Shi Feixuan explained patiently, “Before leaving Shanhai Pass, all along the one coming in contact with me was Jin Huanzhen, I have never met Zhou Laotan. The reason I was able to detect a problem with the Zhou Laotan that appeared later was purely some kind of intuition. I felt like his mouth and his heart are not in agreement. After Feixuan came into the city, I followed his trail in secret. This morning Ziling Xiong came across Feixuan at the East Market, it was precisely because Zhou Laotan was inside the sheepskin shop that Ziling Xiong was watching, having a meeting with his accomplice. This fake Zhou Laotan is a person that must not be taken lightly.”
Seeing that she did not advance and press forward step-by-step, Xu Ziling felt disappointed instead, yet he still gave thought to the subject she was raising; he said, “The fake Laotan could very well be the real Laotan’s twin brother, hence the real Zhou Laotan, husband and wife, did not guard against him and gave him full access instead. Otherwise, with their, two husband and wife’s level of mastery, unless it were the Five Bright Sons and Five Kinds of Demon making their move together, there was no way they could catch the two in one net.”
Astonished, Shi Feixuan asked, “Have you seen the real Zhou Laotan?”
Xu Ziling explained all the way through.
Obtaining this sudden understanding, Shi Feixuan said, “No wonder you could deceive him, because he did not know that you have seen the real Zhou Laotan. In that case, they have already forced confession from Zhou Laotan, husband and wife’s mouth everything, including such a trivial matter like whether they have met you.”
And then she smiled and said, “I wonder if Ziling Xiong has a brilliant scheme in mind?”
Xu Ziling said, “The crucial point of success or failure lies in whether before we see the fake Zhou Laotan tonight we could find the place where Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife are being kept prisoners. And then we split our troops into two prongs; one is to rescue the people, the other is to attack at full force, to do everything we can to wipe out the Da Ming Zun Jiao’s main force in one stroke.”
Shaking her head, Shi Feixuan said, “Kou Zhong’s tracking will not bring any results. This morning, only after the fake Zhou Laotan left the sheepskin store that Da Ming Zun Jiao people arrived. Evidently their method of contact basically won’t allow direct meeting. Since they are this careful, how could they possibly take Kou Zhong to the place where Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife are being kept prisoners?”
Rising to his full height, Xu Ziling laughed calmly and said, “The matter depends on the individual [idiom: with effort, one can achieve anything]. Can Xiaojie wait here for our news? Leave everything to us.”
Shi Feixuan was slightly dismayed; obviously she never expected that he would suddenly leave, that as soon as he said he would leave he immediately left, musing inwardly that this could possibly be Xu Ziling’s counterattack to her. Her pretty eyebrows slightly furrowed, she said, “You acted like you have a card up your sleeve. Feixuan really does not understand why you have such confidence.”
Smiling enigmatically, Xu Ziling said, “Things of the world are impermanent; who’d dare to say that he really has confidence? Xiaodi is merely trying to do my utmost!”
Finished speaking, he floated away.
When Xu Ziling was back at the courtyard house, Kou Zhong was talking with Shuwen. Shuwen received the order and left.
Kou Zhong angrily said, “I wish I could cut open that fake Zhou Laotan and feed him to the wolves. He took me touring the gardens in the city, nearly tiring me to the death, and in the end he returned to his dog house.”
Xu Ziling already knew this would happen. Sitting by the hot spring pool, he said, “So what’s your plan now?”
Panting with rage, Kou Zhong sat down by his side, and angrily said, “His granny’s bear, what plan are you talking about? I decided to go all out. The fake Laotan must have sent messages to his comrades using his special technique; Laozi did not expect him to do that. I am going to setup an inescapable net to catch all Da Ming Zun Jiao people in one net, and then use them to swap hostages, to exchange whatever his mother’s Five Bright Sons, Five Kinds of Demons for Zhou Laotan, husband and wife. Ha! Thinking about it, it should benefit them more. To be fair, we ought to kill a couple of them before swapping people.”
“Are you going to seek Gunatai brothers’ help?” Xu Ziling asked.
Bold and confident with justice on his side, Kou Zhong said, “If I don’t seek them, whom should I seek? Who told them to be our brothers? You have different ideas?”
Xu Ziling laughed and said, “I am more greedy than you. I want to kill them all that not a single armor is left, while also rescuing Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife at the same time.”
Greatly interested, Kou Zhong excitedly said, “Have you decided on the plan?”
