Book 12 Chapter 4 – Eastern and Western Tujue

Xu Ziling sat cross-legged on a large flat and smooth rock by the pond. His gaze was fixed on the crystal clear water reflecting the blue sky and white clouds above; his mind was clear and bright.

To him, on this earth, other than Kou Zhong, Susu was the only person who could worry him, other people were like a far away, fuzzy impression.

Both Kou Zhong and Ba Fenghan had their separate goal in their lives, but Xu Ziling only wanted to live an unconstrained, free and easy life, where he could be at home wherever he was.

It did not mean that he was a man without any desire to make progress; it just meant that he did not set for himself a certain goal he had to achieve. In terms of martial art way of pursuit of knowledge, he already derived pleasure in the process; it was a significant part of who he was.

This moment Kou Zhong came over and sat by his side. He spoke seriously, “It’s not that I want to conceal anything from you, but I do not wish Old Ba to know too many secrets. All along I always feel that he is not too reliable; he could turn his face against us and show no mercy anytime.”

Without showing the slightest bit of care, Xu Ziling said, “You don’t have to tell me either, I will never blame you.”

Kou Zhong was upset, “Can you not talk to me like that?” he said, “One lifetime two brothers. You are the only one I can completely trust, plus I do need your help very much.”

“Where is Old Ba?” Xu Ziling grudgingly asked.

After answering his question, Kou Zhong spoke heavily, “If I am not here, Wang Shichong would definitely lose this battle, because he practically is not Li Mi’s match. If Li Mi captured Luoyang, those Li Yuan, Li Shimin, Dou Jiande, Ol’ Die Du, or what have you, would all have to return to their hometown to till the fields; but even then they would have to rely on their family mountain’s blessing. Otherwise, they would be lucky if they could remain alive.”

Xu Ziling was emotionally moved, “What exactly the information that you heard?” he asked.

After briefly recounting what he knew, Kou Zhong gave him his analysis, “Li Mi’s biggest strength is actually ‘self restrain’. He obviously hurt Zhai Rang that day, but since he was unclear of the degree of his injuries, he restrained himself until Zhai Rang exposed the cards in his hand before launching the offensive and taking over Zhai Rang’s Da Longtou [big boss] throne.”

Xu Ziling nodded in agreement.

If Li Mi rose in rebellion too early, even if he managed to seize total victory, but because Zhai Rang still had his prestige, plus he still had solid relationship with the leaders of Wagang Army, he might make the Wagang Army to split up and disintegrate. Such a tragic victory would not be worth mentioning.

Lowering his voice, Kou Zhong said, “After obtaining the authority over the military, he actually had the opportunity to launch a direct attack to Guanzhong and thus occupying the Western Capital. If that happened, wouldn’t he have the Eastern Capital inside his bag as well? But he was afraid that after entering the Pass, Zhai Rang’s former loyal subordinate would claim independence and declare himself king, and refuse to obey his command. Thereupon he strongly defended his position in Henan, and replaced the Wagang Army leaderships with the generals loyal to himself. In terms of strategy, it was a wise one.”

After a short pause, he went on, “Time and again Li Mi opened the storehouse to provide relief to the people, so that he won the popular sentiment, and his prestige enjoyed a great boost, plus all the heroes of various region came to pledge their allegiance to him. If he were a reckless man, he would denounce the canal construction early on, and deployed his troops south to attack Jiangdu. But Li Mi restrained himself by not doing it; he waited for Yuwen Huagu to rise in rebellion and killed Emperor Yang like a chicken in a basket, and then when he led his troops north to return to his base, Li Mi raised his troops to meet the enemy. Yuwen Huagu is not a lay practitioner of Buddhism at all, plus he still had the most elite imperial guards under his command, yet he still lost to Li Mi’s ‘self-restrain’. Do you still want to listen more?”

Hearing Yuwen Huagu’s name, Xu Ziling’s tiger-eyes flashed a chilling murderous intent. “Of course,” he said simply.

Kou Zhong sighed in admiration, “Even self-restrain needs to be particular about tactics, be particular about deceit. And Li Mi is a master in these. In order to escape Wang Shichong and Yuwen Huagu’s left and right pincer attack, unexpectedly Li Mi shamelessly expressed goodwill toward the puppet emperor at the Eastern Capital supported by Wang Shichong. He even expressed to Yuwen Huagu his willingness to atone for his crime, so that he would not have to worry of trouble in the rear.”

Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, “But by doing that, wouldn’t his reputation take serious hit?”

Kou Zhong continued, “In time where rumors are flying everywhere, who would care if that kind of information is true, or whether this kind of information is false? However, Wang Shichong is afraid Li Mi would join hands with Yuwen Huagu to attack the Eastern Capital, so for the time being he simply hold back his troops without moving, just contend to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. It would be best if Li Mi and Yuwen Huagu fight until both sides suffer, or perhaps they would be locked in perpetual hostility against each other. Nothing could be more ideal than that for him.”

“How did you know everything so clearly?” Xu Ziling asked in amazement.

“Half by listening to others, half by guessing!” Kou Zhong replied, “Ha! You ought to know that my cognitive ability is quite strong!”

And then, slapping his thigh he said, “Yuwen Huagu set his military supply wagon on a slippery stage when he led his troops to attack Liyang. Li Mi exercised self-restrain against him by ordering Xu Shiji, who was guarding Liyang, to avoid direct confrontation, but to guard the storehouse city to the west. Needless to say, not the least bit army provision would be left for Yuwen Huagu!”

Listening to him, Xu Ziling’s interest was piqued; he asked further, “Can’t Yuwen Huaji seize the opportunity to pursue and attack? How could the storehouse city defend themselves against the pressure of a large army at their border?”

“On this,” Kou Zhong said, “You have to hand it to Li Mi. He personally led twenty-thousand cavalry marching to Qingqi. Coordinating with Xu Shiji, they excavated deep trenches and built high wall, but refuse to have direct confrontation with Yuwen Huagu. If Yuwen Huagu attacked the storehouse, he would pull his rear leg to form non-confrontational deadlock. Problem was Yuwen Huagu lacked provisions; that old fox still deceive him by negotiating peace, making that idiot Yuwen Huagu think that they were in cease-fire, and no longer limit the soldier’s ration. Li Mi picked this time to pick war with him at Tong Shan [Mt. Tong], Yuwen Huagu’s grain was depleted, he ran away in defeat to Wei Jun [Wei County], his power took a serious beating. The reason Li Mi achieved victory was not because Yuwen Huagu’s knowledge is inferior to him, or because his military power and strategy and tactics could not match the opponent’s. Rather, he lost to Li Mi’s self-restrain.”

And then his eyes shone as he went on, “Therefore, as long as I can break Li Mi’s resolves in exercising self-restrain, I would be able to make the invincible Li Mi to suffer the first major defeat in his entire life, a defeat so bad that he would not be able to recover from. The opportunity is here. I only need to see Wang Shichong, and then I will have a way to make him listen to me. Otherwise, the world will belong to Li Mi.”

Xu Ziling’s heart was severely shaken.

Kou Zhong was correct. And he did understand Li Mi’s strengths and advantages. As long this strength could be used against him, Li Mi’s advantage would become his weakness. And Kou Zhong did have enough ability and wisdom to lay a trap and lure Li Mi to enter it.

Even with Li Mi’s wisdom as deep as the sea, he would never have expected that a terrifying adversary such as Kou Zhong was watching in the dark, had a good grasp of his strategy, and waiting for an opportunity to deal him a heavy blow.

Question is: how would Kou Zhong make Wang Shichong to listen to him?

In the present case, it was out of the question.

This moment Ba Fenghan returned, carrying a small roebuck, cutting the two boys’ discussion.

※ ※ ※

By dusk that day, the tree left the mountain area. By the time they reach a jungle by the south bank of River Ru, the night already fell.

The moon had yet to appear in the night sky, the specks of stars filled the firmament, so magnificent and moving.

Ba Fenghan drew his sword to cut a tree trunk. Paring its branches and leafs, he said, “I am going to toss this tree trunk into the middle of the river, we’ll use it as a stepping stone to reach the opposite bank. Who’s first?”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Xiao Ling should be first! Actually, who’s first who’s last shouldn’t make any difference.”

Xu Ziling suddenly lowered his voice, “Something is not quite right. I don’t know what it is, but ever since we left the mountain area, I have a ‘heart alarmed, body leaping’ feeling, a bit like that time when we were outside the city of Baling.”

