Book 16 Chapter 10 – Reluctant Parting

The three stood side by side on the bridge, looking towards the east, the winding river extended as far as their eyes could see. The bright night sky, under the moon and the stars, illuminated row after row of buildings on both sides of the river, brimming with rich layers of serene beauty, as picturesque as a dream.

Not wishing to disturb the residents of the nearby buildings, who were still in deep slumber, Ba Fenghan spoke in low voice, “Kou Zhong, aren’t you underestimating the enemy too much? How come you don’t seem to take Li Shimin seriously? In my opinion, among the warlords vying for supremacy, both in terms of personality and the strength they possess, he is second only to Li Mi before his battle against Yuwen Huaji; perhaps he is even better than that.”

Xu Ziling nodded, “I had never heard Li Shimin suffers defeat,” he said.

Immensely proud of himself, Kou Zhong said, “The so-called sending down the troops, dispatching bravery, based on my currently weak strength, I would be a fool to shake him openly.”

Ba Fenghan and Xu Zilling immediately burst into laughter.

Cursing and swearing, the former said, “Go to your Niang! ’Sending down the troops, dispatching bravery’. Others are ‘sending up the troops, dispatching a scheme’, you insist on turning it upside down, so that it becomes out of place. If the troops are not brave, they would be defeated without any battle.”

Kou Zhong laughed together with the other two. Half a day later, he said in low voice, “Li kid basically does not have time to deal with me.”

“How could you say that?” Xu Ziling asked.

Kou Zhong replied, “The self-proclaimed Hegemon of Western Qin Xue Ju and his superb martial art master son Xue Renguo are secretly striking their gongs and beating their drums in preparation to attack to the east toward Chang’An; and Liu Wuzhou might take this opportunity to attack Taiyuan, to rattle his Li Family’s foundation. Under these circumstances, how could that Li kid still have time to worry about me?”

Emotionally moved, Ba Fenghan said, “These troops and horses from two different roads are difficult to ward off. I hear among Xue Ju’s subordinates there is one great general by the name of Zong Luohou, with unmatched heroism and bravery, expert in using Guan saber [I believe it refers to Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms]; very formidable.”

Sneering, Xu Ziling said, “Zhong Shao can play his abacus any way he wants, but unfortunately nobody knew when it would happen. That guy Li Shimin still has plenty of time to try to kill us first.”

With a card up his sleeve, Kou Zhong said, “You can try to guess: when that Li kid slipped away just now, where do you think he was going?”

The two were stumped by him; they were unable to respond.

High-spirited, Kou Zhong said, “He went to see Wang Shichong.”

The two nodded in agreement, and could not help admiring him for his outstanding ability and wisdom.

Kou Zhong explained, “Good or bad, currently I can be considered a man from Wang Shichong’s camp. Li kid wanted to remove me, he simply has to call out to Wang Shichong, to sound out what he thinks about it. Last time Wang Shichong agreed to put the city under curfew, simply because he did not expect he would be drawn into the dispute involving the Jade Annulus of He Clan; he wanted to declare his innocence, but also because he did not believe that in the Jade Annulus of He Clan’s matter, before the water recedes, the rocks appear, Shi Feixuan would kill me.”

Ba Fenghan said, “Since Wang Shichong is an old fox, he might already see through your wild ambition. Maybe he is using Li Shimin to eliminate you.”

Smiling, Kou Zhong said, “If you had spoken those words yesterday, I really did not dare to contradict you. But after giving it a lot of thoughts, I know that Wang Shichong already weighed the pros and cons, and he won’t dare to touch me before Li Mi is defeated. Right now he still needs to protect me!”

Puzzled, Ba Fenghan asked, “How could you have such confidence?”

Pleased, Kou Zhong replied, “First of all, because of Zhai Jiao. Currently I am the middleman, only through me would Wang Shichong obtain valuable intelligence on Li Mi’s main force, from Zhai Rang’s old unit who are still loyal to him.”

Ba Fenghan nodded and said, “This is enough reason for Wang Shichong to treat you like pearl or jewel, which he has to protect with great care. And what’s the other reason?”

