Book 60 Chapter 11 – Hard Shock to the Demonic King
Xu Ziling leaped over the wall and entered the nunnery, and went straight to the middle garden. The gravel path in front of him went through the bamboo forest, if he walked to the left, he would ultimately reach Jing She [the exquisite abode] where Shi Qingxuan was staying, but he halted his steps in front of the bamboo forest, and said in heavy voice, “Xie Wang, please show yourself so that we can see each other.”
A sigh sounded from behind. Translated by foxs
Xu Ziling slowly turned around. The Demonic King Shi Zhixuan was standing in the shadow of an old pine tree under the moonshine, looking up at the sky, his face filled with concentrated haze.
All around the insects were chirping, so that one could imagine that in the cluster of flowers and luxuriant leaves, there was a world full of life.
The half-moon was rising to the middle of the sky, colored life filled the garden.
Shi Zhixuan let out a long sigh, he spoke serenely, “Was it you who told Qingxuan to come to Chang’an?”
“You could say so,” Xu Ziling replied.
Shi Zhixuan cast his gaze at him, a gaze filled with contradictory and complicated expressions. He spoke slowly, “Just go! Take Qingxuan with you, go as far as possible, you and Kou Zhong don’t have half a sliver of chance.”
Xu Ziling intuitively felt that Shi Zhixuan, as expected, clearly knew all their secrets, hence his tone was so sure. He replied indifferently, “Xie Wang should know my answer. This is our only opportunity to resolve the disaster of the Central Earth, no matter how difficult it is, we have no choice but to make an all-out effort.”
The murderous intent in Shi Zhixuan’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, he stared at him without blinking and said, “You can be stupid, you can overestimate your capabilities, you can be pigheaded, you can follow the path to your own doom, but you can’t involve my daughter in this matter, let alone not taking responsibility toward her.”
If he could make a new choice, he, Xu Ziling would definitely not let Qingxuan came to Chang’an. The situation in Chang’an took a sharp turn on the first day, leaving them in an inferior situation of taking a beating, something that they were unable to imagine beforehand.
Xu Ziling returned his swift and fierce gaze for quite half a day, he spoke softly, “Has Xie Wang fulfilled your responsibilities as a father?”
The clothes on Shi Zhixuan’s entire body fluttered, his hair stood up on its root, it swayed on top of his head, just like the devil king incarnate, suddenly revealing his true identity [referring to Buddha or God incarnates], weird to the extreme point. “You are courting death!” he shouted. The next moment he appeared half a zhang in front of Xu Ziling, one punch exploded over.
Xu Ziling sensed that the other side’s punch was filling the heaven and stuffing the earth, even if his flanks grew a pair of wings, he still wouldn’t be able to evade it. Furthermore, he knew that Shi Zhixuan was really angry and was making his move with all his strength. This punch’s mighty power indeed could not be blocked, yet he had no choice but to block it.
All of a sudden the surrounding air seemed to be shaken by Shi Zhixuan, irresolute like splitting open the nine levels of heaven or eighteen layers of hell, the punch sucked everything so that not a drop remained, so that Xu Ziling felt that his entire body was empty and fluttering, there was nowhere to exert his strength; the feeling was uncomfortable to the extreme point.
In an instant, his heart and spirit advanced into the Brightly Lit realm, but the true qi within his body was growing naturally, none was overlooked. One finger stretched out.
The Treasured-Vase Image Qi, like the sharpest needle, shot straight toward the core of the opponent’s fist, producing an ear-piercing splitting-the-air sound.
‘Bang!’
Xu Ziling’s whole body was severely shaken, he flew backward like a kite with cut string, so that he was nearly two zhang away from Shi Zhixuan before he suddenly stopped. Raising his sleeve to wipe the blood escaping from the corner of his lips, he spoke in heavy voice, “Why didn’t Xie Wang seize the opportunity to pursue and attack?”
Shi Zhixuan stood still, unmoving, while staring blankly at his own fist. It was quite half a day later that he lowered his right hand, looked at him, his hair returned to previous condition, and he spoke in astonishment, “What kind of martial art is this? Unexpectedly it can shake and disperse my punch’s power?”
