novelPrison (1)
| ← Ch.01 | Ch.03 → |
The sounds of weapons clashing were heard continuously. Ting! Ting Ting! With a series of white flashes, swords were sent flying in all directions. One sword flew right amongst the crowd of servants. The numerous maids were in shock, some fell on the seat opposite the host, while others held onto the handle against the crossbeam. In an instant, the swords of Bu Yuan, Wu Kan, Feng Tan, and Shen Cheng were all taken away by Di Yun's "Releasing Sword Stance."
Wan Zhenshan laughed and applauded."Good! Good! Brother Qi, looks like you have completed the Liancheng Swordplay! Congratulations!" There was a subtle hint of bitterness in his voice.
Qi Zhangfa was stunned."What Liancheng Swordplay?" he asked.
"If Nephew Di's technique was not Liancheng Swordplay, then what was it? Kun'er, Qi'er, Gui'er, come back. Your Brother Di has learned Uncle Qi's Liancheng Swordplay, how can you be any match for him?" He turned to Qi Zhangfa and sneered: "Martial brother, you're sure good at feigning ignorance. 'Iron Lock Across the River' is truly remarkable."
Di Yun had executed the "Piercing Shoulder Stance", "Slap-in-the-face Stance", and the "Releasing Sword Stance" in succession and managed to defeat all eight of his opponents. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he could win so easily and was actually perplexed. He looked at his teacher, martial sister, and martial uncle, unsure of what to say.
Qi Zhangfa approached Di Yun, then suddenly grabbed the long sword from his hand and pointed it at his neck."Those sword stances... who taught it to you?" he interrogated.
Di Yun was taken aback. Usually he would not dare to hide anything from his teacher, but the old beggar stated very clearly that if Di Yun were to reveal anything about their encounter, the beggar's life would be put in jeopardy. Furthermore, Di Yun had made an oath to not reveal anything about, so he could only say: "Tea... teacher... disciple... disciple figured it out on his own."
Qi Zhangfa shouted: "You came up with such brilliant stances on your own? You... you dare speak such nonsense to me! If you don't reveal the truth, I will kill you right now." He moved his wrist forward and the blade of the sword cut Di Yun's throat slightly.
Qi Fang rushed forward and held tightly onto her father's arms."Father! Martial brother was with us the whole time, how could anyone teach him martial arts? Weren't those sword stances taught by you?"
Wan Zhenshan sneered."Brother Qi, why do you insist on playing innocent? Your daughter has already spoken of the matter quite clearly. You need not demonstrate the acting abilities of 'Iron Lock Across the River' in front of your martial brother. Come now! Brother will toast you three cups of wine!" As he said that he filled up two cups of wine, downed one cup and said: "Big brother will drink first as respect! You should show me some face."
Qi Zhangfa snorted, dropped his sword on the ground and fetched the wine cup. He downed three cups in a row and felt slightly dizzy. He was still a bit confused and remarked, "Strange! Strange!"
Wan Zhenshan said: "Brother Qi, there is something I want to discuss with you privately, please come to the study room with me." Qi Zhangfa nodded in agreement. Wan Zhenshan put his hands on his shoulder and together they went to the study room.
Wan Zhenshan's eight disciples looked at each other speechless, some faces turned blue while some whispered curses.
Shen Cheng said, "I'm going to the washroom! The stances that brat Di Yun pulled really scared me."
Lu Kun's face sunk in disgust and shouted, "Eighth Brother, have you not embarrassed yourself enough?"
Shen Cheng stuck his tongue out and left in a hurry. He went out from the dining room door and headed to the washroom but on the way he stopped by the living room to eavesdrop. He heard the sound of his teacher's voice."Brother Qi, for twenty years the mystery remained unsolved, but today there is finally a solution."
He heard Qi Zhangfa reply: "Little brother does not understand what you mean by this."
"Why do you make me say any more? Do you remember how our teacher died?"
"Teacher lost one of his martial arts manuals and could not recover it. He died under great depression. You already know this, why ask?"
"Correct. And what is the name this martial arts manual?"
"How would I know? Why ask me?"
"I heard teacher say it was called 'Liancheng Manual. '"
"What completed or not completed?[1] I don't understand one bit."
"He who knows is not as he who desires, he who desires is not as what..."
"Not as he who knows not!"
"Hehe... haha, haha!"
"What is so funny?"
"You are actually well-versed in literature, yet you pretend to be ignorant. We martial brothers have been training together for over a dozen years, who doesn't know whose background? If you don't know the words 'Liancheng Manual', how could you recite the analects of Confucius or Mencius?[2]"
"You are testing me, aren't you?"
"Hand it over!"
"Hand what over?"
"You already know, why feign ignorance?"
"I, Qi Zhangfa, have never been afraid of you."
Shen Cheng heard his teacher and martial uncle bicker louder and louder and he became afraid. He quickly ran back into the living room, went to Lu Kun and whispered: "Elder Brother, teacher and Uncle Qi are bickering loudly, I fear a battle may ensue!"
Lu Kun stood up straight and said, "Then let's go!" Zhou Qi, Wan Gui, Sun Jun and the others hurriedly followed.
Qi Fang pulled on Di Yun's sleeves and said, "Let's go too!"
Di Yun nodded and ran two steps when Qi Fang grabbed a long sword. Di Yun turned around and saw Qi Fang holding two long swords and asked, "Two swords?"
"Father did not carry a weapon!" she answered.
The eight disciples of the Wan clan had faces full of worry as they stood outside the study room. Di Yun and Qi Fang stood farther behind them. The ten of them tried to regulate their breathing while quietly eavesdropping the bickering inside the room.
"Brother Qi, our teacher's death... it was because of you." It was the voice of Wan Zhenshan.
