Death… and me

"Scary!" Chu Yang started to sweat. Suddenly, he started feeling bad for an enemy whom he had never met… [To be played by a woman like this can really be considered quite unique.. ].

"Do you want to know…I have actually learned so many things about Diwu Qing Rou, including…a lot of his secrets?" Huyan Aobo said while blinking her eyes.

"Diwu Qing Rou’s secrets?" Chu Yang asked as he looked at her inquisitively, and thought for a while before saying, "I guess I do…"

"So you finally admit that you are King of Hell Chu." Huyan Aobo smiled as she gazed at him.

"King of Hell is fine, and so is Diwu Qing Rou. In the end, we are just ordinary mortals." Chu Yang became quite philosophical, and said, "You and I have been here for a half month, both of us have observed each other since the beginning. So, in that respect, I presume that you have called me here not just to confirm my identity, right?"

"Certainly!" Huyan Aobo replied with a cold laugh.

"May I know what your true intentions are?"

"It's quite simple." Huyan Aobo lifted her head calmly as she said, "It is in fact true that Gao Sheng ran away to avoid our marriage; however, the fact that he is considered to be quite a famous rising star among the youngsters of the Middle Three heavens, cannot be denied.”

"At first, I was very curious, and thought it would be quite amusing to disguise as a man… thus, I blended in to infiltrate this man’s life in order to observe him.”

"After several months of observation, I came to one conclusion." Huyan Aobo smiled smugly: "Gao Sheng is very talented. He is wise and knows strategic methods. Moreover, he has immense hidden potential for the fast progress of martial arts."

"That being the case, why are you doing this?"

“It’s just that… if Gao Sheng wouldn’t have ran away from our arranged marriage, then I would have already married him and things would have been perfect. After all, in comparison to successors like Ao Xie Yun, Gu Du Xing, Xie Dan Qiong, Mo Tian Yun or Mo Tian Ji, Ou Du Xia and Dong Wu Shang and several others, Gao Sheng is clearly outstanding! But obviously, I am not considering that he brought disgrace to me.”

“Falls short when compared to the ones above, but does much better when compared to the ones below. That is Gao Sheng.” Huyan Aobo quoted indifferently.

Chu Yang frowned as he felt slightly shocked in his heart[. Miss Huyan's tone is truly profound and domineering. Moreover, her insights are extremely accurate as well! ]

[She casually made a statement which contained a large part of the information about those powerful young masters of the Middle Three Heavens. It seems like she is quite familiar with such matters! Moreover, some of the names she took aren’t that popular either, but it seems like she has already discovered the hidden potential of these people! ]

[In fact, she only left out Tu Qian Hao’s name, while she took Mo Tian Yun’s name instead. ]

[But then, one must keep in mind that if Mo Tian Yun doesn’t die at the hands of Mo Tian Ji and grows up, then who can say that in the future his achievements would be less than those of the others? ]

"However, since he has already escaped from our marriage…then he must prepare himself to pay the price! Though to be honest, I no longer have any interest in him." Huyan Aobo said as her face was brimming with a masculine smile: "Thus, I will frankly say that Gao Sheng does not deserve me anymore."

"If he wasn’t happy with this marriage arrangement then he should have clearly said so; nobody was going to shamelessly tie him up against his will. Why did he have to secretly run away? If he cannot even take responsibility, then he should better stop calling himself a real man." Huyan Aobo said with signs of contempt in her voice.

"Young miss… in life, there are many things which do not go as you wish." Chu Yang explained in a calm manner, "Gao Sheng… does he really have a say in this matter? And as for you…if he had not run away from marriage, then would you be able to dissolve the wedding and that too with your current strength?”

"This matter involves the mutual benefits of two major clans! Then how can you possibly expect that there would be any scope left for personal opinions?" Even though Chu Yang did not know Gao Sheng in person and had never met him, not to mention that Gao Sheng belonged to the enemy faction as well, Chu Yang still put his own point of view forward quite frankly.

And that was because… he had already figured out that Huyan Aobo was the kind of woman who maintained a thorough distinction between love and hate. Moreover, her definitions of love and hate were quite extreme.

Today, she was willing to share all her secret information with Chu Yang; however, if she were to start regretting this decision of hers in the future, then… Chu Yang had a feeling that her means of dealing with Gao Sheng wouldn’t be as effective as they were right now.