Xu Ziling asked him instead, “Why do you think Da Ming Zun Jiao must capture Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife, alive?”
“Naturally for the sake of Xiedi Sheli,” Kou Zhong replied.
And then he added, “Almost forget to tell you, Yucheng did not leave any secret marking in response to ours at the south gate.”
Seeing his sinking countenance, Xu Ziling said, “Don’t be too quick to judge, he might be unable to get away to attend to other things.”
Kou Zhong said, “I am most afraid that during the attack on the mansion tonight, our people might mistakenly get rid of him.”
“What’s your opinion on Du Xing and Xu Kaishan, this pair of sworn brothers?” Xu Ziling asked.
Even though Xu Ziling was changing the subject, Kou Zhong did not get angry at all. Knitting his brows, he said, “Listening to the tone of your voice, you seem to think that they have a part in this, am I right?
And then he nodded and said, “I like Du Xing better, Xu Kaishan is shrewd and too deep. Could it be that they are not villains colluding together, but all along Du Xing has been exploited by Xu Kaishan?”
“That is one possibility,” Xu Ziling replied, “I wanted to say that originally Da Ming Zun Jiao had no intention of provoking Shi Feixuan, this formidable opponent. It was only because we happened to see through their cheap trick of passing off fish eyes for pearls that they wanted to beat us at our own game by playing this fake Zhou Laotan card.”
“In that case,” Kou Zhong said, “Are you saying that Xu Kaishan is Da Ming Zun Jiao man? I dare say that if he is not the Da Zun, then he is the Yuanzi, because his ability and wisdom and martial art skill are definitely not beneath Liexia.”
Xu Ziling said, “Whether Xu Kaishan is Da Ming Zun Jiao man, we will find out tonight.”
Stunned, Kou Zhong asked, “How could we find out?”
Xu Ziling replied, “The reason is very simple. That night, outside the gate of the Yanshan Winery in Shanhai Pass, I explained Jin Huanzhen and Zhou Laotan’s attire and appearance to Xu Kaishan, therefore, Xu Kaishan ought to know that I have seen Zhou Laotan.”
Slapping his thigh, Kou Zhong said, “I understand! If the fake Laotan knew about this, then he would be sure that we have seen through his disguise.”
For martial art masters like Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, as long as they took a glance, they could immediately recognize the distinctive feature in the other side’s appearance, they could accurately grasp their bearing and expression; they would not make mistake. Unless, like the fake Yue Shan, they had a mask that was completely without any flaw, plus the Huan Ri Da Fa that could make people doubt between fantasy and reality; only then would they be able to trick Zhu Yuyan and lead her by the nose.
Xu Ziling said, “Therefore, tonight will likely be our chance to beat them at their own game, plus the other side has scheme within scheme. Therefore, the absolutely foolproof policy would be rescuing Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife first, and then from them, we’ll understand Da Ming Zun Jiao’s strength. Afterwards we can concentrate all our power and deal a ten-thousand-jun-momentum fatal blow toward Da Ming Zun Jiao. Pusa will certainly be very grateful to us.”
Kou Zhong stared at him for quite half a day before speaking in astonishment, “You rarely took initiative and being this active on anything; I wonder if it is because Xianzi, the Senior is involved in it?”
Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “That is part of the reason, but more importantly it’s for the sake of Zhifu, those three men, to look for Da Ming Zun Jiao people to pay with their life. They died because of us; without wiping out this hatred, it is really hard to have peace in my heart. After returning to the Central Earth, we still have to find Pi Chen, Rong Yaonu, Shangguan Long and the others to settle the account.”
The murderous aura in Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, he said, “Quickly tell me your wonderful method of looking for Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife.”
Xu Ziling said, “In this matter, we need to ask Zhu Yuyan for help.”
Kou Zhong suddenly saw the light, ‘Wonderful!’ he cried out, and said, “Even if Zhuge [Liang] was back in the world, Sun Wu [Sun Tzu] was reborn, they would only have ability and wisdom just like yours. We will immediately go look for Zhu Yuyan; but how are we going to do that?”
“Leave it to me to find her,” Xu Ziling said, “You go see Yuekepeng first, and then go to the south gate to see whether Yucheng responded. We’ll meet again here to discuss the next step of our operation.”
Kou Zhong shook his head and said, “While we still have a bit of time, I should go out of the city to scout the mansion. If there is practically no village or no mansion, we could save some foot power, no need to go out for nothing.”
