Blood Flower, Blood Flower《血花．血花》by Dugu Hong 獨孤紅 was published in 1971. My edition is a later reprint in two volumes. This was the first wuxia novel that I sat down to try and read in Chinese back when I was just learning to read Chinese. This would have been 2011-2012. I was already taking classes at NCKU and had been translating already, mostly Tang chuanqi and some Ming-era short stories. I started reading this book because it was the shorted wuxia novel I had, so I figured I would get through it in a reasonable time. I ended up reading half of it before getting sidetracked and onto something else.

Those days were frought with frustration. It would take me an hour to read a few paragraphs, going line by line, looking up nearly every character I came to, it seemed, and asking my wife often for help with troublesome phrases and sentences that she often had trouble explaining to me. Just part of learning to read Chinese. I used Wenlin software (which I still use today), which allowed me to paste a chapter of the text of the novel I found online, then mouseover each character to get the definition. I highly recommend that software for learning to read Chinese. It really made the whole process faster.

As I read the novel I also wrote a summary of each chapter, though these first two chapters presented in part one are by far the most detailed. I quickly discovered that writing a detailed plot synopsis is a lot of work! I wrote summaries for seven chapters; there are twenty chapters in the novel. I ended up reading twelve. Chapters 3-7 will be presented in part two since they are shorter than these first two chapter summaries.

Blood Flower, Blood Flower is an interesting novel. Its style is not quite like Dugu Hong’s normal work, which is usually set during the Qing dynasty and contains a lot of Beijing colloquialisms, which Blood Flower lacks. This has led some in the online Chinese wuxia fan community to conclude that this novel was not written by Dugu Hong but merely published under his name, a common practice at the time.

Whoever wrote it, he did a great job aping Gu Long’s style. These first few chapters especially reek of Gu Long’s moody atmosphere, and the main character of this novel is sickly and weary of the jianghu life, just like Gu Long’s famous character Li Xunhuan (Little Li’s Flying Dagger) from Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword.

The heavy use of weather to set the mood, the philosophizing about life and fighting from the main character, and the interesting yet often cryptic dialogue and bizarre scenes (like the first scene when the donkey’s legs are cut off), set a tone that is clearly trying to copy Gu Long, who was the most popular wuxia author in the world in 1971. Dugu Hong, or whoever really wrote it if not him, did a pretty good job of getting the style down. I remember the earlier chapters being better than the later chapters I read, though, but it’s been years since I read it.

So without further ado, here’s a summary of the first two chapters of Blood Flower, Blood Flower:

Chapter 1

It’s snowing a lot. Snow everywhere, and a fiercely cold wind blowing. There’s so much snow you can’t see the road. Standing next to a tree is a man in black clothing, with a red-laquered coffin next to him. He is unmoved even in this sharp, bitter wind.

Suddenly a black donkey appears and a man in white clothing riding him. He passes in front of the man in black, and the man in black chops off the four legs of the donkey with his red-handled axe, and the man falls down in the snow, the donkey too.

The man in black acted fast, so fast that it didn’t even look like he had removed the axe from his belt. The axe was back in his belt, without a drop of blood on it.

The man in white asks what’s up, and the man in black tells him he wants to fight to the death. Whoever wins, the loser will be buried in the coffin under the tree.

The man in white says he has no weapon, and the man in black says that is fine; he will fight him bare-knuckled. He tells the man in white to stand up.

The man in white says he has never seen the man in black before, so what’s this all about? The man in black says that his surname is “Huyan”. The man in white says he doesn’t know anyone by that name. Huyan says what about “Baili”? The man in white says he knows no one by that name either.

The man in black says he has waited for three days and three nights for the man in white, and the man in white asks if Huyan recognizes him? Huyan says he does not, but he has known his name for a long time. The man in white is incredulous, and asks Huyan if he really knows his name?

Huyan says the man in white is called Zhuo Muqiu, also called “Sword God” Zhuo the Third.

The man in white laughs at this and laughs so hard he coughs, coughing more the more he laughs. He says “How can a man as pale and frail as me be called Sword God?” Huyan is shocked and says, “So I misrecognized you?”