Xu Ziling suppressed his surging blood and qi, he said, “The strongest point is precisely the weakest point. The strongest can become the weakest. But were it not for Xie Wang’s heart was moved with anger, no trace became with trace, I would have no way to grasp it.”
Unexpectedly Shi Zhixuan’s fury was like scattering cloud, disappearing smoke, his pair of eyes emitted a perplexed expression, he looked up at the bright moon in the sky, nodded his head, and said with a sigh, “That’s right! I practically have no qualifications to blame you. Ziling’s love for Qingxuan is beyond doubt. Ay, Ziling! Can you listen to some sincere advice that is unpleasant to hear?”
Xu Ziling said, “Xie Wang, please give directions.”
Shi Zhixuan put his hands behind his back, he walked slowly but surely, coming to his left, and spoke in low voice, “Ziling, just go! And you must go immediately. After returning to Liangdu, gather all your power, and when Xieli’s army goes south, march into Luoyang, and then divide your troops to attack Guanzhong and Taiyuan. At that time, Xieli has only one option, which is to retreat outside the Great Wall. Chang’an will be the object inside your bag. As long as your action is fast and nimble and effective, the damage that Xieli can bring about is still limited. The key is when you retake Luoyang. This is the only sensible act. In Chang’an, you are at a dead end. You guys think you can rely on the strongest point. It is exactly your weakest point. You practically cannot withstand a single blow. Li Shimin is done for. You persist in staying just to accompany him on the journey together. Hereby Ol’ Shi’s words are over, Ziling thinks it through carefully. Ay!”
Finished speaking, he walked away and disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
Kou Zhong barely left the Situ Mansion, a fragrant breeze blew, like a ghost or demon Wanwan came behind him, she sent her silver bell-like voice into his ears, saying, “Follow me!”
Kou Zhong chased after her, landed on a house, crossed over a house, flying in the direction of the Xing Qing Palace, musing inwardly that if he could make his move to kill her, then Shi Zhixuan would be the only one who knew the secret of the treasure house, and things would be much simpler. But what he knew even more was that he had no confidence to put Wanwan to death, plus her betrayal was still only in the speculation stage. Such a killer move was really not straightforward, difficult to harden his qi, and would be too hot-headed.
He could not help sighing inwardly.
Compared to him, Wanwan seemed to be on an easy drive on a familiar path around the Xing Qing Palace, she led him through the north wall into the palace, and went straight toward the Chen Xiang Pavilion.
The Xing Qing Palace’s defense was far less than that of the Great Tang Palace. Only the seven gates of the palace were guarded, by avoiding buildings and patrolling troops, superior martial art masters would be able to enter unhabitable area.
Finally the two sat down inside the Chen Xiang Pavilion.
Kou Zhong asked in astonishment, “How did you know I might be at the Situ Mansion?”
In high spirit, Wanwan laughed and said, “I went to Hua E Lou to look for you, yet the people are gone and the place is empty [idiom: deserted]. Naturally there is another place to go, hence I went to Situ Mansion to try my luck. It seems that my luck is not bad!”
Looking at her flowery smiling face, amiable expression and the tone of her voice, Kou Zhong found it hard to believe that she would harm himself and Xu Ziling, but Xu Ziling’s feeling should not have been too far off the mark. With contradiction in his heart, he said, “Unexpectedly you did not alarm Lao Ba and Hou kid?”
Shrugging her fragrant shoulders slightly, Wanwan said, “What’s so strange? I am used to hearing the sound of your and Ziling’s breathing and circulating your qi, no need to enter the building to know whether you are inside or not.”
Staring blankly, Kou Zhong said, “This is called hard to believe, your Tianmo Gong is getting more and more brilliant!”
Wanwan said, “I don’t have any worries in my heart. I don’t need to rush around and toil like you and Ziling day in and day out, naturally it’s a bit easier to make progress. Ay! Your current move seems to be awfully wrong. What are you going to do now?
Kou Zhong said, “The top priority now is to resolve Li Shimin being framed by crafty scoundrel, what good suggestion do you have?”
