From looking outside the window, Meiyan Furen turned her head around, smiled sweetly, and with a slight shrug of her fragrant shoulders, she said, “Finally in Longquan! Very nice!”
From the time Xu Ziling boarded the carriage until he sat next to her fragrant body, he still could not figure out what medicine she was selling from her gourd. In fact, his mind was still tied up at the time he ‘bade farewell’ to Shi Feixuan earlier, momentarily it was hard for him to think about anything else.
Shi Feixuan was finally going to leave him to return to the immortal mountain.
‘Home is on this mountain, the clouds deeply unaware where to go’.
These two Buddhist gatha [Buddhist hymn/verse] were the best portrayal of his romance with Shi Feixuan; which was both real and empty. It happened in the blink of an eye, it ended in another blink of an eye; no one knew how it started, no one knew how it ended. There was no beginning, there was no end, because the beginning and the end were fused together into one entity.
My Niang! Who would not have his soul melted?
Am I actually an idiot? Or am I the lucky guy who has experienced the highest realm of love? Perhaps he would never know for sure.
Meiyan Furen asked in astonishment, “Xu Gongzi has a load on your mind?”
Xu Ziling laughed indifferently and said, “Longquan is indeed an unforgettable fantastic city. May I venture to ask what instructions does Furen have?”
Driving the carriage was a tall and sturdy, well-built young man; looking at his bearing and expression, he was absolutely not a nobody. Such a figure was the personal bodyguard of this Yiwu beauty. This moment the young man slowly steered the carriage into a side street, heading toward the east side of the city, where the springs and the bridges were interwoven.
This time Meiyan Furen was dressed in plain and simple, clean yellow-colored dress, combined with a scarf that was wrapped around her neck and draped across her shoulders. The beautiful hair on her head was tied into a beautiful bun, with a jade hairpin pierced through it; a different kind of fresh and clean, beautiful appearance.
However, her beauty was as different as black and white with Shi Feixuan’s not-eating-the-food-of-common-mortals beauty. Her beauty had some kind of appearing-from-beneath-the-surface foxy charm and implicit wild nature, which carried great incendiary and seductive power toward the male species.
Suddenly Meiyan Furen pursed her lips and chuckled lightly; casting a glance toward him, she said, ““Xu Gongzi is very handsome. Nujia has never seen a man more cultured, handsome, confident and at ease than Gongzi. Which family’s girl sees you and does not have her heart moved?”
Xu Ziling was taken aback. Although in the prairie the women were generally more unrestrained by convention, bold and passionate, straightforward in speech, but such a woman like her, without the slightest scruple making idle remarks about the opposite sex’s appearance of a stranger with whom she had just made her acquaintance, even bluntly said that her heart was moved, it has indeed shocked him to the core.
Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, “It’s because Furen has never met the ‘Duoqing Gongzi’ [Passionate Prince] Hou Xibai. He is the real scholarly, multi-talented, distinguished and accomplished figure. Xiaodi could only be considered an inadequate substitute.”
‘Pfft!’ Meiyan Furen broke into tender giggles and said, “Xu Gongzi’s remark is very interesting. Gongzi, you are sitting next to nujia, how could nujia have the time to think of someone else?”
The carriage left the road and stopped in the shade on the riverbank near a stone bridge. The driver sat quietly, as if he had turned into a stone statue.
Although Xu Ziling was not in the mood to tease her, but in the bottom of his heart he had to admit that indeed this Yiwu beauty’s scowls and smiles were like the springtime, extremely captivating. His sword-eyebrows lightly furrowed, he said, “Whatever it is that Furen wants to talk about, why not speak up forthrightly?”
Meiyan Furen’s wild-in-nature beautiful eyes were rolling like water ripples; with a smile on her face, she said, “Xu Gongzi is getting impatient? Let nujia make a long story short: is the Five-Colored Stone still in Gongzi’s possession?”
‘Here it comes!’ Xu Ziling cried inwardly. Sighing, he replied, “What if it is?”
Slightly shrugging her fragrant shoulders, Meiyan Furen said, “Why hasn’t Gongzi handed over the Five-Colored Stone to Bai Ziting?”
Xu Ziling calmly replied, “We are going to see Bai Ziting tonight. At that time, just as Furen entrusted to us, we are going to hand over the Five-Colored Stone to him.”
