It is a Straight Road
Chapter 9 : When Lou Quan Guan offers to release Xu Zhi if Zhou Wen Wu follows him out of the city,

When Lou Quan Guan offers to release Xu Zhi if Zhou Wen Wu follows him out of the city, he is surprised that Zhou Wen Wu actually agrees to do so. Before he can question Zhou Wen Wu further, their carriage has reached the city gate and Lou Quan Guan asks Xu Zhi to pretend that they are her servants and to tell the guards that she is leaving the city.

A guard walks up to their carriage and lifts the curtain. When he sees Xu Zhi in the carriage, he studies her carefully from top to bottom. “Da Gu Niang, are you leaving the city?”

When Xu Zhi nods and tells him that she wants to leave the city, the guard seems to be caught in a spot and tries to dissuade her. “The sky is getting dark and if you leave now, you are not going to accomplish much even if you leave.”

A little impatient, Xu Zhi repeats. “I want to leave the city with them. Are you going to stop me?”

The guard studies the quiet man holding her in his arms, before his eyes drift to the civilians milling around the carriage. Reaching out to tuck a corner of her skirt carefully in place, he tries to dissuade her again. “If you insist on leaving, please let me follow you. You are looking pale and need someone to look after you.”

“Get out of my way.”

When the guard refuses to budge, Lou Quan Guang realizes that something is wrong and tells Zhou Wen Wu that they have to run away. The moment Zhou Wen Wu backs out of the carriage, the guard raises his right hand and a row of archers appear on top of the city walls, with their arrows trained at them.

Xu Zhi is incensed. “Ah Jiu!”

“No one is to leave.” The guard, who is Jiang Jiu in disguise, shouts with authority. “Whoever dares move a step, kill them!”

Other than the people from Tu Yue Performing Troupe, other folks start to scream and scramble away from the archers, while some civilians shrug off their clothing to reveal their soldiers uniform beneath and draw their broad swords.

“Zhou Wen Wu! Fight your way out!” shouts Lou Quan Guang.

“Zhou Wen Wu! Let go of Da Gu Niang!” orders Jiang Jiu as he also draws a long sword from his waist.

Fearing that he may hurt Xu Zhi, Jiang Jiu tosses his sword aside and pounces on Zhou Wen Wu with his fists. Still, with Xu Zhi draping over most of Zhou Wen Wu, it is hard hit the man without hurting her. For Jiang Jiu, the only fortunate thing is that Zhou Wen Wu is not using Xu Zhi as a s.h.i.+eld, or she would have died many times over among with all the punches flying around her.

Suddenly, a black arrow whizzes behind Jiang Jiu and buries itself firmly into the ground. High on top of the city walls, Tong Mo holds a gigantic bow that is nearly as tall as her and she has fired that shot to prevent Lou Quan Guang from sneaking an attack on Jiang Jiu from behind. Besides her, Zhi Jin Wu the Royal Guard shouts: “If you dare move another step, her next arrow is going to bury itself in your throat!”

Ignoring the commotion behind him, Jiang Jiu continues his atrack. Several times, he has nearly managed to wrestle Xu Zhi from that dratted man, but Zhou Wen Wu’s grip is like iron as he tightens his hold mercilessly at the woman in his arms. Hearing Xu Zhi gasps of pain, Jiang Jiu is forced to retreat 2 steps so that he can rea.s.sess his opponent.

Jiang Jiu has learnt his martial arts from the same teacher who trained Wu Tong Sheng – once upon a time the best fighter in Xi Xuan – and is no slouch in the combat department. Under normal circ.u.mstances, he would have little problem overpowering the other man, even if he is a prince who is well-trained in combat and warfare. But with Xu Zhi caught in the middle, it is hard to gain an advantage.

For the first time in many years, Jiang Jiu’s eyes gleam with vicious intent as he pummels at Zhou Wen Wu. “Zhou! How dare you hold Xu Zhi hostage! I was right about you being a danger to us all along! If you are a man, release her at once!”

Xu Zhi is getting a royal headache from all the jostling and closes her eyes in pain. “Ah Jiu, he is under the spell of the Soul s.n.a.t.c.hing Bell and cannot hear you. Try talking to him about Xu Da.”

Soul s.n.a.t.c.hing Bell? Jiang Jiu has no idea what she is talking about but does not try to second-guess her. “Zhou Wen Wu, Xu Da is dead! Xu Da is dead!”

