Book 26 Chapter 2 – Inside Secret

Kou Zhong watched as Song Lu poured the wine into two cups, and said, “How did Lu Shu know that I am here?”

Song Lu raised his cup. After both men drained their cup in one gulp, he laughed and said, “Yulin is our Song Family territory; any wind blowing the grass moving, nothing can be concealed from us; not to mention that I am in town specifically to wait for your honored self. It’s just that you encountered Yuzhi first!”

The strong liquor entered Kou Zhong’s throat and drilled into his anxiety [lit. ‘worry intestine’]; his emotional stirring breaking out everywhere, he said with a wry smile, “Since Lu Shu has seen Yuzhi, naturally you knew why I came here to drink. Is this moment she is in town?”

Song Lu amiably reached out to pat Kou Zhong’s wide shoulder; he spoke warmly, “Xiao Zhong, you must not blame her. It is because she has great difficulty that she had to harden her heart and refuse you. I started to learn about it only recently.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “She told me that Song Fazhu [clan leader/master] engraved my name on the whetstone. Ay! Is that true?”

Song Lu nodded and said, “This is indeed true. I personally asked Da Xiong [eldest brother] but he only smiled without saying anything, hence I could not make head or tail about it. But the reason she rejected you has nothing to do with it.”

Dejected, Kou Zhong asked, “So what is it?”

Song Lu poured another cup for him first, before speaking slowly, “She does not want our Song Family to be directly drawn into the struggle over the world because of you.”

“What?” Kou Zhong blurted out.

With serious expression Song Lu said, “Within our Song Family, there are two views on the current world situation. One view believes that this is the best time to revive our Song Family. Those who hold this view can be called the pro-war faction, headed by Song Zhi. He advocated strongly that we use Lingnan as our base, and then expand to Chang Jiang, and establish an imperial court with the south as the main power. Worst case scenario, we can divide the colors of spring evenly with the northerners.”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “The other view is naturally the peace faction. As long as the Song Family is able to stabilize and defend Lingnan, due to the seas and oceans and high mountains providing natural barriers, it does not matter who obtained the world, they could only adopt ‘cai ji mi’ policy [lit. gathering/harvesting ji millet/rice gruel; policies of the local officials used by the Chinese dynasties to manage ethnic minorities]. The mountain is high, the Emperor is far away; it will be like the Song Family is relying mainly on scratching the surface of the earth, but there will be people who would want to settle the account with you. I wonder who’s leading this faction?”

“Precisely Shidao and Yuzhi,” Song Lu replied, “I personally think that both strategies are feasible. But Shidao and Yuzhi cannot bear to see the Li people, the only ethnic group who has been following us blindly, to wither and have their heads roll and their hot blood shed for the sake of our glory.”

Kou Zhong understood. But new question arose, “How about Fazhu? Which faction is he, the Senior, leaning to?”

Song Lu replied, “He never expressed his position.”

Stunned, Kou Zhong asked, “How could it be?”

Song Lu helplessly replied, “Da Xiong’s conduct has always been difficult to fathom. On one hand, he let Song Zhi recruiting troops, carrying out all kinds of training and spending efforts on preparation to war. On the other hand, he indicated that the fortunate timing has not yet arrived, so he ordered Song Zhi to hold back his troops without moving. Now you ought to understand why Zhi Xiong is so enthusiastic toward you and Yuzhi’s affair. And Yuzhi’s feeling to you is obviously as deep as the ocean, yet she has to put an act as if she is heartless toward you, so this is a hopelessly muddled affair.”

As if his entire being had just been freed from a malicious spell, Kou Zhong laughed aloud, raised his wine cup, and said, “Come! Let me toast Lu Shu a cup.”

Song Lu cheerfully drank with him.

And then, Kou Zhong, whose vigor had just returned to his eyes, took the turn to refill the cup for Song Lu. Laughing aloud, he said, “I am so happy that I feel like singing for the wine. Turns out in her heart Zhizhi loves me. This matter is not difficult to solve. If I can really obtain the world, I will come to escort the bride to the wedding ceremony. In case misfortune befell me that I lost the war and died, naturally this matter became void. I practically do not need a single soldier a single troop from you; I just need your supplies to support me.”

“This matter is important,” Song Lu said, “It will need Da Xiong’s nod to work. The problem is that he already engraved your name on the whetstone, which usually means you already become his target opponent. Letting you to see him could be good or bad, it’s difficult to guess. Therefore, Yuzhi must stop you from seeing him. Zhi Xiong is also worried about this matter.”

