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Song Shidao and the two boys turned into the Vermillion Bird Boulevard, heading toward the south gate. “Then why did you talk so freely, adding oil and replenish the vinegar?”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “This is the ‘empty city stratagem’ [Zhuge Liang, Three Kingdoms], so that others think that we deliberately exaggerated the fact while actually we succeeded by luck.”

“Who did it?” Song Shidao asked.

Xu Ziling replied, “It was Han Chao’an in collusion with Shen Mohuan, husband and wife. Were it not for they knew we had appointment with Qiang Yi, how could they make such a proper arrangement?”

The murderous aura in Song Shidao’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, the refined light flashing, he spoke heavily, “Han Chao’an this son of a b1tch has the impertinence to completely disregard me. Do you think Junqiang gave her consent?”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Kou Zhong said, “Until now we still don’t know why Han Chao’an did what he did? Moreover, we are unclear whether Qiang Yi gave her consent or participated.”

Xu Ziling analyzed, “Han Chao’an agreed to provide Shen Mohuan a shelter, it could be said that he already treated them, husband and wife, with righteousness and justice; there is no need to help them assassinate us. There must be a reason within it that we do not understand.”

Letting out a cold snort, Song Shidao said, “I don’t care what their school’s logic is; murder must be paid by their life, owing money must be paid by money. What are you going to do?”

Kou Zhong said, “Currently, our top priority is to recover quickly; otherwise, we won’t be able to move a single step in Longquan. I wonder if ErGe could help us investigating what is true and what is false on Han Chao’an, that son of a b1tch – in secret? It would be best if you could also ascertain whether Qiang Yi is wallowing in the mire with them. The moment we are healed, great catastrophe will befall Han Chao’an and Shen Mohuan.”

Song Shidao sighed and said, “How could I leave you? When you are recuperating, there must be someone standing on guard.”

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and reached out to put his hand on his shoulder. He said with a laugh, “Our healing method is different to others’, it can even be carried out in the city center. After accompanying us two more steps, ErGe must return, otherwise our ‘empty city stratagem’ won’t be effective. Xiao Ling, let’s start the healing process.”

Xu Ziling pulled Song Shidao’s left arm, as he felt Kou Zhong was transmitting his qi into Song Shidao’s meridians, quickly he received the two men’s true qi, which was surging after it merged, and slowly pulled it in, and then he circulated it all the way around the Hundred Extraordinary Channels, two meridians and seven chakras, and then using Song Shidao as the bridge, he sent it back into Kou Zhong’s body, to heal his severely injured meridians. [Translator’s note: in other instances, it was ‘Eight’ Extraordinary Channels and ‘Three’ Meridians, instead of ‘hundred’ and ‘two’ (I checked other sources as well). Perhaps a typo, but being neither an expert in Chinese medicine nor Chinese language, I translated it as written.]

Song Shidao was a man with outstanding innate talent, plus he received Song Que’s direct teachings; in the blink of an eye he already grasped the profound mystery within it. Greatly astonished, he said, “Your healing gongfa is indeed unheard of. Ay! How did you do it? Turns out your injuries are that heavy, but you can’t see it on the outside, except your countenance looks a bit worse.”

The qi went back and forth within the two boys’ body, circulating endlessly. Drawing support from Song Shidao’s refined, pure and profound piercing qi, naturally it was a hundred times superior if the two boys only relied on their own seriously injured self-healing power.

Following the stream of people, the three talked and laughed as though nothing had happened, striding freely, strolling among the endless stream of horses and carriages, along the long street bustling with noise and excitement.

The two boys returning to the courtyard house, Shuwen, flustered and exasperated, intercepted them, saying, “Biele Ye had just sent urgent message, saying that they were unable to find the fleet of ships carrying the bows and arrows to Longquan. If they still cannot find it before dusk, they will have to give up and go back.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “The so-called misfortune does not come singly, in the face of Bai Ziting tonight, we are indeed in the disadvantageous position of completely taking the beating, while also continue to pretend to be ‘seriously hurt’, so that his beautiful guard will feel awkward to challenge us for a duel, otherwise we will make a fool of ourselves on the spot.”

