Kou Zhong closed his eyes, inside the steaming hot spring, he spoke as if he was in a dream, “Were it not for the good rain, I would never have imagined that Cui Wang would run a bad errant outside Yuekepeng’s guesthouse. The heavy rain made half of his body wet. The clothes he was wearing was the traditional Han dress with Longquan’s enhancement, the material is flimsy, when it got soaked, I got a glimpse of a tattoo on his arm that is similar to the wolf-bandits. Ha! But the idiot still did not know. Were it not for it was not suitable for me to fight, I would have captured him just now.”
He also explained how from his high skill and deep power he guessed that this person was not regular wolf-bandit, but must be the head, Cui Wang. Finally he said, “You think by appearing right here, right now, he is going to do something to us?”
Finished speaking he climbed out of the pool, dried up his body and put on his clothes.
The wound on his chest has healed miraculously, leaving only a line of red scar about a cun and a half long. But if the wound tore again due to intense power application, the recovery time would be greatly prolonged.
Xu Ziling pondered carefully back and forth for quite half a day before replying, “In term of timing, it did not look like it was Du Xing who notified Cui Wang, unless when we were looking for Du Xing, Cui Wang was already inside Du Xing’s residence. Otherwise, the time would not allow Du Xing to go somewhere to notify Cui Wang; no matter what, he can’t possibly be faster than you are. Also how could Du Xing know whether you already paid an official call to Yuekepeng before you met him?”
Finished putting on his clothes, Kou Zhong sat down next to him. After staring blankly at the door for a moment, he nodded and said, “Things are becoming more and more complicated, even more impossible to unravel. Cui Wang is certainly cooperating with Huyan Jin, either direct or indirect, only then would he find out about our relationship with Yuekepeng. We might as well make a bold assumption: since we suffered attack and were wounded this morning, because we cover it up very well, it’s hard for the enemy to really know how heavy our injuries are, hence they do not dare to act blindly without thinking. Plus, Longquan is, after all, Bai Ziting’s territory. Even though Bai Ziting might admit silently that we get killed in his territory, he could not possibly display it ostentatiously; perhaps Bai Ziting would even restrain Han Chao’an and the others. Ay! The more I talk about it, the more complicated it is!”
Shaking his head, Xu Ziling said, “Not complicated at all. In a nutshell, since the enemy’s first assassination attempt failed, before our injuries are completely healed, they must carry out the second ambush. And this time they must not fail, because if Old Ba or Gunatai Brothers are back, they would miss this golden opportunity.”
Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Ling Shao is still more to the point and clear. What I mean is the reason that Cui Wang was guarding outside the main gate of Yuekepeng’s foreign guesthouse is because they wanted to know whether we would ask for Yuekepeng’s help, thereby they could speculate how heavy or shallow our injury is. Furthermore, they wanted to look at the situation to carry out another strike. If I go to Song Shidao, the same is true. Currently, although we do not know why Cui Wang was standing like a foolish-headed bird with eyes open wide over there, but at least we know that most probably Cui Wang has a bit relationship with Han Chao’an, Huyan Jin, and so on. If he were an outsider, how did he know that our injury is so bad that we need assistance? How’s the situation on your side?”
Xu Ziling looked up to the sky; it was still overcast, but he felt that hidden behind the clouds, the sun was falling to the west. He said, “Xianzi has no problem. But Yin Xianhe is not at the inn he is staying. Ay! I originally thought that we could ask Song ErGe to follow Shen Mohuan’s track for us, but it seems like we need to forget this desire. Before entering the Palace, Feixuan might come to see us. She is the only one who could personally help us.”
Staring blankly, Kou Zhong said, “Relying on us, two wounded soldiers, even with the addition of Xianzi, plus even if Shen Mohuan and Mu Ling, husband and wife, are only the two of them, I am afraid we will still be unable to get rid of them, much less I am sure they have a large number of helpers?”
Xu Ziling said, “I already told you, your scheme-within-a-scheme has a very big loophole. If Du Xing were indeed in collusion with Shen Mohuan and the others who want to kill us in the dark, then on one hand, they would want to pull Ke Dazhi away, while on the other hand they would want to lure us someplace else. In this kind of situation, Shen Mohuan won’t have any time to return to his hiding place; he would simply join hands with Huyan Jin, Han Chao’an, even Cui Wang, Du Xing, Xu Kaishan, and so on to lay out an ambush somewhere to kill us. Therefore, following Shen Mohuan’s track is simply meaningless.”
