Book 11 Chapter 11 – Chance Encounter with Li Mi
Lowering his voice, Ba Fenghan whispered in the two boys’ ears, “Retreat inside, we won’t have to worry about being seen.”
The two boys followed him inside, leaning against the smooth mountain wall, the waterfall was like a curtain hiding them. Unless one was to pass through the waterfall, there is no chance anybody could find them.
Wanwan stepped over the mouth of the valley, she examined the ground for any traces.
Lightly shaken, Kou Zhong said, “She was following the bloodstain to this place; we are too careless.”
Ba Fenghan coldly and calmly said, “Bloodstain has no direction, we might came here or perhaps already left. Who could have thought that after being hurt so badly we could still stay underneath the waterfall drenching ourselves?”
The rumbling of the waterfall served as insulation for their voices, plus they were whispering in each other’s ear, hence they did not need to worry that Wanwan outside would hear them.
Meanwhile Wanwan already floated to the edge of the pond. After sweeping the area around with her eyes, she fixed her gaze on the deep water.
The three men immediately closed their eyes, and looked at her through the slit between their eyelids, afraid that their eyes would show any reaction when they looked face to face with her, while at the same time they used their internal energy to suppress the heat and the essence of qi emitted by their bodies, so that it would not catch her attention.
Ba Fenghan has never seen Wanwan before, immediately he was overcome with breathtaking feeling.
Her beauty was definitely unique; a beauty that would make people holding their breath, like a fairy that come and go in the night.
Her countenance carried some kind of pure, flawless beauty and charisma; even after looking at her left and right, he could not imagine her as a female demon who inflict suffering to other people.
The most fascinating thing about her was her pair of vast and hazy-like-a-fog eyes, eyes that seemed to contain endless sweet dreams, eyes that seemed to be expecting and waiting for you to explore.
Any subtle change of her expression was so gripping, making people find it difficult to contain himself.
Her graceful figure, her charming good looks, everything about her emphasis her beauty without the least bit of blemish.
Wanwan suddenly fixed her gaze on the waterfall.
If they were ordinary martial art masters, inevitably they would be startled and their heartbeat would speed up, which would definitely alert Wanwan. But these three were top quality martial art masters who were exquisite inside and out. Their bodily function did not reveal any reaction at all.
Light gust of wind was heard.
Suddenly a tall, thin middle-aged man dressed in scholarly attire appeared by Wanwan’s side.
This man’s face was white, clean-shaven, confident and at ease, handsome, brimming with mature masculine charm. His eyes opened and closed like lightning flashes. He stood proudly with hands behind his back, with some kind of distinguished and accomplished confidence, proud and aloof above the crowd.
Without Ba Fenghan needed to point it out, the two boys immediately recognized the man to be ‘Mo Yin’, Bian Bufu [see Book 11 Chapter 8], because his facial feature was unusually similar to Shan Wanjing’s.
Wanwan saluted and said, “Bian Shishu [martial (younger) uncle], how are you? We are one step too late!”
Her deep and low voice was sweet-tempered and touching. Even though the three men knew very well that she was the most terrifying female demon in Jianghu, they still wished to hear her say a few more words.
Bian Bufu’s eyes flickered with spirited light as he swept his gaze around, and then said with a cold humph, “They are heavily injured, where could they go?”
Wanwan’s soft voice replied, “There are still traces of blood by the pond, evidently they have been here washing their wounds. What does Bian Shishu think we should do next?”
Bian Bufu spoke heavily, “We must use everything we have and spare nothing in killing these three boys, otherwise, how could we live with this resentment?”
And then he continued coldly, “Chang Zhen and Fa Nan are really useless. If those idiots had waited for our arrival before making their move, those three kids would have gone to the nether world early on.”
Wanwan lightly said, “These past twenty years, Wanwan has never seen Shishu losing your temper like this. Shishu rest assured! Leave this matter to Wanwan, I guarantee they won’t have too many days to live.”
Bian Bufu laughed aloud and said, “With you, Wanwan, personally in charge, Shishu is extremely relieved. These three are rare talents of the Wulin world; in terms of wisdom and martial art skill, they are extremely remarkable. Wanwan, you may consider the hunt for them as a step in your training. Shishu will be entirely at yur disposal. Ha! Wanwan, how are you going to thank me?”
Listening to this, the three men behind the waterfall were astonished; how could a martial uncle use this kind of teasing tone when speaking with his martial niece? But thinking about demon cult people did not follow conventional reasons in their conducts, and did not regard proper morality in human relationships; they did not feel it strange.