“Perhaps things might take a turn for the better,” Shuwen commented.

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “We must have made a mistake somewhere, hence they, brothers could not find that batch of bows and arrows. Once the golden opportunity passed by, it won’t return. This round, we have no choice but to admit defeat.”

Frowning, Kou Zhong said, “The bargaining chips in our hands right now can only buy a little, see a little. If we want Ma Ji to redeem the sheepskin to us, where should we put our face?”

Shuwen was listening with blank expression, plus he had other important matter, hence he excused himself and left.

The two boys went to the hot spring pool to sit down. Kou Zhong started to undress, while saying with a laugh, “Even being poor we can act distinguished and accomplished, even hungry we can be happy. I hear all hot springs have the magical healing efficacy of living shoulder, growing muscle. We’d better soak ourselves in his mother’s hot spring for a moment, putting aside all worries first.”

Aghast, Xu Ziling looked at the sword wound on the pit of his stomach, saying, “Turns out you, this kid, are hurting really badly. It’s lucky that you can still laugh insincerely [orig. beating some haha].”

Kou Zhong casually tossed his outer clothing away onto the grassy lawn in the courtyard. With a bitter face he said, “For each haha, I have to pay the price, which is the pain nibbling away at my bones and bringing together my heart. But isn’t not being dead enough for us? Ha! Ouch!”

A moment later the two were immersed in the warm pool water, revealing only their heads.

The hot steam rising, Kou Zhong circulated his qi and transferred his power, he said, “If Yucheng is another trap, we will undoubtedly die. I am not afraid, but I haven’t let Han Chao’an and Shen Mohuan to breath their last in peace yet, so I won’t die with my eyes closed. What do you think?”

Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, “What I am worried the most is not this matter, but that tonight we won’t be able to help [play on words; orig. yucheng – please help achieve something (formal), same characters as Duan Yucheng] Zhu Yuyan accomplish the wonderful thing of dying in such a way that Shi Zhixuan also perishes. I dare say that before sunrise tomorrow, it will still be difficult for us to fight, otherwise we will have injuries on top of injuries.”

Kou Zhong said, “Before immersing in the pool, I was as pessimistic as you are, but now my feeling is a different thing altogether; every cun of my skin is like full of life force passing through it, as if it is shouting in happiness because of the growth and changes of life. Ha! This is called the trouble of anxious heart, because you are afraid your fairy is going to face danger on her own. Xiongdi, throw away your distracting thoughts, only then you will be able to put the wonderful efficacy of Huan Ri Da Fa on display.”

Stunned, Xu Ziling said, “Your insight is so penetrating. Ha, you said it well! But this is perhaps the proof that you are not as badly hurt as I am.”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “It was the enemy’s main force that attacked you, so it makes sense if your injury is worse than mine. My Niang, tonight may be the hardest night to deal with since our debut.”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Xu Ziling said, “Whether Ma Ji can redeem the eighty-thousand sheets of sheepskin is still unknown, but Pingyao merchants’ goods, we already patted our chest guaranteeing that we would get the goods back; this matter certainly fizzles out. Ay, how come we cannot find that batch of bows and arrows? Could it be that last night Ma Ji knew we were eavesdropping, and thus deliberately mentioned a random place?”

Their original grand plan was that after obtaining the batch of bows and arrows, they would be able to talk about conditions with Bai Ziting; even more, they could threaten Ma Ji to reveal the wolf-bandits secret, because if the bows and arrows fell into Bai Ziting’s hands, Xieli could not possibly let Ma Ji off, so they did not need to be afraid that Ma Ji would not obediently tell them what they wanted to know.

Kou Zhong shook his head and said, “How could Ma Ji know we are eavesdropping nearby? The only possibility is that he was lying to Zhao Deyan.”

Xu Ziling lightly stirred the water of the hot spring pool to increase the temperature; frowning, he said, “How could Ma Ji dare to tell a lie that Xieli would be able to uncover? My thought is that the quick-footed climbs up first [idiom: the early bird catches the worm], someone already stole away the bows and arrows.”

Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “Your guess is not without a reason, but who has that ability?”

Xu Ziling analyzed, “To be able to rob the bows and arrows, one must meet three requirements. First, he has to know that this batch of goods is on the way to Longquan. Second, he has to have a vast network of spies, any wind blowing or grass moving everywhere in Longquan cannot be concealed from him. Finally, he has to have enough power to accomplish this.”

Sucking in a mouthful of breath, Kou Zhong said, “Bai Ziting!”

Xu Ziling closed his tiger-eyes, he circulated his power to absorb the heat from the spring water, to stimulate the mysterious power of the three meridians and seven chakras’ life; he spoke slowly, “Isn’t that Bai Ziting’s usual style of work? Supposing the wolf-bandits are really his men, then the one making the move must be the wolf-bandits.”

Scratching his head, Kou Zhong said, “How could the wolf-bandits dare to touch Ma Ji’s things?”

Xu Ziling said, “The wolf-bandits do not have any particular appearance, they can even pretend to be Gunatai brothers’ men to shift the blame on us. Uh, someone’s coming!”

There was a knock on the door. From the east wing, Shuwen hastily came out to answer the door. The two stared at the door, neither of them could guess who might have come to visit.

The door opened, they saw Shuwen’s body shook, took three steps back and even moved a bit to the side, and then saluted deferentially he said, “Xiaoren pays his respect to Da Wang.”

Inwardly the two were severely shaken; they looked at each other. Turned out it was Bai Ziting’s dragon-self honoring them with his presence.

More than a dozen men strode into the courtyard. The leader was a man with wide forehead and big ears, from which two large earlobes were hanging, with lion’s nose, medium-sized, his bearing elegant, like a younger generation of a family influential for generations, of an honorable school or a big clan of the Central Earth. Hidden within his modestly was a cut-above-others air of arrogance; moreover, he had a pair of intimidating-others-at-the-first-glance, astute eyes, with the pupils deeply lively and sharp, his shoulders and face mysterious and heavy, a heap of old, harsh, motionless smile across his face; his age seemed to be around thirty, only his imposing manner already gave a little overbearing impression on other people. The most unforgettable aspect was his clothing and adornments; his head was wearing a black crown in the form of a horizontal board with hanging tassels, his clothes were dragon robe made of silk and black satin sewn together, fully embroidered with cloud and dragon motif, as if Qin Shihuang Ying Cheng [259-210 BC, the first emperor of China] who unified the Warring States came back to life from the mausoleum and returned to the world of the living.

Accompanying him were more than a dozen Longquan warriors, including the beautiful Imperial Guard Captain Zong Xianghua.

Bai Ziting’s sharp eyes swept around, seeing Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling soaking themselves in the hot spring pool at the center of the courtyard, he signaled with his hand to tell the rest to wait in place, while he himself strode toward the hot spring pool. Letting out a chuckle, he said, “Shaoshuai and Xu Xiong, please forgive this king for his crime of not providing satisfactory protection, unexpectedly allowing some small treacherous villains treating two gentlemen rudely using some despicable trick in the marketplace; also mistakenly believed the rumor that that two gentlemen’s injury was life-threatening. Fortunately now I see it with my own eyes that two gentlemen are happy and in harmony, so that the big rock pressing on my heart can be put down.”

Kou Zhong nodded, saluted, and said with a smile, “It ought to be Da Wang blaming us for not able to welcome you respectfully, for rudely failing to venerate you.”

And then, lowering his voice, he said, “I wonder if Da Wang could do us a favor by not spreading out this situation, even fabricating some rumor about the seriousness of our injuries, the heavier the better, hoping that we could lure the vicious disciples to attack us again.”

Standing proud by the pool with his hands behind his back, Bai Ziting smiled and said, “If the sword on the pit of Shaoshuai’s stomach is half a cun too far to the right, Bai Ziting may not have the opportunity to see Shaoshuai’s manner and style in laughing and chatting about the real is empty, empty is real logic.”

