The two of them watched the woodcutter entered into a house by a cliffside. Quietly moving closer, they were pleasantly surprised to discover a cave on the cliffside right by the house. The cave was covered by vines so it made an excellent hiding place.
Appearing quite tired, Ning Yi closed his eyes the moment they settled down in the cave but was unwilling to let Zhi Wei do a pulse diagnosis on him. (In Chinese medicine, a physician check the patient’s condition by putting three fingers on the patient’s wrist. The physician then makes a diagnosis based on the pulse readings. In the novel, Zhi Wei knows a bit of medicine from her time spent working with a physician. Remember from the VERY beginning of the novel when she was more or less forced by a physician to work for him to pay off a debt (the book didn’t say but I am assuming it was probably medicine for her mother?) That physician was actually a member of Bloody Pagoda and we know that because he was the one who gave Zhi Wei the journal written by the two leads from Fuyao. It is probably safe to assume Zhi Wei is actually a fairly good doctor since those who belongs to Bloody Pagoda tend to be the best of the best in any field so her teacher would be THE best doctor there is. )
Sitting to the side, Zhi Wei meditates but keep her ears on full alert for any noise.
The light slowly dims as the sun sets. By the time the sky finally darkens, it begins to rain just as the woodcutter has predicted.
Ning Yi abruptly opens his eyes.
Zhi Wei sat straight up.
From a short distance away comes the sound of footsteps treading on water puddles then the sound of a door opening followed by the woodcutter’s inquiring voice.
A voice with a somewhat strange foreign accent asks “….two young people…about this high…wounded…have you seen?”
The woodcutter’s robust voice loudly replies “Nope, I just got back from cutting wood!”
Seemingly disappointed, the people turn to leave. Letting out a sigh of relief, Zhi Wei glances over at Ning Yi with a smile. Knowing exactly what Zhi Wei wants to express, Ning Yi smiles in return.
Another voice suddenly sounds “You must’ve caught some game if you just got back from cutting wood. Bring it to us.”
The voice was the assassin leader’s voice that Zhi Wei heard on the night the rest stop was attacked. His accent was unique, one not easily forgotten.
The woodcutter seems to have brought out a few things. The leader took it and seems to be examining them.
Zhi Wei feels uneasy in the dead of silence.
A howl of pain abruptly burst out from the house’s courtyard.
Amidst the howling, the leader angrily demands “These are not fresh games! Who did you give your stuff to?! Where are they?!”
Zhi Wei’s heart sinks. Neither she nor Ning Yi had expected this. Then again, assassins who are sent by the Chang clan from far away entrusted with a mission like this…all of them would be cruel and merciless.
The howl of pain has turned into whimperings as the woodcutter hoarsely begs “The old temple…old temple…don’t kill me…don’t kill me………”
The woodcutter’s voice abruptly cuts off, followed immediately by the leader’s shout of an order “Let’s go!”
The men quickly leave. After a few moments, the sound of something heavy being thrown down the cliff could be heard.
Zhi Wei closed her eyes…she really is not sure if this counts as her sin or someone else’s.
After waiting in silence for a bit, Zhi Wei was about to stand up to leave the cave but Ning Yi abruptly grabs her shoulder to stop her movement.
A voice came just then “We haven’t had a single bite to eat after a whole day of searching. Boss is going over to the old temple to take care of our target so let’s quickly cook some food and take it to him. We should cook a big batch of it. Boss said that once we get into town it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to go buy food.”
Another voice agreed and the two begin to light a fire and take out the food in the kitchen.
Zhi Wei glanced over at Ning Yi who nods in agreement. Standing up in unison, Ning Yi puts a hand on Zhi Wei’s shoulder and follows her out.
Without bothering to be stealthy, the two walks right into the house.
