The Oriole in the Back - Part Three
Yunxia Peak is not far from the main peak.
Li Letian set off from the camp at 9 PM. The spring night breeze blew continuously. Li Letian's emotions shifted back and forth between fervor and tranquility.
When Li Letian confessed his feelings, his heart burned as brightly as the midday sun.
Upon hearing "I'm sorry," Li Letian questioned the meaning of everything in the world. His long-held expectations, his determination to abandon his dream of becoming a master and disciple—everything seemed to have lost its meaning in the blink of an eye.
Xin Ruien's resolute expression, tightly gripping He Zi'an's hand, made even the sun lose its color.
It's like a poor soul falling from the sky into December snow.
The candle flickers dimly. Opening this letter in spring, seeing the words is like seeing the person in person.
Sixty-three words, each one landing on Li Letian's heart. "Feeling ashamed, as if a thorn was in my back." These eight words were more powerful than a spring breeze.
Li Letian hid the letter in his sleeve, gently holding it with his hand clenched into a fist, as if afraid of damaging the delicate paper. Before he had even walked halfway, Li Letian had already memorized all sixty-three characters on the letter.
The occasional mountain breeze and fatigue brought Li Letian a brief respite from his emotions.
The letter rubbed against his palm, the sixty-three characters striking Li Letian's heart like a morning bell and evening drum. At this moment, his emotions would surge again.
The more passionate Li Letian became, the more he thought about things: he shouldn't put her in the spotlight, and he shouldn't give up so easily.
Halfway there, Li Letian had already made up his mind to apologize to Xin Ruien.
Now that I've entered the world of martial arts, am I qualified to stand with her?
In the darkness ahead, a pink sword tassel seemed to be guiding her forward. She swayed, yet moved forward with unwavering determination.
We arrived at the summit of Yunxia Peak before midnight.
The sky was already full of stars, but Li Letian searched for a while and still couldn't see the moon.
He sat cross-legged on the sloping stone surface, quietly waiting for Xin Rui'en to arrive.
You don't need to look up; you can see the Big Dipper.
Li Letian deliberately concealed his presence, paying close attention to every movement on the mountaintop. He wouldn't miss even a single pebble rolling down.
Without the shade of the trees, Li Letian, who had stopped, gradually felt the chill. Only his heart remained unchanged.
The handle of the Big Dipper has shifted, pointing to a position slightly south of southeast.
Midnight (11 PM - 1 AM).
Light footsteps echoed along the narrow stone path leading to Yunxia Peak.
Li Letian's body suddenly stiffened, but he still straightened his back.
He climbed a few steps upwards, then retreated a few steps. He paused for a moment on the mountain path, then slowly began to ascend again. After taking only a few steps, he stopped once more.
Li Letian dared not move an inch, not even his neck. Like a pedestrian worried about startling birds, he pretended to look at the low-hanging starry sky in the distance. But at this moment, he clearly couldn't see the Big Dipper or Orion at all.
Even the brightest and most dazzling stars pale in comparison to that delicate little bird at this moment and in this place.
Footsteps echoed along the mountain path once more, this time clearly showing a determined resolve. They were firm and agile strides, steps aimed at climbing upwards.
A cool breeze was blowing.
"Alliance Leader Li," Xin Ruien called out timidly.
Xin Ruien couldn't make out the details, but she saw a graceful swordsman sitting among the stars.
*
Inside the shared tent of the Beggars' Sect, which housed twenty men, everyone was busily organizing and packing their belongings. Only Xiang Yu's bundle was half-packed, left haphazardly tossed aside. He hurried along, rushing towards Du Taibai's tent.
The stars filled the inky night sky, the heavens casting a cool, pale light that stretched towards the distant plains. In the southwest, Orion, like a shimmering belt, moved toward the horizon.
Xiang Yu stopped outside Du Taibai's camp and respectfully called out into the tent, "Chief."
