Thunderbolt Fantasy – Sword Seekers – Side Story: Episode of Xíng Hài – Chapter 12

Twelve

At night, the incessant rain was gaining momentum and it was beginning to look like a storm. The trees were shaken by the strong wind, the sound of it, rumbling through the valley, was like the shouting of thousands of angry spirits. One moment there was a bolt of lightning in the sky, the next there was a roar of thunder. From time to time the sound of something crumbling was hearable, probably a landslide on a mountain slope that had been loosened by heavy rains, pushing down trees. It was a very unsettling, ominous night. The sound of the rain beating down on the roof of the Mansion of the Eight Celestials was deafening even in Luán Niángzĭ’s bedroom. A single red candle was lit in the room, illuminating her pure white form as she sat on her bed, clad only in light silk. 

There was a knock on the door. 

“Please come in.”

The door opened and Xuĕ Míng came into the room. 

“Did I keep you waiting?” 

“Yes. I’ve been waiting for you.”

They said, smiling at each other. Xuĕ Míng sat down next to her. Luán Niángzĭ immediately laid herself against his chest. Her heart was beating fast.

At first, Luán Niángzĭ planned to somehow reduce Xuĕ Míng to be her sex slave because he continued to behave indifferently and didn’t try to embrace her. For this purpose, she took various measures inside her bedroom. For example, she tried to lure him with sweet words, came to him without a stitch of clothing, tried to masturbate, or she would show him being held by other men. Xuĕ Míng however continued to easily avoid all of it. Was this man’s heart made from stone? Or was he impotent? At one time, she thought so. However, her pride as a researcher of the erotic ways was what turned Luán Niángzĭ on and made her eager to take him down at any cost. At some point, she found herself thinking only about Xuĕ Míng. She had stopped trying to seduce him from that moment and pure-heartedly began to enjoy the nights of talking with him. 

This man is not just a puppet who worships me. He treats me as an equal, as a woman. During the day, Luán Niángzĭ told Xíng Hài that she was the only one she could confide in, but this was slightly false. Xuĕ Míng was also one of those she could trust. And that feeling had turned into a faint love when she was saved from Zhū Yībào’s deadly blade. 

“So, what shall we talk about tonight?” Xuĕ Míng asked. 

“No.” Luán Niángzĭ shook her head in his chest.

“Tonight … this night, please … Make me yours …”

She gazed upwards into his beautiful face. Her cheeks had a light peachy colour, making her look like a shy maiden. 

Tonight, I’ll give my body and heart to this man. 

She had made up her mind. It was a very different kind of mentality, rare of this great witch. The sex she had had with numerous men in her life was tantamount to exercise for her. She had no desire to offer herself. In other words, Luán Niángzĭ, who now threw everything in front of Xuĕ Míng, was like a virgin from a psychological point of view. That was why she was shy, that was why her heart beat so fast, and that was why it was such a major decision for her.

“You don’t want me to become yours, but you want to be mine?” Xuĕ Míng asked gently.

Luán Niángzĭ nodded childishly. Xuĕ Míng continued to look at her in silence.

“Can’t I?”

Her eyes flickered sadly.

“Then, at least a kiss … Tonight, just a kiss …”

Clinging to him, she closed her eyes and brought her face closer.

“You can’t”

Xuĕ Míng grabbed Luán Niángzĭ by the shoulders and pushed her away. Sadness welled up inside her.

“Why? Why not? Do you dislike me?”

“No. That’s not true. I am in love with you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t continue to stay here at the Mansion of the Eight Celestials.”

“Liar!” 

Luán Niángzĭ scattered teardrops as she shook her head violently.

“Liar! Liar! Then why do you not embrace me? You even refuse to kiss me! If you are in love with me, why are you so cold to me? Even though I adore you so … so much …”

Luán Niángzĭ broke down in tears. Xuĕ Míng gently patted her head.

“I’m sorry… There is a reason for it.”

“What reason!” she gasped, raising her face back up.

“Please tell me that reason! Please … please …!”

Xuĕ Míng looked a little troubled by her pleas.

“Do you want to hear?”

“Yes. Please tell me!”

“Do you really want to hear?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Then …,” he said, closing his eyes quietly. A moment of silence passed. With a serious face, Luán Niángzĭ continued to wait for his words. Eventually, Xuĕ Míng’s lips opened, and he uttered,

“Because you are disgusting.”

For a moment, Luán Niángzĭ was unable to understand what Xuĕ Míng had said. 

Disgusting? Just now, did this man say disgusting? What is? He doesn’t mean me, does he?

When she looked at his face, it was as expressionless as water.

“Just now … what?”

“I said, disgusting. You are disgusting.”

Luán Niángzĭ’s body began to tremble. Somehow, she managed to squeeze her voice out of her twitching lips.

“Y-you told me earlier that you were in l-love with me …”

“Yes, that’s what I said. I am in love with you. As a beautiful treasure …”

Understanding nothing, Luán Niángzĭ stared at his face intently.

“You don’t understand? Then let me give you an example. Let’s say there was a beautiful venomous snake that glowed in all colours of the rainbow. To cherish that beautiful snake you would raise it, but could you hold it or kiss it? You can’t. Because it’s dangerous and unpleasant.”

Xuĕ Míng’s voice had a kind tone to it.

W-what is disgusting about me …?”

“You, who continue to maintain your beauty by defying the laws of nature with an elixir made from the fresh liver of children, are truly distorted and disgusting. Even if I love you, I could never embrace you because it’s sickening.”

Luán Niángzĭ’s face went pale. 

“Tha-that I’m drinking the elixir made from children’s livers, how …?”

The only person in the Mansion of the Eight Celestials who should know this fact was Hóu Zhuă, who kidnapped the children.

“It’s easy. I heard it from your friend, Xíng Hài.”

“X-Xíng Hài …!?” 

Her eyes widened. But as if to hold down her surprised mind, Xuĕ Míng said, “Besides, I said that I am in love with you, but unlike the earlier example with the snake, I’m not in love with your beauty.”

“T-then what …!?”

A cruel fox-like smile appeared on Xuĕ Míng’s face.

“Then what, you ask? It’s that. The disposition to believe that no one will not fall in love with your beauty. You are said to be the most beautiful woman in Dōng Lí and to have the arrogance and absolute confidence that no man will not bow down to you. That is what I fell in love with. That confidence of yours, I wanted to crush it. I wanted to remind you, that some men will not bend to your will, no matter how much you try.”

“Why did you such a horrible …!”

“Horrible? Haha. Why did I?”

The gloating man reflected in Luán Niángzĭ’s eyes now appeared as an unidentifiable monster to her. 

“I saw a girl who cried day and night because you had stolen her fiancé. Driven by a sense of chivalry, I decided to avenge her. What about that reason?” he jested. 

“D-don’t joke around!”

“Excuse me. It was a joke. This Lĭn Xuĕyā is tired of stealing treasures.”

“L-Lĭn Xuĕyā!? The Thief of the Wind Dust, Lĭn Xuĕyā!?”

Luán Niángzĭ was shocked by the sudden mentioning of the name of the mysterious thief who had caused a stir in the Jiānghu.

“Oh? I didn’t tell you about it? That is my real name. The things that the Thief of the Wind Dust steals aren’t physical objects but a person’s pride. Rare and outstanding wicked people, mysterious persons, schemers, crooks … I will use my clever strategies to frustrate these kinds of people whose pride, conviction, and self-confidence cannot be dealt with by ordinary means. I tend to take a strong pleasure in these sorts of things. In that sense, you were my perfect prey — treasure.”

“Wha-wha-wha-wha-what …!”

Luán Niángzĭ even backed away in fear. It was the moment her back hit the wall of the chamber.

Click.

There was a cracking noise. The next moment, she felt severe pain on her face. She held it with her hands and crouched down.

“Oh. Is it about time it worked?”

Lĭn Xuĕyā’s voice sounded completely unconcerned.

“Wha-What is …?” Luán Niángzĭ asked, her palms feeling a crumbling sensation on the skin of her face.

“The elixir you were given by Xíng Hài this morning, and then drank, was mixed with the liver of the dead Zhū Yībào. I mixed it into the kiln where the elixir was made. Did you know? It is an elixir of longevity if you use the fresh liver of young children, but apparently, it has the opposite effect if made from the liver of a dead person …”

“O-opposite effect? Why do you know about that …? Aaahhh!”

More intense pain shot through Luán Niángzĭ’s body and she slumped to the floor. Lĭn Xuĕyā looked at the situation coolly and said, “Xíng Hài told me about that too.” 

“Xíng Hài …? Guhh! Aaahhh!”

Amid the intense pain that tormented her, Luán Niángzĭ’s mind was filled with complicated thoughts. 

Xíng Hài? Xíng Hài? Xíng Hài told the Thief of the Wind Dust? That woman betrayed me!? But I believed in her! She betrayed me!? That woman! That woman!

A burning hatred welled up inside Luán Niángzĭ.

“Well. Now your appearance should have returned to the state it should naturally be in. But that way, I am no longer interested in you. I will now leave the Mansion of the Eight Celestials.”

After saying this sentence, Lĭn Xuĕyā left the room in a leisurely manner, leaving Luán Niángzĭ writhing in pain by herself. She heard the door closing and raised her face which was distorted with hatred.

“Y-You…”

Her anger outweighed the pain and she staggered to her feet.

“Y-You! Damn you, Lĭn Xuĕyā! Damn you Xíng Hài! I’ll kill you! I will kill you!” she screeched.

“Someone! Someone comeee! Catch Lĭn Xuĕyā … Xuĕ Míng! Kill Xuĕ Míng and Xíng Hài!”

The beautiful men residing in the mansion were all roused by the screams, disturbing their sleep deep at night. Not knowing what had happened, they rushed to the front of the room of their worshipful Luán Niángzĭ. 

“H-has something happened!?”

“What happened? Luán Niángzĭ!”

“Luán Niángzĭ! Luán Niángzĭ! Are you saaafe?”

Before the eyes of the men gathered in a crowd, the door of the bedroom creaked open. From within, a person staggered out. When the men saw her, they made voices that sounded like screams.

“Yuck! Eeew!”

Standing there was a person who was like a naked, dried-up monkey, with a piece of thin silk pulled over their head. Her white hair was shaggy and dishevelled, and her limbs looked like dead branches. Brown spots were visible on the skin which was covered in wrinkles. Her breasts, visible through the thin silk, hung dangling like dried potatoes. An ugly, monstrous old woman of unknown age emerged from Luán Niángzĭ’s bedroom. Her mouth, which looked like a drawstring purse opened and closed.

“Kill Xuĕ Míng! Kill Xíng Hài!” she ranted in a hoarse voice.

“Wha-what’s up with that dirty old hag …!”

“When did she get in! It’s impossible to look at her! 

“Unsightly! Throw her out!”

Who knew, the ugly old hag that the beautiful men were now cursing was the very Luán Niángzĭ they had worshipped. She who had drunk the elixir laced with the liver of the dead Zhū Yībào, suffered the opposite effect to normal, in other words, was struck by rapid ageing. When one of the men stepped forward to pick her, who had become old and withered, up and wanted to throw her out, a sobbing voice could be heard from behind them all

“L-L-Lady Luán Niángzĭ … Ohh … Lady Luán Niángzĭ …”

At once they turned around to the sight of a man, who was like a small frog, sniffing and crying. It was Hóu Zhuă. He walked over to the transformed Luán Niángzĭ and prostrated himself. 

“H-How heart-breaking … L-Lady Luán Niángzĭ … T-to be reduced to this kind of state … I, I know … No matter what shape you may be transformed into … Only this Hóu Zhuă will …

His words stirred up the other men.

“Lady Luán Niángzĭ?”

“This is Lady Luán Niángzĭ?”

“Now that you said it, the shape of her face …”

The men finally realised that the old witch in front of them was Luán Niángzĭ, but they did not feel the same praise and worship in their hearts as before. They were now absentminded as if they had just woken up from a nightmare. 

“Kill Xuĕ Míng! Kill Xíng Hài! They did this to me! Burn down Xíng Hài’s house! Cut Xuĕ Míng down!” 

Luán Niángzĭ kept shouting as if in a delirium. However, no one was willing to move. They just looked at each other. The magic of her beauty, that had been placed on them, had been completely lifted when they saw this old and ugly woman. Then, suddenly, one of the harem members collapsed, splattering blood. All of them backed away quickly. Beside the fallen man stood Hóu Zhuă, holding an oddly curved blade. His hideous face had become even uglier by his rage. 

“Hó-Hóu Zhuă … wha-what are …” 

“… go.”

Hóu Zhuă’s voice, which was bitten by hatred, interrupted the bewildered beauty.

“… g-go. Th-this is Lady Luán Niángzĭ’s order. Burn down Xíng Hài’s house …” 

“B-but … something like the location of Xíng Hài’s house …”

As soon as he spoke, the man’s head flew off. A flash of divine speed, which could not be caught by the eyes of anyone present, had been released from Hóu Zhuă’s arm.

“I-if you don’t want to die, go. I k-know the place of Xíng Hài’s h-home. Take f-fire and as much oil a-as you can find …”

There was no one left who could talk back to his raspy voice. As if driven by fear, the men ran in unison. Only two people were left behind. Luán Niángzĭ and Hóu Zhuă. Luán Niángzĭ was still, like earlier, shouting the same words over and over. She had lost her sanity. Gazing painfully at her appearance, Hóu Zhuă said, “I won’t f-forgive … I-I’ll cut down Xu-Xuĕ Míng, Thief of the Wind Dust …”

***

<- Chapters ->

---