Book 12 Chapter 9 – Brilliant Scheme to Escape
The four people hid behind a mountaintop. On the distant, from all directions came long queue of torches, moving slowly like a fiery dragon. It appeared that they had fallen into another heavy siege.
Kou Zhong pointed to a place about five li to their left, where several lanterns of three different colors, red, white and yellow, were hung on bamboo poles, each one reached several zhang high. “Xiao Ling,” he said, his voice was filled with hatred, “Your Shen sweetheart is no good; were it not for her directing her people using those lanterns, how could we fall into the situation we are in now?”
Dong Shuni, who was behind Xu Ziling, pushed him and said sourly, “Shen Luoyan is your old flame?”
Xu Ziling crossly said, “You need to stop listening to Zhong Shao’s nonsense; she and I don’t have the least bit of involvement.”
“That’s really good then!” Dong Shuni excitedly said.
Seeing that while being surrounded by the enemies, isolated and without help, yet she still maintained her blunt demeanor and expressed her jealousy openly, the three men could only shake their heads and smile ruefully.
Letting out a cold snort, Ba Fenghan said, “If I am guessing correctly, Li Mi and the Two-Malevolent of Changbai are all here. Otherwise their morale would not be this high.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were shocked. Speaking about martial art skill, Li Mi might rank in the top three among the warlords vying for supremacy over the world, while the Two-Malevolent of Changbai were second only to Wang Bo. Merely these three, they would have to struggle to cope with, not to mention the rest of the people, plus they had to protect this pampered girl.
Ba Fenghan went on, “Were it not for tracking experts like Fu Zhen presiding over the general situation, we would not be stuck in this predicament.”
Kou Zhong nodded and said, “We already used all kinds of techniques, and still cannot get rid of them, and now their hidden troops are pressing from all sides that we can’t advance or retreat. By this time they ought to know our position in general, and are gradually tightening the net around us. This is an extremely brilliant scheme.”
Pointing to the southeast, Xu Ziling asked, “Isn’t Yanshi in that direction?”
“Exactly,” Ba Fenghan replied, “Less than thirty li.”
This moment Dong Shuni also realized the gravity of their situation; she spoke in low voice, “Can we forcibly break our way through?”
“That would be our contingency plan,” Kou Zhong replied, “The enemy is already cleat about our strength. If they do not have any confidence, they would not foolishly come here to provoke us. Just by counting the torches’ light, I can estimate that the opponent has at least two, three-thousand men; how many can we kill?”
Subconsciously Dong Shuni squeezed herself between Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, “What can we do then?” she asked, “Think of something!”
Ba Fenghan coldly said, “Aren’t we thinking of something? Panicking now will only be a bad thing.”
Ba Fenghan’s eyes flashed sharp gaze at her, Dong Shuni shut up immediately.
Xu Ziling said, “Is there any way to alert Yanshi? Have them send help here. According to reason, Wang Shichong ought to station men on the hills outside the city to monitor the situation around.”
Hearing that, Dong Shuni’s sprit was greatly aroused; she whispered excitedly, “Shuni has two special signal flares on my back, if my Da Jiujiu’s men saw it, they would know one of our people is in danger. Can we do it?”
Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “Question is: can we hold on until the reinforcement arrive?”
Dong Shuni dejectedly shut up.
If they release the signal rocket, it would be tantamount to revealing their position. Li Mi’s side would definitely go into an all-out attack at once. On the other hand, from the moment the sentinel saw the flare and transmitted the news to Yanshi via fire beacon and so on, supposing Wang Shichong was able to make prompt decisions and immediately moved his army and sent his generals, it would take at least one or two sichen for the help to arrive. By that time they would have been done for.
While they were talking, Xu Ziling and the others, four people, were paying attention to the situation. This moment they noticed that a line of torches was moving straight to their hideout; they promptly ran away again.
Ba Fenghan led them groping in the dark downhill, toward a sparse wooded area at the bottom of the hill. Finding a stream, they quickly continued their escape by wading in the water. After covering approximately two li, the terrain was sloping up, turned out the source of the stream was a small waterfall from up the mountain, with water flew out from hundreds of small cracks, pouring down into a small clear deep pool.
By this time the moon was high overhead, so that the reflection of the moon made the water glistened. The scenery was exceptionally beautiful, too bad the four people were not in any mood to enjoy it.
Dong Shuni heaved a deep sigh and said, “We are getting farther and farther away from Yanshi.” Dispiritedly she sat down by the pool, with a mentally and physically exhausted, as well as pitiful, expression on her face.
Kou Zhong nodded and said, “This is exactly the enemy’s tactic: forcing us to constantly on the run to the south, so that in the end they can take care of us without much trouble.”
Ba Fenghan suddenly came close to Dong Shuni and asked, “Miss Dong, what kind of perfume are you wearing?”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were shaken; their burning gaze was fixed on Dong Shuni.
Dong Shuni was crossed, “What kind of question is that?” she asked.