"Come in." Du Taibai's voice was full of energy, and he seemed to have recovered quite a bit.
Xiang Yu entered the tent, where Du Taibai sat upright at the round table. He was shirtless, with strips of cloth covering almost his entire body. If you rolled up his trouser legs, you would see that they were also wrapped in white strips of cloth.
Du Taibai rested one hand on his knee, while the other hand rested on the round table, holding a note.
"Master," Xiangyu said with concern, "you're feeling better."
Du Taibai nodded, gesturing for Xiangyu to step forward.
“I received this secret letter today,” Du Taibai said, handing the note to Xiangyu. “The letter says that Zhao Zheng will go to Yunxia Peak alone tonight and invites us to join him in a fight.”
Xiang Yu took the note and read it word by word. The calligraphy on the paper was wild and unrestrained, seemingly the work of a man. "If this is true, it is indeed a rare opportunity for us."
"The problem is that we don't know who this person is or what their purpose is."
“You’re worried it might be a trap.” Xiang Yu pondered for a moment, then suggested, “Why don’t we ask Ling Guang to come and discuss this?”
“I have already sent someone ahead,” Du Taibai said, looking toward the direction of the tent curtains. “They should be here by now.”
Before the words were finished, light footsteps sounded outside the tent. Those were not the footsteps of someone with profound skill.
"Reporting to the leader," said the disciple whom Du Taibai had sent to find Ling Guang, "the distinguished guest is not in the tent; perhaps he has gone out."
Going out at this time of day made Xiang Yu frown.
The two people inside the tent exchanged a glance. Xiang Yu said, "Let's go take a look; perhaps we can find something."
Du Taibai got up, put his clothes back on, and picked up his sword from beside the bed.
*
The imperial camp was much larger than the Beggars' Sect's. It was also considerably larger than the camp of the Chen family, who had funded the sword-testing tournament. Even the lowest-ranking tents contained a shared sleeping area for four people.
Liu Mengde's tent was darkened early. In Peach Blossom Spring, he had long since developed the habit of going to bed early, and he would turn off the lights and go to sleep before midnight. He didn't need to pay special attention to the time; as soon as it was that time, sleepiness would naturally creep into his eyes.
In the stillness of the night, someone barged into his tent without saying a word.
"Big brother!" Jia Dongye called out anxiously, "Can you feel it?"
Wang Wenfang calmly lit the lamp in the tent.
Liu Mengde sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes wide open and bloodshot.
"It's in the northwest!" Jia Dongye looked into Liu Mengde's eyes. "The Xuanyuan Sword Heart is sending a signal; it's Second Brother's Xuanyuan Sword Heart!"
“Yunxia Peak in the northwest,” Wang Wenfang said.
"This is a provocation against us."
*
As a distinguished guest of the Beggars' Sect, Ling Guang, like Du Taibai, had his own private tent. Of course, it was more cramped than Du Taibai's tent.
Inside the tent, the lamp was still on. On the table was a bowl of half-eaten white porridge, and on the round stool beside the table were Ling Guang's clothes that he had changed out of.
"He left in a hurry." Du Taibai touched the bowl of porridge on the table. "It's still warm."
Xiang Yu walked to the bedside and pulled apart the tangled blankets. "You took the sword too."
The two exchanged a glance.
"Could he have received the same note too?"
"In the battle of Wuling City, one of the Four Symbols of the Blood Palace was killed and two were injured." Xiang Yu paused for a moment, pondering the possibility of Du Taibai's hypothesis, "If he had the opportunity to kill Zhao Zheng, he might indeed have tried."
What do you think?
As Xiang Yu gazed at the flickering candlelight on the round table, another possibility popped into her mind.
What if it was someone who, like Ling Guang, possessed two sword hearts who made the move? Given the haste with which Ling Guang left, does this mean that things have already spiraled out of control?
