Book 14 Chapter 6 – Taking a Break From Danger

Sitting down by Xu Ziling’s side, Ba Fenghan asked, “Who’s that man just now? Both in terms of build and poise he showed a lot of lofty quality. Although he was walking away furiously, I was standing behind the willow tree yet still could not hide from him. Indeed he is a rare martial art master.”

“He is Li Jing,” Xu Ziling replied, “During our debut, it was from him that we learned our Ten-Style Saber Technique.”

Ba Fenghan has had discussion about martial art with him on the mountain, so of course he knew the ‘Bloody Battle Ten Styles’. Emotionally moved, he said, “If a few years ago he has already been able to create such a powerful, overbearing saber technique, he must be even more out of the ordinary now. I really wish for an opportunity to try the ‘Bloody Battle Ten Styles’ directly from his hands.”

Smiling bitterly, Xu Ziling said, “We have had life and death friendship with him; it would be best if Fenghan Xiong did not look for him for a fight.”

Sneering, Ba Fenghan said, “Right now it is not that I want to look for him for a fight, rather, he won’t let us off; a soft way [orig. ‘wen’, literature, civil] will not accomplish as much as a hard way [orig. ‘wu’, martial art, military]. I hear Li Jing’s wife has an outstanding martial art, an expert in using red brush[?], her origin is a mystery. Hey! How come I haven’t seen Kou Zhong?”

Frowning, Xu Ziling asked, “What news did you get? Why did you say that Li Jing want to fight with us?”

With a cold humph Ba Fenghan replied, “If that kid Li Shimin is still unclear that we are against him, do we still need to come out to announce that we are contending over the world? From the tone of Dong Ming Princess’ voice, that Li kid is very afraid of the three of us. If he could not use us, he will disregard everything to have us killed to nip the problem in the bud.”

Xu Ziling noticed that when he mentioned Shan Wanjing, the tone of his voice was cold, unlike before, where he used to call her ‘Wanjing’ or ‘Princess’ with intimacy. Astonished, he asked, “Is there something wrong between you and Shan Wanjing?”

Ba Fenghan fixed his gaze on a speedily passing boat, his eyes flashed with cold rays as he sighed and said, “I had a big fight with her.”

Xu Ziling was stunned, “Why did you fight?”

With a rueful smile Ba Fenghan said, “Of course it was because of the Jade Annulus of He Clan. But when all is said and done, it was because of that Li kid. At first she was very nice; she blamed me for hanging around with you, and thus was drawn into this tight knot that cannot be untied. She also said that Li kid is destined to be the Son of Heaven ordained by heaven itself, and wanted me to hand the Jade Annulus of He Clan to him. Humph! Who did she think she is to talk to me like that?”

Blurting out laughing, Xu Ziling said, “Treasure of the heart is a sin, this saying is surely not an empty words. Suddenly friends become enemies; really interesting.”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “Just like the Jade Annulus of He Clan, that kind of treasure, only the virtuous can obtain it, it never belonged to anyone. I will never surrender to the authority, who have the ability may give me all he got, right now I am terribly itchy.”

And then he sneered and said, “I thought that after parting company with you this morning there would be someone coming to get even with me; at least there should be people like Tuoba Yu and his pretty Shimei, or perhaps Dugu Feng and the likes who would love to try their luck. Who would have thought that I did not encounter even half a shadow? It’s so disappointing.”

Xu Ziling laughed and said, “You, Lao Ge, fully displayed your capabilities last night by forcing back Qu Ao; whoever wanted to mess with you would have to figure out their own weight first.”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “In my opinion, that was not the case. Rather, it was because Wang Bo has already issued a decree in Jianghu, and he has Ci Hang Jing Zhai and Jing Nian Chanyuan behind him, hence everybody wanted to give him face, by letting him figuring out a way to get the Jade Annulus of He Clan back. Pushing toward the deadline of zi hour [11pm-1am] tonight, we may feel nervous because nothing is happening.”

Xu Ziling said, “Don’t forget that Wanwan can’t possibly be subject to any restriction; perhaps she’ll come first to give us bad luck, while conveniently see whether she could force the Jade Annulus of He Clan out from us.”

