Kou Zhong handed over the horse to be looked after by a Sha Family servant, and then he headed toward Hou Xibai’s secret nest to meet with Xu Ziling. By the time he arrived, Hou Xibai had just left, Xu Ziling and Lei Jiuzhi were discussing gambling technique in preparation for going back to Ming Tang Wo to make a kill on all directions.

Grabbing his head, Kou Zhong said to the two, “Li Yuanji is back!”

Xu Ziling already knew this, naturally he was not surprised at all. Nodding his head, he said, “Because someone created the illusion that we are entering the Pass; naturally Li Yuanji had to rush back.”

Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “Unexpectedly you know more than I do.”

Lei Jiuzhi poured a cup of tea for him, and then he related Hou Xibai’s information to him.

Rubbing the bottom of the teacup, Kou Zhong pondered deeply for a moment, and then said with a frown, “The person creating the illusion, is he trying to harm us or help us?”

If they had not entered the Pass, and Yang WenGan’s intelligence network mistakenly thought that they already entered the Pass, so much so that their vigilance was slacking down, naturally it would help the boys to enter Guanzhong. If the boys were already inside the Pass, but their doppelgangers appeared outside the Pass, naturally people would be even less suspicious of the boys’ assumed identity. However, if everybody knew that they have arrived in Chang’an, they might increase their vigilance and would greatly increase the pressure.

Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “We must not underestimate the enemy. The one creating the illusion is definitely someone who is very familiar with our temperament and style.”

Lei Jiuzhi blankly said, “How did Ziling arrive at that conclusion?”

Leaning back into his chair, Kou Zhong stretched his limbs and said, “What Ling Shao said is quite reasonable. If I am guessing correctly, this must be the Yaonu’s doing; she might even know that Mo Shen Yi is me, Kou Zhong, so she deliberately uses this method to increase the pressure on us, to force us to unearth the Duke Yang’s Treasure as soon as possible.”

His countenance changed, Lei Jiuzhi asked, “Why not Shi Zhixuan or Zhao Deyan, but the Yaonu?”

Xu Ziling agreed with Kou Zhong’s assessment; he said, “Because she is most familiar with us, so much so that she is familiar with the ins and outs of our Secret to Long Life’s qigong. Because of Kou Zhong’ proficiency in medical skill, others might not suspect that he is Kou Zhong. But if they know the Divine Doctor Mo’s style in treating illness, they would immediately know that it was Kou Zhong in disguise.”

Deeply worried and sick at heart, Lei Jiuzhi said, “This is very bad; how are we going to deal with it?”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Don’t worry! Yin Gui Pai will never spread this precious secret out, because they [feminine] want to swallow the Xie Di Sheli for themselves, hence they also spend a great deal of effort to escort us. This illusion is certainly one method.”

But then he dejectedly said, “Tomorrow night, there will be a Lunar New Year’s Eve banquet at the Palace, Li Yuan has determined that I have to participate. This is giving me bad headache.”

Xu Ziling indifferently responded, “You and I are in the same trouble. Fortunately Yang Xuyan will also have to attend this grand occasion tomorrow night. As long as we plan ahead on how to meet any contingency, we should be able to deal with it.”

And then he told Kou Zhong about Hou Xibai’s situation in passing.

Kou Zhong’s eyes suddenly lit up. He said, “I have no doubt that the best moment for treasure hunting must be tomorrow night, because everybody will be concentrated in the Palace. After the event, everybody will be full and drunk, nobody will have leisure time to patrol around to see whether somebody is going on treasure hunt in secret. Ling Shao, what do you think?”

Displeased, Xu Ziling asked, “Have you investigated clearly where the treasure is?”

Full of confidence, Kou Zhong replied, “Tomorrow morning, after examining Zhang Beauty’s pulse and pay my respect, Xiaodi already received Gongbu Shangshu Daren Li Zhenghui’s permission to go to the Ministry of Works’ document archival room to examine the files of the building in the Yue Ma Bridge’s vicinity. If we can find the building that was built in the same year, or even that was built under Yang Su’s personal supervision, it would be the same as we find the entrance to the treasure. Just leave this heavy responsibility to Xiaodi.”

