Red Adornment, I fancy you
(1) The life-taking ghost
Yin Yuanya had not been feeling very happy lately.
Ever since he had been poisoned last time, his elder brother Yin Nantian had confined him at home, ostensibly for his protection but actually under house arrest. He often startled awake from dreams of his whole body rotting, corpse fluids pooling across the floor.
He was a lustful man and had been since his youth. Even now that his grandson was grown, his lecherous nature remained unchanged.
He had spent every day of his confinement in fear. Between enforced abstinence and terror, he had nearly gone mad from frustration.
Taking advantage of Yin Nantian's departure on a long journey, he slipped out with the Yin Clan's attendants. His first destination was Seeking Pleasure in Drunkenness.
The young women at Seeking Pleasure in Drunkenness smiled so widely at the sight of him that they could hardly close their mouths. They liked men like him best: generous, lavish spenders. If he paid enough, even his taste for sordid games became something they called pleasure, their eyes blinded by money.
Red gauze draped over snowy skin and black hair. Their calls were so honeyed they seemed ready to drip, making a man's bones melt.
Yin Yuanya immersed himself in a sea of living, fragrant beauty. Banknotes littered the floor, and the young women knelt to gather them, crawling like dogs. They rolled across the floor at his command, barking now and then. If they crawled too slowly, they received a vicious kick, then had to smile and say, "Thank you, Master."
What need was there for dignity? Here, money could buy anyone's dignity.
Yin Yuanya also had a woman in his arms. He had only one hand, and after finally freeing it, he picked up a roll of banknotes from the table and casually tossed them into the air. The notes fluttered, slowly spiraling down to tangle with the gauze curtains.
Delight shone in the woman's eyes at the sight. She rose from his embrace and reached out with both hands to catch them, her eyes overflowing with tenderness. She called this man old enough to be her grandfather "husband," thanking him over and over as though she loved him desperately. But a closer sniff would have found the stink of copper coins everywhere.
"Do you like it?" Yin Yuanya crossed his legs and leisurely poured himself a pot of tea, watching the young women scramble to catch the money as though enjoying a show. Rubbing two rough fingers together, he casually flung out another handful of banknotes. "Keep me happy, and you'll be well rewarded."
The woman leading them wrapped her arms around his waist and wheedled, "Your visit makes me happy too, my lord."
"Really?"
"Of course," the young woman said sweetly. "I like you, my lord."
"Do you like me, or my money?" Yin Yuanya smiled wickedly and pinched her chin. "Tell me the truth. No lying."
Her voice lowered, and so did her head, dipping lower still until she was almost against his earlobe. Her breath was fragrant as orchids. "Both."
Yin Yuanya chuckled, threading his fingers through her waist-length hair. Holding her head, he leaned in to kiss her red lips, only for her fingers to block him. "Then do you like me, my lord, or my looks?"
Yin Yuanya readily obliged. "Both as well."
The young woman nestled in his arms and giggled, her whole body trembling lightly.
Dazzled by that fleeting beauty, Yin Yuanya grew impatient. Stroking the back of her hand, he said suggestively, "Little beauty, now that you've taken my gifts, shouldn't you put on a good performance today?"
The woman murmured assent and spun away, clutching a stack of banknotes. "Wait here, my lord. I'll change into something else and be right back."
The door opened and closed, letting a woman's fragrance waft inside. It slipped from his nose into his heart and lungs, teasing an itch in his heart.
They had flirted enough. Thinking of all the pleasures awaiting him, Yin Yuanya waited with rare patience. He indulged freely in the delight filling his heart, his eyes wandering idly.
Only then did he notice another woman in the room. She sat meekly in a corner, watching the chaos with a grin while licking malt candy.
Yin Yuanya loved women, but he had his preferences. He was particularly fond of women with an exotic air. Aside from the several he kept in his own chambers, whenever he went out seeking pleasure, he always requested a few with that flavor.
But women of other ethnicities were rare in Jiangnan, and rarer still at Seeking Pleasure in Drunkenness. He seldom encountered one.
He had never expected to find one this time.
And not just any woman, but an exquisite beauty.
Yin Yuanya wondered why he had failed to notice her before. He had been so busy toying with the other three that he had neglected this stunning beauty.
