Heaven-relying Sword And Dragon-slaying Sabre

The girl stared at him for half a day, but she could not see any trace of anger, he looked at ease; she felt this was rather strange. "What's your name?" she asked, "Why are you here?"

Zhang Wuji mused, "All the way from the Central Earth, people keep asking me about Yifu's whereabouts. They threatened, swindled, committing all manners of crimes that I had to suffer countless sufferings. From now on, Zhang Wuji is dead, nobody in this world knows Jin Mao Shi Wang Xie Xun's whereabouts. Supposing I meet with someone ten times more cunning than Zhu Changling, I won't have to worry about falling into his trap and unintentionally cause trouble to my Yifu." Thereupon he said, "I am called Ahniu [lit. cow/bull]."

The girl slightly smiled. "What's your surname?" she asked.

Zhang Wuji thought again, "I can't say Zhang, Yin, or Xie; those are all not good. 'Zhang' and 'Yin' combined sounds like 'Zeng'." Thereupon he said, "I … My surname is Zeng. What is Miss' surname?"

The girl's body shook, she said, "I don't have any surname." After pausing for a moment, she slowly said, "My birth father did not want me; he would kill me if he sees me. How can I take Father's surname? My Mama was killed by me, I also cannot use her surname. I was born ugly. You can call me Miss Chou [lit. Ugly]."

Zhang Wuji was stunned. "You … you killed your Mama?" he asked, "How can that be?"

The girl sighed and said, "It's a long story. Mama was my father's first wife. She had never given birth to any son or daughter; hence Father took Er Niang [Second Mother]. Er Niang gave birth to my two (older) brothers. Father doted on her very much. Later on Mama gave birth to me, her only daughter. Relying of Father's love, Er Niang had always bullied Mama. My two older brothers were also very bad; they helped their mother in bullying my Ma. My Ma could only cry in secret. Tell me, what should I do?"

"Your father should have been more neutral" Zhang Wuji replied.

The girl said, "Because Father constantly shielded Er Niang, I was unbearably angry. I took a blade and killed my Er Niang."

"Ah!" Zhang Wuji exclaimed in shock. He always thought that people kill people in the Wulin world was nothing strange, but that this peasant girl unexpectedly could kill someone with a blade was beyond his expectation.

The girl continued, "Seeing I was in deep trouble, Mama told me to run away at once. But my two brothers pursued me to take me back. Because Mama was helpless to stop them, she slit her own throat to save me. Tell me, didn't Mama lose her life in my hands? When my father saw me, is it possible for him not to kill me?" When she said all these, her intonation was light, without the slightest degree of excitement.

Zhang Wuji, however, listened to her story with his heart thumping madly; he thought, "I am unfortunate that my parents are dead, but Father and Mother loved each other and they loved me very much. Compared to this Miss' bitter experience, I am actually ten thousand times luckier than she." Thinking to this point, his sympathy for the girl grew. With a tender voice he said, "Have you left home for a long time? Have you been always alone out here?"

The girl nodded slightly. Zhang Wuji asked again, "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know," the girl replied, "The world is very big, it doesn't matter if I go to the east or to the west. I will be all right as long as I don't bump into my father or brothers."

Zhang Wuji's heart burst with compassion because he felt they shared the same fate. He said, "Wait 'till my legs are healed, I will accompany you to look for that … that Dage [big brother]. We'll ask him what he thinks about you."

"What if he scolds me or bites me again?" the girl asked.

"Humph," Zhang Wuji boldly said, "If he dares to harm a single strand of your hair, I will not rest until I deal with him."

The girl said, "What if he simply ignores me, will not speak even one word to me?"

Zhang Wuji was dumbfounded. He thought that he could not force a man to love a woman he did not have any affection to even if he possessed stronger martial art skills. After being silent for half a day, he said, "I will try my best."

Suddenly the girl bent over in laughter, as if she had just heard the funniest joke ever. "What's so funny?" Zhang Wuji asked.

"Ugly freak," the girl said, "Who do you think you are? Will others listen to you? Besides, I have been looking for him everywhere and did not even see any sign of him. I don't even know if he is dead or alive. You will do your best? What kind of ability do you have? Ha ha ha ha …!"

Zhang Wuji was about to open his mouth, but because of her laughter, he blushed and closed his mouth immediately.

The girl saw him opening and closing his mouth, she stopped laughing and asked, "You are going to say something?"

"You laughed at me, I won't tell you," Zhang Wuji said.

"Humph," the girl coldly said, "A laugh is a laugh. At worst I will laugh at you again. You won't die because of my laughter, will you?"

In a loud voice Zhang Wuji said, "I have nothing but good intentions toward you, you should not laugh at me!"

The girl said, "I am asking you: what is that you were going to say?"

Zhang Wuji said, "You are all alone, without friends or family. I am of the same fate. My father and mother have died; I have neither brothers nor sisters. I was going to say that if that wicked man still pays no attention to you, there is no harm in us traveling together as companions. I can accompany you and talk to you to relieve boredom. But since you said I am not fit, I might as well not say it."

The girl said angrily, "You certainly are not fit! That wicked man is a hundred times more handsome than you; he is a hundred times smarter than you. It is really bad luck that I hang around with you in here, engaging in idle conversation." While saying that, she madly kicked the mutton leg and the roast chicken lying on the snowy ground, and then she ran away while covering her face.

Being on the receiving end of such unreasonable fit of temper, Zhang Wuji did not get angry. He thought, "This Miss is truly pitiful. It's not surprising, considering she has been through many sufferings."

Suddenly the girl rushed back and fiercely said, "Ugly freak, you must be upset with me. You must be thinking that my own face is so ugly yet I am looking down on you. Am I right?"

"No, it's not that," Zhang Wuji shook his head, "Your face is not very good-looking, but as soon as I see you, I feel we can get along well. If you have not turned uglier and looked the same as before …"

The girl suddenly cried out in alarm. "You … did you say I do not look the same as I was before?"

Zhang Wuji said, "Compared to the last time we met, your face today looks somewhat more swollen, your skin also darkened somewhat. That is unnatural."

The girl was startled. "I … I did not dare to look into the mirror these past few days," she said, "Did you say I am getting uglier?"