Meiyan Furen held up her delicate, clean and beautiful, able-to-make-any-man-lost-in-wild-and-fanciful spotlessly white jade hands, spread it out and said, “Nujia changed my mind! Would Xu Gongzi please return it to its rightful owner? Nujia will always remember three gentlemen’s upholding justice and lending a hand in my heart.”
Xu Ziling could not stop his eyes from looking at her touching jade palm; he saw the lines that were like carved with a blade, complete and not random, the flowery vein lines on it were like words of praise. But at the same time he felt a big headache, because the Five-Colored Stone was one of the important bargaining chips that they were going to use against Bai Ziting. Returning it to her would not be right, but not returning it to her would be even more wrong. Momentarily he was trapped in no room to advance or to retreat situation.
Noticing he was looking at her jade palm with blank expression on her face, Meiyan Furen spoke softly, “If Gongzi is thinking of taking the Five-Colored Stone for your own, nujia definitely won’t blame Gongzi, I will only blame myself for misjudging others.”
This remark was even more fierce and severe than raining curses on Xu Ziling. Xu Ziling’s mind was churning at the speed of light, he sighed inwardly, reached into the pocket of his outer robe to take the Five-Colored Stone out and put it on the hollow of her palm, yet he still used two fingers to hold on to it, and said with a smile, “Is Furen the original owner of the Five-Colored Stone?”
Meiyan Furen revealed a touchingly sweet smile, her five fingers closed in to grab the Five-Colored Stone. The tip of her fingers lightly touched Xu Ziling, she spoke cheerfully, “I wonder if Gongzi knew the origin of this Five-Colored Stone?”
Xu Ziling met her pair of emitting-wild-nature-and-extraordinary-splendor beautiful eyes, he smiled and said, “I’d like to hear the details.”
Meiyan Furen said, “This is the symbol of the Persian’s orthodox Da Ming Zun Jiao’s cult founder. Its original name was ‘Heigennilei’, which means ‘the stone of light’. Fifty years ago, it was brought to the prairie by the Guangming Shizhe [light messenger/emissary] Ramo. Afterwards a lot of things happened, it changed hands from person to person, until finally it fell into nujia’s hands.”
Without blinking Xu Ziling fixed his gaze on her. Frowning, he said, “In that case, isn’t the original owner Ramo?”
Meiyan Furen cheerfully replied, “Ramo is precisely my Jiashi [lit. family master/teacher].”
Stunned, Xu Ziling relinquished his grip. Meiyan Furen, with expression brimming with delight and appreciation, cast him a sidelong glance, took the Five-Colored Stone and put it inside her fragrant bosom, and spoke softly, “Thank you Xu Gongzi, but also thanks to Shaoshuai and Ba Fenghan; nujia will never forget this.”
Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “I wonder if Furen can give Xiaodi a more satisfactory explanation? Why did you entrust us to deliver the Five-Colored Stone to Bai Ziting in the first place? If the Five-Colored Stone had become the decoration on Bai Ziting’s kingly crown, how could it be returned to its rightful owner?”
Meiyan Furen tenderly and coyly said, “It was Zun Shen’s [revered deity] instructions! Is Gongzi satisfied with this explanation?”
Stunned, Xu Ziling looked at her. How could that be considered an explanation? But the Five-Colored Stone has safely returned into her hands, it was an undeniable fact.
Suddenly he just wanted to leave this headache-inducing beauty, the farther the better; she reminded him of Ji Qian. Compared to Ji Qian, the only thing Meiyan Furen lacked was the Jianghu air, but she had another kind of confusing temperament. Sighing, he said, “Furen, please be careful. Huihe’s Da Ming Zun Jiao’s whole nest is coming out. Your situation now may not necessarily be better than in Tong Wan. Zaixia takes my leave!”
In the south wing, Kou Zhong’s butts have not warmed up his chair, there was another knock on the door.
Shuwen came out to answer the door. Kou Zhong went to the window and looked out with rapt attention, thinking that if it was Shi Zhixuan, should he simply escape, or should he just harden his scalp to fight?
The door opened. Shocked, Shuwen saluted and said, “Turns out it’s the Imperial Guard Captain’s good-self coming in person.”
Kou Zhong mused inwardly who the hell was this Imperial Bodyguard Captain? But quickly his tiger-body also shook, because he saw Shang Xiufang, under escort of the long-legged female sword warrior Zong Xianghua – stepped into the courtyard.