"Nonsense! Complete nonsense! Brother Wan, you accuse me so clearly. Then tell me, how did I cause our teacher's death?" Under extreme anger, Qi Zhangfa was very loud and his voice was hoarse.
"Teacher's martial arts manual is called 'A Deadly Secret', were you not the one who stole it?"
"How do I know of any deadly person, or deadly ghost? Brother Wan, if you want to frame me with the surname Qi, it won't be so easy."
"The sword stances that your disciple executed, are they not from the Liancheng Swordplay? How could his techniques be so clever and fluent?"
"My disciple has always been intelligent, he must have come up with it himself—even I don't know it. How could it be any Liancheng Swordplay? You told your disciple Bu Yuan to invite me over, saying that you have completed this Liancheng Swordplay, did you not? We can ask Bu Yuan to confirm this!"
Everyone outside the room looked at Bu Yuan, whose face turned deathly pale. Clearly Qi Zhangfa was speaking the truth; Di Yun and Qi Fang exchanged glances and nodded, thinking: "I heard Bu Yuan say this as well, there is no denying it."
Wan Zhenshan laughed loudly and replied: "Of course I said this. Otherwise, how could I get you to come over? Qi Zhangfa, I ask you now: you claim you have never heard of the Liancheng Swordplay. If so, why did your expression change so drastically when Bu Yuan said I had completed this swordplay? How can you still deny it?"
"Aha! You with the surname Wan swindled me to come to Jingzhou?"
"Correct. Hand over the sword manual, then kowtow to our master's grave to admit your misdeeds."
"Why should I hand it over to you?"
"Hmph! I am your elder martial brother!"
The room fell quiet for a while, then Qi Zhangfa's voice was heard: "Alright, I'll give it to you."
Everyone outside the room became startled when they heard these words. Di Yun and Qi Fang only wished there was a hole they could crawl into to bury their shame. Lu Kun and the other Wan disciples looked at Di Yun and Qi Fang with great resentment. Qi Fang was angry too and also felt a sense of extreme humiliation, she would have never believed that her father did such a disgraceful deed.
Suddenly, a loud and enduring scream was heard from inside the room. It was Wan Zhenshan. Wan Gui shouted, "Father!" and quickly kicked open the door and burst into the room. He saw that Wan Zhenshan lying on the floor, his chest stabbed by a very sharp and dazzling dagger, his entire body was covered in blood. The window was wide open and Qi Zhangfa was nowhere to be seen.
Wan Gui cried mournfully."Father! Father!" He held Wan Zhenshan tightly.
Qi Fang also cried, "Father! Father!" She was trembling in fear and held Di Yun's hand tightly.
Lu Kun shouted, "Quick, chase after the assailant!" Then with Zhou Qi, Sun Jun, and the others he quickly rushed out the window and shouted, "Capture the assailant! Capture the assailant!"
Di Yun watched as the eight disciples of the Wan clan chased after his teacher. At this moment he was truly scared out of his mind, unsure of what to do. Qi Fang shouted again, "Father!" Her body was still trembling and she could not keep her balance. Di Yun quickly held onto Qi Fang so she wouldn't fall. He lowered his head and saw both of Wan Zhenshan's eyes were shut tight; his expression was ferocious and disgusting and must have suffered a great amount of pain before his death.
Di Yun could look no more, and said softly: "Martial sister, shall we go?"
Qi Fang had not replied yet when a voice was heard behind them, saying: "You two are accomplices of the assailant! You cannot go!"
Di Yun and Qi Fang turned around to look and saw a long sword aimed at Qi Fang's chest, it was Bu Yuan. Di Yun was enraged, but when he thought about it, he realized that it was his teacher who murdered his martial uncle, what more could he say? He only lowered his head and remained silent.
Bu Yuan said coldly, "The two of you return to your respective rooms, once we catch Qi Zhangfa, you will all be sent to the officials."
"This whole ordeal was caused by me and me alone, it does not concern my martial sister. If you want to kill someone, then kill me, " said Di Yun.
Bu Yuan pushed Di Yun hard on the back and shouted, "Go! This is not the time for you to play hero."
Di Yun could only hear the shouts of "Capture the assailant!" from outside. His mind was boggled and really did not know what to do at this point. He could only obey and head back to his room.
"Martial brother, what... what do we do?" cried Qi Fang.
Di Yun sobbed."I... I don't know. I will confess to the crime along with master, " he suggested.
"Father... where could he be?"
Di Yun remained in his room. It had been over four hours have passed since the murder of Wan Zhenshan, yet he was still sitting on his chair motionless over the events that had occurred. He stared blankly at the half-burnt candle on the table.
At this point the ones who chased after Qi Zhangfa returned. He heard voices outside talking."The assailant has already left the city, we couldn't catch him!"
"Tomorrow we will head to Hunan, no matter what we must catch him to avenge our teacher!"
"I only fear that the assailant may perish in the realmn, we may not be able to find him even if we try."
"Hmph, even if we have to chase him to the edge of the earth and the corner of the ocean, we will still catch him and shred his corpse into ten thousand pieces!"
"Tomorrow we will spread notices across the realm to invite the righteous men in the martial world to uphold justice. Together we will kill this ignoble criminal!"
"Right! Let us first kill the daughter of the assailant and that brat with the surname Di as a sacrifice to our teacher."
"No, let's wait until tomorrow when the county magistrate comes to examine the corpse before we decide."