“Where is Zhizhi now?” Kou Zhong asked, “I want to see her first.”

“She has already returned to the mountain city,” Song Lu replied, “I just received news from the mountain city via pigeon post, hence the reason I knew you have met her.”

Kou Zhong raised his cup and drained it so that not a single drop remained. His tiger-eyes flashing, he said, “We need to go to the mountain city immediately; I do not want to wait a single moment!”

The sailboat was continuously getting closer and closer. On the bow stood more than a dozen people, tall and short.

Xu Ziling’s vision far surpassed Lin Lang’s; he was able to see that two of those people were women. The older one was a granny whose hair had turned completely white, the younger one was a well-developed, charming woman, wearing multi-colored Miao attire. Because they were still about a li away, Xu Ziling could not see their face clearly.

Puzzled, he said, “Unexpectedly there is an old granny on board. I wonder who she is?”

Lin Lang’s countenance changed, he said, “Gong Ye’s eyesight is really outstanding. This old granny, does she have white hair, and is holding a whisk in her hand?”

Focusing his power into his eyes, Xu Ziling nodded and said, “Indeed she is holding something that looks like a whisk. Who is this Senior?”

Severely shaken, Lin Lang said, “Tong Tian Laolao [maternal grandmother] Xia Miaoying has never paid any attention to Jianghu’s affairs. Although Hou Jitong is her son, he could never be able to move her.”

Xu Ziling mused that the three-letter name Xia Miaoying sounded so familiar, and then she remembered Zhai Jiao mentioned her name once, saying that she had the divine ability to communicate with the spirits, that she could have a dialog with the dead in the netherworld. Zhai Jiao even said that she wanted to go to Sichuan to look for her, because she wanted to know Zhai Rang’s condition after he died, to see if he has been reincarnated, and things like that.

It had never occurred to him that he would suddenly run into her here, and in such situation where it would be difficult for him to explain clearly.

He asked again, “There’s also a Miao lady next to her; she looks quite pretty.”

Sucking in a mouthful of cold air, Lin Lang said, “That must be Ba Meng’s ‘Mei Ji’ [lit. beautiful woman/concubine/courtesan] Sina. She is Xia Miaoying’s proud disciple, as well as the heir of He Yi Pai [lit. the united (or unity) sects]. I hear that in the near future Xia Miaoying is going to hand over the Paizhu [sect leader/master] position to her.”

And then his face showed a pained expression as he said, “Both He Yi Pai and Ba Meng [Sichuan Alliance] are big gang, big sect that we, Wu Jiang Bang cannot afford to offend. This time, I am afraid even our Sha Laoda will not be able to cover it.”

Xu Ziling was about to talk, Xia Miaoying already shouted, with voice full of qi, “Indeed it is you, Gong Chenchun. I thought you are already dead!”

Just by listening to her voice, which, after traveling that far, yet every word was still very clear, it was evident that her inner power has reached the ‘stove fire has turned bright green’ [(allusion to Daoist alchemy), idiom: brought to the point of perfection].

Xu Ziling felt his whole face was burning hot; especially under Lin Lang’s stunned luminous gaze, he felt even more embarrassed.

He had put on the appearance of one who saw what was right and acted courageously [idiom from Analects]; who would have thought that this matter boomeranged and hit the ‘Gong Chenchun’? Fortunately he had Gong Chenchun’s skin covering up his embarrassment; otherwise he really wished he could find a hole in which to hide himself.

Without any choice he turned toward Lin Lang and said with a bitter smile, “Lin Xiangzhu, please bring the ship near the shore; let me settle this dispute with them [female form] on shore! You need not pay attention to me.”

Astonished, Lin Lang said, “Gong Ye obviously did not know Xia Miaoying, how could she act as if she and Gong Ye are old acquaintances?”

Xu Ziling knew that Lin Lang started to suspect something. He spoke helplessly, “This matter is hard to explain in a few words. The situation is urgent, Lin Xiangzhu, please bring the ship close to the shore.”

Lin Lang spoke in low voice, “How much confidence Gong Ye has that you will be able to deal with the opponent?”

Xu Ziling watched the closing-in ‘enemies’, which had been closing in to within fifty zhang away – with rapt attention. Shaking his head, he said, “This is hard to say; if they attack together, victory or defeat is difficult to tell, but to escape should not be a problem.”