The Blood Palace is undoubtedly still an ally of the Beggars' Sect, so that mysterious person with two sword hearts will one day become their common enemy. In any case, we cannot let it develop as it pleases.
Thinking about this, the answer is already obvious.
“But this is just too strange.” Xiang Yu held the sword to his chest.
Just then, a burly man lifted the curtain, interrupting their conversation. This man was Du Taibai's confidant. He strode in and said, "Chief, Brother Xiang, we've already asked around. Someone saw Ling Guang heading towards Yunxia Peak."
"How are the other Blood Palace members? Did they accompany you?" Xiang Yu asked.
The burly man shook his head and replied, "He's the only one who's traveling; the others are still in the camp."
"It seems the situation is urgent, and he can't linger any longer."
"I must visit Yunxia Peak at least once."
"Xiang Yu went with the gang leader."
Du Taibai nodded at Xiang Yu, then looked at the big man and said, "You stay in the gang. If Elder Xiang and I are not back by the hour of Chou, you lead the gang members to attack Yunxia Peak."
The burly man bowed his head and accepted the waist token handed to him by Du Taibai, replying in a deep and steady voice, "Yes."
*
Upon hearing Xin Ruien's call, Li Letian immediately stood up. However, he was so stiff that he almost tripped over his own feet and tumbled down the slope of the boulder on the mountaintop.
"Hey!" Xin Ruien exclaimed softly, taking two steps forward. Seeing that Li Letian had regained his footing, Xin Ruien stopped again.
Seeing Li Letian's nervous expression, Xin Ruien relaxed instead.
"Luckily I managed to stay on my feet," Li Letian said, scratching his head. "Otherwise, I would have rolled down the mountain and died before I even took office as the leader of the alliance. Wouldn't that have made me a laughingstock?"
Xin Ruien covered her mouth and laughed, "Yes. The title of the world's number one will now belong to the stone of Danxia Peak."
After a brief burst of cheers, there was silence.
"Sorry," they both said in unison.
Li Letian and Xin Ruien exchanged glances, then both burst out laughing. After a few exchanges, the atmosphere on the mountaintop relaxed.
“I’m the one who should apologize,” Li Letian said. “I shouldn’t have said those inappropriate things in that situation, putting you in the spotlight.”
"No, it was my fault." Xin Ruien also expressed her apology: "Alliance Leader Li didn't say anything out of line. I shouldn't have refused so bluntly."
"You can just call me Little Blacksmith."
“That’s not appropriate.” Xin Ruien shook her head and said, “If you don’t like it, how about I still call you Young Hero Li?”
"I'll listen to you, Miss." Li Letian's face was burning, and he was just glad it wasn't daytime.
“Thank goodness for you,” Xin Ruien patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. “Now that we’ve talked things out, the burden on my heart feels lighter.”
“I should be the one saying that,” Li Letian said somewhat embarrassedly, “If Miss Xin hadn’t left a note, I probably would never have dared to speak to you again in my life.”
Li Letian waited anxiously and shyly for Xin Ruien's response, but she didn't speak again for a long time.
Had he said something wrong again? Li Letian swallowed hard and looked up at Xin Ruien again.
"What did you say?" Xin Ruien's tone suddenly changed, and she asked in a very restrained and clear manner.
Li Letian's initial restraint was instantly erased by Xin Ruien's serious tone, replaced by bewilderment. "I said," Li Letian carefully chose his words, "I almost didn't dare to speak to you anymore, young lady."
After saying that, Li Letian still felt it was inappropriate, and added, "I am a man, and it should be me who takes the initiative to admit my mistakes. I did not do that."
Xin Ruien had no interest in distinguishing right from wrong, and shook her head, saying, "It's not this sentence, it's the previous one."
Li Letian hesitated for a moment, then said uncertainly, "If it wasn't a note you left, young lady?"
Xin Ruien remained silent for a long while before asking, "Wasn't the note in my tent left by the young hero?"
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