He beckoned to the young woman in red, and she approached with a smile.
Looking at her foxlike, seductive features, Yin Yuanya liked her more by the moment. He hooked a finger beneath her chin and pulled her before him.
Noticing how properly and fully she was dressed, he teased, "How can you come to entertain me dressed so inappropriately?"
The woman played with her little braids. "I sat there for ages, and you never noticed me."
Yin Yuanya naturally took this as flirtation. He would have ignored any other woman's wheedling or tantrums, but she was different. She was just his type, far prettier than the others. Perhaps she was new merchandise and had yet to experience a man.
If she wanted to act coy, he was happy to indulge her.
Yin Yuanya patted her soft cheek and coaxed, "It's all my fault. How could I have neglected a beauty like you? Don't blame me. Come, tell me your name."
The woman's eyes were wonderfully lively, yet her smile was pure. "Red Adornment. My name is Red Adornment."
Yin Yuanya did not care whether she was called Red Adornment or Green Adornment. All he knew was that the woman before him smiled like an enchantress, and he was utterly bewitched.
Dazed and disoriented, he neither knew nor noticed when the other two women beside him fell silent.
He said, "A lovely name. A beautiful woman with a beautiful name. Serve me well today, sweetheart, and I'll buy your freedom. How about that?"
Red Adornment's laughter rang like bells, her face innocent and guileless. "I don't want you to buy my freedom."
Yin Yuanya impatiently pulled her into his arms, but before he could grope her, she slipped away.
Licking her malt candy, Red Adornment touched her crimson lower lip with a finger. Her eyes lured him in as she murmured, "I want something else."
Yin Yuanya had never met a woman like her. He longed to give her ten taels, twenty taels. "What do you want?"
Red Adornment pointed at him. "I want you."
Yin Yuanya beamed. So this young woman was still playing flirtatious games with him. Wonderful. He loved such accommodating women. She seemed made to fit his heart.
His eyes were almost ablaze. "Take whatever you want. Even my life is yours."
Red Adornment tilted her head and threw herself into his arms, pressing a hand over his heart. "Really?"
Yin Yuanya caught that slender, jade-like hand. "Really. Would I lie to you?"
Red Adornment leaned closer, her smile deepening, the wickedness in her eyes growing stronger. She wound both hands around Yin Yuanya's neck. Beautiful as an asura, this woman used her beauty to claim his life.
"You said it. Then I'll take it."
(2) Cause and effect
The night breeze swept past the window lattice, and an uninvited visitor arrived outside the door.
Ji Hanchu stood at the entrance, refusing to go in.
His heart was being roasted over a fire, sliced apart piece by piece. He was miserable, yet he could not leave. He forced himself to listen at the door, his expression growing uglier by the moment.
The young women passing by had initially wanted to approach and tease him. One look told them this young gentleman was refined and proper, utterly out of place at Seeking Pleasure in Drunkenness. Then there was his face: they would have gladly paid him rather than charge him.
But he only stared at the door, sparing no one else a glance, his bloodshot eyes almost weeping blood.
How could they not weep blood? This was too heavy a burden, so heavy that Ji Hanchu felt his heart had cracked open and was gushing blood.
Several times, he wanted to flee in panic, but he endured. Finally, he drew a deep breath and pushed the door open.
Inside, clothes and banknotes lay scattered across the floor. Ji Hanchu walked to the bed, his nails digging deep into his flesh. Forcing himself under control, he gently raised his arm and lifted the gauze curtain at the head of the bed.
Two women had already passed out on the bed. Between them, Yin Yuanya was deathly pale, his breathing faint.
And the wicked creature who had pierced his heart reclined at the foot of the bed, looking thoroughly sated. Above her pale, tender shoulders, her beautifully shaped collarbones bloomed with pure, primal desire.
With her arms folded, she looked at him casually. "You're late, Young Master Ji San."
Ji Hanchu tightened his grip on the gauze curtain until the veins stood out on the back of his hand.
Red Adornment asked, "When did you smear tracking incense on the jade bracelet?"
Ji Hanchu said nothing.
What else was there to say? His heart had already fallen into hell.
He turned his face away, released the curtain, and made to leave. Suddenly, a woman's warm, soft body pressed against his back. Her arms encircled his waist from behind, her cool fingertips settling over his wrist.
