Book 42 - Chapter 2 – Who’s the Treacherous Villain?
The unusual color of Shi Feixuan’s eyes was rippling, she asked softly, “What did Meiyan Furen want from you just now?”
Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling replied, “She came for the Five-Colored Stone. I already returned the Five-Colored Stone to her as she wished.”
Astonished, Shi Feixuan asked, “Didn’t she ask you to present the Five-Colored Stone to Bai Ziting?”
Xu Ziling said, “She was just borrowing us to escort the Five-Colored Stone to Longquan for her. At that time she had become the target of a multitude of arrows; Shiwei, Qidan, Tujue, every tribe wanted to get hold of this Stone. Her followers are numerous, her target was clear, she must not put herself in danger from the pursuing troops, so she used us to take her place, shifting the target. Now that her goal has been achieved, naturally she wanted the Five-Colored Stone back.”
After a short pause, he continued, “Meiyan Furen is in a fierce struggle for survival against the Da Ming Zun Jiao. But she seems to regard this matter as a family affair internal to the sect, and does not want outsiders to intervene, hence she is unwilling to disclose any further inside story.”
Pondering deeply, Shi Feixuan said, “If Xieli wanted to deal with me at Shanhai Pass, he could have executed the plan after you left.”
Xu Ziling said, “Xieli could only deal either with you or with us, one at a time. And he has deep knowledge from history that no matter how rich and powerful his military force is, because of the great disparity in numbers compared to the Central Plains, purely relying on military force is not enough to conquer and govern such a vast area of the Central Earth. Therefore, he decided on the strategy to use puppets like Li Jiancheng as the conduit of his control, just like Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shidou. And thus anybody or anything that stands in the way of their goal must be eliminated.”
Shi Feixuan nodded her head in agreement.
Xu Ziling’s inference was conforming to reason. It could be imagined that if any harm came to Shi Feixuan, the power of the white way [righteous, opposite to ‘black way’ (see last chapter)] of the Central Plains, with Ci Hang Jing Zhai as the spiritual leader – would suffer a big blow; the damage that Li Shimin suffered would be even more incalculable. Xieli could even shift the blame to Yin Gui Pai. One stone, two birds, it would create huge waves within the Central Plains’ Wulin.
As for Kou Zhong, he had become the other biggest obstacle outside of Li Shimin for Xieli to invade the Central Plains, simply because he had obtained Song Que’s, the powerful hegemon of Lingnan – support, who, in himself, had enough power to rally supporters. Even if he succeeded in eradicating Li Shimin, leaving behind Kou Zhong, this reliable agent to wreak havoc, there was still a chance that Xieli’s enterprise, his grandiose plan, his tyrannical scheme – would be ruined for the sake of one basketful.
Therefore, among the two choices, after considering the pros and cons, Xieli decided to get rid of Kou Zhong first, before looking for an opportunity to put Shi Feixuan in order.
Shi Feixuan spoke softly, “Does Ziling have a good proposal on how to deal with this matter?”
Xu Ziling rose up to his full height and moved to stand in front of Shi Feixuan, who was sitting on the stone step, and calmly said, “Presently, because of the ceasefire between Xieli and Tuli, Xieli definitely is not going to take the initiative to destroy the peaceful atmosphere with Tuli, hence he had to change tactics; temporarily he is not going to deal with the three of us, but he has no such misgivings to deal with Feixuan. Last night was definitely a trap to deal with Feixuan, it’s just that Feixuan did not fall into the trap. That’s all.”
To lay an ambush to kill such a top-quality martial art master like Shi Feixuan, the time must be right, geographical and social conditions must be favorable, not a single one is dispensable; they must lure her into the situation where it would be difficult for her to get out, only then would they have the chance of success.
It was quite possible that Zhou Laotan subdued Zhou Laofang one step ahead, and forced confession from his mouth on Da Ming Zun Jiao’s plan to deal with him and Kou Zhong, thereupon he wanted to beat them at their own game, hoping that the two boys, in their grief and indignation, in anxiety and anger, would recklessly charge into the mysterious mansion, and both they and the mansion people would fight each other until both sides suffer.
As for leaving secret marks to notify Shi Feixuan, quite possible it was Zhou Laotan’s doing, which would also dispel the suspicion that Zhou Laofang could not do separate tasks at the same time.
Xu Ziling continued, “Zhou Laofang must have found out from Xu Kaishan on how Zhou Laotan, husband and wife, made contact with Feixuan, hence Zhou Laofang could impersonate his brother without revealing any flaw.”