Kou Zhong casually rubbed the wound, he smiled bitterly and said, “Frankly speaking, this sword nearly took my life, and now it is still giving me unbearable pain, but also stirring up my fighting spirit. Injuries also have injuries’ style, it could also become the most brilliant phase of the cultivation, it might leave a rich aftertaste in the future [fig. memorable].”

Xu Ziling exclaimed in admiration in his heart; Kou Zhong had the air of martial art master more and more, while Bai Ziting was an opponent that must not be underestimated. The two had just met and already they fought a verbal battle. You come I go, the danger within it was in no way inferior to life and death battle using real saber and solid spear; if Bai Ziting was able to see through what is true and what is false in his and Kou Zhong’s condition, it was very likely that they would not see the sun rising from the prairie tomorrow.

Clapping his hands, Bai Ziting said, “Well said. In the prairie, the injured wolf is the most dangerous wolf.”

And then his countenance sank, he spoke with a cold humph, “Who actually did it? Which hallowed figure actually dared to display shockingly bad behavior in my, Bai Ziting’s territory?”

When he said that, he appeared to be looking disdainfully out of the corner of his eyes, possessing the imposing manner of a ruler overlooking the world, his body seemed to grow into the empty air, higher than the sky.

The refined light in Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, he spoke indifferently, “This kind of trivial matter, how could we dare to inconvenience Da Wang? If this kind of bandits can live pass tonight, in the future my name, Kou Zhong, these two characters can be spelled backwards.”

While saying that, he looked directly at Bai Ziting; Bai Ziting happened to be also looking at him. Caught red-handed by Kou Zhong’s gaze, the hair on his body stood on its end.

Bai Ziting’s dragon-body slightly trembling, meeting Kou Zhong’s shooting-like-lightning gaze without missing a beat, he nodded and said, “Although Shaoshuai’s body is injured, your confidence is not damaged the slightest. Previously whenever someone said in front of me how exceptional two gentlemen are, I only felt that it was an exaggeration of the reality; but now I know that there is indeed such a figure in the world like two gentlemen. Bai Ziting ordered a feast especially setup to wash the dust from two gentlemen’s body, surely gentlemen won’t be too busy killing people that you cannot attend?”

Thousand layers of giant waves were surging in Xu Ziling’s heart, he secretly cheered for Kou Zhong’s move. Only by completely discharging the thought about life and death would he be able to purely rely on emotion and expression to put Bai Ziting under control in all respects and put him in the disadvantageous position. Since the beginning of the battle, the two had been on par with each other, mutually seeking the hole and crack on the opponent’s defense line. On the surface both sides were polite and courteous, while actually it was a dagger hidden behind the smiles, neither one yielded to the other the slightest bit.

Bai Ziting has been advancing step by step, until at the precise moment, with accurate-without-missing-the-slightest-bit speed he caught the shooting gaze, which was the beginning of Bai Ziting falling into the disadvantageous position. It was akin to seeing through Bai Ziting’s move, grabbing his escaping-one.

However, Bai Ziting was not someone easy to deal with either; he deftly changed the topic to tonight’s banquet, using defense to attack, to see how Kou Zhong would respond.

Xu Ziling joined in, “How could we fail Da Wang’s kind offer? Tonight, we will attend the meeting on time.”

Bai Ziting’s gaze moved to Xu Ziling, he stepped back, saluted, and said, “In that case Bai Ziting will no longer disturb two gentlemen’s quiet enjoyment, tonight I wait respectfully for two gentlemen’s good-self.”

Kou Zhong revealed an exhausted expression. Looking at the door, which was closed after Bai Ziting left, he spoke dejectedly, “If he had stayed a bit longer, I definitely could not hold out. All along his imposing manner had been locked on me; perhaps one wrong word, he would make his move to have us killed. Fortunately from the beginning he has been unable to see what is true and what is false in me. Really strange, how come he did not mention the Five-Colored Stone even for half a word? Could it be because he already knew that Meiyan, that touching woman, already asked the Five-Colored Stone back?”

Xu Ziling stretched out his right hand, Kou Zhong met it with his left hand. The two boys’ same-origin-but-different true qi immediately blended together like water and milk, circulating endlessly within the two boys’ body. Thinking deeply, he said, “I always feel that Meiyan is not like Liexia made her to be, hence I do not want to make up my mind on her too quickly.”