In the middle of cooking, the two men suddenly feel a cold breeze coming in. The men look up to see two people walking in while supporting each other, both wearing clothes that are stained with blood. The taller of the two looks like he perhaps has some sort of unknown ailment as he is leaning on the shorter one. Despite their rather shabby appearance, the two intruders’ expression is one of calm serenity. It was as if they didn’t drag themselves into a rickety mountain hut but was instead two royalties bestowing their presence on their estate. The taller of the two’s countenance was especially dazzling, making the two assassins blank out for a second.
Before the two assassins could snap out of their surprise, they both heard the taller of the two strangers say “Left, three step.”
Giving the two assassins no time to figure out what’s going on, a sword as black as a poisonous viper has already reached them, not giving them a single moment to think. Barely avoiding the sword as they twisted their body out of the way, the two assassins didn’t even have the chance to pat out the fire sparks that got on their body before the tall stranger frowns and says “Left, nine.”
The black sword attacks once again, forcing the two men to jump out of the way but before they can make a counter move, the voice came “Back, three.”
Their way of retreat blocked, the men instinctively want to charge forward but before their legs could move, the voice says “Forward left, one.”
The despicable sword showed up once again, this time, taking some blood with it.
“Left, seven.”
“Right back, four”
“Forward, five.”
The limber and long sword instantly blocking the men’s all possible escapes thanks to the voice who somehow predicts their every move.
The two men soon discover that even though their attackers seemed to be wounded judging by the weaken force of the sword but they work seamlessly together so that with just one sword both of them are trapped. The sword takes more and more blood with it, as if it was a cat toying with a mouse- coldly and cruelly taking their life bit by bit.
Feeling their life draining from them little by little was more torturous than being killed in one stab. Finally breaking down, the two men threw away their swords, plunked down on the ground and begs “Don’t kill me….don’t kill me….”
Slash–
The long blade slashes across the two men’s throat in one swoop, sending a mist of blood into the air.
“I have been waiting for you to say that.” Putting away her sword, Zhi Wei says coldly.
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
Wow, Zhi Wei’s fair but ruthless. I like her so much! Also she and Ning Yi are a good team.
Thanks for translating it! Looking forward to next Monday)
All this time I was thinking the taller of the two was Zhi Wei calling The assassin’s movement exactly. Now if Zhi Wei is the one with the sword, that means Ning Yi’s hearing is beyond superb. The assassin’s were dazzled by Ning Yi’ good looks, is he really that prettier than she is? Thanks for the translation.
Both of our leads are good looking obviously but neither are super stunning…that’s Gu Nan Yi. Also, Zhi Wei will still be in disguise right now. Other than the brief time Ning Yi saw Zhi Wei’s real face the first time they met, from that point on, she would’ve been in disguise in one way or another. Come to think of it, other than Ning Yi, the two other male leads probably have never even seen Zhi Wei without her disguises.
Wow ZW is hardcore! Thank so much! Now that school has started again looking forward to your Posts is the only thing that makes Monday mornings bearable!
ZW is such a badass and NY’s a boss! Love them both. Thanks for the translation.
Love the translation, they are a force to be reckoned with. So much was left out in the drama. Thanks for sharing all the other scenes we did not see in the drama…….
I just finished the drama on Netflix and was so disappointed in the ending! So, of course I hit the internet to see others’ opinions and that’s how I came across ninja reflection’s blog, found out there is a novel and found out the novel has a different ending than the TV drama! Now I don’t need a happy ending with everything but I do need a well done ending and the drama it just felt rushed, incomplete and the character’s felt inauthentic. So thank you, thank you, thank you for these posts! I will be looking forward to Mondays 🙂
Thanks for another great translation!
Would’ve been smart for them to wait to come out of the cave until the food was cooked! =D
I so love the translations… looking forward to another piece…
Missed last weeks translation.
Just found your blog after watching the drama for the first time…I’m so grateful you’re translating these important scenes! Please keep it up and let me know how I can support 🙂
Glad you found me! The best support I can ask for is your comments such as this. For readers who would like to buy me a cup of hot chocolate (because winter is upon us!!!), then there is a donation button on the top right corner.