On his bed inside the bedroom in the west wing where he slept, Kou Zhong was awakened by the approaching sound of footsteps; struggling to open his eyes, he noticed the sky was bright the sun was white, but after several nights without any sleep, he still felt that he did not get enough sleep.

Shuwen’s voice called from outside the door, “Kou Ye! Shaoshuai!”

Wrapping himself inside the quilt, Kou Zhong sat up and said with a frown, “What is it?”

Shuwen pushed the door and stepped in; looking a little nervous, he said, “Ke Dazhi of Tujue is waiting to see Kou Ye in the south hall.”

Immediately Kou Zhong’s spirit was aroused, musing that this kid was so belligerent, coming this early in the morning to fight with him? “Where’s Ling Shao?” he asked.

Shuwen replied, “Xu Ye just went out; he said that when Shaoshuai wakes up to wait for him a moment, he will come back to have breakfast with you.”

Kou Zhong laughed and cursed, “Good kid! He pays more attention to a lover than friends, early in the morning he already abandoned me, this good brother of his.”

Promptly he got up and freshened up, grabbed the Moon in the Well and went out to see Ke Dazhi.

Ke Dazhi, with the Sandstorm Saber hanging on his waist, was standing proudly facing the window, enjoying the scenery of the round woods in the middle of the courtyard with blank expression on his face, but Kou Zhong dared to say that he had a heavy load on his mind, since he was looking but not seeing.

Coming behind him, Kou Zhong followed the propriety by greeting him, “Ke Xiong, how are you?”

Ke Dazhi slowly turned around. His gaze fell on the Moon in the Well in Kou Zhong’s hand. His pair of eyes emitted sharp expression, he said, “Shaoshuai’s Moon in the Well, not only you named it well, it is also a treasured saber rarely found in the world. I wonder if you’d let Xiaodi admiring it?”

Without the slightest hesitation Kou Zhong handed the Moon in the Well forward. Ke Dazhi reached out to grab the saber hilt and pulled the blade out of its scabbard. Slashing it three times horizontally, he spoke in astonishment, “Really strange! How come this saber only emit faint yellow light in Shaoshuai’s hand?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Kou Zhong replied, “I’m afraid you’d have to ask Laotianye for that.”

The two looked at each other, and then burst into laughter at the same time.

Ke Dazhi gladly put the Moon in the Well back into its sheath and watched as Kou Zhong put the treasured saber on a small table by his side. “Ziling Xiong has not woken up yet?” he asked.

Kou Zhong grumbled, “I don’t know where that kid got lost early in the morning? I am striking the gongs and beating the drums looking for him as well [orig. to order the arrest of somebody as criminal].”

His remark made Ke Dazhi laugh; he said in sincerity, “Not only Shaoshuai is an enemy worthy of my respect, you are also an interesting friend. Until now, I still cherish the moment in Chang’an where Shaoshuai and I raised our wine cup and had a heart-to-heart chat.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “I’m okay with not receiving your, LaoGe’s kind of respect; who’d be more active than you to get rid of me?”

Stunned, Ke Dazhi blurted out laughing and said, “Shaoshuai is really forthcoming. But I am coming to you today as an interesting friend, completely without any intention to move the weapons of war.”

Astonished, Kou Zhong replied, “I was wondering about that, because right now you don’t respect me too much, you don’t regard me as an enemy. Ha!”

The murderous intent in Ke Dazhi’s pair of eyes flared greatly, it flickered brightly, as he spoke heavily, “I want to cooperate with you to do something interesting, which is to slaughter that kid, Liexia.”

After staring blankly for a moment, Kou Zhong looked him up and down in surprise, and asked, “In this kind of thing, based on the Sandstorm Saber in your, LaoGe’s hand, why do you still need to ask for someone else’s help?”

Ke Dazhi dejectedly replied, “The problem is that we must not let Xiufang Dajia know about this. Otherwise, I would have to pack my food and leave before finish eating.”

The fierce light in Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes burst forth, he asked, “What happened last night?”

Ke Dazhi sighed and said, “Although it’s not like what Shaoshuai is thinking, but it’s not far from that! Xiufang Dajia spent the entire night with that kid, who is covered in demonic qi from head to foot – studying the musical score; he did not leave until morning. Humph! Liexia has the impertinence not to consider me, Ke Dazhi in his eyes, I am definitely going to have him nurse a grievance.”

Shaken, Kou Zhong asked, “They haven’t done anything, have they?”