Wanwan showed a thoughtful look, it was quite half a day later that she sighed and said, “Jiancheng’s move this time, he must have planned it well before going into action, combined with the imperial concubines fanning the flame, plus Li Yuan’s misunderstanding toward Shimin is too deep. What else can I suggest?”
Kou Zhong mused that if Wanwan was really deceiving him, she was indeed very successful; she did not reveal the slightest flaw.
Wanwan said, “What are you going to do?”
Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “I asked Liao Kong to send out a warning to Li Yuan.”
“What?” Wanwan blurted out, “You are not joking, are you?”
Until this moment Kou Zhong still did not tell her half a word of lie, because he did not want to rouse her suspicion, only then would he be able to deceive her and gain her trust on more important things. He spoke in deject, “Can you give me a better choice?”
Wanwan shook her small cicada head slightly, and then the refined light in her pair of eyes flaring greatly, she spoke heavily, “Can you make your move earlier?”
Kou Zhong secretly thought that if Wanwan was really like Xu Ziling had guessed, this sentence not only could test their situation, it could also lead them into a dead end. Smiling wryly, he said, “We already changed our plan, we decided to join forces with Li Yuan first to repel foreign enemies, and then talk about other things.”
Wanwan trembled slightly, her pretty eyebrows knitted, a few cute wrinkles appeared on her forehead, she stared at him without blinking.
Kou Zhong explained, “This is Qin Wang‘s idea. He is afraid that due to the uprising, Chang’an’s vitality would be severely injured, the political situation would be unstable, it will be powerless to resist Xieli’s hearing-the-wind-arriving-quickly army.”
Wanwan asked, “Are your men all present?”
Kou Zhong said, “I told them to return to Hanzhong to await orders, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”
Wanwan spoke in displeasure, “You are too reckless! How could you underestimate Li Jiancheng? He has Yin Zuwen and Zhao Deyan planning and preparing behind him, so that now you want to counterattack, you have the heart but lack the power.”
Kou Zhong spoke heavily, “If tomorrow Liao Kong’s warning to Li Yuan is not effective, we have no choice but to take Li Shimin away from the Hong Yi Palace, and then try to arrange for his family members and subordinates to leave via the treasure house. This is the worst scenario; I hope that the situation will not develop to this stage.”
Shaking her head, Wanwan said, “That is impossible, you can never accomplish it.”
Kou Zhong said, “I already thought about it until my head ache and swell up, so I don’t want to take trouble to use my brains anymore, let everything depends on Laotianye’s will and decree.”
After a short pause, he asked her, “Is there any way to contact you, Wan Da Xiaojie?”
Wanwan said, “I will look for you. Ay! Kou Zhong, you and Ziling should just go! The situation in Chang’an is no longer under your control. If you leave, perhaps you might save Li Shimin’s life instead, because he still has great value of being useful.”
Kou Zhong shook his head and said, “Nobody understands one’s son better than his father [idiom], Li Yuan should understand that his clumsy handling technique of being generous to that and being unkind to this has broken his son’s heart. Even if Li Shimin did not have the heart to become a king on the outside before, he should change his mind now. Ziling and I are both men who talk about Jianghu’s yiqi, about dying without regret [idiom from Analects]. We will stay here until the last moment. If Li Shimin is killed, we will kill our way out of Chang’an. The day I am returning to Guanzhong will be the day when the Li Family will perish.”
Wanwan showed a thinking-deeply-with-rapt-attention look, after half a day, she spoke with tranquil tone, “Whether Liao Kong’s warning will take effect or not, we will find out tomorrow.”
Shi Qingxuan sat extremely quietly on the wooden steps outside the exquisite abode, her hand propping her chin, her elbow resting on her knee, she looked up at the moon in the sky. She appeared to be entranced, as if totally oblivious that Xu Ziling was coming toward her.
Beautiful image of a woman entered his eyes, an unstoppable feeling of happiness welled up from the bottom of Xu Ziling’s heart, spreading across his body like a warm current, his love toward this touching woman was no longer flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in the lake [idiom: an unrealistic rosy view], but was incomparably real and could be touched.