Xu Zhi sighs to herself, which obscure village did this dumb man come from? He is a man isn’t he? And a man should understand that happiness is what happens if Zhou Wen Wu holds Xu Da in his arms. Why tell him that she is dead? Sometimes, a person really has no choice but to depend on herself. Biting down on the urge to throw up, she says into his ear. “Zhou Wen Wu, Xu Da is yours now. Are you happy?”

When Zhou Wen Wu continues to fight, she figures that she need to mention even happier news. “Ok, Zhou Wen Wu, Xu Zhi is dead. As dead as the nail on her coffin. Are you happy?”

Zhou Wen Wu freezes suddenly and takes a punch squarely on his chest. Although Jiang Jiu has already pulled back his punches when Xu Zhi started to distract Zhou Wen Wu, his fist is still strong enough to cause his opponent to stumble. When he falls backward, Jiang Jiu quickly dashes forward to s.n.a.t.c.h Xu Zhi away, but he only manged to catch a corner of Zhou Wen Wu’s sleeve and missed her completely.

The sound of tearing cloth is the first sound that registers in Zhou Wen Wu’s brain as he comes out from his daze. The familiar scent of a woman cues him immediately to whom he is holding and by intinct, he slides Xu Zhi downwards until she is at level with his chest. Using his free hand to cup her head, he presses her face more firmly to his chest.

Thanks to her human cus.h.i.+on, Xu Zhi is unhurt by the fall except for an arrow of pain that shot up her head. Uncaring of the cries of the men around her, she pushes her up…. and throws up all over Zhou Wen Wu.

Xu Zhi is dreaming. She is falling down an abyss, but there is no fear as she falls in the pitch darkness. She opens her eyes wide in antic.i.p.ation so that she does not miss out anything that she might see, but suddenly, she stopped falling. Turning around, she sees a hand holding her by the ankle – just a hand, with no arm or person attached to it, as if the owner of the hand is loathe to reveal himself – and she hears a voice. “How careless of me to have let you find out about Sun s.h.i.+ Yang. Try not to know too much Xu Zhi. Go back.”

When Xu Zhi comes around, she sees that she is back at her bedroom. Tong Mo is besides her and when she sees that Xu Zhi has come around, she quickly gestures to her in sign language to which Xu Zhi replies. “No, my head is not too painful.”

The answer seems to satisfy Tong Mo and she helps Xu Zhi to sit up and fasten a belt. The job of dressing Xu Zhi has always been shared between  Bai Hua and Tong Mo all these years. When Bai Hua is the wardrobe mistress, she likes to deck Xu Zhi to the nines, but when it is Tong Mo’s turn to dress Xu Zhi, she would prefer to dress her simply but elegantly.

While Xu Zhi mutters something about Sun s.h.i.+ Yang and wonders at his possible whereabouts, Tong Mo who is used to her behaviour, merely concentrates on combing her long hair. If someone is to make a statement that every smooth strand of hair on Xu Zhi’s head, every inch of her impeccable dressing is the handiwork of her a.s.sistants, that someone would be absolutely right. But Tong Mo understands that the most precious part of Xu Zhi – her mind – is something that none of her a.s.sistants can ever lay their hands on, much less understand.

She signs to Xu Zhi to let her know that she will not be doing up her hair since she is having a headache, which irritates Xu Zhi for being interrupted when thinking. “You have always decided on such small matters. Do not start bothering me with these details.”

When Tong Mo continues to straighten  out the knots in Xu Zhi’s hair, Jiu Xing appears at the door. “Da Gu Niang, Jiang Jiu has sent word that he has convinced Zhi Jin Wu to lock up your kidnappers in our dungeon.”

Xu Zhi brightens at the news and tries to get up, but Tong Mo presses her down firmly by the shoulders and signs to her. “Fine, I’ll wait for Bai Hua to bring the medicine first. Jiu Xing, come in.”

Jiu Xing wonders at what he is required to do in her bedroom and hesitates. When she repeats her order, he is still reluctant to enter until Tong Mo has adjusted Xu Zhi’s collar until the deep V is reduced to a decent gap. Still, he does not dare get too close to Xu Zhi and keat close to the exit.

Xu Zhi: “Raise your head.”

