Book 24 Chapter 11 – Dividing the Color of Spring Evenly

Under everybody’s blank stare, An Long covered his chest with his left hand, while his right hand that was holding the Print Scroll was trembling slightly; his face was devoid of any blood, his eyes stared fixedly on the mother earth – resplendent under the bright moonlight – outside the hole, his face showed a hard-to-believe expression with a hint of deep fear in it.

Who could make this martial art master who ranked among the demonic way’s hall of fame to lose his normal state in such a big way?

Shi Qingxuan, who was leaning against the wall, suddenly had her tender body shaking. Without a word she floated out of the hall via the hole on the wall, and disappeared without any trace.

With this sudden change, it was too late for Xu Ziling to stop her. After exchanging an eye signal, Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai made their move at the same time to pounce toward An Long. No matter who was forcing An Long back, they simply had to snatch the Print Scroll back from him before doing anything else.

Upon seeing this rapid and pressing change, Yang Xuyan’s mind was bewildered and was at a loss of what to do; he shouted loudly, “An Shu [uncle], be careful!”

Hearing the shout, An Long looked like he had just woken up from a nightmare; he haphazardly tossed the Print Scroll upward and roared, “It’s none of my business!” And then he fled in the opposite direction of the hole on the wall and smashed another big hole on the wall and ran away.

Hou Xibai and Yang Xuyan had no interest in paying him any attention; they both soared up to chase after the Print Scroll, which very soon would reach the roof of the hall.

Xu Ziling was afraid Wanwan might mount sneak attack, he did not move from where he was standing to keep watch over Wanwan’s movement with full attention.

He noticed that the beauty did not move from where she was standing either, as if she already lost interest toward Hou and Yang, two men’s fight over the scroll. Turning a blind eye and turning a deaf ear, she appeared to be deep in thought, while staring fixedly at the hole from which An Long was coming back.

Xu Ziling’s heart was moved; he kind of had an idea who was outside the hole that An Long was forced to come back. In fact, it was not difficult to guess. Under the heavens, the person who could make An Long so panic and losing his mind, other than Ning Daoqi, Zhu Yuyan, Shi Zhixuan, and the likes, there were very few people. And among those people, the only one directly related to this matter was Shi Zhixuan; so most likely it was he.

Thinking about this ‘Xie Wang’ [demonic king] Shi Zhixuan, he could not help feeling the chill in the air.

A continuous ringing of the fan and the sword clashing against each other was heard from the roof of the hall, followed by Hou Xibai and Yang Xuyan separately landed on Xu Ziling’s left and right sides, looking at each other with glaring eyes; unexpectedly each man had half of the Print Scroll in their hands.

Xu Ziling could not help but was dumbfounded.

Wanwan let out a faint sigh and spoke glibly, “This is perhaps the best solution. Nujia won’t accompany you anymore!”

Suddenly flying backward, she floated out of the hall via the main entrance.

‘Qiang!’

Yang Xuyan returned the sword into its scabbard; his eyes shone with flashes of lightning. After looking back and forth between Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai several times, he let out a cold humph and flew toward the hole on the wall and disappeared.

The main hall returned to its previously tranquil condition, with only the broken debris of the shattered statues remained on the floor.

Xu Ziling looked at Hou Xibai. The latter withdrew his stare from the remaining half of the scroll; smiling wryly, he said, “Xiaodi agree with Miss Wan a little bit; this is perhaps the only way to resolve this matter, everybody loses.”

Xu Ziling asked, “The one who forced An Long to come back, was it your esteemed Master?”

Shaking his head, Hou Xibai replied, “It does not seem so. Although Shi Shi rarely makes his move, but once he does, somebody will lose his life. I think Yang Xuyan did not believe that it was Shi Shi either. As for who that actually was, if there is someone who knows everything under the heavens, Xiaodi also wish that that person could answer me.”

Xu Ziling could not help asking, “How long has Hou Xiong not seen your esteemed Master?”

Playing it down, Hou Xibai replied, “I am afraid seven or eight years!”