Huyan says that the man in white looks just like the Zhuo Muqiu he’s admired for so long, and he knows that Zhuo Muqiu must pass through this way.

The man in white laughs and says he wish he had been mistaken for Zhuo Muqiu, because everyone knows his name. Huyan is angered and grabs the man and rips open his jacket, revealing the man in white’s bare chest, which is pale with a scar on his chest, which looks like it had just healed recenly. The man in white tries to push away, but Huayn is too strong and won’t be budged.

Huyan says that Zhuo Muqiu has the word 貞 (zhen, meaning loyal) tattooed on his chest, which the man in white obviously doesn’t have. Huyan asks the man in white if he originally had that character on his chest?

They argue some more and Huyan asks him to tell him if he is really Zhuo Muqiu. The man in white asks if he really wants to know the truth? Huyan says “Who doesn’t want to hear the truth?”

The man in white says that actually there are a lot of people who like to listen to lies, and if you tell them the truth they won’t believe you and won’t want to hear it.

Huyan says that other people are other people and he is himself. He wants to hear the truth; he is willing to listen to it.

The man in white says that Huyan is the first person he has met who wants to hear the truth, so he says he will tell him: Zhuo Muqiu is already gone from this world.

Huyan in incredulous, and asks how he was killed and who killed him. The man in white says that Zhuo Muqiu’s body was found in the desert, and he had injuries all over his body. The mortal wound came from being stabbed with a sharp weapon into his chest, where it smashed his heart. He says he doesn’t know who did it.

Huyan asks if the man in white has seen the body, and the man in white says no, but his brother saw it. Huyan asks if his brother had ever seen Zhuo Muqiu. The man in white says he must have, otherwise how would he have recognized the body was Zhuo Muqiu’s?

Huyan says he doesn’t believe it, because he knows Zhuo Muqiu, and aside from himself (Huyan), unless Zhuo Muqiu wanted to die, no one would be able to kill him. The man in white says maybe Zhuo Muqiu wanted to die. Huyan says no, if he wanted to die he would have done it within the pass, not out in the desert in a foreign country.

The man in white says Huyan must really know Zhuo Muqiu. Huyan says of course; otherwise he wouldn’t wait here for three days and three nights in the wind and snow. The man in white says that judging by Huyan’s talk, it seems like Zhuo Muqiu is an upstanding gentleman. Huyan spits and says that everyone knows that Sword God Zhuo Muqiu is the most contemptible kind of person.

The man in white says well then he’s dead, so he deserves it. Huyan asks again if Zhuo Muqiu is really dead. The man in white says that he just said he was, and whether Huyan believes it or not is up to him, and that if he doesn’t, he (the man in white) can’t stop him (Huyan) from considering himself as Zhuo Muqiu. Huyan asks where the man in white’s brother is now? The man in white asks why Huyan suddenly asks him this question?

Huyan says he wants to go to the “White Dragon Heap”, the place where Zhuo Muqiu’s corpse supposedly is, and see for himself. The man in white says there are a lot of snakes and insects and beasts in the desert, and that even a living person would find it difficult to cope, much less a dead person. There is probably nothing left of Zhuo Muqiu’s corpse by now.

Huyan says that doesn’t matter. He wants to ask his brother face to face, and if his brother says he saw the corpse, then that will be it. Otherwise, Huyan says he will return and find the man in white, and he will believe that the man in white is Zhuo Muqiu.

The man in white says his brother ought to still be in the desert. Huyan says that if his brother lives, he (Huyan) will find him. He asks for the brother’s name. The man in white says his brother’s name is Fu Buwen. Huyan asks for the man in white’s name. The man in white says his name is Fu Hanyuan. Huyan says he will remember it.

Then Huyan turns around and leaves quickly, disappearing into the wind and snow. The man in white slowly stands up. He looks in the direction that Huyan disappeared to and says to himself, Huyan Ming has a well-deserved reputation; such asn awesome “Thunderbolt Axe”.