Xu Ziling sneaked into the hotel where Zhu Yuyan was staying; he came to the west wing and snapped his fingers three times outside a closed window.
Both among the Wulin of the Central Plains and outside the border, Zhu Yuyan was the martial art master that no one would dare to provoke. No matter how conceited one was, unless one really had no other choice, one would never be willing to enrage her. Even if Longquan’s master Bai Ziting was fully aware that the leader of the number one sect of the demonic school of the Central Plains was in his city, he still had to have one eye opened and the other eye closed, pretending to be unaware; or, he would have to drop by to pay a formal visit and try to build friendly relations. The latter action certainly carried the risk of being refused entrance.
The chance that Zhu Yuyan would be inside the room was quite high, simply because she must fully used the demonic skill to detect the Relics, in order to probe Shi Zhixuan’s location.
Sure enough, Zhu Yuyan’s voice came from the inside, “Come in, the door is not bolted.”
Xu Ziling pushed the door and entered. Zhu Yuyan was sitting cross-legged on the chair, revealing her beautiful jade countenance, staring deeply at him. Her gaze was icy cold, as if it was without any normal human emotion at all.
But Xu Ziling knew that behind this heartless façade, there was abundant emotion that has been suppressed for a long time. She wanted to die with Shi Zhixuan in such a way that he also perished, but it was a hatred caused by love.
Xu Ziling closed the door, and after saluting, he sat down in a chair on her left, separated by a small table about a chi wide. Before he had any opportunity to explain the purpose of his visit, Zhu Yuyan coldly said, “What do you think about Wan’er?”
Wanwan’s beautiful barefooted image floated in Xu Ziling’s heart; but clearly he was shocked inwardly. He spoke indifferently, “Under Wan Xiaojie’s leadership, Yin Gui Pai will enjoy famous reputation.”
How formidable Wanwan was, no one knew better than he and Kou Zhong.
Zhu Yuyan nodded and said, “Talking with you, there is no need to speak nonsense. Why do you come to see me?”
Xu Ziling said, “Wanbei is coming with specific purpose to invite Zhu Zongzhu to undertake the task to deal with Da Ming Zun Jiao.”
Tranquil and calm, Zhu Yuyan said, “The one I want to deal with is only Shi Zhixuan; I have neither the time nor the mood to grow other branches and knots.”
Xu Ziling smiled and said, “If Shi Feixuan happened to suffer mishap in Longquan, and Zhu Zongzhu happened to be in the same place, what would the consequences be?”
Knitting her brows, Zhu Yuyan said, “Da Ming Zun Jiao has the impertinence to take the risk to offend Fan Qinghui, to deal with her disciple?”
This was the first time Xu Ziling heard someone mentioning Fan Qinghui, the name of the master of Ci Hang Jing Zhai; moreover, he knew that Zhu Yuyan had seen the seriousness of the problem, because no matter how she denied it, because she had always had close relationship with Da Ming Zun Jiao, it was certainly hard to stay out of this matter.
Xu Ziling explained how Da Ming Zun Jiao used the fake Zhou Laotan to lure Shi Feixuan to Longquan in details.
The harsh light in Zhu Yuyan’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, she let out a cold humph and said, “Although this matter did not come through me, but if Shi Feixuan has any unexpected misfortune, Fan Qinghui would surely leave the mountain and open wide the Buddhist monastic discipline against killing. However, how could Shi Feixuan be someone who is easy to deal with? It’s still not worthwhile for me to make another powerful enemy for this reason.”
Astonished, Xu Ziling said, “Could it be that Qianbei failed to see that not only Da Ming Zun Jiao wanted to extend their claws into the Central Plains, they also wanted to take over Yin Gui Pai’s position and replaced it with theirs? Otherwise, how could they dare to meddle in the affair between Qianbei and Shi Zhixuan? Currently our side has powerful people strong horses, however many people we want, we’ll get that many people, so much so that we can exploit the most powerful force in this region, Tuli to deal heavy blow to Da Ming Zun Jiao or anybody who wants to help them. Such a good opportunity, how could Zhu Zongzhu lose various chances to link arms?”
Sighing lightly, Zhu Yuyan said, “There are some things that are very difficult for outsiders to understand. If I cooperate with you guys and turn my back to deal with people of the same principle beyond the Great Wall, it would be difficult for Yin Gui Pai to protect our position as the head of the demonic school.”