It seemed to Xu Ziling that he did not want to talk about anything related to Shi Zhixuan; changing the subject, he said, “I am so glad I am able to make friends with an affectionate and true friend like Ziling tonight. Just now Xiaodi exerted my strength in desperate fight and received a bit of injury, I must find a place to recuperate. If in the next few days Ziling is going to stay in Chengdu, Xiaodi might look for you to drink wine and have a long talk.”

Raising half of the scroll in his hand high, he smiled and said, “I am really grateful. Please!” Finished speaking, he went out through the hole, in a confident and at ease manner.

The little bit of candlelight has just stopped burning, but soon afterwards the main hall was brightening up, because it was already dawn.

Thinking about last night’s perilous experience has given him the feeling that the ability to see morning light was actually very precious.

By the time Xu Ziling stepped out of the wall, the sky was already bright.

Suddenly there was a crisp ‘Ding Dong!’ sound from the pagoda in the distance. Looking toward that direction, he vaguely saw a copper bell hanging from a corner of the pagoda’s eaves. When the mountain breeze was blowing, the bell created a clear, beautiful sound, which chased away the anxiety of the earth from the people’s heart.

There was a narrow street lined with walls next to the Luohan Hall, where flowers and trees were well-spaced, providing profound and unfathomable, dense shade; it was extremely enticing.

Thinking that since he had nothing to do anyway, he might as well pay a casual visit before leaving Sichuan and rushing over to meet with Kou Zhong, and then together they would go to Guanzhong on a treasure hunt.

After heaving a sigh, he slowly walked toward the pagoda. After passing through a bamboo grove, he saw the nearly fifteen zhang tall, separated into thirteen floors –pagoda towering majestically over a clearing in the forest, lofty and steep, high and standing out above the trees.

Under the splendor of the morning sun, the top of the pagoda, which was engraved with flying geese made of gold and copper – appeared even more brilliant and glorious, dazzling the far and near.

Each floor of the pagoda had its four sides embedded with twelve stone carving of Buddhist images; grand and magnificent, rich in texture.

“Xu Xiong seems to have a particular feeling toward this pagoda?”

Xu Ziling looked up at the pagoda with his hands behind his back; without even turning his head, he said indifferently, “Did Miss Shi arrive last night, or did you just get here?”

Shi Feixuan came behind him and said glibly, “What difference does it make? You just wanted to ask who forced An Long to come back into the Luohan Hall, am I right? This man is so repulsive; he desecrated a Buddhist’s sacred place. Feixuan scared him so that after this, he won’t be able to sleep, as well as to pass his days – peacefully. Doesn’t Xu Xiong agree?”

Xu Ziling turned around to face this lucid and elegant, simple and graceful Shi Feixuan; smiling wryly, he said, “I stepped on one statue and destroyed it; how will Miss punish Xiaodi?”

Shi Feixuan smiled and said, “I did not see it, I did not know; Xu Xiong does not need to ask me.”

Xu Ziling slapped his forehead and laughed charmingly and said, “Last night was like a dream; pretty much everything was so puzzling, so unclear. For instance, how in the world did Miss Shi startle An Long so that he came back, scaring him so that he even abandoned the ‘Immortal Print Scroll’, so much so that it was like he just saw a ghost that he covered his head and sneaked away like a rat?”

Shi Feixuan spoke gently, “Last time I went to Sichuan, it was under my Master’s order to go to the secluded forest in the small valley to review the ‘Immortal Print Scroll’ all the way through. Although it’s unlikely that I will be able to master the Immortal Print method, but to imitate to twenty, thirty-percent likeness would not be difficult at all. And plus being a thief, An Long already had a guilty conscience, so that a chance encounter like that was very effective. Did it explain one of the mysteries in Xu Xiong’s heart?”

Xu Ziling understood, but a new question arose in his heart, “Miss Shi might as well bring the Print Scroll back to Jingzhai to be kept there, and then the dispute last night would not have happened,” he said in astonishment.