This moment Kou Zhong wished that it was Shi Zhixuan who came instead, because at least he would have the strength to stake it all against him. But he was greatly surprised as well; didn’t she spend all night last night without any sleep? Yet she still had the vitality and strength to come to see him? Plus, wouldn’t that mean Song Shidao was rushing at thin air?
This time he really had to harden his scalp to come out to meet her. He laughed and said, “Xiufang Dajia and Zong Yuwei Zhang’s [imperial guard captain] phoenix-selves are honoring me with your presence, brightening up Xiaodi’s canopy. Ha! Please do me the honor to come in and drink a cup of hot tea, ha!”
Shuwen moved to one side, so as not to block the line of sight between Shang and Zong, two women, and Kou Zhong, who was stepping out, upright and unafraid – of the south [reception] hall door, which was directly opposite to the main gate.
Shang Xiufang looked like she had just come out of a hot spring bath, there was not the slightest bit of cosmetics on her face, her dress was lake water green skirt and gown, her beautiful hair was trailing over her shoulders, yet her beauty was still so intoxicating. Rolling her ten-thousand-kinds-of-flirtatious-expressions eyes at him, she asked, “Where’s your good Xiongdi?”
Kou Zhong cried for help inwardly. Shang Xiufang’s spearhead tactic was a lot more formidable than his. Only by using a couple of glances she already beat him that he was utterly defeated, everything broken and in disorder. If this situation continued, how would he end up?
Smiling bitterly, he replied, “I am looking for him as well; come in and talk inside!”
Zong Xianghua said, “Xiufang Dajia has an appointment to meet; we just happened to pass by and wanted to say hello to Shaoshuai.”
Although her manners were polite and proper, there was still some kind of cold, icy feeling of pushing-others-a-thousand-li-away impression; moreover, it contained hostility.
Kou Zhong’s eyes casually swept down across her pair of long legs, purposefully trying to make her angry, before returning his gaze to Shang Xiufang’s difficult-to-move-away-from beautiful face. Smiling, he said, “Shall I see you tonight?”
With slight displeasure Shang Xiufang cast him a sidelong glance, and then she turned to Zong Xianghua and said, “Zong Yuwei Zhang, please wait a moment, I have something to discuss with Shaoshuai.”
Just like that, she lightly moved her lotus steps to come to Kou Zhong’s side. Pulling his sleeve a little bit, she took the lead toward the south wing.
Kou Zhong followed obediently behind her as if he was bewitched.
In daze, Xu Ziling walked among the tide of people in the street, returning to the courtyard house.
From one day to the next, the ceremony of founding the country was getting closer. The delegations of various tribes of the prairie coming to offer their congratulations and the people from various tribes wanting to enjoy the festivities from four sides and eight directions were pouring into Longquan. The mood and the atmosphere were rising higher and higher, but at the same time the crisis of disaster was brewing.
Yet he found himself losing interest in thinking deeply and performing an in-depth investigation on everything before his eyes.
Supposing this moment he rushed back to Seng Guang Si to beseech Shi Feixuan not to leave him forever, what would the future hold for him? But he immediately sighed inwardly, because he knew that would never put this delusion into practice.
The biggest problem with Shi Feixuan leaving was that it made him feel that nothing to look forward to, nothing to do, so much so that the prairie had lost the charm that attracted him in the first place.
When he met Meiyan Furen for the first time in Tong Wan, he felt that she was a feast for the eyes; looking at her, not only he would not be bored, it warmed the heart and delighted the eyes even more. But a moment ago he just wanted to leave her as quickly as possible, which made him realize that no one or nothing could fill the void in his heart after Shi Feixuan left.
He was not depressed; he only felt empty and senseless. No matter what he did, nothing could distract from the feeling of loss from the loneliness and regret in his heart.
This was the ‘sacrifice’ he had to pay ‘to help Shi Feixuan accomplishing her aim’.
Suddenly he realized that he had fallen into the pitfall of love that she mentioned, and that he had no strength to climb out!
This was the loneliness after losing everything.
It would be better if he disappeared as well, so that no one knew where he was, so much so that they might think that he was dead.
This terrifying thought gave him a chilling shock and made him shiver all over. He quickly shook his head to clear his mind. In the past, although he was alone, he was never in a lonely mood. But now boredom and loneliness were attacking his mind.
Shi Qingxuan suddenly appeared in his mind.