Smiling ruefully, Kou Zhong said, “When I thought about that plan, I did not think that Du Xing is one of them. My Niang, you are right, under this enemy-and-us-difficult-to-tell circumstances, our scheme-within-a-scheme is merely playing with fire; not only it might burn ourselves, it might even implicate Xianzi that she could suffer a loss. Supposing Xu Kaishan is really Da Zun whatever or his granny’s Yuanzi, then his martial art skill must be a bit more formidable than Liexia. Merely he, one person, is already not easy to deal with.”
Xu Ziling said, “I originally thought that having Yin Xianhe following Shen Mohuan’s track would be of no great matter, but my hope failed, I have to change plan. Presently the most important thing is self-preservation. Otherwise, what I am most afraid of is that we save a little only to lose a lot, being unable to help Zhu Yuyan dealing with Shi Zhixuan to burn both jade and common stone, then everything is not worth it.”
Shaking his head resolutely, Kou Zhong said, “No! If we miss tonight’s opportunity, we are not going to have another chance to kill Shen Mohuan.”
Inwardly, Xu Ziling agreed.
If he were Shen Mohuan, and he failed to kill the two boys tonight, he would have no choice but to flee as far away as possible, to hide in the Great Gobi desert that he knew very well, in order to avoid the two boys’ counterstrike after their injuries were healed. Moreover, the Gunatai brothers posed a serious threat to Shen Mohuan, not to mention there was also Ba Fenghan, the bane of the horse thieves. In that kind of situation, Shen Mohuan had no option other than to give up everything and run away.
Xu Ziling sighed, “Can we do it?” he asked.
Kou Zhong said, “When everything is exhausted, one would change, and changes would clear the way. The enemy’s mistake is by giving us one day to catch our breath, so that our injury is greatly improving. Ha! This hot spring treatment is both cheap and convenient. His Niang! What do we do? I want to look for that kid Ke Dazhi to explain everything to him, to let him know that Du Xing is not completely sincere toward Xieli, so much so that he wanted to destroy Xieli and Tuli’s reconciliation.”
Shaking his head, Xu Ziling said, “It will be very difficult for Ke Dazhi to accept our baseless conjecture. Furthermore, how can you be sure that Ke Dazhi is standing on our side?”
Kou Zhong said, “If Ke Dazhi wanted to kill us, we whould have died on the street, because even if we were not injured, fighting one-on-one against him, we still don’t have a clear chance of winning. From this point of view, Ke Dazhi must be sincerely wanting to help us. I don’t want to try to change Ke Dazhi’s view on Du Xing all of a sudden, but as long as we could sow the seed of doubt so that he won’t be completely without any suspicion, he could respond according to the situation and see whether we accused Du Xing wrongly. After all, Du Xing is half Qidan, and Qidan people can’t possibly want to see Xieli and Tuli being reconciled.”
Carrying a gust of wind, someone was leaping over the wall. Surprisingly, it was Yin Xianhe, whom the two boys had been painstakingly looking for.
Xu Ziling happily said, “Did Yin Xiong see the message Xiaodi left at your inn and thus came here?”
Yin Xianhe still appeared to be lonely and desolate, as if all gaiety in the world did not have the slightest bit of relation with him; he spoke indifferently, “Was Xu Xiong looking for me?”
Kou Zhong sprang up and said, “Yin Xiong, please sit down; would you like tea or wine?”
Yin Xianhe revealed a hint of rarely seen smile; shaking his head, he said, “Standing here is all right. This time I came here because there is something I need to report.”
The two boys’ spirit was greatly aroused, they were listening with respectful attention.
Yin Xianhe looked up to the sky. He said, “Just now when the rain was really heavy, I was following Xu Kaishan’s carriage. He left the famous courtesan Hui Shen’s house and went straight to the Dao Xiang Lou at Wei Chui Avenue, which is the most famous wine shop in Longquan. Using the heavy rain as my cover, I followed close behind his carriage, I thought it was absolutely safe; who would have thought that when we reached the Dao Xiang Lou, the carriage turned out to be an empty carriage? Frankly speaking, now I really believe that Xu Kaishan is Da Ming Zun Jiao’s Da Zun or Yuanzi; otherwise, how could he be that formidable?”