Kou Zhong replied, “The day after tomorrow is Rong Fengxiang’s birthday feast. Wang Shichong will attend. This will give Shen Luoyan an opportunity to assassinate him. Since Wang Shichong is a man who cherishes his life, without me, the chief imperial strategic adviser and ultimate martial art master, by his side giving him direction, he would not dare to tread into this pulling-a-snake-from-its-hole dangerous scheme.”

Sighing in admiration, Be Fenghan said, “It is indeed dispatching bravery and dispatching a scheme. Whoever underestimate you, Kou Zhong, will one day regret it.”

Remaining tranquil and calm, Kou Zhong said, “In my opinion, Wang Shichong may readily agree to join hands with Li kid to deal with me, but they must wait for Li Mi’s defeat before commencing the operation. At that time, he and I might lay our cards on the table. If I am willing to be used by him, there won’t be any problem. Otherwise, he might set a trap to eliminate me when I do not guard against him. This is called ‘the birds are over, the bow is put away’, a famous lesson throughout all ages that Bai Lao Fuzi [old master/teacher, see Book 1 Chapter 1] taught us.”

Xu Ziling joined in, “But with Li Shimin’s ability and wisdom, he ought to be able to see that Wang Shichong is helpless against you; perhaps he had another operation in place. Supposing right now you are found dead on the street, even if Zhuge Liang came back to life, he wouldn’t be able to guess which party did it.”

Kou Zhong giggled and said, “As long as Li kid does not dare to assemble the crowd to besiege me openly, why would I be afraid? If I, Kou Zhong, am that easy to kill, God knows how many times I would have died!”

It was indeed an inalienable fact.

Muttering to himself, Ba Fenghan said, “Although currently you are able to secretly influence so many things controlling the situation of the Central Plains, I still don’t understand why you have so much confidence in vying over the world?”

Taking a deep breath, Kou Zhong said, “The key is the ‘Duke Yang Treasure’. If I can’t find it, I will have no choice but to kill this vying-over-the-world desire, go to the great desert to pass happy days with you galloping over the prairie, or perhaps do business in illegal salt trading, leading a befuddled existence [orig. as if drunk] of the second half of my life.”

Ba Fenghan did not understand, “Even if you have treasure and weapons, you don’t have territory, you even lack troops and horses; how could you challenge those with deep and solid foundation like the Li Clan?”

Kou Zhong’s eyes flashed with cold light; he spoke heavily, “It all goes back to the problem of dispatching bravery and dispatching a scheme. If Li Mi is defeated, the Li Clan will become target of a multitude of arrows. As long as I can scheme to frustrate Du Fuwei, I will have a chance to use the Flying Horse Ranch and Jingling as the center, establish my power, then at the same time expand to the north and south. To the south make alliance with Xiao Xian and the Song Clan, to the north win over Dou Jiande and Liu Wuzhou. If Wang Shichong is still able to hold the Li Clan to the west, there will come a day this land under the heavens will be inside my, Kou Zhong’s bag.”

Ba Fenghan sighed and said, “Such a difficult and complex matter, only you, Zhong Shaoye [young master] can feel that it is easily achievable. Just thinking about it is giving me headache.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “I also have only 50% confidence. But if Xiao Ling is willing to help me, I will have 100% confidence.”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “What you have already said, you must not renege. Otherwise, how can you win the world’s trust?”

Smiling apologetically, Kou Zhong said, “Xu Ye, please calm down. I was only expressing my feeling, and spoke without thinking the matter through. Xu Ye agreed to accompany me on the treasure hunt, I already shed tears of gratitude!”

Xu Ziling changed the subject, “Although currently I am extremely resentful toward Li Jing, but from the beginning I never thought of him as someone who’d betray friend to seek glory. Let alone we must remember one other thing that might divulge our secret: perhaps Li kid found out from Li Xiuning that we have the ability to disguise ourselves and change our appearance.”

