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 Chapter 2 - Eavesdropping Part I (Translated by 高毅） |
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高毅
[博客]
声望: 学员
性别:  年龄: 46
加入时间: 2011/06/21
文章: 6
海归分: 65
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作者：高毅 在 海归茶馆 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
Penny wanted to get back up and fight Wisdom Fang and Noble Yoo to death, but because the pressure point on his back was hit, his lower body was completely paralyzed. Penny figured that if they break the ligaments in his hands, then string a wire through his shoulder, he will end up a paraplegic, if that happens he might as well die. Suddenly Guido Jia’s loud screams came from the kitchen. Wisdom Fang and Noble Yoo both jumped up at the same time, carrying their swords, they ran to the back. A shadow flashed across the front door, a person jumped inside silently, grabbed Penny by his collar and lifted him up. Gasping in shock, Penny saw the rough small pox bumps on the person’s face – she was none other than the ugly servant girl who had brought him all the troubles in the first place.
The girl dragged him to the outside of the tavern, and all the way to the tree under which the horses were tied. Her left hand grabbed onto his lower back, she lifted him up and placed him on the back of a horse. Completely dumbfounded, Penny saw the girl pulling out her sword, then after a glint of white flash, the girl cut the bridle off, then she gently stabbed the horse’s hip. Feeling the pain, the horse let out a sad neigh, jumped on its all fours, and bolted into the woods.
Penny screamed: “Mom, dad!” Concerned for his parents, he did not want to run away by himself. With a push of his hands, he rolled off the horse, tumbled on the ground, and rolled into a bush. The horse did not stop and continued galloping into the distance. Holding onto a branch, he tried to stand up, but his legs were weak, after barely getting on his feet, he fell down again. He felt sharp pains on his back and hips, which were from falling off the horse and onto a ground full of sharp rocks.
He then heard shouting and footsteps approaching - someone had closed in on him. Penny hustled to hide in the bushes. He heard weapons rapidly clashing against one another, as several people had engaged in an intense battle. Perking his head, Penny peeked out between the bushes. He saw on one side was Greenboro’s Noble Yoo and Wisdom Fang; the other side was that ugly girl and a man, the latter’s face covered with a black cloth. The man had a full set of grey hair, showing his old age. Momentarily surprised, Penny recognized the old man to be Mr. Sa, the “grandfather” of the ugly girl.
Penny thought to himself: “I used to think the girl belonged to the Greenboro Clan, never did I expect her to actually come and rescue me. Man, had I known how good her kungfu was, I wouldn’t need to go help her, and as a result, causing all this mess.” Then another thought occurred to him: “While they are busy fighting, I can go rescue mom and dad.” But the pressure point on his back was still numb, he tried his best to move but could not budge.
Wisdom Fang shouting: “You … who are you? How did you learn Greenboro’s swordplay?”
The old man did not respond, suddenly there was a glint of white light, as Wisdom Fang’s sword flew out of his hand. Fang hopped back, Noble Yoo jumped over to help his partner. The masked old man followed up with a combination of rapid attacks. Noble Yoo shouted: “Your … your …” His voice was full of fear. Suddenly he heard a “clank!” as his sword also got twisted and sent flying.
The ugly girl took one step forward and sliced down her sword. The masked old man stopped her with his own sword and cried out: “Don’t hurt him!” The ugly girl said: “They are so mean, killing all those people.”
The old man insisted: “Let’s go!” The ugly girl was hesitant to leave. The old man said: “Don’t forget our master’s orders.”
The ugly girl finally nodded: “We’ll let these pigs live for now!” She leapt away from the fight, and then ran off through the woods. The masked old man followed behind her. Both disappeared with moments.
Still unnerved, Fang and Yoo picked up their swords. Noble said: “That was strange! How did that guy knew our swordplay?”
Wisdom Fang said: “He only knew a few moves, but … but that move ‘Gliding into the Underland’, he used it as if … as if … wow!”
Noble said: “They rescued the boy …”
Wisdom shouted suddenly: “Oh no, it might be a diversion! Zenan Lin and his wife!”
Noble said: “Right!” The two turn around and ran back.
After a moment, hoof beats gradually sounded from the direction of the tavern, two horses lead by Wisdom Fang and Noble Yoo rode into the woods. Tied on the horses’ backs were Zenan Lin and Madam Wang.