Shaken, Lin Lang said, “Tong Tian Laolao is the master of a sect, she will never join hands with others in group attack. Since Gong Ye has that kind of confidence, let’s wait until they come over and see who would have the real skill. Please forgive us for not being able to interfere; Gong Ye please do not blame us.”

Xu Ziling was grateful; he said, “Lin Xiangzhu is a true friend indeed. Regardless of the development, I, Gong Chenchun, will definitely not get your honorable Gang involved.”

Right this moment, Lei Jiuzhi’s voice suddenly rang behind the two men, “If Gong Xiong won’t turn your back on me, Xiaodi wishes to advance or retreat together with Gong Xiong.”

Stunned, Xu Ziling and Lin Lang looked at each other; they were completely at a loss as why Lei Jiuzhi would be stupid enough to wade in this muddy water.

The Song Family’s mountain city was located on the confluence of Yu Shui and He Liu. Three sides facing the water, and magnificent mountain and towering peak behind them. The stone city was built of rock piles from the waist of the mountain, following the curvaceous topography of the mountain, graceful like a dragonfly. The main building complex dominated a wide expanse of open area along the mountain ridge. The terrain was steep, with a lofty quality of a grand mountain pass. It overlooked the neighboring mountain and fields, standing face-to-face with Yulin County in the distance, symbolizing the ruling power protecting the safety of the entire Lingnan region.

Several dozens of big warehouses, as well as hundreds of piers, big and small, were built along the Yu River. When Kou Zhong, riding on a boat with Song Lu, was crossing the river, the docks were full of boats, big and small, with more sailing in either direction along the river. This kind of prosperous, thriving atmosphere gave him a great sense of grandeur.

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “The mountain range lingers on, Yu River flows in circle, rugged, dangerous and difficult, even if I have several tens of thousand elite troops, I am afraid it will be difficult to find favorable position to be used for my advantage.”

Fiddling with his beard, Song Lu smiled and said, “This mountain city consumed I don’t know how much manpower and physical resources, and yet it still took three generations and more than a hundred years before it is built to its current scale. The long-term reserves inside the city include more than a year supply of grains, and a spring of water, clear, sweet and delicious, perfect for making tea.”

Kou Zhong’s eyes fell onto the inclined road going around the mountain, which was wide enough for five horses galloping together side by side; he laughed and said, “In that case, I simply must drink two more mouthfuls!”

Song Lu said, “The construction of the mountain city relied mainly on its strange and rugged terrain, difficult to climb down. But if there were no rich and fertile Yulin County, the only thing that the mountain city had was grand and strange exterior surface. But now the two complement and enrich each other, plus the benefit of land and water transportation that can reach the whole country.”

The small boat was moored on the shore. There were already more than a dozen Song Family warriors in dark green tight warrior outfit waiting with horses. Everybody was in high spirit, not a single one was not an expert in powerful defense. Toward Kou Zhong, they all showed courtesy and were very respectful, while also revealing a look of utter admiration and reverence.

The two men flew onto the horseback, and then, under escort of the Song Family martial art masters in front and behind them, they left the dock area to gallop up the mountain.

Going up the mountain road, whenever there was a dangerous cliff, it looked like they were facing emptiness suspended in midair, while down below the river water was surging. There were endless strange and wonderful places.

Seeing all this, Kou Zhong’s heart loosened up, his spirit relaxed. Thinking that very soon he would comfort a jade person [i.e. beautiful woman], he could not help letting out a long whistle, while pressing his legs on the horse’s belly to urge it to run faster.

Everybody else responded to the whistle by lashing their whips. More than a dozen riders flew along the mountain road like a whirlwind.

The city gate was open wide; the drawbridge was down. The ‘Earthly Sword’ Song Zhi, whom he had not met for a long time, was out to meet him, saying, “Fazhu’s order: Shao Shuai in invited to immediately go to the Mo Dao Tang [grinding saber hall] to see him.”

Since the Wu Jiang Bang ship was slowing down, the enemy ship quickly closed the distance between them. Xu Ziling had no time to ask Lei Jiuzhi why he ‘saw what is right and act courageously’; he just warned him with heavy voice, “Lei Xiong must not get involved. Ol’ Gong has a way to deal with them.”

With sudden gust of wind, shadows were flashing one after another; a total of seven people soared from the enemy’s ship and flew toward them. The three men quickly retreated to open up an empty space at the bow.