"Ji San, don't be in such a hurry to leave."
The red polish on her nails looked like clots of blood.
Her fingers scratched twice across the back of his hand. "I tried Yin Yuanya's abilities, but they weren't quite satisfying. Since you're here, why don't we try too and see which of you is more capable?"
She got off the bed, walked around in front of him, and rose on tiptoe to kiss him. Drawing in a deep breath of his scent, she murmured in praise, "You're so much cleaner than he is..."
Ji Hanchu seized both of Red Adornment's wrists, his expression savage, his face twisted with anger. He lifted her and mercilessly dragged her to the other side of the room, then flung her hard. She rolled onto the floor.
"Hiss-" Red Adornment rubbed her numbed wrists, which had turned red over a large area. The little prude was ruthless.
"Shut up." Ji Hanchu gritted his teeth, his eyes tightly shut. When he opened them again, they had regained a little clarity.
He picked up the women's clothes from the floor and stuffed them all into her arms, regardless of whether they were hers. "Get dressed and come with me."
Red Adornment refused to let him have his way. She wriggled about, saying, "You have no idea. Yin Yuanya's abilities are nothing special. He really is useless... Doesn't he like bullying women? Then I'll make him die on top of one. Let's see if he dares again..."
Ji Hanchu pressed his lips together, his heart pounding violently. Each word came out distinctly.
"You're lying."
Red Adornment roared with laughter.
"If you want to know whether I'm lying, go and look. He still has a breath left. The old bastard's hard to kill."
She dropped the clothes and stood, sounding rather regretful. "Now that you're here, you certainly won't let me kill him, will you? Yin Yuanya really is blessed with luck and a long life. How do you always manage to turn up and save him?"
Ji Hanchu turned to check Yin Yuanya's breathing. Sure enough, a breath of life remained.
A physician's instinct was to relieve suffering and save those in distress. Without thinking, he pressed several of Yin Yuanya's acupoints, helping him expel the stagnant qi accumulated inside his body.
Just then, a cold blade suddenly pressed against his neck.
Ji Hanchu paused. After a long moment, he slowly turned to look at Red Adornment behind him.
Her smile was as sweet as ever, but there was not the slightest calm in her. Her direct gaze was filled with provocation.
"Ji San, did I agree to let you save him?"
Ji Hanchu remained silent.
Red Adornment pressed the blade closer. "I told you, only one of us can live."
The blade gleamed, ready to slit his throat in the blink of an eye.
Red Adornment said, "Why aren't you talking? Where are your lofty principles, your bodhisattva's compassion, your physician's benevolent heart?"
Ji Hanchu looked at her quietly, his eyes deep.
Red Adornment scoffed. "I forgot what you told me. Compassion does not deliver ghosts."
His boundless mercy and compassion would never deliver her.
Ji Hanchu shook his head, a pang passing through his heart. "The Avatamsaka Sutra says: all retribution arises from karma. All effects arise from causes."
Red Adornment narrowed her eyes, one brow lifting slightly.
"What does that mean?"
Ji Hanchu said, "If you kill him, it is because his karmic sins are too heavy, and retribution never fails."
A smile touched Red Adornment's face. "You actually believe me?"
Ji Hanchu turned his face aside and nodded faintly.
Smiling, Red Adornment put away her blade, pulled him close, closed her eyes, and kissed him.
Ji Hanchu was in unbearable torment, but he did not move.
Red Adornment held him tightly and buried her face in his chest. "I'm so happy you believe me. But Ji San, once I've killed them, I'll return to the Southern Frontier. You'll never see me again..."
Ji Hanchu froze briefly. Lowering his head, he saw her pale, tender shoulder and asked as though bewitched, "Will you ever come back?"
Red Adornment said, "No. Ji San, this is goodbye forever."
Goodbye forever.
Ji Hanchu thought that parting in life and separation by death truly were the saddest things in the world.
Red Adornment kissed his cheek, his lips, his earlobe, burying herself in his embrace and holding him tight.
Her bodily fragrance was like a potent poison, tempting him to sink into oblivion.
"Ji San, Yin Yuanya never touched me. I knew all along that you would come.