Shi Feixuan stood up gracefully and spoke cheerfully, “What do we do now?”
Extremely deferential, Xu Ziling bowed with clasped hands and said, “Xiaodi beseech Xianzi’s gracious permission to let me escort Xianzi until you arrived outside the gate with the ‘Home is on this mountain, the clouds deeply unaware where to go’ engraved on it.”
Laughing involuntarily, Shi Feixuan said, “This is the second time I really want to give you a beating.”
Xu Ziling laughed to his heart’s content and said, “Feixuan need not take it too seriously, I am just joking with you, there’s no harm in Feixuan giving it another consideration; just see it as another ‘small lesson’.”
Finished speaking, he laughed aloud and left.
Xu Ziling returned to the courtyard house. Kou Zhong was by himself, sitting antsily next to the hot spring pond. Seeing Xu Ziling come back, he struggled to arouse his spirit and pretended to be angry, saying, “Good kid! Where the hell have you been? What time is it now? Our appointment with Song LaoGe to see Xiao Shiyi [young martial aunt] at noon is almost here. While we still have a bit of time, let’s go see Yuekepeng immediately.”
Xu Ziling scrutinized him in astonishment, “What happened?” he asked in surprise, “How come your expression looks so weird?”
Kou Zhong stood up, wrapped his arm around Xu Ziling’s shoulders and pulled him to step out of the door and into the street; sighing, he said, “Just now there were three noble guests dropping by our door, one of them was naturally Shidao Xiong, but can you guess the other two?”
Knitting his sword eyebrows, Xu Ziling said, “There are so many possibilities, how can I guess?”
Kou Zhong dejectedly said, “Xiufang Dajia was one. This time you really have to save me.”
Shaken, Xu Ziling asked, “What happened?”
Smiling bitterly, Kou Zhong replied, “Only if you promise not to scold me will I dare to tell you.”
Xu Ziling stopped right in front of the door. Under the bright sunlight, he looked closely at Kou Zhong. It was quite half a day later that he sighed and said, “Looking at your forlorn appearance, as a brother, how could I have the heart to scold you? Love is the most difficult thing to talk about, it can make people turn into an idiot, into a fool. Just tell me!”
Kou Zhong hung his head low, acting like a little boy who had done something wrong, “I kissed her delicious little mouth,” he spoke in a barely audible voice.
“What?” Xu Ziling blurted out, “Unexpectedly it is that serious? My Niang!”
“Your Niang is also my Niang,” Kou Zhong said with a wry smile, “At that time I was so confused that I did not know what I was doing! The worst thing is that even now I am still looking forward to making the mistake over and over again. Ay! What do I do? How do I solve this problem? I can’t simply tell her that I was so confused and thus kissed her on the mouth, asking her to be magnanimous not to remember this Xiaoren’s [little/small people, or lowly person] mistake.”
Muttering to himself irresolutely, Xu Ziling said, “Other than kissing her, did you, this kid, move your hands and move your feet?”
“Of course not,” Kou Zhong hastily replied, “I have great respect toward her. I kissed her only because at that time she was leaning on my bosom, making Xiaodi momentarily could not control my emotions. That’s all!”
Xu Ziling sighed and said, “Honestly, in this kind of thing, although I am your brother, it is very difficult to help you. I only know that if this affair with Shang Xiufang continues, it will be very difficult to explain to Song Yuzhi. This is because Shang Xiufang’s status is different. On the contrary, it will be easier for Song Yuzhi to tolerate Chuchu, she might be willing to let you take her as your concubine.”
Overwhelmed with shock, Kou Zhong said, “If you don’t help me, who will? Quickly use your smart little brain to find a solution for me.”
Smiling bitterly, Xu Ziling said, “I don’t know whether it’s because this place is so far away from the Central Earth that whatever you do, whatever mistake you committed, it seems like you don’t have to worry about responsibilities or consequences. But the matter between a man and a woman, who could possibly interfere in between? I can only advise you to rein in the horse at the edge of the precipice. Don’t let anything develop further between you and Shang Xiufang. I hope that because she is engrossed in the music treasury of the area beyond the Great Wall, she will forget you, this kid.”
Grieved, Kou Zhong said, “I am in so much pain!”
“Who was the other one?” Xu Ziling asked.