Wanwan revealed a sweet, tender and soft smile, with a bit of coquettish and moving manner, as she replied, “Shishu is doing it again! Don’t forget that before my decisive battle with Shi Feixuan, Wanwan must maintain my pure yin character!”
Bian Bufu replied softly, “Of course not! I am just reminding you! Rather than giving the advantage to an outsider, you might as well give your red pill to Shishu.”
Wanwan threw her gaze toward the pond water again. Her eyes shot a chilling and wistful look, as if her mind was in another space and time.
Bian Bufu affectionately patted her fragrant shoulder and said, “Almost dawn; let’s go!”
※ ※ ※
Looking at the two of them disappeared outside the Valley, the three men breathed a sigh of relief.
Tongue-tied, Kou Zhong murmured, “If they examined the area a bit more, they could have found the treasure books Xiao Ling and I hid in the rock crevices.”
“Is it the ‘Secret to Long Life’?” Ba Fenghan asked.
“Of course not,” Xu Ziling replied, “A certain old mister gave us some books on landscape design, architecture, military strategy and tactics, and the like. If Ba Xiong is interested, please feel free to borrow it.”
Obviously Ba Fenghan was not interested. He said, “Right now, the safest place to hide is precisely inside this waterfall. You guys better get out and hide those books first, and then come back here. We are going to recuperate here, and tonight we’ll think of a way to strike back. Humph! We must take out the old thief Bian and female demon Wan first, and then take care of the rest one by one. I, Ba Fenghan, am not that easy to be trifled with.”
The horizon gradually turned pale. Even before noon, there were several Wulin characters came to the small valley, but nobody could find them.
After the sun set, the three of them got out of the waterfall with bright qi and clear spirit; they felt that their physical strength has been completely restored. The only fly in the ointment was that they were soaked wet from head to toe, and that their clothes were tattered.
Sitting down on a rock by the pond, Kou Zhong sighed in regret, “If we did not leave the clothes at the restaurant, we would have changed into new clothes by now.”
Ba Fenghan stared at him for a moment, and then while stroking the Beheading Mysterious resting on his knees, he asked, “How’s your injury?”
Wiping the water dripping down from his hair, Xu Ziling replied, “Should be seventy, eighty-percent recovered. Two or three days more, and we should be a hundred percent recovered.”
Ba Fenghan was silent for half a day. Finally he sighed and said, “The ‘Secret to Long Life’ is indeed amazing. Merely its ability to heal injury, none of the other so-called divine skill can match.”
Kou Zhong could not help asking, “How’s yours?”
Ba Fenghan cheerfully replied, “Fortunately you, two guys, pulled me by force to the waterfall to circulate my qi and move my energy, which not only avoided a fatal disaster, it sped up the healing process as well. Now I am more than fifty-percent recovered. As long as I momentarily avoid martial art expert like female demon Wan or Bian Bufu, the others are not even worth Ol’ Ba’s consideration.”
Troubled, Xu Ziling said, “I hope Yu Yi did not fall into their hands.”
Kou Zhong replied, “Listening to their tone, they had not captured Yu Yi yet; otherwise, it would be enough to use Yu Yi to lure us out.”
And then, turning to Ba Fenghan he asked, “Are you sure Princess Dongming is Bian Bufu’s daughter?”
“Wanjing did not tell me right out,” Ba Fenghan admitted, “There must be some embarrassing scandal in it. But looking at Wanjing’s expression when mentioning Bian Bufu, it was clear that she had deep hatred and loathness toward this father. She even said that she wanted to kill him with her own hands.”
Listening to that, the two boys were staring blankly.
Ba Fenghan suddenly laughed in a very relaxed manner, “We might as well return to Xiangyang; other than to find two sets of new clothes, we can also teach that idiot Qian Duguan a lesson. While we are at it, we can also try to seize a fast boat per our original plan to take us north to Luoyang, and establish our power under the heavens; wouldn’t it be delightful?”
Kou Zhong roared in laughter and said, “Those are precisely what I have in mind. Dodging to the left and hiding to the right, that is the true quality of a real man. Who is daring enough may release his horse and come out!”
Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “If we keep in the light while the enemy is hiding in the dark, won’t we be at the disadvantage position and could only wait passively to be beaten?”
“That’s the reason why I wanted to take a boat to go north,” Ba Fenghan replied, “By the time they find out, it will take a lot of time for them to catch up with us; it won’t be as easy as gathering a mob on land to besiege us. If necessary, we can lure them to pursue us on land, and then we can think of a way to defeat them. The initiative is completely in our hands.”
Slapping his chest, Kou Zhong guaranteed, “I am master helmsman. As long as the boat has a good performance, I can break away from any enemy’s vessel.”