"I only wanted to see whether you would let me kill him. If the Ji Clan comes seeking revenge against me later, promise me you won't come. Please...
"Brother Ji San, I'm leaving soon. You'll never see me again. Can you bear that?"
She had opened the door to his heart. She looked at him pitifully, murmuring away.
She said she had seen corpses strewn across the countryside when she was little, while her parents discussed whether to eat her... Someone had snatched her away and bitten through her skin and flesh, only for her mother to snatch her back, crying that they could not eat her.
She said that after she was rescued and grew up, she spent most of her time thinking about how to stay alive. She did not want to be bullied or beg for her life between someone else's teeth. She wanted to rely on herself and make sure no one could hurt her.
She said she was not good at understanding feelings, but her heart had stirred for him a little. She wanted to share a night of pleasure with him, so her trip to the Central Plains would not have been in vain.
Ji Hanchu's thoughts tangled like hemp. His whole body was taut, the itch in his heart growing stronger, the fire inside him burning hotter. Desire surged unchecked, and reason retreated, inch by inch.
At last, he gripped her hand and, under her expectant gaze, gritted his teeth. "Next door."
The light-red mandarin-duck brocade quilt spread out in vivid color. Anyone lying upon it seemed liable to drown beneath that tide. Vast swathes of brilliant gauze billowed, casting shimmering light that swayed into the man's dark eyes.
Hazily, the flowing light became mist, clouding someone's heart.
Night was the busiest time at Seeking Pleasure in Drunkenness. The day's business had only just begun. Every trick of the trade was on display, and the ambitions beneath the little songs stirred to life, eyes fixed on money pouches while cloaked in the guise of love.
Looking at Red Adornment's face, Ji Hanchu could not remain rational.
He was still hesitating, trapped between advancing and retreating, the words "goodbye forever" circling endlessly through his mind.
He felt such pain. Loving her hurt; not loving her hurt too.
It was too hard.
Red Adornment did not think so. The moment they entered, she smiled joyfully, piercing Ji Hanchu's eyes and his heart.
"Brother Ji San..." Red Adornment teased him. "You can't bear to part with me, can you?"
Ji Hanchu stiffened slightly, looked away awkwardly, and nodded.
His eyes were still full of conflict.
Red Adornment adored the sight of him suffering like this. The more he hesitated and tore himself apart, the happier she became.
Making an abstinent man break his taboos, abandon his righteous path, and dally with a wicked woman was immensely satisfying.
All she knew was that she probably liked Ji Hanchu. But was it three parts, five parts, or ten?
She did not know.
He would not cut her heart out and weigh it anyway, so she could say whatever she liked.
She wanted him, so it was ten parts.
"You can't bear to part with me, and I can't bear to part with you either. A moment of a lovely night is worth a thousand gold..." She kissed the corner of his mouth, tangling playfully with his tongue. "I'll never forget you."
That was true, without the slightest falsehood.
She truly would never forget Ji Hanchu. This man who seemed like a banished immortal-she would probably carry him back to the Southern Frontier in her heart, until she died.
Red Adornment drew his hand toward her. The moment their fingertips touched, he tried to pull back as though burned, but she would never allow it. She forcefully held his hand down, pressing his palm into hers.
"Ji San, you already promised me..."
Ji Hanchu gripped her hand and said quietly, "Don't speak."
Red Adornment smiled.
The little prude was so adorable. How could she possibly stop talking? Had he forgotten where they were?
If she stayed silent, she feared he would hear something else and find it even harder to bear.
Just then.
"This new girl is interesting-more interesting than all the others before her!"
"Give me a smile, a pretty one, and all the banknotes stuffed in your mouth are yours."
Red Adornment watched Ji Hanchu with smiling eyes. After a moment of stunned silence, his face turned scarlet, his expression so bashful that he wished he could cover his ears.
This was a fine place to gather all the debauchery under heaven. Sincere hearts were the last thing it lacked; a single banknote could buy vows sworn to the seas and mountains.
The night was just right, the music rose high, and the waves of pleasure rose higher. The show began: some loftily sold their art but not their bodies, while others indulged their desires to the point of depravity.
"What are you crying for? Don't spoil my fun!"
"Don't you dare pass out. I haven't even started."
"Be good. Swallow this banknote, and I'll give you ten times as much."
Red Adornment looked at Ji Hanchu and giggled at the unbearable strain on his face.
"Ji San, don't just stand there. Kiss me too."
She kissed his flushed cheek and coaxed him, "I like it when you kiss me. Won't you kiss me?"
Before the little song had ended, they rounded a bend and came to another place.
Ji Hanchu was taut all over. His blood seethed and burned, and his reason was about to turn to ash.
Red Adornment wrapped her arms around him, gently welcoming him, kissing him. Slowly closing her eyes, she felt Ji Hanchu cling to her more eagerly, deepening their kisses. She could guess what he felt: despair, guilt, self-loathing...
He wavered between desire and the righteous path, struggled between great joy and great sorrow, and had already completed his own destruction.
From the moment he saw her appear beside Yin Yuanya, his sacred altar had crumbled.
Ji Hanchu had always been an honest man, able to face everything in the world openly. Only with Red Adornment did he discover that so many of his principles were useless.
She was an enchantress who had destroyed his righteous path and stolen his soul, yet she did not even want him.
Now he no longer wanted to reason with her.
Because people who fell in love could not reason at all.
Ji Hanchu could not describe the feeling. It was a little like testing knockout drugs under his father's instruction as a child. First his head grew slightly dizzy, then his limbs went weak and lost their strength. His mind could think of nothing else; there was only tingling, only dizziness. That feeling, clearer than drunkenness yet more intoxicating than clarity, was something he could not have put into words even after reading countless medical texts.
On the ground, red skirts and blue robes intertwined; overhead, the clear breeze and bright moon intoxicated.
There was a woman, venomous and wicked, whom others called a "demoness" at every turn, yet she was the woman Ji Hanchu held in his heart.
Even if she was deceiving him now, he could not bear to expose it.
How happily, how humbly, how fervently he yearned for "next time."
(III) I'm fond of you
When Red Adornment woke, Ji Hanchu was awake too.
She rolled over, sprawled on top of him, and propped up her head to look at him, her eyes sparkling. "Brother Ji San." She kissed him as she spoke.
Ji Hanchu's ears reddened, followed by his neck. He had never known how to answer her sweet words, only how to blush and let her tease him.
Red Adornment's lips curved into a beguiling smile. "Ji San, you're so good."
He was clean, so clean that she could not bear to turn him into a gu thrall. Yet this clean man now silently embraced bloodshed, becoming an accomplice to a butcher like her.
Why couldn't such a good man belong to her?
Red Adornment poked his soft lips. "Idiot."
Ji Hanchu had too much he wanted to say, so much that he did not know where to begin, so much that, looking at her smile, he could only say blankly, "...Yes, I'm an idiot."
Red Adornment's heart wavered, and she froze for a moment.
Ji Hanchu clasped her hand and drew her into his arms. "What was your original name?"
He had not forgotten that she said her master had adopted her, and that Red Adornment was also the name her master had given her.
He wanted to know her birth name.
But Red Adornment shook her head gently. "I've forgotten. Maybe I never had a name at all."
Girls born into ordinary families had never received much attention. A lowly name made a child easier to rear; some people went their entire lives with nothing but a childhood nickname.
Ji Hanchu watched her without blinking.
Red Adornment asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
"That jade bracelet..." Ji Hanchu said quietly. "It was something my father left me."
Leaning against his chest, Red Adornment gave a soft "Mm."
Ji Hanchu's voice sank lower. "My father gave that bracelet to my mother when he confessed his feelings to her. Later, my mother died in childbirth, and my father put the bracelet away and gave it to me. He told me a jade bracelet could only be given to the woman I loved. He had loved only one person his whole life, and hoped I would too."
Red Adornment grew a little flustered. She let go and drew back from his embrace. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
This was not what she had imagined. After their lovemaking, Ji Hanchu should not have reacted like this.
"What am I trying to say?"
Ji Hanchu seemed to want to smile, but even with effort, he could not manage it. He draped an outer robe over himself, got out of bed, picked up the whip she had dropped on the floor, and knelt on one knee.
Red Adornment sat upright and watched him, vaguely sensing what was coming. Instinctively, she did not quite want to hear what he would say.