Ke Dazhi assured him, “I can guarantee that they were only researching the musical score. If he dared to touch half a finger of Xiufang Dajia, I would have disregarded everything to charge inside and chop his stinky head.”

And then he asked, “How did you know him? Liexia is a rising figure in the prairie in recent years, he loves to pick the flowers and trample the grass [idiom: to womanize] all over the place, he doesn’t care about anybody, but he really has a skill or two.”

“I came across him in Hualin,” Kou Zhong explained, “He entangled us to have a meal with him. Does Ke Xiong know that he is one of the Five Bright Sons of the Da Ming Zun Jiao? Not that I am elevating his resolve, but killing him will not be easy at all. One thing goes wrong and we fail to kill him, he would lodge accusation to Shang Xiufang, then we will be in trouble!”

Smiling wryly, Ke Dazhi said, “I am having a headache for this. Whatever the case, we must never let Xiufang Dajia be broken-hearted. Do you, Laoxiong have any idea how to do it neatly and cleanly?”

Turning over an old account, Kou Zhong said, “You ought to understand by now my angry mood that day when I advised you not to touch Sha Zhijing?”

Smiling wryly, Ke Dazhi said, “The fact was that when you, Laoxiong warned me, inwardly I already decided not to touch Sha Zhijing anymore. Not because I was afraid of your revenge, but because I respect you, I see you as a qualified opponent.”

Kou Zhong’s animosity toward Ke Dazhi was greatly reduced. He laughed aloud and said, “That’s more like it. His granny’s bear, how are we going to get rid of Liexia without the gods knowing, the ghosts perceiving, and afterwards Shang Xiufang will not suspect us, at best she will only suspect Old Ba and Ling Shao doing it? Ha! By doing it this way, we seem to be lacking elegance, giving up the affairs of the heart [qing chang] and take the battlefield [zhan chang] to score a victory.”

Ke Dazhi coldly said, “This is called one is called a king if successful, but will be called a bandit if defeated [idiom: losers are always in the wrong]. That kid has quite a skill toward women. I am most afraid that he would use some despicable trick to obtain Xiufang Dajia’s body and mind. When that happens, it would be too late to talk about elegance!”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Ke Xiong is very persuasive. I wonder if you’d dare to have a free hand – once we do it, we won’t rest, we might as well pull Da Ming Zun Jiao by the roots.”

Ke Dazhi’s pair of sharp eyes lit up, he said, “If Shaoshuai has a good proposal, Ol’ Ke will definitely keep you company.”

Kou Zhong said, “For the time being, I can only think of three ways to deal with that kid.”

Ke Dazhi cheerfully said, “Unexpectedly there are as many as three. Shaoshuai really makes Xiaodi pleased beyond my expectations.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Before we go further, Xiaodi has two things I’d like to understand thoroughly.”

Stunned, Ke Dazhi asked, “What two things?”

Kou Zhong raised a finger and said, “The first thing is how do you know I am hiding in here? Xiaodi was extremely careful in coming and going.”

Ke Dazhi replied, “What’s the use of being careful? How big is Longquan? It was Zong Xianghua who told me.”

Scratching his head, Kou Zhong repeated, “Zong Xianghua?”

Ke Dazhi explained patiently, “Zong Xianghua is the captain of the female sword warriors under Bai Ziting’s command, which was the pretty Mohe woman by Xiufang Dajia’s side last night.”

As if he had just found a treasure, Kou Zhong blurted out, “Turns out her name is Zong Xianghua; she is indeed a very outstanding beauty.”

Ke Dazhi nodded and said, “Very few women have such long legs; even in Tujue, they are rarely seen.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “I wonder if we can be considered kindred spirit, or is it partners in notoriety? When it comes to women, I no longer feel like you are my enemy.”

Ke Dazhi laughed in spite of himself; he said, “Either one is all right. But I heard that Bai Ziting and Zong Xianghua are having an affair in the dark, hence the reason Zong Xianghua never give any time to other men. What is the second thing you want to know?”

Kou Zhong leaned over and deliberately lowered his voice, “I wonder if you, this kid, cannot help but fall in love with Shang Xiufang?”

Xu Ziling met with Yin Xianhe in a restaurant near the south gate. The restaurant was noisy, it was crowded to bursting point with diners. In this kind of environment, the proud and aloof above the crowd Yin Xianhe appeared even more out of place.

The two talked in a