Her manner and expression had some kind of sacred and inviolable taste, so that he did not dare to disturb, he only dared to sit extremely quietly by her side, and let out a light sigh.
Shi Qingxuan still did not look at him, her cherry lips released a soft voice, “Xu Ziling! Is it you coming here?”
Xu Ziling nearly did not know how to answer, he clumsily said, “That’s right! Xu Ziling is coming here.”
Shi Qingxuan still maintained her original immortal disposition and charming attitude, she said, “You came across something that did not go according to your wishes today? Why is the sound of your footsteps so heavy? Did you fight with someone just now? Qingxuan heard noises!”
Xu Ziling could not help stealing a glance at her face. She looked to be in particularly deep emotion, looking pensive, making Xu Ziling think of the deep darkness of the starry sky, the creek and the waterfall at the You Lin Xiao Gu. Although it was a different situation now, but because of her existence, everything turned into dreamlike illusion, dreamlike intoxicating sweetness, touching the heartstrings.
Under such circumstances, how could he still have the leisurely mood to think about anything else outside of her? Shi Feixuan’s deep love was like memories that happened in the last cycle of reincarnation.
Since setting foot in Chang’an this morning, he has been drawn into the wave of deceit, cloud of craftiness [idiom: turbulent] struggle in the city, pitting himself against various power that could be rated as the most powerful in the present age. Any mistake would all result in being caught in and consigned to eternal damnation circumstances, making his whole person like a taut bowstring. But at this moment, he was completely relaxed, not knowing when, where and what life he was in.
Shi Qingxuan’s voice whispered in low voice by his ear, “Xu Ziling! Can Qingxuan ask you a question?”
In the bursts of night breeze, Xu Ziling was bursting with joy, he nodded and said, “Xu Ziling is listening with respectful attention.”
Shi Qingxuan was still looking up at the night sky; as if she was muttering to herself, she asked, “What is happiness?”
Being asked that question, Xu Ziling was dumbstruck and unable to reply. It was like asking what is love? Perhaps no one is able to give a definite answer. That was one of the unresolved questions since the ancient times. In fact, he never thought about what happiness is all about. Happiness is purely one kind of a feeling.
Xu Ziling stared blankly at her for half a day, slowly, word by word, he said, “I still think that happiness should be like this, with Qingxuan by my side.”
Shi Qingxuan was still unwilling to meet his gaze, she spoke softly, “Qingxuan used to think that when you go to bed every night, you don’t have any troubles in your heart, and you are not afraid of the tomorrow after you wake up – that is happiness. However, I now think that this way of thinking about this happiness has changed! My happiness is you, this kaizi [triumphant kid; dictionary says it’s slang for rich, good-looking guy].”
Severely shaken, Xu Ziling said, “Qingxuan!”
Shi Qingxuan finally withdrew her gaze to look at him, ‘Pfft!’ giggling tenderly, she said, “Isn’t it fun?”
She then lowered her head and spoke in a low voice, “For Qingxuan, you are a weird person, a mystery that no one can solve, and your temperament is very big! But when I feel that you are like a riddle, Qingxuan also know that it will be difficult to extricate myself, because love is precisely a riddle. Even a poet who knows how to compose an ode to praise love the most, the most talented and intelligent sage, still cannot understand the secret of love.”
Hearing that, Xu Ziling was dumbstruck, momentarily he was speechless. He had never thought that Shi Qingxuan would look at him in this way, but he knew clearly that she was opening herself up without concealing anything, letting him share the profound mystery inside her heart.
It was precisely this kind of artistic mood and attitude of the heart that was different from ordinary people that enabled her to play such a touching, immortal tune and wonderful rhyme.
Shi Qingxuan called in low voice, “What is kaizi thinking about?”
Xu Ziling blurted out, “I’m thinking of you.”
Not letting him off easily, Shi Qingxuan coquettishly said, “You are not being honest again, are you thinking about things that are bothering you?”
The load on his mind being aroused, it was like a basin of cold water being poured on his head, Xu Ziling woke up from the deepest, the sweetest dream, and returning to the cruel and dangerous real world.
The sound of insects assaulted his ears from four sides, eight directions.