Penny almost cried out: “Mom! Dad!” But he held back, he knew that if he made any sounds, not only would he die himself, he would also lose any hope of rescuing his parents. A man hobbled along a few yards next to the two rides, it was Guido Cha. His bandana soaked in blood, he kept cussing: “Dagnabbit! Damn those two! They saved the sissy boy, but can’t save the two old ones. Each day I’ll make a cut on these two’s faces, wait until we get to Mt. Greenboro, we’ll see if they’ll still be able to eat and sleep …”
Wisdom Fang scolded him: “Brother Cha, under the strict order from our master, the Lins were only to be captured, not tortured; if anything happens to them, I’ll enjoy a cup of wine while watching the master skin you alive!” Guido Cha sniffled, but dared not to talk back. Penny heard that the Greenboro Clan sent these three men to capture his parents, he actually felt somewhat relieved: “They’ll be taking mom and dad to Mt. Greenboro, from what they say, they won’t mistreat them too much on the way. There are thousands of miles between Fujian and Szechuan, I’ll sure find a way to rescue them.” He then thought: “Soon as I arrive at a Safeway branch, I’ll send someone to Loyang to inform grandfather.”
He remained motionless in the bushes, and let mosquitos and bugs attacking him mercilessly. Several hours passed, it was getting dark, the pinched pressure point on his back slowly became loose, finally he struggled up on his feet, and slowly walked back to the tavern.
He pondered: “I must change the way look so those two nasty piece of work won’t recognize me even face to face, or they’d kill me the instant they see me, how then can I rescue mom and dad?” Walking into the pub owner’s room, he lit the oil lamp; then tried to find some clothes, but he was not aware that poor people from rural areas were dirt-poor beyond imagination, they don’t have even a single set of changing clothes. Upon exiting the tavern, he saw the corpses of its owners lying on the ground, and thought: “I don’t have a choice but to change into dead people’s clothes.” He peeled the clothes off the corpses, holding them in his hands, he felt the stench finding its way into his nostrils. He wished that he could wash them before putting them on, then he thought: “If I’m held back for the sake of wearing cleaner clothes, and missd the chance to rescue mom and dad, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.” Grinding his teeth, he stripped naked, then put on the dead man’s clothes. He lit a torch and checked around him, he saw his father’s sword and his mother’s saber lying on the floor. Picking up his father’s sword, he wrapped it in a piece of rag, tied it around his waist, and walked out of the door. Hearing faint fog croaks in the mountain streams, he was suddenly overwhelmed by despair, he could not help but wanting to break down right there and cry his guts out. He threw his arm, the torch went out of his hand like an arc in the nightly sky, with a sizzle, the torch fell in the pond and its flame went out instantly. Once again he was surrounded by darkness.
He cautioned himself: “If I’m not careful, if I’m not patient, and let myself to be recaptured by those Greenboro people, then I’d be like the torch that just fell into this stinky pond.” He wiped his eyes dry, and as his sleeve touched his face, its stench went straight up into his nostriles, making him want to puke. He screamed to himself: “I can’t even stand a little smell, how would I stand an enemy?” Without delay he started walking.
After only a few steps, he began to feel excruciating pain on his back, biting his lips, he instead walked faster. He blindly marched along the undulating pathway in the mountain, all the time not knowing if he was indeed heading the direction of his parents.
He walked until dawn, the sun came up and hit him on the face, blinding him momentarily, he suddenly realized: “Those two thugs are excorting mom and dad to Mt. Greenboro, Szechuan is west of Fujian, why did I instead travel east?” He hurriedly turned around and started walking with his back to the sun, he thought: “Mom and dad had been gone for half a day, on top of that, I walked away from them for half a night, now I’m even further away from them. I’ll have to get a horse, except I don’t know how much it’ll cost.”
Reaching into his pocket, he let out a cry of pain - on their way out, they had put all the valuables in a bag next to the horses’ saddles. Both Zenan Lin and Madam Wang had money on them, but Penny had none. Extremely frustrated, he stumped his feet and screamed: “What to do? What to do?” After dazing for a while, he thought: “Rescuing mom and dad is my first priority, it’s not like I’ll starve to death.” He began to march down the hill.
