DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS Book 2 of 5 (Shrouding Screen In Suzhou) by Jin Yong

Wishes Of The Present Part 5

He took a step forwards, a 'dang' sound was heard, a small porcelain bottle had dropped on the ground. It was the bottle that Li Yanzong had thrown onto his body. He picked it up, had a look and saw that there were ten seal characters written on the bottle: 'A breath will instantly remove the Sad Weak Clear Wind.' Duan Yu muttered: 'What's the 'Sad Weak Clear Wind'? Hum, this's likely the antidote.' He pulled the stopper out of the bottle. An unbearably strange stinking smell went straight into his nose. Feeling dizzy and almost passing out, he was frightened and hastily put the stopper back in the bottle, then shouted: 'I'm fooled. I'm fooled. How stinking! It's like going into an abalone and fish market!' (T/n: An abalone and fish market - 鲍鱼之肆 – taken from the Analects of Confucius to emphasize the idea that Duan Yu was a bookworm.)

Wang Yuyan said: 'Please take it for me to sniff, maybe fighting poison with poison will prove effective.' Duan Yu said: 'Yes!' then brought the porcelain bottle to Wang Yuyan and said: 'This thing is very stinking and hard to bear, do you really wanna try?' Wang Yuyan nodded. Duan Yu held the stopper in his hand but he had not removed it yet.

In a very short time, countless thoughts spun in his mind: 'If this antidote is really useful and removes the poison inside her, she won't need to depend on my help. Her abilities are one hundred times better than mine, why would she want me to go with her? Even if she doesn't forbid me to follow her, when she meets the person of her heart Murong Fu, would I just stand to the side and helplessly watch them being affectionate endlessly towards each other? Hear them talking about love? Could it be that I, Duan Yu, really have this ability? Would I be able to stay calm and maintain my composure? Would I be able not to show any sulky expression and not to say any resentful word?'

Seeing him having a dazed expression and not saying a word, Wang Yuyan smiled and said: 'What are you thinking? Just take it for me to sniff. I'm not afraid of the stink.' Duan Yu hastily said: 'Yes, yes!' then removed the stopper of the bottle and moved the bottle to Wang Yuyan's nose. Wang Yuyan took a deep breath then said in fright: 'A'yo, it's really stinking.' Duan Yu said: 'Yes. I already said it likely wasn't useful.' He wanted to put the bottle into his bosom but Wang Yuyan said: 'Let me try sniffing it one more time.' Duan Yu put the porcelain bottle next to Wang Yuyan's nose again. He himself did not know if he was hoping that the antidote would be effective or not.

Wang Yuyan frowned, covered up her nostrils with her hand, smiled and said: 'I'd rather be unable to move my limbs than sniff this stinking thing... Ah! My hand, my hand can move already!' It turned out she had already unconsciously raised her right hand and covered her nostrils with it. Previously, it had been very strenuous and difficult for her to even press and keep the clothes wrapping around her body immobile.

As she was happy, she took the bottle in Duan Yu' hand and sniffed it deeply. Knowing that this stinking gas was very effective, she did not fear it anymore and took several sniffs. The softness and weakness in her limbs gradually faded away. She turned towards Duan Yu and said: 'Can you please go downstairs? I wanna change clothes.'

Duan Yu hastily said: 'Yes, yes!' and quickly went downstairs. Seeing that corpses were lying everywhere, and except for the couple of young peasants the rest had been killed at his own hands, he felt extremely regretful. He saw that the eyes of a Western Xia warrior were still wide opened and looking at him. Really, that man had died with an everlasting grievance. He made a deep bow and said: 'Old chap, if I hadn't killed you, then you would've killed me. At that time lying here wouldn't have been you but would've been Duan Yu instead. I had no alternative, but my mind really is extremely unease and regretful. In the future when I've returned to Dali, I will definitely invite eminent monks to chant scriptures and release the souls of all of you from suffering.' He turned around, cast a look at the corpses of the couple of young peasants, then turned his head towards the corpses of the Western Xia warriors and said: 'I was the person you wanna kill and Miss Wang was the person you wanna capture, why did you gotta kill innocent people?'

Wang Yuyan had finished changing clothes. She took the wet clothes and went down using the ladder. Her limbs were still slightly aching and weak. Seeing Duan Yu looking at the corpses and mumbling endlessly she smiled and asked: 'What are you saying?' Duan Yu said: 'I only feel that having killed this many people, my mind is deeply regretful and uneasy.'

Wang Yuyan muttered: 'Mr. Duan, you think why that Western Xia warrior surnamed Li gave me the antidote?'