Shi Feixuan calmly and indifferently said, “It was a legacy that Xiuxin Shibo passed on to Miss Qingxuan; moreover, it is the auspicious article that Shi Zhixuan wanted to use to kill people with borrowed blade. Without Miss Qingxuan’s consent, nobody has the right to take it out of the secluded forest in the small valley. The most difficult thing to understand this time was that how did Yang Xuyan suddenly become aware of the scroll’s existence?”

Xu Ziling was stunned, “Killing people with borrowed blade?” he said, “If Shi Zhixuan wanted to kill people, I don’t understand why he did not make the move himself.”

A hint of grief smeared Shi Feixuan’s pretty eyebrows; she spoke in low voice, “Can we walk and talk?”

Xu Ziling did not dare to walk side by side with her; he fell about two steps behind her, as together they walked along the small alley winding through the bamboo forest.

Shi Feixuan suddenly stopped. Naturally Xu Ziling also stopped immediately. With a slight displeasure in her voice, the former said, “I don’t know what is your, this person’s brains made of? Why don’t you dare to walk side by side with Feixuan? There is no distinction of senior and junior between us; there is no distinction between master-servants even more. Do you want Feixuan to storm off in a huff and no longer pay you any attention?”

Book 24 Chapter 11 - Part 2

Jaya, Ysabel, DongBin, you are welcome. Shirak, I am still impressed with your guess based on strong arguments. (BTW, what’s FIL?) Sky, I don’t think that’s what Xu Ziling thought … Xiaohu, why did you assume first and second parts? What if the scroll was torn right in the middle? Lance, correct. At least that’s my understanding too.

A hard to describe feeling appeared in Xu Ziling’s heart; perhaps it was because the relationship between them has grown closer that there was a big change in Shi Feixuan’s attitude toward him compared to when they first met. Previously, she had never tried this kind of half tender-beyond-reach stare, half rebuking attitude and voice, in talking with him, which was kind of touching, so that Xu Ziling was pleasantly surprised.

Laughing aloud, Xu Ziling stepped forward to take his position on her left. With a bit of losing-his-footwork feeling, he said, “It was just a misunderstanding. Xiaodi thought that because of Miss Shi’s special status, you must be strictly maintaining the distance between men and women; therefore … hey! I was just trying to show respect from a distance. Oh! That came out wrong! I was just respecting Miss’ outstanding, proper identity. Ay! You ought to understand what I am trying to say.”

Shi Feixuan smiled and said, “What does walking side by side have to do with maintaining the distance between men and women? On the contrary, by intentionally falling back, how did you show respect from a distance? Even more, it proves that you are appraising the harmonious limp and the swing of my hips.”

Finished speaking, she continued walking forward, her jade countenance returned to her still-water-without-any-ripple serene expression. This time Xu Ziling leisurely, taking-it-easy, walked by her side, quietly waiting for her to continue.

After a good while, Shi Feixuan spoke seriously, “Shi Zhixuan left a copy of Immortal Print Method, his intention was for Xiuxin Shibo to look at it. It was related to the struggle between the demonic schools and Jingzhai, which details can be easily imagined. Were it not for studying the scroll attentively, Xiuxin Shibo could not possibly be giving up and departing this mortal life at the prime of her life.”

A chill crept up in Xu Ziling’s heart. He said, “Shi Zhixuan accomplished his intention by doing such thing, no wonder Miss Shi is unwilling to recognize him as her father.”

And then he anxiously said, “Didn’t Miss Shi just say that you examined the ‘Immortal Print Scroll’ carefully? Are you not just repeating your esteemed Shibo’s disastrous policy?”

“You can say that,” Shi Feixuan nonchalantly replied, “Plus this is exactly Shi Zhixuan’s intention in completing the writing of the scroll. To Jingzhai, it was a blatant drowning battle. One day Feixuan might suddenly walk away from this, but in every case, I cannot simply pay no heed to it.”