Ay! Could it be that, as Shi Feixuan said, he was really unwilling to fight for his own happiness, to strive and to struggle?
Everything will pass. Time will never make someone from not having a habit to change into having a habit. He even hated himself a little bit. Why couldn’t he see through everything like Shi Feixuan? Everything on earth was like spring dream and autumn cloud; in a flash the fantasy changes, in the blink of an eye it will not leave any trace.
And then he remembered ‘the insects buzzing the cicadas singing’. In an instant, the clamor of the people and the vehicles and horse, like a tidal wave, burst into his eardrums.
He changed direction to head toward the Sheng Guang Si.
They barely stepped over the threshold, Shang Xiufang pulled Kou Zhong to a stop by the door, outside the line of sight of Zong Xianghua and Shuwen; her fragrant shoulders gently snuggled into his arms, she spoke tenderly, “Does Shaoshuai still daydream about me?”
Kou Zhong smiled wryly in his heart, remembering the Helian Fort, when they were facing the Golden Wolf Army’s magnificent army with thousands of men and horses, when he thought that he was going to die, he was indeed thinking about her. But the problem was that at that moment, he was also thinking about Song Yuzhi and Chuchu. Immediately he felt the pain as if his liver and intestines were about to break. This beauty with both looks and skill was like a blazing flame, which could melt him, but could also refine the steel in a soft object wrapped around the finger.
He was suddenly aware that inside the tender, delicate and smooth skin and flesh of her fragrant shoulders, she was brimming with scorching life force and vitality youthfulness. His nostrils were filled to the brim with her captivating fragrant breath. The small ears in front of his eyes were sparkling and translucent and spotlessly white. The arch of her round and beautiful ears and the perfectly round earlobes created a flawless combination.
Heaven and earth were spinning and dancing. Suddenly he found both of his hands were pulling her tightly into his bosom, and that he planted a heavy kiss on her fragrant lips. Intense feeling of ecstasy nibbling away at his bones sent him up straight beyond the ninth level of the clouds.
Shang Xiufang’s tender body trembled; her jade-hands seemed to refuse yet powerless to respond, as they were pressed against his broad shoulders. But her fragrant lips were responding passionately. It was quite half a day later that she suddenly twisted her body and pushed him away.
The lips parted.
Shang Xiufang’s breathing was extremely ragged, red clouds color descended upon her entire face, she angrily said, “You …”
Kou Zhong was as dumb as a wooden chicken, he has not recovered from enchanting feeling a moment ago; furthermore, he did not understand why he was so out of control, his mind was in a complete mess.
Shang Xiufang raised her hands to tidy up the hair that he messed up, her expression gradually calmed down, she even cast him a ten-thousand-kinds-of-amorous-feelings sweet smile, but her clear facial expression revealed a blaming-him-for-his-brazen-offense charm that could bewitch and turn all the men under the heavens upside down. Her right hand reached out to pat his cheek, as tender and soft as water she said, “Don’t say anything! I’ll see you tonight!”
Along an easy drive on a familiar path, Xu Ziling passed through the forest and crossed the park toward Shi Feixuan’s elegant and secluded meditation room in Sheng Guang Si. Immediately he heard the sweet voice like the sounds of nature, speaking indifferently, “Is there anything that Ziling forgot to tell me earlier?”
Xu Ziling smiled slightly. He sat down slyly on the second stone step outside the door with his back facing the quiet room; as if he was talking about mundane, day-to-day affairs, he said, “Xiaodi had just met Meiyan Furen of Da Ming Zun Jiao. I don’t know how, but I suddenly figured out something, which I really want to share with Feixuan.”
Shi Feixuan spoke cheerfully, “Feixuan is listening attentively.”
Facing the depth of the forest shade that was not contaminated with the dust of the vulgar world of the serene backyard of Sheng Guang Si, Xu Ziling said, “Feixuan mentioned that you did not understand why instead of directly luring you to Longquan, Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife had to pretend that both of them were killed, and then even drawing legs on a snake [idiom: to ruin the effect by adding something superfluous] by having Zhou Laofang selling a fake for the genuine article.”
Shi Feixuan’s voice came from inside the door behind him, but he still seemed to hear it next to his ear as she asked in soft voice, “What does this matter have to do with Meiyan Furen?”