Ba Fenghan delightedly said, “That is exactly what I’ve been looking for. As long as we can capture one of her men, we will have a way to find out Junyu’s whereabouts. What I am afraid the most is that Yin Gui Pai would want to reap the fisherman’s benefit by waiting until the zi hour tonight before taking any action against us.”

Thinking hard, Xu Ziling said, “Right now people on the street are our enemies. With multitude of enemies and few friends, our only strategy is to deal with them using martial art power; does Fenghan Xiong have any clever move?”

Ba Fenghan calmly said, “If my expectation is correct, Shi Feixuan is the mastermind behind all these. Her objective is to make us ‘a thief lacking in confidence’, and bring the stolen goods far away from the city. But we will definitely not give her what she wished for; we will remain here and deal with her to the end. Ha! Who would have guessed that the Jade Annulus of He Clan is practically not in our hands? Afterwards, it will not be in anybody’s hands either.”

Xu Ziling was baffled, “In this kind of situation, plus you just had a fallout with Shan Wanjing, how come your mood seems to be better than before?”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “Quite possibly you and Kou Zhong are not aware yet how much benefit we gained from the Jade Annulus of He Clan; it has never happened in the history of Wulin inside and outside the Central Plains. Currently the three of us, each one is a living miracle, as well as a witness to this matter. Don’t you feel the wonderful feeling of ‘shedding one’s mortal body and exchanging one’s bones’?”

Astonished, Xu Ziling asked, “Is it as amazing as you described it?”

Ba Fenghan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It was quite awhile later that he opened his eyes and said, “What I said was very modest. As the legend says: the Jade Annulus of He Clan is a divine object from the outer space, with terrifying mysterious power hidden inside, but this power is now owned by the three of us. Not only it expands and strengthens the meridians and acupoints throughout our entire body, it also enables us to extract some kind of power and the essence of the universe. As long as we strive untiringly, there will be a day when we will surpass anybody else. Because in itself the power inside the Jade Annulus of He Clan already surpasses martial art’s model and resources. That I am able to obtain this amazing opportunity, how could I not be in good mood?”

And then he added, “As for my disagreement with Shan Wanjing, it’s a trivial thing. Having a fall out with her is actually a kind of painful pleasure. As long as we can get Junyu back, I, Ba Fenghan, will no longer care about it. At that time Kou Zhong will fight for his world, and you will roam the four seas to seek after the joy of life, I will return to Tujue to challenge Bi Xuan. Each one of us will pursue our respective goal and aspirations. Life at this point, a man should return to his quest. Thinking about our dreams all of a sudden become palpable reality, how could my mood be bad?”

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “Let us see whether we can survive after the zi hour tonight to talk about it!”

Ba Fenghan let out a smile brimming with air of arrogance; he spoke nonchalantly, “Tonight at zi hour the three of us will find a place to drink and be merry. Whoever has the ability, let him come to take my, Ba Fenghan’s life away. But bear in mind that no matter what, we must not admit that it was us who stole the Jade Annulus of He Clan, because then both sides, the enemy and us, will have no wiggle room to turn away.”

With deep frown on his face, Xu Ziling said, “I am not afraid of anyone, but I do not wish this matter to turn into rivers of blood.”

Sighing, Ba Fenghan said, “Do you think I really like to kill people? But you don’t want to kill people, people want to take your life. All we could do is to act according to the circumstances! What I can promise you is that unless I absolutely have no other alternative, I will not randomly cause anybody’s death.”

Xu Ziling was deeply touched.

Ba Fenghan was coming from horse thieves’ background; he has always been vicious and merciless. He was able to speak those words, it was purely for Xu Ziling’s sake; what else could he say?

This moment Kou Zhong arrived. Squeezing himself in the middle of the two, he sat down and laughed aloud and said, “Aren’t you going to look for a place you can hide your Niang for a while, to lie low until the fuss dies down?”

※ ※ ※

The three wandered around Luoyang’s most prosperous Heaven Street in a triangular formation [orig. 品 (pin) character].