Chapter 11 - Part 2
Hearing that, Xu Ziling could only shake his head.
Ba Fenghan stood up and said, “All right! We return to the city now, then we’ll still have a bit of time to sleep. Qian Duguan is filthy rich; other than his main residence inside the city, he also has other courtyards everywhere, plus golden houses to keep his mistresses. We are going to go to his most beloved concubine Bai Jing’er’s residence, the ‘Hidden Clarity Pavilion’, to make some trouble for an evening. If Qian Duguan came to visit the Bai beauty, that will be the moment his bad luck arrive.”
“How do you know Old Qian’s business so clearly?” Kou Zhong asked in amazement.
Ba Fenghan replied nonchalantly, “Because I have received five hundred taels of gold to take the head above his neck. It’s just that I have not had a chance to kill him!”
Hearing that, the two boys looked at each other in astonishment; they started to understand a little bit how Ba Fenghan sought his livelihood.
※ ※ ※
The three of them jumped over the wall, and saw unbroken line of houses, with faint noise of dogs barking in the distance.
In the dead of the night, the only light they saw came from one towering building and its main hall.
Ba Fenghan said, “This residence is divided into two courtyards, inner and outer. The outer courtyard has vicious dogs guarding it, but because Bai Qing’er is afraid of dogs, her people did not let the dogs enter the inner courtyard. Let’s go!”
The three men soared into the air, crossing several buildings, over the inner wall, and reached the big garden inside the inner courtyard. They saw pavilions and gazebos, and a small bridge over running water. Under the moonlight, the quiet and secluded garden was like a picture of serenity; a beautiful and touching scenery.
The three held their breath and listened carefully. After making sure that there was no one in the wing room on the building to their left, they crossed the garden, and entered in through the window.
Turned out this room was a big study room; the large desk had the Four Treasures of the Study [i.e. brush, ink, paper and ink stone], as well as a stack of fine writing paper and other stuff.
All four walls were full of calligraphy and painting; the entire room was brimming with scholarly atmosphere.
Smiling, Ba Fenghan said, “I forgot to tell you that the Old Qian’s Bai beauty is an expert in painting and calligraphy. You two wait here for a moment, I am going to steal three sets of clothes and will be back soon.”
After Ba Fenghan left from the window, the two boys walked over to two couches on the corner and lay down comfortably. Recalling the fierce battle just the previous day, compared to the leisurely and carefree moment of right now, the difference was like the heaven and the earth.
Kou Zhong heaved a deep sigh and said, “Nothing is too bizarre in this world; can you imagine that we would share trials and tribulation, would join hands and advance and retreat together with Fengshi Han like this?”
Xu Ziling muttered, “I still think that the Ol’ Ba is the kind of man who could turn his face against anybody and show no mercy at any time, a man with callous character. Walking with him, whether it is a blessing or a curse, it is still difficult to predict.”
Letting out a cold humph, Kou Zhong said, “Our partnership is based merely on common immediate interest. As long as we are careful, what can he do to us? At the Dahong Mountain the other day, I really think that he genuinely wanted to kill you, only I do not know why he suddenly changed his mind.”
Xu Ziling said, “This man is hovering between upright and evil, his conduct is difficult to fathom, we definitely must guard against him.”
Kou Zhong nodded in agreement.
This moment Ba Fenghan returned. Tossing two sets of clothes to them, he said, “Quickly change, I think the Old Du will be here tonight, because two of Bai beauty’s personal maids are preparing swallow’s nest soup, but the amount is enough to feed ten people.”
The two boys’ spirit was greatly aroused; they got up and changed clothes.
After putting on their fresh warrior outfit, all three men found out that the clothes were a bit too small.
Ba Fenghan smiled wryly and said, “These are the largest clothes I could find. Does that mean our build is just bigger than average men? It does have its advantages and drawbacks!”
The two boys also found it amusing and laughed.
Kou Zhong was about to speak, when suddenly they heard voices from the direction of the front courtyard.
The three focused their attention to listen; they recognized one of those voices belonged to Qian Duguan.
A deep, cold murderous intention flashed in Ba Fenghan’s eyes; with his right hand he made a chopping gesture.
Kou Zhong moved toward the window to peek outside. He saw more than a dozen people walking along the promenade toward the building they were in. Leading the procession were Qian Duguan and a big and tall man with a peculiar look; his long hair was draped over his shoulders.
Overwhelmed with shock, Kou Zhong stepped back. “Li Mi’s here!” he blurted out.
Even with the kind of guts that Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling had, they could not stop their countenance from changing.