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墨書 Inktalez
Xunuo listened to the conversation below and found that he could no longer eat his meal. Worried about Lu Duhou's safety, he began to think of ways to shield him from disaster.
Taking advantage of the three men being drunk and asleep seemed the simplest yet most dangerous approach. If he startled even one of them, not only would he fail to protect Lu Duhou, but he might also lose his own life.
Xunuo estimated that all three men had legal troubles, and reporting them could lead to their capture. However, it was likely that this would implicate Lu Duhou as well. Moreover, in such a small town, there were no officials; one would have to travel to the county seat to report anything. By the time that journey was made, the Thief would have long since escaped.
After much contemplation, Xunuo decided that the best time to act would be while crossing the river. He couldn't afford to eat any longer and wrapped up the remaining beef bun. He left the inn, bought some oil paper from a nearby shop, and inquired about the route down to the ferry before striding off.
By the time he reached the ferry, it was already deep into the night. He saw that indeed a large boat was docked there. Xunuo thought that boarding now might raise suspicions from the Boatman and River Dolphin, so he chose to rest for the night under a nearby hill.
The next morning, Xunuo returned to the ferry. The Boatman had already prepared his belongings and was waiting for business at the dock. Upon closer inspection, Xunuo saw that this boat was quite spacious, capable of holding Seven or Eight People along with four or five horses.
Xunuo boarded the boat and asked, "When will we set sail?"
The Boatman replied, "We need at least three or five more people before we can leave. Don't worry; today is a good day with many travelers crossing. We won't have to wait long."
Xunuo feigned curiosity and showed no signs of impatience; he didn't enter the cabin but leaned against the side of the boat and pretended to doze off.
Before long, he heard a rapid sound of hooves approaching from afar. Xunuo opened his eyes and saw three fine horses galloping down the path.
Leading them was River Dolphin, clearly eager for revenge. Upon reaching the ferry, the three men tied their horses and boarded the boat. The Boatman hurriedly helped secure their horses and allowed them into the cabin to rest.
Seeing only Xunuo on board for crossing, River Dolphin realized that the Boatman would wait for more passengers before setting sail. He urged him to hurry up.
Just then, another monk came running up, shouting, "Boatman, wait a moment! There are more passengers coming!"
As he reached the dock, he prepared to board.
Xunuo had initially intended to take lethal action and naturally did not want to involve any innocent parties. Seeing an unexpected monk approaching, he stood up and called out loudly, "Big Monk, please don't board just yet! I just saw someone looking for wandering monks to perform a ritual. They've promised quite a bit in offerings."
The monk paused upon hearing this and asked eagerly, "Where is this person? Where will they be performing the ritual? If it's too far away, I have other matters I must attend to."
Xunuo replied, "It's not far; just two miles west. I've heard they've prepared an excellent feast and are just waiting for you to arrive."
The monk felt a surge of joy upon hearing this.
Just as he was about to turn away, he turned back to Xunuo and said, "You wouldn't be trying to deceive me, would you? Telling lies to a monk will lead you straight to the Tongue-Pulling Hell."
Upon hearing this, Xunuo silently scoffed: deceiving a monk would mean sending him to his doom, which would be akin to traversing all eighteen levels of hell. However, he maintained a sincere facade and replied, "How could I dare speak such nonsense to the master? You should hurry along; we wouldn't want the person waiting to become anxious."
This time, the monk truly believed him and cheerfully headed west.
Boatman, seeing that Xunuo had managed to send away a customer, shot him an irritated glare. Xunuo, completely oblivious, leaned against the side of the boat and pretended to doze off.
At that moment, River Dolphin and the others had finished packing their horses. Growing impatient, River Dolphin urged Boatman, "Set sail quickly; we have urgent matters to attend to. We can't afford any delays."
Noticing the unfriendly demeanor of the three, Boatman dared not say much more. He untied the ropes and pushed the boat away from the dock. As Xunuo saw the boat moving, he realized that this would not implicate anyone else, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This plan had occupied Xunuo's thoughts all night, and he had worked out all the details. The only lingering worry was involving others; now that this obstacle was removed, it was just a matter of taking Thief's life.