And then she softly said, “But I won’t oppose you guys dealing with Da Ming Zun Jiao at all.”
Xu Ziling said, “How could Wanbei dare to risk Qianbei falling into injustice? Before Wanbei came, I already thought about a way that would satisfy rival demands. Not only Zhu Zongzhu is doing us a big favor, no one will ever suspect that Zongzhu is cooperating with us.”
‘Pfft!’ Zhu Yuyan broke into tender giggle, she cast him a thousand-tender, a hundred-charm glance, the ice and snow on her pretty face dissolved, springtime has returned to the great earth, she cursed in low voice, “Dead little demon, unexpectedly you can think of such a crafty move; do you want me to disguise myself as a ghost, to dress up as a horse, pretending to find out Shi Zhixuan’s location?”
Looking at her, Xu Ziling’s two eyes went blank. The Zhu Yuyan before his eyes was just like Wanwan’s sister, brimming with little girl’s touching charm.
Without waiting for his response, Zhu Yuyan recovered her cold and detached demeanor; she spoke calmly, “Very well! The route must be accurately planned. Remember! You must wait for them to put either Jin Huanzhen or Zhou Laotan back into captivity, and wait for one day before you can make your move to save them. My only condition is that you must kill all Da Ming Zun Jiao people and not leave a single one alive. Are you willing to give me your promise?”
Recalling Duan Yucheng, Xu Ziling smiled ruefully and said, “We will try our best to do it according to Zongzhu’s wish!”
By the time Kou Zhong returned to the city after scouting the enemy, the sun already set over the western hills; on the way he made a detour to the south gate, and still he did not see any secret mark from Duan Yucheng, his heart could not help sinking down.
Among the four subordinates with whom they transported the salt north, Duan Yucheng had the highest talent, plus he was good-looking, hence Kou Zhong extremely cared about him. If he betrayed Shuang Long Bang and cast his lot with the Da Ming Zun Jiao, it would make Kou Zhong feel deeply hurt.
While he was thinking deeply, he reached the bustling Vermillion Bird Boulevard. Because the first of the fourth month, the big day of the ceremony of founding the country – was only a few days away, the number of people coming to offer their congratulations or perhaps wanting to take advantage of the liveliness for other purposes continued to increase. The air was brimming with the holiday atmosphere before the arrival of the big celebration, the prosperity of the situation could be easily imagined.
His appointment with the fake Zhou Laotan was still three sichen away; it was still early. Kou Zhong mused inwardly whether he ought to go to say hello to Yuekepeng first. Suddenly someone from above shouted loudly, “Shaoshuai, I trust that you have been well since we last met!”
Stunned, Kou Zhong looked up. He saw on the second floor balcony of a two-storied wood and brick structure, two men were drinking around a table, looking down on the lively long street below, so free and relaxed. They were precisely the Bei Ma Bang [northern horse gang] big boss Xu Kaishan and the ‘Ba Wang’ [hegemon king] Du Xing.
Kou Zhong casually swept his gaze around, and found out that the lower level was quite a large-scale horse and mule business. Laughing aloud, he simply leaped up and landed on the balcony, and sat down safely.
Xu Kaishan set up a wine cup for him, and Du Xing happily poured wine for him. Their manners were cordial.
Du Xing laughed aloud and said, “Shaoshuai’s name is indeed not in vain; the Helian Fort and the Rushing Wolf Plains, two military campaigns, have made Shaoshuai’s great name spread widely to every corner of the prairie. Today we had just entered the city, and already we heard the news that Shaoshuai sold Huyan Jin, that kid’s warhorses at Hualin. Ha ha!”
“Why don’t I see Fenghan Xiong and Ziling Xiong?” Xu Kaishan asked.
Raising his cup, Kou Zhong replied, “We are all busy. Come! Let’s have a cup.”
The three boisterously toasted each other, the atmosphere was warm, unsuspecting people might think that they were intimate friends who treated one another with absolute sincerity.
Wiping the wine stains at the corner of his beard and whiskers, Du Xing said, “Shaoshuai seems to have lost the wolf-bandits’ trail, am I right?”
Kou Zhong smiled and said, “We did not lose the wolf-bandits’ trail; rather, because of the complexity of things, which far surpass our initial estimate; afraid that our desire and speed are not up to reach, we let Cui Wang breathe a couple more breaths.”
