Heaven-relying Sword And Dragon-slaying Sabre

"Why?" Zhang Wuji asked.

"She is the murderer who killed me," Yin Li replied, "Why do you still care about her?"

"But you are not dead," Zhao Min interrupted, "How can she be your murderer?"

"I have died once," Yin Li said, "That makes her the murderer!"

"Good Zhu'er," Zhang Wuji tried to persuade her, "You have escaped danger and returned to live. We are all very happy. Why don't you sit nicely over here and tell us how did you cheat death and escaped alive?"

Yin Li said, "What do you mean 'we'? Let me ask you this: when you said 'we', who is 'we'?"

Zhang Wuji said with a laugh, "There are only four people in here. Naturally 'we' refers to Miss Zhou, Miss Zhao and me."

"Humph!" with a cold laugh Yin Li said, "I am not dead. Granted that you might be somewhat happy, but what about Miss Zhou and Miss Zhao? Are they also happy?"

"Miss Yin," Zhou Zhiruo said, "I was so evil in those days; I have harmed you. But later, not only I deeply regretted my actions but also I have never had peace in my sleep. Otherwise, when I suddenly saw you in the woods, I would not be frightened like this. Now that I see you alive and well, my burden has been lifted off. The Heaven above is my witness that my joy is unbounded."

Yin Li leaned her head sideways and thought for a moment. She nodded and said, "That makes sense. Actually, I was going to settle the score with you, but since you have apologized, I'll let it go."

Zhou Zhiruo kneeled down and sobbed, "I … I truly have committed the gravest offense toward you."

Yin Li had always been hot-tempered; but seeing Zhou Zhiruo sincerely admit her guilt, her heart melted. She quickly helped her up and said, "Zhou Jiejie, let bygone be bygone, let us forget it. After all, I am not dead." Holding Zhou Zhiruo's hand, she took her to sit on her side.

Brushing her stray hair aside, Yin Li said, "You crisscrossed my face with the swords, it was also not entirely without any benefit. My face was originally bumpy, after the sword cut, the poisonous blood was drained away, the bumps slowly subsided."

Zhou Zhiruo was overwhelmed with regret; she did not know what to say.

Zhang Wuji said, "Afterwards, Yifu, Zhiruo and I lived on that island for a long time. Zhu'er, after you came out of the grave, why didn't you see us?"

"I was not willing to see you," Yin Li angrily said, "You and Miss Zhou kept whispering sweet nothings to one another; how can I not be angry listening to those crap? Humph! 'Hereafter my love to you will be doubled or tripled! We are husband and wife, two people one body; how can I mistreat you?'" In the last several sentences, she was mimicking Zhang Wuji's manner of speech. And then, she continued with Zhou Zhiruo's voice, "'What if I wrong you or offend you, will you hit me, scold me, kill me? Since I was little, I had never had a father and a mother to instruct me. It would be difficult not to mess up sometimes'." She coughed once and changed her voice to a throaty male voice, "'Zhiruo, you are my beloved wife. Even if you make any mistake, I won't blame you or scold you.'" Pointing her finger toward the moon on the western horizon, she said, "'The moon in the sky is our witness.'"

Turned out when Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo were pouring their hearts to each other that night, Yin Li had heard everything. As she now repeated their words one by one, Zhou Zhiruo's entire face reddened, while Zhang Wuji looked bashful and restless. He stole a glance toward Zhao Min and saw that her face was deathly pale; thus he reached out to hold her hand. To his surprise, Zhao Min turned her palm around and pricked his arm with her two long fingernails. Zhang Wuji winced from the pain, but did not dare to make any noise; he did not even dare to move.

Yin Li reached into her bosom and took out a wooden strip. She shoved it in front of Zhang Wuji's face. "Look clearly. What is this?" she asked.

Zhang Wuji looked closer and saw a line of characters engraved on the wooden strip; it read 'The Tomb of my Beloved Wife, Zhu'Er Yin Li. Zhang Wuji Sincerely Stated'. It was exactly the grave marker he erected in front of Yin Li's grave.

Yin Li bitterly said, "As I crawled out of the grave, I saw this wooden strip, and I was confused. What is this? Where is that heartless and short-lived little rascal Zhang Wuji? I thought about it a hundred times without figuring out what happened, until later on I eavesdropped the two of you calling 'Wuji Gege this' and 'Wuji Gege' that. It suddenly dawned on me that Zhang Wuji is Zeng Aniu, and Zheng Aniu is Zhang Wuji. You, the heartless scoundrel, you have deceived me really bad!" She raised the wooden strip and smashed it with all her might onto Zhang Wuji's head. 'Bang!' the wooden strip broke, wooden shards flew out in all directions.

Zhao Min was angry. "Why do you keep hitting people?" she said.

Yin Li laughed aloud and said, "I love to hit him, what does it have to do with you? Your heart hurts, doesn't it?"

Zhao Min blushed and said, "He is yielding to you. You do not know good from bad."

Yin Li laughed. "Why did you say I do not know good from bad?" she asked, "Don't you worry, I will not fight with you over this freak. I have given my heart to only one person, one who bit the back of my hand in the Butterfly Valley, Zhang Wuji. About this freak, I don't care if he is called Zeng Aniu or Zhang Wuji, I don't like him the least bit."

Turning toward Zhang Wuji, she said in a gentle voice, "Aniu Gege, you have always treated me very well, I am very grateful to you. But since a long time ago, I have given my heart to that heartless, ferocious little Zhang Wuji. You are not him, no, you are not him …"

Zhang Wuji was confounded. "I am definitely Zhang Wuji," he said, "Why … what …"

Yin Li looked at him with a tender expression for a long, long time. Her eyes changed irregularly. Finally, she shook her head and said, "Aniu Gege, you don't understand. In the western region desert, you and I have gone through live and death situation together. On that small island, you were extremely good to me. You are a good man. But I have already told you, I have given my heart to that Zhang Wuji for a long time. I am going to find him. Tell me, do you think if I find him, he would still beat me, scold me or bite me?"

Without waiting for Zhang Wuji to answer, she turned around and slowly walked away.

Suddenly Zhang Wuji understood. Turned out the one she truly loved was the Zhang Wuji who lived in her memory, the Zhang Wuji she met in the Butterfly Valley, the one who beat her and bite her, the obstinate Zhang Wuji who refused to follow her; not the real Zhang Wuji, the grown up Zhang Wuji who was extremely tolerant and always treated people with kindness. One third part of his heart was wounded, one third of it was reluctant to let her go, yet the other third part was relieved. He followed her with his gaze until her shadow disappeared into the darkness. He knew that for the rest of her life, Yin Li would always remember the very strong teenage boy of the Butterfly Valley, and that she would always want to find him. He realized that she would never find the one she was looking for, but then again, he could say that she had already found him, because that boy had always lived in her heart. Isn't it true that oftentimes, the real person, the actual matter, is not as good as the one inside one's memory?