It should be noted that Yin Xianhe was the most outstanding swordsman of the northeast Wulin, his skill did not differ much from theirs. Furthermore, this man was very proud of his own tracking and following skill, therefore, in any case, he must really have a skill or two in this regard. Yet not only Xu Kaishan knew that he was being followed, he was able to throw Yin Xianhe off seemingly at will, which demonstrated his terrifying ability and wisdom and skill, hence Yin Xianhe was unceasingly alarmed and came specifically to warn them.
Raising his eyebrows, Kou Zhong said, “Why did Xu Kaishan not hesitate to reveal the fox’s tail, while also use this kind of almost-showing-off way to throw Yin Xiong off? Humph! This fellow must have something more important to do.”
Xu Ziling said, “What surprises me is that why he did not simply get out of the carriage to give Yin Xiong bad luck? It was a good opportunity to kill Yin Xiong.”
Yin Xianhe calmly said, “Because he has extreme restraining fear toward two gentlemen. One day the two of you have not died, he does not dare to be excessively presumptuous.”
Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “I get it! It is because he will be able to dispose us very soon that he momentarily bears his anger. His Niang! Yin Xiong’s intelligence is really useful, it helps us clear up many things. Old Xu went to Dao Xiang Lou, was anybody looking for him?”
Xu Ziling spoke in displeasure, “Don’t be so subjective; he could be doing other things.”
Yin Xianhe said, “Only Du Xing came to look for Xu Kaishan. For whatever reason the two quarreled until their faces turned red, their ears hot. Because I was far away, I could not hear what they said. And then Du Xing rushed away, and then Xu Kaishan left, alone.”
The two looked at each other.
Emotionally moved, Kou Zhong said, “Ling Shao’s guess is correct. Du Xing knew Xu Kaishan’s wolf-bandit connection, but he did not know Xu Kaishan’s Da Zun or Yuanzi identity, hence he lashed out on him. This is in line with Du Xing’s fiery character.”
Yin Xianhe was at a loss, “What are you talking about?” he asked.
Xu Ziling said, “We will explain to you in a little bit, but we’d like to ask Yin Xiong for another big favor.”
Yin Xianhe coldly said, “The fact is that my destiny is already linked with yours. If you are killed, there is no way that I, Yin Xianhe would be able to leave alive. Death in Longquan has been a done deal. But this is not a bad thing.”
When he spoke the last two sentences, his eyes emitted a tender look, as if he had a certain strange emotion toward Longquan.
Smiling bitterly, Kou Zhong said, “To me, death in Longquan is a thoroughly useless death; I definitely must not allow such thing to happen. Now I am one hundred percent sure that we will be ambushed when we leave the Palace. His granny’s bear, they want to kill me, I will return the compliment with an arrow piercing Shen Mohuan’s throat.”
When speaking the last sentence, the murderous aura in his pair of eyes was flaring greatly, refined light was flashing out like lightning.
‘Knock! Knock! Knock!’ Someone banged the ring doorknocker.
Yin Xianhe spoke indifferently, “I don’t want to see anybody.”
“This way!” Xu Ziling said, leading him to the south hall.
Kou Zhong knew that Xu Ziling was going to take this opportunity to explain the details of tonight’s battle with the enemy, he hastily went to answer the door.
When Kou Zhong’s hand touched the courtyard’s door, he suddenly thought that if as soon as he opened the door several dozen powerful arrows were shot using strong crossbows, would he have enough time to evade and not breathe his last? He could not help raising a mouthful of true qi to make adequate preparation, while slowly opening the door.
Half a face appeared in the crack between the doors. And then when both sides of the main gate opened inward to reveal the full picture, Kou Zhong’s spirit was violently shaken, but on the surface he did not dare to reveal the slightest bit of emotion.