Therefore, Chu Yang’s words weren’t focused on solving the matter at hand, but rather to nail down the subject of the discussion completely and that too, in advance.

[Hence, whatever happens afterwards, you cannot blame me for that! ]

Yes, that’s exactly what his intention was.

"Merely relying on my personal strength would not be enough, however, if I can dare to say it openly, then why can’t he?" Huyan Aobo looked profoundly at Chu Yang before she spoke with a soft smile on her face, “I never thought that Minister Chu would actually be thinking of Gao Sheng’s difficulties and plead on his behalf.”

"I am just taking precautions." Lying in front of such a clever and wise person would be equivalent to making a fool of oneself.

"Well, it’s good to take precautions." Huyan Aobo exclaimed in admiration as she said, "In that case, I guess you already know about my true intentions for meeting you today."

"Well, I would still love to hear them from you yourself." Chu Yang smiled as he was neither anxious nor impatient. [If you won't say it yourself, then I will just have to pretend as if I heard nothing. ]

Huyan Aobo looked deeply at Chu Yang, and clapped her hands before saying with a smile, “King of Hell Chu…you really deserve to be called the King of Hell! Unlike all the other heroes of this world, only Minister Chu’s conduct has been able to make me so vigilant.”

"I'm flattered!"

Huyan Aobo mumbled irresolutely for a while before finally saying, “My goal is quite simple! Since Gao Sheng offended me, I will make him pay the price. Everything that he has always worked so hard to obtain by putting painstaking efforts, I will destroy it! It shall be a thorough destruction!”

“He has spent all his efforts in helping Diwu Qing Rou to succeed in his great cause, hehe, how can we let it go so smoothly, right?” Huyan Aobo sneered. “I wonder what it feels like when all your hard work goes down the drain in a thorough and merciless annihilation…”

“He will know that soon …” Chu Yang smiled as he raised a toast to it, “I believe he will forever remember that feeling!”

“I believe so too.” Huyan Aobo smiled while she continued to stare at Chu Yang for some time before she burst into laughter.

“Not just here, even in the Middle Three Heavens… Gao Clan will pay the price.” Huyan Aobo chuckled as she looked at her own hands while gently rotating the teacup. There was a man-like murderous look in her eyes as she said, “This is all that I want.”

“I believe that you will definitely succeed. I think very highly of you,” Chu Yang encouraged her.

“Ha ha ha… I’m delighted!” Huyan Aobo laughed heartily as she lifted her head and her long hair flew up while her bright eyes shone like the full moon; suddenly she turned around and asked, “Do you drink wine?”

“You have wine?”

“I have fine wine!” Huyan Aobo laughed heartily as she reached out to her side and took out a huge wine pot, “This is a ‘50 years old Red Wine’… would you like to have some?”

“’50 years old Red wine’,…you’re quite an old fashioned woman, aren’t you? Well, as they say, a woman is just like her wine… I will certainly try it out.” Chu Yang licked his lips.

“A wine, like a woman, is a product of several years, a product of the human society and also a product of Jiang Hu, but definitely not a product for men like you!” Huyan Aobo said without any trace of politeness in her tone, “Men like you are just nothing!”

Chu Yang could only smile in response.

“Now that I’ve met you, after this, I’ll immediately return to the Middle Three Heavens! I remained in the Lower Three Heavens so that I could find you!” HuYan Aobo drank from her big bowl of wine and without lifting her eyelids, said, “Fortunately, you didn’t let me down!”

“Stop talking to me carelessly in the typical grandmother’s tone, it’s really irritating to listen to.” Chu Yang also held his bowl of wine somewhat dissatisfied.

“Your dissatisfaction… is none of my goddamn business!”

[Valiant! This girl absolutely stands at the top of what it means to be valiant! She speaks fearlessly and that too in such a vulgar manner! ]

“My dissatisfaction is none of your goddamn business, you say? Then why did you even bother to give me a reply?” Chu Yang replied in a similar manner, without any politeness in his tone either.

“Humph!” HuYan Aobo glared at him and said, “King of Hell Chu, even if you are known as King of Hell in the Lower Three Heavens, this lady is not scared of you! Just you wait, and see how I get you drunk until you pass out!”

