Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling left the palace riding on a carriage. Afraid that the driver might hear their conversation, Kou Zhong applied his power to focus his voice into a beam and spoke in low voice, “Were it not for everybody in the demonic school has sinister design in their bosom, Yang WenGan might know from Zhao Deyan that you are Xu Ziling, and Mo Yixin is me. Furthermore, he might guess that there is the possibility that we already discovered the secret of the firearms. By comparison, in the fight over the Demonic Emperor Relics, Shi Zhixuan occupies the most unfavorable position.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “Quite the contrary, he ought to be the one with the best chance to snatch the Demonic Emperor Relics. Why didn’t you ask me whether I have gotten rid of An Long or not?”

Stunned, Kou Zhong asked, “What happened?”

Xu Ziling whispered in his ear, “You Niaojuan was killed on the spot, by pure luck Yue Shan escaped alive from a hard battle.” And then he briefly narrated the course of events.

Speechless, Kou Zhong said, “I wonder if You Niaojuan was just bragging. Unexpectedly there is such a formidable demonic method of detecting the Demonic Emperor Relics existence within a hundred li radius?”

Xu Ziling said, “In itself, the Demonic Emperor Relics is a mysterious and inexplicable object. What benefit would You Niaojuan get from deceiving me? It would be better if we believe that it exists rather than it does not.”

Kou Zhong’s scalp went numb, he softly said, “According to your estimate, can the two of us together beat back Shi Zhixuan?”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “Why do you suddenly have no confidence in yourself like this? As long as we join hands and fit the wall together, I don’t think there is anybody in the world who could put us in order all by himself. Problem is perhaps Shi Zhixuan would mount sneak attack, plotting against us in secret, or some other tricks like that. Or perhaps Pangzi An Long or Yang Xuyan would be holding one of us down, so that the other one would end up very unlucky.”

Kou Zhong said, “In that case, we need to find a way to get rid of Shi Zhixuan first, and then the sky will be bright, the air clear; no wind, no rain.”

“Basically there is no way,” Xu Ziling replied, “When I fought with Shi Zhixuan, I created ‘being and nothing’ method; suddenly it’s there, suddenly it’s gone, from nothing to being, from being to nothing, to make it difficult for him to borrow, use, and transform, as well as to see through what is true and what is false of me, only then was I barely able to emulate a number of tricks, without losing Yue Shan, the Senior’s prestige. But all along this was not the effective strategy to break his ‘Immortal Image Method’.”

Listening to that, Kou Zhong was having a big headache; he asked, “What do you mean there’s being and there’s nothing? What are you talking about?”

Xu Ziling said, “When we have a chance I’ll show you a couple of moves, and you’ll understand. Quickly go back to the Sha House! How’s the operation tonight? I want to go see Zhandao and the others to make sure they are all right. I also need to tell them the latest situation.”

Kou Zhong said, “I’ll return to the Sha House first, at the beginning of chou hour tonight [1-3am] we’ll meet at the bottom of Yue Ma Bridge. By that time your tryst and touching emotions with the Beautiful Junshi should be over!”

Xu Ziling already forgot his date with Shen Luoyan. Smiling ruefully, he said, “Do I really have to see her?”

Kou Zhong said, “I don’t care if you keep her as a friend, or just see her perfunctorily, but when women throw a temper, they could be more ruthless than men. However, you must be a bit more careful; don’t let that Li Shiji kid catch the two of you in bed. If there is conclusive evidence, even I, the other dragon of the Yangzhou Twin Dragons – will be shamed.”

Xu Ziling said, “Fancy that you are still in the mood to joke around. Ay! Somehow, although You Niaojuan’s death has nothing to do with me, but I always feel sorry for his tragic death.”

Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes darkened, he said, “Probably Xie Xianting and his sweetheart were murdered by Shi Zhixuan’s hands. Between the various heretics of the demonic school and us, the two cannot exist together. Therefore, we must work hard not to fall short, so that our martial art skill will rise to the upper level; otherwise we would only become other people’s fish and meat.”

The carriage stopped. They have arrived outside the Sha House’s main entrance.

Kou Zhong actually still had thousands of words and ten thousand speeches he’d like to pour out toward Xu Ziling. But hindered by the circumstances, he had no choice but patting Xu Ziling’s shoulder and helplessly got off the carriage.

The carriage rapidly took Xu Ziling away. Kou Zhong calmed himself down before returning to the Sha Mansion.

Sha Fu intercepted him at the winding corridor by the main hall. With a strange expression, he said, “Did Mo Ye go to the Qin Wang Mansion?”

Acting surprised, Kou Zhong asked, “What’s the problem?”

Sha Fu hastily replied, “Naturally I don’t have any problem. But Laoyezi is not too happy. Could it be that Mo Ye did not know that Taizi Mansion and Qin Wang Mansion are arch-enemy?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Kou Zhong said, “I never care about that kind of thing. Others showing earnest desire, are you saying I ought to drive people a thousand li away? Who’s looking for me tonight?”

Sha Fu replied, “Both Qi Wang Mansion and Taizi Mansion were sending their men to look for Mo Ye. Laoyezi did not dare to tell them that you went to see Qin Wang; therefore, he claimed as an excuse that because Mo Ye did not sleep last night, you went to bed early.”

Kou Zhong cried, ‘Wonderful!’ inwardly. He said, “I am really tired. When I am asleep, please don’t let anybody disturb me.”

Sha Fu busily said, “Mo Ye please go see Laoye first; he wanted to talk to you.”

Kou Zhong nodded. As if nothing had happened, he said, “That’s good too! It’s time to say goodbye to Laoye anyway.”

Sha Fu’s countenance changed. “What?” he blurted out.

Kou Zhong put his hand on Sha Fu’s shoulder. While walking together toward Sha Tiannan’s dwelling place in the inner courtyard, he said, “In this world, there is no banquet that did not end; the life in the capital does not suit me very well. Besides, I am decreed by fate that before I turn thirty, I must be constantly on the move all over the place to be of help of mankind. I have been here for too long, it’s time to leave!”

Sha Fu was puzzled, “Before the age of thirty? How old is Mo Ye this year?”

Kou Zhong was nearly dumbstruck and unable to reply; he started to remember that the impression that others perceived was that this ugly mask made him look like thirty-four, thirty-five years old. Without any better option, he said, “Because I charged to the south and wandered to the north, I ate enough wind and frost [fig. hardships], hence I appear this old. In fact, I am only twenty-eight years old; I have to toil for another two years before I pass the barrier.”

Hearing about his life experience, Sha Fu did not have anything good to say.

Thinking about leaving, Kou Zhong’s entire body felt relax. As a result of being in contact with the Sha Family day and night these past few days, he felt affection with everybody here, from top to bottom. If he could ‘publicly retire’, instead of having his real identity uncovered and thus dragging down the Sha Family, or even his old friend Chang He, he would definitely feel much better.

※ ※ ※

Xu Ziling went to see Gao Zhandao and the others. He told them the too-good-of-a-news about the rescue of Lei Jiuzhi; everybody felt deeply relieved, their morale was greatly aroused.

Xu Ziling said, “Our current situation is still heavily dangerous and difficult, it is extremely delicate. If tonight Shao Shuai and I still cannot find the treasure’s location