The Crane Startles Kunlun, Chapter 13, Part 3

The Crane Startles Kunlun, Chapter 13, Part 3.
from Wang Dulu's He Jing Kunlun.

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Because Aluan's horse had been up ahead, she had already entered the streets of the town. She felt very sad and was considering what she would say to Jiang Xiaohe, so she was unaware that Ji Guangjie and Second Deng the Divine Hold had ambushed Jiang Xiaohe. She suddenly heard a tumult behind her and saw that Jiang Xiaohe's horse had already been forced down and that he had been wounded, as his right arm was bleeding. Aluan couldn't help her alarm and hastily turned her horse back. Jiang Xiaohe was now fighting dauntlessly at close quarters. With Yuan Zhixia and Yang Zhijin already cut down by him, he ran back onto the bridge. Ji Guangjie spurred his horse after him, and with one atop a horse and the other below, the two swords crossed in four or five exchanges. Jiang Xiaohe stabbed with his sword and sent Ji Guangjie off his horse.

Jiang Xiaohe took his horse and fled to the western bank. Aluan chased hurriedly after him and called out bleakly from her horse, "Xiaohe! Xiaohe!" Jiang Xiaohe was now so angry his face was both red and purple. He supposed that Aluan, Ji Guangjie, and the others had all planned together to ambush him. He furiously sliced a willow branch off with his sword, and gazing at Aluan through the misty rain, he laughed coldly, "Fine! How very clever and very cruel of you all! Aluan, you lowly woman, you've forgotten that you'd promised to be my wife before. In the ten years since, I've..." When he got to here, a burst of sorrow surged into his heart, a hurt more painful than the one on his arm. At this point, another large troop of officers on horseback were charging their way from the west, and Ge Zhiqiang, Second Deng the Divine Hold, and the others were running after him from east of the bridge. Jiang Xiaohe threw the willow branch in his hand at Aluan, and then turned his horse and fled south along the riverbank.

Aluan dodged the branch and pressed her horse after him, calling out, "Xiaohe! Xiaohe! Come back!" Without even looking back, Jiang Xiaohe sat high on his horse and rode angrily away. Aluan pursued him for a mile before she saw that Jiang Xiaohe had already ridden Ji Guangjie's horse far away. She could only rein up her horse and pant breathlessly as a pair of tears flowed ceaselessly like the strands of rain that fell ever harder.

Shortly, Ge Zhiqiang and Second Deng the Divine Hold had rushed over with the officers, and the troop of constables on horseback had also come. Second Deng mounted a horse himself and led the officers in pursuit. Aluan was stamping her foot and weeping, as she shouted, "Stop chasing him! Jiang Xiaohe's already hurt!" Ge Zhiqiang said, "They are doing the public business of the government. We cannot stop them. Right now In-law Ji and the others are injured. Let's hurry and carry them back into the city to treat them!" Aluan lazily wiped the rain and tears from her face, and galloped back to the Ba Bridge with Ge Zhiqiang, where they saw that some of the officers there had already rented two wagons, and were lifting the wounded Yang Zhijin, Yuan Zhixia and Ji Guangjie onto them. Among them, Yuan Zhixia's injury was gravest and Ji Guangjie's was lightest. While the two other wounded laid moaning, Ji Guangjie was restless in the wagon and wanted to jump down. He was bleeding from his left thigh, which had stained his clothes red, but he was still in a thunderous rage, demanding a horse and a sword from the people nearby, so that he could chase after Jiang Xiaohe.

When Aluan arrived, Ji Guangjie sneered and said, "Family member, look! I, Ji Guangjie, have incurred a wound for your Kunlun School. This blood is red. It is one color with your dress when we two married." He pounded his chest and said, "Don't see only that your husband is wounded, but that he is a hero! Sooner or later I will likewise give Jiang Xiaohe a cut with my sword and give him a wound even worse than mine!" Ge Zhiqiang sighed and exhorted him, "Forget it. Let it be. In-law Ji, hold your anger for now, and let us first go back into the city to rest. Right now, Second Deng is leading more than ten officers on horseback in pursuit. They will be able to arrest Jiang Xiaohe for certain. The wound Jiang Xiaohe suffered was quite heavy. He won't be able to run far!" Aluan was still shedding tears, and because she saw Ji Guangjie's injury, she felt quite a bit of pity for Ji Guangjie, and she thought herself too unworthy of him. Thereupon she sheathed her saber and led her horse to Ji Guangjie's wagon. She held back her tears and urged him, saying, "You needn't be angry now! Go back to the city first. I feel very bad fro the pain you've suffered over our problems!"

