Chapter 116 — Tianshui Stockade

Xiaohui was naturally playful, and it grew so excited that its tail wagged and it made to leap down and join the fun. Fortunately Ming Li gave a grunt and hauled it over, holding it fast in his hand. Xiaohui, knowing it could not escape, had to climb up onto Ming Li's shoulder, where it screeched at the children behind and pulled faces right back, which only excited them the more; they jabbered and giggled, and no doubt found it all tremendous fun.

Ming Li's brows knit slightly, a faint irritation in his heart—not at Xiaohui's playfulness, but at certain other misgivings that had begun to stir in him.

He turned his head and glanced covertly aside. Xiaobai wore a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, watching the children and Xiaohui at their sport with keen interest; and the coarse hemp cloth of her dress could hardly conceal the beauty that melted into the very bone.

Never mind here on the southern frontier, where the weather was harsh and most women were plain and dark-skinned; even in the Central Plains, the human form Xiaobai had assumed after several thousand years of cultivation, with the tender charm that faintly breathed from beneath her delicate, exquisite features—every glance, every smile—held a flavor to make a man's heart swim.

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

In an instant, as if an invisible wave had spread outward, the crowd turned to stare in wonder—and the woman beneath all those gazes showed not the slightest shyness. To judge by her constant smile, she seemed rather to enjoy it.

Ming Li's head ached. To draw such notice was far from his intent; he was wondering whether to remind the woman beside him that they should quickly find a place to stay, rise early on the morrow, and be off to Qili Tong to attend to their business.

But it seemed fated that his intentions should come to nothing, for a stock figure that must appear in countless tales handed down through the world chose this very moment to make its entrance.

So the ruffian of legend did exist, it turned out, here on the southern frontier too, among the minority clans.

Three men came out of the crowd, all of a kind: tall, coarse, burly as tigers. In halting common speech thick with local flavor, they began to pester Xiaobai.

Ruffian A: "Uh, heh—this woman's a real beauty!"

Xiaobai smiled sweetly, lightly touching her face with her hand, charming beyond words. "Is that so?"

In an instant the onlookers burst into an uproar.

The three ruffians were delighted. Ruffian B threw open his coat, displaying a fine figure. "Little sister, come with me! I'll give you the spicy to eat... and the fragrant to drink!"

Many in the crowd burst out laughing. Xiaobai glanced at Ming Li standing beside her, her smile undiminished.

Ruffian C mocked Ruffian B. "What do you know about eating spicy and drinking fragrant? It's eating fragrant and drinking spicy!" Then he turned to Xiaobai. "Little sister, my family owns ten thousand mu of good fields. Come with me and I guarantee you..."

Halfway through he could not go on, for Xiaobai's smile had deepened, a charm seeming to radiate from within her, and in her bright eyes the light rippled like water about to overflow.

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

Another uproar from the crowd. The monkey Xiaohui, which had already climbed onto Ming Li's shoulder, plopped down with a "swoosh" to the ground.

A moment later, for no apparent reason, Xiaohui suddenly flung itself flat on the ground and began pounding the earth frantically with its paws, grinning and chattering with laughter.

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

A moment later the ruffians rushed at him—it seemed the southern border proverb, "the wife comes from the fist," was still vigorous after a thousand years, and still observed by the folk of the south.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three blows, and three figures flew through the air, struck the wall by the roadside, and came down hard, groaning loudly.

The onlookers gaped. Ming Li said mildly, "Let's find a place to stay, and set out at dawn." With that he walked on. Xiaohui, flat on the ground, caught up in a couple of bounds, scrambled onto his shoulder, chattering with laughter, and turned to pull a face at Xiaobai.

Xiaobai smiled faintly and followed, and coming up beside Ming Li, she said suddenly in a low voice, "You see, after three hundred years locked away, I'm not so old after all, am I?"

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