Listening to that, Xu Ziling did not know how to respond; worse yet, he did not know how to share her burden. It was quite half a day later that he finally said, “Why did An Long want to obtain the Print Scroll? What benefit would that bring him?”

By this time they had reached the end of the forest, where there was a clearing next to the Luohan Hall. Shi Feixuan slowly turned around to face Xu Ziling. Her voice was tranquil as she said, “Toward Shi Zhixuan, An Long has some kind of near-crazy adoration, which has not changed for the last several decades. All along he wishes that Shi Zhixuan would unify the demonic schools. To him, the former obstacle was Xiuxin Shibo, and now the obstacle is Miss Qingxuan. As for between Yang Xuyan and Hou Xibai, he chose the former, because he believes that Yang Xuyan might become another Shi Zhixuan.”

Puzzled, Xu Ziling asked, “Yang Xuyan is that kind of person, why does Li Shimin still want to put him in such an important position?”

Shi Feixuan replied, “Actually, it could be considered that Yang Xuyan is connected to the crown prince Li Jiancheng’s men and horses. Even more, it was because Yang Xuyan and Li Yuan’s close relationship that he receives Li Yuan’s special favor. Plus recently Yang Xuyan played a critical role in Dong Shuni becoming Li Yuan’s concubine that his status is even more consolidated. Unless Li Shimin wants to break off his relations with his father and elder brother, what can he do to this officer [orig. chen, state official/subject in dynastic China] who, time and again, establishes marvelous merits, the most recent being assassinating Xue Ju?”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “Previously, Miss Shi has always been unwilling to talk about the demonic schools, but now suddenly you want to talk to no end; is there any particular reason behind it?”

Shi Feixuan smiled and said, “Since we parted on the Great Ba Mountain, Feixuan had rushed to the secluded forest in the small valley by waterway to notify Miss Qingxuan about this matter. It was only then did I find out that just before his death, Lu Miaozi had sent a letter via pigeon post to Miss Qingxuan. In his letter he wrote about many things, he had an extremely high esteem toward you and Kou Zhong; one of things he mentioned was that you might be the only one in the world, the unusual talent who precisely must learn the Hua Jian, or perhaps Bu Tian’s demonic skills, who could also understand the ‘Immortal Print Scroll’. Hence the reason she decided to hand over the Print Scroll to you. If you are unable to rush over in time, then she would destroy the Print Scroll in front of An Long and Yang Xuyan, so that once the main problem is solved, all troubles are solved.”

Xu Ziling could not stop a burst of disappointment from bubbling up in his heart. Turned out the reason Shi Feixuan treated him so favorably now was not because of her impression on him had changed, but because of Lu Miaozi’s letter, or perhaps because Shi Qingxuan trusted him. He could not help feeling disappointed inwardly, the kind of feeling that was very unpleasant. From this, he realized that quite possibly he had fallen in love with this simple-and-elegant-like-a-fairy beauty; otherwise, how could he be so dispirited?

Thinking to this point, Xu Ziling suppressed all disturbing mood in his heart; acting as if nothing had happened, he said, “So that’s how it is. If I had known earlier, Xiaodi did not need to rush over a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers to come here.”

Astounded, Shi Feixuan said, “Not being able to take a peek at the Print Scroll, you don’t feel that it was a pity?”

Xu Ziling emotionally said, “Gains and losses, success and failure, how can we mind it too much? Otherwise, won’t life be so excruciating? Besides, it is very likely that Mr. Lu was wrong, or perhaps he overestimated me, Xu Ziling. Suffering fire deviation is really not worth it. If you want to study martial art, the five hundred revered statues in the Luohan Hall, none did not imply profound mystery principles. The flying bird and sinking fish in nature, none cannot be my master; who would have time to collate and examine critically the book created by demonic school, heretical people?”

Shi Feixuan’s beautiful eyes were deeply fixed on him, her pretty eyeballs were flickering with brilliant lights; she sighed and said, “Only now do Feixuan understand why Lu Dashi admired you, Xu Ziling, so much! Evidently Xu Xiong knew that all of this temple’s Luohan are crafted personally by Senior Monk Kumarajiva [c. 334-413, Buddhist monk and translator of Zen texts] of the Later Qin [of the Sixteen Kingdoms, 384-417].”