His granny’s bear! Didn’t this face belong to Cui Wang, whom he saw outside Yuekepeng’s guesthouse a moment ago? At first glance, he still did not dare to be certain, because the attire was very different. The ‘Cui Wang’ before his eyes wore military uniform, remarkably alike the majestic attire of the valiant generals under Bai Ziting’s command. Behind him stood more than a dozen Bai Ziting’s imperial bodyguards. At that time, Cui Wang was wearing a rain cap that was pressed down to his eyebrows, but Kou Zhong still clearly remembered his slightly hawk nose, rough and swarthy complexion, and the grim, greedy expression exuded from his eyes. What’s going on here?
There was a gorgeous horse-drawn carriage parked by the road. Looking at the situation, it appeared that Bai Ziting was sending a team of imperial bodyguards to pick them up and bring them into the Palace.
The ‘Cui Wang’ performed a military salute and spoke upright and unafraid, “Mojiang [lit. lowest-ranking general] Gongqi, receiving Da Wang’s order to come with a specific purpose in mind to take Shaoshuai and Xu Ye to the Palace for the banquet.”
Kou Zhong finally opened the door wide. His mind was flashing at the speed of light, he thought of three possibilities.
The first possibility was that Cui Wang impersonated Bai Ziting’s subordinate to pick them up, but it was actually a trap. When the carriage reached certain point, he would use ten-thousand-jun-thunderbolt momentum to attack and to put them to death.
The second possibility was that the Cui Wang in front of him was the genuine-goods-at-fair-prices Bai Ziting’s subordinate Gongqi. This idea was not without any justification at all. At least Ma Ji said that currently the eighty thousand sheets of sheepskin were in Bai Ziting’s hands. Liexia also mentioned that the wolf-bandits were Bai Ziting’s men.
The third possibility was that the gentleman before his eyes was really Gongqi and not Cui Wang at all. Only because he happened to have a tattoo on his body that Kou Zhong mistakenly thought Feng Jing as Ma Liang. As for why Gongqi stood outside Yuekepengs’ door watching people coming in and out, perhaps there was another reason.
If it were the first possibility, if they refused the protection, perhaps the other side would turn hostile and, considering Kou Zhong was currently alone, they might immediately make their move, and then the situation would be very bad.
Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “Ah! Turns out it is Gong Jiangjun. Da Wang is very kind.”
And then acted mysterious by lowering his voice, saying, “Gong Jiangjun, please step aside to talk.”
‘Cui Wang’ hesitated slightly before stepping across the threshold. Following Kou Zhong into the courtyard, he respectfully said, “What instructions does Shaoshuai have?”
Seeing his ‘hesitancy’, Kou Zhong was greatly excited, because it proved that there was a greater possibility that this ‘Gongqi’ was actually Cui Wang, hence he was wary of Kou Zhong.
Standing only two paces apart, Kou Zhong stared at the other side’s as-sharp-as-an-eagle-targeting-jackal-and-wolf pair of eyes; pretending to be a bit embarrassed, he said, “I am afraid Gong Jiangjun has made this trip in vain, ay! We …”
Stunned, Gongqi said, “Shaoshuai is not going to the Palace tonight? Da Wang will be greatly disappointed.”
Clearing his throat, Kou Zhong said, “Jiangjun misunderstood! We just want to go to the banquet at the Palace on our own. Ay! How should I say it? We want to lure the people who ambushed us this morning out to teach them a good lesson. If we have you heralding our presence at the front and crowding behind us, this luring-the-enemy tactic won’t be effective.”
Gongqi’s pair of eyes was flashing with strange light, but in the blink of an eye it disappeared. Sweeping his gaze across the south hall, he nodded and said, “Mojiang understands. It’s just that Da Wang sent us here precisely for two gentlemen’s safety. I heard Da Wang mentioning Shaoshuai’s injury to be quite serious. If there is any mishap along the way, how could Mojiang bear this responsibility?”
Inwardly Kou Zhong was secretly happy, because from this man’s reaction and attitude, he was more certain that this man was Cui Wang. Since other side could say that Bai Ziting knew about his injury, then he had no doubt about this ‘Gongqi’ identity anymore. Therefore, if he could verify that this ‘Gongqi’ frequently go inside the Pass to ‘amass wealth’ and was not in Longquan for an extended period of time, then he could ascertain that he was both Gongqi and Cui Wang.