“Alright, then let’s see who passes out first.” Chu Yang sneered, “But first let me clarify one thing. As the saying goes – shit happens under the influence of alcohol. Since right now it’s only you and me drinking alone like this, if something happens later on… I am not to be held responsible for that; I make that clear in advance.”

“Responsible my ass! You just want a beauty like me!” Huyan Aobo blushed hard as she continued to drink with her eyes wide open.

“F*ck that! I would rather not have this beauty.” Chu Yang had already gulped down 7-8 bowls of wine and thus no longer had any control on his big tongue, “Oh poor me! Feel sorry for this pretty boy… and spare my chastity…my chastity… my…”

“Get lost!” Huyan Aobo was driven beyond the limits of forbearance as she gave a loud shout.

“Take these.” Huyan Aobo took out a stack of paper from her bosom. “To make sure that I don’t forget later on, I have written everything clearly on paper.”

“Just these?” Chu Yang instantly came out of his drunken state, his hands and feet moved quite swiftly as he received the stack of paper and put it in his bosom. He didn’t even take a look and silently slipped them inside his Nine Tribulations Space.

Now, the secret information was completely safe and secure. Even if he were to get wasted, he wouldn’t lose them, no matter what.

“If you use the information I gave you properly, then… even if I won’t say that you will be able to defeat Diwu Qing Rou thoroughly, you will still be able to give him a profound blow.” Huyan Aobo looked at him for a while before she further said, “These papers not just include all the information that was obtained personally by Gao Sheng, but also contains my observations and speculations…this should be enough, I suppose.”

“Thank you very much.”

“I know you are not drunk, okay.” Huyan Aobo said as she looked at him with contempt, “You are pretending to be drunk so that you don’t have to drink anymore, correct? King of Hell Chu, you are not a real man!”

“Whether I am a man or not…is not worth verifying… neither is it worthwhile to have a dispute over” Chu Yang groaned as he said: “However, since you said something like that… young lady… get prepared to go back home totally wasted.”

“Fine! Come on then!”

The two of them raised their bowls of wine and roared as they drank up!

Lady Huyan surprisingly drank faster than Chu Yang! She would put the bowl to her mouth and its contents would disappear in one gulp. Her lips didn’t even get wet in the process.

Both of them had their hearts filled with thoughts. Huyan Aobo only had one thing on her mind: [I will take advantage of this intoxication to bid farewell to the past! From now onwards, I will have nothing to do with the ghost of my past. ]

[In general, I would have never dared to get drunk like this, but today I did because I can tell that King of Hell Chu is a trustworthy person! ]

[So there is no need to restrain myself anymore! Cheers! ]

As Chu Yang finished the bowl of wine, his drunken eyes started to slant when suddenly he smirked and said, “Young miss Huyan, I suddenly remembered an antithetical phrase…would like to know your opinion of it.”

“What phrase?” Huyan Aobo asked. Her eyes had already turned blurry.

“When a woman drinks Red Wine, the woman’s face turns red like the red wine!” Chu Yang laughed heartily, “What do you think about it?” [1]

Huyan Aobo held her bowl of wine as she pondered for a long time, then finally slammed the bowl to the ground, and pointed at Chu Yang before cursing out loud, “Shameless words, shamelessly spoken by a shameless bastard!”

Thud! Chu Yang collapsed onto the ground as he cursed out loud: “…damn it!”

"Ha ha ha…" Huyan Aobo laughed heartily and suddenly threw herself down on the chair with a plop sound, and immediately went into deep slumber.

[1] The wine mentioned here is called ‘Nu er Hong’. Nu er, means daughter (closely resembles woman/girl). Nu er ‘Hong’ refers to a yellow colored Chinese wedding wine, made out of rice. However, Hong, independently, means red. Traditionally, the ‘Nu er Hong’ is a wine presented by a father at his daughter’s wedding, and hence the name. ie. Nu er(daughter) Hong(red; traditionally in China, the women are dressed in red at their wedding). The author uses word-play to crack the joke, which required a slight modification in order to maintain the essence. The original text goes like this: Nu er drinks, Nu er Hong, Nu er’s face becomes Hong. Thus, we had to change the exact translation a bit since the essence of the joke lay in its Chinese word-play, often used in poetry to create rhymes. In fact, we’ve made this modification throughout the chapter to maintain consistency.