The Wan disciples kept discussing their plans outside. Di Yun wanted to call her martial sister and escape together, but thought: "She is still a young girl, roaming in the realmn, who can take good care of her? Should I run away with her? No... no! This disaster was caused by me, if I did not try to play hero and fight with the Wan disciples, then Uncle Wan would not be suspicious of my master completing whatever Liancheng Swordplay. But my teacher is an honest person, why would he steal the sword manual? The three stances were taught to me by the old beggar, but now my teacher has already committed a crime. Even if I reveal the truth now, nobody would believe me. Even if they do believe me, what difference does it make now? I have committed a huge crime and it is all my fault. Tomorrow I must reveal the truth to everyone in defense of my teacher. But... but Uncle Qi was indeed killed by my teacher, how could this criminal record be erased? No, I can't escape now, I will remain here and take the blame for my teacher's actions. I will let them kill me instead!"
As he continued pondering the situation, faint footsteps were heard from the rooftop. Di Yun looked up and saw was a dark shadow heading from west to east. He jumped onto the rooftop and yelled out quietly, "Teacher!" but upon closer inspection, the shadow was tall and skinny, nothing like the build of his teacher. Following behind this shadow was yet another mysterious figure who had a blade in his hand.
He thought to himself: "Are they looking for my teacher? Maybe teacher is nearby and hasn't gone far yet." He was thinking when suddenly from the east a loud feminine scream was heard. Di Yun was startled. He grabbed his sword and got up. The first thought that came to his mind was: "Are they hurting my martial sister?" Following that, another yell from a girl was heard, screaming: "Help me!"
However this voice did not sound like Qi Fang's, so he felt a bit relieved knowing that his martial sister was not in danger. He got out from the window and from inside the room he again heard a girl screaming, "Help! Help!"
He quickly rushed over to the scene. From the east side of the house saw a bright light coming out from the window. He went near the window and saw a girl tied up on a bed. Two people were molesting her face while another was about to undress her. Di Yun did not recognize who the girl was, but saw that she was very scared and was trying to struggle herself free from the bed, crying loudly for help.
Although he was in quite a predicament himself, upon seeing such injustice he could not simply walk away. At once he jumped in through the window and with his sword he aimed at the chest of the man on the left. The man on the right threw a chair at Di Yun, while the one on the left drew his blade to slash him. Di Yun saw that both men's faces were covered by a black cloth, so all he could see were their eyes. He shouted: "You bold scoundrels! Leave your lives here!" Three stabbing sounds were heard.
The two men did not reply and instead each drew their blade. One said, "Brother Lu, pull back!"
The other said: "That Wan Zhenshan is lucky today, we will get him next time!" Both blades were held up aiming to strike Di Yun's head. Di Yun saw the strikes approaching and quickly dodged. One of the men kicked the table up to the air, it flipped over and the candle died. Now the room was completely dark, only the sounds of breathing could be heard. The two mysterious figures jumped out through the window. Some weapon sounds were heard and several tiles were thrown. In the darkness Di Yun could not see clearly. He knew that his lightness martial arts was not proficient so he did not pursue.
"One of them had the surname Lu, likely an accomplice of Lu Tong that probably came to seek vengeance. They don't realize that Uncle Wan is already dead, " he thought.
Suddenly, the girl on the bed shouted: "Ow! That hurts! I was stabbed in the chest by a small blade! Quickly pull it out for me."
Di Yun was shocked."The thief stabbed you?" he asked.
"Stabbed! Stabbed!" she cried.
"Let me light a candle so I can see clearly."
"Come over here, quickly!"
Di Yun heard her voice was quite frantic and panicky so he walked closer and asked, "What is it?"
Suddenly, the woman opened her arms and hugged him around the waist, then shouted loudly: "Help! Help!"
Di Yun was in even more shock now: he clearly saw that she was confined by ropes, now how could she release herself? He quickly stuck out his hand and wanted to release her grip, but the woman had a very strong grip on him, and he could not instantly pull himself away from her.
Suddenly, a bright light was seen from the window. Two torches were lit and one could see the paintings inside the room. Several people spoke at once: "What's going on? What's going on?"
The girl shouted: "A rapist! A rapist! He wants to rob me and rape me! Help!"
Di Yun urgently shouted: "You... you... how could you do this?" He stuck his hand out to push her body away. The girl originally had hugged him hard around the waist, but now used her full force to repel him, shouting: "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"
Di Yun instantly retreated, when suddenly he felt a cold sensation at the back of his neck: a long sword was already aimed at him. He wanted to explain himself, but with a flash of light from the blade he suddenly felt excruciating pain in his right palm. He screamed loudly as his own long sword fell on the ground. He looked down and was so scared at what he saw that he almost fainted: the five fingers of his right hand were cleanly sliced off, fresh blood splattered everywhere like spring water. In utter confusion he squinted and saw faintly that it was Wu Kan who held the bloody sword, standing on the side.
All he could utter was, "You!" and kicked Wu Kan hard with his right leg. Suddenly, he was hit hard on his back by a fist, causing him to stagger in great pain. Now his whole body fell on top of the girl. The girl shouted again: "Help! Rapist!"
He heard Lu Kun's voice."Capture him!"
Di Yun had actually never seen any other youngster not from the countryside, and only at this moment did he realize that he fell into a devious trap by a bunch of schemers. He quickly got up, turned his body over and wanted to attack Lu Kun, when suddenly he saw a pale face looking at him—it was Qi Fang.
Di Yun was speechless, and from Qi Fang's face he could make out that she was in great sadness, disbelief, and anger. He shouted, "Martial sister!"
Suddenly, Qi Fang's face turned bright red, she said: "Why... why did you do this?"
Di Yun felt his entire body overwhelmed with feelings of injustice. How could he explain himself now?
Qi Fang began to cry and said, "I... I should just die." She saw that Di Yun's right hand had all five fingers chopped off, so she felt great sympathy and pain for him. She clenched her teeth, tore off a piece of clothing from her garment and bandaged his wound. At this point her face turned snow white again. Di Yun was in so much pain that several times he almost passed out, but he forced himself to be conscious. He bit his lips so hard that they started to bleed. He could not utter a single word.