Seeing the speed with which the enemies ascended the ship, they could immediately tell their relative superiority.

The ‘Tong Tian Laolao’ Xia Miaoying was the most calm; she only leaped at an angle for about a zhang, and then suddenly changed direction to take the lead in traversing the more than two zhang empty space to be the first to land on the deck of the ship’s bow. If someone had tried to intercept her based on the angle and speed of her leap, because of her sudden change in direction, the estimate would have been wrong.

As the master of a sect, she was indeed outstanding. She reminded Xu Ziling of Yin Gui Pai’s Yinfa Yan Mei [silver-haired amorous demon] Tan Hui. Both had white hair, but still preserved the elegant bearing of younger women. The difference was that Tan Hui still had her beauty, while Xia Miaoying was giving a withered, gloomy and cold impression.

Her nose, her head, neck, hands, waist, feet, all were adorned with precious stone, fine jade, pearl, cowrie shells, and so on, all kinds of jewelry. When she was leaping in the air, these ornaments jingled. But all these bright pearl, jewel aura, and her peacock-like colorful clothes could not cover up the gloomy, malicious, and peculiar light shooting out of her eyes.

On top of that, her sharp fingernails, which were so long that they curved – looked exactly like a female zombie that had been resurrected from inside the coffin, carrying with her all the paraphernalia of funerary objects.

On the contrary, ‘Mei Ji’ Sina was a beautiful, touching, young Miao woman; her hair was long, black and shiny. Quite unusual however, she did not wear Miao hat or even had her hair tied in colorful ribbon. Even though like right now, for example, she was leaping over to fight and stake her life, she was still smiling prettily, as if her heart was filled with passion, and was enjoying life to the fullest every moment.

Her cheekbones were quite high. Were it not for her equally high aquiline nose, which matched very well with her facial features, she would look extremely unsightly. As it was right now, it only made her look a hundred percent haughty, but with ten thousand kinds of flirtatious expressions.

Both she and her master Xia Miaoying wore similar pleated skirts, but her skirt only reached to her knees, revealing curvaceous and extremely beautiful leggings and a pair of cowhide boots; her entire being exuded a peachy, teasing overtone.

But the skill she displayed was slightly inferior to Xia Miaoying. Following closely behind her, as she landed on the bow, the deck did not shake the least bit.

From the sword sheathe protruding from behind her right shoulder, Xu Ziling’s eyes moved to the third person, a young man – arriving on the deck. This gentleman must be Chengdu’s young evil tyrant Huo Jitong. On top of his tight warrior outfit, he wore gorgeous brocade gown. There was a long saber hanging on his waist. His build was strong and muscular, his skin swarthy; although he could not be called handsome, he exuded a valiant masculine charm. His least pleasing aspect was his arrogant demeanor, as if his eyes can see nothing worthwhile all around [idiom].

Only after these three, headed by Xia Miaoying, stood on the bow in triangular formation, the other four men arrived one after another. Two of them were Miao, while the other two were Han, who ought to be Huo Jitong’s cronies.

Lin Lang was the first to cup his fist to salute; he greeted the three according to Jianghu custom. After his opening remark, he said, “Since Laolao’s immortal self has arrived, I …”

Xia Miaoying did not even look at him with the corner of her eye; she just stared ferociously at Xu Ziling. Waving her hand to cut him off, she said, “Less idle talk.” And then she grimly said, “Gong Chenchun, your guts is indeed big; after shrinking your head for so many years, you have the cheek to swagger into San Hua Luo to have fun. Do you think that I, Xia Miaoying, am so old that I forget your past conducts and deeds and no longer want to bother about you?”

Seeing the bitter resentment and indignation in her eyes, Xu Ziling had a feeling that the enmity between her and Gong Chenchun could not possibly that simple; perhaps there was even entanglement of gratitude and grudges between a man and a woman. Inwardly he groaned for his bad luck. He also knew that as soon as he started speaking, he would immediately reveal the cloven foot, yet it was impossible for him not to speak. Without any choice he could only sigh and shook his head with a rueful smile.

‘Mei Ji’ Sina’s almond eyes grew big; scolded tenderly, she said, “Because you randomly abandoned her, Da Shijie [oldest martial sister] died in grief, even if you, Gong Chenchun died ten thousand times, it is still not enough to redeem your guilt.”