When the Four Big Bandits attacked the Flying Horse Ranch in the past, Shen Luoyan and Li Tianfan were plotting against Li Xiuning, Kou Zhong intervened to help her. At that time he was wearing Lu Miaozi’s masks to conceal his true identity [see first few chapters of Book 10].

“How could I forget?” Kou Zhong said, “Hence I deliberately asked Li Jing, and he admitted with his own mouth.”

“What did he say, exactly?” Xu Ziling asked.

Kou Zhong pondered for half a day, and then replied, “That time his answer was very strange; something like ‘just consider that I did mention it’. But at that time I was already burning with anger that I could not think straight, so I hatefully scolded him some more. Never mind! Why do we care if he did it or not? He has become Li Shimin’s hunting dog anyway; there will come a day I might meet head-on with him. All those brotherhood and friendship won’t worth a penny.”

Ba Fenghan felt another headache coming; he said, “There are a lot of things that it would be better if we do not think about it too much. The greatest worry in life is that we have too much to think.”

Deeply concerned, Xu Ziling asked, “How’s your injury? While it’s not dawn yet, we’d better take advantage of this time to work together to heal your injury!”

Smiling ruefully, Ba Fenghan said, “By all means, no! This moment powerful enemies are lurking everywhere, any one of us lose any power could possibly bring unforeseen disaster.”

Sighing, Xu Ziling said, “I still feel that you are afraid that if you are completely recovered, you won’t have any reason to leave immediately.”

Having a brainwave, Kou Zhong said, “I get it! You want to steer clear of that Tujue beauty.”

Ba Fenghan opened his right palm; surprisingly, there was that shiny hairpin that Ba Dai’er returned to him.

He raised his right arm, and then, under the blank stare of the two boys, he threw the hairpin into the river. It sank and disappeared without stirring up half a ripple.

Ba Fenghan spoke indifferently, “Almost dawn!”

※ ※ ※

The three galloped out of town at top speed. After passing through a sparse forest northwest of the city, they climbed a dirt slope, and reined their horses to stop.

Surrounded by hills all around, there was a quiet small lake lay on the grassland ahead. The bluish green waves and the crystal-clear water rippled in front of the forest, the dawn mist was still floating above the green and lush surface of the water. The three felt their spirit aroused.

Pointing to the poetic and picturesque scenery ahead with his whip, Kou Zhong let out a long laughter and said, “If we did not insist on sending you off for a while, we would not know there is such a good place nearby.”

Ba Fenghan jumped down the horse, taking out a heavy-looking money purse, he tied it onto Kou Zhong’s saddle and said with a smile, “There are at least fifty ingots of gold weighing one tael each in this purse. This is called ‘before the three armies [i.e. upper, middle and lower army, or right, center and left] move, the army provisions precede’. Just consider it my, Ba Fenghan’s, small contribution to Kou Huang’s [emperor] finance.”

Kou Zhong did not decline; delighted, he said, “Between us, brothers, there is no need to mention a lot of rubbish; in short, I, Kou Zhong, appreciate your kindness! You’d better put on your mask, so that to the people pursuing you, Ba Fenghan has disappeared.”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “Changing my face is not enough. When I get to the nearest town, I’ll change clothes, put my weapon away, and disguise myself as an ordinary traveling merchant. This way I will fool people’s eyes and ears better.”

Xu Ziling said, “If it weren’t for Ba Dai’er, who could make you, Ba Fenghan, hiding your true colors with thousand ways, a hundred plans?”

Ba Fenghan flew back onto his horse. After turning his head around to scan the area, he sighed and said, “From this moment onwards, I will no longer think of her, and I do not wish to see her again.”

After staring deeply into the two boys’ eyes, he fixed his gaze forward, and spoke in heavy tone, “We’ll part here. I don’t know whether we will see each other again. Two brothers, please take good care of yourselves!”

He squeezed the horse’s belly with his legs, the steed neighed and moved its four legs, galloping down the slope, and disappearing behind a cloud of dust.

The two boys followed him with their eyes. Without even looking back he galloped through the forest and the prairie, sometimes hidden from their sight, until finally he turned into a small dot, and vanished in a dense wood in the distance.