Lu Kun said: "Little martial mother, this bastard dared to show you such disrespect, let us kill him to help you relieve your anger."
This woman was actually was one of Wan Zhenshan's concubines. She covered her face with both hands and started crying."He... he... he said many dubious and inappropriate things to me. He said that your teacher has passed away and told me to follow him. He said that Lady Qi's father was the murderer, and that will implicate him in the crime as well. He... he said that he has already collected a lot of gold and jewellery and asked me to live a new life with him. He said he would take care of me for the rest of my life..."
Di Yun's mind was overwhelmed with a million thoughts at once."This is all lies... lies..." he mumbled.
"Go! Search that bastard's room!" Zhou Qi exclaimed.
Everyone carried Di Yun over to his room, with Qi Fang following closely behind. Wan Gui said: "Everyone do not be so disrespectful to Brother Di, the situation has not been cleared up yet, do not falsely accuse him of injustice!"
Zhou Qi angrily replied: "What is there that still isn't clear? This brat is a villain!"
"I think that he is not such a person."
"Did you not hear just now? Did you not witness what just happened?"
"I think he only had a few too many cups of wine, and is under drug influence, " Wan Gui retorted.
After all these events, Qi Fang had long lost any opinion of the situation. Upon hearing that Wan Gui was helping to prove Di Yun's innocence, she felt grateful deep inside, and lowly said to herself: "Brother Wan, my martial brother... is indeed not that kind of person."
"Correct, I say he is only drunk, he would certainly not commit thievery, " he said.
During the conversation, the others have already carried Di Yun into his room. Shen Cheng began inspecting his room very carefully. He lowered himself and reached for a heavy bundle under the bed. The bundle rattled like gold clashing against each other. Di Yun felt a cold shiver and was confused as he saw Shen Cheng open the bundle. Inside it was packed full of gold and silver plates, flagons and wine cups. It was most certainly items from the Wan Family's wine banquet.
Qi Fang was shocked, she put out her hands and leaned against the table to support herself.
Wan Gui said some comforting words: "Sister Qi, do not panic, we will think of a solution."
Feng Tan removed the bedding and revealed yet another two hidden bundles. Shen Cheng and Feng Tan each opened one of the bundles: one was filled with silver ingots while the other was filled with jewellery and a bunch of gold rings. At this point, Qi Fang could no longer contain herself as she watched. Under extreme anger and depression, she felt like she wanted to kill herself. Since they were young, she and Di Yun have grown up together, and she had long treated him as her future husband. Never would she have guessed that her lover, in desperate times, would rather retreat and live in isolation with another woman. Was this wicked witch of a woman really so attractive? Or perhaps he was afraid he would be associated with her father's crimes and decided to run off on his own?
Lu Kun shouted loudly: "Little thief, your loot is all here, what excuses do you have now? He gave Di Yun two hard slaps, one on each cheek. Di Yun had both his arms held and locked tight by Sun Jun and Wu Kan so he had no way of retaliating. Both his cheeks immediately became swollen, and Lu Kun continued to punch Di Yun hard on his chest.
Qi Fang shouted: "Don't hit him! Don't hit him! Let us talk things over."
Zhou Qi said: "Kill this thief first, then we will report to the authorities!" As he said this, he hit Di Yun hard with a fist. Under great pain, Di Yun opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Feng Tan drew his sword and said: "Let us severe his left hand and see if he ever dares to commit such misdeeds ever again!" Sun Jun acknowledged this and lifted up Di Yun's arm; Feng Tan was about to strike when Qi Fang shouted: "Ah!" urgently.
Wan Gui said: "Everyone, listen. Out of respect for me, let's just take him to the authorities and be done with it." Upon seeing Feng Tan slowly withdraw his sword, two streams of tears began to flow down Qi Fang's cheeks. She gave a glance at Wan Gui, her eyes full of gratitude.
*****
"5, 10, 15, 20..."
The guard was counting the number of strokes from the beating stick given to Di Yun hard on the back of his legs. Di Yun was held back by two guards while he was being beaten; the bamboo board was getting lower and lower as he was being hit. Compared to the inner pain he felt in his heart, the external pain from being hit was nothing—even the pain on his right palm was considerably painless.
He thought to himself: "Even Fang'mei thinks I'm a thief... even she thinks I'm a thief."
"25... 30... 35... 40..." Now the board fell on the ground. Di Yun's skin was bruised and cracked, fresh blood dripped on the board. Then he passed out.
When Di Yun woke up, he found himself in one of the prison rooms. He felt dizzy and exhausted still so he did not know where he was, nor did he know how much time has passed since the incident. Gradually, he felt the intense pain in his right palm where his five fingers were sliced, as well as the pain on his back, legs, and hip from the beating earlier. He wanted to turn his body over so the painless parts would be on the ground, when suddenly, he felt indescribably excruciating pain on both his shoulders, and he fainted again.
He woke up again several times. The first sound he heard was the sound of his hoarse moaning, followed by intense pain coming from all parts of his body. But why was his shoulder in so much pain, more than anything else? Why was the pain so excruciatingly unbearable? He could only feel indescribable fear. After a long time, he still did not dare to lower his head to look at himself.
He thought: "Perhaps both my shoulders were pierced by someone?" Suddenly, he heard the sound of iron chains softly clashing. As he looked down, he could see that two iron chains tied both his shoulders. Under his fright, when he looked down to see, he was so afraid that it caused his whole body to shake.
