Chapter 22 Her Identity

  The next day, Wang Qian made a rare suggestion to take another rest day, and Long Fei immediately agreed. The shopkeeper's attitude improved significantly, his speech became more gentle, and he worked more diligently. He took great care of Wang Qian and the others, serving them exquisite meals and providing thoughtful service, making yesterday's reluctance to accommodate them a distant memory.

  "Is the boss's wife having a big fat baby? Why is he so enthusiastic today?" Long Fei joked while eating.

  "You're joking, sir!" The shopkeeper chuckled and said, "My wife has been a barren hen since I married her. I've long given up hope. Children are just a burden in life. It's better to live a carefree life on your own."

  "That's wrong!" Hua Tuo interrupted, "Heaven has made men and women to procreate, if everyone thought like you, wouldn't the human race disappear? Birth, aging, illness, death, giving birth to children, this is Heaven's arrangement, we absolutely cannot defy it!"

  "Yes, yes, yes! The old man is absolutely right!" The shopkeeper hastily poured a cup of wine for Hua Tuo: "But she just can't give birth, and I'm also helpless?"

  "Why don't we discuss it with your wife and take a small concubine? We can't let the family line die out, can we?" Zhao Yun said with a kind face.

  The shopkeeper shook his head: "What a pity! My wife is willing to listen to me on everything, but this matter she absolutely refuses to agree with!"

  "How can this be!" Hua Tuo was furious: "There are three unfilial acts, and having no descendants is the greatest. How could this woman do such a thing? This is where she went wrong, I'll go talk to her myself!"

  This meal was eaten very lively. A group of people took this as a topic, talked about the three obediences and four virtues, and then talked about marrying a wife and having children, and from marrying a wife and having children, they talked about men and women's affairs. A group of big men laughed loudly while discussing this topic, completely ignoring Wang Qian. Under Long Fei's leadership, the more they talked, the more outrageous it became, and Wang Qian had no choice but to turn around and leave.

  Hua Tuo said, "The matter of men and women is originally nothing to be ashamed of. It's the arrangement of heaven, so that life can continue without end. Alas! Since the time of Emperor Wu, when Confucianism was exalted and all other schools were abolished, this matter of men and women has become a shameful thing. People are afraid to speak of it openly, as if they didn't know that even heaven and earth have sons and daughters, not to mention humans!" Everyone nodded in agreement. Hua Tuo continued, "In ancient times, there was the Chu poet Song Yu's 'Gaotang Fu', which described the love between King Huai of Chu and the goddess Daji in vivid detail. We don't need to be ashamed!..."

  "What's a 'yùn jī'?" Long Fei was taken aback. He hastily turned his head to look at the shopkeeper, who also looked somewhat stunned. Long Fei quickly stopped Hua Tuo from speaking: "Wait a minute, what exactly is this 'yùn jī' for?"

  The daughter of Emperor Yan, Nuwa, was said to be the most beautiful, fashionable and sentimental among her sisters. As the saying goes, "heaven is jealous of beauty, and beauties are short-lived". The girl fell ill with an unknown disease and eventually died young. Emperor Yan, being the god of medicine, could cure diseases but not fate, and the girl passed away. Her body was buried on Mount Nuwa, and her spirit transformed into a fragrant herb called Nuwa grass. The Nuwa grass has delicate yellow flowers, paired leaves, and produces fruit resembling silk threads. If a woman eats the fruit of the Nuwa grass, she will become radiant and lovely, captivating people's hearts.

  Yuè Cǎo was on the Yuè Mountain, absorbing the essence of the sun during the day and the moon at night. After many years, she became a goddess of the Wu Mountains, known as Yuè Jī. Da Yú was controlling the waters, digging through mountains and rivers, until he reached the foot of the Wu Mountains to prepare for the construction of canals to drain the floodwaters. Suddenly, a violent storm arose, with strong winds that obscured the sky and shook the earth, causing sandstorms and landslides, with waves of floods coming one after another like continuous mountain ranges. Yú was caught off guard and retreated from the riverbank, seeking help from Yuè Jī, the goddess of the Wu Mountains. Yuè Jī admired Yú's selfless spirit of benefiting the world and pitied the refugees who had lost their homes and livelihoods due to the disaster. She then passed on to Yú the magical arts of commanding spirits and ghosts, as well as the heavenly scriptures for controlling winds and waters. With her help, Yú was able to stop the storm, blast open a gorge in the Wu Mountains, and allow the floodwaters to flow out through the Wu Gorge into the Yangtze River. The people of Ba and Shu, who had suffered greatly from the floods, were thus saved.

  For thousands and thousands of years, until the Warring States period, King Huai of Chu went to Yunmengze for a hunt, and rested at Gaotang Temple. In a daze, he saw a woman who was slender and elegant, walking slowly towards him. She said: "I am the youngest daughter of the Emperor, named Xiji, I died before I could marry, and was buried on Mount Wu's platform. My spirit turned into grass, which is actually Lingzhi mushroom." King Huai saw her as a gift from heaven, with the beauty of yin and yang, containing all the beauty between heaven and earth. He was amazed by this heavenly person, and his love for her grew, leaving behind a romantic legend. The Clouds and Rain of Mount Wu originated from this story.

  Long Fei felt somewhat depressed after listening to Hua Tuo's account. It seemed that this Wang Qian was just a... What kind of immortal was she supposed to be? And the shopkeeper had called Wang Qian "Wang Qian", did that mean Wang Qian was also... Long Fei felt disappointed and silently got up to leave. The crowd was puzzled, looking at Long Fei's back, several people exchanged glances, not knowing why. Wang Wei hurriedly stood up to support Long Fei. Long Fei pushed him away with one hand and silently returned to his own room.