Ba Fenghan was aghast, “Actually, I am also good at tracking and anti-tracking technique,” he said, “Just now, I have used all kinds of methods to test whether anybody was tracking us. If Ziling’s feeling is unmistaken, then the enemy lying in the dark must be at least Qu Ao’s level.”

Sucking in a mouthful of cold air, Kou Zhong said, “Why hasn’t he made his move then? Perhaps he does not have enough confidence to deal with us all at the same time, hence he is waiting for reinforcement. But then again, it is very likely that he is Qu Ao himself; perhaps he is planning on launching a sudden attack when we are crossing the river, to kill one of us first, and then leisurely clean up the other two.”

Ba Fenghan said, “I don’t care who he is; even if he is Qu Ao himself, so what? We will find a way to lure him out, and then with ten-thousand catty thunderbolt strike we kill him, and get rid of the root of trouble.”

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “This is not the time to show off your bravado; since our whereabouts is already detected by the enemy, our route will be full of thistles and thorns all the way to Luoyang. If we simply fight our way through, we would eventually fall into bitter battle and die of exhaustion. It’s really not worth it.”

Frowning, Kou Zhong asked, “Do you have any suggestion?”

“Whose territory is Xiangcheng anyway?” Xu Ziling asked back.

“Wang Shichong’s, of course,” Ba Fenghan replied, “Otherwise the Eastern Capital would be done for long ago.”

Lowering his voice, Kou Zhong said, “If anybody is watching us right now, they would think that we were going to cross the river. If we suddenly run along the River toward Xiangcheng, other than tucking their tail in wild pursuit, the opponents practically don’t have any other choice.”

Ba Fenghan was delighted, “The wilderness outside the city of Xiangcheng is a wide open space; it does not give anybody any shelter. If anybody is following us, we will know who it is!”

After further discussion about the details, as well as deciding any contingency measures, the three of them walked over to the river.

Ba Fenghan transferred his strength to his arm and flung the tree trunk to the middle of the river.

‘Splash!’

Water burst everywhere.

With a loud shout the three men dashed along the river toward Xiangcheng.

Chapter 4 - Part 2

Xiangcheng was located on the north bank of River Ru, connecting the vast area of mountains with the upstream and downstream river traffic. Due to its geographic location, it was a very strong and inaccessible fortress. Whoever had any control of it would have a significant role in determining the Eastern Capital Luoyang’s safety and danger.

The Xiangyang city walls were surrounded by chain, the wall was solid and grand, the gate and the city watchtower was spectacular, arrow tower stood tall; in short, it was an austere scene to behold.

About a li away from the city, they crossed the River Ru and reached the section where the river was diverted to make up the moat surrounding the city, and crouched low among the tall grass.

Looking back, the vast wilderness was completely empty, not even half a ghost was to be seen.

The tall and lofty, reaching up to fifteen zhang high, city wall was brightly lit, so that the moat was as bright as daytime. Even a fly would not be able to escape the city guards’ eyes.

Other than charging in from the outside, there was no other way to enter the city.

Ba Fenghan sighed and said, “If someone’s really trailing us, this person must be so brilliant that he will make our hearts tremble.”

Kou Zhong spoke heavily, “Zi Ling’s intuition is well-tested; he can’t be wrong.”

Xu Ziling’s gaze fell on a small hill in the distance; he spoke with complete confidence, “The enemy is on top of that hill.”

With a deep frown on his forehead, Ba Fenghan asked, “Shall we make a detour to go to Luoyang immediately? It would be better than staying here, where we can neither advance nor retreat. If the enemy set up an inescapable net, we would be in big trouble. Hey! I heard hoof beats!”

Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong immediately focused their power on their ears and sure enough, they heard from about three li on the north there was a large number of cavalry rushing toward Xiangcheng.

Greatly delighted, Kou Zhong said, “This is called the Heaven is in our side! We have the opportunity to sneak into the city.”

※ ※ ※

‘Ding!’

Three cups clinked against each other. Ba Fenghan laughed and said, “Tonight the bright moon is high up in the sky, if there is any major enemy coming here, let me, the Old Ba, be the host. Zhong Shao, Ziling, you must promise to give me the honor.”

Kou Zhong raised the wine cup in his right hand, and like an