Kou Zhong understood suddenly; he said, “That was the precisely the reason why Du Ganmu was able to track you to the village. It was simply because he was accustomed to the perfume Big Miss is wearing, and that was also the reason why presently we can’t throw off our pursuers.”
Xu Ziling said, “I don’t know if we are already accustomed to her scent, but I don’t smell anything.”
Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “Clear pool under the bright moon, why don’t Miss Dong be the beauty who takes a bath here? We will act as lookouts for you, and I guarantee no one will be able to watch.”
Dong Shuni revealed a sweet, sweet smile; reaching up, she started to unbutton her gown, and cheerfully said, “So what if someone is watching? As long as they don’t do anything, I am not afraid. Ay! Perhaps I will have to wash my clothes as well; everything I wear is already soaked in my fragrance.”
Even under this extremely tense situation [orig. wind sighing and crane calling, i.e. panic at the slightest move], and Ba Fenghan, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were not lechers, yet such an alluring, captivating words coming from cherry-red lips of a stunning beauty, the three could not help palpitating with excitement.
Xu Ziling suddenly reached out and pressed his hand against Dong Shuni’s lily-white hand, stopping her from taking off her clothes. “I have a better way,” he said.
Puzzled, Ba Fenghan and Kou Zhong looked at Xu Ziling.
Chapter 9 - Part 2
Xu Ziling muttered softly, “Zhong Shao! Do you remember outside the city of Xiangyang we cured that young master from poisoning? I absorbed the poison into my palms.”
Staring blankly, Kou Zhong said, “But scent is not the same as poison; scent has no essence.”
Dong Shuni also stared at him with her big, beautiful eyes. Xu Ziling’s palm pressed against her hand felt hot and soft, making her exhausted body felt so comfortable that the feeling went deep to the bottom of her heart. Her face burning hot, she said, “If your palm can really absorb my scent, do you have to touch every single cun of my body with your palm?”
The three men’s heart was pounding. Even when speaking such alluring words, this beauty still looked naïve and unsuspecting, yet she was definitely more seductive than any kinky s1ut deliberately uttering tantalizing words.
Xu Ziling subconsciously pulled his hand holding her right lily-white hand. He said, “Under normal circumstances, I do not have the ability to absorb fragrance, but now if Shuni immerse your entire body into the water, while your body is still soaked wet, Zhong Shao will help Shuni to evaporate the water, won’t the fragrance also evaporate along with the moisture? I am confident that I will be able to absorb the scented water vapor, and then I will spread the fragrance around to lure the enemy to pursue the wrong course.”
Ba Fenghan slapped his thigh and exclaimed in praise, “That’s an amazing plan, truly heaven sent; I guarantee the enemy will fall into the trap.”
Dong Shuni leaned over to kiss Xu Ziling’s cheek; giddy with excitement, she said, “You are indeed very smart, I love being called Shuni by you! After this, how about all of you just call me Shuni?”
By now Ba Fenghan and Kou Zhong were already accustomed to the brazen way she talked, they did not give it further thought. It was Xu Ziling who was greatly embarrassed; his handsome face blushed deep red.
Dong Shuni laughed tenderly and said, “Ling Shao is more bashful than a little girl. Shuni is going into the water!”
With that, ‘Splash!’ Like a mermaid she disappeared into the water, and reemerged on the other side of the pool.
As soon as the three men looked at her, they groaned inwardly.
Under the slanting moonlight, Dong Shuni’s semitransparent wet clothes stuck close to her body, even her short undergarment were visible with astonishing clarity, so that nothing of her graceful curves was left to the imagination.
Smiling ruefully, Ba Fenghan said, “You two go ahead and do you thing, but please don’t embezzle the goods. I will do the lookout thing!”
※ ※ ※
The four left the pool and climbed onto the top of a hill. The nearest fiery dragon was only about a li away.
Ba Fenghan said, “After Ziling and I left, you must hide inside the water, this way you will definitely evade the enemy’s eyes and ears. It’s foolproof!”
Dong Shuni was stunned, “But I don’t know how to breathe under water!” she said.
Kou Zhong smiled and said, “You have me to teach you.”
Then turning to the two, he said with serious expression, “You must be careful, I want to see you again, alive!”
Ba Fenghan sneered and said, “Don’t worry! How could we be killed that easy?”
Taking the two sticks of signal rocket from Dong Shuni, he and Xu Ziling left together.
Kou Zhong hurriedly took Dong Shuni back to the clear deep pool.
※ ※ ※
‘Bang!’
The signal rocket flew more than twenty zhang into the air, and burst into a dozen or so blood red rays of light; it was a dazzling sight.
Kou Zhong and Dong Shuni entered the water along the shallow end of the pool; they looked up together at the man-made marvel in the sky not too far away.
Leaning close to him, Dong Shuni asked, “Why are you guys willing to risk your life to help nujia?”
Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Because we all love and dote on you!”
Shaking her head, Dong Shuni said, “No! I’ll say it’s because all of you are real heroes. I have seen many men! When they see me, every single one of them, were looking at me lecherously. Some men pretend to be righteous, but deep down they still have that revolting behavior. Hee …! I love to play tricks on them. But you are different, unlike some people who pretend to be heroes, brave warriors, but as soon as they encounter trouble, they turn into cowards.”