Xu Ziling was in front, Kou Zhong and Ba Fenghan walked side-by-side behind him.

The shops along the Heaven Street were meticulously decorated, the ledges and the room blended well, with magnificent screen and canopy spread over the treasures, utensils, and all kinds of goods. The shop attendants dressed in bright, colorful and splendid uniforms were busy hawking their merchandise.

The most attractive thing was that among these sales people, there was no lack of gorgeously dressed young girls [orig. lovely scene of blossoming plants swaying in the breeze], so that the eyes cannot take it all.

Even the street vendors also displayed their wares on dragon-themed carts; uniform and aristocratic looking.

Each of the three men had distinctive appearance. Xu Ziling was casual and elegant, Ba Fenghan was stalwart, magnificent, unusual yet grand, Kou Zhong had an overbearing air around him. Walking together, naturally the passers-by could not help casting an admiring glance toward them.

While talking and laughing, the three were also pointing and gesticulating toward things that attracted their attention. Sometimes they even stopped to look at certain things. From the outside, nobody would have guessed that they were racking their brains on how to deal with the disproportionately powerful enemies.

Smiling at a young upper-class lady passing-by on a sedan chair, making her blushed, Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Luoyang is indeed a good place. The most wonderful thing is that no matter where you look, you will see beautiful girls. Ha! What is it?”

The last sentence was spoken in a low voice, which he focused using his internal energy, then sent it toward Xu Ziling’s ears.

Sidestepping a bunch of children chasing each other, Xu Ziling replied in soft voice, “There are at least five groups of people following us; they dress as all kinds of people, and are constantly moving around to avoid our suspicion.”

Ba Fenghan praised, “I only know that we are being followed by a lot of people, but I cannot tell that they belong to five different forces; how did you do it? And what puzzles me most is that unlike me and Kou Zhong, you did not look around at all, yet nothing seems to escape your attention.”

Chapter 6 - Part 2

Ysabel, HPC, Jaya, you are welcome. Sky, IMHO, in term of mental cultivation, I agree that XZL was the strongest, but that was because of his hermit character. However, overall martial art skill, I think Ba Fenghan was still the strongest. Xiaohu, that is certainly a valid request; however, it will take a lot of time on my part. Probably later, when I have more time? (There is no quick and easy way to do it, I will have to edit the link one by one.) Xu Xiong, I don't care much about Li Jing's wife, since up to this point she is not even named yet. But I agree with you on Shi Feixuan (and Ning Daoqi, and Bi Xuan, and Fu Cailing ...) Lao Qianbei, I never understand how spcnet works ...

Xu Ziling stopped at a booth selling ginseng. Turning to Kou Zhong, he asked, “Do you want to buy some ginseng and go back to make some ginseng tea?”

The hawker was a fat barbarian man from outside the area; hearing Xu Ziling, he crossly said, “My ginseng is authentic first grade wild ginseng transported over ten thousand crags and torrents; it is most effective to improve blood circulation and relax the tendon, this product will extend your life. Steeping it in wine will bring about its efficacy. Making a tea is just too wasteful.”

Giggling, Kou Zhong said, “Please forgive our ignorance; which one is the best? Tonight we are going to steep it into wine to drink.”

His countenance changed, the peddler angrily said, “I won’t sell! I won’t sell! These ginsengs have to be steeped into wine for a year or so, and have to be stored in underground cellar. How can you just dip it and drink right away?”

Pulling Kou Zhong away, Ba Fenghan laughed involuntarily and said, “That man is so stubborn, I guarantee that he won’t strike it rich, but he does win our respect. So in the end, do the gains male up for the losses?”

And then he quickly added, “Ziling has not answered me.”

Xu Ziling’s sharp gaze swept the pedestrians walking to and fro on the street like a school of crucian carps; he laughed calmly and said, “Using undivided aspiration, and focused mind. When I focus all my senses, my perception thus extends to the surrounding crowd, so much so that I can feel it when someone was casting me a glance. The most wonderful thing is the footsteps of those people following us. Each time we stopped, their speed also changed accordingly; sometimes they intentionally walked pass us and then somewhere in front someone else would replace them. Therefore, you will be able to quickly grasp the style and pattern with which they are trailing us, and also deduce clearly that they belong to five different groups.”