Then the man in white starts coughing, and is doubled-over with coughing. Gradually he recovers and begins massaging his chest. He feels the scar on his chest. He looks on as he feels his chest, as if he is thinking of something. A ferocious look suddenly flits across his face, more ferocious than Huyan’s look. But the look is fleeting, and his face soon returns to its sickly pallor.

The man in white looks at the donkey, already frozen stiff in the snow, and he says to the donkey that it bore the blame for someone else, and that he would never forget it. He says he will let the snow bury it, that it is better than to be buried under dirt, because snow is pure and clean. Then the man in white sighs and begins walking forward in the direction he was headed.

Each step leaves a deep print, and walking takes a lot of effort and is very arduous.

Not long after, the man in white is no longer visible, and the snow has already covered up his footprints, has already covered up the bloodstains, and of course has already covered the black donkey.

END CHAPTER 1

Characters

• Black-clothed person, with a red-handled axe. Very stalwart and big. Surname is Huyan (呼延).
• White-clothed person riding a small black donkey. Very thin and frail. 傅瀚淵 (Fu Hanyuan)
• 卓慕秋, 劍神\’卓三郎 – The man Huyan (the man in black) is looking for.
• 傅不問 (Fu Buwen) – The man in white’s brother.

Chapter 2

The snow has stopped, and the river is frozen solid. There is a person and a horse and cart traveling across the frozen river. Both the horse’s hooves and the cart’s wheels are covered with grass, in order to prevent slipping on the ice, and also to prevent breaking the ice.

There is a thatched cottage constructed next to the ferry crossing. The man in white sees this cottage, and his low-spirited eyes light up. He sees eight marks carved into a willow tree and wonders why there are not nine marks. Then he knows. “He” wants to wait until the first day of the next lunar year, because only then has it been a full year. That’s why there are only eight marks instead of nine. There are still several days left until the start of the next lunar year.

He looks happy and resolute, like he really wants to go inside the thatched hut, but he stops just in front of it, his hand about to brush aside the door curtain. He looks like one who is anxious upon returning to one’s native place after years of absence.

The man in white does lift the curtain, though, and inside he sees sparse accomodations, four guests eating at a table. Only one strong looking young man is there to wait on customers. The waiter looks strong and soldierly almost, with big bushy eyebrows and big eyes, and he has a towel draped over his shoulder. He is busy tidying up.

Suddenly someone yells, “Your mother’s penis (lit), in or out. You standing there looking at something, do you want us to freeze to death?” Such polite guests. The man in white ignores them and sits down at a table next to the door.

One of the four guests yells, “Turns out it was just some spineless bastard. How disappointing!”

The guest spits and it lands just in front of the man in white’s foot. The man in white ignores them and calls for the waiter, who asks what the man in white would like to order. He orders half a jin of clear alcohol, and a jin of beef. One of the guests yells, “I can piss more than half a jin, and a jin of beef is not even enough to feed my hawk.”

The waiter tells the man in white that he is all out of wine and beef, and tells him to go to another place. He says there are a lot of places on the other side of the river. The man in white says he is not in a hurry to cross the river because it is very cold out. He says it’s all right if there is nothing to eat or drink; just sitting there and warming up is good enough. Once he’s warmed up, he’ll leave.

The waiter tells him that actually there are four others coming soon, and it would not be good for him to occupy a table. The man in white said that was fine; he will wait until they arrive, and once they arrive he will leave.

Suddenly the curtain lifts and someone walks. The man is tall and burly, robust like the lower half of an iron pagoda. From his waist hangs a yellow leather scabbard containing a sabre a little longer than a dagger.

The big man says “It’s time” and one of the four guests calls for the waiter and asks for the bill. The waiter turns and calls out “It’s seven strings of cash. Just leave it on the table”.

The four say they are looking for an Old Tong. They ask if the waiter is related to Old Tong. The waiter says they don’t need to worry about that, but that he can speak for Old Tong. The four guests say they are looking for Old Tong because they want a yellow book with the words “Blood Flower Record” written on the cover.

The waiter says that Old Tong gave him (the waiter) the book, and that he has it on his person right now. But these four are not up to the task of taking it. One of the guests asks if he wants to test that.