“It’s that kid, Ke Dazhi,” Kou Zhong replied, “He came specifically to tell me that last night Liexia stayed at Shang Xiufang’s place the whole night. Don’t misunderstand, they were simply studying the secret musical score.”
Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “If it is as simple as telling you about this matter, it does not look like Ke Dazhi’s style of work at all.”
Kou Zhong knew it was very difficult to conceal anything from him, therefore, even though he did not want to tell him, he would have to offer this matter on a platter. He said with a wry smile, “He and I discussed how to put Liexia, that muddled egg in order, and afterwards Xiufang Dajia can’t possibly put the blame on us.”
Extraordinarily, Xu Ziling did not scold him. Thinking deeply, he said, “Putting Liexia in order is not easy at all, one thing goes wrong, our boat will capsize in the ditch. The biggest problem is that Liexia has not committed any obvious evil deeds. This is called it’s difficult for an angry fist to hit a smiling face. We can’t simply consider his pursuit of Shang Xiufang as a crime, and catch him and give him a beating, can we?”
Kou Zhong agreed. Suddenly getting excited, he said, “Not giving him a beating, but getting rid of him; once the main problem is solved, all troubles are solved. Even more, we can weaken Da Ming Zun Jiao’s strength.”
Xu Ziling said, “Almost forget to tell you, Yucheng finally left a secret mark, telling us to meet in a restaurant at the Vermillion Bird Boulevard near the south gate at the beginning of Shen hour [3-5pm].”
Kou Zhong happily said, “It’s a public place, certainly not a trap. Count him in! Say, didn’t you go out early in the morning to see Shi Feixuan? She agreed to marry you, didn’t she?”
“Less nonsense!” Xu Ziling crossly said, “Let’s go!”
The two stepped into the street and headed toward the foreign guesthouse.
“I also saw three people,” Xu Ziling said, “Other than Feixuan, I also saw Yin Xianhe. Really strange though, I asked Yin Xianhe to follow closely and monitor Xu Kaishan secretly, yet he spent the whole night at a house belonging to Longquan’s famous courtesan called Hui Shen, without leaving at all. It’s very difficult to guess what’s true and what’s false about this person.”
Kou Zhong said, “You seem to think that Xu Kaishan is a greatly wicked and greatly evil man, but I feel confused about him.”
While walking, Xu Ziling narrated the analysis he made about Xu Kaishan in front of Shi Feixuan, without omitting anything. Finally he said, “Perhaps Yucheng will be able to confirm this matter for us.”
A bean-sized raindrop fell on Kou Zhong’s forehead, causing him to look up into the sky and shouting, “There are too many things happening today, so that momentarily we forgot to look at the sky. There is his granny’s black cloud overhead, let’s run.”
But less than ten steps later, the rain came crashing down. Helpless, the two boys ducked into a restaurant specializing in goat milk tea and baked cheesecake, both to take shelter from the rain, and to fill their belly, which had not had any breakfast yet.
While eating, Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Isn’t it called the road to happiness is strewn with setbacks [idiom]? Every time we wanted to see Yuekepeng, something happened so that we couldn’t go.”
He was just speaking casually. Immediately he lowered his voice and said, “I wonder if my action toward Shang Xiufang could be considered a mistake, but I really feel somewhat unable to refuse her, that I am letting down her deep love and good intention. Ay! You did not see her somber appearance when she was mourning for her deceased mother at the beginning of Spring [i.e. New Year’s Day], which makes me don’t have the heart to hurt her even more.”
Xu Ziling’s gaze was fixed on the street scenery under the heavy rain. A horse-drawn carriage was passing by, braving the rain. Listening to Kou Zhong, he recalled Shi Qingxuan, who was grieving as if her heart was dead due to her mother being murdered by her own father. Overwhelmed with emotion, he said, “Actually, I don’t really blame you, because from any man’s standpoint, Shang Xiufang is indeed a woman who is difficult to resist. But I only worry for you, afraid that after you sink deep into the mud, you are unable to choose. Right now, as soon as you take another step forward, you will definitely fall into the deep cliff. This is your only chance to rein your horse at the edge of the precipice. Once you have accomplished it, we’ll leave immediately, otherwise you will end up having an accident.”
The rain was beginning to break, there were only some scattered showers.
Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “But these past few days are the most trying! Each time I’m thinking of her, my heart is pounding. Such a touching beauty. Ay! My Niang! Ling Shao, you must follow me closely to guard me, pull me, drag me, but don’t let me fall into the abyss.”
Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, “How do I do that? Are you saying that when she wants to meet you in private, I can, indiscreetly, sit nearby, listening and watching? You have to have control over yourself; how can other people help?”
Kou Zhong said, “If you were me, what would you do?”
Xu Ziling angrily said, “In the end, you still don’t want to part with Shang Xiufang! Song Yuzhi is not an ordinary woman, she is the thousand-jin-of-gold [i.e. daughter] of an honorable school, big clan. Even if you want to take concubine you must obtain her permission first. Problem is that Shang Xiufang is a talented woman whom the world looks up to and venerates; in this situation, how could she be willing to become your concubine? Have you told her honestly about your engagement to Song Yuzhi? If you haven’t, then you are cheating.”
With pained expression, Kou Zhong said, “It looks like according to you, I am a cheater in the affairs of the heart, guilty of terrible crimes; is it really that serious? What happened today was so sudden! Ay! When I have a chance, following your advice, I will truthfully tell her, to let her deal with me accordingly. But I’m afraid that in her anger, she would throw herself into Liexia’s bosom; if that happened, I don’t know how to conduct myself in the future.”
Xu Ziling reached out to grab his shoulder; he sighed and said, “I was indeed too heavy on you. Frankly speaking, when I was with Shi Qingxuan, I was not thinking about Shi Feixuan at all, and vice versa; therefore, I really don’t have any qualification to blame you. The great blessing in the midst of my misfortune is that neither one of them would marry me, and your problem is the exact opposite. You are right, if Shang Xiufang is obtained by Liexia, this evil man, it would be hard to endure. We have to discuss this matter carefully.”
Obtaining Xu Ziling’s understanding, which, in this aspect, was hard to come by, immediately Kou Zhong’s spirit was greatly aroused. He spoke excitedly, “That kid Ke Dazhi and I have discussed a brilliant scheme called chasing the dog into the poor alley, which is carrying out a comprehensive wipe out on the Da Ming Zun Jiao. We will make the surviving four of the Five Kinds of Demons sacrificial banner first, seeing one we kill one. Then we won’t have to worry that Liexia and the others will not fight back. In which case we will send out our troops and easily eliminate the famous general Liexia.”
Xu Ziling said, “Unless we can prove that the wolf-bandits are Da Ming Zun Jiao people, otherwise how could we send out troops?”
Kou Zhong replied, “Based on the deep enmity and big hatred of Shangguan Long murdering Fuzhi and the others, three men alone, we can already send out the troops. Shangguan Long is Da Ming Zun Jiao man; this was confirmed personally by Zhu Yuyan. Don’t think too much, as long as Ling Shao does not oppose me killing Liexia, that will do. His granny’s bear, we are not government officials investigating a case, why do we need any evidence? After seeing Yucheng and asking a couple of questions, we can immediately commence the big operation of sweeping away the devil. We still have half a sichen, let’s say hello to Yuekepeng first.”
The two boys were about to pay the bill and leave, someone stepped across the door sill to come in and happily said, “Finally I found two gentlemen!”
The two looked up in surprise, unexpectedly it was Liexia, the one they were just discussing how to get rid of.
The kid, with a spring breeze across his whole face, came over to the two boys’ table and sat down. “Last night was the happiest moment in this ignorant person’s life,” he spoke cheerfully, “Not only I could see Xiufang Dajia’s immortal countenance, I could also hear the immortal sound of her wonderful hands playing music. Aren’t two gentlemen happy for me? Unexpectedly there is such a beautiful inside and outside woman with both appearance and skill. If she is willing to share music and poetry with this ignorant person, even if my life is reduced by ten years, I will be most willing to do so.”
Hearing that, the two boys looked at each other.
Letting out a muffled snort, Kou Zhong said, “Lie Xiong’s remark is quite contradictory. If you really had your life reduced by ten years, wouldn’t you lose a ten-year opportunity to be together with her?”
As if he had just been awakened from a dream, Liexia scrutinized his expression. “Shaoshuai is not jealous because of this, are you?” he asked in astonishment, “I hear that Song Que was willing to give you full support because you agree to be his future son-in-law. Ay! We are all brothers, we must not allow anything to damage a good relationship.”
Having his vital point squarely hit by Liexia, immediately Kou Zhong was dumbstruck and unable to reply.
“Lie Xiong, please answer my question first,” Xu Ziling spoke indifferently.
Liexia replied cheerfully, “Ziling, please bestow your instructions.”