But Ji Hanchu gave her no chance to evade it. Hoarsely, he said, "First I damaged your reputation, then I dishonored your chastity. Either way, I have violated my family's teachings and wronged you." He held the whip out beside her hand and looked at her calmly. "You may punish me however you wish."
Ji Hanchu was that sort of person. Asking him to take this step openly and sleep with her without any scruples was almost like asking for his life.
In his heart, this was not lovemaking. It was illicit coupling.
Red Adornment breathed a sigh of relief. So that was all it was.
She tossed aside the whip and swung her feet. "How could I bear to punish you? You're my darling husband. I can't cherish you enough."
Ji Hanchu caught her ankle. It was slender enough for his palm to wrap around it completely.
He looked at her calmly. After a long silence, he released her and said, "Red Adornment, I'm fond of you."
Their surroundings suddenly fell silent.
Red Adornment froze, feeling a little at a loss for the first time.
For an instant, she felt as though her heart had softened, softer and softer...until it became water, with voices rippling through it, saying tempting things.
She listened, and many absurd thoughts flashed through her mind.
Too absurd, she thought. Truly too absurd.
She teased him and forced him, yet she had never really believed Ji Hanchu would love her. Or even if he did, she had not believed he would say it aloud.
Yet now he had said it.
He said he was fond of her.
But what of it? What could his fondness change?
Red Adornment did not voice those thoughts, as though they had never appeared in her mind at all. She merely stood and silently dressed.
Red Adornment picked up the Bone-Setting Whip and fastened it in place, then took the jade bracelet from inside her clothes and held it before Ji Hanchu.
"Here. Take it back."
Ji Hanchu did not move. His head hung very low.
Red Adornment smiled. "I know what all of you think of me, but I don't care. Whether you think I'm a good person or an evil spirit, I don't care. Ji Hanchu, I only want to tell you that I'm more resolute than you think. I won't let go of those grudges, and I won't spare a single person who deserves to die."
She watched Ji Hanchu. He remained silent, saying nothing.
Red Adornment crouched to his level and saw that his eyes were faintly red. At such close quarters, she could see his throat working hard.
He looked at her stubbornly, refusing through his silence.
Red Adornment took his hand and placed the jade bracelet in his dry palm. She exhaled in relief, as though she had settled a debt.
"Ji San, you're a good man, but you were unlucky enough to meet me. I'm sorry you wasted such deep affection on the wrong person. I've wronged you."
With that, she left without looking back.
She did not turn around or look at Ji Hanchu behind her. Even as she left, his head remained lowered, and he said nothing.
Those absurd thoughts, and that tender "I'm fond of you," were as though they had never happened.
(IV) Veiled eyes
Red Adornment let Yin Yuanya go.
It was not that she could not kill him. By the end, Ji Hanchu had all but tacitly consented. He had been so distraught then that she only needed to go next door and bring her blade down, and Yin Yuanya's life would have ended.
She simply did not want to kill anyone in front of Ji Hanchu. Whether she had done so before or not, this time she particularly did not want to.
But letting Yin Yuanya go truly invited endless trouble.
First came an inexplicable sense of pressure as she walked down the street, as though someone were staring at her back with hidden murderous intent. Then, one day, the inn's waiter suddenly became an unfamiliar face. In the middle of the night, Tianshu hauled her up and took her to see the original waiter's bloated corpse in the well.
The stench nearly made her vomit.
Tianshu accepted a cup of tea offered beside him and said scornfully, "Satisfied now?"
The one handing him tea was precisely the Yin Clan disciple disguised as a waiter. By now, Tianshu had turned him into a puppet. A stiff smile stretched across his lifeless face, and his neck clicked and clacked.
Red Adornment poured herself a cup of tea too and sipped it. "I'll deal with him in a couple of days."
"Deal with him, my ass," Tianshu said. "By the time you get around to it, they'll have slit your throat."
He walked to the window, opened it to glance outside, then turned back.
They had moved to another There Is an Inn. Its proprietor was a fierce, blackhearted swindler, and the window had long gone unrepaired. As soon as it opened, a sudden creak disturbed the flying insects.
Arms folded, Tianshu tilted his head toward the outside. Amid the layers of tree shadows sat a slender man, pale and silent, utterly motionless. There was no telling how long he had been there.