Calmly sitting at the side of the boat, Xunuo suddenly thought: I am about to commit murder, yet I feel no anxiety or fear. Have I come to regard human life so lightly? Or perhaps having the courage to kill has made me indifferent to fear? While this mindset may benefit my quest for revenge, it also risks extinguishing my humanity—wouldn't that betray my parents' expectations? Just last year, I was still a child who couldn't bear to watch even a chicken being killed. Now I find myself as ruthless as these bandits.
Lost in thought, River Dolphin spotted Xunuo from afar and approached him. "You look familiar; do you recognize me? Have we met before?"
Seeing that they were already in the middle of the river, Xunuo decided not to be polite any longer. He stood up and declared, "I certainly recognize you; you just don't know who I am. As for my identity, I'm not telling you—I'm going to keep you in the dark."
Upon hearing this, River Dolphin sensed something was off. He stepped forward and reached out to seize Xunuo. Anticipating this move, Xunuo rolled into the water before River Dolphin could get close. When River Dolphin and his companions looked over the side of the boat, they found nothing but empty water.
As they stood there confused, Boatman slapped his thigh in frustration. "That little thief is going to ruin us!"
It turned out that Boatman, having spent years making a living on the river, had seen too many cases of water bandits scheming for wealth and bloodshed. Seeing Xunuo slip into the water along the side of the boat made him realize that Xunuo intended to sink it. He grabbed a long pole used for ferrying and thrust it down where Xunuo had entered.
At that moment, while holding onto the bottom of the boat with one hand and wielding a Short Blade with the other to create a large hole in its bottom, Xunuo suddenly saw a bamboo pole coming down beside him.
Quickly reacting, he sliced through the bamboo pole with his blade. When Boatman lifted it up again, only half of it remained. Without a long pole, they couldn't even ferry properly anymore. Suddenly losing control, the boat began spinning in circles in the middle of the river.
The faces of River Dolphin and his companions turned pale as they exchanged bewildered glances without knowing what to do next. Fortunately for River Dolphin, he had some swimming skills; however, his two companions were like anchors—once they fell into the water, they would sink straight down.
The Long-Bearded Man exclaimed, "Boatman, save us! As long as you can save our lives, we will bear any losses."
Sun Boning added, "That's right! Boatman, hurry up and deal with that little thief."
The Boatman, filled with resentment towards Xunuo, angrily tossed a half-broken bamboo pole into the river. He lifted a piece of the deck and saw that the bottom of the boat had been breached with a large hole, water gushing in. The Boatman felt a pang of pain in his heart and thought to himself: This is terrible; I've lost my means of making a living.
His hatred for Xunuo had reached its peak. He grabbed a fishing spear from inside the cabin and jumped into the water. When he dove under the boat, he saw that Xunuo had made a hole as large as a water vat. Xunuo was holding onto the edge of the hole with one hand while wielding a Short Blade in the other, staring at him.
Upon seeing the large hole in the boat's bottom, the Boatman realized that it was beyond repair. He thrust the fishing spear towards Xunuo. Xunuo bit down on the Short Blade to free up his hand, grabbed one prong of the spear, and pulled it towards himself.
Having lived on the river for many years, the Boatman was strong and skilled in swimming. Seeing Xunuo pulling him was no cause for fear; he used that momentum to lunge at Xunuo. Xunuo's pale face looked even more eerie underwater.
As the Boatman lunged closer to Xunuo, he noticed Xunuo's strange expression with a knife still clenched in his mouth. He was startled. Suddenly, he remembered that this kid had been underwater for quite some time without coming up for air. A chill ran down his spine as he shouted, "Ghost!"
He ended up swallowing several mouthfuls of river water and clumsily swam backward, quickly disappearing from sight.
Xunuo had intended only to scare him away; seeing him flee as if he had seen a ghost saved him some effort.
With the fishing spear in hand, Xunuo sheathed the Short Blade and waited for the three men to fall into the water so he could send each one to Reincarnation with a thrust.
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