Ji Guangjie in fact felt utterly heartened at Aluan's words, his whole body in comfort so that his wounds seemed not to hurt anymore. He was on the verge of laughter, and indeed he couldn't hold it in. He smiled and said, "This is nothing. Not just the injury, but what I'll do for you in the future, for the old man, and for all my friends in the Kunlun School who have been hurt by Jiang Xiaohe. It is all nothing to me. I will prove myself to be the grandson of the Xia of Longmen!" Aluan wiped her tears once again. Ge Zhiqiang issued a command, "Let's go!" The two wagons, along with Ge Zhiqiang, Bao Aluan, Jin Zhiyong, Chen Zhijun, Zhao Zhilong and the other riders, and seven or eight of the officers, some riding horses, some on foot, made their way together back to the city of Chang'an.

At this time, the rain was still falling hard. The fields, forests and dwellings all around them were permeated with the misty rain, and off in the distance, Chang'an city appeared amid a smoky fog. Though they were also returning this time after a great defeat, Ge Zhiqiang didn't feel as dejected and ashamed as he had the last incidence fighting Li Fengjie, because this time Jiang Xiaohe had also been wounded, and relying on the officers, they might be able to capture Jiang Xiaohe soon. It was only that, if they couldn't capture him, it would be all over! Seeing Jiang Xiaohe's swordwork this day and his dexterity when he caught the dart with one hand, not only was he much more powerful than Li Fengjie, but in his hands, Ji Guangjie was not much of a hero. Due to this, he very greatly respected his master. In the past ten years, he had even sometimes thought the old man was worrying excessively in his constant fear of this matter approaching, but now he saw it truly was something worth concern. The old master Bao was now robust for his years, but when compared, the old man's martial arts were far below Jiang Xiaohe's. But in the case of the young lady Aluan...

Atop his horse, Ge Zhiqiang thought back to the initial moment Aluan saw Jiang Xiaohe, and the scene of Jiang Xiaohe throwing a branch at her, and her shouting through tears not to chase him. Ge Zhiqiang couldn't help the suspicions developing in his mind, thinking to himself, What's going on here? When Jiang Xiaohe was a child, he was brought up for a time in the master's home. Could it be something had happened during that time between him and Aluan? How peculiar! Because he was speculating about this, he was forgetting about everything else.

In a short while, they entered the city and when they returned to the Lishun Security Office, they first carried the three wounded men separately to their own rooms. Afterwards, Zhao Zhilong and the others busily applied cut wound medicine to the injured, and sent attendants to fetch a doctor specialized in treating bruises and cuts. There were also many local fighting masters and security escorts, as well as friends both public and personal whom Ge Zhiqiang was acquainted with, all calling upon them to give consolation and inquiry. Ge Zhiqiang forced himself to be energetic and performed the social niceties. With great difficulty, they finally departed as he'd wished, whereupon Ge Zhiqiang was able to take a breath. He went to check on Yuan Zhixia and Yang Zhijin and saw that neither had reached a point where their lives were in danger. Lastly, he went to visit Ji Guangjie and saw Ji Guangjie lying in bed talking with Aluan. Aluan was still frowning with worry, and her two eyes glistened with tears.

Ge Zhiqiang asked Ji Guangjie about the current condition of his injury. Ji Guangjie sat up immediately and patted his wound with his right hand, laughing, "What is this? If Jiang Xiaohe were to come again, I would put my life on the line as before!" He spoke rowdily, but his face was pale and beads of sweat as big as soybeans rolled down from his forehead. Ge Zhiqiang said, "You must hold your temper. If you ask me, I think those officers have already arrested Jiang Xiaohe by now. Even if he were to get away, with what happened today, he would now be considered a criminal, and he'll be caught sooner or later. Now focus on getting better! We'll talk about what to do after you're healed."