Tianshu said, "I told you long ago not to forget how your senior sister died."
Red Adornment went over and shut the window. "And I told you I haven't forgotten."
Tianshu said coldly, "I think you're just begging to have a gu planted in you, girl."
Red Adornment sat back down at the table and waved the gu thrall away. "It's not as though I plan to do anything with him."
Tianshu raised his eyes to her. "You'd better not."
He came over, sat opposite Red Adornment, took her prayer beads, opened them, and placed gu worms and poisonous insects inside.
She had never studied gu arts with Tianshu. She only knew how to summon the insects to bite people, and nothing else.
Tianshu replenished the insects in her prayer beads every so often, but this time there were especially many.
Once he finished, he returned the prayer beads and said, "I have to go back first. Something's gone wrong with the female worm inside Yaoguang. The letter wasn't clear, and I'm worried."
Tianshu had planted Yaoguang's Twin Gu when he was young. The male and female worms lived and died together; if something happened to one, the other would suffer too. If the male worm broke free of the icy river, it would be a major problem for Yaoguang.
Red Adornment nodded. "I'll be heading back soon too."
Tianshu said, "I've sent someone to deal with that man. Focus on the woman who's left. Kill her if you can; if you can't, come back. There's only one left anyway. Since they've already noticed, there's no need to keep tangling with them."
Killing someone was not especially difficult anyway, and they still had plenty of opportunities.
Red Adornment had been holding a candlestick and pinching at the flame for amusement. At his words, she raised a brow. "Who did you send?"
Tianshu said, "Kaiyang."
Red Adornment was astonished. "Senior Martial Uncle agreed to go?" Unless someone was a top-tier expert, Kaiyang would not draw his saber.
Tianshu said, "I told him Yin Yuanya was a peerless expert hiding his abilities, with martial skills equal to his own, and that once he drew his sword, he would not stop until his opponent died. To defeat him, he would have to kill him."
Red Adornment said, "...Would Senior Martial Uncle believe that?" It sounded so false.
Tianshu said airily, "He did."
"..."
Tianshu sneered. "A brute's courage. Stupid beyond compare."
Tianshu left with the gu thrall.
Red Adornment played with the candlestick, passing her fingers back and forth through the flame. Her fingertips had already turned black with soot.
By now, almost everything that needed settling had been settled. The Yin Clan had discovered her and had probably gathered their people, ready to kill her for revenge at any moment. Tianshu had also made it clear that she should leave Yin Fangchuan alone.
Whether by sentiment or reason, she had no grounds to stay.
Only...
Red Adornment turned toward the tightly closed window. Her eyelids drooped almost imperceptibly, and she stared blankly.
The candle flame crackled, and a searing pain shot from her fingertip. She sucked in a cold breath, snatched her hand back, and plunged it into her teacup. The tea barely eased the burning heat. The candle flame flickered dimly, as though mocking her distraction.
Red Adornment looked at her hand for a while, then went to the window and flung it open.
"Hey-" She beckoned to the man sitting in the tree. "How long are you going to sit there?"
The figure shifted slightly, leaves rustled, and the outline in the darkness grew clear.
With a leap, he stood before her.
Red Adornment hooked a chair over and sat down leisurely. "Ji Hanchu, what exactly do you want?"
Ever since that day, he had followed her without leaving her side. If she had not stopped him, Tianshu would long since have wanted to kill him.
Ji Hanchu said nothing. He wanted to touch her face, but his hand withdrew halfway there. He felt he was unworthy.
She did not want him. She had even returned the jade bracelet, along with his sincere heart.
Red Adornment turned her prayer beads. "If you keep following me, I'll turn you into a puppet."
Ji Hanchu looked up at her.
Red Adornment had wiped the red polish off her nails. Her ten fingers were pale and delicate as they turned the prayer beads, making her look just like a devout believer.
But she was nothing of the sort. Smiling, she said, "Do you know? I've killed so many people. So very many. I killed Yin Sanping with an arrow through the heart. I also used insects to poison the disciples at Fishing Slumber Cottage, right in front of you. And the old disciple staying in the separate courtyard..."
Ji Hanchu listened quietly, watching her all the while.