  Time flies, and Long Fei has been locking himself in his room since he heard the story from Hua Tuo, refusing to eat or drink, and not seeing anyone. The newly ignited flame of love was ruthlessly extinguished. Why are women like this? In their own society, beautiful women are either bound by unspoken rules or are someone else's mistress or adopted daughter. Is it the same in ancient times too? The more he thinks about it, the more he feels there's a problem - could Wang Ke be hiding something related to this? Even if Long Fei is open-minded, he can't accept a love that's...

  "Knock knock knock!" A few knocks on the door. Wang Qiang asked from outside, "Brother Long, are you okay? Can I come in?"

  "Scram! Don't bother me!" Long Fei roared, scaring Wang Qiang to take a step back.

  "What's wrong with you?" Wang Ji's voice was trembling, as if she was about to cry: "Why are you so fierce to me?"

  Long Fei pushed open the door, ready to scold someone. But seeing the tears welling up in Wang Qian's eyes, he swallowed his words. Long Fei turned and entered the room, with Wang Qian following behind him. Still fuming, Long Fei sat down, huffing with anger. Wang Qian looked at him: "Big Brother Long, what's wrong?"

  Long Fei turned his face, revealing a fierce expression, his two eyes staring at Wang Qian, as if he wanted to see through her. After a long time, he gritted his teeth and spat out a few words: "Who are you? Wang Qian? Meng Ji? I want to know everything about you, right now!" Long Fei's gaze was sharp, leaving no room for negotiation.

  As soon as Wang Qiang heard the name "Huang Ji", she immediately understood that last night's events had not escaped Long Fei. Her tears poured out of her eyes in an instant, and she couldn't hold them back anymore. Long Fei was still looking at her, although he was a bit anxious in his heart, but he knew that at this moment it was like two top snipers facing off, as long as one side relaxed slightly, it would immediately become the other's opportunity, so he didn't move, just looked at Wang Qiang.

  Wang Qian cried for half a day, wiped away her tears herself, and spoke with a sob: "Do you really want to know?"

  Long Fei nodded. Wang Qian closed her eyes, let out a long breath and said faintly: "Then follow me! This is not a place to talk!" Neither of them called out, they rode their horses out of the city.

  The Fen River is the largest river on the west side of Jinyang, originating from Yanmen and flowing through Jinyang, Pingyang, and Xiangling into the Yellow River, China's mother river. As the Fen River is not far from Jinyang, Ding Yuan diverted its water into Jinyang, becoming the greatest guarantee for the drinking water and agricultural production of the people and livestock in Jinyang, which can also be considered one of the good deeds Ding Yuan did in Jinyang.

  Wang Qian was in the front, and Long Fei was behind. The two horses moved quickly towards the bank of the Fen River, with fields and forests flashing by. They ran for a whole hour, and the horses were covered in sweat before Wang Qian finally pulled on the reins to stop. Long Fei had never ridden a horse for so long, his entire buttocks were almost gone, and his legs were burning with pain, probably because he had no skin left. He slowly got off the horse, limping and staggering to a big tree, leaning against it and panting heavily.

  Wang Qian looked back and scanned the surroundings, then dismounted his horse and walked towards Long Fei step by step. Suddenly, Wang Qian jumped up and appeared with a gleaming dagger in his hand, stabbing at Long Fei's chest with incredible speed and skill, fully demonstrating his mastery of the "stable, accurate, and ruthless" technique. Although Long Fei was resting, he had been observing Wang Qian all along. This was also what their tactical instructor had said: the most dangerous thing is often what you easily overlook, what you think is safe, which is exactly the point that the enemy is best at exploiting.

  As Wang Jian's dagger stabbed, Long Fei supported himself with both hands on the ground and suddenly kicked upwards with his right leg. He then turned his body sideways to dodge Wang Jian's dagger and stood up immediately. Wang Jian missed her first strike and quickly adjusted her direction, stabbing at Long Fei for a second time. Seeing the tears in Wang Jian's eyes, Long Fei was stunned. In that moment of distraction, Wang Jian's dagger had already reached his chest.

  "Whoosh!" The five-inch dagger plunged in, a full two inches deep. Fresh blood immediately began to flow out of the wound. Long Fei's face contorted, and he stumbled backward three steps under Wang Qian's impact. Wang Qian was stunned, looking at Long Fei's face, then at the dagger still lodged in his body, momentarily unsure of what to do next.

  "You've finally gotten what you wanted!" Long Fei gritted his teeth in pain, a faint smile on his face: "My life was saved by you, now we're even!"

  Long Fei was getting unsteady and started to collapse. Wang Jin wrapped her arms around Long Fei, but with a body like his, it was impossible for a weak woman like her to hold him up, and the two of them fell to the ground together. Wang Jin's tears flowed nonstop: "Why didn't you dodge? You used to be so fierce!" As she cried, she spoke, and at the same time, she took out her own handkerchief and pressed it against Long Fei's wound to stop the bleeding.

  Long Fei said: "I don't blame you, but before I die, can you tell me who you are?"

  "Alright! Alright! I'll tell you everything!" Wang Qian replied immediately.

  The disappearance of the two caused an earthquake-like effect in the inn. Not only were Zhao Yun and Talen anxious, but the shopkeeper looked even more anxious. On the one hand, he comforted the crowd, on the other hand, he let his partner go out to inquire, repeatedly swearing that even if they had to turn the entire Jin Yang upside down, they would find the two people. In a small room on the left side of the back hall of the inn, a man in black walked back and forth, as if he had foreseen something, but couldn't say it clearly. At this time, there was only one word: wait!