Du Xing poured him another cup full of wine. Raising his thumb to show his praise, he said, “His granny’s bear. I, Du Xing, admire Shaoshuai, this kind of genuine heroes the most; confronting magnificent army with thousands of men and horses without any fear. Whatever offense Xiaodi committed in the past, let me use this cup of wine to apologize. Her granny’s! Later, let me, Du Xing take Shaoshuai to Jing Long Jiu Guan [capital dragon wine shop], the most famous in here, to enjoy the excitement. That place specializes in famous wine from all sides, while also the place where pretty girls congregate. If you have not been to Jing Long, it’s like you have not been to Longquan.” [Reminder: Longquan literally means ‘dragon (water) spring’].
Emotionally moved, Kou Zhong said, “Unexpectedly there is such a good place; I must experience it for myself, but not tonight.”
“So how about tomorrow night?” Xu Kaishan asked, “But we must invite Fenghan Xiong and Ziling Xiong to come to enjoy the excitement; all of us brothers enjoying an evening of wine, what could be more delighted that that?”
“Tomorrow night shouldn’t be any problem,” Kou Zhong replied, “After seeing that fellow Bai Ziting, I will come here to look for two gentlemen.”
Du Xing raised his cup and shouted, “Cheers!”
The three drained another cup.
Until this moment Kou Zhong was still unclear whether these two were friends or foes. He put his hand on the cup to prevent Du Xing from pouring more wine; he laughed and said, “Let’s wait for tomorrow night to drink the third cup.”
Xu Kaishan cheerfully said, “Whatever it is that Shaoshuai wants us to help, please feel free to give us your instructions, I guarantee that we will do it properly. In here, Xiaodi can’t be considered anybody, but Du Dage, no one will not give him enough face, doing things will be very convenient.”
Kou Zhong put an air as if he was having a whole new level of respect for Du Xing. “How’s the friendly relation between Du Ba Wang and Ma Ji?”
Du Xing spoke disdainfully, “Although I, Du Xing came from gang and society background, and now I even become the Bei Ba Bang boss, but all I am doing is straight, honest business. Every now and then a friend would make a request, I have no choice but to have dealings with the horse thieves or to receive stolen goods, but in my heart I despise these people without backbones the most. To earn respect in Jianghu, one must not do these imitating the dogs and stealing chicken, offending the Heaven and reason – shady business.”
Kou Zhong laughed and said, “That will do! I don’t have to be polite to Ma Ji anymore. Huh?”
His eyes were turning to the big street where people were rushing forth, where the vehicles and horses were striving for the road. The two men followed his gaze.
Outside a shop specializing in musical instruments stood more than a dozen Tujue warriors, everybody’s spirit was trembling with excitement. Among them, there was one man whose appearance was particularly dignified, heroic and mighty, his bearing surpassed others, he had long saber hanging on his waist; he looked exactly like a crane among a flock of chicken.
While Du Xing and Xu Kaishan were still guessing who this man was, Kou Zhong already arose and leaped down onto the Vermillion Bird Boulevard.
The young Tujue martial art master’s eyes were immediately shooting like an arrow toward Kou Zhong.
As soon as Kou Zhong’s feet stepped on solid earth, he tore open his robe to reveal the Moon in the Well, which name shook inside and outside the Central Plains, while laughing aloud and said, “Isn’t this brought together by fate, meeting together after a thousand li? Unexpectedly I can continue the unfinished karma in Chang’an with Ke Xiong.”
One after another the passersby scattered to both sides of the street; the situation was greatly chaotic.
Ke Dazhi spread his arms to stop the group of his subordinates. Taking a step forward, his hand grabbed the hilt of his saber, with heroism reaching to the clouds he let out a long laughter and said, “Since Shaoshuai is this excited, it will be Ol’ Ke’s pleasure to keep you company.”
This moment the crowd on the street already escaped to the pedestrian lane on either side of the street, so packed that not even a needle could be inserted in. The vehicles and horses were stopped. This moment, the wide, spacious main street, which could accommodate twelve horses galloping side-by-side – was without any obstacle.
Although there were soldiers patrolling the street, but the two, one was the young martial art master the Tujue’s Great Khan Xieli was doting on, the other was the Shaoshuai Kou Zhong, whose name intimidated the land under the heavens, Tuli’s brother. Who would dare to intervene and stop them?
‘Qiang!’
The two men pulled their treasured saber at the same time. The battle could happen at any moment.