As he said this, he gave Aluan a look. His meaning was, seeing that Ji Guangjie's wounds couldn't be considered light, you'd best attend to him well and not get him too excited. Aluan's face became even more worried and sad. Ge Zhiqiang could also see that things would be hard from now on, and couldn't help feeling very anxious. He left the room and went back to the main hall to eat lunch with Zhao Zhilong, Chen Zhijun, and the others.

Second Deng the Divine Hold came while they were eating lunch. He was panting heavily, as if he had just gotten off his horse after having come from far away. Ge Zhiqiang asked him at once, "Have you captured Jiang Xiaohe?" Second Deng the Divine Hold waved his hand and said, "It wasn't possible. That man is what I'd truly call fierce! I've handled cases for over twenty years, catching grass gliders and carryings leopards in clouds, but I've never encountered an outlaw as slippery as him. Sir Ji's horse was not itself very fast, but in his hands, it was as if it was flying. We chased after him for more than thirty miles, through a few forests and across a couple rivers. After that, I don't know what happened, but both man and horse disappeared completely! That man comes from outside of this province, yet could it be that he is more familiar with the geography than we are?"

Upon hearing this, Ge Zhiqiang felt even more anxiety, staring into space for a moment. Then, he said, "This escape will cause no end to trouble." Second Deng said, "It would be excellent if he were to come tonight, and if I let him go again, I will resign from my appointment in the government. I'll first go back and rest. Don't worry, Sixth Sir Ge. Tonight I'll bring some men for the night guard." Ge Zhiqiang gave Second Deng some further instruction, and then Second Deng left.

Presently, the men finished eating, and Ge Zhiqiang asked his disciple-brother Chen Zhijun in particular to join him in his room inside. The two spoke in confidence, as Ge Zhiqiang furled his brow and said, "Brother, did you see how Miss Aluan looked today at the Ba Bridge when she saw Jiang Xiaohe? Usually, whenever we mentioned Jiang Xiaohe, the miss would always grow angry, gritting her teeth and tearing up. Logically, their meeting today should have been a meeting of enemies. They should have been exceptionally hostile. However, Jiang Xiaohe simply smiled, and she did nothing but cry at Jiang Xiaohe. She did not immediately draw her saber and engage him, instead going east of the bridge with Jiang Xiaohe to talk with him about things she didn't want us to know about. And I haven't yet mentioned that later on, when Second Deng pursued Jiang Xiaohe with the other officers, the miss wept and tried to stop them, saying something like, 'Jiang Xiaohe's already been injured, so stop chasing him!' I have some real doubts concerning this matter. Could it be that Miss Luan's temperament has changed? Otherwise, did she never truly hate Jiang Xiaohe, and had she had some sort of personal affair with Jiang Xiaohe before? But that doesn't seem to be case!"

Chen Zhijun stared blankly and thought for a while before saying, "I don't dare speak on that, but what I saw between them today was a bit strange. When Jiang Xiaohe and Aluan were younger, they often played together. However, Xiaohe was only fourteen, and Aluan was only twelve." Hearing this, Ge Zhiqiang's suspicions rose further, and he sighed, saying, "One fourteen and the other twelve, but you cannot say they didn't understand anything at that age!" Chen Zhijun shook his head and said, "I don't think anything ever reached that point, for the master was very strict about these things. Not to mention, Jiang Xiaohe did not stay very long in the master's home before he stabbed our elder brother Long and ran away. By the time that Jiang Xiaohe brought the Xia of Langzhong to Zhenba, I saw with my own eyes Aluan gritting her teeth angrily and cursing daily about Jiang Xiaohe's inability. I am certain there was no personal affair between Aluan and Jiang Xiaohe. In fact, it looks to me right now that with Ji Guangjie, there is much love between the young couple!" Ge Zhiqiang listened, but still could not rid himself of his doubts. They then discussed what further precautions they should take this evening, before Chen Zhijun went back outside.