Flickering Flame

Gentle Water

The red candle flame snuffed out with a “whump” and was extinguished.
  
The fifth one, He Lian quietly committed that to memory. The red bridal veil obscured her line of sight. She could only see the bright pearls on her embroidered shoes glittering faintly, a dark red sheen cast over everything her eyes could see.

Those who had come to tease the newlyweds had been gone for a while now, but Wu Wu had not the slightest inclination to come over and lift her red veil. He Lian was not a bit worried because she could still hear. She knew Wu Wu had poured a cup of wine from the pitcher and had drained it in one swallow.
 
In one swallow? In one swallow!
  
He Lian could hear her heart thumping wildly. Her exquisite mouth curved upward in a cruel smile that a bride ought not to have.
 
A pair of red men’s shoes joined her red embroidered ones and her veil was finally lifted. Under the dim candlelight, Wu Wu felt a brightness before him, those delicate features, those gentles eyes, how could phrases like “so beautiful as to cause the fish to sink and geese to drop”, or to “make flowers blush and the moon hide” ever be enough to describe her? If there really were celestial maidens in this world they would probably not surpass her.

He Lian raised her head and Wu Wu’s captivated expression was transfixed on her. She wanted to laugh, laugh loudly. Beauty was a woman’s most devastating weapon. He Lian had not believed it at first, but reality was cruel and merciless, she believed that, especially now.

Wu Wu gazed at He Lian for a time, then pulled a chair over in front of her and sat. He saw that her eyes, gentle as starlight, were puzzled, and he sighed in spite of himself. Such a beautiful woman, delicate and charming, no wonder her father… But Wu’er, Wu’er… The thought of Wu’er brought a sharp pain in his heart that hurt so much he could barely breathe, and he couldn’t help but clutch tight the lapels of his robe at his breast. He felt a smile colder than a knife blade flash across the face of the woman before him, but when he fixed his eyes on her it was still that tragically beautiful smile. He laughed at himself. It was too dark in here, he must have been mistaken.

He coughed lightly. “Would you like to hear a story?” He Lian didn’t know what Wu Wu was getting at, but she nodded. This was fine. If he was absorbed in telling a story it would be harder for him to notice any unusual changes coming over him.

“Both my parents died when I was young. A girl next door, Wu’er, treated me very well. Her family was poor too, but she often sneaked me out some tasty things to eat. When I was fifteen I had the good fortune to meet Master and when I went with him to Kunlun to train, Wu’er said she would wait for me to return. My martial arts improved amazingly fast. Master always said I was naturally gifted. He didn’t know that my success was mostly due to that girl far away. By the time I completed my training and left the mountain and went home, her family had already moved away, no one knew where to. After Master passed away, I took over Kunlun Sect, but my heart wasn’t in it. None of that was what I wanted. Later on I finally found out where she was. Can you guess whether or not I found her in the end?”

Wu Wu gave a funny laugh, not intending for her to respond. He looked into He Lian’s eyes and continued, “The only daughter of an influential wulin family came down with a rare ailment. The famous doctor from Jiangnan, called ‘Hua Tuo Reborn’ Ye Xingshi said that the only way to completely cure her was a total exchange blood transfusion, and that the conditions for a donor were harsh, and therefore a suitable donor would be hard to find. He also said that the donor would inevitably die after the exchange transfusion. Influential wulin families care about reputation and prestige, so they naturally couldn’t let such a cruel thing get out in the open. But ultimately they found Wu’er. They had the money to close the mouths of those who knew about it and enough money to buy Wu’er’s life. And so, Wu’er died, and the daughter of that influential family, who should have died, lived.”

Wu Wu stopped here, quietly watching He Lian, whose smile had disappeared, watching the fine beads of sweat on her forehead. He Lian’s mind had long been thrown into chaos. She croaked, “I really didn’t know I was depriving someone of their life so that I could live.”

Wu Wu said evenly, “It’s not important whether you knew or not. What’s important is that you must pay with your life.” With those last four words spoken, his right palm slammed into He Lian’s chest.

He Lian felt a powerful blast and pain all the way to her bones. She swayed and slowly slumped over onto the bed. She smiled miserably, “You…” Blood oozed from the corners of her mouth. Wu Wu, however, was ghastly pale. He Lian was the daughter of a powerful wulin family, but because she was naturally feeble and unable to practice martial arts, she was nothing more than a weak girl. So how could she have taken the full brunt of his strength and not only had her heart not burst and she die at once, but still be able to speak? He shot to his feet and suddenly felt dizzy. His legs went weak and he collapsed, kneeling on the floor.
   
He was getting more and more dizzy by the second. Wu Wu struggled to get to his feet but could not, and his blurry mind began to clear as he realized he had been poisoned. He raised his eyes to the pitcher of wine on the table.

“You guess right, I poisoned the wine pitcher earlier,” He Lian said weakly.

“Why? You didn’t know I was going to kill you.”

He Lian laughed, blood still seeping from the corners of her mouth. In the dim light she looked strangely tragic and beautiful. “I’m nothing more than a pretty, weak woman. How else could I have the chance to kill the head of Kunlun Sect?”

Wu Wu felt his mind becoming more and more foggy. He could not raise even a single thread of his true qi. What a strong poison, in the blink of an eye it had already overwhelmed and taken over him. “Heheh, I never imagined retribution would come so swift. But, can you at least tell me your reason for killing me?”

He Lian’s eyes had lost their luster as she looked over at the only red candle on the table that had not snuffed out. Her feeble voice sounded like she was talking in her sleep. “I’ve been a chronic invalid ever since I can remember. The courtyard was my paradise. Aside from a few maidservants, my only companion was an old servant’s grandson, Mo Chou. Three years ago, Mo Chou sneaked out of the manor, leaving me with only a letter saying that he wanted to roam the jianghu and make his name, and once he had established himself he would come back and marry me. Later, after asking around, I learned that he had joined the Flying Fish Gang and had become the leader of the protection force of the Azure Dragon branch.”

He Lian closed her eyes, two lines of tears rolling down her face, diluting the blood at the corners of her mouth. Her voice weakened as she continued. “Do you remember the battle with the Flying Fish Gang by the Yangtze River? You stamped the Azure Dragon and White Tiger branches flat, annihilated the entire Flying Fish Gang. You will remember, because it was only after that fight that the jianghu knew about Wu Wu of Kunlun. Maybe it was a mistake for Mo Chou to join the Flying Fish Gang, but you still killed him…”

“I see.”

Wu Wu’s mind was foggy, his voice also weakening. “Turns out you and I are both to be pitied.”

The final red candle flame snuffed out with a “whump” and was extinguished.

~*~

Originally published, along with other short stories on this site, such as Witness and Plain Wooden Spear, in an issue of the Chinese wuxia magazine 《今古传奇·武侠版》 (Legends Old and New: Wuxia Edition)