When noon came, his stomach was growling, he saw on the side of the road a couple lychee trees covered with green fruits, though not yet ripe, they could help with the hunger. He walked under a tree, as his hand reached out to pick some lychee, another thought came to him: “These lychees must belong to somebody, taking without notice is stealing. For three generations, the Lin family has been in the security escort business, we are supposed to be the nemesis of those thieves and bandits, how can I do what they do? If people see me stealing, they’d call me a little thief in front of my dad, how would he ever be able to hold his head up high again? Also Safeway Security’s name would be tarnished forever.”
Since childhood Penny Lin had been taught that all big thieves had once been petty ones. When those petty thieves started, they only stole an apple here, a banana there, but gradually they began to steal bigger and better things, until finally stealing became so engraved in what they do, that it became who they are.
As he thought of this, cold sweat began to stream down from his face. He made up his mind: “The day will come, for dad and I to re-hoist its banners and restore honor and glory to Safeway Security. A real man should always be true to his beliefs no matter what the circumstance. I’ll be a beggar, but never a thief!” With confident strides, he resumed marching, never again glanced at the lychee trees.
After a few miles he reached a little village, walking up to a house, he bashfully begged its owner for some food. Throughout his life he had been living on other’s labors, needless to say he’s had an easy life, and had never begged anyone for anything. After only three words, his face turned red like a liver.
The peasant woman of the house had just finished bickering with her husband, who had given her a good beating, making the woman as snappy as Penny was. Hearing Penny begging for food made her break into a tirade, she yelled: “You little thief, sneaking around my house, what are you up to? Yo momma is missing a chicken, you must’ve stolen it, still you have the nerve to came back to beg for more. Even if I have rice, I won’t give it to you little thief. You stole my chicken, made my damn husband angry as hell, and beat the crap out of me …” Each time the peasant woman cussed, Penny took a step back.
Worked up by her own shouting, the woman lifted the broomstick and swung it at Penny’s face. Penny was furious, he tilted his body to dodge, as he raised his hands and was about to hit her back, he suddenly realized: “How silly of me! I couldn’t get food, so instead I take it out on this stupid country woman,” He jerked his fist back, but because he had already over-extended himself, it was hard to pull back his punch, he ended up stumbling as his left foot stepped in a pile of cow dung. He slipped, and fell facing up.
Laughing hysterically the peasant woman cussed: “You deserved it, little thief!” She first gave him a good whack on the head with the broomstick, then she spat on him and went into the house. Humiliated and furious, Penny was speechless. He struggled to get up on his feet, his face and hands were smeared with cow dung. While he was feeling sorry for himself, the peasant woman came out from her house, in her hands were four ears of corn, already prepared and ready for eat. She shoved them into his hands, then cussed with a smile: “Hey kid, these are for you! God gave you such a handsome face, even cuter than all them new brides, but you are just too lazy to do work, and instead bums around for food. What a waste!”
Infuriated, Penny was about to throw the food away. The peasant woman said with a smile: “Fine, throw it away, throw it away! If you want to die, then have it your way, I’ll guarantee you little thief will starve to death.”
Penny thought: “From now on my heart must be ready to suffer, to bear and to endure, so that I’ll be able to rescue mom and dad, to avenge for all who had died, and to restore honor to Safeway Security. Let this country woman humiliated me a little bit, so what?” He then turned to her and said: “Thanks a lot”, then he started biting down on those corns. The peasant woman respond with a smile: “I knew you won’t throw them away.”
Turning around to walk away, she muttered to herself: “The kid is too hungry to be the one stealing my chicken. My damn husband, only if he could have half of this kid’s good temper ...”
Penny kept begging for food along the way. At times he was able to find wild berries in the woods to eat. Fortunately this year Fujian Province had mild weather, farmers had a great harvest and had surplus food. Even as Penny intentionally made his face very dirty, his good manners made people like him within moments of talking to him, hence he had an easy time begging for food. He inquired about his parents along the way, but nobody could give him any good leads.
作者：高毅 在 海归茶馆 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
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 Chapter 2 - Eavesdropping Part I (Translated by 高毅） -- 高毅 - (14264 Byte) 2011-7-01 周五, 15:18 (2080 reads)
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