DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS Book 1 of 5 (Adventures of The Youth) by Jin Yong

Fast Horse And Faint Fragrance Part 2

The girl in black let out a snicker and said: "What right do you have to ask me?" Duan Yu was taken aback for a moment again and replied: "I shouldn't ask about other people's private business. Alright, I have told you what I wanted, so I don't owe you anything either." The girl in black asked: "You didn't think that you were going to lose your life here did you? Are you regretting coming back?" Noticing that she was obviously mocking him, Duan Yu replied, again, much louder than he needed to: "A real man only hopes to do the right thing in terms of honor and friendship and takes consequences as they come, what's there to regret about?"

The girl in black humphed and replied: "With what little that you can do, you still call yourself a real man?" Duan Yu rebuked: "The measure of a man is not in his kungfu skill. If one's kungfu is the best in the world, but his actions are despicable, then he does not deserve to be call a real man either." The girl in black sneered: "Hehe, you saw something you didn't like and came back to tell me, turns out you were trying to be a real man. Too bad in a bit when you are chopped to pieces by sabres, you probably won't look too much like a real man."

Grandma Ping suddenly cut in: "Little bitch, quit wasting time! Get up and fight!" She banged her daggers together, creating a piercing hum.

The girl in black coldly replied: "You have already lived for so long, what's waiting a couple more minutes to die? How come that old bitch Wang from SuZhou doesn't come and kill me herself if she wanted to but instead send you servants?"

Grandma Rui replied: "Even seeing a noble person like our Madame is out of the question for a little bitch like you. If you know what's good for you, then just go with us and kowtow a couple of times to Madame. Maybe Madame will be merciful and let you keep your life. Don't even think about trying to escape this time, you can't. Where's your master?" The girl in black suddenly shrieked: "My master is behind you!"

Grandma Rui, Grandma Ping, and the rest of the people were all shocked as all of them spun around. There was nobody there.

Seeing that everyone of them fell of it, Duan Yu busted out laughing. Grandma Ping angrily demanded: "What are you laughing at?" Duan Yu managed to get out in between his laughs: "Funny, funny!" Grandma Ping asked further: "What's funny?" Duan Yu replied: "Haha, so funny!" Grandma Ping asked again: "What's so funny?" Duan Yu was still laughing: "Hehe, so funny, so very funny!" Grandma Ping asked yet again: "What's so very funny?" Grandma Rui cut in: "Grandma Ping, just ignore this little bastard!" Turning toward the girl in black, she continued: "Miss, you have ran from just south of the Yangtze all the way to DaLi, and we have chased you all the way here as well. Do you think we can possibly stop this? Even if every single one of us dies by your hand, we still have to somehow bring you back there. Go ahead if you please!"

From her tone of voice, Duan Yu detected that Grandma Rui was rather scared of this girl in black, he was secretly shocked. Looking around at the other 17 or 18 people in the parlor, he noticed that all of them were holding their weapons tightly and looking at her in anger, yet none of them dared to make a move. Grandma Ping was clutching her twin daggers tightly and had walked almost up to the girl's back on a few occasions before hastily retreating.

The girl in black spoke up: "Ay! Messenger Boy, all these people are fighting me, any ideas what I should do?" Duan Yu thought out loud: "Um, Black Rose is right outside, if you can somehow break through them, you can escape riding on the horse. That horse is amazingly fast, there is no way they can catch up to you." The girl in black asked: "Then how about yourself?" Duan Yu replied seriously: "I don't have anything to do with them, no gratitude nor revenge is owed between us; you never know, maybe they would leave me alone."

The girl in black snickered and said: "If they are that reasonable, then they wouldn't gang up on me like this. Your life is gone; if I can escape, got any last wishes that you would like for me to do for you?"