Kou Zhong giggled and said, “You are so touchy-feely, maybe I will turn into a lecher as well. Ha!”
Dong Shuni leaned over to kiss his cheek; she laughed softly and said, “Shuni is not afraid of you, not at all, because nujia likes you.”
Kou Zhong met her eyes, which looked like they were spouting passionate flame, and spoke in astonishment, “Little girl, you are just starting to feel the stirrings of love! Tell me! Whom you really like? Just now you said the same thing to Xiao Ling.”
Dong Shuni cocked her head sideways as she pondered deeply; she said, “I don’t know either, but right now I just feel that you are handsome and strong, plus you have enough power to protect me. As for other things, I prefer not to think about those.”
In his heart, Kou Zhong said, ‘Girl, you are just too passionate’. Right this moment, the sound of sleeves brushing against the wind was heard from halfway up the hill.
Kou Zhong shivered in fear, knowing that the incoming people were martial art masters; otherwise, they would not have been this close before he detected their presence. Hastily he pulled Dong Shuni to hide at the bottom of the pool, while at the same time sealed her tantalizing fragrant lips with his own. Dong Shuni already knew what was going to happen, so she quickly opened her mouth to receive the inner qi Kou Zhong was transferring to her; immediately her entire body, from head to toe, felt very comfortable.
Kou Zhong pulled her behind the waterfall, into the crack of the rock at the bottom of the pool wall. Even if someone was to dive into the pool, unless he came close to the wall, it would be difficult to find them.
As soon as they were hidden, like an octopus Dong Shuni’s four limbs wrapped themselves around Kou Zhong, while her well developed and touching tender body did not stop twisting and turning. Even under the ice-cold water, Kou Zhong could feel her fiery passion.
On one hand, Kou Zhong’s own passion was greatly aroused, but on the other hand, he was shocked.
Although they were covered by the waterfall, but if they continued twisting and turning under water, the enemies might see unusual ripples on the surface and sense something unusual under water. When that happened, they would ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful.
Thinking fast, he reached out and wrote a character ‘No’ on her back as a warning.
Sure enough, Dong Shuni obediently stopped, but she embraced him more tightly.
Kou Zhong was relieved; focusing his power to his ears, he listened to any sound of activity above.
Not too long afterwards, sound of footsteps came, followed by voices.
Fu Zhen’s familiar voice was heard, “Mi Gong! I am sure they tarried here for quite a while, that’s why the scent around here is especially thick.”
Shen Luoyan’s voice came next, “They released signal flare at the top of the hill, evidently they are already at the end of their rope, hence relying on transmitting signal from a high place they are hoping that the rescuing troops would come. We should pursue at top speed.”
Li Mi said, “Those three little thieves are cunning and intelligent; as soon as they knew their track has been compromised, they knew they could not take Dong beauty along to break the siege easily. Perhaps they looked for a place to hide nearby, most probably in a steam somewhere, so that her scent would be extinguished. Therefore, we must search carefully.”
Inside the rock crevice at the bottom of the pool, Kou Zhong had a strange feeling of déjà vu.
In the past, at Zhai Rang’s Longtou mansion [dragon head/big boss], he and Xu Ziling and Susu, three people, were also hiding like this, eavesdropping Li Mi talking to his subordinates.
Fu Zhen and Fu Yan accepted the order and left with their men.
Wang Bodang said, “This time, with Shen Junshi’s carefully laid out plan and Fu Laoshi in charge of tracking and laying out of inescapable net, they can forget about escaping from the hollow of our palms.”
Li Mi spoke heavily, “This time involves a matter of grave importance; if Wang Shichong got wind of this, our great endeavor of taking control of the Eastern Capital with no blood on the men’s swords might come to an empty dream. Therefore, we must make sure that that little beauty will never reach Yanshi.”
Letting out an evil laugh, Wang Bodang said, “This girl is the Luoyang Beauty, those who see her will take pity on her. After capturing her, subordinate will present her to Mi Gong!”
Li Mi sighed with regret, “I have promised this girl to that lecher Dugu Feng; for the time being I cannot get my finger on her.”
Under the water, when Kou Zhong heard this, his anger flared. The touching beauty locking lips with him and had her hands around his neck also showed some reaction; her breathing became urgent.
Scared out of his wits, he quickly wrote another ‘No’ to warn her. Once her breathing became chaotic or she was unable to remain calm, she would put both of them in great danger.
This moment Fu Zhen returned to report, “We have found clues the enemy left behind, they should be fleeing to the south.”
‘Bang!’
Without even looking, Kou Zhong knew that Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan had just released the second signal rocket from another hilltop.
In the blink of an eye, the people above the water left until nobody remained.
When Kou Zhong was breathing a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt that Li Mi’s ‘little beauty’ had her fragrant tongue out, pressing against his, while her tender body twisted and turned. His mind exploded, he lost his bearing in the incomparably moving world.