Only then did Kou Zhong breathe a sigh of relief. “Nobody’s following him!” he said.

Xu Ziling nodded in agreement.

The two urged their horses to turn around, and then rode back slowly down the slope.

Kou Zhong repeatedly exhaled to clear his heavy heart filled with the sadness of separation. “Separated in life and death, unexpectedly could be this depressing,” he spoke in agony, “Niang is dead, Ba Fenghan is gone, this is all very difficult, yet nothing we could do about it. Were it not for that poniang [reminder: woman, in derogatory way] Ba Dai’er, perhaps Ol’ Ba would still be with us for a while longer.”

Noticing Xu Ziling’s pensive look, as if he did not hear what he said, Kou Zhong asked in surprise, “What’s on your mind? Are you surprised that no one is following us? Actually, this is to be expected. Just think, who would want to provoke us now without thinking three times over first?”

Xu Ziling shook his head, “I suddenly remember Su Jie,” he said, “My heart is not happy.”

Kou Zhong’s countenance changed, “Don’t scare me!” he said.

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “Perhaps it was because I saw Li Jing again! After killing Yuwen Huaji, I am going to look for Su Jie, I want to see how Xiang Yushan is treating her. Humph!”

Kou Zhong was deep in thought for half a day. Finally he said, “I think it’s time for you to see Wang Shichong!”

Showing disdain on his face, Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “Today I do not wish to see that kind of person. You go back first! I want to ride for a while. Somehow I feel a bit depressed.”

Kou Zhong was stunned, “It’s not fire-deviation sign, is it?” he asked.

Xu Ziling laughed and scolded him, “Fire-deviation your @$$! You go your road through Yangguan [fig. wide open road/bright future], I go my single-log bridge [fig. difficult path]. Don’t forget at noon Song Lu is waiting for us for a feast at the House of Dong. Now get lost; go see your Wang Shichong and Dong Shuni Mei!” Finished speaking he urged his horse to gallop away.

Kou Zhong stared blankly for half a day. Finally he smiled wryly, shook his head, and then returned to the city.

Chapter 10 - Part 2

Jing Nian Chanyuan stood tall on the mountain; the ambience was dense and solemn.

Xu Ziling dismounted; wrapping one arm around the horse’s neck, he spoke in gentle voice as if he was coaxing a child, and then left the horse grazing on its own, while he dashed toward the main entrance of the monastery.

After passing the memorial arch engraved with the characters ‘Jing Nian Chanyuan’, he climbed the long and precipitous stone steps extended to the hilltop, giving the feeling of he was ascending into the heaven to ‘the other shore’ [i.e. paramita in Buddhism].

Subconsciously Xu Ziling stroked the mask hidden in his pocket, as well as the scrolls pertaining to construction, astronomy, et cetera, which Lu Miaozi gave to him; he sighed inwardly.

After stealing the Jade Annulus of He Clan, they buried these things in a secret place, and only retrieved them just now.

Regaining his composure, Xu Ziling went up the stairs step by step.

‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’

The melodious sound of the bell from up the mountain floated down.

Xu Ziling’s mind was calm; he lifted up his eyes to enjoy the amazing and elegant ridges and peaks, the dense forest and the beautiful mountain scenery all around him. He mused that this temple was built on top of this mountain, there must be a reason behind it.

Looking up into the distance, he could see the pagoda and bell tower appearing among the forest tree.

Because he had read Lu Miaozi’s insight, he had a very good foundation in architecture, and was able to enjoy the beauty of the buildings from a pedestrian’s eye view.

The pagoda was built of mostly large dark green granite blocks, the structure was complex, with nine layers of octagonal floor, opened doors on all sides, the carvings on the body of the tower was exceptionally magnificent, all around the roll up doors there were dragons, tigers, Buddha, Bodhisattva, warriors, craft music [? Not sure, 伎樂], flying Apsara, and other religious objects; all were glowing with health and vigor, vivid and lifelike.