Stunned, Xu Ziling asked, “Who is Kumarajiva? How come his name is so strange?”

Shi Feixuan solemnly replied, “Kumarajiva was a Senior Monk from Tianzhu [India, esp. in Tang or Buddhist context] with great virtue and great wisdom, who passed on Buddhist doctrines to the Central Earth, who had extensive study of Mahayana Dharma and especially proficient in Prajna and the essence of emptiness. His martial art skill was even more out of the ordinary, bordering the arhat realm, yet he never taught martial art; he was only talking about Dharma. After arriving in the Central Earth, he immediately started the work on translating the Buddhist scripture at the Xiaoyao [lit. free and unfettered] Garden in Chang’an. I am afraid even he himself had never thought that unexpectedly someone is able to see the profound mystery from the statue he designed; not only that, this person is not a Buddhist disciple at all. It is indeed unusual.”

And then she cast him a sidelong glance and said, “Fancy that you, this person, still think that Lu Miaozi was wrong in his judgment on you; are you afraid of bearing the responsibility yourself?”

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “After listening to you, I nearly wanted to come into the hall to take a couple more thorough look. Ay! Now this place no longer has any need of an idle person like me, Sichuan Alliance people are looking for me everywhere for Li Shimin’s sake. It is really not suitable for Xiaodi to tarry much longer; Miss Shi, please! Forgive Xiaodi for failing to accompany you.”

Even with Shi Feixuan’s indifferent-to-fame-or-gain, seeking-nothing character, she could not help knitting her pretty eyebrows and spoke in displeasure, “Why do you want to slip away so quickly? Could it be that you cannot see the suffering of the people everywhere? Even Bashu [Sichuan] – that can avoid the fire of war in the Central Plains and the changes in political circumstances outside – is also affected by the rising winds, scudding clouds [idiom: turbulent times]. Since Zhu Yuyan, Shi Zhixuan came into beings, all along we have been in the situation where the Way is diminishing while the Demonic is rising; otherwise the world would not have turned chaotic like this. Those with ambition ought to work a bit for the people.”

Xu Ziling’s rueful smile went deeper; sighing, he said, “The one with ambition is Kou Zhong and not Xu Ziling at all. I wonder if Miss Shi’s expectation on me is not too high?”

Shi Feixuan returned to her usual calm and composed manner; she said, “Does Xu Xiong know why I wanted to impersonate Shi Zhixuan to scare An Long away?”

Thinking deeply, Xu Ziling said, “Was it to see whether Shi Zhixuan is implicated in this matter? If An Long has received Shi Zhixuan’s instruction, naturally he would not have been that scared.”

Glowering at him, Shi Feixuan said, “And you want to leave without blurting it out to make everybody knows?”

Embarrassed, Xu Ziling said, “Turns out Miss Shi also know how to tease people.”

Shi Feixuan let out a light sigh, and spoke gently, “You, this person, are so difficult to wait upon. If Xu Xiong does not mind, would you allow Feixuan to be a small host, to invite you to try Chengdu’s famous authentic vegetarian dishes? Miss Qingxuan still has something she’d like to entrust to you!”

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “Miss Shi [Feixuan] does not need to waste your precious time for me; you only need to tell me where I can see Miss Shi [Qingxuan], Xiaodi can always go on my own to find her.”

It was as if Shi Feixuan was able to see through him. A barely discernible smile escaped from the corner of her cherry lips; without any care at all, she spoke glibly, “Here we go again! Once we part here, I don’t know when we are going to see each other; can’t you stay a bit longer to keep Feixuan company?”

This was the first time that Shi Feixuan spoke gently to him to implore him. Thinking about how he destroyed her Jade Annulus of He Clan and she did not even take that into account and did not dispute it, his heart softened and he had no choice but to nod his head in agreement.