The guest asks where on the waiter’s person is the book. The waiter says it is next to his heart. The guest reachs out with his hand, his fingers like hooks, to grab at the waiter’s chest, the man’s hands pale like snow. The waiter blocks the man’s wrist and knocks the man down. The other three guests stand up and brandish their sabres.

There is a fight, and the man in the doorway suddenly spurts blood. The three guests try to leave, but they are all taken out by the waiter, who seemingly uses a piece of red silk to kill them. The man in white says that “Ten Feet of Flying Red” has a well-deserved reputation, but he went too far.

The waiter says do you think I would just let them leave? The man in white says you are still young, and do not yet know that killing a person is not a good thing. Today you kill someone. Tomorrow someone could kill you. I was like you when I was your age, but now, I don’t kill unless it is absolutely necessary. The waiter looks at the big man who had stood in the doorway and asks the man in white: then why did you kill him?

The man in white says that if he hadn’t, the big man would have killed him (the waiter). The man in white says he only acted right before the big man was about to stab the waiter with his “Poison Sabre”. The waiter asks if the man in white knows who the man is?

The man in white says the big man was “Great Strength Demon” Dan Qingtian of the “Thirteen Demons”. He says that the other four were lackeys of the Thirteen Demons.

The big man had a huge gash on his chest, obviously made by a sharp weapon, but the man in white had nothing in his hands, and had no weapon visible. The waiter’s face changes, then resumes its normal appearance. He says “So, it’s you…”

The man in white says “So you can tell by Dan Qingtian’s wound?” The waiter says “Only you would be able to fell such a violent man like that, and your technique is so fast and nimble.”

The man in white says that his skills are slower than they used to be, and that the waiter praises him too much. The man in white invites the man to sit down, saying they should talk first. The waiter says that he knows that the man in white is a person with lofty sentiments. The man in white says that was then. These days he isn’t like that at all.

The waiter says “Heroism is a passing thing?” The man in white says “You know.” The waiter says he heard Old Tong say it. The waiter implies that Bandit Tong is dead, and the man in white asks how it happened. The waiter says he doesn’t know, only that he found Tong with a burning stick through his chest, nailed to the rear wall. He tells the man in white to look, you can still see the hole, though of course the bloodstain is gone now.

The man in white says that is too ruthless to do that to such an old man. Since the bloodstain is already gone, when did this all happen? The waiter says it was three years ago on a snowy day. The man in white asks about the markings in the willow tree. The waiter says he himself carved them. He said he was entrusted to the task, as well as taking care of the Blood Flower Record and to give it to you (the man in white). The man in white says don’t tell me you’ve been waiting here three years. The waiter says it has been about that long. The man in white says he is grateful to Old Tong. The waiter says that is unnecessary, it was because he wanted to wait, not because he was ordered to. He did it for the sake of the Blood Flower Record as well.

The man in white asks where Old Tong’s corpse is. The waiter says he buried it under the willow tree. He says Old Tong said he wanted to see the man in white return. The man in white is about to get emotional when he begins coughing, doubling himself over the table in a coughing fit.

The waiter asks if the man in white is sick. The man in white says he has had trouble adjusting to the weather and the strange animal smells, and he caught a cold and has not yet recovered. The man in white asks the waiter if the waiter knows what his relationship was with Old Tong? The waiter says that Old Tong was the man in white’s old servant.

The man in white says he was also the only close relative he had. He asks the waiter if he still wants the Blood Flower Record? The waiter says that everyone in the world wants it, and will not hesitate to shed blood to get it, so why wouldn’t he want it? He is fortunate that Old Tong put it into his hands. The man in white asks why the waiter didn’t just leave since it was so easy to get the book. The waiter says that if he had done that three years ago, he would not have run into the man in white, and his wish would have had to be delayed. The man in white says that the waiter could have told him that someone else had taken the book.

The waiter shakes his head and says that Old Tong told him to give it to the man in white, and he was good friends with Old Tong, and he told Old Tong to his face that he would give the book to the man in white.