He complies slowly….and turns pale when his eyes sweep pa.s.s her bare feet. Although there is a saying that there is nothing more sensual  than the sight of a woman’s bare feet, he is frankly, quite terrified at this moment.

Unaware of his inner turmoil, Xu Zhi studies him carefully. “Jiu Xing, I have finally committed your face to memory. I have heard that Bai Hua has not suspected that anything is amiss after we left the clinic, but you are the one who cue her to my unusual behaviour?”

“Yes.” Did she call him in to give him a reward?

“You are indeed very careful.”

“I am undeserving of such high praise. To share Da Gu Niang’s worry is my duty.” Jiu Xing has always been the smart little elf in his family but never in his wildest imagination has it occur to him that he has to use his smarts to keep a woman at bay one day.

“Who gave you the permission to make the decisions around here?”

“Huh?” His eyes finally sweeps upward and looks at her straight in the eye. “But Da Gu Niang,you are….” nearly kidnapped.

“Even if I am going to be kidnapped, it is still my decision to make. I remember asking Bai Hua and you to go to the Scholar’s Hall but where did you go? You brought Zhi Jin Wu and Ah Jiu to me instead. Tell me, are you the decision maker in this household? Have you married into my family?” The more she thinks about it, the more peeved Xu Zhi gets. Had it not been for Jiang Jiu’s appearance at the city gate, she would have been long gone.

Jiu Xing is even more peeved; this Xu Zhi is plain unreasonable! “Da Gu Niang should not think of things that way. As a gentleman, it is my duty to offer a.s.sistance to a lady in distress. Besides, even if you are the Mistress of the house, us servants still have the responsibility to bring you around if it occurs to us that you are making a mistake. Da Gu Niang, do you think that it is right for you to worry us so?”

Xu Zhi is too surprised by his reb.u.t.tal to reply. Tong Mo gestures to him but he only has a rudimentary understanding of sign language and  decides to press on even if he does not understand what Tong Mo is trying to say. “Miss Bai Hua has noticed your abnormality too. In fact, she can even remember all the names of the people you met when you brings her out with you.”

“Ohhh…. You mean you can tell that she is spying on me?”

Tong Mo gives a start and gestures even more furiously at Jiu Xing, much to his confusion. “Wait Miss Tong Mo, you are too quick…”

Xu Zhi: “Didn’t you learn sign language?”

“I did, but apparently, not enough…..” he swears that the expression on Xu Zhi’s face is telling him that she has regretted her earlier a.s.sessment of him being smart.

“Tong Mo is asking you – why are you bad-mouthing Bai Hua? Has she done something to offend you?”

“No, no, no! I was merely trying to show how concern Bai Hua is towards you. You are the one who said that she is spying, not me! Da Gu Niang, even Miss Tong Mo is concerned about you! If you recall, she was crushed by the bookshelf the other day and should still be in the midst of recovery. Had she not been worried for your safety, why else would she force herself to follow us when we went looking for you?”

Xu Zhi studies him and ‘ohh…’ once more. “Tong Mo, I remember now. You should still be resting and I think you should stop coming around for the next few days so that you can get a good rest.”

Tong Mo pales at her words and gestures furiously to Xu Zhi. When the latter remain expressionless, Tong Mo walks to Jiu Xing. Before the lattere can figure out what she is trying to do, she has kicked him viciously at the s.h.i.+n.

Jiu Xing swears that he can hear his bone cracking and remembers Tong Mo with her giant bow up at the city wall. It is with great effort that he maintains his manly image when he has the strongest urge to hug his leg and howl in pain. Through the pain, he sees the 2 women ‘talking’ furiously in sign language and if he does not know that Xu Zhi can speak, he would have sworn that both women are mute.

Thinking to Jiang Jiu who is able to converse a bit in sign language, he reflects on himself and wonders if he needs to brush up on his proficiency in sign language. Will that be enough for Xu Zhi to be pleased with him?

While he is thinking, Tong Mo suddenly kneels in front of Xu Zhi and buries her face on her knee as if she is a small girl. This makes Xu Zhi irritated and she snaps: “Up to you! I do not understand why you insist on hangling around when you are injured. If you are so insistent, you can stick around, but just make sure you don’t inconvenienced me in any way.”

Tong Mo paled at her statement but before anyone can say another word, Zhou Wen Wu appears at the door. He is not wearing his mask and looks like he has cleaned up briefly before rus.h.i.+ng over.