Nevertheless, the tacha [from the dictionary: Buddhist ornamentation decorating the upper story of a pagoda] was made of iron, with eight separate chains securing it to the eight corners of the top of the pagoda. The stairs connecting the lower five floors were inside the structure, but starting from the fifth floor, the stairs were spiraling along the outer ledges, all the way to the top floor. This kind of configuration was rarely seen in pagoda architecture, particularly that tall and gorgeous iron tacha. It was elegant, tall and straight, protruding above the mountain forest, as if it was piercing the blue sky.

The reason Xu Ziling paid so much attention to Jing Nian Chanyuan’s construction was simply because he wanted to verify the earlier impression he had on this monastery, because in all aspects, this temple did not comply with common practice; hidden within it was a unique imposing style.

The most amazing thing for him was that in the extremely ornate architecture, there was a sense of austere simplicity; just like a richly attired beautiful woman, although her dress was magnificent her clothes beautiful, but because she was not wearing any makeup, she was able to maintain her innate beauty and natural charm.

Reaching the end of the stone steps, Xu Ziling arrived at the second main gate of the monastery.

The inscribed tablet above the door had four characters carved on it, ‘ru zhe you yuan’ [those who enter are brought together by fate]; on both sides of the doorway a rhyming couplet was engraved, ‘Evening drum and morning bell arouse the human world from pursuing fame and fortune; the sound of scripture and many names of Buddha call the charmed back from the dream of sea of bitterness’.

A rueful smile appeared on the corner of Xu Ziling’s lips, thinking that if Kou Zhong was pursuing fame and fortune, then he was charmed by the dream. Both were struggling and drifting along in the sea of bitterness of this human world, without the freedom to act independently.

After heaving another sigh, he entered in.

※ ※ ※

On the plaza behind the towering gate of the first of the seven big halls, two old monks were sweeping the dead leaves. They were not in the least concerned over this guest who gate-crash into their temple.

Xu Ziling was acting strangely as well; he simply walked along the path, which acted as the central axis of the main part of this building complex, with his hands behind his back, as if he belonged there.

Fragrant smoke from the incense drifted out of the temple halls; from the three-legged incense burner in front of the three enshrined and worshipped Buddha images at the southern end, the smoke rose up in spirals.

He did not know much about Buddhism; he only knew the one in the middle, wearing golden crown, with benevolent and dignified expression, was Vairocana Buddha [毗盧遮那佛]; as for the other two Buddha on either side, he was not so sure. Even more attractive to him was along the inner wall of the Hall there were dozens of revered Luohan statues, in different poses and with different expressions, no two were alike.

The eight columns of pillar and the foundation of the Hall were finely engraved, which matched very well with the brightly painted, grand and majestic interlocking beams that spanned well toward the eaves. The horn-shaped corners of the eaves were rising high, in harmony with the profound and long-lasting, solemn and respectful atmosphere of temple complex, brimming with religious inspiration.

A voice calling one of the many names of Buddha came from behind, followed by a question, “Xu Shizhu [lit. benefactor (term used by a monk to address a layperson)] honors us with your presence, I wonder for what reason?”

Xu Ziling recognized the voice; without even looking back, he said, “Bu Chen Dashi, may I ask the Buddha on the left and right, which one are they?”

Bu Chen, who was the leader of the Four Great Protectors replied, “On the left is Medicine Buddha, on the right is Amitabha Buddha [see also Book 14 Chapter 1]. Since Xu Shizhu does not know Buddha, entering the Temple without worshiping is reasonable.”

Confident and at ease, Xu Ziling turned around and smiled toward Bu Chen, whose eyes were hung low, whose palms clasped together holding Buddhist beads; he said, “Although Zaixia does not know much about Buddhism, but I know that all [Buddhist] laws are in the heart. Kneeling to worship is but outward appearance, which cannot be used to judge one’s sincerity toward Buddha!”

Bu Chen opened his eyes to look at him; an amazed expression flashed through his eyes. “Various inner thoughts have outer appearances. Buddha also have images of Buddha. What Shizhu said, perhaps only applicable to Shizhu! Shizhu must ask your own heart.”

