Heaven-relying Sword And Dragon-slaying Sabre

"There are so many different martial art skills in the world," Zhang Wuji exclaimed, "Why must you train this kind of poisonous skill? The spiders' venom is extremely violent; granted that you have a way to withstand it if it enters your body, but in the long run it won't give you any benefits."

With a cold laugh Zhu'er said, "No doubt there are many different martial art skills in the world, but which one school's skill is superior to this 'qian zhu wan du shou' in terms of fierceness? You may rely on your strong internal energy, but when I reach perfection, you may not necessarily able to withstand one poke of my finger." While saying that, she concentrated her 'chi' into her finger, and then casually poked her finger into a tree by her side. Because her internal energy had not reached perfection, her finger only went half an inch deep into the tree.

Zhang Wuji asked again, "How did your Mama teach you this skill? Did she complete the training herself?"

Zhu'er's eyes suddenly shone with a malicious light; she hatefully said, "In training this 'qian zhu wan du shou', as long as one has consumed more than twenty spiders, the venom accumulated in one's body is already considerable, one's countenance will be deformed. If the training reaches a thousand spiders, one's face will be incomparably ugly. My Mama had almost reached a hundred spiders when she met my father. Because she was afraid her countenance would grow uglier and would make my father unhappy, she discarded the entire skill from her body. As a result, she turned into an ordinary woman who lacked the strength to even truss up a chicken. Although she turned back into a pretty woman, but receiving Er Niang [second mother] and my two older brothers' bullying and insults, unexpectedly she did not have the least bit of ability to fight back. In the end she still had to lose her life. Humph! What good is it to have a pretty face? My Ma was a very beautiful and extremely refined woman. Just because she did not bear a son, my father took a concubine …"

Zhang Wuji's eyes swept over her face. "So … it was because you train this skill …" he said in a low voice.

"That's right," Zhu'er said, "It was because I train this skill that the poison turned my face to look like this. Humph, if that heartless man pays me no attention, just wait 'til I master the 'qian zhu wan du shou'. When I find him, if he does not have any woman by his side, then that's all right …"

"You are not married to him," Zhang Wuji cut her off; "You also are not engaged to him, you're just … you're just …"

"Just say it straight out, what are you afraid of?" Zhu'er said, "You wanted to say that I am just indulging myself in unrequited love, didn't you? What if I am? Since I have already fallen in love with him, I cannot let another woman occupy his heart. If he is heartless and wishy-washy, I'll let him taste my 'qian zhu wan du shou'."

Zhang Wuji stifled a laugh, but he did not argue with her, realizing that she had a weird character; when she was good, she was really good, but when she was bad, she would not listen to reason at all. He also remembered that his Tai Shifu, Er Shibo [second martial (older) uncle) and the others would often tell him to avoid Wulin people of the heretical way. Apparently the 'qian zhu wan du shou' she trained was one of the most ruthless martial art skills of the heretical sect. Her mother must also be a top ranking demon of the heretical sect. Thinking to this point, he could not help but feel somewhat apprehensive toward her.

Zhu'er, however, did not realize the change in his mood; she was busy going in and out of their little hut. She picked a lot of wild flowers and arranged them inside the hut. Seeing the elegant taste with which she decorated the hut, Zhang Wuji knew that her good taste must have come from her natural instinct, it was the poison that caused her face to be ugly.

"Zhu'er," he said, "After my legs are healed, I am going to pick some herbal medicine to try to cure the poison swelling on your face."

When Zhu'er heard these words, her expression suddenly turned fearful. "No … no … don't," she said, "I have endured countless pain to reach today's level. Do you want to neutralize my 'qian zhu wan du shou' skill?"

Zhang Wuji said, "Perhaps we can think of a way to eliminate the swelling of the poison on your face without any adverse effect to your skill."

"You know Hu Qingniu?" Zhang Wuji asked in astonishment.

Zhu'er stared at him and said, "What? Something strange? The name of Divine Doctor of the Butterfly Valley was known throughout the Jianghu, everybody knew him." She heaved a deep sigh and continued, "Even if he was still alive, he had the reputation as Seeing Death Without Helping, [orig. Jian Si Bu Jiu. Previous chapters also used 'The One who Ignores the Dying'.] what good is it to see him?"

Zhang Wuji thought, "She did not know that the Divine Doctor of the Butterfly Valley had passed on his entire skill to me. I'd better not mention it now, someday I'll think of a way to cure the poison swelling on her face, it will be a big pleasant surprise for her."

White they were talking, the sky turned dark. They leaned on mountain rocks inside the hut to catch some sleep. In the middle of the night, Zhang Wuji suddenly heard one or two sobbing noises in his sleep. He woke up with a start only to find Zhu'er crying. Zhang Wuji sat up immediately and reached out to gently pat her shoulder twice.

"Zhu'er," he said, trying to comfort her, "Don't be sad." Who would have thought that with his gentle words, Zhu'er cried even louder as she placed her head on his shoulder?

"Zhu'er," Zhang Wuji asked, "What is it? You are thinking about your Mama, aren't you?"

Zhu'er nodded. "Mama is dead!" she said in between sobs, "I am all alone. Nobody likes me, no one's good to me."

Zhang Wuji pulled his lapel and slowly wiped her tears. "I like you," he said in a gentle voice, "I am good to you."

"I don't want you to be good to me," Zhu'er said, "I only like one man, but he ignored me, beat me, scolded me, and he even bit me."

With a trembling voice Zhang Wuji said, "Why don't you forget this unfortunate young man? I'll marry you, I will treat you well for the rest of your life."

"No! No!" Zhu'er loudly said, "I won't forget him. If you tell me to forget him, I am going to ignore you forever."

Zhang Wuji was greatly embarrassed; fortunately it was very dark inside the hut that Zhu'er could not see his red and awkward expression. For a good while nobody said anything.

A long time afterwards, Zhu'er said, "Ahniu Gege, are you angry at me?"

"I am not angry at you," Zhang Wuji replied, "I am mad at myself, I shouldn't have said those words to you."