Chapter 116 — Tianshui Stockade

Just now, as the light was only beginning to dim, the streets were still full of people coming and going, and the air was thick with clamor, the tongues of the various tribes rising now and then—utterly unlike the desolation of the ancient road they had just traveled. Xiao Hui, perched on Xiao Bai's shoulder, found it all vastly entertaining; his monkey head swiveled this way and that, peering about, chirping without cease.

A three-eyed monkey was, after all, no ordinary sight, and he soon drew the eyes of the passersby. Several children dressed in the garb of the southern tribes came laughing and giggling after the two of them, making faces at Xiao Hui with all their might and teasing him.

Xiao Hui was playful by nature, and in a moment he grew so excited that his tail wagged and wagged, and he was about to leap down and join the fun. Fortunately Ming Li gave a snort and hauled him over, holding him fast in his hand. Xiao Hui, knowing there was no escaping, had no choice but to climb up onto Ming Li's shoulder, where he chirped furiously at the children behind and made faces right back at them, which only delighted the children the more; chattering among themselves in words no one could make out, they burst into peals of laughter, doubtless finding it all great fun.

Ming Li frowned slightly, a touch of irritation rising in him—not at Xiao Hui's playfulness, but at certain other misgivings that had begun to stir in his mind.

He turned his head and stole a glance to the side. Xiao Bai wore a faint smile at the corner of her lips and was watching the children and Xiao Hui at their sport with lively interest. Her coarse cloth and hemp garments could not conceal the beauty that melted into the very bone.

Never mind here at the southern frontier, where the weather was harsh and most women were plain of face and dark of skin; even in the Central Plains, this human form that Xiao Bai had taken after thousands of years of cultivation gave off, beneath features so delicate and fine, a soft allure that seemed to seep from her; every frown and every smile carried a charm that could make a person drunk.

Sure enough, after a moment, amid the children's laughter and shouting, more and more people turned to look, and the eyes of the grown folk passed quite naturally and swiftly from the monkey to the woman whose beauty even coarse cloth and hemp could not hide.

In an instant it was as though an invisible wave spread outward, and the crowd turned to stare in wonder. Yet the woman beneath all those countless gazes showed not the least shyness; from the smile she wore throughout, she seemed rather to enjoy the feeling.

Ming Li's head ached. To draw such notice was the last thing he wanted, and he was just wondering whether to remind the woman beside him that they should hurry and find lodging, rise early on the morrow, and be off to Seven-Mile Valley to attend to real business.

But it seemed fated that his intentions should come to nothing, for a figure that must appear in countless tales handed down through the world now made its entrance as well.

So the ruffian of legend did exist, it turned out, even here at the southern frontier, among the tribes of the minorities.

Three men stepped out from the crowd, all of them much alike—tall, crude, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted—and in halting common speech laced with local flavor, they began to pester Xiao Bai.

Ruffian One: "Uh, hey there... this woman's a real beauty!"

Xiao Bai smiled sweetly and brushed her face lightly with her hand, all softness and charm, and said, "Is that so?"

In an instant the onlookers burst into an uproar.

The three ruffians were overjoyed. Ruffian Two threw open his collar, displaying a fine physique, and said, "Little sister, come with me! I'll give you the hot... and the fragrant!"

Many in the crowd burst out laughing at once. Xiao Bai glanced at Ming Li standing beside her, the smile on her face unchanged.

Ruffian Three mocked Ruffian Two: "What do you know about 'hot and fragrant'? It's 'fragrant and hot'!" With that he turned to Xiao Bai and said, "Little sister, my family has ten thousand mu of good land. Come with me and I guarantee you..."

He got only halfway through before he could not go on, for Xiao Bai's smile had deepened, a charm that seemed to radiate from within her, and in her bright eyes the light flowed like water, as though it might spill over.

Yet her body drew back a step, until she stood beside Ming Li, and she said softly, "But I already have a husband."

The crowd erupted in another uproar. Xiao Hui, who had already climbed onto Ming Li's shoulder, went "swoosh" and dropped from it to the ground.

After a moment, for some reason, Xiao Hui suddenly sprawled on the ground and began pounding the earth furiously with his monkey palms, grinning and chattering with laughter.

Ming Li stood there silent, his face dark, feeling the six fierce, hostile eyes of the three ruffians fixed on him.

A moment later the ruffians charged. Plainly the southern saying, "a wife comes from the fist," was still thriving after a thousand years and more, and the folk of the south still lived by it.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three sounds, and three figures flew through the air, struck the wall by the roadside, then fell heavily and groaned aloud.

The onlookers gaped. Ming Li said mildly, "Let us find a place to stay, and set out at dawn tomorrow." With that he walked on. Xiao Hui, sprawled on the ground, caught up in two or three bounds, scrambled onto his shoulder, chattering with laughter without cease, and turned his head to pull a face at Xiao Bai.

Xiao Bai smiled faintly and followed, coming up beside Ming Li, and suddenly said in a low voice, "You see, shut away for three hundred years, and I am still not so old after all, am I?"

Ming Li said not a word, only quickened his pace.