And then he said with a sigh, “I understand that just now you had no choice but to put on an act, but you laid out everything completely, aren’t you afraid it might be difficult to explain later?”

Kou Zhong’ pair of eyes was flashing brightly, his vigor has been restored; he said, “I wasn’t exaggerating on purpose, but I did indeed have that thought in my heart. Just like what I said, injuries also have injuries’ strategy and move [referring to a move in a game]. Supposing under this kind of disadvantage we succeed in striking back to slaughter Shen Mohuan, how touching would that kind of success feel like?”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “The fact is that you are only slightly better than me. If we fight with all our strength, the healing wound will crack and burst open, the bleeding alone will be enough to be unbearable, not to mention we do not have much blood left to be shed.”

Kou Zhong replied, “That’s why I said injuries have injuries’ move. You should know that if we sink down to passive position, in this foreign place, we, two outsider-dragons can neither escape nor evade; the empty city strategy can only work for a while, when the enemy finds out that we shrink our heads and do not come out, as soon as they slightly test us, our original identity will be fully revealed. Therefore, the big-headed ghost must hold on to the end. Only when we can appear to be uninjured enough will we be able to come back to life from death.”

And then lowering his voice he said, “Perhaps when Zhu Yuyan discovers that currently we are so easy to be eaten, we no longer have any value for her. She might as well get rid of us, these two calamities within Yin Gui Pai’s bosom, since we are useless anyway, why would she want to retain us?”

Xu Ziling nodded and said, “Your remark is very reasonable. Listening to the tone of your voice, looks like you already have the injury’s move, why don’t you tell me?”

Kou Zhong said, “After a round of healing, our wounded meridians are nearly recovered completely, the problem is our bodily injury and the residual effect of serious blood loss; therefore, as long as our outside injury does not get worse and we do not bleed anymore, we could use our skill of borrowing strength to defeat strength, then we won’t be completely without any confidence to face the enemy.”

Xu Ziling said, “It’s easy for you to say. The fact is that any intense movement, we already cannot bear it.”

Kou Zhong said, “This is called exhausted then change, change then understand; if one person cannot do it, then two persons added together will be another matter altogether.”

“Please speak a bit more clearly,” Xu Ziling said.

Kou Zhong leaned and whispered in his ear, “The inspiration came from the hot spring pool. Just now I applied my power to contend against Bai Ziting, the burning hot spring water, because I was applying my power and generating heat, the pain was greatly reduced; even more, my body maintain its vital force, the qi and blood flow unimpeded, so that Bai Ziting was unable to see through what is true and what is false in me. Your Long Life Qi is superior to the hot spring pool water, it will be a hundred times better to help me. As long as during the fierce battle you use the Long Life Qi to provide support for me, you lighten my injury during fight, I am sure we will shock people.”

Shaken, Xu Ziling said, “This is indeed a brilliant move after injury. The only problem is that in a tangled warfare, I won’t have time to take care of myself, I am afraid I won’t have any strength left to provide assistance to you.”

Kou Zhong said, “Therefore, we must coordinate the strategy to take the initiative and to attack, to make the enemy unable to create situation where they can attack together. Ha, thinking about it, if we can slaughter Shen Mohuan, who would dare to think that our injury is so heavy that we cannot fight. Otherwise, Shi Zhixuan will be the first one who won’t let us off. He would do everything possible to put us, two kids in order, so that he could calmly deal with Zhu Yuyan.”

Xu Ziling spoke in astonishment, “Turns out you really want to kill Shen Mohuan.”

Letting go his grip on Xu Ziling’s hand, Kou Zhong climbed onto the edge of the pool, and said with a laugh, “When did I, Shaoshuai Kou Zhong ever say something and it did not count? You, this kid, it is because your thought is on Shi Feixuan that your mind is unclear; quickly wake up and use your brains, think of how we can get rid of Shen Mohuan, that kid. This is the only way of survival. Come. It’s time for us to see Yucheng.”