Book 9 Chapter 10 – Gratitude and Grudges Spanning Two Generations

When Xu Ziling was leaving Lu Miaozi’s little house, he almost burst into a song to vent his excitement.

‘Having a conversation with the wise is better than studying for ten years’. This saying probably described this case the best.

Many things that usually stayed as clear as mud even after he bitterly pondered over it, suddenly made sense.

Just like after blazing sun drove away the dark clouds, now he was able to see ten-thousand li of clear skies.

This ‘escaping one’ principle would enable him to real infinite benefits throughout his life, it was more formidable that discovering a breakthrough consummate skill.

When he stepped into the gate leading to the rear courtyard, the alarm suddenly went off in his heart.

The feeling that he usually got when someone was spying on him in the dark.

From the abstruse mysterious realm Xu Ziling immediately returned to reality. Regaining his composure, he quickly restrained his true qi, and continued walking to his room in ordinary people’s heavy steps.

The first watch of the night [between 7-9pm] has already passed; the moon was already high in the sky.

He decided to use ‘no change’ to deal with ‘ten-thousand changes’, deliberately pretending to be completely off-guard as he walked along the corridor surrounding the space between the building and the courtyard, toward the front door of his room.

He deduced that whoever was watching him must have already been lying in ambush somewhere inside the room, while Kou Zhong was strolling outside to look for Li Xiuning.

It would be strange indeed if anybody from the Ranch came looking for them at this time and was not surprised to find the room was empty. With this thought, he felt relieved and simply pushed the door and walked in.

A sword qi assaulted his body.

In that instant, Xu Ziling already determined that the attacker was the outstanding beauty [orig. national grace, divine fragrance] Shang Xiuxun; moreover, although the sword carried ferocious momentum, it still left some leeway, and was not meant to take his life at all.

“Ah!” The edge of the sword already rested on Xu Ziling’s throat.

Shang Xiuxun’s cold-frost-like face was right in front of his. “Where have you been?” she coldly asked.

Xu Ziling used his power to drain the blood from his face; pretending to be scared out of his wits, he replied with trembling voice, “I just went to the small pavilion by the cliff at the back to enjoy the cool air!”

The tip of Shang Xiuxun’s sword emitted powerful qi, penetrating deep into his channels. Fortunately he had learned the skill he stole from Wanwan, and applied it pragmatically to send his vortex of qi to the yong quan acupoint on his left foot a step ahead of Shang Xiuxun, so that the qi in his meridians was only slightly stronger than average person. Unfortunately however, he was unable to maintain this condition for too long, but he really did not have any other alternative.

Sure enough, Shang Xiuxun’s true qi reached his dantian and circulated there for two cycles before she retrieved it away. Returning her sword to its sheathe, she hissed, “Where is that good Xiongdi of yours?”

Xu Ziling breathed a sigh of relief for real; he said, “He had some tummy problem, and went to … hey … Changzhu ought to know?”

Half-believing half-doubting Shang Xiuxun stared hard at him for a moment, “Light the lantern first,” she ordered.

Xu Ziling groaned inwardly; if Kou Zhong did not return soon, even with his silver tongue he would not be able to convince this beauty with above average intelligence.

The lantern gradually brightened, bathing the room in its gentle and warm light.

“Sit down!” Shang Xiuxun ordered.

Shang Xiuxun waited until Xu Ziling was sitting properly in the chair by the window before she took the chair by the table in the middle of the room. With her pretty eyes shoot sharp rays, she fixed her gaze on him and said, “You must have known Li Xiuning before, haven’t you?”

It was only then did Xu Ziling understand the reason she was looking for them. Pretending to be stunned, he asked, “Who’s Li Xiuning?”

Shang Xiuxun smiled and said, “You are acting very well. With Li Xiuning’s self-cultivation and well-composed character, it was impossible that she would suddenly make much fuss about nothing. You want to conceal it from me; I wonder if you would confess after being served the house rules? This is called refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.”

Xu Ziling mused that probably Kou Zhong would not return tonight, so if he still wanted to cover up the left and conceal the right, he could only cook up some dumb excuses. But if he had a falling out with Shang Xiuxun, he would not be able to come to Lu Miaozi’s place tomorrow night.

With a wry smile, which came from his heart, he said, “If Changzhu don’t believe us, we will leave tomorrow. Even if we really know Li Xiuning, we did not violate any Ranch rules. Ay! I really don’t know what to say.”

A complex expression, which was hard to decipher, appeared in Shang Xiuxun’s eyes; as she was about to speak, footsteps were heard, coming toward their direction. The two people’s eyes immediately fell toward the open door.

Kou Zhong swaggered into the room, “Changzhu!” he blurted out in shock.

Shang Xiuxun looked at him coldly.

Kou Zhong was certainly a genius at practicing fraud; pretending to have a sudden inspiration he said, “Changzhu must be here to admire my treasured saber a bit early!”

Shang Xiuxun’s eyes fell onto the Moon In The Well hanging on his back; she spoke indifferently, “Where have you been? Why do you have to bring a saber?”

Kou Zhong was used to seamless collaboration with Xu Ziling, naturally his gaze flitted toward him first, but without missing a beat his mouth spoke, “Just now Xiao Jing and I …” He noticed Xu Ziling’s toes were pointing at the direction of the back mountain, and his hand was rubbing his belly; being a smart aleck as he was, he continued, “Hey! Xiao Jing and I went to the back mountain to see that old Mister to learn some skills; we also ate something. Ha!”

“What?” Shang Xiuxun blurted out.

Kou Zhong knew something was not right, but he did not know where he had ‘revealed the cloven foot’.

Xu Ziling hastily tried to remedy the situation. “What did you say,” he angrily said, “Have you forgotten Old Mister’s order?”

Kou Zhong realized suddenly; smiling apologetically, he said, “Although Old Mister told us not to tell anybody, Changzhu is our boss. It’s all right for us not to tell anybody else, but we should not conceal it from her. Xiao Jing, you are so muddleheaded; why haven’t you apologized to Changzhu?”

Xu Ziling continued the charade, “I only know that a real man’s word is worth nine sacred tripods; no wonder after eating Old Mister’s stuff you got diarrhea.”

“Shut up! Both of you!” Shang Xiuxun hissed.

Stunned, the two boys looked at her.

Shang Xiuxun stood up and said, “You two, come with me.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling followed behind Shang Xiuxun’s alluring back, straight toward Lu Miaozi’s small two-story house.

There was still light at the upper floor, but there was no sound.

Shang Xiuxun looked up to the upper floor’s window; her pretty face lengthened as she shouted heavily, “Old Man [orig. lao tou er, usually used in a rude manner]! You break your promise!”

The two boys jumped out of their skin; they had never expected Shang Xiuxun would be so impolite toward the number one master craftsman in the world who designed and built the Inner Castle’s landscape garde