Xu Ziling replied, “I have to start with Meiyan Furen’s history. Her Shizun was Ramo, who came from Persia fifty years ago. Ramo himself belonged to the orthodox Persian’s Da Ming Zun Jiao. He brought the Five-Colored Stone, which represents the Cult itself. The Five-Colored Stone’s original name was ‘the stone of light’, and it was the treasure of the founding of the Cult.”
Shi Feixuan’s voice was heard behind him again, “Ramo carried this stone to the east into the prairie, naturally there was an important reason, right?”
Xu Ziling did not turn his head around, knowing that the exceptionally intelligent Shi Feixuan had already guessed his thought. He spoke in heavy voice, “Ramo wanted to deal with one, maybe more, apostates that escaped from Persia and came to the prairie. But obviously Ramo’s mission failed, because those traitors put down roots in Huihe, and established another Da Ming Zun Jiao, while also scheming to invade the Central Plains. Rong Jiaojiao and Shangguan Long were their vanguard troops. The current Da Zun ought to be either the traitor himself, or his successor.
Shi Feixuan came behind him. In a calm and relaxed manner, she sat down on the stone step, just a step higher than him. She smiled and said, “Ziling’s conjecture, if it did not hit the mark, it must not be too far off. But I have not yet seen the relationship between this matter with Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife.”
Xu Ziling turned his head around to look at her and spoke indifferently, “The key is on Zhou Laofang, because he was one of the Da Ming Zun Jiao’s Five Kinds of Demons. This means that both Xieli and the Da Ming Zun Jiao, whether they are working together or acting separately, have a common goal, which is to put Feixuan to death by all means.”
Shi Feixuan revealed a touching expression of thinking deeply. Ignoring Xu Ziling’s gaze on her beautiful face, she said, “Please continue.”
Xu Ziling cast his gaze back toward the courtyard, before moving it again to a clump of floating cloud over the temple. He said, “Jin Huanzhen and Zhou Laotan’s mission was to lure Shi Feixuan toward Shanhai Pass to be killed there. The reason why the couple had to fake their death was precisely so that after the fact, they could be relieved from their responsibilities and escape the blame. Who would have thought that through such a strange coincidence, we happened to appear in Shanhai Pass at the same time, and thus Xieli’s scheme was immediately destroyed? If Du Xing had been honest, he could have told us that very likely Xieli was hiding somewhere in Shanhai Pass; otherwise, how could he arrange the ambush so that the three of us nearly fell into the trap at Yan Yuan Ji?”
Shi Feixuan nodded and said, “Your view on this complicated affair is very penetrating, both accurate and imaginative.”
Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “Slow and dumb would be a more apt description; it took me such a long time to understand that much. At that time, Jin Huanzhen, husband and wife, ought to be leaving Shanhai Pass in secret, to continue following Shi Zhixuan’s trail, hence the reason they had to rely on Zhou Laofang to do the trick, to lure Shi Feixuan to come to Longquan.”
Frowning, Shi Feixuan said, “Zhou Laofang impersonated Zhou Laotan to tell me that Jin Huanzhen was captured by the Da Ming Zun Jiao, wouldn’t that mean they were shifting the blame onto their own sect?”
Xu Ziling glibly said, “Empty is real, real is empty. Not to mention Da Ming Zun Jiao is practically not afraid to assume the blame of killing Shi Feixuan, which would only make them famous. Just like Xieli, they are not afraid of any bad consequences.”
Shi Feixuan said, “In that case, Ziling is thinking that Da Ming Zun Jiao is working together with Xieli in this matter? But why did Zhou Laotan kill Zhou Laofang?”
Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “I am positive that Da Ming Zun Jiao is standing in opposition to Xieli.”
He could not help thinking about Liexia presenting music score to Shang Xiufang.
Astonished, Shi Feixuan asked, “Then how could Zhou Laofang cooperate with them so flawlessly?”
Xu Ziling spoke in heavy voice, “He was acting under the instructions of someone who had deep knowledge of Xieli’s plan. Most likely this person has two identities, one public, one secret. The secret identity is either the Da Ming Zun Jiao’s Da Zun or Yuanzi, the public identity is a heroic figure of the black way [criminal/underworld] of the northeast, plus Du Xing’s sworn brother, someone who has the darkness and the light on his person.”
Exhaling lightly, Shi Feixuan said, “Xu Kaishan!”
Xu Ziling’s pair of eyes lit up with refined light, he spoke slowly, “The main reason Anle Bang suffered the calamity of having their entire family wiped out to close their mouth was because they discovered this secret.”