Kou Zhong took a step forward to walk side-by-side with Xu Ziling. “Ziling is indeed exceptional,” he praised, “But why did you say that there are at least five groups of people? Does it mean that outside those five groups, there are others who secretly follow us but you are not able to grasp their exact position?”

“Exactly right,” Xu Ziling replied, “This purely my feeling. This man is our real formidable opponent. Unless we can throw him off our track, we can forget about waiting happily for the zi hour to arrive.”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “The one in charge must be Shi Feixuan, Ning Daoqi’s caliber. I did not expect Ziling to have this kind of outstanding ability; therefore, our plan will definitely succeed. Can we make our move now?”

Xu Ziling laughed aloud and replied, “Yes, certainly!”

Traversing sideways, they entered Fengdu Township, one of the three major markets of the City of Luoyang.

The entire city district east of the Imperial Palace and south of the Luo River encompassed an area one hundred and three li square.

Inside this area, the streets were interconnected by lanes and alleys. Playing hide-and-seek in this area crowded with residential buildings was definitely very exciting.

Fengdu Township was the top among the three major markets of the City of Luoyang. It was bigger in scale compared to the other two townships, Datong and Tongyuan. Food stalls and peddlers’ stalls lining the crowded street, the clamor shook the heavens.

Xu Ziling led the other two passing through the left and slipping to the right. It appeared that their speed was only so-so, just because their upper body did not move much, but their lower part was unleashing their footwork, as they glided like a loach slipping through the gap among the crowd.

At this time Xu Ziling’s senses were at their peak. Abruptly turning left or right, suddenly slowing down or speeding up, going sideways or straight ahead, every move was a response to the changes in the trailing enemies’ movement; it was no different than fighting hand to hand. Sometimes he even turned back the same way, to make it difficult for the enemy to predict their move.

In the blink of an eye they already slipped out of the marketplace via the northern gate; crossing the vehicles and horses road, they entered someone’s house from the front door and slipped away from the back door, despite the occupants’ protest and attempt to block them. Finally they reached a small alley and leaped over the wall to escape.

Kou Zhong and Ba Fenghan followed closely behind Xu Ziling, climbing over the wall, slipping through the house and jumping over the building, sometimes running fast along a small alley, until they reached the southeast corner of the city, where a river wound its way from the east, with dancing trees and layer upon layer of residential buildings along both banks.

Proud of himself, Kou Zhong said, “According to the map, this is the Yi River.”

And then, pointing to the stream on the right, he said, “And that is Jixian lane, where the Yi River split into two, from Changxia Gate flowing left and right to the southern suburb, and continue toward Liao Kong’s old nest!”

Lowering his voice, he asked, “Have we thrown them off?”

Xu Ziling pondered quietly for half a day. He shook his head and said, “We have thrown off only those with mediocre skill. I just mentioned the formidable opponents; they are still following closely behind us like maggot sticking to the bone. Right now my feeling is even more intense.”

Aghast, Kou Zhong said, “We still can’t throw them off; could it be Shi Feixuan or even Ning Daoqi?”

With his hands behind his back, Ba Fenghan replied indifferently, “Of course not them. With their status, how can they bother to do such trivial thing? If I am guessing correctly, the tracker ought to be Dugu Feng, because when we were passing through the marketplace, I seemed to sniff her scent.”

Recalling how the ‘Passionate Prince’ Hou Xibai tracking her down by her scent, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling nodded in agreement.

Upset, Kou Zhong said, “This is called ‘ruining the enterprise for the sake of one basketful’. Without any marketplace to play hide-and-seek, it is more difficult to avoid her tracking.”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “Do you see the River is bustling with boats storming back and forth? How about sticking ourselves to them?”

Ba Fenghan laughed aloud and said, “If only sticking ourselves to the bottom of the boat, Xiaodi is willing to play along.”

“That is a brilliant plan indeed!” Kou Zhong happily said.