Xu Ziling spoke in a heavy voice, “Are Shangguan Long and Rong Jiaojiao your Da Ming Zun Jiao people?”
Liexia calmed down. After staring fixedly at Xu Ziling for half a day, he revealed a smile, which in the two boys’ eyes seemed to be brimming with demonic air; nodding his head, he said, “You can say that, but at the same time you can’t say that. Strictly speaking, they belong only to our Central Earth branch, so they are not obligated to obey our instructions. Their only responsibility is toward Pi Chen Daozhang [Taoist Priest], the heir of the Central Earth forefathers. This is a secret of our Cult, but two gentlemen asked, how could I, Liexia, dare to conceal?”
Xu Ziling was at a loss. Unless Zhu Yuyan was willing to come out and prove otherwise, he had no basis to expose his lies.
Kou Zhong fiercely said, “You, this kid, can push the blame neat and clean. I hope you are not lying, otherwise we will make you suffer.”
“How could I dare to lie to you?” Liexia cried out with an expression that said he had just received unjust treatment, “If there’s still doubt and misunderstanding, let’s hear it, so that it will not affect our relationship.”
Xu Ziling sighed and said, “This is your own request. The Five-Colored Stone, what exactly is its significance to you?”
The more they came into contact with Liexia, the more they felt that it was difficult to deal with him.
If Xu Kaishan was either Da Ming Zun Jiao’s Da Zun or Yuanzi, then Liexia would definitely follow the exact same strategy, which was trying to avoid frontal confrontation against them.
Smiling wryly, Liexia asked, “Did Ziling see that s1ut Meiyan Furen, and is instigated by her?”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged a glance; both were able to see the shock and fear in the other side’s heart. Just based on one remark by Xu Ziling, Liexia immediately inferred that Xu Ziling had seen Meiyan Furen. Additionally, he guessed that Xu Ziling asked this question to verify the intention behind whether he was telling a lie or not. The quickness of his thought and his high level of intelligence indeed made others have a whole new level of respect for him.
Xu Ziling felt that he had fallen into the disadvantageous position. He mused that if this situation continued, how could they send out their troops to commence the big operation of sweeping away the devil?
He had no choice but to nod to indicate that yes, he had seen her.
Lowering his voice, Liexia said, “You must believe anything she said, because she is Funantuo’s woman, and she would help Bai Ziting in thousand ways, a hundred plans to found his kingdom, to steal, cheat, swindle, abduct, not stopping at anything. Ay! This woman is really hard to deal with, she is messing up my affair again.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling you look at me, I gaze at you again, while recalling Guan Ping at the same time; they mused inwardly that Liexia’s words were not without any reason.
Frowning, Kou Zhong asked, “What’s the animosity between you and her? Why does she insist on opposing you?”
Liexia slumped into the back of his chair, he helplessly shook his head and said with a wry smile, “This is called hatred caused by love; before she is with Funantuo, she was my woman. Ay! This ignorant person’s ugly deficiency will have to be shaken out!”
“What?” Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling blurted out at the same time.
Liexia leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, “This woman is as lovely as a flower, but she is also as poisonous as viper and scorpion; you must not touch her. Her martial art skill may not match ours, but her skill in deceiving people, we certainly can see only the dust behind her and have no hope of catching up [idiom: far inferior].”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling could only smile bitterly in response, because they could no longer grasp Liexia’s handle [fig. information that can be used against someone].
Xu Ziling wanted to inquire of him about Zhou Laofang, but in the end he stopped himself to avoid exposing the secret of his own side. He said, “We have an appointment to make, we’ll drink and chat with Lie Xiong later.”
Liexia laughed, he stood up and said, “In that case I won’t disturb gentlemen anymore; see you tonight!”
Finished speaking, he cheerfully left.
Taken aback, Kou Zhong said to Xu Ziling, “See you tonight? What does he mean by that?”
Xu Ziling pulled him up and said with a wry smile, “That means when we eat Xiangshui rice with Bai Ziting and Funantuo tonight, he will be one of the guests. Don’t worry, he has a good plan, I have a ladder to climb over the wall. Yucheng may be able to help us find a way to deal with Da Ming Zun Jiao.”
Kou Zhong sighed and said, “How I wish that I was an irrational, rude and unreasonable man, so that I won’t have to listen to so much nonsense of his.”
The wu hour [11am – 1pm, noon] arrived, the two had no time to look for Yuekepeng to say hello, they had to go to meet their appointment in a hurry.