After a while, the pain on his shoulders became even worse. Then he realized that the two iron chains actually pierced through his scapula. Along with the iron chains on his hands and the ones that tied his ankles, all these chains were locked together. Piercing the scapula, as he once heard his master say, was one of the worst possible punishments given by the prefecture to only the most unrighteous and evil of men. No matter how high your martial arts are, once your scapula is pierced, you cannot even unleash a fraction of your strength. At that instant, countless number of thoughts came to Di Yun at once: "Why treat me this way? Do they really think I am a huge criminal? I am innocent, how can the magistrate not see through this?"
At the court of the magistrate, he once fully explained the entire incident, but the concubine of Wan Zhenshan, Tao Hong, insisted that he was the one who committed the misdeeds and nobody else. Furthermore, the eight disciples of Wan Zhenshan amongst others also attested to her claims. Indeed, they did see him hug Tao Hong, then they discovered the hidden loot from underneath the bed, and even more from beneath the bedding. Not even to mention the guards in the prefecture, in Jingzhou the name of the Wan family held great status and prestige, which foolish thief would have any ideas of looting them?
Di Yun remembered that the magistrate had a handsome face full of sincerity. He believed that the magistrate was only convinced by these words for the moment, and caused the suffering of an innocent man. Eventually, the case will come to a resolution. But nevertheless, the five fingers on his right hand had been chopped off completely, how could he ever wield a sword again?
He felt his heart overwhelm with anger and his stomach fill with sadness. Without regards to the pain, he stood up and declared: "I'm innocent! I'm innocent!" Suddenly, his leg became limp and he fell on the ground. He tried to get back up and stand straight, but fell over once again. He lied on the ground and continued to shout: "I'm innocent! I'm innocent!"
Suddenly a cold voice could be heard speaking: "Having your scapula pierced, your entire martial arts inert, haha... haha! The price to pay indeed wasn't small."
Di Yun did not care who spoke, nor did he care what that person's intention was, he only continued to shout: "I'm innocent! I'm innocent!"
A gaoler walked by his cell and scolded: "What are you yelling for? You better shut up!"
Di Yun shouted: "I'm innocent! I'm innocent! I want to see the magistrate, he will correct this injustice."
The gaoler shouted: "Are you going to shut up or not?"
Di Yun yelled even louder.
The gaoler laughed coldly and turned around to fetch for a wooden bucket, then he turned his head and threw the wooden bucket at Di Yun. Di Yun sensed an extreme foul smell and could not dodge, his whole body instantly became wet—it was a bucket of urine. The urine spread over his body and caused excruciating pain to his already agonizing wounds. His vision turned dark and he fainted again.
Subconsciously he had a high fever, sometimes he shouted "Teacher! Teacher!" while other times he shouted: "Martial sister! Martial sister!" Over a period of three days, the gaoler brought him coarse rice daily, but he felt quite unconscious and could not help himself to even a single bite.
On the fourth day, the fever in his body slowly began to disperse. As well, the numerous wounds in his body became numb and no longer caused as much suffering as it once did. He recalled that he was declaring his innocence, so opened his mouth widely again and shouted: "I'm innocent!" But at this time his voice was soft and incredibly weak; he barely had enough energy to utter any words.
He sat for a while and his eyes darted around the prison cell which he had previously disregarded. The prison was about a ten-foot squared stone house. The walls were made with tiles of rough and large stones and the floor was also made with large stones. In the corner was the wooden bucket from before, he could still smell the unpleasant scent emitted from it.
He turned his head, and saw that in the middle of the four corners of the room, there was a pair of very fierce eyes staring at him. He trembled as he did not expect that in the room would be another person besides himself. He saw that this man had a face full of facial hair, his hair was long and messy and hung down from his head to his neck. The man's clothes were so ripped it was as if it belonged to a savage beast in the wilderness. The man's hands were shackled by fetters just as he was, as well as the iron chain which also pierced through the man's scapulas.
The first emotion that came to Di Yun was that of joy, and he gave a faint a smile, thinking: "There is actually someone in this world equally as unfortunate as myself." But then he switched thoughts: "This man looks quite ferocious, he is most likely a cold-blooded and ruthless villain who committed arson and murder. He got what he deserved, but I'm innocent!" His thoughts were interrupted as tears began to drip from his eyes.
Throughout all the pain and suffering he received since going to prison, he had always remained strong and would not shed even a single tear. But at this point he could hold back no longer, for his tears streamed uncontrollably down his face. He decided to let it out and cried loudly.
The bearded man sneered: "Very nice performance, well done! Are you an actor?"
Di Yun ignored the man and continued to cry loudly. He heard the sound of footsteps and thought that the gaoler was carrying another bucket of urine. Even if Di Yun's character was more stubborn, he would not want to clash with the gaoler, so he slowly retracted his tears and cried softly. The gaoler looked at him and suddenly said: "Little thief, you have a visitor."
Di Yun felt both shocked and excited at once, he quickly said: "Who... who is it?" The gaoler did not reply and instead produced a large chain of keys from his garment and opened the entrance iron door. He heard footsteps approaching, the gaoler walked through a long corridor and another sound of a door opening was heard, followed by the sound of a door closing and the sound of the rail as the footsteps of three people were heard approaching.
Di Yun was overjoyed and stood up instantly. His legs felt numb again and he was about to fall over but he found support from the stone walls. As soon as he moved he felt immense pain from the chains piercing his scapula, but held no regard for it amidst his excitement. He shouted: "Teacher! Martial sister!" In the entire world, only his master and martial sister were close to him. Naturally, he thought the sound of the footsteps of the other two people must be his master and martial sister.
As the three figures approached, he shouted "Tea..." but could not utter the "cher" as he opened his mouth and could not swallow. Three figures entered through the door. The first was the gaoler, the second was a handsome young man dressed in a gorgeous attire—Wan Gui, and the third was Qi Fang.
Qi Fang shouted: "Martial brother! Martial brother!" She threw her hands against the iron fence of the cell.
Di Yun walked one step forward and saw that she was dressed in new attire, different from the attire they had brought from the countryside. He did not walk another step, but he saw that her eyes were red. She cried: "Martial brother, martial brother, you... you..."
Di Yun questioned: "Where is teacher? Did... did you find his honour?" Qi Fang shook her head, her tears rustled to the floor in the process. Di Yun continued: "Are... are you well? Where are you living?"
Qi Fang choked while she spoke."I have nowhere to go. I am temporarily living in the Wan residence..."
Di Yun was alarmed."That is a harmful place, you definitely cannot stay there! Quick... quickly move out."
Qi Fang lowered her head and said softly: "I... I have no money. These past few days... every day at the prefecture, Wan Gui spent money... to rescue you."
Di Yun grew even more frustrated and yelled: "I did not commit any crimes, why would I need him to spend money for me? How will we repay them in the future? Once the magistrate has fully examined the case over and realized my innocence, he will set me free."
Qi Fang began to cry again. She said bitterly: "Why... why did you do such things? Why... why did you leave me?"
Di Yun became startled, but now he realized what was going on. At this point, his martial sister believed the words of the concubine Tao Hong. She believed that he was the one who stole the gold and jewellery. In his entire life he gave Qi Fang his utmost respect and love and would always submit to her, telling her everything that she wanted to know, discussing anything that she wanted. Little did he realize that when tragedy befell, she was no different from any other person. They all believed that he wanted to rape the girl and steal the money. They all believed that he would actually commit such atrocious acts.
At this moment, the emotional pain he felt caused over a hundred times more suffering and hurt than his physical wounds. He wanted to speak: he had a million things he wanted to explain to Qi Fang, but his throat suddenly became plugged, and he could not even utter a single word. He used all his strength and his ears flushed red, but his throat and tongue would not move and he could not emit any noise.
Qi Fang saw the terrifying expression on his face and became afraid. She turned her head and would not look at him. Di Yun used all his strength but still he could not utter a single word. When he suddenly saw that Qi Fang had turned her head not facing him, he could not help but feel great emotional suffering. He thought: "She hates me now... hates me for leaving her for another woman... hates me for stealing gold and jewellery... hates me for wanting to run off on my own upon trouble... martial sister, martial sister, if you don't believe me, then why come and see me?" He no longer dared to look at Qi Fang, and slowly turned his body, facing the wall.
Qi Fang turned her head and said: "Martial brother, what happened in the past cannot be changed. We can only hope we can soon... soon receive notice of father's whereabouts. Brother Wan will... will come up with a way to get you out of here..."
Di Yun thought: "I don't need his help." He also wanted to say: "Don't live with him!" But the more he used his strength, the more his muscles tightened up, and he could not speak. His body stopped shaking, and the iron chains made clashing sounds.
The gaoler rushed and said: "Time's up. This is a prison for those under death row, designed to punish the greatest of criminals. You guys aren't supposed to be here to begin with. If the uppers find out about this, we will be in deep trouble. Miss, this man does not have any chance to get out of here, and he's also handicapped now. You should forget about him and marry a wealthy and handsome gentleman!" As he said this he glanced over at Wan Gui, and gave a dirty snicker.
Qi Fang begged: "Sir, I have some things I wish to speak with my martial brother." She extended her hands to the iron fence and pulled on Di Yun's sleeves. She spoke softly: "Martial brother, don't worry, I will most certainly beseech Brother Wan to rescue you, and then we will look for my father together." She placed a bamboo basket inside the cell and said: "There's some bacon, fish, and fried eggs there, as well as two taels of silver. Don't worry martial brother, I will visit you again tomorrow..."
The gaoler became annoyed and said: "Lady, if you don't leave now, I won't be nice anymore!"
Wan Gui added: "Brother Di, don't worry. Your problems are my problems. Younger brother will try his best to request the magistrate to set your punishment as low as possible."
The gaoler continued to rush the two of them. Qi Fang could do nothing but take her leave slowly. With each step she turned her head to look back at Di Yun, but saw that his body was as still as a stone, his head still facing the stone wall opposite of her. All Di Yun saw was the various bumps on the stone wall. He really wanted to turn his head and see Qi Fang's figure from behind, as well as shout, "Martial sister!", but he could not speak out. Even his neck was straight and stiff. He heard the footsteps of three people walking away, the sounds slowly getting fainter. He heard the door unlock and open, followed by the sound of the door closing. Then he heard the footsteps of the gaoler returning, and thought to himself: "She said she would come and see me again tomorrow. Alas, I will have to wait a full day before I can see her again."
He extended his hands to reach for the food left behind, when suddenly another long and hairy hand extended over and grabbed the bamboo basket—it was the ferocious criminal from earlier. Di Yun could only watch as the man started eating the bacon in the basket.
Di Yun shouted loudly: "That's mine!" Suddenly he could speak, and thought it was very awkward. He walked forward a step to try and take the basket back, but the prisoner shoved him back with his hands and Di Yun could not keep his balance, moved back a few steps and with a loud bang, he hit his head hard on the stone wall. At that point he understood the true meaning of the phrase "Pierced scapula, useless person."
The second day Qi Fang did not come to visit him. Nor the third day, nor the fourth day.
Day after day, Di Yun anxiously awaited and ended each day in disappointment. By the tenth day, he was nearly driven insane by frustration. He shouted and screamed, banged his head on the wall, but Qi Fang still did not come. All that came out of his howling was a bucket of urine from the gaoler and a harsh beating from the ferocious prisoner.
Half a month passed, and he finally became a bit more settled. In fact, he did not even speak anymore. One night, four gaolers suddenly entered the prison, each wielding a sabre, and brought the ferocious prisoner out.
Di Yun thought: "Are they taking him out to be executed? That would probably be a relief for him, for he no longer has to suffer in here, nor do I have to suffer his beatings any longer."
He was in a deep sleep when suddenly he heard the sounds of iron chains scratching against the floor; the four gaolers brought the prisoner back to his cell. Di Yun glanced over at the prisoner and saw that his entire body was covered in blood, evidently given a harsh beating by the gaolers. The prisoner fell on the ground and went unconscious. Di Yun waited for the four gaolers to leave. From the moonlight shining through the prison cell, he could see the prisoner's face, arm, and legs were all full of bloody bruises as a result of being whipped. Although Di Yun was always beaten by this man, when he saw this man's current state he could not help but feel a bit of sympathy. He fed him some water from a bowl he had.
The prisoner slowly awoke. When he opened his eyes and saw Di Yun, he immediately lifted his iron chain and smacked Di Yun hard on the head. Di Yun had no energy, but he reacted to the situation quickly and made a clever dodge. However, he did not predict that the prisoner's arms did not extend fully, and with a "peng" sound he changed directions and hit him hard on the waist. Di Yun could not keep his balance and fell forward to the right. Since his hands and feet were both connected to the chain that pierced his scapula, he felt agonizing pain. He was shocked and angry at the same time, and could not resist yelling: "You're insane!"
The prisoner laughed: "Your psychological tricks will not work on me. You should have given up on any ideas a long time ago."
Di Yun felt as if the ribs on his waist were about to crack. He was in so much pain that he could barely speak. He said: "You lunatic, you can barely protect yourself. Why would I have any ideas about deceiving you?"
The prisoner kicked forward with his left leg and hit Di Yun's spine, then with his right leg kicked him hard several times."I see that you are only just a young thief and have not committed too many crimes, only that you are under orders from someone else, otherwise I would kick you to death without regret."
Di Yun grew so furious that he forgot the pain in his body, thinking that he was already unfortunate for being falsely accused for crimes he did not commit; now even worse, he was stuck in the same prison cell with an unreasonable lunatic. It was indeed bad luck upon bad luck.
On the full moon of the second month, the prisoner was once again brought out by four gaolers each wielding sabres. He was beaten once again and returned to his cell. This time, Di Yun conditioned himself and no matter how much pity and sympathy he felt for the man, he dared not approach him. But even then it did not matter, for the prisoner—before even catching his breath and recovering from his injuries—proceeded to beat him, shouting: "You scoundrel, even if you spied for another ten years, I will still not be fooled by you! People beating your ancestors, your ancestors beat your descendants! To think that you were born into this world, your ancestors must have sinned greatly." Di Yun was tortured by the prisoner. No matter what he felt it was all Di Yun's fault. Punching and kicking, the prisoner screamed and cursed at Di Yun for more than half a day.
From then on, every time it came near the full moon of the month, Di Yun feared for the worst, for he knew that he would soon inevitably be beaten. Indeed, on the fifteenth of every month, the prisoner was escorted out by four gaolers and tortured, only to briefly return the beating on Di Yun. Thanks to Di Yun's youthful body and build, although he was severely beaten once a month, he did not collapse. He began to wonder: "My scapula has been pierced by the iron chain, and there is no strength in my body. Yet how come this lunatic who also has his scapula pierced, can muster up so much strength to torture me?" Sometimes Di Yun almost collected enough courage to ask him, but he would always be beaten. As a result, he no longer said a single word to him.
It went on like this for several more months. Winter passed and spring came. Having been imprisoned for over a year, Di Yun began to grow accustomed to prison life; the pain and anger in his heart and body had become numb. For trying to avoid the brawl of the prisoner, he did not dare to even look at him. As long as he did talk to him or look at him, except for the nights of the full moon, the lunatic would not beat him.
Early one morning, before Di Yun was awake, he heard the soft chirpings of swallows outside the prison, which suddenly made him recall the past when he and Qi Fang would used to watch the songbirds fly to their nest. His heart became sour and it went away along with the birds. He could only watch through the window several dozen feet high as a pair of birds flew away together. He had nothing to do day and night and always had thoughts about escaping through the balcony window, trying to figure out who lives there. However, the window was shut tightly, and on top of the window there would always be a basket of fresh flowers. At this time of the day the spring sun shone through the window and on the sill was placed a basin of jasmines.
His mind was boggled with many thoughts when suddenly he heard the lunatic let out a deep sigh. For the past year, the lunatic either gave crazy laughs or scolded people, he had never sighed before. A hint of sadness and gentleness could be heard through his sighing. Di Yun could not resist and turned his head over. All he saw was the lunatic sitting in the corner with the hint of a smile from the corner of his mouth, his eyes focused on the basin of jasmines on top of the window sill. Di Yun felt that the man was not putting forth his true emotions, and hence turned around and dared not to look back at him.
Ever since then, Di Yun would check the expression of the lunatic every day. He saw that the lunatic would always stare gently at the basin of fresh flowers on the window sill—from the jasmine flowers and roses of spring, to the lilacs and impatiens of the summer. For over half a year, the two of them did not speak more than a sum of ten words. The beatings on the days of the full moon also became periodic. Di Yun realized that as long as he did not utter a single word, the lunatic's temper would be much less severe, and consequently the strength of his punches and kicks were less damaging. He thought: "In another few years, I probably won't even remember how to speak anymore."
However, the madness of the lunatic had an advantage too, for it even scared the gaoler from talking in the cell. Sometimes the lunatic would even scold the gaoler, and consequently he would not receive food for the day, so he would instead steal Di Yun's food. Other times, neither of them would receive food, and the lunatic would stay hungry for days and not care.