He was the first to run through the sparse wooded area by the river bank and threw himself into the water.

The three left the water and went ashore unnoticed [lit. the gods did not know, the ghosts did not realize] under a small bridge at the city’s southwest.

Using their internal energy, they incited their bodies to generate heat, so that by the time they passed through the decorated archway of the city square, their clothes were dry, just like magic.

The square was an open space with flagstone floor in random arrangement, resulting in rich texture, making their heart thoroughly refreshed and relaxed.

There was a well in the middle of the square. Two women were drawing water from the well; a picture perfect depiction of ordinary people’s life. It was so moving that it seemed to be in a painting and not in real life.

With a rueful smile Xu Ziling said, “Our misfortune is that we had never experienced and enjoyed the fun of ordinary life. Like right now, for example, my mind can only think about whether we can escape people tracking and following us, everything else have to be put aside. Don’t you say we are so helpless?”

Ba Fenghan took the lead toward an alley to their left. He had to step aside to let a bunch of ‘you chase me, I run after you’ little kids who were rushing toward the flagstone plaza.

Listening to the children’s laughter going farther away, Kou Zhong turned to Xu Ziling and said with a sigh, “When we were those children’s age, other than fighting and trying to survive, we never seemed to play until the sky darkened the earth turned black like those children. Does it mean that we have lost a real childhood?”

The three continued deep into the alley. Ba Fenghan continuously scanned the buildings on both sides of the alley.

Xu Ziling reached out to pat Kou Zhong’s shoulder; with a wry smile he said, “That is precisely the price you have to pay if you want to stand out among your peers. Were it not for you wanted to imitate the dog and steal the chicken, also wanted to study and train martial art, how could our precious childhood years be this empty? And now we wouldn’t be like three rats crossing the street while everybody else is shouting and yelling to beat and kill us.”

Ba Fenghan burst out laughing. He said, “Won’t it be a bit better if you said three tigers crossing the street? At least no one is not afraid. Everything has a price, and now is the time to settle the debt. Come! This way.”

The three turned right into another alley, a flagstone-paved alley, suggesting an endless relaxed atmosphere, standing aloof from worldly affairs. A teenage girl was washing clothes in front of the door. Suddenly seeing the three, immediately her eyes grew wide as she stared blankly at them.

Unexpectedly there were such heroes in this world; not only one, but three appeared at the same time.

Ba Fenghan was in a very good mood; he turned his head around and gave her a smile. Catching up with the other two, he said, “If someone mobilized Luoyang’s local ruffians and gangsters to investigate all over the city, before the zi hour they would have discovered that we have been here. Because we are so easily recognizable; once they saw us, they would never forget.”

Lowering his voice, Kou Zhong said, “Aren’t you going the wrong way? Is this a diversion?”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “I call this ‘surveying the terrain first’. Come on!”

Suddenly he somersaulted over the roof of the building to their left, leading the two boys leaping onto the roofs and vaulting over the walls. It was quite a while later that they finally landed into a small courtyard of one of the many single-story houses.

Above the main door was a plaque with three big letters ‘House of Contemplation’ [Si Shi Ju, si – think/consider, shi – life/age/era, ju – residence]; the strokes were free yet powerful, like a dragon flying into the sky.

Laughing aloud, Kou Zhong said, “Mr. Xu’s penmanship is indeed extremely outstanding.”

The piece of paper Xu Xingzhi handed over to Xu Ziling [just a quick note: these two ‘Xu’ are not the same] was actually a map giving direction to this ‘Si Shi Ju’, which was also the place where he was supposed to meet Kou Zhong.

The house was divided into front and rear sections, with a courtyard in the middle.

Xu Ziling laughed and called out, “Mr. Xu, we are here!”

No response from the house.

Ba Fenghan was surprised, “Could it be that he is not back yet?” he asked.

Kou Zhong took the lead toward the door. With one push the door was opened.

As he stepped into the house, his tiger-body was severely shaken. “It’s you again!” he called out in shock.

END OF CHAPTER 6 (so you won't accuse me of cliffhanger ...)