Xu Ziling stared deeply at her, ten thousand fathoms heroic feeling, and the fighting spirit that no one could change – welled up in his heart, because if he shrunk back a little, he would be powerless to protect the flower.
Taking a deep breath, he spoke in a firm and advancing-courageously tone, “Would Qingxuan be willing to marry me, Xu Ziling, to be my wife?”
Shi Qingxuan’s tender body trembled fiercely, ‘Ah!’ she cried, hanging her head down, the rose-tinted color of the sunset sky rose up on her jade cheeks, bright red blush shot straight through the roots of her ears, obviously her fragrant heart was in great chaos, she was caught off guard.
Xu Ziling was about to pursue further, Shi Qingxuan reached out to put her fingers on his lips, she met his gaze, unable to contain her joy, mixed with bashfulness, she said, “If I don’t marry you, whom should I marry? Idiot! Do you still have to ask?”
Kou Zhong returning to Hua E Lou, Shen Luoyan was talking with Ba Fenghan and Hou Xibai, two men at the round table in the corner of the main hall downstairs, leaning against the lake.
Kou Zhong sat down and said, “I hope there is no more bad news.”
Casting a sidelong glance at him, Shen Luoyan said, “Isn’t it bad enough?”
Kou Zhong sighed and asked, “How is the situation?”
Shen Luoyan replied, “The way Huangshang handled of this matter was too unfair, it aroused great indignation from the Heavenly Policy Mansion people, from top to bottom. The various generals of Tian Ce Fu, headed by Li Jing, accompanied Qin Wang to the Hong Yi Palace, vowing to protect Qin Wang to the death.”
Kou Zhong asked, “Any movement on Li Yuan, that old fellow’s side?”
Shen Luoyan replied, “On Huangshang’s side, everything is as usual, but Taizi has assembled the Changlin army at the Changlin Gate, obviously he is harboring unruly intention.”
After a short pause, she spoke heavily, “I’m here tonight on behalf of Li Jing and the others, officers and soldiers of the Tian Ce Fu, to ask you a question. Can you launch the uprising tonight?”
Kou Zhong sighed and said, “I am dying to do it too, but the time is not yet ripe, and the enemy is waiting in tight formation. If we rush to raise the troops, we would only fall into the enemy’s trap. What did your Li Da Jiangjun say?”
Shen Luoyan nodded and said, “I am of the same opinion. Shiji is now based in Luoyang, not in Chang’an.”
Ba Fenghan spoke heavily, “One day Luoyang is still in Li Da Jiangjun’s hands, Li Yuan would never dare to deal with Qin Wang with drastic means.”
Kou Zhong spoke in delight, “Then Liao Kong’s warning will display even bigger formidable power.”
Everyone was stunned, thereupon Kou Zhong explained it in details, he said, “We are preparing both hands. If Wen [civil, literature, gentle] does not work, we will use Wu [military, martial arts, hard], at most we will kill our way out of Chang’an and let Qin Wang proclaim himself the emperor in Luoyang.”
Shen Luoyan said, “I hope Liao Kong could generate an effect.”
Hou Xibai said, “Someone like Liao Kong, this kind of standing-aloof-from-worldly-affairs outsider, suddenly coming with stern warning, it will more or less influence Li Yuan’s decision, so that he won’t dare to act blindly without thinking.”
Kou Zhong was puzzled, he asked Shen Luoyan, “This matter is indeed bizarre beyond belief, based on Qin Wang‘s astuteness and Dark-Armored Guards loyal elite troops, how could people stealthily put at least a dozen boxes of firearms inside Qing Liang Zhai without anybody knowing about it?”
Shen Luoyan spoke in distress, “If only we could know. Qing Liang Zhai has an underground wine cellar, the firearms were stealthily put in there. This should have been done before Qin Wang returned to Chang’an. At that time, Yeting Palace lacked martial art masters, the defense was sloppy, so that Jiancheng had an opportunity that he could exploit. I am going back to report to Qin Wang. After arriving at Hong Yi Palace, Qin Wang stays alone inside his room, he did not say half a word.”
Kou Zhong said, “Tell Qin Wang, I, Kou Zhong will always stand on his side, please rest assured.”