Duan Yu said: 'This... this... I don't know either... Ah... I already know. He... he...' He said the word 'He' continuously several times. Inwardly he wanted to continue saying: 'He must have started to admire you.' But he thought if he said that a rude and cruel Western Xia warrior like this man had started to admire Wang Yuyan, wouldn't that offend the belle? She is incomparably beautiful and all people have a love for beauty, if everyone admired her, what would be so rare about this great admiration I, Duan Yu, have for her? Wouldn't I and every other man in the world be exactly alike? Alas, being willing to die for her, what's so amazing about it? Let alone I haven't died for her. Thinking to here, he said: 'I... I don't know.'

Wang Yuyan said: 'Maybe there're Western Xia warriors coming in large quantities. We must leave quickly. You say where should we go to?' In her heart she naturally wanted to go find her biaoge, but she found it embarrassing to say it straightforwardly like that.

Duan Yu knew clearly what her worries were therefore he said: 'Where do you wanna go to?' Asking this question he felt greatly distressed in his heart. He only waited for her to say 'I wanna go find my biaoge' to put on a bold face and say: 'I'll go with you.'

Wang Yuyan twiddled with the porcelain bottle in her hand, blushed and said: 'This... this...' After a while she continued: 'The brave men of the Beggar Society have been poisoned with this 'Sad Weak Clear Wind' poison, if my biaoge was here, he might take the antidote for them to sniff. Besides, I'm afraid A'Zhu and A'Bi have already fallen into the hands of the enemies...'

Duan Yu jumped up and said loudly: 'Yes! The two ladies A'Zhu and A'Bi are in danger. We must immediately go forwards and think of a way to save them.'

Wang Yuyan thought: 'This matter is very dangerous. Depending on the abilities of two of us, how can we save people from the hands of Western Xia warriors? But A'Zhu and A'Bi are trusted maids of my biaoge, I already know that they've fallen into the hands of the enemy, how is it possible not to save them? There's no choice but to play it by ear.' She then said: 'Very good, let's go.'

Duan Yu pointed at the corpses lying in disorder on the ground and said: 'We must bury them properly and investigate the name of each one, then at the grave of each person we must set up a tombstone. Someday, when their families come here to look for their remains to move to their native lands, there'll be a piece of evidence.'

Wang Yuyan giggled and said: 'Okay, you stay here to take care of their funeral arrangements. Dressing and laying them in coffins, burying them, issuing obits, receiving condolences, reading funeral addresses, making couplets, performing memorial services, releasing hungry ghosts, it seems there're also things like the first seventh day, the second seventh day and so on. After seven times seven equaling forty nine days, you go notify their families' members one after another for them to come here for moving the remains and reburial.' (T/n: Things that need to be done in a traditional Chinese funeral.)

Duan Yu noticed that there was a mocking undertone in her words. After thinking, he himself also found what he wanted to do unsuitable. He also smiled and said: 'In your opinion, what should we do?' Wang Yuyan said: 'Burning up everything with a fire, wouldn't that be better?' Duan Yu said: 'This... hum, doesn't it seem to be too disrespectful?' He muttered to himself for a long while, then seeing that there was not any better way he had no choice but to go find kindling and ignited the stack of straws in the mill. In a short period of time after they got to the outside of the mill a fierce flame rose high into the air and blazed chaotically.

Duan Yu respectfully knelt down, kowtowed and said: 'Forms and bodies are impermanent, and cannot be maintained forever. You brothers today lost your lives at my hands. Perhaps that's the karmic retribution for your previous lives. I hope your souls will go to the Paradise and escape from the sufferings of the Samsara forever. Please don't blame me, please don't blame me.' Only after mumbling for a long while did he stand up.

There were ten horses tethered under the tree outside of the mill. They were the horses that the Western Xia warriors had ridden. Duan Yu and Wang Yuyan each rode a horse and ran along the wide road. They vaguely heard 'tang-tang' sounds of gongs and a hullabaloo of people shouting, peasants in the neighborhood was rushing to the mill to fight fire.

Duan Yu said: 'Oh well, a big mill was burnt because of me, I feel extremely sorry.' Wang Yuyan said: 'Why are you saying so many womanish words like this? Though my mother is a woman, she acts straightforwardly and resolutely. When she says she'll do something, she'll definitely do it. You're a man, yet you have so many worries and rules.' Duan Yu thought: 'Your mother frequently kills people, uses human flesh to make a fertilizer for flowers, how can I be a match for her?' He said: 'I killed so many people like this for the first time and set other people's house on fire, so unavoidably I feel somewhat frightened and disturbed.' Wang Yuyan said: 'Hum! That's right, someday when you've got used to it, you wouldn't be concerned.' Duan Yu was startled. He waved his hand repeatedly and said: 'Absolutely impossible, absolutely impossible. One time is already excessive, how can it be done once more? (T/n: 一之为甚，其可再乎 – Duan Yu took this sentence directly from Zuo Zhuan 左传) Things like killing people and committing arson can't be done again.'