The waiter brings out a rusty iron box and sets it on the table. He says that now he is giving the book to the man in white, that this is the second time he has handled the book in these past three years. He says that the man in white can’t leave with it yet. He says he has waited three years and his wish is about to be realized. He proposes that they fight ten rounds, and if the man in white wins, then Ten Feet of Flying Red will recognize the man in white as superior and the man in white can leave with the book. But if the waiter wins, then Ten Feet of Flying Red (the waiter) will be regarded as superior, and the man in white must return the book to him. The man in white tells how he met Huyan Ming with the coffin the day before.

The waiter asks if the man in white killed Huyan Ming. The man in white says no, he didn’t even touch him. The waiter says that a man determined to wait that long in that kind of weather is determined and should not be messed with. The man in white says that he was not afraid of Huyan Ming, he just didn’t want to flaunt his superiority because he is not like he used to be.

The man in white says that he did not yield to Huyan Ming, but that Huyan Ming thought he had waited for a Fu Hanyuan instead of a Zhuo Muqiu. He pushes the iron box over to the waiter and says that he is grateful that the waiter buried Old Tong, which is something he himself should have done, so he is willing to give the Blood Flower Record to the waiter as a gift of thanks.

The waiter is surprised and says so you don’t want the Blood Flower Record? The man in white says he has absolutely no will to fight anymore, so what use would such a book be to him? The waiter says that the book is something everyone wants, and so many people would not hesitate to lose their life in pursuit of it. He says that the man in white has him wrong. He would shed blood to get the book, he would risk his life for it, but he does not want to obtain the book this way. The man in white asks how the waiter would like to obtain it? The waiter says he wants to force it out of the man in white’s hands.

The man in white grabs the iron box and tells the waiter that it is now in his hands, so come and take it from me. The waiter does not move, but says “You really are a different person?” The man in white says “I told Huyan Ming that Zhuo Muqiu has already died at White Dragon Heap out in the desert.”

The waiter asks what made the man in white change. The man in white says it is nothing. He just understands human life. The waiter says for him not to think that he (the man in white) is much older than himself (the waiter). The man in white says it has nothing to do with age, that some young people get it while some old people still don’t. Then the man in white philosophizes about the uselessness of fighting with one another. The waiter says that it is difficult to belive that he has changed into this kind of person.

The man in white says he doesn’t care if the waiter believes it, and that he won’t force anyone to believe it, that he never wants to force people, and anyway something like that can’t be forced. He only knows that it is a fact that he wants to give the Blood Flower Record to the waiter.

The waiter is not willing to accept this because to receive the book in this way would not be glorious, there would be no honor in it. Instead, he wants to force the man in white to fight him. But in the end the waiter says he will wait until the day the man in white has the urge to fight again, as the waiter believes the man in white some day will, so he says for the man in white to hold onto the book until that day. The waiter says that he has waited these three years in vain.

Then the waiter walks out of the hut. The man in white sits there with an anxious smile on his face. He gradually releases his hold on the iron box. His mood grows darker as he looks at the iron box and the empty tables.

The man in white thinks about how Old Tong had set up this hut in part to make a living, and in part to wait for him. And because of the Blood Flower Record, he lost his life. He had intended to get rid of all the annoying matters of the world and settle down and look after Old Tong in his old age. He thinks about how life is full of bad circumstances, and how these circumstances outnumber the good times when he used to roam the wulin. And it’s all because of feelings one can’t fully grasp. For that reason Huyan Ming waited for him for three days and three nights in the wind and snow, wanting to kill him.

He has been roaming around for ten years, and what has he achieved? The man in white gets up to leave. Suddenly he remembers the iron box on the table. As he picks it up, he recalls Old Tong’s tragic demise and is pained, causing him another coughing fit. His coughing is so violent that he drops the box, and it opens when it hits the ground. Out falls a small book, but it is not a thin yellow silk cover, and “Blood Flower Record” is not written there.