Only when Red Adornment had sickened even herself with her words did he step forward and crouch before her.
He tilted his head up slightly and asked, his tone betraying little emotion, "Then why didn't you kill me?"
Red Adornment's fingers twitched. The burning pain was distinct. She looked a little bewildered, a little dazed.
She sucked her finger briefly and asked, "Are you trying to redeem me?"
Ji Hanchu lifted his chin slightly. "The Yin Clan knows you're the killer. They want to kill you."
Red Adornment said, "So?"
Ji Hanchu said earnestly, "Red Adornment, go back to the Southern Frontier. Never come back."
His voice was very low. It was impossible to tell whether it held sorrow, grievance, or regret.
Perhaps none of those, because his heart had never harbored such things. He wanted her to leave and never return simply because, naturally, he wanted her to live.
Once again, Red Adornment regretted letting Yin Yuanya go. Had she known, she would have cleaved that old bastard in two. It was not as though Ji Hanchu had never seen her kill anyone.
But it was too late for regret now. She crossed her legs and looked at Ji Hanchu before her, with his handsome features and gentle bearing. Even after she had ruined him, he still looked clean.
Her lips curved. "Ji San, do you like the life you have now?"
Without waiting for Ji Hanchu to answer, she continued, "Actually, I forgot. You used to live so freely, but now I've destroyed that freedom. If you let me go, I can keep living carefree and happy. But what about you?"
Ji Hanchu smiled too, a trace of bitterness in it. "I'll be all right."
Red Adornment did not believe him. "Really?"
Ji Hanchu said, "There have always been many feelings in this world that come to nothing."
So one more made little difference.
Red Adornment said nothing.
She looked into Ji Hanchu's eyes. He was so sad, the longing in his eyes brimming over. Yet he still insisted that she leave.
Red Adornment wanted to ask, Why won't you keep me here? But she knew the answer better than anyone. When she killed people, she had never imagined she would meet a man like this. This side of Ji Hanchu shook her cold, hard heart.
Now she felt a little regretful. She should never have provoked him back at the medicine hall. She would have been better off killing him with one stroke of her blade; then there would not have been so many tangled complications.
The feelings he offered were too tender. She truly did not know how to face them.
Red Adornment's brows knitted tightly. She set down the Buddhist prayer beads and met Ji Hanchu's eyes.
"If you want to save people, go ahead and save someone else. I don't need you to concern yourself with me."
Ji Hanchu pressed his lips into a fragile line. Something was crumbling in his eyes, yet he still stubbornly held his ground, resolutely choosing something.
Red Adornment stood up. "You really are a living bodhisattva. There's so much sin in this world. Can you save everyone? You've seen so many karmic burdens and bitter fruits. If you have to save every last one, can you bear..."
Ji Hanchu stood up too, walked over to her, and blocked her path.
"I can't save them all. I can't save them, either." His voice sounded as though his throat held stones, hoarse and rough.
"I don't care what happens to anyone else. I only care whether you'll die."
Red Adornment said, "I don't want you concerning yourself with me, either."
A self-mocking smile touched Ji Hanchu's lips. He said quietly, "You're the person I love. You're the only person I've ever loved in my life. Other people have nothing to do with me, but you're different. I have to concern myself with you. If you don't want me, if you think little of me, if you never want to have anything to do with me again, none of that matters. I don't care... I just, just want you to live."
His heavy breaths fell on the crown of her head. Every word he spoke took great effort.
Red Adornment's heartbeat quickened too.
She had never felt that she thought little of Ji Hanchu. It was not that she knew nothing of love between men and women. She saw Ji Hanchu as a man, and she believed the person she had seduced was a man.
He was good, very kind, and very strong.
He was different from Little Mute. Most of the time, Little Mute would only roll his eyes at her, but Ji Hanchu blushed, stammered, and grew shy. He wielded his blade with domineering force, and his medical skills were good too.
She had never seriously faced his feelings, yet he expressed them so directly, with such honesty and blazing intensity.
He had said, "Red Adornment, I'm fond of you."
He had said, "I want you to live."
He had said that many feelings in this world faded away without ever coming to fruition, and he did not care.
So knowing, yet refusing to face it, was thinking little of him.