Inwardly Xu Ziling heaved a sigh of relief, while was amused at the same time. At first he thought ‘he’ and Xiao Miaoying had some love affairs; turned out it was with her first disciple. Smiling wryly, he said, “This affair is exceptionally complex, would ladies and gentlemen care to hear my explanation?”

Huo Jitong’s eyes flashed with ominous glint; he angrily shouted, “Just by looking at how when you heard the news of her death you did not show the least bit of grief, I immediately know that you, Gong Chenchun, are completely lacking any feeling; you have the heart of a beast and the lungs of a dog.”

Behind Xu Ziling, Lei Jiuzhi let out a weird sounding laughter and said, “Huo Jitong, where do you think you are going? In Chengdu alone, the number of women who you raped and abandoned is too many to count. Ah Da [the first/oldest (son)] shouldn’t tell Ah Er [the second (son)]!”

For the first time Xiao Miaoying and the others’ eyes moved away from Xu Ziling to Lei Jiuzhi, who had changed from a stoop-backed into a straight-backed man.

“Ah!” Huo Jitong exclaimed. Pulling the saber on his waist, he stepped out from the crowd and shouted sternly, “Who are you?”

Xu Ziling knew it would be difficult for this matter to end well. The only way was to make the opposite party sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat [idiom]. But his biggest problem was that he must not reveal any ‘Yue Shan’ martial art with which he defeated Xi Ying.

Swiftly moving forward, he let out a cold snort and said, “If you can block my three moves, Ol’ Gong is willing to have my hands tied and waiting to be captured, and you can punish me however you wish. But if you cannot block, all of you must leave immediately, and have to promise never to bother me again. Huo Jitong, do you have the qualifications to make the decision?”

“Rubbish!” Huo Jitong shouted angrily, while simultaneously charging forward and brandishing his saber in swift chop.

The saber created whooshing wind. Lin Lang hurriedly stepped back.

On the ship, most of the Wu Jiang Bang men, except the man in charge of the helm, were gathered on the bridge to watch the excitement. The other passengers also swarmed out of their room and crowded inside and outside the cabin’s door to watch; Han Zenan being one of them.

Xu Ziling calmly laughed, his forehead moved following the opponent’s saber momentum, his right hand reached out, looking like a claw, but also like an open palm, but just before it made contact with the blade of the opponent’s saber, the fingers suddenly gathered together to form a palm chop.

‘Bang!’

The qi power took on the saber momentum head on. It was as if Huo Jitong was struck by lightning; his entire body, along with his saber, was hacked down by Xu Ziling that he staggered six, seven steps backward.

None of the spectators was not emotionally moved.

Actually, Xu Ziling was only using half of his power. If he had used his full power, perhaps Huo Jitong would have spurted blood on the spot.

Xia Miaoying shouted loudly, “Jitong, back off!”

Fast as lightning ‘Mei Ji’ Sina moved forward to prevent Xu Ziling from following up the victory and press home the attack. Scolded tenderly, she said, “If you could defeat me in three moves, we will immediately turn around and leave.”

Full of resentment Huo Jitong return to Xia Miaoying’s side. Although he did not accept his defeat, but since the blood and qi in his entire body were surging, he did not have the strength to continue fighting.

No matter how brilliant Xu Ziling’s power was, he was well aware that Sina’s skill far surpassed Huo Jitong’s; however, if he could make the enemy retreat by doing this, it would be extremely ideal. Steeling his heart, he said, “One word and it’s settled [idiom: it’s a deal]. If within three moves Ol’ Gong cannot beat you, I will let my hands tied and waiting to be captured, and definitely will not eat my own words.”

Immediately sneers and jeers rang out from Xia Miaoying’s side, they thought he was overestimating his own capabilities.

Wu Jiang Bang and the other passengers were also buzzing. In their heart, they were all standing on their fellow passenger, Xu Ziling’s side; naturally they were worried and felt that his unwise decision was a great pity.

It should be noted that ‘Mei Ji’ Sina was one of the four great chiefs of Ba Meng, her name shook Bashu, defeating her was not easy, let alone trying to score a victory within three moves.

If Xu Ziling were now ‘Yue Shan’ instead of ‘Gong Chenchun’, it would be a different story altogether.

Sina laughed tenderly and said, “Gong Chenchun, you are indeed arrogant and brazen.”

‘Ring!’ the sword left its sheathe.

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “Hold on!”

Xia Miaoying shouted sternly, “Are you trying to go back on your word?”