He picks up the book and turns the pages. They are all blank, not one character anywhere. It’s not the Blood Flower Record. The man in white wonders where the real book is. Did Old Tong not hand over the book to Ten Feet of Flying Red? Did it get taken and Old Tong was not aware, or was this a trick played by Ten Feet of Flying Red? The man in white does not think that Ten Feet of Flying Red is that kind of person. If he was, he would have taken the book long ago; there would be no need to wait three years. Or maybe someone switched the books, but then there would not be much opportunity for the thief to prepare it, to have a fake book ready. The man in white thinks it over, and one possibility seems most likely: Old Tong had prepared for such an event, and hid the real Blood Flower Record somewhere else, using the blank book as a decoy.

The book Old Tong gave to Ten Feet of Flying Red must have been the blank one. And in those three years, Ten Feet of Flying Red must have looked at the book and discovered it was a fake. So then where is the real Blood Flower Record? Old Tong must have left behind some hint. But where?

The man in white loos around everywhere in the thatched hut. In the end his eyes fall back upon the blank book. Earlier he had just glanced through the book, but now the man in white thinks he should look at the book more carefully. So he flips through the pages one by one. On the last page the man in white finds a drawing of a pine tree, bamboo, and plum tree. It’s a crude drawing, but easily recognizable. The man in white turns pale and seems agitated. He closes the book and looks once more around the hut.

He looks harder now, his eyes hot enough to melt steel. His eyes fall back to the book. The man in white rips out the last page with the drawing, folds it, and conceals it next to his heart. Then he takes one last look at the place, reluctant to leave, then turns and walks out. He adds another mark to the willow tree before leaving with a dim, cold expression.

Two people are coming across the ice from the other side of the river. They are two girls, one walking in front of the other. The one in front is very pretty, whiter than the snow, more elegant than the snow. She must be the prettiest girl in the world, so beautiful she causes fish to sink, birds to drop out of the sky, and she outshines the moon and shames the flowers. She is about twenty years old. But she looks to be carrying along some bitterness. She is wan and thin, and she seems to carry around this cold, depressing atmosphere with her wherever she goes. Judging by her clothing she must come from an affluent family.

The girl behind her is only seventeen or eighteen, and looks to be a servant girl. She has bright eyes and white teeth, and seems clever and likable. The two girls cross the ice and stop in front of the thatched hut on the other side. The girl eyes the willow tree and her body sways. The servant girl anxiously supports her. The girl says she is fine and remarks that there are three more marks added to the tree, but he has still not returned.

The servant girl says he will come and asks the lady to wait inside the hut. The lady says that it has been nine years, and if he were going to come, he would have come already. She says that Old Tong told her three years ago he would come back soon, but he didn’t.

The servant girl leads the lady to the hut and pulls back the curtain, only to see the dead body there, which frightens her. The lady has more guts and looks herself, seeing three other bodies by the rear wall. The lady quickly enters and calls for Old Tong. There is no response and the lady gets woozy again and grips a table for support. The lady is helped to a seat and sees the book and the open box on the floor. She concludes that Dan Qingtian and his men came for the Blood Flower Record and were all killed by Ten Feet of Flying Red. She doesn’t think Ten Feet killed Dan Qingtian though, because he is not Dan’s match, and Dan’s wound makes it clear that Dan did not fight back or put up any resistance at all.

The servant girl suggests that maybe Old Tong killed them. The lady shakes her head. She says Old Tong is not as good as Ten Feet of Flying Red. Then her eyes brighten and she says, whose skill is fast enough, whose strength is mighty enough, whose skill is great enough… The lady thinks it looks like “him”, but it couldn’t be “him”… If it were him, then Old Tong would not have carved the ninth mark into the tree.

The servant girl asks where Old Tong is, and the lady says maybe he left this place. The lady is scared and tells the servant girl, Xiao Bing (Little Ice), to search the vicinity for Old Tong, because he would not have gone far from the ferry crossing.

While the servant girl searches, the lady sits down and looks at Dan Qingtian’s body, then at the book on the floor. She bends over and picks up the book and sees it is all blank. She sees the spot where a page was ripped out. Someone ripped out one page, or maybe it was many pages. She closes the books and falls into deep thought. Then she scans the room with her eyes, looking at everything. She notes the sparse adornments, the tables, the chopping board, the vegetable cabinet, the stove, and the rain cape hanging on the rear wall.

Her expression changes to one of shock.

END CHAPTER 2