One year on the fifteenth day of the eleventh month, after the lunatic was given a harsh beating as usual, he suddenly caught a fever, and in his unconsciousness uttered some nonsensical words. Di Yun could make out that he would often say these few words, either "double flower" or "wounded heart".
Di Yun did not pay much attention at first, but come afternoon, he heard him constantly shout: "Water, water! Give me water to drink!" Di Yun could not resist and decided to pour some water from his bowl to help the prisoner. He got close to him, but he was completely alert in case the lunatic would strike with both hands. Luckily, this time he drank the water without getting angry, and promptly fell asleep.
Later that night, four gaolers suddenly appeared and beat up the lunatic again. When he returned this time, his groaning was weak and faint. One of the gaolers said sternly: "If he insists on not speaking, we will beat him up again tomorrow." Another gaoler said: "Since he is unconscious, we should continue to put pressure on him. If he insists on not speaking then he will soon end up in hell. That can't be good."
Di Yun had been living with the lunatic for quite some time and had watched him endure the worst of pain and suffering. He really did not wish for him to die at the hands of the gaoler. On the seventeenth, Di Yun fed him water four or five times. In the last time, the lunatic nodded his head to express gratitude. Since entering prison, this was the first time that Di Yun saw the lunatic express any form of good feelings, and at that moment, Di Yun felt warmth in his heart filled with indescribable joy.
That day, after the second watch[3], the four gaolers came as expected and opened the cell door. Di Yun thought that if the lunatic were to be beaten again in such a short interval, he would most likely die. He gathered his courage and jumped in front of the cell door, shouting: "Don't come in!"
A gaoler with a big build approached him and scolded, "Stupid prisoner, move out of the way!"
Di Yun could not gather any strength in his hands so instead he lowered his head and bit the gaoler hard on the middle and index finger of his right hand. Blood began gushing out of his wounds. The teeth sunk deep into the bones and the fingers nearly cracked. The gaoler was shocked beyond measure, and immediately turned around and jumped out of the cell. He slipped and dropped his sabre on the ground.
Di Yun quickly lowered himself and grabbed the sabre, screamed loudly and hacked three times. Although he did not have much energy in his hands, but with the sabre replacing the sword, the stances were still quite exquisite. A fat gaoler rushed forward with his sabre and Di Yun moved to the side. With a stance of "Mother and Brother Loses Salt, The Long Goose Salts Circular Wings" (it was actually "The Lonely Straight Smoke Desert, The Long River Sunset Falls"), the blade rotated in a circular motion and stabbed the gaoler's leg. The gaoler was so scared that he rolled out of the way.
When the four gaolers saw that Di Yun was as wild and fierce as a tiger, they were afraid to get too close. Instead they stood outside the cell and started cursing at Di Yun's eighteen generations of ancestors, uttering every profanity they could think of. Di Yun remained silent and stood guard in front of the cell door. Surprisingly, the four gaolers did not call for reinforcements. After a while, they realized that they could not fight their way in so they cursed and left.
In the four days following the incident, the gaolers did not bring them food or water. By the fifth day, Di Yun was so thirsty that he could not resist anymore. The lunatic's lips were even more charred. He suddenly said: "If you pretend to kill me, that bítch will bring some water for sure."
Di Yun did not understand what the lunatic was trying to say, but thought to himself: "I don't care if this works or not, but I must try!" Then he shouted loudly: "If you don't give us water now, I will hack this lunatic into pieces." He turned the sabre and made some loud impact noises against the iron fence.
Suddenly he saw a gaoler rush through frantically and yelled: "If you even dare touch a single hair on his head, I will poke ten thousand holes on your body with my blade!" Following that, the gaoler brought some clean water and cold rice.
Di Yun and the lunatic began to eat. Di Yun asked: "He wants to torture you, but yet he is afraid that I will kill you. What kind of reasoning is that?"
The lunatic opened his eyes, lifted his bowl, smashed it hard against Di Yun's head and said: "You think that just because you are pretending to get on my good side that I will fall into your trap?" Crack! The bowl shattered to pieces.
Di Yun's forehead began to drip with fresh blood. He backed off and thought to himself: "This man is going crazy again!"
From then on, on the day of the full moon every month, the gaolers tortured the lunatic as usual, but upon his return, he would no longer unleash his wrath on Di Yun. The two rarely spoke words, but if Di Yun gave more than a few glances at the lunatic, he would be reprimanded with a hard fist. The only time the lunatic showed any signs of kindness or peace was when he looked at the fresh flowers placed outside the high windows of the cell.
By the spring of the fourth year, Di Yun no longer held any hopes of leaving the prison, but in his dreams he still constantly thought of his teacher and his martial sister. Although the image of his teacher gradually blurred over time, the image of his martial sister—her graceful and stalwart body, her rosy red cheeks, and her large black eyes—remained as clear as it was over three years ago.
He no longer dared to have any ideas of leaving prison to reunite with his martial sister. Every day he secretly prayed to Bodhisattva, wishing that even if his martial sister would visit him once, he would be willing to suffer the tortures of the lunatic every single day.
Qi Fang never came.
One day, someone came to visit him. This person was a handsome young man who wore elegant silk clothes. He laughed: "Brother Di, do you still remember me? I am Shen Cheng." It had been over three years since they last saw each other. He grew a lot taller, to the point where Di Yun could barely recognize him.
Di Yun's heart began to pound hard, as he knew there was a chance he could get some information from him about his martial sister."Where is my martial sister?" he asked.
Shen Cheng sent a basket over the iron fence and laughed: "This is from my older sister-in-law, Brother Wan's wife. Everyone did not forget our old companion. Today is a propitious day, and as such she asked me to deliver two full chickens, four trotters, and sixteen happy cakes for you."
Di Yun quickly asked: "Who is Wan's wife? What propitious day?"
| ← Ch. 01 | Ch. 03 → |