The only remaining question was that Cui Wang and his men were all Huihe people, why would they listen to Bai Ziting’s command? Also, what was their relationship with Xu Kaishan and Du Xing?
Kou Zhong mused inwardly, ‘How could Laozi dare to sit in your, LaoGe’s carriage?’ Lowering his voice, Kou Zhong said, “Jiangjun, don’t worry. I, Kou Zhong, may not have other skill, but I do know a thing or two about treating injury; otherwise, how could I be willing to gamble my old life against some despicable fellows? Jiangjun, please go back and tell Da Wang, we will surely arrive for the banquet on time.”
Gongqi muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment. Appearing to be helpless, he said, “Naturally we will respect Shaoshuai’s decision. Mojiang will return to report the truth to Da Wang. Shaoshuai, please be careful.”
Finished speaking, he saluted and took his leave.
It was not until the door was closed that Kou Zhong dropped his guard and heaved a sigh of relief. Just now, when Gongqi was muttering to himself irresolutely, Kou Zhong felt that the murderous intent in his heart was flaring greatly, but then it faded away. Apparently, after some consideration, he abandoned his intention to immediately make his move.
This moment, inside the hall of the south wing, on the opposite side of the main gate, Xu Ziling was explaining tonight’s tangled and complicated situation briefly to Yin Xianhe. Kou Zhong, with excited expression, came in. Seeing the two were standing behind the blinds, he laughed and said, “Did you see that?”
Xu Ziling said, “Unexpectedly Bai Ziting has such a brilliant subordinate. When he was casting his gaze in our direction, I sensed that he saw us behind the blinds. Merely this skill is already greatly not simple.”
Yin Xianhe spoke heavily, “This man is called Gongqi, one of the four valiant generals under Bai Ziting’s command; he has quite a reputation.”
Emotionally moved, Kou Zhong said, “Is he really Bai Ziting’s subordinate?”
Stunned, Xu Ziling asked, “You suspect him?”
Kou Zhong replied, “You have fought against Cui Wang; don’t you feel that he is a bit familiar?”
Xu Ziling stared blankly. He focused his attention to think deeply.
Yin Xianhe’s eyes grew big, he said, “How could Shaoshuai think that Gongqi is Cui Wang?”
Kou Zhong explained clearly. He spoke in distress, “I wonder of there’s a way for us to know when the wolf-bandits were inside the Pass, killing and burning, whether Gongqi was not in Longquan? This way we can be sure that Gongqi is Cui Wang.”
“Yin Xiong seems to be very familiar with Longquan’s affairs,” Xu Ziling proposed.
Yin Xianhe’s pair of eyes emitted another tender expression. He nodded and said, “This is my third visit to Longquan. I can take the responsibility of investigating whether Gongqi is Cui Wang. There should be some result tomorrow at the latest.”
Kou Zhong happily said, “In that case, we’ll have to trouble Yin Xiong. Hey! Yin Xiong has a special feeling toward Longquan.”
Yin Xianhe shook his head and said, “Very rarely I stayed in one place for a long time. Therefore, I go to different place a lot more than anybody.”
The two boys knew that he was hiding something, but they did not have time to go to the bottom of this matter; furthermore, they knew that he would not easily reveal the load on his mind.
Xu Ziling nodded and said, “His appearance and body type are somewhat similar; your suspicion is probably true.”
Smiling bitterly, Kou Zhong said, “If when we are leaving the Palace Cui Wang invites us to board the carriage, shall we accept or refuse?”
Xu Ziling also felt big headache. Leaving the Palace in a horse-drawn carriage was an important part if their plan. It could make the target more obvious, but also make the two boys’ ‘lianshou miao shu’ [marvelous technique of joining hands] easier to play. However, if Gongqi was Cui Wang, sitting inside his carriage would suddenly increase the unpredictability of the dangerous variables.
Yin Xianhe acted as if he suddenly remembered a load on his mind; he said with wooden expression, “I’m sure two gentlemen will find a solution. While gentlemen are attending the banquet, I will try to investigate whether Gongqi has another identity.”
Finished speaking, he left the hall and leaped over the wall and disappeared.
Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Right now my head is swelling, I no longer have any confidence about tonight’s affair. Ling Shao, how about you?”
“How much better do you think I am compared to you?” Xu Ziling replied.
The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly.