eldest Brother will be heartbroken.

And dear Er Ni... she will probably be sad for a while too. Please forget me. Once I'm dead, I hope you find someone who treats you well.

And Third Master. No one will help you carry water and chop firewood anymore.

And my dear friends, don't be sad. Remember me.

And my enemies, I'll settle it in the next life.

Two streams of tears silently ran down from the corners of Liu Yuanzhou's eyes. He licked them with his tongue. "Mm, they're salty. Er Ni said that salty tears mean sad crying."

He raised a hand and wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes. He sighed, then discovered that he could move again.

He cried once more, but this time they were tears of joy. "Being alive is wonderful. But Er Ni, you lied to me. All tears are salty."

Liu Yuanzhou got to his feet and saw the woman called Miss Qin lying on her back five or six steps away, utterly motionless. The man called Bage lay at his feet, two bloody tears streaking his face, his eyes wide open. Clearly, he had died with his eyes unclosed. Liu Yuanzhou's heart skipped a beat. He silently apologized, hurried over Bage's corpse, and jumped out of the dirt pit. Then he ran toward the village without looking back. Axe, rope, waterskin—he abandoned them all. Were possessions more important than life? Never before had Liu Yuanzhou felt that running on his own two legs was such a blissful thing.

"Hey, kid, where are you running off to? You haven't done what you promised me yet. Cough, cough." A hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Liu Yuanzhou was terrified and ran even faster.

"Kid, don't run! I'll give you silver. Do you want to learn my martial arts? I'll teach you!" the hoarse voice called again, sounding somewhat anxious.

Liu Yuanzhou paused for an instant but did not stop. In the blink of an eye, he rounded a hillside and vanished from sight.

Miss Qin sighed and lay silently on the ground. At that moment, she could not move a single inch, though her mouth could still speak. "I may be the only Dark Force expert in this world to freeze to death." She could not help mocking herself. For a time, the mountain was deathly silent except for the wind.

"Y-you... are you telling the truth?" A panting voice sounded by her ear. Miss Qin was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. "Blessings of the ancestors. It seems I won't become the only one after all."

In the end, Liu Yuanzhou could not resist the temptation of learning martial arts and ran back. Of course, this was real martial arts—not the sort Third Master had practiced his entire life without producing anything worthwhile. That woman could kill a man with one punch; that alone was enough to prove that she was a formidable martial artist.

Will I ever encounter such an opportunity again in this life? There are certainly risks. I might even lose my life. But rather than live an ordinary, muddled life, I might as well gamble. If I win, I'll change my fate from this day forward. If I lose, at worst I'll lose my life. Today, Liu Yuanzhou made the greatest gamble of his more than ten years of life.

"Give me some water. Let me catch my breath first," Miss Qin said.

Liu Yuanzhou hurriedly found the waterskin and handed it to her.

"Can't you see that I can't move my hands or feet? Feed me."

"Oh." Liu Yuanzhou scratched his head, quickly pulled out the stopper, and held the mouth of the waterskin to Miss Qin's lips to give her water. Suddenly, he remembered that his own mouth had touched its opening when he drank from it earlier. A wave of guilty panic rose within him. I hope she didn't notice, he thought silently.

Miss Qin truly had not noticed. She drank half the waterskin, let out a long, satisfied belch, then closed her eyes to rest.

Liu Yuanzhou could only sit beside her and wait silently. Now he was the one asking for a favor. Miss Qin lay on her back, and the hat on her head had flown off to who knew where, revealing a pale face. She is quite pretty, but her heart is far too ruthless, he thought silently.

After a while, Miss Qin opened her eyes and said, "Help me up."

Liu Yuanzhou hurriedly helped her to her feet. Miss Qin staggered over to Bage's corpse. After a moment of silence, she sighed, reached out to close Bage's eyes, then undid his upper garments and reached inside to rummage around.

Liu Yuanzhou shuddered all over and quickly turned away. Just thinking about rummaging through a corpse made goosebumps rise all over his body.

After a while, Miss Qin said, "All done. What is there to fear? When a person dies, it is like a lamp going out. It is nothing more than an empty sack of skin."

Liu Yuanzhou turned around and saw that Bage's clothes had been put back on. Miss Qin had tucked a brocade pouch into her own clothes.

Miss Qin got up, walked to the edge of the dirt pit, and sat down. She beckoned Liu Yuanzhou over.

Liu Yuanzhou quickly approached and heard Miss Qin say, "Let's exchange our clothes." Only then did Liu Yuanzhou remember that he was still wearing Miss Qin's robe. He hurriedly took it off and handed it to her, then turned around.

Miss Qin took the robe, feeling awkward as well. In the urgency of the moment, she had not thought much when they exchanged clothes. Now that she had calmed down, she felt rather embarrassed.

The two awkwardly changed back into their clothes. Miss Qin said, "Go bury him." As she spoke, she pointed at Bage's corpse.

"You want me to bury him?" Liu Yuanzhou froze, utterly unwilling in his heart.

"Of course. Must I, a weak woman, do such a thing?" Miss Qin sneered. "A grown man, yet you are afraid of a dead person?"

"I'm not afraid!" Liu Yuanzhou shouted. In his heart, he had already resigned himself. Since he had boarded the pirate ship, he could only walk the dark road to the bitter end. Without further hesitation, he went to Bage, silently invoked the gods and Buddhas of all heavens, shut his eyes, and pushed the corpse into the dirt pit. Without a suitable tool, he retrieved the axe and used it to dig up earth. About half an hour later, he finally filled in the pit, even heaping it slightly higher to leave a small grave mound.

Liu Yuanzhou was exhausted, panting for breath, his mouth dry and tongue parched. He dropped onto the ground, picked up the waterskin, and was about to drink when he remembered that Miss Qin had just drunk from it. He felt embarrassed to drink from it in front of her again, so he silently set it down, endured his thirst, and looked at Miss Qin, waiting for her next instruction.

Miss Qin stood and gave the place where Bage was buried a complicated look. She sighed. "Let's go."

Along the rugged goat trail, Liu Yuanzhou carried Miss Qin on his back, stumbling deep step and shallow step.

"Are we going to the Crouching Tiger Slope market now?" Liu Yuanzhou asked nervously.

"You want to send me away already? You aren't learning martial arts anymore?" Miss Qin mocked. She sighed and added, "First find somewhere quiet. I need to heal my injuries."

"How long will it take for you to heal? Should we hire a doctor?" Liu Yuanzhou's face burned as he hurriedly asked again.

"Probably ten days to half a month," Miss Qin said.

Liu Yuanzhou nodded silently, considering where he could settle Miss Qin. A moment later, he had an idea. Sorry, Third Master. To learn martial arts, I can only temporarily place her in your kiln.

After a stretch of silence, Liu Yuanzhou could not help asking, "Miss, is your surname Qin?"

"Yes. Qin, with the radical for west over early," Miss Qin said.

"Isn't that pronounced Tan?" Liu Yuanzhou asked softly.

"Hehe, ignorant." Miss Qin snickered.

Liu Yuanzhou's face reddened again. He quickly changed the subject. "Where is Miss Qin from?" he asked.

Miss Qin pondered for a moment, then said blandly, "There is no harm in telling you. I followed my master to visit a sect in the Western Borderlands. Someone plotted against me and poisoned me. I escaped by risking my life, only to be taken hostage by Bage."

"You know Bage—the man I killed. He coveted a treasure on me, so I made a wager with him. As long as he gave me three chances to escape, and he could still catch me, I would offer him the treasure and tell him how to use it."

"You probably heard what happened afterward. I fled here all the way from the Western Borderlands. This was already the third time he had caught me. I think he had realized I was deceiving him, so this was my final chance."

"Ah, I should thank you too, little brother."

Liu Yuanzhou neither agreed nor disagreed. All he could think was, If you really want to thank me, then hurry up and teach me martial arts.

After descending Cattle Back Ridge, Liu Yuanzhou carried Miss Qin through a stretch of Locust Tree Forest and stopped before a cave deep in the woods. The cave had been carved out by mountain floods. Its entrance was quite large, about the height of a person. Looking at the dark, deep cave mouth, a trace of nostalgia flashed through Liu Yuanzhou's eyes. He shook his head and said, "Miss Qin, it is broad daylight, so it would not be convenient for me to take you back into the village. You will have to bear with this place for now. I'll come get you once it gets darker."

Miss Qin nodded. She had no strength at all in her hands or feet now and could only let others carve her up as they pleased.

Liu Yuanzhou walked into the cave. It was even more spacious inside, with some leaves and dry grass spread along one wall. He put Miss Qin down and said, "Rest here. I'll leave the waterskin with you."

Miss Qin said nothing and silently sat on the dry grass.

"Miss Qin, don't be afraid. It's very safe here. I used to come here often," Liu Yuanzhou reassured her again.

"Hehe, would a dignified martial artist be afraid?" Miss Qin sneered.

Liu Yuanzhou shrugged and turned to leave.

Just as he stepped out of the cave, Miss Qin spoke again. "Come back early. You still have martial arts to learn."

Liu Yuanzhou smiled and hurried away.

Miss Qin stared at the pitch-black cave, seized by a sudden, unprovoked fear that something might crawl out from within.

"Ah, if a wolf suddenly came out, I might be the first martial artist ever to be eaten by a wolf."