Although he did not speak it out, the meaning behind his words was obvious, which referred to Xu Ziling’s mouth was not in line with his heart, that he was using words to quibble, including, of course, the matter involving the Jade Annulus of He Clan.

Xu Ziling was open-minded; he was not concerned about it. Telling the reason of his visit, he said, “This time Zaixia pays a visit, the purpose is to see Miss Shi, there are some things I’d like to resolve.”

Bu Chen sharply sized him up for half a day; finally he said, “Shizhu, please!” and took the lead toward the Hall’s gate.

Thinking that it would go smoothly, Xu Ziling quickly followed him.

※ ※ ※

Kou Zhong rode straight toward the Imperial City. It was not until he reached the Shangshu Mansion that he jumped down the horse, but before he reached the steps, Dong Shuni, wearing warrior outfit, rushed out of the Mansion’s door, amidst a burst of fragrant wind. Her apricot eyes were wide open as she scolded tenderly, “Gutless ghost! Come with me!”

Noticing that all the warriors guarding the door were staring at them, Kou Zhong felt extremely awkward; helplessly he followed her into the Mansion.

Dong Shuni entered the western hall, drove all the maids and servants out, and then pointing to the chair by the window, she furiously said, “Sit over there!”

Kou Zhong was inwardly angry as well. “Am I your slave?” he spoke crossly, “Whatever it is, say it quickly, your Shaoye is very busy today.”

How could Dong Shuni ever think that Kou Zhong would dare to challenge her? Seething with anger, her eyes bulging, she pointed her finger like a halberd and cursed, “You, a man without conscience, you have the impertinence to use that kind of tone speaking with me?”

Frankly speaking, even though she looked like a tigress that had lost her mind, she was still so cute, charming and gorgeous; her posture alluring, exuding a different flavor of prettiness. Especially with her erect silky breasts and two lily-white hands on her small waist, she looked extremely attractive even more.

Seeing her eyes turned red from anger, with glistening beads of tear on them, the anger in Kou Zhong’s heart disappeared for the most part. Plus he inwardly thought that as a grand, manly man, it was not worthwhile for him to bicker with her. Thereupon he laughed aloud and said, “You want me to sit then I’ll sit! What’s the big deal?”

Sitting down, he patted his lap and said, “Would Miss Dong like to sit on the most comfortable chair in the world?”

Dong Shuni glowered at him for half a day. Finally she stomped her feet in fury and said, “I’ll settle an old score with you first: where the hell were you that night?”

Spreading out his hands, Kou Zhong said, “I hear Rong Fengxiang’s big birthday feast is tomorrow night. Since I thought that in your hurry Miss must have mentioned the wrong day, plus I had a bit of business to attend, hee … you know how it is!”

He did not wish to argue with her much longer, so he hinted that he already saw through her wicked scheme, with the hope that she would sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat.

Like a whirlwind Dong Shuni stormed forward until her jade legs were almost hitting his knees before stopping before flaring out in tigress’ style, “You, Kou Zhong, the big-headed ghost, his big birthday feast is set for seven days; otherwise, how can we call it ‘big birthday feast’?”

Kou Zhong was nearly tongue-tied; luckily as he knitted his brows, an idea came to his mind. Recalling how deceitful she was, he smiled wryly and said, “Xiao Nini, please don’t mess with me! Xuyan Xiong and I had no discord, no concord [orig. don’t fight, won’t make friends], but now we became very friendly. He had already laid out everything on the plate. Ha! When we go to Rong Mansion later, I’d like to look for him; do you want to come with me?”

It was as if Dong Shuni was struck by thunder; she retreated three steps back, her pretty face turned white, and she stammered in disbelief, “He … he really …”

Inwardly Kou Zhong laughed; no matter how crafty you are, all along you are still inexperienced, all of a sudden you revealed the fox’s tail and thus confirmed this purely speculative guess.

Patting his clothes, he rose up to his full height and said, “We’ll make out later!”

And then he walked away with a chuckle, feeling immensely proud of himself.