Lei Jiuzhi was gradually getting used to Kou Zhong’s style; sincerely and with earnest wishes he said, “Since the secret storehouse was designed by Lu Shi, it will definitely not that easy to see through.”

Turning to Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong said, “Tonight Li Yuanji is going to invite me to dinner at Feng Ya Ge. Do you know who is Feng Ya Ge’s beautiful lady boss, who is also the beauty whom Li Yuanji admires?”

Stunned, Xu Ziling asked, “Who is she?”

Kou Zhong leaned forward and spoke mysteriously, “It’s Miss Qingqing, who had once bit the hand that feeds her.”

Xu Ziling drew a blank. “Who is Qingqing?” he asked.

Kou Zhong already guessed that this would be Xu Ziling’s reaction; he explained clearly with a smile on his face, and then he sighed and said, “This proves that she is a person with conscience, hence the reason she is feeling guilty afterwards.”

Remembering what Gao Zhandao told him, Xu Ziling said, “That’s funny. Zha Jie is just like your Sha Family’s Second Young Master, he also grovels under Xi’er’s skirt trying to win her heart. I hope this is just a temporary thing, I don’t want him to be really bewitched.”

Kou Zhong did not take this matter to heart. Taking out the gold that Li Jiancheng gave him from his bosom, he put it on the table, and said with a laugh, “This is my share of the gambling capital; if you win, you ought to give me my share.”

Immediately Lei Jiuzhi’s eyes lit up. Rising up to his full height, he put the gold into his bosom, and laughed aloud and said, “Brothers! It’s time to make our move! We must not waste this extremely good time.”

“Wait!” Kou Zhong said, “While there’s still a bit of time, Lei LaoGe’d better teach me a couple of medical knowledge for my self-defense, so that when someone asks me, I won’t be dumbstruck and unable to reply.”

Lei Jiuzhi cheerfully said, “Speaking about tooting our horns, I can be considered the master among the masters. Based on Shao Shuai’s aptitude, I guarantee that I can teach you within one sichen.”

Blurting out laughing, Kou Zhong said, “I don’t want to learn how to toot my horn from you; rather, I want to learn some know-how and theory of medical science, so that when someone ask, I won’t lack the words to respond to them.”

Rolling his eyes, Lei Jiuzhi asked, “Is there any difference between the two?”

Xu Ziling could not help bursting into loud laughter. Glowering at him, Kou Zhong said, “Funny that you are laughing so happily. All along I have a feeling that Li Yuanji’s banquet tonight is not a good banquet at all; it is not a simple banquet to express his gratitude for curing Qingqing’s disease. If it were you, you just got back from a long and difficult trek from outside the country this morning, and then tonight you make laborious effort to entertain the physician who treated your sweetheart’s illness; what kind of logic is this? Not only that, he had to coax and plead by specifically sending Chang He to invite Laozi to attend the banquet?”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Lei Jiuzhi said, “I hear that Nanhai Pai’s Zhangmen Mei Xun not only has tyrannical martial art skill, his intelligence is outstanding as well. It must be him who grew suspicious and came up with this arrangement to test your authenticity.”

Xu Ziling said, “Fortunately you and the Sha Family have already had previous predestined affinity. If you suddenly appeared just as the Sha Family was on their way to Chang’an, it would be strange indeed if they did not think that you are a fake article. Presently it is hard to distinguish the real from the imitation, doubts are growing as a thicket.”

The two could not help worrying for Kou Zhong. Li Yuanji and his men’s situation was different from Li Jiancheng’s, simply because they went all over the place to hunt down Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, two boys. Anybody with unknown origin would be a suspect to them. Otherwise, with Li Yuanji’s status and rank, he could not possibly conduct the investigation himself.

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “The theory of medical science is more complex than the stars in the sky. You are cramming in haste to learn it, if you came across someone with real medical knowledge, I would be surprised if you don’t reveal hundreds of mistakes.”

Slapping his thigh, Lei Jiuzhi said, “I got it! Although with successive generations the theory of medical science is developing like crazy, but pursuing the source and direction of the flow, it is still based on the Huangdi Neijing [medical text (Internal Canon) attributed to the Yellow Emperor, c. 300 BC] as the jad